Time for a Change Can be a New Opportunity

The New Year is a good time to reassess our priorities. I've decided it's now time for me to make a change and I'm going to stop writing this blog. Today is my last post!I've come to a point where I feel I really need to focus my energy on finishing the final edit of my novel, as well as spending more time on my artwork. As you know, I recently released The Creative Zone, an adult #coloring book. Designing the artwork and the book itself was an enjoyable challenge and made me realize how important the visual arts are to me.I've often hailed the virtues of creativity and for me, the creative process is where I feel I need to steer my energy.

New Opportunity, Last Post

Page from The Creative Zone by Kathy Andrew

Thank you

I've loved writing this blog. It's developed my skills as a non-fiction writer and I've learned so much from the research I've done over the past four years. In thinking of making this change, the most important thing is to thank all my readers and especially those who've taken the time over and over again to join in the discussions.The most enjoyable part of my blog has been hearing other people's thoughts. [tweetthis]Online interaction bet. people from disparate backgrounds & interests is invaluable as a #writer.[/tweetthis]I've also been incredibly fortunate in finding my blogging tribe in Bloggers Helping Bloggers through LinkedIn. What an incredible group of people!! Not only do I feel I've made lifelong online friends, but the level of openness and support has been amazing. While I can't name everyone, I'd like to make a special mention to Jeri Walker, Susan Cooper, Leora Wenger, Doreen Pendgracs, Sherryl Perry, Jon Jefferson, Patricia Weber, Jeanette Palladino, &  Catarina Alexon.

Thanks to all of you for your unfailing support and friendship.

A.K. Andrew, Fort Point, Golden Gate Bridge

 Where to Find Me?

So how can we keep in touch? While I'll keep this website, I am active on my Facebook Author page  (I'd love it if you would "like" either page), on Pinterest and Instagram. And of course I'm on Twitter. You may have already noticed that my twitter feed now includes  visual art as well as writing related tweets. And for those of you who have only known me as A.K., I am using my full name Kathy for anything associated with my artwork.I will drop in when I can to your blogs, retweet your posts and I hope we can continue to connect and learn from each other. Wishing you all a fabulously creative year.

Arrivederci,  A.K. Andrew

A.K. Andrew

What changes are you planning for the coming year? Have any of them come as a surprise? What new opportunities can you see on the horizon?

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Have you #Read My Two favorite #Books from 2015?

I haven't read as many books as I'd like this year, but there are two that clearly stand out for me as memorable reads of 2015. Fittingly for the 100th anniversary, they are both set in and around WWI.

#Book 1: Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

This book is strictly speaking a memoir, but it is so engrossing it moves at the pace and in the narrative style of a novel. It's the story of Vera's experience both just before and during WWI, when she left her Oxford studies to become a nurse. What is particularly striking about the novel, is not just the heartbreak and loss she herself experiences throughout, but how much the war effects the English as a nation. The ongoing rationing, loss and horrific stories of life in the trenches, ground the people down to a collective depression. As is often the case, when the conflict started the consensus was it would be a fleeting event and the toll would be small. Of course the complete opposite was true.I think this passage captures the general mood of despair and lack of control over the characters lives. More importantly we see how central love is to the heart of the novel.

And then, all at once, the whistle sounded again and the train started. As the noisy group moved away from the door he sprang on to the footboard, clung to my hand and, drawing my face down to his, kissed my lips in a sudden vehemence of despair. And I kissed his, and just managed to whisper 'Good-bye!' The next moment he was walking rapidly down the platform, with his head bent and his face very pale. Although I had said that I would not, I stood by the door as the train left the station and watched him moving through the crowd. But he never turned again.”  ~ Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth

#Book 2: Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

This novel is a completely different book, but the effects of WWI are also key to the setting of the 1920s. After the death of the father and brother in the war, a young woman and her mother have fallen onto hard times. To make ends meet they are forced into taking lodgers in their formerly grand house. This quote gives a good sense of where Frances' life is starting from at the beginning of the novel.

