Chickens Don't Have Armpits

Unstoppable

2012-01-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

Original post here.

Sometime in my childhood, someone introduced me to the paradox of the unstoppable force and the immovable object. I spent months and months trying to resolve this problem.

In my young mind I pictured the immovable object as an anvil in space. The unstoppable force as a hammer flying toward it. I went over and over the conundrum in my mind. What would happen when the two met? How could one be unstoppable, and the other immovable? It just doesn’t work! My tiny little brain couldn’t comprehend it.

And then it could. At some point I developed a solution. I came to understand that you couldn’t have both an immovable object and an unstoppable force existing at the same time.

Here is the first beautiful truth: When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, only one of them emerges with their name intact.

In college, my very first English professor announced to the class that you couldn’t make a living at creative writing. It was practical advice, stated simply. He spoke from years of experience. Here was an immovable object. A universal truth.

Only it wasn't.

I stopped writing for ten years. I graduated with two degrees in different subjects. But somewhere deep inside, the author would not be still. He would not be silent.

And so I wrote. And wrote. And wrote some more. I experienced pain that only other artists truly understand.

I have two books in print. I have an amazing agent working with me on a third book. I do not support myself with my writing. I do not know if the force I have built up is enough to break this personal immovable object. It may not be. The professor may have been right . . . for now.

Here is the second beautiful truth: You can always try again.

When the unstoppable force is stopped, it proves nothing. There is a spark in each of us—a spark that makes us human. Sometimes that spark is buried deep. Sometimes we’re not sure it’s there at all. But it is. And that spark demands that we try again. And again. And again.

The spark does not demand that we succeed. Only that we try.

Here is the third truth: Sometimes we succeed.

And that is the most beautiful truth of all. Blood. Sweat. Tears. Piles and piles of practice and work. In the end you just might reveal the immovable object for what it is—a fraud.

We try, we try, we try again. And in the end, when the dust has settled, we will see ourselves for what we really are.

Unstoppable.

Moving . . .

2012-01-10T17:16:00.000-08:00

I've somehow managed to snatch marionjensen.com away from the millions of other Marion Jensens (all of whom are 80 year old women), and I've started blogging there. I will continue to post here, but it will usually be a few days late and several dollers short. So if you want the latest and greatest, please subscribe to my new blog at http://marionjensen.com

See you over at the new shiny!

Breaking Bad

2012-01-03T00:18:00.001-08:00

I was talking with a few friends on Twitter about Breaking Bad. I ended up disagreeing with a couple of them, and promised to write a blog post about my opinions. It's not that I think I'm right and everybody else is wrong. It's that I'm right, and everybody else just hasn't realized it yet.

Okay, only joking. But I do have some strong opinions on the subject. Stephen King says it's the best writing on TV, and I agree.

The first episode starts out with a middle age man--Walt--recording himself on a video camera. He's emotional, almost sobbing. He tells his family how much he loves them. He is standing in the middle of the desert, and he's not wearing any pants.

This isn't just a clever place to start to show. It's the only place to start the show. Walt comes across as a man who is suffering. A man who had done something bad, but he's done it for his family. For somebody else. You feel pity for Walt. Empathy. And that's good, because we're about to see what led Walt to this scene, and it's not pretty. Walt has done some reprehensible things.

One friend on Twitter said that Breaking Bad was a show about bad people doing bad things with no consequences. I argue it's about good people doing bad things, and the consequences come just as the do in real life--slowly. Better yet, we get to understand why these good people are doing bad things. To me, that's just one of the things that makes the show so fascinating.

Another brilliant aspect of the show is the dynamics between Walter White, the middle age chemistry teacher, and Jessie Pinkman, the drug-dealing meth addict. We see episodes where Walt rubs off on Jessie in a positive way. He serves as a mentor of sorts, pushing Jessie to be a better person. We hold out hope that these two suffering souls can pull each other up.

But it's not to be. There are other episodes where what Walt chooses to do is so horrible that even Jessie can't go along with it. Roles are reversed, and Jessie becomes the conscience of the group.

The conflict and decisions throughout the show are painful and beautiful.

There is probably an entire semester's worth of writing lessons in Breaking Bad. The characters are both complex and real. The writing and pacing is tight. And the acting is nothing short of brilliant.

I will admit, Breaking Bad may not be for everybody. It peels back the layers of human nature, and takes a stark look at all that is bad about us. But it also takes just as bold a look at what is the best in all of us. An example of this is a scene that I can't describe without giving it away. It's at the end of season three, and it's the part where Walt looks at Jessie and says, "Run."

That scene is brilliant, and exemplifies all that is good about Breaking Bad.

I don't expect a happy ending with the show. I'll be disappointed if we get one. Breaking Bad is about choices and consequences. It's reminder of the very short distance between good and evil. A few wrong choices, a few bad actions, and we too can break bad. We'll steer off course and cross that very fine line between human and monster.

Tackling 2012

2012-01-01T08:22:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!

Usually I write my New Year's resolutions in December. I just write down the things I did the previous 12 months, and then feel pretty darn good about myself. But this year I actually have a few goals, and thought, what the heck. I'll write them down on the blog where I can't misplace them. This is more for me than for you, but please feel free to mock me at the end of the year when I once again ACCOMPLISH NOTHING.

Writing

I'm about 12,000 words into a speculative fiction novel called Monster. I'm having loads of fun with it. I've also got Almost Super 2 completely outlined. I'm going to keep working on Monster unless circumstances call for Almost Super 2 to be written first. Either way, I need to finish another book. Sometimes it seems daunting, but in 2012, I need to write more.

I thought about declaring selling Almost Super was my goal, but that goal is largely in the capable hands of my agent, Sara Crowe. So for me, I'll stick to what I can control. And what I can control is writing.

Finally, this year I wrote a short story. It's on a topic about which I feel very strong. I'd like to get it published sometime in 2012.

Goal: Complete a book
Goal: Get short story published

Running

I always wondered if running might become one of those things I do for a while, and then drop. But the more I get into it, the more I really enjoy it. I just discovered the joy of trail running, and Google maps shows me that I've got miles and miles of trail just begging to be discovered less than three miles from my house. Even better, there is a three mile trail that can take me from my house to those other awesome trails.

Goal: Run a 5k in under 24 minutes
Goal: Run a half marathon in under 2 hours

Neither of those times are impressive. In fact, they probably look a little pathetic. But that's what I'm going to shoot for. I'm planning on running three half marathons this year, and then as many 5 ks as I can practically do. If any of you are running anything along the Wasatch front, let me know. It's always fun to suffer with others.

Gardening

I'll admit it. I can't garden to save my life. But we have a very large garden spot, and we need to get more than just carrots and pumpkins out of it. So this year I'm hoping to have a productive garden. I've decided that rather than trying to produce a whole bunch of stuff that we never end up eating, I'm going to focus on a few things that we do eat. I plan on planting a huge raspberry patch, strawberries, tomatoes, and maybe some yams.

If that doesn't work, we're fencing the whole garden and raising hogs. Because who doesn't want more bacon, am I right?

Goal: Have a garden that doesn't suck.

There you have it. I'll try to remember to check these off when/if I complete them. And if I haven't completed them all by the end of 2012, you are free to publicly humiliate me. Also, bring me zucchini. Because I love zucchini, but can never seem to grow it.

Above the Inversion

2011-12-11T16:52:00.000-08:00

Six weeks ago, I went on a hike. The summer had passed too quickly, and I wanted to get outdoors. I had such a fun time I went out the next week. And the next. And the next. So today, even though it was a bit on the cold side, I headed up once more.

I've always wanted to hike to Flag Rock above Farmington. But although Farmington has some great trails, I can't ever seem to find any trail heads. I always feel like I'm sneaking through somebody's backyard to get into the hills. Today, with the help of Google Maps, I found a place where I could hop a fence and get to my goal.

Here in Utah we've had an inversion for several days. It comes with the season. I don't know exactly how it works, but the long and short of it is the weather causes all of the pollutants to be trapped close to the ground. It's not fun to breathe. Today I hiked high enough to get above all the gunk. Here are a few pictures.

You can see the difference when the camera is pointed skyward.

The Flag Rock trail was a pretty good climb. I couldn't talk any of the boys with going with me, but perhaps now that they've seen the pictures they'll come along. There's always next week.

If you'd like to see more of the pics from the hike, you can see them here.

New Writing/Running Songs

2011-11-25T10:11:00.000-08:00

I'm always looking for new songs to run and write to. I find if I find a song works well for one activity, it usually works well for the other. Here are a few recent additions to my play list. I should note that I'm usually just listening to the song, not watching the video. Although I must admit, the video to this first one is pretty nifty.

Lonely Boy - Black Keys

This song has been getting a lot of radio time, but so far I haven't grown weary of it. The song itself is upbeat, while the lyrics tend to be quite dark.

Pumped Up Kicks - Foster the People

And this song just demands that you crank up the volume, if only a little. The music video is not the official one. Somebody mashed up the song with scenes from the 1998 film, Pi.

Super Bon Bon - Soul Coughing

And finally, I'm really liking Neon Trees. They've got several songs I've added to my list, but for some reason, this one does it for me.

Animal - Neon Trees

The Devil in the Details

2011-11-13T17:52:00.000-08:00

It seems like I get a hankering to get outdoors right as it's getting to cold to actually go outside. But this evening I decided it was warm enough to hike part way up the mountain and try to get a few pictures of the sunset. Sunsets are hit and miss, and since I'm not really a good photographer, I tend to miss, even when the sunset is a hit. Tonight, this is what I got.

Not bad, but nothing to scream about. It's a sunset. It's the sun. It's setting. Nifty.

I took a dozen or so of these. It was pretty simple. Just point the camera and click. They all looked fine. As I walked along the trail, I noticed some withered flowers. I got the idea to take a picture of them, up close. It was a little more difficult. I had to take off my backpack, sit or lie in the mud, and get the focus just right. I took a few pictures of the flowers, and put the sunset in the background. The result was a little different.

Again, I'm no photographer, but when I got back and threw all the photos on my computer, it was these pictures that caught my eye.

It got me thinking about writing (because lately writing is all I can seem to think about). There are a lot of cool stories out there. Epic stories. Stories with powerful messages. But what makes a story grand? It's not the big picture. It's the little ones. The details.

Consider J.R.R. Tolkien's epic masterpiece. It's a story of good, evil, courage, sacrifice, and everything in between. But how does it start? With tiny details. Small, but important.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

I can sense a world there. Tolkien doesn't paint a large picture. He paints a small one. With small details. But from those details we get swept along on an epic journey. One that is made up of small details.

Consider the first line of Michael Crichton's novel The Great Train Robbery:

Forty minutes out of London, passing through the rolling green fields and cherry orchards of Kent, the morning train of the South Eastern Railway attained its maximum speed of fifty-four miles and hour.

Nothing but details. But they hint at another world. A deep and rich world, one that the author has researched or imagined in great detail. I find myself wanting to read more of that world.

Sometimes in writers circles this focus on detail is described as "show, don't tell. I don't want the author to tell me the diner is a dump. I want to taste the flat Coke. I want to feel the sticky syrup on the faded plastic menus. I want to hear the flies buzzing every time the kitchen door opens. When I see the details, I get lost in the world.

I feel like story ideas are a dime a dozen. Anybody can imagine an epic journey, a wild adventure, or star-crossed lovers. But the devil is in the details. To write a good story, you must become intimate with the world you are trying to create. You must create dozens of scenes, filled with rich, vivid details.

The big picture is good, but the details are vital.

Snow Canyon Half Marathon

2011-11-05T13:46:00.000-07:00

Two months ago I watched my wife finish the Top of Utah Half marathon. I was sidelined with some medical issues and hadn't run in almost a year. But watching her finish made me want to get training again. We signed up for the Snow Canyon Half marathon, and I started to run.

Today was the big day. Last night we traveled down to St. George, sat in the hot tub while a freezing rain pelted the tops of our head, and went to bed hoping that it would be warmer by the start of the race.

Race day came early. Doesn't it always? I want to find a race that starts at 2:00 in the afternoon--so I can sleep in.

We rode the bus to the starting line. The rain from last night had cleared, but there was snow on the ground. SNOW ON THE GROUND. Seriously? This is St. George. I thought it was in their city charter that they can only have sun. I stepped off the bus and pretty much felt like this.

Only colder. Much colder. I walked around, beating my shoulders, and stamping the ground with my feet, trying to regain the feeling in my legs and arms. At 8:30, the race began.

I had a jacket and gloves on. As soon as I began running, and as soon as the sun hit me, I went from feeling cold to feeling like this:

That's right. I'm a sissy. It was cold the whole race. But not an uncomfortable cold. In fact, all jesting aside, I think it was just about perfect. Running kept me warm, and the frigid breeze kept me cool. It was fantastic. And as far as the scenery . . . I can't think of a more beautiful run than Snow Canyon. If you drive through Snow Canyon, this is what you'd see:

And if you were to bike through Snow Canyon, you might see this:

And if you're me, and you're running through Snow Canyon, this is what you see:

That, and a pair of shoes hitting the pavement about a million times.

I've been having leg problems for about two weeks, but while my leg bothered me the whole race, I never had to stop. In fact, I felt pretty good. I think I slowed down a little toward the end, but for the most part I was pretty consistent. I don't have a watch, so I can't be certain.

I've only run in one other half-marathon, and I beat my previous time. So all in all I'm pretty pleased. It's by no means an impressive time. In fact, they were already starting to hand out the awards by the time I finished.

My time was 2:08:42 (I'm particularly pleased with the 42). That is an average of 9:49 per mile. I never would have guessed I could run sub 10 minute miles for that long.

The only downside to that time is that it's so close to 2 hours, now I've got to try to break the 2 hour barrier. I guess that will be the goal for the Ogden Half next spring.

I didn't bring a camera, so I don't have a shot at me at the end of the race. I more or less looked like this.

Okay, okay. Maybe more like this:

And now . . . nap time.

The Distance

2011-11-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

At some point in our lives we all set goals. And then after we set out after those goals, we wonder if we can achieve them.

I'm a fan of the band Cake. They've got a distinct style, and one that grows on me over time. They have a song call The Distance, and I find the lyrics beautifully capture the spirit of striving for a goal.

The song starts by describing a race.

Reluctantly crouched at the starting line,
engines pumping and thumping in time.
the green light flashes, the flags go up.
churning and burning, they yearn for the cup.
they deftly maneuver and muscle for rank,
fuel burning fast on an empty tank.
reckless and wild, they pour through the turns.
their prowess is potent and secretly stern.
as they speed through the finish, the flags go down.
the fans get up and they get out of town.

So the race is over. There is a winner, but we don't know who it is. In this song, that's not important. Turn back to the arena to see the real message.

the arena is empty except for one man,
still driving and striving as fast as he can.
the sun has gone down and the moon has come up,
and long ago somebody left with the cup.
but he's driving and striving and hugging the turns.
and thinking of someone for whom he still burns.

The race is over. The man has lost, and yet still he drives on. We come to the chorus.

he's going the distance.
he's going for speed.
she's all alone
all alone in her time of need.
because he's racing and pacing and plotting the course,
he's fighting and biting and riding on his horse,
he's going the distance.

Winning isn't the important thing. By the end of the song we don't even know if this man finishes the race. Again, that's not important. What is important is the first line and the last line. He's going the distance. Going the distance doesn't mean that he's reached the goal--only that he's still working at it.

I love the second verse. It speaks to the doubt we all experience.

no trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine,
he's haunted by something he cannot define.
bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse,
assail him, impale him with monster-truck force.
in his mind, he's still driving, still making the grade.
she's hoping in time that her memories will fade.
cause he's racing and pacing and plotting the course,
he's fighting and biting and riding on his horse.
the sun has gone down and the moon has come up,
and long ago somebody left with the cup.
but he's striving and driving and hugging the turns.
and thinking of someone for whom he still burns.

We all set goals. Then we strive for those goals. Some goals are realized. Others seem to always be just beyond our reach. So, do we stop reaching, or do we go the distance?

You can listen to the song here.

Runners and Writers

2011-10-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

Runners are mad. I spent most of my adult life believing this. People step out of their houses. They run. And then they stop.

Madness.

My wife started running when I was 36. She pulled me into the sport and I discovered that my assessment was correct—runners are mad. But it's a wonderful kind of madness.

Runners run in the dark. In the rain. In the snow. They run until common sense and every muscle screams at them to stop. And then they run some more. They run barefoot. They run up mountains. They race ten miles when the only things waiting for them at the end are sweaty clothes and some chocolate milk.

Writers are also mad. They write deep into the night. On short lunch breaks. They jot down notes on the bus. They talk to themselves. They endure endless amounts of criticism and rejection. They write for years when the only thing waiting for them at the end are a million words—most of them unread by the world.

Madness.

I ran the Top of Utah Half Marathon last year. I trained all summer. I paid $100 for shoes, and another $50 for the privilege of entering the race. At the end of the 13 miles I got a key chain. I didn't care. I wasn't running for the prize at the end.

I've spent four years on a manuscript. I don't know where it's going to end up. I might get a contract. I might get nothing. But I didn't write it for the prize at the end.

Runners are mad. Writers are mad. But it's a delicious madness.

I love a good midnight run. Or a thorough sloshing through the rain. I will never forget a midnight run through the streets of Logan during a thunderstorm. These events remind me that I am alive. They remind me of what I can do.

