Plans for all of my 2013 writing, editing, and publishing projects are, as usual, going into a classic black Moleskine notebook/planner. This year, there’s a royal twist.
Le Petit Prince Moleskine Planner
In an effort to make A Small Press Life as solid as possible in 2013 (and beyond), we are going to add some wonderful new features to the blog. Don’t worry; what you love about ASPL isn’t changing. There is simply going to be more goodness to go around. When will this deliciousness start, you ask? Soon. This month. Stay tuned for more details.
I made this “poster” from an excerpt of one of my essays. It was fun! If you want to make a quote poster of your own, go to Recite This. A big thank you goes to Gala Darling for introducing me to this site.
A quote from one of my essays.
I have a head for data and a mind that is always ravenously hungry for more: more facts, figures, dates, trivia, all kinds of minutia. Anything that is adjacent or related to what I am thinking, reading, writing, or doing. I collect it all: people, quotes, historical tidbits, pop culture ephemera. As soon as I discovered Small Demons, I knew that it would feed my intellectual gluttony, perfectly and obsessively.
I actually feel a bit shorted right now, as I am taking time away from the Small Demons Storyverse to tell you all about the Small Demons Storyverse. Time that I could be spending immersed in the Small Demons Storyverse. Got it, dear readers? It is a sacrifice I am making only because I love you, and think that you should know about this amazing site. I am going to keep it brief. You can use your new knowledge and run off to discover things for yourselves. To wit, their tagline is: the people, places and things from books, and everywhere they can take you. GO THERE NOW. You are welcome!
PS-You can make your own storyboards.
“If you don’t have time to read you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”-Stephen King
“Every writer I know has trouble writing.”-Joseph Heller
Mansion Original
When I snapped this image in October, I wasn’t too impressed with the result. It didn’t spark my imagination, which is always a bad sign. I was in a hurry and used my camera phone, which was zoomed in a bit too much. Even though this house has stories to tell, I didn’t feel any of them that day. My creativity felt closed off. Since I’m a writer, and not a photographer, it’s normal if I am not immediately able to capture a visual; I tuck everything away until the time is right. I’m familiar enough with this house, which is in my home city, to know that the intuitive call to my creative process would happen, eventually and beautifully.
After a conversation with Jennifer from Quirk’n It, I decided to wade through the 1300+ photos on my phone. When I saw this one, it struck me differently than it did two months ago. I was playing around with some effects, when it hit me: for the last few months, I’ve been writing a short story featuring this house in triplicate. The house is not the star, nor was it the impetus for the piece, but it’s there just the same: altered, transformed, re-imagined into something else. All before I took the photograph. Remembered from previous glimpses, from some unremembered or unnoticed tucking away.
*”Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”-Edgar Allan Poe
**This is an excerpt from my short story, The Brothers’ Boneyard. No stealing, please.
What follows is a mad cyclone of some of the oddly delectable bits and bobs setting my head and heart on fire this early November, vintage-style.
I have physically returned from my southern vacation. Mentally, not so much. As I race around trying to catch up with my life and writing, I promise to throw you a few blogging bones: mostly photos of North Carolina and a couple of Tar Heel inspired musings. Thanks for your patience, and I cannot wait to be back full-time!
“I shut my eyes in order to see.”-Paul Gauguin
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 