“She rose from her bed full of new resolutions. ‘We must get out and about more,’ she told her startled mother. ‘We must try different things. We are getting groovy.’ She drew up a list of events and activities: concerts, day trips, public meetings. She went in a fit through her address book, writing letters to old friends. She borrowed novels from the library by authors who had never interested her before. She began to teach herself Esperanto, reciting phrases as she polished and swept.”~Sarah Waters, The Paying Guests

However, things do not go as planned. The first plot twist takes us by surprise:

“And that was all it took. They smiled at each other across the table, and some sort of shift occurred between them. There was a quickening, a livening- Frances could think of nothing to compare it to save some culinary process. It was like the white of an egg growing pearly in hot water, a milk sauce thickening in the pan. It was as subtle yet as tangible as that.” ~ Sarah Waters, The Paying Guests

Even when we think the novel has become a lesbian love story, the plot suddenly throws us against the wall and takes a dramatic turn. What has been a fairly slow moving pace speeds up to breakneck speed and the reader is in a full blown thriller, filled with nail biting suspense.

“Some things are so frightful that a bit of madness is the only sane response.”~Sarah Waters, The Paying Guests

This is by far the best Sarah Waters novel to date. She has matured as a writer and the characters are so well developed we feel both an affinity and a loathing for the protagonists as the story follows the plots twists. The turn of events challenges the morality of two ordinary women who find themselves in an untenable situation after a completely unplanned and dreadful occurrence.The novel also gives the reader an excellent look at the class differences of the day, as well as the gradually changing, but still very limited role offered to women in society.This is my final post for 2015. Thanks so much for all your support and wonderful comments throughout the year. Have a good holiday season and I'll see you back here in January!

What were your two favorite books from 2015? Come join the discussion. Share the love and please post this on your favorite social media. 

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Related Posts

 

Winners of The Creative Zone #Coloring Book & Free #Coloring Pages

Congratulations !

The Creative Zone, adult coloring book by Kathy Andrew

The winners of The Creative Zone Coloring Book Giveaway are:1. D.G. Kaye2. Jan Twissel3. Barbara Lynne Ross4. Andrea  Spengler5. Angela Smith6. Stephanie LWoohoo!

Free #Coloring Book Pages!!

The Creative Zone, adult coloring book, Kathy Andrew

The Creative Zone, adult coloring book, Kathy Andrew

The Creative Zone, adult coloring book, Kathy Andrew

As a thank you to all the people who entered, here are 3 more Free Pages from The Creative ZoneI hope you enjoy coloring these and the ones from last week. After you have colored them, if you decide to share them on Facebook, I'd be very grateful if you would let people now they came from The Creative Zone.And of course I hope you will want to get the rest of them in the collection! The Creative Zone would  be a perfect present over the holidays:-)Thanks so much everyone!The paperback is available worldwide through all Amazon stores, and BookDepository.com. Here are the direct Amazon links for the US, UK and Canada to buy the paperback and Kindle versions of the book. (The paperback is also available in US at Barnes and Noble.)

Amazon USA Amazon UK Amazon

 I'd love to hear what you think, so I'd be extremely grateful if you would leave an honest review on Amazon.

Lose yourself in The Creative Zone #coloring book to relax and improve your #creativity. 

Share the love and please post this on your favorite social media. 

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3 Key Points Creatives Can Learn from #NaNoWriMo

The setup for NaNoWriMo at home, if I need to ...

November is #NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month, where thousands of people all over the world write a novel of 50,000w in 30 days. Insane you say? Why put so much pressure on yourself?  I've not done NaNoWriMo myself, but I've recently been wondering what other creatives and entrepreneurs can learn from the discipline of #NaNoWriMo.

1. Immersion

When you start a new project, one way to get really involved is to totally immerse yourself in it. Set aside the time, try new things, look at it in new ways, don't worry about someone looking over your shoulder. The important thing is to get it down. As a visual artist, I find when I only work at intervals I never really get to grips with the heart of the project and it's easy to lose interest.

2. Quantity not Quality

I'm a firm believer in the motto my painting mentor, the late Fred Reichman taught me:

Focus on quantity not quality. The quality will come once you do enough work.