I love when my characters surprise me. When the words flow, and I feel like I'm creating another world. When somebody reads a line that I wrote, and bursts into laughter. I will never forget the time a stranger approached me and told me of the time he had to pull his car to the side of the road because he couldn't see through the tears of laughter as he listened to my book.

Runners are mad. Writers are mad.

And that is why I run. And that is why I write.

Crossing the Streams

2011-09-23T06:55:00.000-07:00

I've started a new story. It's one I've been kicking around for about two years, and so far I'm still pretty excited about the project.

I've been trying to get to know my protagonist. For some this may be an easy thing, but I find it difficult. I have to really think about it. For months. I imagine what he would do in different situations. What he would say. I try to get deep inside his head.

This has proven to be a problem. You see, I'm trying to do the same thing for Juror # 11 (I know, yet ANOTHER post about the play). And quite frankly the two characters are very different. So I find myself in the play wanting to react like the character in my story. That doesn't work, because the character in the story would probably start beating on a few of the other jurors.

However, it's a good exercise for me. If I can't keep more than a single character in my head at once, I'm going to have a hard time writing novels. Unless the novel is about the sole survivor of the human race. Or a hermit. Maybe I should write a book about the Unabomber.

Opening night it tonight. We'll see which character shows up for the play.

2011-09-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

Those who follow me on Twitter have heard a lot about the play I’m in. I promise I’m not going to harp on it forever, but I thought I’d mention one more thing that I find interesting about plays—from a writer’s perspective.

The character I play is a foreigner. There is a brief paragraph in the front of the script about what my character is like. But when you look at the actual script itself, there is very little direction as to how I deliver my lines.

Scripts are interesting beasts. You don’t have the luxury you do with books to use phrases like “his eyes smoldered” or “his voice was cold”. All I have are the lines. I don’t even know if I’m supposed to stand up, sit down, slam my fist on the table, or cry. The dialogue has to convey all of the emotion.

By the time the play opens, we’ll have run the play close to 20 times. There are lines of dialogue that didn’t make sense when we first went through the play. I read the line and wondered why it was in there. It didn’t make sense. But the more I performed the lines, and the more I got into the head of my character, the more the lines make sense. I came to the very pleasant and surprising conclusion that the author of this play very likely pored over every single line of the play. It feels almost like one of those Bev Doolittle paintings. At first glance you see one thing, but as you study it, you realize there is more there than first met the eye.

As a writer, this goes back to the whole show not tell idea. It’s easy to say, “Jim was furious.” It’s much harder to have Jim say something so that the reader understands that fury. But when it’s done well, it’s much more powerful.

That’s not to say you have to convey everything in dialogue. Sometimes a simple action can be just as powerful. Several folks in my writers group do this so well. They set the tone or emotion of a scene without ever having to say, “he felt”, or “he thought”. It’s harder to write this way. I can stack up the word count with the best of them, but I find when I try to focus on showing and not telling—when I’m really focused on dialogue not just to move the story along, but to give insight to character and emotion, it’s much more difficult. I find myself writing for an hour, with only a 300 word difference.

Words can do so much more than just express a fact, you just have to find the right ones.

The Book Academy

2011-09-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

I've been invited to present at the UVU Book Academy. I attended this conference last year, and was very impressed. It's always fun to hang out with other writers, and UVU puts on a good conference. It's a full day, and at $49 you can't beat the price. Register today, since it's the last day to get the early bird discount.

Hope to see you there!

Sissy

2011-09-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

I like to think I'm in reasonable shape. I'm within 15 pounds of my high school weight. Last year I ran a half marathon, and although I've taken most of this year off (not by choice), yesterday I ran seven miles--the longest since last August. Today I went for a bike ride and went 25 miles--mostly because I'm not that bright--I should have stopped at 15. But you can't stop at 15 when you're still 10 miles from home.

So, tonight, when a neighbor called me up and asked if I'd sub on their indoor soccer team, I figured what the heck. I haven't played soccer since I was 12, but I can handle an hour of soccer. Right?

Yeah, not so much. This was me at the start of the game:

And this is me roughly 3 minutes into the 60 minute game:

Only it wasn't really muddy (it is indoors after all), and at no time was I actually ever without my shirt. I tried once, but the spectators started to complain.

Indoor soccer is HARD. But holy gravy is it fun. It's basically 60 minutes of sprinting, but since you're playing a game it doesn't feel like exercise.

The neighbor who invited me was very helpful, and told me where to stand, and whom to guard. And in my head, I knew exactly where I should be. But I couldn't get my body to exactly go along with the plan. My head would say something like, "Legs, go over there and guard that woman. The one who looks to be in her sixties." And my legs would say something that I can't repeat here because my blog is family friendly. Let's just say it's not polite.

Anyway, I had a heck of a time, and I'm now an official substitute for The Mosquitoes. So on top of my day job, my writing, TwHistory, the play, my family, and eating and sleeping, I can now add soccer to the list of things that I'd love to spend more time doing. I'll just have to adjust a few things, and I'll be good to go.

Who needs sleep anyway?

12 Angry Men

2011-09-16T00:40:00.000-07:00

Three years ago I had the chance to perform in a production of 12 Angry men. I'd never been in a play, and I fell in love with acting--or if not acting, whatever it was that I did out there on the stage.

When the director invited me back to reprise my role, I couldn't say no--even though the commute to and from the theater is two and a half hours.

I got a call from the Ogden Standard, wanting to do a quick interview about the play. The reporter asked me some easy questions, and then threw me a curve ball. "Why do you like the movie so much?"

I'd told her just a moment before that 12 Angry Men, with Henry Fonda is one of my top three favorite movies of all time.

But I didn't know how to answer her question. I hadn't given it a lot of thought before, so I threw out the first thought that popped into my head. And now that I've had a few days to consider it, I think my first thought was right.

12 Angry Men is really about one man. One man who stands up against eleven other men. Juror number eight has a lot of redeeming qualities. He is not afraid to stand up to a crowd. He's smart. He can't send a man to die without at least "taking about it first."

But the reason I like the character so much is the way he goes about making his case. Almost all of the jurors at one point or another get angry. But not juror number eight. He keeps calm. He lays forth his case with refreshing sincerity and honesty. He asks hard questions. There are times when he doesn't have the answers, and he freely admits it. He says that he doesn't know, but that "it's possible."

When the reporter asked me why I liked 12 Angry Men, the Republican debates were fresh in my mind. We're closing in on an election year, and the fighting between the parties seems particularly harsh. Voices from both sides seem more concerned about making the other party look bad, than to find common ground.

I wonder what would happen if all of us--left and right--freely admitted that sometimes we just don't know? Or what if we asked the hard questions? Or really listened to--and kept an open mind about--the answers? What if we put aside the snide remarks? What if we didn't worry about our "team" being right, and instead were open to new ideas.

In 12 Angry Men, we get a happy ending. The jury ends up unified.

Unity. I told the reporter from the Ogden Standard, that when it comes to America, I'd like to see a little bit more of that.

My Favorite Edit

2011-08-25T20:48:00.001-07:00

I've decided that my favorite edit is edit number two. When you write for the first time, you're filling a blank page. It's enjoyable, but hard.

But the second pass is the most fun. The structure is there, but it's usually weak. You add depth, emotion, and "meat" to the bones. The second draft is such an improvement from the first, and you feel like a master craftsman (or craftswoman, depending). It's an enjoyable experience.

My least favorite edit? That's easy. The last one. because by that point, you've been over the manuscript about a hundred times. #PainAndTorture

Community

2011-08-03T22:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight I stood in line with my wife and five boys for three and a half hours. The line snaked through a hot stuffy building. I was wearing a suit. I don't like suits.

At the end of the three and a half hours I shook a father's hand, and gave him a hug. I mumbled words that were far too inadequate to a mother who looked bone tired. And then my family and I stopped for a moment in front of a casket. We looked briefly at a boy who left his family and friends far too early. Three hours in line, and it was all over in two minutes. Was it worth it?

Of course.

Because that is what a community does. When my wife broke the news to us at dinner Saturday night, my seven-year-old burst into tears. He hung his head and sobbed. He didn't know the boy who had passed away, but he knew he was "from our church". That meant the boy was a member of our community. And so my son cried.

A community gathers when tragedy strikes. They mourn with those who mourn, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort. And when it seems no words can ease the pain and grief, still they come together in hopes that the small actions--all combined--will somehow lift the broken heart. The short note. The pink wristband. The flowers. All symbols of unity. Symbols of community.

We'll miss you Gabe. And we'll stand by your family to help them however we can.

Trying To Decide

2011-06-28T21:31:00.000-07:00

Almost Super, my middle grade superhero book, is nearly complete. My wonderful writing group has been giving excellent feedback, finding holes, and helping me really polish it up. I'm roughly 6 weeks from having it complete. It's now decision time. My book is done . . . what now?

Five years ago there wouldn't have been a decision to make. Brush off the ol' query letter, and start sending it out. But today, with Kindles, iPads, e-books, and the neo self-publishing movement, I'm torn.

Here are a few of the things I'm thinking about. I'd love your thoughts and opinions.

Print: E-books are in the news but print still rules the day. Amazon may sell more e-books than print books, but most of the money is still in paper. E-books only make up a little over 10 percent of total book sales. That percentage is growing, but no one seriously thinks that the printed book is going away.

The internet has helped with the two costs facing every author—up-front costs, and distributions. Print on demand means you don't need thousands of dollars to print your book. And e-books give you global distribution . . . sort of. In the end, you're still facing an uphill battle. You want your books to get into the hands of people who love to read, and where do those people hang out? The bookstore. You can sell your paper book online, but you'll never get the big sales until you're being pushed by Barnes and Noble, and you'll never get that until you have a publishing company behind you.

E-books and the internet are bringing about a lot of changes, but I think it's premature (and silly) to simply declare the old model dead. Changed? Yes. Dead? No.

Street Cred: Okay, I say this half in jest, but it's something that authors should consider. Finding an agent, and landing a good contract buys you credibility that is very difficult, if not impossible, to get if you self-publish. How important is this credibility? Six years ago I wrote a book. Writing a book did nothing for me. It wasn't until I landed a contract that things changed. I joined a writer's guild, I spoke at a local writers conference, and then was invited to emcee the event the following year. Now I'm doing a podcast with two other awesome authors. None of this would have happened if I hadn't landed that publishing contract. The book would have been just as good, but I would have had none of those experiences.

What if I self-publish my book and sell 1,000 books a month. What does that mean? Do I have a good book, or did I just get lucky? Maybe I'm just good at marketing. Self-publishing has always had a stigma, and that is something you have to consider. If I land a contract with one of the big six, then that brings credibility.

It's kind of like a diploma. I know really smart people who never got a degree. And I know a lot of folks with degrees that could really benefit from a strong dose of common sense. But businesses still use the degree as a litmus test for who they hire. It's an easy way to measure. If I self-publish, it's not clear. If I land a traditional contract, it is.

Focus: If I land a contract, guess what I get to do? Write. I get to write more. I don't have to worry about covers, marketing, moving my book through the editing process. I can write the sequel I've already got outlined. My agent can negotiate rights, my publisher can work their magic, and I can continue to do what I love best--write fun and funny books.

If I self publish, I'll have less time to write. Or I'll have the same amount, but the other areas will suffer. I've written Almost Super and I want people to read it. I'd also like to make a little bit of money. I'll do neither if I neglect these other aspects of the process.

Rights: When you sign away your copyright, it's for a potentially long time. Technically, it's 70 years after my death. I don't think I'll be in much of a state to do anything with my rights when they enter the public domain. You have to remember that a publisher is not in the business of publishing good books. They are in the business of making money. Once they've thrown my book over the fence, there often is not a lot of incentive for them to do much more with it. They may print a few copies here and there to keep it "in print", and then pull in a few hundred dollars a year on e-books. If I want to try anything interested (drop the price, give away half the book for free, etc.), I have to get their permission. And if I get a small advance, the publisher may not really put that much effort into marketing my book. They'll do just enough to earn the money back, make a profit, and then they'll move on to the next big thing (Like Rob Well's book Variant, available for pre-order RIGHT NOW).

Royalties: Royalties for new authors are pretty low. 10-15%. Royalties for authors on Amazon are 70%. Big difference, but again, you must do your own marketing, cover, editing, etc. However, 70% royalties on a $2.99 book are better than 15% royalties on a $10 book. But 15% royalties on 10,000 sales are better than 70% royalties on 100 sales.

So there you have it. These are just a few of the thoughts I've had. I assume other authors out there are having similar issues. I'd love your thoughts and opinions.

I've commissioned a friend to make me a cover, so in some sense I've already taken the first step on the route of self-publishing. On the other hand, I keep itching to send this to agents. I want to find out if the book really is good enough to land a solid contract.

I guess I can keep polishing it, and then I don't have to make a decision.

In Flander's Fields

2011-06-28T21:04:00.000-07:00

I forgot to blog about the fourth week of #PoetrySummer.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

I memorized this for two reasons. First, if I ever get around to playing my copy of Paths of Glory, I'll need a poem that I can quote to throw my opponent off his groove.

The second, is you realize what is in that last stanza, right? "If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep."

Sounds like a zombie apocalypse to me. And who doesn't like a good zombie apocalypse?

Poetry Summer Week Three

2011-06-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

It's week three of #SummerPoetry. This week's poem is If, by Rudyard Kipling.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

I've always wanted to memorize this poem, mostly because I have five sons. But as I memorized it, I realized there are several good bits for writers in there.

If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;

Early in my writing career, I met with triumph. I had several teachers--and of course my mother--who said I had a "talent" at writing. I started to believe that I was a born writer. I started to believe I'd have an easy road in my writing career. Work? That was for people who didn't have talent. And I had talent.

And then of course, I met with disaster. I realized that my writing wasn't anywhere near where it needed to be if I wanted success. I needed to work at my writing--to master the craft.

I should have met both triumph and disaster the same. I was/am a writer with strengths and weaknesses. It doesn't really matter what others say about me, good or bad. I'm the same writer at the end of the day.

And then of course there are these lines:

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you want to be a writer, the first ten years will be spent watching the "things" you gave so much time to broken. A good critique group will tear them down, not because they are cruel, but because your work will not be good. A successful writer is the one who can bear to watch their work torn apart, and then stoop, and start again with wornout tools.

It should be noted that the "wornout tools" bit especially applies to those who are still using Word Perfect.

I've got some ideas for a few other poems to memorize, but if any of you have a favorite, I'm open to suggestions.

Poemtry

2011-06-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

Poemtry (pronounced Poem-Tree). That is what my kids called it when I pulled out Shel Silverstein and read to them, back in the day.

Dan Wells is memorizing a poem every week during the summer. He invited other folks to participate. Rob Wells, not to be outdone by his older brother, joined in. That wasn't enough to push me over the edge, but when Sarah Eden joined the club, I caved. When my two co-hosts on The Appendix are memorizing poems, it's time for me to suck it up and wade into the mental fray. Otherwise they will mock me during the breaks when we're recording. You think they are all nice by the way they talk on the podcast, but as soon as the microphone goes off, they start making fun of me. Mostly about my beard. Sometimes Sarah kicks me under the table.

But I digress.

I served an LDS mission. Our particular mission was big on scripture memorization. You had to memorize 30 scriptures before you could drive a car. I struggled with memorizing scriptures. I would read a verse over and over and over to no avail. When I finally did memorize a scripture, I woke up the next day and realized I'd forgotten it all.

But I pressed on. Mostly because I wanted to drive. You won't pick up girls if you can't drive the mission Ford Escort station wagon. The more I memorized, the more I found that it came easily. The first few scriptures would take me weeks before I finally got them. Toward the end of my mission, it become much easier. I remember very distinctly writing down a scripture I wanted to memorize. After I finished, I read the whole thing, line by line. I flipped the card over and realized that I could recite it after only one reading (and one writing). It's the closest I've ever come to a photographic memory. By the end of my mission, I had over 300 scriptures (over 500 verses) memorized. I kept them in a box, and would recite each one at least once a month.

I've gotten out of the habit, but I'm looking forward to a little exercise. I'm a week behind, but I've already memorized my "makeup" poem.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Why did I choose this one? I think it's obvious. It's a sixteen line poem but . . . THE LAST TWO LINES ARE IDENTICAL! I only had to memorize fifteen lines! I get all the glory of a sixteen line poem, but only had to memorize fifteen lines. I'm laughing all the way to the poem-memorizing glory bank.

For my second poem, I'm choosing a shorter one, but still a favorite. It's a Shel Silverstein, and the goal is to have it by Sunday.

LISTEN TO THE MUSTN'TS

Listen to the MUSTN'TS child,
Listen to the DON'TS
Listen to the SHOULDN'TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me--
Anything can happen, child
ANYTHING can be.

TwHistory

2011-04-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted. It's been a crazy spring. More on that later, assuming I ever find the time (right now, it's not looking good).

However, I had to share this video we had made for TwHistory. It's a great overview of what TwHistory is, and how it works.

Hope you enjoy.

A Smart Lottery

2011-01-29T21:23:00.000-08:00

I don't think much of lotteries. Study after study has shown that the people who play lotteries are those who can't afford it--the poor and uneducated. They also spend a larger percentage of their income on tickets, making it a kind of regressive tax.

I was listening to a Freakanomics podcast the other day, and heard what I think is one of the best ideas to come along in a long time. It's called a prize-linked savings account. It's changed my mind about 'lotteries', and I think it's time Utah allows this kind of lottery.

Let me explain.

