August 2013
60 Seconds to Self-Publishing Your Novel
08/26/13 08:40 PM
For months, I’ve been researching the best way to publish my novel, Evangeline’s Ghost, and I think I’ve got most of the steps down. Take a look and let me know if I missed anything.
Dwindling Drive-Ins
08/19/13 08:40 PM
There was a time when Long Island had at least a half-dozen drive-ins, but they’re all gone now. They gave way to large multiplexes with lots of screens and sky-high ticket and concession prices. I attributed it to greed. Now it looks like the few remaining drive-ins may be killed by technology. I just saw a Businessweek article that says: even though as many as 4,000 drive-ins dotted the landscape in the 1960’s, less than 400 of them exist today. And now, with the advent in digital films, they too could fade fast.
Here’s a link to the article.
The demise of the drive-in is especially sad for new parents who either cannot find, or can’t afford a babysitter. Drive-ins were a great way to go out on a “date” with your spouse and bring baby along. Even if the tot got cranky, you didn’t have to worry about his or her screams bothering everyone around you too much.
Drive-ins are great and it’s sad to think technology and property values are stomping out a beloved part of American life.
Christina Bianco & Her Divas
08/13/13 08:39 PM
This is too entertaining to pass up. I’ve got to embed it.
When “Total Eclipse of the Heart” first came out, I think I played it 142 times in a row. I just might play the following YouTube video that many times - to hear all the nuances.
A Tree Grows in Westbury
08/11/13 08:37 PM
I had a beautiful palm tree in my condo when I first got married, but didn’t know how to care for it and watched it slowly die. I followed it up with a rubber plant that met its demise at the paws of the only cat I ever owned. And so it goes with plants and me.
But now, after seeing this article on Houzz, I think I may give it another go with a Kentia Palm.
Making Manuscripts
08/02/13 08:36 PM
In the Library of Illumination, Johanna teaches Jackson all about bookbinding and illumination. The following video from the Getty Museum outlines the steps that were taken to create an illuminated manuscript on parchment book from scratch.
Raising the Bard
08/01/13 08:35 PM
I just saw the following tips on a mailing from Writer’s Digest, and I want to share it, because it’s such good advice—not just for thriller writers but for all genre writers.
10 Things Thriller Writers Can Learn From Shakespeare —Zachary Petit
Conspiracy. Murder. Politics. Love. Sex. Ghosts. Pirates. Thrillers and the works of William Shakespeare may have more in common than you’d think. After all, as authorr A.J. Hartley pointed out, the legendary playwright that we now regard as “refined” and “literary” was considered ruetic and fanciful in his time. Shakespeare wrote for the mass medium of his day, Hartley said. And as Hartley proved in his session “Cues From Shakespeare, the First Thriller Writer,” there’s a lot the bard can teach scribes about storytelling.
Here are some of the enduring lessons Hartley shared.
1. “Good writers borrow. … Great writers steal.”
I couldn’t agree more. If it worked for
it should work for us, too.