Fred Riechman

Another way to think of this is practice, practice, practice. Novelists often agonize over the first chapter and some barely get beyond it looking for that perfect gripping opening. In a novel you really want to just get down the first shitty draft of the entire book. That's not to say that no good work will come from #NaNoWriMo, but the chance are it won't  be people's best work. Once you have the first draft in place you can start to edit, fine tune and make it the best it can be.This could apply to any project you're working on. Do whatever you need to do to keep going, improving things again and again until you like the look of what you've created.Painters often do a series of works with the same motif, sometimes over a period of years. The continuity developed in a series can make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Fred was still working on paintings of cats like the one above not long before he died in 2003, over 30 years after the painting above was finished. I always appreciated his minimalist style.

3. Commitment

Writing 50,000w in a month takes a huge amount of time and effort. The single most important thing in order to actually accomplish this is commitment. If you work a little on this and a little on that, setting aside projects for months on end, clearly you are not committing to your work. And the results will reflect that. So if you really want to see some results, commit to the darn thing and start producing some of your best work!

Alternative to #NaNoWriMo for Other Creatives? #NaKiCreMo?

Could there be another dedicated month that is not so defined (ie. not just for writing) that other creatives can participate in instead of NaNoWriMo? There's nothing like being part of a community of people who are all pulling together to achieve something.I mulled over the possibilities of National Art & Creativity Month - NaArCreMo, National Arts & Crafts Month - NaArCraMo,  but decided the one I liked best was  National KickAss Creative Month - NaKiCreMo. What do you think?[tweetthis]The continuity developed in a series can make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.[/tweetthis]How do you approach your projects? Do you like to move slowly, not at all immersed, and hope it will all somehow come together? What is your level of commitment, and what influences that commitment?

Come join the discussion and please share this post on your favorite social media. 

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How Can You Better Manage Change?

akandrew.com,

akandrew.com

As Fall is finally upon us, I’ve been thinking recently about the change in seasons. When I lived in England, although I loved the Fall colors, I was always filled with dread at the thought of winter - bitterly cold days, getting dark at 4 pm and some days when it was so dull you have to keep the lights on all day.As I now live in Norther California, my sense of dread has lessened, but I was still reluctant to let go of the summer this year.Until last weekend.... when I went to a harvest fair at a local state park. I realized I was being stubborn and there is so much to love about all the seasons, wherever you are in the world.As I mentioned in my last blog post, I’m embarking on a new journey with producing a coloring book, and my novel writing has been taking a back seat. My thoughts on all of this is how to remain centered in the midst of change, whether it’s the seasons, one’s business, relationships, moving house, or changing artistic pursuits.My answer to better embrace change is really to embrace the now. Whatever the change is that's coming, it's probably going to happen irregardless. So why not take it on board, make the most of it and try not to get caught up looking in the rearview mirror.Writing like life, is fluid. When your characters don't behave the way you want, you can’t force them. So if you want to better manage change, without sounding to hippyish, then I say “Go with the flow”.Enjoy the Fall and whatever other changes are happening in your life. I hope we can all learn to embrace change a little bit more each time it happens. Life is now. And to me that’s the important piece that helps to keep me centered.

How well do you deal with change? Do you like change, or are you dragged there kicking and screaming?

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6 Steps to Start Your #Publishing Company & Printing Books

Have you ever wanted to have a book in print, or your own publishing company? With the self publishing revolution of the past decade, it's now possible. This summer, I was bitten by the bug (or should I say book!) and took a slight diversion from historical fiction into the art world - though many of you know I'm an artist as well as a writer.  I’m very excited by my new project of producing The Creative Zone: An Adult Coloring Book Inspired by Stained Glass. Publication date is very soon, so I will keep you posted!These steps are by no means a comprehensive list, but it will give you an overview of what it will entail.Please note I am referring to sole proprietorship. If you want a more complex business set up such as a corporation, then you’ll want to take advice from a lawyer and an accountant before you move forward.

1. Choose a Name for Your Publishing Company

If you want to sell your books solely though Amazon or elsewhere online, you can simply publish your books through Create Space or another Print On Demand (POD) company - see Number 4 below. However if you want to get your books into a bookstore, you will not be taken seriously without your own publishing company. Common wisdom is also that the name should not just be an extension of your own name e.g. Mary Smith Press. A name distinctive from your own or the title of the book will look more professional.I chose D Street Press which has a local connotation for me. You will of course need to search online to see if your name is already being used.