Americans, on average, spend more than they make. We like to put things on our credit card. When bank accounts get drained, many people often become desperate and play the lottery, hoping to strike it rich. And of course, the odds are against them, and they only end up deeper in the hole.

What Americans really need to do is save more. They need to put money away in case it's needed later. It's a simple concept, but one that millions just don't seem to get.

A prize-linked savings (PSL) account could be the answer to this problem. PSL is often called the no-lose lottery. The idea is simple. When you buy a lottery ticket you either win or lose. If you lose, you've lost all your money. If you win, you get more than you spent, but the odds are against you.

With a PSL, you put money in a savings account. Every month, the bank picks a handful of lucky winners, and gives them a large sum of money. The banks pay this money from the interest earned on all the accounts. If you didn't win, no big deal, you haven't lost a cent. You can either pull your money out, or you can keep it in for a chance to win next month. In other words, the only thing you lose is the interest you would have earned in a regular savings account.

The PSL idea was tried in South Africa with incredible success. Poor people, many of whom never even had a bank account to begin with, suddenly were pouring into the banks and putting money in PSLs. It was so successful, in fact, that the government of South Africa sued the bank, and shut down the program. Why? Because the government of South Africa runs a lottery, and they realized they were losing revenue. That's right, people stopped playing the lottery, and were saving money. And the government shut the program down.

Here in the states we're no better. It's illegal in almost every state to do something like PSL, because it competes with the state run lotteries. States don't want to lose money. Banks could encourage people to save, and American needs it's citizens to be more responsible with their money, but it's illegal because it would hurt State's bottom line.

Here in Utah, we don't have a lottery. Many people cross over to Reno, or up into Idaho or Colorado to play the lottery. Why not be trailblazers and allow PSL here in Utah? It would encourage our citizens to save, and it would very likely keep more money here in the state.

I wouldn't use PSLs, because I think I can get a better return through careful investing. But for thousands of people who play the lottery, and see it as a wealth building strategy, this would be a much better option. Both for them, and for the rest of society, because they'd be more responsible, and would need to turn to social programs less often. The Legislature is in session. Let's allow PSLs here in Utah, and see what happens.

By the way, I linked to the Freakonomics article above, I highly recommend reading the whole article, as well as listen to the podcast (15 minutes or so). Michigan is currently experimenting with PSLs, with some intriguing results. Billie June Smith deposited $75, and won $100,000.

And everybody else? Well, their savings accounts are still full.

Something We Can All Agree On

2011-01-12T18:36:00.000-08:00

I happened to be driving my son to scouts, and heard part of President Obama's speech at the Tucson Memorial. His words were powerful and moving. You can read the entire speech here, but I wanted to especially quote this bit:

When a tragedy like this strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations - to try to impose some order on the chaos, and make sense out of that which seems senseless. Already we've seen a national conversation commence, not only about the motivations behind these killings, but about everything from the merits of gun safety laws to the adequacy of our mental health systems. Much of this process, of debating what might be done to prevent such tragedies in the future, is an essential ingredient in our exercise of self-government.

But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized - at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do - it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.

Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world, and that terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding. In the words of Job, "when I looked for light, then came darkness." Bad things happen, and we must guard against simple explanations in the aftermath.

For the truth is that none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty what might have stopped those shots from being fired, or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man's mind.

So yes, we must examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of violence in the future.

But what we can't do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another. As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.

And then this:

I believe we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved lives here - they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.

That's what I believe, in part because that's what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed. Imagine: here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that someday she too might play a part in shaping her nation's future. She had been elected to her student council; she saw public service as something exciting, something hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.

I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us - we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations.

Christina was given to us on September 11th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called "Faces of Hope." On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child's life. "I hope you help those in need," read one. "I hope you know all of the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart. I hope you jump in rain puddles."

If there are rain puddles in heaven, Christina is jumping in them today. And here on Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-21T20:31:00.001-08:00

I'm hopping to have time to blog more next year. But I couldn't let a Christmas season pass up without one of my favorite Christmas songs.

Merry Christmas.

TwHistory

2010-10-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

There is a great scene in Spinal Tap where . . . actually, let me show you.

Over four thousand people have entered the Pepsi refresh challenge. The top ten get funded. TwHistory is currently number eleven. We'd love to be in the top ten. We'll use the money to pay educators to develop lesson plans that can then be used by thousands of students to create their own TwHistory reenactment.

Help get us to eleven, and vote every day from now to the end of the month.

Thanks!

Where is LDS Fiction Going? A Response

2010-09-20T13:23:00.000-07:00

Jennie Hansen has an article over at Meridian Magazine that does a good job of summarizing where LDS fiction is today, and where it's headed in the future.

I did a book signing once with Jennie at BYU Education Week. I remember sitting there with my 15 copies of Chickens in the Headlights while Jennie sat next to me with what seemed like a mountain of titles. I think at the time she had over a dozen different titles. She was kind and considerate to me as a new author. She is a prolific writer, reader, and reviewer.

With an introduction like that, you know I'm going to take issue with something from her article. But it's a minor point, really. :) From her article:

Two factors have given rise to speculation concerning the future of LDS fiction. One is the explosive impact of electronics on the world of the printed word. The other is the reality of today's economic climate.

Even though today's technology makes desk top publishing easier, cheaper, and faster than going the traditional route through a publisher, it is producing a poorer quality product that can only hurt the overall market. Some writers and publishers seem to be trimming costs by trusting electronic editing instead of using a qualified copy editor with the result of ridiculous errors that interrupt the flow of the story. We're seeing not only there and their used interchangeably, but we have characters eating deserts, detectives perusing villains, amorphous lovers, and the road less travailed.

This concern is not limited to LDS fiction, I've seen similar sentiments echoed elsewhere around the publishing world. But it always confuses me. I don't understand why poorly written bookshurts the overall market. How exactly does that work?

For example, if we use this same line of reasoning in other art forms, shouldn't we discourage piano recitals and high school band concerts? If I hear little Jimmy slaughter Beethoven on the piano, might that not discourage me from purchasing classical music the next time I'm shopping on iTunes?

What about independent bands who pump out their own CDs? Or independent film makers who burn their own DVDs? If I see a poorly filmed movie, will that keep me away from the theaters?

Of course not. In other types of art we see these kinds of activity as possible stepping stones to the 'next level'. So why can't we see it this way when it comes to writing? Why isn't it natural for a person to say, "Yeah, I wrote and self-published three books before I landed my first contract.

I don't judge other LDS authors by a poorly written book. If I read a bad book from a self-published author, that in no way hinders me from my next purchase at Deseret Book.

I think we only need to look at the Internet and blogs to see this idea in action. Many of the blogs are polished and professional. Other blogs could use some editing help (this one included). And then there are blogs that are of poor to extremely poor quality. But the fact that those poor blogs exist doesn't keep me from finding and enjoying the good ones out there.

And of course we haven't even talked about the benefits that come from self-publishing. When it's easier to self-publish, there is a wider variety of material to choose from. Yes, we may need to wade through some poor quality material, but that doesn't dim our enjoyment when we find a gem--a gem that may not have made its way into the light of day were it not for the self-publishing route.

Ode to Writers Group

2010-09-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

Writers Group, oh Writers Group, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

1) You encourage me to write. Okay, there is something inside me that is already driving me to write, but you finish the job. We meet on Thursday. I don’t have pages. I need to pull out the laptop because you expect nothing less than five pages every week.

2) You tell me that I rock. Let’s face it, the profession of writing is not exactly filled with people singing your praise. My first and worst critic is myself. I read what I write and I’m quite certain that it stinks. I get rejections from agents and editors, more than I want to keep track of. I’ve filled years with insecurity, second guessing, and doubt. But once a week I can sit in a chair, and listen to eight other people tell me how awesome I am.

3) You tell me that I suck. After telling me how good my manuscript is (and sometimes you may really have to search to find something positive to say), you show me the problems. This is painful, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I need to know my weaknesses. I need to see the holes. Not in vague terms, not in softened generalities, but the brutal, complete, and honest truth. I need to see the warts, every last one of them, so I can fix them and make my writing better.

4) Because you get it. You get it like nobody else can. The deep pain that comes with rejection. The indescribable joy that come from a partial request. The hope. The fears. Writers experience emotions only other writers can really understand. And sometimes when I’m crying, maybe in joy, maybe in sorrow, I need somebody who really understands. Somebody who has been there.

5) My writing always improves. Whether it’s from feedback from the rest of the group, or because I see strengths and weaknesses in the other pages I read, my writing always gets better. I learn tips and tricks. I see pitfalls and shortcuts that shouldn’t be made. Once a week I’m actively engaged in honing my craft, and step by step I improve.

The Present

2010-08-26T23:49:00.000-07:00

I remember getting presents as a young boy—at Christmas, on my birthday. . .presents were an exciting part of my childhood. The best part about presents was not opening them. No, the best part was waiting to open them. The box sat there under the tree or on your lap. You'd look at the size of the box and wonder what it could be. Holding a present is magical. Holding a present with your name on it puts you in a happy place.

I've spend the last four months going over my book line-by-line, page-by-page. I’ve trimmed about ten thousand words, and added in another five thousand. I've been getting some good feedback from multiple sources and I feel good about the progress I’m making.

In other words, I’m in a happy place. I’m feeling good about my writing and my book. I’m feeling hopeful.

Struggling writers are not often in a happy place, at least when it comes to the writing world. The first years are filled with rejection and insecurity. When you look critically at your work, you often have to admit you have so, so far to go.

I'm getting ready to send out my manuscript again. That means taking steps that could lead you out of the happy place. I have to open the present that is sitting on my lap and find out what’s really inside. Once you open the present there is no more hope and wonder, just reality. There's a chance the new reality will be better than you imagined. And there's a chance the new reality will just plain suck. If it’s the former you rejoice for a few days and then get back to the grindstone. Even if the new reality is good, the journey is still long. If the new reality is the latter, you try (once again) to pick yourself up by the bootstraps, wipe away the tears, and crack open the laptop. Only writers know how hard that feat really is.

But for now, maybe I’ll take a few more moments to linger in this happy place. I'll sit here with the present on my lap and just wonder. Just hope. Maybe I’ll take a few seconds to dream about what might be, and enjoy the present.

UVU Book Academy

2010-08-16T21:32:00.000-07:00

Note the sandwiches

I've been invited to speak at the Book Academy Conference at Utah Valley University on September 30th. My topic will be how authors can leverage social media to their own selfish ends. Actually, I think the official topic was a bit more altruistic sounding.

Actually, note that I didn't say how authors can use social media to market their books. Social media does oh-so-much more than just marketing. In fact, if you're using this medium to do more than 10% marketing, then your doing it all wrong. :)

Anyway, if you're in the area, I highly recommend you drop in. I'm presenting in one of the first workshops, and Robison Wells is presenting at the end. So it's kind of like getting a how-to-write sandwich with Wells and myself as the buns.

And who would want to miss that? Not you, that's for sure. So go sign up!

Primary

2010-07-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

Funny story.

In my second book, Bullies in the Headlights, I reference a church song in which the words have been changed. Here are the original words:

I have two little hands folded snugly and tight,
They are tiny and weak yet they know what is right.
During all the long hours till daylight is through,
There are plenty of things for my two hands to do.

In the book, I changed the words to the following:

I have five little fingers on one of my hands,
I have six on the other, I don't understand.
During all the long hours till daylight is through,
I have one little finger with nothing to do.

My sons, of course, like my version better. In my book I have actions that go along with the new words, one of these actions are to stick one's finger up one's nose.

So whenever we all get together for singing time, they sing my version, and do my actions. I've found it quite funny over the last few months, but today it all came back to bite me in the end.

We're moving next week, so this is our last time at church. In primary, they have what are called 'heartfelt' songs. Basically, it's a child's favorite song. Whenever we sing that song, the child whose heartfelt song it is, stands at the front and sings it with everybody.

Well, today the primary chorister said, "It's the Jensen's last week, and it just so happens that all five of them have the same heartfelt song--I Have Two Little Hands. So we want them to come up and lead us in the song.

I should mention that I teach a primary class, so I'm sitting right there.

My five boys look shell shocked. They're supposed to lead the class not only in word, but in action. They don't know the real words, let alone the real actions. They stood there like deer in the headlights while the rest of the primary sang the song. The other kids looked confused because my boys weren't singing their heartfelt song.

That's bad enough, but it gets worse.

After the song the chorister, sounding a little confused, asked, "Why is that your favorite song?"

Son number three was quick to fill in the details. "My dad changed all the words and actions, so we like it."

There was a few seconds of silence, and then the chorister looked at me. "Well then, why don't we ask Brother Jensen to come up and teach us his way."

My turn to look like a deer in the headlights.

Have I mentioned my wife is in primary as well? I look back at her and she is at once able to motion to me--a motion I interpret as 'if you get up and teach them that song you're going to sleep on the couch for a year--and at the same time motion to the chorister that no, Brother Jensen's version might not set the right tone for the rest of primary.

It took some convincing, but we finally got the kids singing time back on track, and we escaped without further corruption of our little primary children.

Hopefully we can do as little damage at our next ward.

Can't pass up this article

2010-07-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't taken a break from blogging, I've just been doing it somewhere else. My blog over at Open Author is hopping, and has been taking up a lot of my time. Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already.

However, I couldn't pass up this great article from Wired. The content was interesting, but the sealing deal was this quote. If you know me, you know I can't pass up an article with a quote like this without mentioning it.

"As a result, Falcon was able to begin selling its urinals to St. Clair Hospital in Pittsburgh. Those units have been in operation since 2004. So far, there have been no urinal-related deaths."

Kickstarter

2010-06-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

Well, my kickstarter campaign has ended. I finished with almost $3,000 raised of the $5,500 I needed. And while technically it was a failure, I learned some valuable things. If any of you are thinking of starting your own kickstarter campaign (and it can be used for more than just publishing books), here are a few lessons learned.

You've got a have a good pitch. I think the video I put together really helped. I was overwhelmed by how many of my friends and family donated to the project, but I was also amazed at how many total strangers donated money, just based on the video and my pitch. You can't just throw up a page that says, "Hey, I need money."
You have to be fearless when it comes to marketing. Network, network, network. This is where I fell short. I posted the link to Facebook a few times. I posted here, and on Twitter. Every time I did I'd see more people donate. But I didn't want to turn into one of those blogs or Twitter feeds that is just pestering people to donate. I've never been a good marketer, and this time was no exception. I should have been passing out cards, and telling everybody I knew...but I didn't.
Kickstarter works. I've seen a lot of projects get funded, some incredibly so. This one asked for $10,000 and got over $200,000. I'm convinced that Kickstarter and other similar sites provide a new model that decentralizes the whole grant process. And that is a good thing.

I'm glad I started the project. I heard from many people telling me they enjoyed the first chapters. It's motivated me to redouble my agent/publisher hunting and try once again to get this book published.

Thanks to all of you who supported.

Just a reminder...

2010-06-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

I've steered more of my posts on writing to my other blog, http://marionjensen.com Make sure to update your Google reader or RSS feed. I wish there was some easy way to do a re-direct, but I haven't had the time to sit down and figure it out. Plus, I don't want to walk away from my Google page rank.

Statistics from an 8 mile run

2010-05-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

Number of runners/walkers/bikers I saw - 51
Number of dogs I saw- 8
Number of dogs I saw making a doo doo - 2
Number of owners I saw cleaning up after their dogs - 0

THE JORDAN RIVER PARKWAY IS NOT YOUR DOG'S PERSONAL BATHROOM

Morons.

Technology overload

2010-05-22T11:44:00.000-07:00

I just realized that we have six computers in our house. That isn't counting the Wii, my Android phone, etc., it's just the traditional computers. Here are some stats:

Laptops - 3
Desktops - 3
Windows XP - 2
Windows 7 - 2
Ubuntu - 1
Leopard - 1
Dell - 5
Mac - 1

So, my goal is to get one more computer. That way we'll have one computer per person in the family.

Now I just need to get my wife into World of Warcraft. Then family time would consist of each of us going to our separate corners, logging in, and fighting virtual monsters until the cows come home.

Pacing

2010-05-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

I ran my first 5k of the season. The picture of me to the right is not the picture of the race today. But I like the picture, and it's of me running, so I'm posting it so those of you who don't like to read can know what the post is about, without looking at all this boring text.

Anyway, I brought my iPod this morning, but alas, the battery was dead. I was forced to run without any tunes. I NEVER run without tunes, and I think it threw off my pacing.

Last year I ran a race and started off too quick. I ended up sucking air the entire race, and almost vomited at the end. My race time was horrible and I was hacking for days. I learned my lesson--you have to pace yourself.

So this morning I started off a little slow. I settled in behind a woman and then finally passed her when she started walking. There was another guy ahead of me in blue shorts, and it seemed that he and I were running about the same pace. I set the goal trying to keep up. He was about fifty feet ahead of me.

But with about half a mile to go, I realized I wasn't breathing that hard, nor was I sweating. I decided to turn up the heat a little. I'd sprint for a bit and see if I could catch up to blue shorts.

It felt fantastic. I realized I had been running at a much slower pace than I thought. I caught up to the guy very easy, although I slowed down when I passed him. I also breathed hard, so he wouldn't feel bad. Then I saw I still had time to pass yet another guy before the finish line. I passed him and finished the race with a decent time for a pudgy, middle-aged white guy. I sprinted the last half mile.

Anyway, it reminded me of the important of pacing. If you run too fast you're going to burn out too soon If you run too slow--if you don't push yourself--you're never going to improve.

