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Writeon
September 24, 2008
I’ve just received an email from Dominic Took, author of ‘Storms of Acaias’ about an arts council project through ‘You Writeon’ to publish the first 5000 writers to apply. I responded, and have been accepted, so if things go to plan ‘Tasting the Wind’ will be available in paperback by Christmas.
The only references so far that I’ve found on the net are from the states. They are asking if it is ‘Print on Demand’ similar to Lulu. It does appear to be so, as the paperback is only available through the website or, if you pay a small fee, from Amazon and certain bookshops.
Significantly, some of their authors havde attracted the attention of bigger publishers, and part of the contract is that you are not bound to Writeon if any mainstream publisher notices you. So I am trying it out. Watch this space.
If you are interested then click on this link:
http://www.youwriteon.com/info/info/welcome-to-youwriteoncom-sponsored-by-arts-council-england.aspx

Stumbleupon

If you haven't stumbled upon it yet I would highly recommend 'Stumbleupon.' All you have to do is Google it, download the tool bar and fill in the questionnaire about your interests, and when you click 'Stumble' you will be presented with a page geared to what you are into. I have subjects such as writing, literature and humour in my list. It can be quite addictive, and I've also stumbled on pages with free writing resources such as:


50 Awesome Open Source Resources for Online Writers
http://www.jobprofiles.org/library/students/50_awesome_open_source_resources_for_online_writers.htm

Writers' Digest 101 Best Sites
http://www.writersdigest.com/101BestSites/

and 'Authortree'
http://www.authortree.com/About%20AuthorTree

You also find little gems like this:

19 Things That It Took Me 50 Years To Learn
By Dave Barry...

1. Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be “meetings”.
3. There is a very fine line between “hobby” and “mental illness.”
4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
5. And when God, who created the entire universe with all of its glories, decides to deliver a message to humanity, He WILL NOT use, as His messenger, a person on cable TV with a bad hairstyle.
6. You should not confuse your career with your life.
7. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
8. When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that individual is crazy.
9. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
10. Never lick a steak knife.
11. Take out the fortune before you eat the cookie.
12. The most powerful force in the universe is gossip.
13. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
14. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she’s pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
15. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.
16. “The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.
17. The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests is to annoy people who are not in them.
18. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.
19. Your friends love you anyway.

Thought you'd like that. Til next time...

The Great Equivocator

The Great Equivocator
August 22, 2008
Alcohol- the cause and solution of all our problems, as Homer Simpson once said. There is a strange relationship between alcohol and writing, a stereotype which goes something like this: the tortured author, poet, or hack, sitting in his garret over his typewriter (wordprocessor doesn’t quite fit this ‘romantic’ image) churning out volumes of original thoughts, his creativity enhanced by the juice of the barley or grape or whatever comes to hand.
The epitome of this is perhaps the poet, Dylan Thomas. Apparently when asked what he liked about being drunk he said something like ‘because it’s different everytime,’ (Thomas fans please correct me- it usually happens when I mention a writer I know little about!) Funny that- I like a drink but to me the aftereffect is sort of samey most of the time.
Stephen King in ‘On Writing’ does a lot to explode the myth about alcohol and creativity, in a passage which is well worth the read to see how a truly successful author recognised and conquered the demon.
Truth is, if you write something whilst under the influence you will probably feel that you have just written the most original and creative piece in the history of writing. Until the next morning.
Although I have never had an ‘alcohol problem’ I would be lying to say that I don’t enjoy a drink. Recently I went for my ‘middle-aged fat boy test’ (or Glucose tolerance test as they call it) and was found to be prediabetic. This means that I have had to make some lifestyle changes.
Which leads me to some dietary advice for those of you wishing to cut down on your alcohol intake:
Buy Morrisons or Tesco Value Lager- doesn’t matter which. The advantages are:
. It only costs about 92p, so helps you save money in the credit crunch
. It is only about 2% proof
. Each can has only about 0.9% alcohol
. It tastes like shite, so one can will last you all night.
YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!