2. Get a Domain Name

Aside from a general online search, one of the best ways of finding whether a name is being used, is by searching for the domain name. Because after all you will want to register the domain name yourself. Even if you don’t yet have a website, or have a website in a different name, it makes sense to snag a domain for your new press. I do this through GoDaddy. They are very reputable for hosting domains, and I’ve also had good customer service with them. But I have also read that they have a poor reputation when it comes to site hosting, so look elsewhere for that.

3. Register Your Fictitious Business Name with the County Clerk

Once you have the name, checked it’s not in use and registered the domain, you will need to register with your County Clerk’s office that you are doing business as (DBA) your fictitious name. In my county, this was a very simple process of filling out a one page form and paying the  $40 filing fee. You will also need to put a notice in a local paper for four consecutive weeks , but the County Clerks office will give you names and contact details of places to contact. Note that the smaller the paper, the less the fee will be. Mine cost $30 for the four week submission.If you are unclear on the rules in your county, then check with your local Small Business Association (SBA)

4. Choose a Printer

OK - now we’re getting closer to the book! Although there are numerous POD Companies out there, the two main contenders are Ingram Spark and CreateSpace. The latter is Amazon’s POD company.Quality wise they are close, but Ingram Spark have a slightly better quality reputation (this is always a subject choice). If you want to just go with online sales through Amazon, then Create Space is the simplest choice and I understand they will give you a little more handholding too. However, if you also want your books in Barnes and Noble, Libraries and numerous other distributors, then Ingram Spark is the one to choose. Another reason -  and for me it was the decisive reason - is that you will not be picked up by bookstores if you are published by Create Space. Call it snobbery over self publishing or what have you, but this is generally speaking the state of play at the moment.

5. Buy ISBN Numbers

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is the long string number code (13 numbers in the US) that the book is recognized by all over the world. If you work with Create Space, you can buy one of their ISBN’s for $10, but that can only be used through Create Space. It is in effect ‘their ‘ number.If you want to ‘go all the way’ then you need to buy an ISBN yourself. In the US, this can only be done through a company called Bowker. Go to the site MyIdentifiers.com. FYI In Canada, ISBN’s are issued for free! However in the US, it is most cost effective to buy 10 at a time, which is a hefty $295 (I was lucky to buy mine on sale for $250), but to only buy one costs $125, so …..

6. Submit Materials

Once you’ve chosen the POD company you want, then you have to jump through a few hoops filling out forms and making sure your files are up to their specifications. So be sure to look at all of these specs. before you set up your book in whatever Desk Top Publishing software you use. (I used Pages). The current top of the line software for this is InDesign from Adobe. But it’s a chunk of money to rent (not buy) as Adobe now have all their software  - Photoshop, Illustrator & ID though a monthly licensing fee. But you can even do your layout in Word. Once you have done that, then you will need to approve an e-copy and to be prudent have them send you a hardcopy to proof.After that is all good to go, the the POD will submit your work to Amazon , Barnes and Noble etc, and you are published!!As I said, this is a somewhat bare bones guide and by no means answers all the questions you will have before you start on this publishing journey. But there are many good sites to get info from. Here are three of my favorites:TheBookDesigner.com Joel Friedlander runs this site and is a veritable fountain of information on the subject. An excellent resource. He also sells templates in Word for book layout at a very reasonable cost to take some of the headache out of that part of the process.TheCreativePenn.com is another excellent site run by Joanna Penn. This is really a fantastic site for writers in general.JaneFriedman.com also covers loads of self publishing stuff in her blogs and her writers resource page is the most comprehensive I’ve seen.To add a couple more, Kristen Joy’s site TheBookNinja.com is great for finding out about webinars on publishing - many of which are free and packed with great info. Creativindie.com from Derek Murphy is another good one. He’s great at giving freebies too.If you have any other good resources you’d like to add to this list please leave them in the comments.So has anyone chosen POD as an option? What difficulties have you come across? What other vital points do you feel need including in this list?