So the next time you come up with some wild and crazy idea, go ahead and get excited--dream big, and then set some reachable goals and get started. Push yourself, celebrate the victories along the way, and don't forget to use Vaseline so you don't chafe.

Wait, forget that last piece of advice. I think the analogy kind of breaks down at that point.

Video Games and Publishing

2010-05-11T20:03:00.000-07:00

Wrote a quick piece on a model used by independent video game developers that might be of value to writers.

2010-05-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

I went golfing on Saturday. I go once a year with my in-laws, and while I’m not a huge golf fan, I LOVE to play golf with the Olsens. It’s always a rip-roaring good time with them.

For readers of my blog, you have probably heard my wild and crazy ideas about collaborative composition before—the idea of a group of writers working on a single piece of writing. I've blogged about both the benefits, as well as the challenges and drawbacks.

But while playing golf I was reminded of why I think it would work so well. I’m a horrible golfer, probably the worst one in the group. I putt OK, and my short game is decent. But my driving is well past atrocious. Laughable is probably the best word because that is what everybody did each time I hit off the tee—all good natured, of course.

But we played scramble rules. Scramble means that everybody tees off and then the group goes to whoever hit the best ball and then everybody hits from there. Between the six of us, none of us was that good. But combined we were amazing. I think we hit a two or three under par, and almost had an eagle on a par five.

A couple of the brothers were good at driving, and I hit a few nice lobs onto the green. When six of us are putting, there is a good chance that somebody will hit it in, and I think there were only two holes where we didn’t one putt it.

I think writing can be the same way. If you had six writers working on a piece of fiction, you’re going to get somebody with good description, somebody with a keen eye for plot or character development, somebody pithy who will be able to tighten things up, and somebody else to make sure the voice is consistent.

If I could rewind the clock 5 years when I first signed up for a Ph. D. in instructional technology, I think I might have changed my mind. Instead of going for the Ph. D., I’d go for an MFA in creative writing. I’d love to teach, and I think collaborative composition would afford some great scaffolding for writers practicing their craft.

Maybe someday I’ll figure out how to pull it off. In the mean time, I need to go hit a bucket of balls. My goal for next year is to have TWO of my shots be the ‘best ball’.

The Open Model

2010-05-07T23:31:00.000-07:00

(Cross posted here) Writing a book is hard. Writing a good book is even harder. Writing a good book and getting published is crazy wild hard as a really hard diamond hard.

These are the steps you must follow:

Learn the craft (estimated time, 10 years)
Write short stories
Send short stories to magazines
Get short stories published
Write a book (probably several month/years)
Go to conferences
Network
Find an agent
Try to convince said agent to read your stuff
Repeat steps 6-9 about a million times without losing your ego, mind, or self esteem
Sign with agent
Wait for months/years while agent shops your book to publishers
Sign with publisher

I've simplified the process, and probably left off a bunch of steps, but those are the basics.

But as I've mentioned on this blog before, thanks to technology we're seeing new models emerging. These new models aren't shortcuts to publishing; it still takes as much work as before. But the good news is if you put in the time, and master the craft, you've got alternative ways to attract attention. It is especially important to note that the new models are very much driven by merit. So if you really are a good writer, you're going to have an advantage.

One of the emerging models is the Free model. The basic idea is to give away your content, and make money in other ways. Musicians do this by giving away their music and then charging for concerts and CDs--yes, people will still buy CDs even if the music is free. Artists may do this by giving away digital images of their work, and then charging for a paper copy of their book.

But this model has never worked very well for authors. People just don't want to read in front of a computer. They want to do it in bed, or on the bus, or in their fortress of solitude.

But now we have the Kindle, the Nook, the iPad, the Sony Reader, and things are swinging in our direction. Now we too can give away our content, and make money in other ways.

How does it work? I'll tell you...but in a future post. It's late and I tend to be a boring person, so I'm calling this post finished (or am I just trying to hook you in?). Give me a few days and I'll a) outline how an author can give away content and still make a living, and b) show you a handful of authors who are already doing this.

By the way, this model is a great way for an author to break into the market, but it's also very effective for established authors to boot.

Work in Progress

2010-05-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

I’ve been involved in an interesting writing experiment recently. Let me asplain.

Sometimes it’s helpful to describe your book using similar titles. So you might say, “This book is Gone With the Wind meets Harry Potter.” Sounds like a winner, right?

Well, if I had to explain my latest work in progress it would be 12 Angry Men meets World War Z. If you haven’t seen the movie 12 Angry Men before, then you need to stop reading this post right now. Well, not right now, because then you won’t know what to do. Here is what you should do. Go to Netflix, sign up for Netflix, rent 12 Angry Men, wait by your mailbox until it arrives, and then watch it. It’s such a great movie I’ll have to devote an entire post to it sometime.

World War Z is also a good book. It’s a book about a zombie apocalypse, and while my book doesn't have any zombies, it does have a similar way of telling the story. In World War Z instead of a protagonist or a rowdy but lovable group of sidekicks who stick together and sooner or later come in possession of an axe (there are ALWAYS axes in zombie books), the book reads like an NPR radio program. It is a series of interviews with people who survived the event. Each one tells their story, and by the end you undertand what happened holistically, not just to a group of people. It’s a very interesting way to tell a story.

So going back to my writing experiment, the general plot is a catastrophic event has occurred and anything electrical has been fried. Cars, computer, TVs—none of it works anymore. There is no way to ship goods, no way to communicate with other people, and society begins to fall apart. But before that happens, a group of 800 people leave Utah in an old fashioned wagon train, headed east.

However, I'm not telling the story in the usual way; I’m presenting it as a transcript of a court trial. The trial happens after the wagon train arrives at their destination. One member of the train committed a grievous crime against another, and as witnesses are called to testify, the story unfolds to the reader. The events of the trek are built through the testimony of the various members of the wagon train.

I call it an experiment because I don’t know if it will work. Since it’s a court transcript, the entire 17,000 words so far are 100% dialogue. There is not ‘he said’, or ‘she gazed out over the prairie’ anywhere in the book. This brings up an interesting dilema with regards to "show don't tell".

Show don't tell is something most authors are familiar with. Usually telling is bad and showing is good. This is an example of telling:

“You’re an idiot,” he said, angrily.

I’m telling you that the character is angry, but it’s not a good way to write. Sure, you know he’s mad, but there is a better way. Perhaps something like this:

John gripped the back of the chair until his fingernails dug into the hard wood. He could feel the blood rushing to his face.

“You’re an idiot,” he said.

It’s much better to show. However, what do you do when all you have to work with is dialogue, I can’t do either method! I can’t even say that somebody is mad, I have to show emotion simply through the dialogue itself.

I don't know if I can pull it off, but if nothing else it's been very good practice. I've been forced to really try to inject emtion into dialogue.

YAB

2010-05-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

After the Storymakers conference, I couldn't help but start thinking again about all of the changes taking place in the world of technology, how directly those changes relate to us in the publishing world, and how often we as authors are completely oblivious to these changes.

So, what to do? Why...start a blog, of course. Here at Chicken Armpits I talk about anything and everything. My kids, my school, my books, my rash, my...wait, I don't think I've mentioned my rash before. Just forget about that. It's nothing...really.

So, I'm starting a blog where I'll only talk about technology and how it directly relates to the publishing industry, particularly authors. So...if you are a fellow author, or you're interested in that topic, please feel free to follow me over at marionjensen.com

A Manifesto of Sorts

2010-04-25T12:52:00.001-07:00

I attended the Whitney Awards last night. It was a fantastic event, and a good time was had by all involved.

During the course of the evening, Dan Wells introduced David Farland, an author who received a lifetime achievement awards from the Whitney Committee.

Dan explained that when he was younger, he wanted to be an author. He described that by the time he reached college the public school system had all but beaten that dream out of him. But Dan was lucky enough to take a class from David Farland, and the first thing Dave told his class was, "You can make a living at this."

Dan's experience mirrors mine--almost.

I too wanted to be a writer ever since I was young. I dreamed of the stories I would create; I used to pull out my parents' typewriter and plink out stories on scrap pieces of paper. In fact, the first chapter of Chickens in the Headlights was based on a short story I wrote in high school.

The public school system didn't encourage me either, but when I got to college I still wanted to be an author. Like Dan, I took a writing class in college. But that is where our stories separate.

You see, I too had an old and wise (or so I thought at the time) professor who dropped a little nugget of wisdom on his class. But where David Farland's nugget was pure gold, the nugget I received was more along the lines of a turd. He told our class, "You can't make a living by becoming an author. It just doesn't happen. However, we have a wonderful technical writing program, and you all should enroll."

And so I dropped out. I floundered for years trying to pick another major, trying to find something I was interested about. I finally graduated simply because I had the credit, not because I had passion for any one topic. I stayed in school and got a masters degree because I didn't know what to do.

I can't help but wonder what would have happened if I had somehow met David Farland instead of that professor at USU. Would I be making a living at writing? Would I have had a book nominated for a Whitney Award last night?

But this post isn't meant to make an excuse, or sound like sour grapes. I don't mean to whine 'if only'. Because you see, yesterday I met Dave. Over the past few years I've come to realize good writing isn't a gift, it's something you earn. It's something you practice, not for weeks or month, but for a decade at least. I'm not there...yet.

But now I know the secret. I can't help the fact that I've started two decades late, but I have started. It may be another 10 years while I master the craft, but that doesn't matter. I'm going to keep at it. I'm going to keep writing. And by golly, someday I'm going to get another book published.

Not meant to be a spoonerism

2010-04-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

I love it when a character's voice takes over and he says something that surprises you. The scene I was working on has a superhero confronting a citizen in a supermarket. The exchange made me smile. From Chapter 19:

“Can I help you?” Benny’s dad asked. Benny had noticed that whenever his dad wore his super suit, his voice changed just a little. He spoke in a booming, authoritative way. “Up to no good, are we?”

“Uh…” said the man. “No sir. I’m just buying some fruit—a kiwi.” He held up the small brown and green fruit in an effort to prove his point.

“That’s a pomegranate,” said his father. “And everybody knows pomegranates are vegetables.”

Benny couldn’t help but chime in on the conversation. “Actually Dad,” he said, “I think it is a kiwi.” Benny had learned long ago that since his family only ate a few types of food, they weren’t too well versed on fruits and vegetables.

His father ignored Benny. “It might be a kiwi,” he said to the man. "Or it might not be. That little fact is up in the air at the moment. But either way, you don't fool me. I think you’re up to something. You look a little shady to me.”

“I’m not shady,” said the man nervously. “Really. I’m very…unshady.”

Rafter’s father walked around the man, looking him up and down. “Look at those clothes—a bit on the dingy side. And that beard? Very scruffy. And what about that hat? That’s a shifty hat if I ever saw one.”

“My mother knitted me this hat,” the man said defensively. “For my birthday.”

Benny’s father squinted his eyes and glared at the man. “Your mother is a shifty knitter.”

Another Contest

2010-03-31T20:42:00.000-07:00

So I've been bombarding everybody with my Almost Super book, but this post is a welcome reprieve. I'm holding a contest, but for something completely different. It's about a writers conference at which I'm presenting this June.

The Teen Writers Conference is in it's second year, and last year was a hoot. The conference is for anybody age 13-19. You can read more about it here.

If you are a teen, or know a teen, who loves to write this is a great place to learn, network, and drink from drinking fountains.

If you would like to be entered, or enter somebody else, simply e-mail me at marionjensen at gmail dot com. I'll announce the winner in a few weeks.

That is all.

I'm so far out of my comfort zone it's not even funny...

2010-03-24T19:55:00.001-07:00

Hi there. My name is Marion. And I can't self-promote.

I just can't do it. At my book signings people would come over to my table and I'd find myself saying, "Actually, this book is in the library, you can just check it out. That way you know if you like it before you buy it."

I have a hard time telling people that they should read my book. I feel like an Amway salesman. I get all awkward every time my book is discussed. People get tired of me, I'm sure, because when I ever bring up my book I add all these qualifiers to it. "Yeah, it's a book based loosely on my childhood. You might like it, but you might not, too. And that's ok. I mean, I don't want you to feel any pressure just because we know each other doesn't mean you are obligated to read it. At all. I promise. In fact, it's probably better that you don't read it just because then things will be awkward. But if you do want to read it, I can borrow you a copy, so you don't have to buy it, because you might not like it. But then you might feel more obligated to read it, or worried that I'm going to test you on it, which I won't. Really, I promise. I mean if you really want to read it, you can, but I will never ask you in the future if you've read it, or give you a test. If it makes you more comfortable, you can just take it for a while, bend a few pages, get it a little dirty like you have read it, and then...I'll just stop talking now. How about this weather we're having, crazy, right?"

I usually can say that in about 8 seconds without taking a breath, and all the while I'm making calming motions with my hands, just to show you that I'm not crazy.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. I'm asking for your help.

You see, I've had 44 people pledge money on Kickstarter.com to buy my book. Over 150 copies have been bought. That is a lot of pressure. But if I don't reach the goal ($5,500--the cost of a print run), then the money isn't funded, and nobody gets books. And now I really want those 44 people to get their books, in spite of how awkward it will be for me when I see them in the future.

So, I've heard that book contests are all the rage. I'm all about rage, just ask my kids. So here is the deal. If you post the gadget shown below anywhere on your blog (it can be in a post, or in the sidebar) and send me a link to it, I will enter your name in a drawing to receive a free signed copy. I'll give away 10 of these babies, so your chances of getting it are good (I've only got 17 followers (although you don't have to be a follower to share the link), and there is a good chance some of them won't be able to figure out how to get the Widget to work on their site (I'm certainly not talking about you)). I'll also personalize the book if you want. In fact, I can even pre-bend the pages so that if we meet at your house in the future, and I pull the book off the shelf, you can just pretend you read it (I won't quiz you).

Sound like a plan? You can get the widget on this page. It's the link that says "grab the widget". Also, if you tweet or post the link to facebook, let me know and I'll enter your name a second time.

Thanks, all. I couldn't do it without your help. We're more than 25% of the way there, so I think we can do this thing.

The Widget

LSFA LF CA TFNNA

2010-03-11T10:47:00.000-08:00

Growing up I was incredibly shy. As an adult I've become much more social. Sometimes I suspect that it's because I spent so long hiding in a shell that now I enjoy being with other people. Heck, I drive up to Logan twice a month, just so I can hang out with the coolest board game group ever. I like socializing.

So why am I trying so hard to become a full time writer? Writing is a very solitary experience. You lock yourself in an attic for 6 months and bang out a manuscript. Sure, if you become successful then you get to meet a lot of people--fans, agents, publishers, critics--but even then, you have to return to that attic and spend 6-8 months every year in solitary confinement, banging out yet another script before your publisher lets you out into the fresh air so you can interact with people again.

For me, the best part of writing is that I get to meet and hang out with other writers; all of whom are interesting. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being not very interesting, and 10 being very interesting, writers usually land at about 85. Honestly, they are all crazy, but the incredibly interesting crazy, not the grow a beard and mutter crazy (well, Rob Wells is both kinds of crazy).

For me, I write because I love to hear from people who have read what I wrote. I love the feedback. And I love talking about writing, not just doing it. For me, I would almost pay money to sit in other people's outline sessions as they hammer out characters, plot, and setting. It's why I was so into role-playing games when I was young. Well, that, and the simple fact that I was a nerd.

Because of this, I've often thought that writing a book with somebody else would be the epitome of awesomeness. You would have the strengths of two authors behind a single book. One might be great at world building, another good at dialogue. Both would be able to give feedback and keep the manuscript out of the potholes that many writers fall into. With two authors working on a single manuscript, you may end up where the sum is greater than the two parts.

So why don't we see more books by teams of authors? Do most authors like being locked in the attic alone?

It's because finding a writing partner is more difficult than finding a spouse. Think about it. First, your writing skills have to be on the same level; otherwise one of you becomes dead weight. Second, you have to have an interest in not only the same genre, but the same idea. Believe me, if you're going to write for 6 months, it better be something you're passionate about. I think about my books when I eat, when I shower, when I'm going to sleep, when I sleep, and yes, I even think about my books when I'm talking to you. I keep nodding and smiling at you, but that is only because I just came up with an incredible idea, and I can't wait to get home and start writing. Third, you have to get along better than you do with your spouse, because writing is chock full of difficult decisions. I know couples who get into fights over what kind of faucets to put in their new house. What happens when you're making life-changing decisions about your protagonist?

So even though the payout would be so grand (really, wouldn't you like to see what kind of crazy would come out of a joint effort from the Brothers Wells?), I think the obstacles of forging a really good writing partnership are unfortunately almost insurmountable. How can you ask somebody to write with you unless you've first gone on writing dates? Gotten to meet their writing parents? Had that first awkward yet blissful experience of collaborative composition with that special someone?

And so we writers go, back into our attics. We bang on the keyboard until we're lonely and crying. We peek out the tiny window, hoping to interact with somebody, anybody, other than our bunny slippers who have now both developed full-fledged personalities with psychotic tendencies.

And we look forward to the day we finish the manuscript, and can once again return to the land of the living.

Almost Super

2010-03-03T20:19:00.000-08:00

I put together a short little trailer for my upcoming book, Almost Super. I've also started a kickstarter campaign.

What is a kickstarter campaign? I'm glad you asked; it's kind of a cool concept. If you have an idea or a product but you don't quite have the funding, you can post it on Kickstarter.com If people like your idea, they make a donation. Often there are rewards for certain levels of donation. If enough money is donated, then the idea is funded.