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Lack of fREADom Sucks...No More Banned #Books

21st Centuryville

Viva Libriani, head librarian of 21stCenturyville. Original drawing by Kathy Andrew

Sept.27th -Oct 3rd 2015 is Banned Books Week and this year I've been lucky to have an interview with senior librarian of 21stCenturyville, Ms. Viva Libriani.Ms.Libriani will be seen this year leading the march with her trademark chant Lack of fREADdom sucks...No More banned books!But she was not always a champion for this cause. Viva was raised in the town of Sittingonthefenceville  and with little opportunities open to her, she won a scholarship to University at UNM (University for the Narrow Minded) in Uberconservativetown. During her time at university and sheexpanded her own reading material and things started to feel uncomfortable. It all came to a head after she'd worked for several years as a librarian in Uberconservativetowm. When I spoke with her, she talked of her time there."At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Everyone was pretty much the same as folks from Sittingonthefenceville.  But the more I read, the more I had difficulty with decisions that were being made. Then three young girls changed my life. The first asked me why there were no books that made her think. A couple of months later, the second asked why we never carried books that questioned life. The final straw for me was when a ten year old girl with her blonde pigtails flying checked out some books and said  'You know Mom's right, ignorance is bliss.' The girl gave a little wave and left the building."Ms. Libriani paused for a moment to wipe her eyes."I couldn't stand it anymore. I gave my notice, went home, cut off my long hair I'd kept tied up in a bun and went straight to Inky Pinky's and got a tiny tattoo on my ankle of a book with wings." Viva laughed as she looked down at her arms . "I guess I picked up these once I got to 21stCenturyville."Viva Libriani has become a heroine for many of us who've struggled with the idea of being limited as to what we can read, particular books banned in schools and libraries, where children and young adults have no choice in acquiring them elsewhere. I like her too because she wanted to be different and broke an old-fashioned stereotype of the straight-laced and judgmental librarian. Tattoos aren't for everyone, but loads of librarians live in 21stCenturyville these days.

Back to Reality

Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association

Viva Viviani may only live in my imagination, but the threat to everyone's right to read what they want in the USA is real: there were 311 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom this year. Here are links to the 10 most challenged titles of 2014. Thanks for this list goes to my local bookstore Copperfield's Books who also sell new, used and rare books online.

1)     The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman AlexieReasons: anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence. Additional reasons: “depictions of bullying”

2)      Persepolis, by Marjane SatrapiReasons: gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint. Additional reasons: “politically, racially, and socially offensive,” “graphic depictions”

3)      And Tango Makes Three, Justin Richardson and Peter ParnellReasons: Anti-family, homosexuality, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “promotes the homosexual agenda”

4)      The Bluest Eye, by Toni MorrisonReasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “contains controversial issues”

5)    It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie HarrisReasons: Nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group. Additional reasons: “alleges it child pornography”

6)    Saga, by Brian Vaughan and Fiona StaplesReasons: Anti-Family, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group. Additional reasons:

7)      The Kite Runner, by Khaled HosseiniReasons: Offensive language, unsuited to age group, violence

8)     The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen ChboskyReasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “date rape and masturbation”

9)      A Stolen Life, Jaycee DugardReasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group

10)    Drama, by Raina TelgemeierReasons: sexually explicit

I thought it was interesting that 7 of these titles had an issue with sexuality. Does no-one see what's on TV these days? If you want more information about the issue or how to get involved, check out the American Library Association or my post Should we Ever Ban Books. Who knows, maybe Viva will answer your call or email.

Have you had any experience of not being able to get books you wanted in the US , or another country. How do you think we should deal with this issue? Should any books, other than perhaps ones that might put people, particular children, in physical danger, be banned?

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Muse Media: Change and Junot Diaz

 Muse Media: Change and Junot Diaz

#Muse Media is a series of  simple posts, looking for our muse by mixing prose with other media.  If this was in the form of a Haiku with an image, it might be called a Haiga. For the moment,  let's enjoy the prose of some wonderful authors.

“She would be a new person, she vowed. They said no matter how far a mule travels it can never come back a horse, but she would show them all.” Junot Díaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

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I love this gutsy quote. The "in your face " style epitomizes Diaz work.

Change is often hard, and I wonder how the woman in the quote going to succeed? 

In what ways do you manage change?

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Junot Díaz (born December 31, 1968) is a Dominican-American writer, creative writing professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and fiction editor at Boston Review. Central to Díaz's work is the immigrant experience. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, in 2008 followed by  This Is How You Lose Her, in 2012. He is reported to be working on another novel, entitled Monstro. He is a 2012 MacArthur Fellow.

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Why Was Evelyn Waugh “Apalled” By His Own Work?

This is a reblog of one of Robert Bruce's posts from his fantastic website 101Books.net which is the best book site on the web in my opinion.

Why Was Evelyn Waugh “Apalled” By His Own Work?

by Robert on May 7, 2015

The critics love Brideshead Revisited. As you know, it’s on the Time list–that’s why I’m reading it–but it’s also #80 on the Modern Library list of English-language novels in the 20th Century. Newsweek listed the novel as one of its 100 best books of world literature, and the BBC lists it at #45 on its literature list.

By all accounts, this is literature at its finest.However, the novel’s author, Evelyn Waugh, wasn’t a fan of his own work. In 1950, he wrote to Graham Greene saying “I re-read Brideshead Revisited and was appalled.”Waugh doesn’t even hold back criticizing the novel in the Brideshead Revisited preface:

“It was a bleak period of present privation and threatening disaster – the period of soya beans and Basic English — and in consequence the book is infused with a kind of gluttony, for food and wine, for the splendours of the recent past, and for rhetorical and ornamental language which now, with a full stomach, I find distasteful.”

Well, doesn’t that really just get you in the mood to read? The author himself trashing the novel in its very own preface.How should one interpret this?I think it’s pretty simple. We’re always our own worst critics. That’s just human nature.So when an author says something he wrote sucks, I believe you have to take that with a grain of salt. Too many authors expect perfection from themselves and feel like failures when they don’t achieve that impossible standard.Evelyn Waugh might not have been a fan of Brideshead Revisited, but most everyone else who read it is.And that’s good enough for me.Here is the original post on 101books.net

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#Author in Focus: Virginia Woolf - A Life of Her Own

Virginia Woolf - A Life of Her Own

Portrait of Virginia Woolf (January 25, 1882 –...

Author In Focus Bio:

Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English writer, and one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century. WikipediaBorn: January 25, 1882, Kensington, United Kingdom Died: March 28, 1941, River Ouse, Sussex, United Kingdom Spouse: Leonard Woolf (m. 1912–1941) Movies: Orlando, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, Golven, Simple Gifts, A Room of One's Own Siblings: Vanessa Bell, Thoby Stephen, Adrian Stephen

Virginia Woolf's Work and Life

Virginia Woolf’s career was filled with work that showed a desire to break free from the constraints she felt as a woman.

"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."~ Virginia Woolf

Opportunities for women in the 20’s and 30s were undeniably less than they are today. But coming from a privileged, intellectual background Woolf had far greater means  to express herself than many women of her era. In the period between World War 1 and II, she was part of a London literary circle known as the Bloomsbury group, which included writers, painters and other intellectuals. She may have had the privilege of a wealthy family, but from the time of her mother's death when she was only 13 yrs old, combined with her sisters death 2 years later, Virginia suffered the first of several nervous breakdowns. Depression plagued her throughout her life, exacerbated by the sexual abuse both she and her sister suffered from their two half brothers.

“I thought how unpleasant it is to be locked out; and I thought how it is worse, perhaps, to be locked in.” ~Virginia WoolfFrom an early age, she grew up surrounded by intellectuals which doubtless gave her the desire and ability to question her role in society and the position of women in general. But her depression and mood swings never left. They ultimately led to her suicide in 1941.

English: Portrait of Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf and Women's Fiction

Despite her mental health problems, or perhaps in part because of them, she managed to be productive in her literary work. Woolf strove to rid herself of her demons, and while her writing  can be non-linear and freeform  making it hard to read, she forged a unique place in women's fiction. Now, decades later, I can appreciate the example she set for all women, striving to find 'a room of one's own' in a metaphorical, if not a literal sense.