In my case, I'm raising money to publish a small print-run of Almost Super, and offering signed and numbered copies of the book as a reward.

Why not go the traditional route to publishing? Well, I am. But that route is a long one. My first book came out 16 months after I signed my contract. Almost Super is done, and I'm far to impatient. I want people to read it already! I'm hoping to find an agent and publisher for this book, but in the meantime you can get a copy much earlier by going to the kickstarter site. And if this book ever makes the big time, you'll have a true first edition copy.

Interested in what the book is about? Or would you like to read the first chapter? If so, head on over to AlmostSuper.org.

If you're not interested, then you should at least check this out. Because it's awesome.

Sanpete County

2010-02-27T12:17:00.000-08:00

A few months ago somebody wrote a comment asking if I wanted to come to Sanpete county and speak to a few elementary schools. I haven't done school visits in a while, and they are always so fun. so I said yes. I'm glad I did.

I love small towns. I grew up in one, and currently live in a big city. It was refreshing to drive until all you can see is lots and lots of earth. No buildings, no cement, no asphalt; just earth.

Actually, I saw more snow than earth, but I used my imagination.

Anyway, the school visits went great. Nobody booed, and I didn't get rocks thrown at me like last time, so I'm counting it a success. I met many people who had read my books, and many more who seemed genuinely excited about discovering them for the first time.

Best of all I got to meet Kate Palmer, and found out that she is a fellow writer. We listen to the same podcasts, know the same people, and it was fun to talk with her as we drove from school to school.

I was filmed for the local television channel, so if one of your hobbies is seeing a grown man stare awkwardly at the camera, boy have I made your wildest dreams come true. Luckily you have to live in Sanpete County to see me, so most of you (thankfully) are out of luck.

Best of all was I premiered my new book trailer--the one for Almost Super--and the kids seemed to like it. I'm hoping to have it posted here by the end of the weekend, so stay tuned.

Great Video

2010-02-24T22:00:00.000-08:00

I had to post about this video. If you haven't seen it yet, you're in for a treat. It's a public service announcement like none you've ever seen. Check it out.

I can't help but analyze what makes this video so effective. It starts out with a father driving an imaginary car. A wife and child sit nearby on the couch, and it's clear that everybody is having a grand time. They are safe at home; all is right with the world.

Then something breaks up this peaceful scene. The father is still driving but it's clear that something is not right. I love the look on the father's face. It isn't one of exaggerated horror. He simply casts his eyes down. Despair. Resignation. It's as if he is saying, "all is lost".

Then we switch to the mother and child on the couch. There is no discussion. There is no moment to pause and reflect, not even so much as a glance between the two. Father is in danger, and so they leap. Their response is complete and resolute.

It is not an accident that the child wears wings. She is both her father's Little Angel, and now his guardian angel.

The girl reaches around and hugs her father's waist. Every day when I return home from work, my six-year-old, who can't reach any higher, hugs me in exactly the same way.

The wife's hugs is more tender, almost intimate. And it comes just in time.

The director could have filmed the next part in a number of ways, but the method he chooses is powerful. The entire scene has been shot in slow motion, but the impact of this imaginary car occurs with shocking rapidity.

Something on the table gives us the impression of broken glass, and the man is almost folded in half from the violent impact. Anybody who has been in a wreck knows this is exactly how it happens. The power at which you are hit is beyond description.

And then it is over. Mother and child still hug the father. He in turn touches both of them as if to convince himself that they are still there; that he is still there.

The ad finishes with a simple message. No stats. No further convincing. Just a message.

Embrace Life.

Mind Your Business

2010-01-30T18:32:00.000-08:00

People are tweeting and blogging about the latest spat between Amazon.com and Macmillan Books. What exactly is going on? Apparently Amazon has pulled all of Macmillan books from their store over a price dispute. But this is just the result of a much deeper problem. What it really comes down to is the fact that one of these companies doesn't know what business they're in.

A hundred and fifty years ago people didn't buy candles so they could be candle owners. And they didn't buy ice from the ice truck because they wanted frozen water. Consumers wanted light, and consumers wanted cold food, and candle making companies and ice delivery services that didn't understand this fact disappeared when the light bulb and the refrigerator came along.

So what business is Macmillan in? That's an easy question to answer. Macmillan is in the business of printing, distributing, and selling hard copies of books. Macmillan doesn't want Amazon to release their ebooks until the hard copy version has been out for seven months. Printed books are their business. It's the one they have become comfortable with, and it's the one to which they are currently clinging, hoping that the life they now understand will still be here tomorrow.

The problem lies in the fact that readers don't buy books to own wood pulp and ink.

They buy books because they want stories.

Amazon is in the business of connections. They connect people who have stories with people who want stories. They allow almost anybody with a book to put it in their store. But they don't stop there. They also make it so that you can download books from Project Gutenberg. They know that good stories aren't just the new releases, but the classics as well. It's not about selling enough hardback copies to cover the bottom line, it's about providing a rip-roaring good story to somebody who needs the escape.

Amazon isn't perfect, but they do know their business. Publishers who figure it out have a good chance of staying in business.

FitBit

2010-01-12T14:10:00.001-08:00

Anybody can review familiar products like the Kindle, beef, or gravity. But I like to review products you may not have heard about. I should mention that I am NOT receiving any compensation for this review, and I've paid full price for the product.

I first heard about FitBit in November of 2008. I ordered two of these units right off the bat, thinking I'd give them to myself and my wife for Christmas. In the order confirmation, the company said, "we cannot guarantee Christmas delivery".

Well, they did in fact miss Christmas, but I didn't care. I decided to just give it to my wife for Valentine’s day.

They missed that holiday as well.

They missed Mother's day, our anniversary, Pioneer Day. Halloween, and Speak Like a Pirate day.

But I still didn't mind; rather than deliver a bad product on time, the company has delivered a great product late.

What the FitBit does is track your steps. They use the same technology as the motions sensors in your Wiimote, for about a 97 percent accuracy.

This is all well and good, but you're saying, 'what is the big deal about tracking steps? Well, I'll tell you, because that is what you do in a review.

What makes this device worth it's $99 sales price is its syncing capabilities. Every time I get within 15 or so feet of my computer, my device logs my steps to the FitBit website. By buying this device, I have access to the website for life--no monthly fees.

I can go to FitBit.com from any computer and see how many steps I've taken, how many calories I've burned, how much time I've spent sedentary and active, and more. In addition to my data, I can invite other people to be my friend. Once they are my friend, I can see their steps taken.

Everybody knows the mathematical formula 2p+(n>1)=F. This formulat states that if you have 2 people, and more than one number, then you have a fight. Or in sissy terms, a competition. (This forumula is related to 2c+1d=r (two cars going to the same destination means a race)).

I can have little mini-competitions with my friends to see who is a healthy, productive member of society, and who is a lazy, good-for-nothing leech. Ok, the site uses nicer terminology that thave, but you get the picture. It's always fun to compete against random people on the internet, right?

The reason I love FitBit so much is because I'm a numbers guy. This device gives me loads of data to track. And just about any time you track data, it affects your behavior.

For example, I've set a goal of hitting 9,000 steps every day. If I'm sitting on the couch at 10:30 PM, and I notice I've only hit 8,500, I hop up and wander around the living room for a while. For me, because I see the data, it makes me want to manipulate the data. Sure, those 500 steps probably only takes care of half a bite of the deep-fried
twinkie I was eating, but the point is that it's 500 steps I wouldn't have taken. I've gone on more random pointless walks in the past week than I have all last month.

The FitBit is ridiculously easy to use. Once a week you have to put it in the docking station overnight to recharge it, but other than that there is no maintenance.

If you've been meaning to get into shape, and you like data, and you have a spare $99, you really should consider the FitBit.

And if you get one, invite me to become your friend. I'm looking for fresh meat. I'll see you on the leader boards.

Kickstarter Fund

2010-01-05T19:43:00.000-08:00

I just posted my new year resolutions, and now I'm off doing entirely different things. Why didn't I post that one of my goals was to raise ten thousand dollars for an educational website? Then I could post this, and pat myself on the back. Instead, I'm posting this and wondering if I'm losing my mind.

But this project is too cool to not try to get off the ground. You can visit the kickStarter page by clicking on the image below. The goal of the fundraising is to create a site that will make it easy for schools and organizations to create their own TwHistory project. As Josi Kilpack, Annette Lyon, Carole Warburton, and others can attest, right now it's a bit tricky to make everything work.

So click through and check us out!

Goals for 2010

2010-01-01T18:03:00.000-08:00

Ok, usually I'm not one to make resolutions around New Year's Day. I usually just make fun of them because...well, because I'm a stinker.

It's not that I don't set goals, it's just that I do them as I think of them, not at the beginning of the year. But after reading Josi's post, I figure what the heck. I know that none of you are that interested in my goals for 2010, but I figure if I post them here, I might be motivated to actually accomplish them. If I don't accomplish them, you have my complete and full permission to mock me mercilessly come 2011.

Run a 5k, a 10k, and a half marathon
Start a business, and get at least 10 customers
Either find an agent, a publisher, or collect 100 rejection letters
Complete my last two practicums, and finish my comps
Tweet two historical events
Make a complete fool of myself while I MC at the LDStorymakers

I believe in setting at least one goal that I know I'm going to nail, which is why I included the last one.

Yeast: How I Loathe Thee

2010-01-01T11:19:00.000-08:00

I hate yeast. I hate bread. I don't mean I don't like to eat it. I love to eat it. Fresh out of the oven, nutty whole wheat, flaky and crispy. I love it all.

And while I pride myself on being a pretty fantastic cook (I cook 90 percent of our meals when I'm home), I have never been able to make bread. I can't do it.

I'm a follow-the-recipe kind of guy. I don't vary from the recipe. I don't mess with how much corn starch, flour, sugar, etc. Somebody did a lot of scientific research writing that recipe, and I'm not about to substitute white flour with whole wheat flour willy-nilly.

So yesterday I found idiot-proof bread recipe. You don't even have to knead it, for crying out loud. There are only three ingredients, but one of them was yeast--my arch nemesis.

It's a new year, I told myself. I'm a grown man, I told myself. I can do this.

Well, apparently, no I can't.

The first problem came when the recipe said the dough would be shaggy. What in tarnation does that even mean? I know Shaggy from Scooby Doo, but that didn't seem to apply. And shaggy means hairy, but my dough (thankfully) didn't sprout hair. What it did do was look exactly like an albino cow pie, and about the same consistency.

The dough is supposed to raise for 12-18 hours; the longer the better, the article said. So I dutifully waited 18 hours. The dough is supposed to have bubbles, the article said. And it did! Maybe I had finally found the one kind of bread I could make.

What piled out of the bowl was soupy, runny, and still sticky. The jury was out whether or not the dough was shaggy, because the jury didn't know what shaggy meant either. I had followed the recipe to a T, but the dough was still a horrible mess.

I pressed on. I dusted with flour, I covered with plastic, I folded and tried raising it. Two hours later my pile of dough still looked like a cow pie. The article says, "dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger". Mine didn't double at all, and just sticks to your finger. It looks exactly like something that grows in size and takes over the town in one of those movies they used to show late at night, or on Saturday afternoon on the UHF channels back in the 80s. The dough sits there, like a sleeping sentient being. Like a bloated pimple on a whale. It's cooking right now, and it smells delicious, but I know that when it comes out of the oven it's going to be a flat, hard, tasteless pile of crud.

Because that is how all my bread turns out.

I'm going back to cooking bacon. I have a few new recipes to try.

I shake my fists of rage in your direction, Sonny Bono

2009-12-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

A few years ago at work our research group put together business cards. We went with a superhero theme, and the cards were really pretty cool.

We were told to pick, among other things, our superpower and our 'arch-nemesis', and this information was placed on our cards. The arch nemesis I chose was the 'Sony-Bono Copyright Term Extension Act'.

I got a lot of strange comments over this, but an article that hit Slashdot today brings sweet vindication. From the article:

"It's nearly the end of 2009. If the 1790 copyright maximum term of 28 years was still in effect, everything that had been published by 1981 would be now be in the public domain — so the original Ultima and God Emperor of Dune and would be available for remixing and mashing up. If the 1909 copyright maximum term of 56 years (if renewed) were still in force, everything published by 1953 would now be in the public domain, freeing The City and the Stars and Forbidden Planet. If the 1976 copyright act term of 75* years (* it's complicated) still applied, everything published by 1934 would now be in the public domain, including Murder on the Orient Express. But thanks to the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, nothing in the US will go free until 2018, when 1923 works expire."

How cool would it be to see Steven King do a mashup of Murder on the Orient Express? Many people have enjoyed Pride & Prejudice & Zombies; what if we had a wider variety of books available from which authors could do this kind of mashup?

The Sony-Bono copyright terms extension act (I use the acronym CRAP, even though the letters don't line up, or even relate), the CRAP Act was really put into place because Mickey Mouse was headed for the public domain. Disney lobbied, Sonny Bono delivered, and Mickey stays safely 'protected', as do hundreds of thousands of other works that can't be touched now, thank you very much. All of that creative potential, locked away until 2017.

If an opt-in scheme makes sense anywhere, it’s here. You want to protect Mickey until 3009? Fine, pay a $20 fee every 10 years and renew your copyright/trademark. Don't care if your work makes it into the public domain? Don't do anything.

The CRAP Act protects all of these works until 2017. All of those books, articles, and art locked away from mashups, remixing, and reuse.

I think the founding fathers had it right. They limited copyright to 28 yearsIf you take the total amount of money my publishers and I have made off my books, I’ll bet 75% of it was made in the first three months of the books' release. But if you liked my book, and liked my characters, and thought it would be fun to write some fan fiction, you’d technically be violating the copyright laws (owned by my publisher). If you wanted to do it legally, you’d have to wait until 70 years after I died. Which is too bad; because if you wrote it, I’d like to read it.

It is a fine line, but it is a line nonetheless

2009-12-17T06:52:00.000-08:00

I was talking to a friend who mentioned that a company is paying her a certain amount of money each month to say good things about that company. This friend uses some social software as a medium to say these good things. It wasn’t much money, and this friend isn’t being dishonest in what they say, but thinking about this arrangement brought up several issues in my mind.

Things get sticky when it comes to endorsing products. There is a fine line between me giving you my opinion of something, and me being paid to sell you something. You, the reader, should always know the difference. Let’s say I go to a restaurant and I write a review on my blog. That is me giving you an opinion; nothing wrong with that.

Now let’s say the restaurant pays me to place an advertisement on my site. Nothing wrong with that, either.

What is wrong is if the restaurant pays me to say nice things about their food, and I don’t disclose the fact that I’m being paid. Even if my review is honest, it is vital that I disclose that I’m being paid to review the restaurant. Why is this so important? Well, it comes down to trust.

If I don’t disclose that I’m being paid for a review, and you the reader finds out, then there is a loss of trust. This loss is a huge deal. Trust is something that you don’t gain back. If I didn’t disclose advertising dollars, then my readers would forever more wonder if what I was saying was really my opinion, or just something for which I was being paid. My opinions would be worthless, and I would likely lose many, many readers. Why read a site when you don’t know if you’re getting an honest review, or a paid-for pitch?

Even worse are the problems for the restaurant. Every time you hear a review of that restaurant, you will wonder if what is being said is true, or just another sneaky pitch. The restaurant would lose all credibility. There is nothing wrong with advertising, but you can’t do it behind people’s back. They will never forgive you.

What should I be when I grow up?

2009-12-14T12:54:00.001-08:00

I need to decide what I want to be when I grow up. I need to focus.

The way I see it, if you want to do something well, you need to devote a lot of time to it. I've spent the last 37 years messing around with all sorts of things. I like being a Jack-of-all trades; my interests tend to wander. But if I want to be good at something, I feel like I should focus. The good news is that after all these years, I've got it narrowed down to five professions.

Instructional Designer

I have a master’s degree, and hope to have a doctorate, in this field., so being an instructional designer is definitely a front runner. I love this kind of work. I wouldn't mind teaching in this area (hence the doctorate), but if I want to continue to excel in this field, I need to work at it. I haven't done any doctoral work for over 2 years. I don't read up on the field like I should. Of all the possible professions, this one has been neglected the most.

Author

I guess technically I am an author, since I've had two books published, but I can't support my family on it. If I want to be a serious author I need to spend more time on this profession as well. I haven't written for over a year. I have a novel complete and I'm shopping it around...ok, who am I kidding--I haven't sent out a query in over 6 months. And I've only sent it to 13 agents total. If I want to get this book published, I need to spend more time on it. And I need to spend WAY more time writing.

Entrepreneur

So if I haven't been spending time on the two professions above, what have I been spending time on? Well, I have a few business ideas. I think they're pretty good, and I've shared them with a few friends. The friends think they're pretty good ideas as well, so I've been spending a lot of time pursuing this profession. Although actually what I've been doing is spending time on contract work so that I can fund these ideas. What I really need is a business partner who can help out, since all my time is spent coming up with capital. But how does one go about finding a business partner. Any out-of-work MBA graduates out there?

Teacher

I love teaching. I mean really love it. I’m currently doing some work for the Open High School of Utah, and there is a chance I could teach for them. I would LOVE to be involved with this organization on the long term, but I don’t think I can make it work financially.

Once I get my doctorate, I could also end up at a university. But I’m not sure if that is what I’m cut out for. I don’t like the ‘publish or perish’ side of academia. I would enjoy the teaching side of things, but don’t know if I would enjoy all of the other things that professors have to deal with.

Technological Tinkerer

The rest of my free time has been taken up by my tinkering. Tinkering is important. If you don't want to be left behind, you have to play with the latest technology. To this end, I started a web site on a whim. I called it TwHistory, and the general idea is reenacting historical events via Twitter. The good news is that it has generated a lot of interest. The bad news is that it's generated a lot of interest. You see, there is no real revenue stream tied in with this, but it’s such a cool idea, I can’t seem to give it up. I’m working on a few grant proposals, hoping to make the site what it needs to be to really get off the ground. I’m glad that the idea seems to be resonating with people, but it is taking up a lot of my time.

And then of course there are all the little things in life that need to get done. Shovel the walk, fix dinner, clean up the house, play with the kids, hang out with my wife, etc. It’s no wonder that I’ve been averaging about 6 hours of sleep each night.

You know, in looking over this list, if I could come up with one more possible profession, then my troubles would be solved. I could number them, roll a die, and let chance dictate the rest of my life.

It's that time of year again...

2009-12-12T07:53:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again. This may end up being a tradition on my blog. Some may see this as blasphemous, and it's very possibly that this is nothing more than a joke. But part of me hopes that this version of the story behind the song is real. That there is some guy out there who 'sang like nobody was listening', threw caution to the wind, and created this Yuletide masterpiece. What it lacks in just about anything, it makes up for in guts and effort. Enjoy.

Gatekeepers and Holes

2009-11-20T09:32:00.000-08:00

Last night I wrote a post on the publishing industry and then scrapped it. This morning, Jaime Theler points me to a blog post written on the exact topic. So I've decided to try once again.

Rachelle Gardner poses an interesting question, over on her blog. She is talking about Harlequin moving into the self-publishing world. The end result, according to Ms. Gardner, will be a decline in the quality of literature. She even goes so far as to say that ""Literature" as we know it could be a thing of the past."

She then poses the question, "Am I totally off base?"

Respectfully, I say yes. Way off base. Here is why.

Imagine a wall. Readers are on one side, authors on the other. Authors have great stories in their heads; readers would like to hear them. Under the current system, literary agents, editors, publishers, and business folks have served as the gatekeepers (as Ms. Gardner calls it). They make sure that only certain authors and their stories are allowed through the wall. They must past certain levels of quality before they are allowed to move through the wall.

Rachelle says this is a good thing because there are a lot of authors with bad stories. They have not mastered their craft, and so, the gatekeepers tell us, we the readers don't want to listen to them.

There is a serious flaw in this line of thinking. The self-imposed gatekeepers are not always the best judges of what is good. I know that is a bold statement, but take a look at this list. Gatekeepers, skilled as they may be, are prone to make errors just like the rest of us. Books like Harry Potter, The Diary of Anne Frank, Catch 22, and Animal Farm, and authors like Stephen King, Tony Hillerman, and Ursula K. LeGuin, could very well have never made it over the wall. Agents and editors do very well at spotting bad books, but I think it's clear they can often miss the good ones. The really good ones. The paradigm shifting, world changing ones. And who suffers? The readers. How many really good books have never been published because the author gave up after rejection 52?

The simple fact of the matter is that in a digital world, we don't need gatekeepers. What we need are more holes in the wall. Lots of them.

Look at blogs; 25 years ago, how many people had a medium by which they could share their thoughts with the world at large? Newspaper editors had a medium. Television personalities had a medium. You and I did not. Now, every grandmother and her cat has a blog. True, most of them are poorly written, but you know what? It doesn't matter. The cream rises to the top without the help of gatekeepers, because in the digital world it all comes down to merit. You create a fantastic blog, and people will come. You churn out mediocrity, and the world will say, "meh."

I argue that contrary to Ms. Gardner's statement, tearing down the wall will not lead to the end of literature, but in fact be the beginning of a new, exciting era. Readers will realize there is much more than the same tired fare that we've been fed for years by the publishing industry. Authors will realize that contrary to what agents and editors have been telling them, they do in fact have a good story, and there are people out there that want to read their work. Yes, crap will be produced, because crap has always been produced. And in the digital world the crap sits on the same browser as the good stuff. But we all know that there is good stuff out there, and we all know how to find it.

The publishing industry is one of the last industries to be affected by the digital revolution. The record industry, movie industry, TV industry, and newspaper industry have been grappling with this for almost a decade. Now it's our turn.

And I, for one, couldn't be more excited.

Funny Quote

2009-11-14T16:14:00.000-08:00

Overheard at my parent's house last night.

[5-year-old] - Uncle Mike, I have the funniest knock knock joke in the world.
[Uncle Mike] - Oh yeah?
[5yo] - Yeah, you start.
[Uncle Mike] - Knock knock
[5yo] - Who's there?
[Uncle Mike] - Interrupting cow
[5y0] - Inter...wait, no, you're supposed to-
[Uncle Mike] MOOOOOOO!

How cool is this?

2009-10-25T21:56:00.001-07:00

You can post pictures or documents and then talk about them. No, not as in write about them--as in talk about them. One person starts the discussion, and then others can join in.

If you want to see it in full screen, you can click on this link. http://voicethread.com/#q.b692014

Twitter Project

2009-10-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

Greetings, friends and readers.

I'm starting a project and I think it's going to be fun. I'm looking for volunteers and I expect the time commitment to be very small. I'm thinking 15-30 minutes a week, for maybe 15-20 weeks.

This summer I tweeted the Battle of Gettysburg. I found journals of fifteen Civil War Soldiers, and I followed them in 'real time', tweeting as I wen. I did this for about two and a half months. The end result for those that followed was the opportunity to experience history in 'real time', from original sources.

The Gettysburg project attracted attention from folks in the LBJ Presidential library, the National Archives, and historians from around the US. We ended up with almost a thousand followers.

I spoke with my brother the other day and he mentioned how the first pioneer group (those that came with Brigham Young) was by far the best documented. He said that the people who came over knew they were involved in an historic event,and so they kept good journals.

What I would like to do is recreate this pioneer trek in real time, on the right day. So by next July 24, Brigham Young will 'tweet', "This is the right place,drive on."

Anybody who volunteers will be given a journal of a person or family; they will be responsible for coming up with tweets for that person for each day of the trek. However, we will do this in advance in a Google spreadsheet. This way you can sit down, come up with tweets for a week or two, and then I will take care of it from there. You do NOT need to sign up for or know how to use twitter. As I mentioned, I suspect that it will only take 10-20 hours to do a complete journal, and you can spread it out over the next several months.

If anybody is interested, leave a comment here, and I'll be in touch.

Moving

2009-10-03T18:56:00.000-07:00

When I came to Logan 4 years ago, a group of my co-workers came to help move me into my house. I didn't know any of them that well, but I was very grateful for the help.

During the course of the move, Justin Ball, one of my new coworkers, dropped a box of bottled tomatoes, breaking one of the jars.

I felt bad.

Not because of the lost tomatoes. Those are cheap; probably 10 cents for the bottle, and maybe 12 cents for the tomatoes.

No, the reason I felt bad was first, he dropped the box after he tripped down our cement stairs. He hurt his ankle pretty bad. The second reason I felt bad was because I hardly knew all of these people helping me move. They pitched in because it had become 'tradition' to help the new member of the team get adjusted into their home. I didn't want Justin to feel bad because he had dropped my tomatoes. I was going to work with these folks for who knows how long, and I wanted to get off on the right foot.

Last night, I went to a party. It was held at Justin's house. If he has any ill feelings toward me for making him carry my tomatoes, he's hidden it well these past four years. Justin, as well as every other member of COSL, including their spouses, have become very dear friends.

The members of COSL have played many a board game. We've ran many a raid. We've rocked out together, and shared lunches, dinners, and even an occasional breakfast. We've built things, and attended and presented at conferences. I can brag about what we've done, only because I feel I was a small part of it.

But as I've blogged before, my time at COSL has come to an end, and today my family moved. I hired movers because...well, because I'm getting old. And hiring movers isn't as expensive as I thought.

But just as the movers were finishing up, I walked into the garage. There on the floor was a lone box, with liquid pooling around it. I opened the lid, and couldn't believe my eyes.

It was a box of bottled tomatoes. And one of the jars had broken.

My time in Logan was christened with a bottle of tomatoes, and it appears my exit is heralded with the same.

My only hope is that second break does not mark the end of my Logan years, but only a pause.

Killer Bees!

2009-09-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

Today my family and I went up Green Canyon. We've loved living so close to such a beautiful area, and we will miss it when we are gone.

We decided to take a pleasant stroll along the single trail. We enjoyed the leaves, saying hello to other hikers, and finding the extra special rock that must be taken home and placed in a treasure box.

My oldest son was leading the way when he gave out a cry of alarm.

"BEES! RUN!"

He came tearing down the trail, "It's a nest of bees!" he called over his shoulder as he ran past us and quickly disappeared up the trail.

I could hear some angry buzzing coming from up the trail. Now, I don't like bees as much as the next person, but I was curious. I walked cautiously down the trail. There was buzzing, yes, but I couldn't see bees. What I did see what a bunch of large flies.

And then I spied the 'nest'.

"No bees here!" I called out.

The rest of the family came up the trail. My oldest was at the rear. "What is it?" he asked.

What my son had thought was a nest was actually what we in the business call canine excrement. It was covered in flies, and when my oldest son walked past, the flies scattered; he assumed the worst and ran.

Needless to say the rest of the family got a kick out of the 'bees nest', and my oldest son still hasn't heard the end of it.

Technological Generation Gap?

2009-09-20T11:23:00.001-07:00

We may be witnessing a serious gap in technology. One that spans thegenerations. But I'm not talking about those wacky old people who don't know a bit from a byte. I'm talking about the youth. That's right, people are starting to wonder if these young kids are using technology like they're supposed to.

A recent report gives us some shocking information. Sixteen percent of people on Twitter are under the age of twenty. While twenty percent are older than 55.

What!

That's right, there are more people tweeting about their dentures than there are tweeting about acne medication. Today, kids use technology to goof off. In my day, we used technology to hack into government computers and start fake nuclear wars. Oh, and goof off.

I'm fine with this. I'm part of the 60+ percent of twitter users between the age of 25 and 55. I'm starting to think that my generation, the one labeled only with an X, is the greatest generation when it comes to technology.

But you see, this is a real problem. I write books for kids, and the internet gives me a never-before-seen opportunity to reach an very wide audience. I can write a blog post and it can be seen by millions of people. Ok, it's only seen by a few hundred, but that is not the point.

But all these new-fangled technological ways to reach my audience aren't coming to fruition because my audience is doing things like...reading actual books. Or playing outside. Or talking with other people. What are they thinking?

Think about it. I can post my book as an e-book, and it can be downloaded onto a kindle or iPhone. But I doubt many 10-year-olds have a kindle or iPhone. I can relase it as an audio book, but again, how many of them have mp3 players? Or for that matter, how many of them even have a commute on which to listen to it? I can let them listen or read it right in the browser; but as good as my book is, it's not going to be more interesting that something like...Keyboard Cat. Seriously, now; how am I supposed to compete with a cat in a blue leisure suit? I'm not, that's how.

So, I need a different medium. I need to find a way to get my stories in the hands of my target audience. A medium they are already familiar with. I could try to go the book route, but then I have agents, editors, publishers, and large bookstores standing between me and my audience.

Ah well, back to the drawing board.

Crowd Source Your Game Design

2009-09-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

I find the idea of crowdsourcing interesting. Crouwdsourcing is the idea of getting a large group of people to help you out in a project. You pay them a bit of cash, or give them a promise of possible cash, and they do the work for you. Examples might include the X-Prize, or the Netflix Prize. If you want to get in on the money side of crowdsourcing, you can check out Amazon's Mechanical Turk.

Anyway, I'm a big fan of boardgames, and Days of Wonder, a top notch publisher of some very good games, has either knowingly, or unknowingly, started crowdsourcing their game design. They held a contest to see who could come up with interesting characters in one of their games. One person had such an interesting idea they are making an expansion to the original game.

Maybe we need a few open-source games, just to see what the wisdom of the crowds can come up with.

Image Courtesy of masmad.

The New Group

2009-09-10T07:11:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of life changes in the past few months, and those changes have rippled to other aspects of my life. One change is that I've no longer been able to meet with my old critique group. Since I'm staying down in SLC, it's just too hard to go to the meetings.

Through pure chance, I happened to go out for frozen custard at this year's storymaker conference with a great group of folks. I got chatting with a few up and coming writers, and over the months I've exchanged e-mails and followed their blogs. Through the course of the discussion we came up with the idea of starting our own critique group.

Tonight was our first meeting. Or rather, the first time we got together to talk about a book. And that book was mine.

It was a great experience. They started off by telling my how much they loved my book. They went on and on until my neck muscles were straining, trying to keep my big head upright. "Tomorrow," I thought. "Tomorrow I'll have agents beating down my door, trying to get me to sign up with them".

And then they tore my book apart. Not the kind of tearing that makes you give up and feel discouraged, but the kind of straight-to-the-point, useful, hard-to-hear-but-exactly-what-you-need-to-hear kind of tearing. The feedback was incredible. They didn't pull punches, but those punches were precisely placed. Everything they said rang true.

I came away with two things last night. Five talented writers think my book is really good, and five talented writers told me how my book can be even better.

Time to get working.

The Wife's Blog

2009-09-06T18:28:00.000-07:00

My wife has started a blog. So for those of you who know both me and my lovely wife, feel free to check it out.

Just ignore the picture of me when I was 23. I looked like a dork. Not the stunning image of grace and strength you all know me as now.

Few and far between...

2009-09-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

Wow, when you work two jobs, have a 190 mile commute, and don't have internet access in the evenings, there isn't much time to blog. But I did want to drop a line as I was mentioned and quoted in an article on the Chronicle of Higher Education's blog. You can read the article here.

My favorite part of when the gentleman was interviewing me was when he asked about my blog. David Wiley had told him that this was my blog. But then it had this bizarre title. And the guy listed on the side was Matthew Buckley, not Marion Jensen. Was this really my blog?

After I explained the methods behind my madness, all was good.

Allow me to buy you a book.

2009-08-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

I'm a nice guy. A really nice guy. You've seen other blogs that give away a book to one lucky reader? Those guys are pretty nice. But I'm even nicer. I'm going to give a book away to everybody reading this post.

That is right, not one book for one person, but multiple books for multiple people. The book is a good one. I've just started reading it, but I've followed the author, Chris Anderson, ever since his Long Tail days. He's a smart cookie.

I know what you're thinking. "Stop typing and get to that part about the free book." OK, the book is called Free: The Future of a Radical Price. It will be interesting to most of you, but should be particularly interesting to many of you, especially my fellow authors out there. Many industries have already struggled with the concepts Anderson covers in his book--the newspaper industry, for example, is currently in the throes of it--and book publishers are about to follow suit.

Seriously, if you are an author, you need to read this book.

Now, about your free copy...I'm not going to buy you the boring hard cover. You can only read that if you're not driving, exercising, deep-sea diving, making deviled eggs, or doing sign language. No, I'm going to buy you the audio version of this book, read by the author himself. That is right, you can listen to the book while doing just about anything except for cleaning your ears with cotton swabs.

So, go to iTunes, do a search for 'free future radical' and you will see the audio book. What I've done is track all of your IP addresses, and pre-paid for a copy of the book. That is why is appears as 'free' on your iTunes. That's right, I'm just that tech-savy, and I'm just that nice.

And if you like the audio version, consider buying a hard copy for your editor. They will need it sooner than they like to think.

iPods

2009-07-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to wear iPods,
and a time to leave iPods at home.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

My wife dragged...er, I mean invited me to go camping with her and the kids last night. We had a fun time swatting mosquitoes, eating raw food, sleeping on gravel, and listening to teenagers drive up and down Green Canyon all night.

This morning, I reluctantly pulled myself away from this veritable carnival, and went for a bike ride. I made my way slowly up the canyon on the wonderful single trail.

Before I left, I thought about taking my iPod. I enjoy listening to podcasts, or music, but I hesitated taking my tunes along with me. If I had those buds stuck in my ears, I may not be able to hear other bikers, cars, or marauding bears. I finally decided to leave the tunes back, and head up with just my thoughts to keep me company.

I got bored really quick.

Anyway, I was about a half mile from the top; the path had a steep ravine on the left, and a steep wall of dirt on the right. The trail was narrow, and there wasn't a lot of room for one bike, let alone two.

My bud-free ears thought they heard something. I wasn't sure, but it almost sounded like...

Before I could decide what the noise was, a biker, going what looked like to be almost the speed of sound, shot around a bend about 10 yards in front of me came . He was tearing it up.

I didn't want to leap down the ravine, as gravity and I have never really had a good relationship. So I threw myself and my bike to the right, up against the wall of dirt. At the same time, I yelled, "Ho, ho!"

Why I choose that moment to quote Old St. Nick, I can't really say, but I'm glad I did. You see, the guy coming down the trail wasn't listening to an iPod either. He slammed on his brakes, and was just doing about 90 mph when he rode past me on the left. He hollered over his shoulder "Three more coming!"

I hugged and caressed the side of the mountain until I saw three more blurs zoom by, and then I continued my slow ascent to the top.

So, there you have it. Another post brought to you by Matthew Buckley where he does little more than recount a slightly interesting story, and then states the obvious.

Tune in next week when I discuss why you don't want to drive with your teeth.

Come now...

2009-07-24T10:45:00.001-07:00

Have we really gotten this desparate for advertising dollars?

For those that run ads on their sites, you know you get money if somebody clicks on the ad, but you also get money if somebody just comes to the site (much less, but a little).

So the other day I am looking to see if there are any tutorials for the Sicilian Language (never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line). I find a link to About.com and this is what I see.

Can you find the content? There are five pages, each with about 2-3 sentences. The link I just gave you only had a single sentence of content. Everything else on the page is advertisements. You get a paragraph of material, and they make you wade through five pages to get it. And it doesn't even link to any real language tutorial, is just babbles on about random Sicilian history.

But then again, who am I to argue against progress? My next blog post will be spread out across 49 pages, and you'll get 2-3 words per page.

Thank the heavens...

2009-07-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

Thank heavens for the EFF.

Believe...

2009-07-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

Speaking of falls...

The family went to Bear Lake on Friday. We went with our good friends the Harpers. They took us out on their boat, and showed us how they can both 'surf' behind their boat. The boat makes a wave, and they can surf for a long time, without even hanging onto the rope.

They asked me if I wanted to try, and of course, I said...YES! Here are the results.

I gave it my best shot, several times, but just couldn't get up. I didn't feel too bad. I figured if I really kept trying, I'd get it eventually. But we had 10 kids, and 3 adults in the boat. They had better things to do than watch me nose dive into Bear Lake all afternoon.

Then my wife said she'd like to try. On her second try, this is what happened.

She tried several more times, and did great! I was amazed. She has as much experience as I do (i.e. none), and yet she was doing it!

I decided to give it one more shot. My wife made it look so easy; she had inspired me.

I got back into the water, grabbed the rope and...

It was absolutely exhilarating. I don't know what changed. It may have been the simple fact that I had seen somebody else do it, and I realized it was possible. Whatever it was, I'm glad I hopped in the water one last time, and tried again.

Hey...it's usefull after all.

2009-07-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

I've spend the last four years working on USU OCW. I have seen the incredible amount of traffic we get, but I think deep down I've always worried that maybe nobody really used the site. Maybe all that traffic was people just coming across information, realizing it wasn't that helpful, and then leaving. Maybe all my work, and the work of the professors, was for naught.

Then a few days ago, I was asked to create a Flash file. I opened Flash and quickly became lost. I thought to myself, "If only I could find a good set of tutorials on the web." Then I remembered...Andy Walker...Intro to Flash.

Thirty seconds later I was watching Professor Walker's video, and learning Flash. I realized it's not just an academic exercise, but something that helps real people in their real lives.

Fireworks

2009-07-04T21:06:00.000-07:00

Two years ago I posted on how cheap I was. I spent $.72 on fireworks, and I reported on how much fun we'd had.

This year we went all out. I mean ALL out. I spent $2.67. We bought 6 packs of sparklers, and the old standby--four flower zippy things. However, this year we lit all four of the flower things at once. That's right, all four; things were a hopping at our place.

Then the kids spent a good 20 minutes playing with the sparklers. I got a few good pictures of them.

My oldest son said, "Remember that time we stacked all the snaps and had a bonfire?" Why, yes I do. My plan is working. The kids get such a kick out of a few dollar worth of fireworks, that one day I'm going to go to Wyoming and buy $500 worth of exploding goodness, and knock the socks off them.

End of an Era

2009-06-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

Four years ago I took a class from David Wiley. I liked what he was saying, and we started a conversation. The next thing I knew David offered me a job as Utah State's OpenCourseWare director. When I came to the project we had 8 courses online. There are now over 80. We average as many as 2,000 unique visitors to the site every day from all over the world. We have mirror sites up in Africa, China, and Indonesia (that we know of). Our site has been translated into several languages, and is the third most visited site on the usu.edu domain. Being the OCW director is something I've loved doing the last four years.

It is also coming to a close.

Budget cuts have resulted in the program coming to an end. We've spent the last six months scrambling to find a way to keep the lights on. We've sought after state money, private money, grant money, and my boss stopped me from going after embezzled money. We've found nothing, so as of June 29th, I will be starting a new job.

Emotions bubble to the surface when you go through change. On the one hand I am very sad to be leaving a job I love. I love the openness movement, and hope to be able to return to it someday. But starting a new job has its own excitements; new people, new challenges, new skills. I'm looking foward to working with Shelley again.

When I left my last job I mourned leaving the people I'd grown to care about. I thought there would be no way to find friends like the ones I left. And now I can't imagine finding friends like the ones I've grown fond of here in Logan. Game night, Rock Band, lunch at Great Harvest and Cafe Rio...

Change is rough. Change is exciting. And I feel like I'm about to get spades of it.

Are you seeing this?

2009-06-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

We are seeing history in the making, my friends.

Whether we really want to admit it or not, we often only get information that other people want us to see. Yes, we have many news outlets; the evening news, newspapers, magazines, etc. But much of what we read has been orchestrated by those sitting in power. I'm not talking deep conspiracies here, but the simple fact that there are a relatively small number of people who decide what gets put on the front page, and we often miss important stories because the people sitting in the big offices decide to run something else.

Case in point. Iran just held elections. There have been protests and violence in the streets of Iran; people fighting for their right to have a voice in their government. You have probably heard of it by now, but you almost missed it.

At first the news coverage of the event was all but absent. The lead article on CNN's homepage was a story about how the US just made the switch to digital broadcast signal. The FCC recieved 300,000 calls. Exciting, eh? Only a single sentence mentioned anything at all about the protests in Iran.

In another day and age, that would be the end of the story. A nation would struggle and the rest of the world would move on unaware. We wouldn't get the information because there are simply no channels. What are we supposed to do, hear it from those right on the streets?

Well, yes.

We have twitter. I'm watching thousands of posts scroll by, all with the keyword #iranelection. I'm hearing people posting what is going on right outside their homes. I'm reading US supporters setting up proxys by which Iranians can get their Tweets out. I'm seeing people changing their proiles to green, to show their support. And it's all in real time.

I also saw another significant hash tag--#cnnfail. Yes, twitterers protested the lack of coverage that CNN and other news sources were giving to the event. From The New York Times (free subscription requireD):

"Steve LaBate, an Atlanta resident, said on Twitter, “Why aren’t you covering this with everything you’ve got?” About the same time, CNN was showing a repeat of Larry King’s interview of the stars of the “American Chopper” show. For a time, new criticisms were being added on Twitter at least once a second."

That is right, the world hear of an event because people were twittering it. Then they demanded coverage, and got it. As I type this I'm now seeing images and coverage from the Iran elections as the lead story on CNN's page. People demanded to hear more about the event, and CNN gave it to them.

If that doesn't make you want to go sign up for a twitter account, I don't know what will. We're living in a new world folks, and it seems to me to be getting more and more exciting every day.

Hospital Stay

2009-06-13T22:23:00.001-07:00

I’m writing this in the hospital, sitting next to my son John.

John is a trooper. About 10 days ago he got a cold that settled into his chest. John has suffered from asthma since he was a boy, and he always struggles when sickness gets into his lungs.

Early Thursday morning John woke up at 4:00 with a horrendous cough. Instead of crying for Mom to come take care of him, he quietly got up, got a cough drop, drank a little water, and coughed into his pillow, trying hard not to wake the rest of the house.

Twenty-four hours later he was in the emergency room, struggling to breathe.

Tonight, after driving for 20 hours back from Wisconsin, I came to see John. I brought my oldest son with me and read a little to both of the boys. After I finished I asked John if he wanted me to sleep here in the hospital room with him. He told me I didn’t need to stay, and that he would be fine.

I gathered my things up and got ready to go. As I went to say goodbye, John looked up at me with his big brown eyes and asked, “Would you have fun if you stayed here?”

I was exhausted. I just wanted to go home and crawl into bed. I knew that he would fall asleep within minutes if I left, so I said, “How about this. I’ll take Spencer home, unpack, shower, and then I’ll call the nurse. If you’re still awake, I’ll come back. If you’re asleep, I’ll come back early in the morning.”

He smiled and nodded. I took my things out to the nurse’s station and got their phone number.

I looked back into the room and little John had pulled the sheets up over his eyes. I went back into the room and heard him sobbing quietly in his bed. He wanted so much for me to stay, but he didn’t want to be a bother.

Sometimes when you’re a dad you don’t always know what to do. Other times there isn’t a question. When you're a dad, there are some things that you just do.

“I’ll take Spencer home and come right back, OK John?”

I am crammed into a hospital chair, and will likely only get a few hours of sleep tonight; but that is a small price to pay for the hug I got when I returned to the hospital. John is sleeping well, and on the mend, and that is what is important.

Good Times

2009-06-06T20:42:00.000-07:00

I'm a lucky guy. I have written two novels, and have been paid for my work. But that is not why I'm lucky. I'm lucky because I get to hang out with some of the coolest folks on the planet.

I just got back from the teen writers conference. It was fantastic. We had Josi Kilpack, Julie Wright, Jessica Day George, Jeff Savage, James Dashner, Nancy Allen, Lisa Mangum, Annette Lyon, and many more, all under the same roof. These people are so nice, and I'm so glad that the fact that I wrote a book gives me a chance to see them 3-4 times a year. I feel like I have so much to learn from them all, both about writing and their willingness to be so free with their time and talents.

I leave conferences like this fired up and ready to write. Thanks all!

Conference, conference, confernce...

2009-06-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

Three conferences in two weeks is too many. I've got the teen writers conference tomorrow, and then GLS next week. When I get back it will be time to start cranking out the query letters. Should be...fun. Or something like that.

Where will I be?

2009-05-28T15:03:00.000-07:00

Where will I be on June 4th, from 10:00 in the morning until noon? I'm glad you asked.

I will be here.

UVU puts on a great conference about teaching and technology. Registration is free, and the sessions all look very interesting.

I will be talking about an interactive GPS game that we created that allows you to talk to characters, pick up items, and solve puzzles--all based on your location. You'll learn how to both play the game, and create your own.

See you there!

Interesting Results, Wrong Conclusion

2009-05-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

I think I'm the only author in the known universe who doesn't follow Nathan Bransford, so I'm slow on the draw with this one.

Last month Nathan held a contest on his blog. He gave out 50 query letters to 300 regular citizens, and he asked them to pick the best ones. Hidden in that pile were 3 query letters that ended up getting their authors book deals. If each person got 5 guesses, could any of the 300 folks pick out the 3?

As it turned out, only 2 people picked all three. I find this interesting, but what I find even more interesting are Nathan's two conclusions. I think he misses one point, but nails the other one.

First Nathan seems to be saying, "See? This is why being an agent is so hard. You didn't pick the right ones, but we agents can. Being an agent is harder than it looks. We don't look to see if a query has met all The Rules (insert angels singing), we look deeper into the soul of the work." I find this interesting because Nathan's blog, every agent's blog, and every publisher's web site is FILLED with advice on how to follow The Rules (insert angels singing). And every last one of them will tell you that if you fail to jump through their hoops...er, I mean, follow The Rules (insert...oh, you get the point), then your manuscript is tossed into the fire.

I don't buy it.

Second, he goes on to say, "The other main element I'd take from this challenge is how subjective this business really is. What resonates with you might not resonate with someone else."

This is where he nails it. It may resonate with somebody else. In fact, it may resonate with a lot of somebody elses. And those people might just be paying customers. And they might really enjoy that book. But because it didn't resonate with the agent, they will never get that chance.

Does anybody else see what is wrong with this? Not the conclusion, but this simple fact? A few days ago I posted a link to an article that named 30 authors who were rejected multiple times before they finally got published. J. K. Rowling, Steven King, Ayn Rand, and Anne Frank were among those rejected. I think it's time we asked the obvious question. Should agents and publishers still be looked at as the gatekeepers to what we read? Sure there is a lot of garbage out there, and they do a lot of sifting. But how many really good books never get into our hands because somebody started their query letter with a rhetorical question? Or misspelled an agent's name? Or went really off the deep end and used...I don't know...Helvetica sans-serif!

New technology has allowed musicians, artists, photographers, and directors get their art straight to the public. Why not authors? Why don't we have a YouTube or a Flickr that gets us directly in touch with our fans? We know the model works. We've seen it work for other crafts.

When will we finally step up and say it's our turn?

The sure thing, or something new?

2009-05-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

When I go into one of my favorite restaurants, I have a really hard time ordering something new. My conundrum is thus: I've been to the restaurant before, and I know what I like. In fact, the whole reason I've returned is because of that particular dish. So when the waitress asks for my order do I order Dish A, the one I know is good, or do I try Dish B?

On the one hand, Dish B might be better. If they can cook Dish A so well, why not assume Dish B is also tasty? On the other hand if I don't like it I've wasted all that time and money. I don't want to leave wishing I had stuck with the sure thing.

I have the same problem with I go into a video store (OK, I never go into a video store. I use Netflix). Do I get a movie I know I like, or try something new?

The reason I ask is that I just picked up a book. Lieutenant Hornblower by C. S. Forester. I've read the book before. In fact, I've read it twice. I love it. I love the character, I love the era, and I love the voice. Not many folks know that Gene Rodenberry based Captain James T. Kirk after H. Hornblower. It really is a good series of books.

But, shouldn't I be expanding my horizons? Shouldn't I be trying new things? In the back of my head, I think I should. But then again I usually order Dish A, and my queue is filled up with mostly movies or TV series I've seen before. I like the comfortable and familiar.

Maybe that is a sign I'm getting old.

All you authors out there...

2009-05-23T10:21:00.001-07:00

I was in a session yesterday at CONduit where they talked about active voice/passive voice. The difference can be seen in the following.

Passive

The chair moved by the robber.

Active

The robber moved the chair.

Active = good. Passive = bad.

You can find passive voice by searching for words such as was, is, were, be, been. But my question is do you get rid of all of these? What about this sentence? It comes from the first page of my book.

While the bench was ordinary, the piano itself was most certainly not.

How do you cut those instances of the word 'was' out? I could say 'ordinary bench', but the whole point of the sentence is to state that the bench is ordinary. Just saying ordinary bench is not a complete sentence.

And what about this one?

Rafter knew he was grinning like an idiot, but he couldn’t help it.

I could change it to

Rafter grinned like an idiot, but he couldn't help it.

But that changes what I'm saying. Rafter is self-aware of the fact that he is grinning. So should it be:

Rafter knew he grinned like an idiot, but he couldn't help it.

But that doesn't seem quite right.

I don't know. I don't think I should be cutting out every 'was' in my book, but how do I tell which ones? I still have hundreds left, and I want my manuscript to be tight.

The Free Model

2009-05-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

Interesting article on the Free Model.

It can be/is being done.

One step closer...

2009-05-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

Every author, published or not, should be taking to the streets today. Cheer, celebrate, cause general havoc, but in a good way. Check out what Amazon is doing.

I gave a presentation at a recent conference where I talked about how up-and-coming authors can succeed in the new model of publishing, a model that we are now one step closer to with Amazon's announcement. One of the characteristics of this new model is that it is merit-based. If your work is good, you will be able to succeed. This wasn't always the case in the old (current) model. Bad or mediocre writing often gets published, while really good stuff is sometimes ignored. Amazon's service will allow customers to pick what gets pushed to the top. It is readers that will dictate what gets published and distributed.

Now, I can already hear some critics. "This will turn into a popularity contest. The only thing that will rise to the top is shallow, meaningless fluff. Books with true merit, those that tackle the hard topics, will be ignored. We need agents, editors, and publishers--true experts--to make sure the best books get to market".

To which I say this link should silence any such criticism.

I for one am very excited about Amazon's move, and look forward to the new model that is slowly being shaped. If you are a writer, put your chin up; good things are coming our way.

A Public Appearance

2009-05-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

I don't do many public appearances. It's because I'm a recluse. And I covet my privacy. And I'm part hermit. And...well, I don't get invited to anything. That last one is probably the main reason, now that I think about it.

However, all of this is about to change, at least for one saturday afternoon. I will be making a public appearance on May 30th, from 12:00 until 3:00 PM at the Maceys in Providence, Utah. Actually, I make a public appearance there at least twice a week, meaning I go out in public, and I 'appear' at that store. But since I cleverly blend in buy buying groceries, nobody realizes the guy rifling through family-sized packs of back bacon is really a celebrity. And they leave me alone. All...alone.

But, as I was saying, all this changes on the 30th. People will know I'm a celebrity. I'll be sitting behind a table. And I'll have books on that table. And I will be striking poses that will convince anybody in the area that I'm an author who has sold dozens, if not several dozens, of books.

So, if you're shopping, come on by and talk to me. If you're not shopping, come on by and talk to me too. I'll be the guy at the table, looking like a hermit.

What we've been waiting for...

2009-05-08T07:46:00.001-07:00

Over the past decade I went to all three midnight showings of the newer Star Wars movies. Each one was fun, but ultimately disappointing. George Lucas just didn't have him in it, anymore. Star Wars was something magical from my childhood, and the magic couldn't be re-created.

And so it was that I went into Star Trek hoping for at least a decent movie that didn't wreck all the wonderful memories that I had watching the TV series when I was little.

As I sat in the theater, the thought that kept going through my head was, "This is what Star Wars should have been."

It was like returning home after an extended stay. Sure, things have changed, and you can never go home again. But some things never change, and it was so good to be back.

The cast was fantastic. I found myself not liking just Kirk and Spock, but Bones, Scotty, Checkov, and even Sulu. They all did great work. There were laugh out loud moments, tense moments, and 'yee hah'! moments.

It wasn't a movie that changed the way I looked at life. It wasn't a deeply moving or philosophical movie. But hoo dang it was a lot of fun.

I did have one disappointment with the movie. As the end credits rolled, I realized these guys aren't going to be back next week with a new episode. I have to wait two years before I see them again, if even that. Two hours is far too short for my taste.

Please J. J., you know how to do a TV series. Is an hour of Star Trek a week really too much to ask?

Why is Radio not dead?

2009-05-06T17:59:00.000-07:00

On the rare occasions that I drive without my iPod, I always turn on the radio expecting to hear nothing but static. Surely radio is not still around. Surely it's gone the way of ice boxes and candles. But no, for some reason that I can't understand, there are still radio programs and radio stations on the internet. Why is this?

I was driving back to work from lunch, and I started scanning the stations. These are the nuggets I found. I'll let you decide if they are nuggets of gold, or the nuggets that come out the back side of a bunny rabbit:

AM

Annoying radio host who abuses and makes fun of guests who calls into her program
Political radio personality selling meat
Mexican music
Music from the 40s
Lots and lots of static

bad country (I know, redundant use of the word bad)
more bad country
commercials
more commercials
really, really, shallow music
classical music (which is great, I'm sure, but beyond my low-brow tastes)

And there you have it. The entire 10 minute ride wasted. However, when I take my iPod, this is what I have at my fingertips. And remember, any of these programs I can pause, re-listen to, or fast forward.

Podcasts

Writing Excuses - great podcasts for those of us who are in (or want to be in) the writing biz.
The Dice Tower - You'll never find a radio program about boardgames on the radio. But you will on my iPod.
Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me - NPR at it's finest
Click and Clack, the Car Talk Guys - They could talk about stacking kidney stones and it would be an entertaining, engaging show.
The McLaughlin Group - Best political show on the airwaves, bar none. Don't believe me? Watch this.
This Week in Tech - Best tech show on the interwebs, bar none
WNYC's Radio Lab - YANPRP (Yet another NPR Podcast)

There you have it. Hours of entertainment, downloaded to my iPod every week, all of it free. There are ads on a few of them, and that is fine by me.

So, if you pay for ads on the radio, that is fine. But you might want to find out who is listening to podcasts, and find a cheaper way to get your message out. Because Radio is going to die any day now.

Teen Writers Conference

2009-04-28T08:59:00.000-07:00

I'm participating in a teen writers conference in June, and I wanted to post a little bit of information about it. There will be some great authors there, and if you are a teen, or know of a teen, who loves to write, this just may be the conference for you.

The following is an interview with Josi Kilpack, the chairperson of the conference.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

JOSI:
I’m a mother of four, ages 15-7, and an author of 9 novels, with a tenth coming out in August. I have been a member of multiple writing groups, large and small, and a committee member and former conference chair for numerous writer’s conferences. In addition, I’m a frequent presenter to schools and groups, a fabulous cook (if I do say so myself) and amateur chicken farmer.

You are the conference chairperson for an upcoming writers' conference for kids. Please tell us about the purpose of the conference.

JOSI:
Several of the committee members and myself have been involved with putting together writing conferences for several years. We started small and have grown until our most recent conference had well over 250 attendants. Over the years we have had some teenagers attend our conference, and while they have enjoyed the experience, it seems to also be a bit overwhelming to walk into a two day, morning to night information-fest. So, we began discussing the idea of having a conference where the format, classes, and overall environment is created specifically to give kids, ages 13-19, the best overall introduction to writing conferences as well as instruction that will be most helpful to where they are now on their journey of being a writer. From there we started throwing out ideas and it really just rolled all together until we have this; THE Teen Writer’s Conference.

What is your purpose for the conference? What do you hope the teens who come discover?

JOSI: Our hope is that the attendees will discover a lot of things, 1) That they are not the only kids that write 2) That whatever goals or ambitions they might have in regard to becoming a writer are within reach 3) That it takes knowledge and time and concerted effort to accomplish those goals. Those of us on the committee, all of us being writers ourselves, have spent years honing our craft and are excited to help set these kids on that same path—perhaps earlier than we ever started.

What kind of classes will you be offering?

JOSI: We will have classes that focus on actual elements of writing, as well as classes on book markets, the publishing process, and what they can do now to best prepare themselves for a future in writing. We have a variety of classes so as to appeal to both new and experiences writers.

What if a teen would like to come, but is really shy? Will there be anything that will put him or her at unease?

JOSI: Our entire focus and reason for putting this conference together is to create a comfortable place for young writers to come, learn, and flourish. We have been and will continue to put their comfort as our first priority because we know if they are intimidated and anxious, they will not benefit from this experience. However, we also expect them to be ready for this experience. Each youth, along with their parents, will need to determine if they are ready to be a part of this. Not all teen writers will be, and that’s okay. We hope to make this an annual event, so if this year won’t work, then perhaps by next year they will be ready.

What is your overall goal for every youth that attends the Teen Writers' Conference?

JOSI: That they leave encouraged and inspired to do their best, to hone their craft, and to truly reach for the stars in regard to their writing and their life. We also hope they will make friends with one another and feel a sense of community among other writers their own age.

How were you able to get such excellent editors and famous writers to attend?

JOSI: Well, in all humility I have to admit that they are my friends—my very good friends. We are like-minded people that saw a common goal and made it happen. I admire each and every person on this committee, and understand the sacrifice they each make to be a part of this. We are joined in this purpose as well as in our passion for great writing. I am blessed to rub shoulders with some of the best writer’s out there and the attendees get to benefit from that gift in my life.

When is it and how do teens register?

JOSI: Registration is open for another 4 weeks. To register, attendees need to go to the website www.teenwritersconference.com and print off the registration form. Those attendees under the age of 17 will need parental permission to attend; then they will mail the completed registration, along with payment, to the address printed on the page. They, and their parent, will receive a welcome e-mail upon receipt of their registration as well as updates as the conference gets closer. Updates will also be posted on the website.

Finally, this conference is for 13 to 19 year olds. Why that age group?

JOSI: We discussed this issue at length, and then simply decided since it was a TEEN conference, we would make it open to TEENS only. We feel that having them among their peers will help them relax and yet be willing to ask questions, meet other kids, and focus on the instruction we’re providing. For the older attendees, this will likely be a kind of introduction to adult-focused writer’s conferences, showing them what to expect and how the typical conference is organized. For the younger attendees, we hope they will come back year after year and continue learning about what they can do in the future.

Any other information you'd like to share?

JOSI: We’ve had some parents express concern in regard to leaving their children at the conference without them. Again, this conference isn’t right for all teens, or all parents, but we do ask that parents consider the value of letting their children experience the independent nature of this conference. As a committee, we are dedicated to their safety and comfort; they will come to no harm while attending. And while we ask that parents stay clear of the conference rooms, there are many places on campus that are great for reading or getting some other work done if they worry about going too far away. We will also allow attendees to keep cell-phones on silent throughout the conference so that parents are only a phone call. For those attendees without cell-phones, they are welcome to use a committee members phone at any time.

Where can people go to find more information, and especially to learn about the writing contest made available just for those who attend?

JOSI: http://www.teenwritersconference.com has all the details of the conference, contest, venue, etc. If something is not answered, there are e-mail links that will send you to us so we can give you the details you are looking for.

LDStorymakers

2009-04-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

Once a year, the LDStorymakers hold a conference. I think it's hands down, the best writers conference in the state. The only bad thing about the conference is that once it's over, I get depressed. I know it's a lot of work to put on, but couldn't we hold this thing once a quarter? Or every other week?

A few things I learned this year:

Carole Thanye is great. I rode down to the conference with her, and there wasn't a single moment when we weren't talking about something interesting. I've always enjoyed talking with her, but there are rarely opportunities to do so. Riding for three hours with her to the conference was a great start to the weekend.

Los Hermanos does not follow the mantra; eat food, not too much, mostly plants. I got their burrito and there was about 8 pounds of beef, pork, and chicken. I didn't much care for it, but if you're into eating a big ol' pile of meat, this is the place for you.

Friday was boot camp, and I met some great folks who are very talented. They all had some great starts to stories they were working on. We heard a few really good presentations, and then I did my first presentation of the day. Nobody threw food, so I felt it went OK.

To kick off the conference, the incomparable Rob Wells gave us a history of the LDStorymakers conference. It is one of those events that can't be described; you just had to be there. But if you were there, you were likely grabbing your belly while tears of laughter rolled down your cheeks.

On Friday I also met with Stacy Whitman, a freelance editor. She gave me some good feedback on the first chapter of my book. I have conversed with Stacy many times online, but this was the first time we had met in person.

In the afternoon I gave my 130 slide presentation. Yes, that's right, 130 slides of information in 45 minutes. I think I only had 4 bullet points though; most of the slides were single words, or images to drive a point home. I got high marks on the feedback sheets, so I think it went well.

Friday evening we had a wonderful talk by Dean Lorey. I had not heard of Dean's YA series before the conference, but I'm a big fan of another little project he was involved with called Arrested Development (best television comedy of all time).

That night, we went out for Italian ice cream. It was a great time to talk with both published authors and the up and comers. I had a wonderful talk with Eric Swedin, Janette Rallison, Kristi Stevens, Melinda Morley, and more. These kind of impromptu meetups are what makes the whole conference worth it.

Boot camps continued the next day, and the final day of the conference began. I'm a firm believer in the saying that all work and no play make Jack a dull boy, so I don't hang out with Jack. I also try to get in a bit of play, wherever I go. So Rob Wells, Dan Wells, and myself snuck into a corner room and played Small World. You know a game is good when you lose twice, and still want to run right out and purchase it. We also snuck in a game of Dominion, my current favorite game.

Eventually, all good things must come to an end, and the conference came to a close. But before we all went home, a few of us stayed after and attended the Whitney Awards. I got to blog the entire event with the amazing and talented Jaime Theler and Tristi Pinkston. We had a wild time, and you can relive the Whitneys over on the Whitney site. I was clearly the one with the most grammatical errors, but I vindicated myself by eating the most cheesecake.

Jaime and I also had the privilege of presenting James Dashner with his award. Jaime's presentation demeanor more than made up for my stammering, sputtering, and choking into the microphone.

And thus the conference came to a close. It was depressing to see it end so soon, but I think the entire conference can best be summed up by the phrase, 'and a good time was had by all'. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Tweeting from the Nineteenth Century

2009-04-22T12:23:00.001-07:00

CNN had a headline today called Tweeting from the 20th century. The story told is of a lost postcard delivered some 47 years later. Well, I've got news of even older tweets going on; Tweeting from the Civil War.

This project started like most of my projects do; with me goofing around. I was reading a book called World War Z. World War Z is unique in that it has no protagonist. There is not one hero or group of people you follow through the entire story. Instead, the book reads like a collection of reports from NPR's Morning Edition. Through about 40 stories, you begin to get a feel for the narrative. It's a very interesting way to tell a story.

Well, while sitting on my couch following a few # tags on Twitter, the idea hit me. If you can tell a story through 40 characters in a book, why not tell a story through 40 characters on Twitter? Or better yet, not just a story, but history itself.

The more I thought about it, the more excited I got. I tracked down a few journals and diaries from the Civil War. I was able to collect about ten people who experienced, or were involved in some other way, the Battle of Gettysburg. I've started tweeting their journals day-by-day, as it happened 146 years ago. So if David Strother had beans for breakfast on April 21, 1863, then in 2009, David_Strother tweets, "Had beans for breakfast".

The result have been surprising. You see similar threads between the historical figures. Many of them comment on the same weather, or the same orders coming down the line. You really get a feel for what is happening, even though your reading short 140 character-long tweets.

Anyway, if you'd like to follow along, please join us over at TwHistory.com. If you've never tweeted before, no worries; we've got all the instructions on the site.

Things I learned over the weekend...

2009-04-12T21:26:00.001-07:00

We had a bit of a rough week last week, that included two trips to the ER, one trip to the doctor's office, and a two-day stay in the hospital. A couple of things I learned.

ER Doctors and Nurses are Incredible.

You have people come into your workspace who are in a panic. Some of them may be in a life or death situation. Some of them might be contagious. But it's all in a day's work. The doctors and nurses were professional, attentive, and all around great folks. They not only did the big things that many of us would find hard (stick needles in a toddler, give enemas, take stool samples), but they did it with class. I won't soon forget the tattooed, pierced, lab technician with a 4 inch goatee who talked to my two-year-old like he was the most important person in the room.

The Rotavirus Sucks.

While we're not sure my son had the rotavirus, he had all the same symptoms. Vomiting, diareah, dehydration, and low blood-sugar. The rotavirus kills half a million kids a year, usually because of dehydration. It makes me realize how lucky I am to live in a place where I can get folks to stick a needle in my son and get his body the fluids he needs.

I Can Still Party Like the Old Days

I sat up with my son on Saturday night. I'm more a night person, while my wife get's up early. I thought I'd be able to catch a few Zs here and there, but I was up until 6:45 on Sunday morning. She took over and I came home and slept for 4 hours. In the old days, I stayed up and partied. Now I stay up and watch a kid to make sure none of his tubes are falling out.

If You Put Off a Decision Long Enough, It Takes Care Of Itself

My wife and I were trying to decide what to do with our tax refund. Now we don't have to make that decision. It's spent.

Kids Are Worth It

Any way you cut it, kids are worth it.

Versus

2009-03-26T15:52:00.000-07:00

An epic showdown!

In this corner, we have Academic Earth. "Thousands of video lectures from the world's top scholars." Looks sharp. Looks keen. And you know it's good stuff because they didn't mess with the regular scholars, only the top scholars on this site, baby.

And in this corner, we have YouTube.edu. They have thousands of videos as well, but they've let in the rabble. Although you can't sneeze at the sheer number of schools they can boast. Plus, they have video from IITM, for pete's sake!

Who will win? Who will emerge victorious in this epic struggle?

Why, that's already been determined. You and I, my friend--we are the winners.

Accreditors

2009-03-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

I read a post by David Wiley over at his blog. I ended up making a comment, and then realize there was a blog post in all my ramblings.

In his post, Wiley talks about how acreditors want to come and see what a university is doing. If the university is doing all of the right things, they get accredited, and they can hand out diplomas (one of the few reasons universities have to exist, anymore). Wiley points out that by putting their courses online, it would be very easy for accreditors to see if the university is doing the 'right things'.

The question I posed was why do we need accreditors in the first place? When universities came to me in high school, they told me if I wanted a good job then I needed to go to college. But are the things I learn at Utah State really preparing me to succeed in the workplace? I had a professor tell me up front that very little of what he taught would prepare me for any kind of job. Who really knows what skills are needed to succeed in the workplace? Why, the workplace itself, that’s who.

When Western Governors University put together their assessments to test competency, they worked very closely with businesses, asking them what skills and knowledge they wanted to see in their employers. WGU based their assessments on that dialogue with businesses.

There are many who think that getting in bed with businesses is a cardinal sin. This notion is extremely unpopular in the world of higher education. But businesses want talented, well-rounded, skillful individuals probably as much if not more than any accreditors.

I wonder how long it will be until businesses look at all this open content out there and just decide to develop their own tests, saying ‘If you can pass this test, it’s good enough for us. No degree needed.’

Exciting Concept

2009-03-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

Competency-based certification. You heard it here first.

In the beginning we had a library; just a collection of books gathered by some rich king. Then the university came along and added a social component to the library. The university secured a monopoly on a thing called a degree. It's the currency we use to get jobs and show how smart we are.

The problem lies in the fact that the internet is now the largest repository of knowledge, and there are many social components to the internet. You can learn all sorts of useful skills and knowledge from folks all over the world. But how do you show you know the skill? Currently, and unfortunately, you do it the same way its been done for hundreds of years. You pay a boatload of money, you go to school, you take classes (whether or not you know the subject), and you demonstrate competency. Once you've done this, you get the coveted degree.

But the times they are a changing. Today we not only have information, but we have information organized in courses. We have hundreds of hours of lectures on a wide range of topics. Universities are just catching up to sites that have been around much longer.

So the real question becomes will universities be able to keep an iron grip on their monopoly of certification? There is a new model that is just emerging. It is the idea that if you already understand the content you shouldn't need to jump through the hoops. This idea should terrify universities, but not to innaction. Competency-based certificaiton is a great opportunity for cash-strapped schools. It has the potential to open up a new and incredibly large new market.

The idea of competency-based certification is already being practiced quite successfully over at Western Governors University. WGU develops no content. They have no professors. Instead, their students learn from some other source--any other source, and once they feel they know the content, they take a test. If they pass the test, they earn the credit. It may take four years to earn a degree, it may take four months, it all depends on what you know.

I'm willing to bet as we see more and more information online, we will hear a larger cry for an alternative to the traditional higher education. Good, smart folks in developing countries can't hope to save the money and come to the US to pay the high price of getting a degree. But they can log onto the internet and pay to take a test, especially if the degree or certificate they get by taking the test leads them to a better life.

The only question not answered is will universities lead the way, or be drug, kicking and screaming.

Article of the week...

2009-03-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

If you're in the publishing industry--author, publisher, bookseller, whatever--you need to read this. Sure, this article is about the newspaper industry, but you have to ask yourself, are we next?

Incredible...

2009-03-12T23:46:00.000-07:00

You and me, we watch Youtube videos and think, 'ha ha, that is funny'.

This guy looks at them and thinks, 'I could make me a song out of that."

The results are incredible. I can't stop listening.

He's got a bunch, don't just listen to the one I linked to. If his site is running slow, here is the video for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.