“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” ~ Virginia Woolf

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Author in Focus is a blog series featuring vignettes of some of the greatest writers of the 20th & 21st century.

“A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say." ~ Italo Calvino

9 Famous #Authors Rejected by Publishers

I have been submitting my manuscript to agents over the past few months so I thought this was a great post to reblog from  Bridget Whelan Writer to include on my site. Enjoy.

Bridget Whelan Writer

9 famous authors rejected by publishers (comfort for emerging writers)

Heart of litrature...

I enjoyed reading the article published by The Writers Circle website about famous authors who were not only rejected (in one case 800 times), but also had to suffer crushing criticism and they don’t even mention J.K.Rowling’s numerous rejections. I wonder if there are publishers who still wake up in the middle of the night remembering that they once held the manuscript of Harry Potter in their hands.How well would you have coped if you were told:“…an absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dull.” (It has since sold  more than 14.5 million copies and helped the author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.)

“There certainly isn’t enough genuine talent for us to take notice.” (One of the most celebrated and admired writers of her generation)

“Stick to teaching.” (The publisher who offered that advice has been out of business a long time: she hasn’t been out of print for 150 years.)

Read the article in full HERE. Might be worth printing it out and sticking it on the wall somewhere so you can see it when you look up from the keyboard.

Have faith, keep going and never forget why you want to write: because you love it.

photo credit: 120/365. A Light Shines In My Heart. via photopin(license)

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10 Ways to Be Creative in the Summer

Does summertime make you feel creative and want to try new things? Or do you just like to have fun in the sun? I like both, so while I'll be posting all through the summer, I'm taking a break from blog commenting until after Labor Day. Some of you may remember this post from last year, but I felt it needed repurposing!What will You be Doing for Creative Fun this Summer?Summer is a great time to try things you might not normally do. Here are my suggestions for being creative this summer.

1.Build a Sandcastle or a Sand Painting

A.K.Andrew, http://akandrew.com

Building sandcastles are one of my favorite childhood memories as we always had beach holidays. Some of the ones you see are amazing, not just the fill a bucket and turn it upside down kind. I love making a moat with a sand castle too, all that foamy water rushing in. And then at the end of the day you can make it disappear with one sweep of your hand or wait for a wave to do the same thing. Creative things don't need to be permanent. Sand paintings are fun for that very reason. Do one on the beach with a stick or your finger, or buy a sand painting kit.

2.Write a Short Story

This is the time to let go, have some fun with it. And remember no-one but you will see it, unless you want them to. Write about an unexpected sexual encounter. Try out a different genre you don't usually use. Never written about vampires? Now's the time. Write in a different point of view, or from the point of view of a different gender, or sexual orientation. Hey, this is supposed to be fun right?

3.Go see a Film or Make a Movie

When was the last time you went to a cinema? No, not your home theatre, but a big screen-Dolby stereo-popcorn-selling cinema. Treat yourself. If you're a regular cinema goer then try a different kind of film. For me that would be a horror film. Of course, I'd have to take something to hold up in front of the screen though! Maybe you'll be inspired to make a short movie on your phone or camera. One of the best shorts I've ever seen was made by a guy who was stuck in his house in Minnesota one winter, and he used himself as the subject. It was so imaginative, and best of all, hilarious.

 4.Take a Photograph

A.K.Andrew, http://akandrew.com

We all spend so much time on our mobile phones these days, but do you use your phone camera for anything other than selfies or groups of friends laughing together? I love those photos, but it's great to capture even simple things you see that give you a memory of the place you've been and the good time you had.  Better still, take an actual camera!You remember those right? I must dust mine off. I happened to catch these cowboys with my phone while driving home last Sunday morning - I wasn't driving:-)

5.Try a Poem

Lots of people, myself included, sometimes find poetry intimidating. But if you think of poetry as being just the essential information you need, it's not so threatening. Of course, the arrangement and choice of words is what makes poetry beautiful, striking and memorable. Play around with words that come to mind, and put them together in a bizarre order. See what happens.

6. Watercolors and Painting

A.K.Andrew, http://akandrew

I used to think water colors had to be twee little scenes of cottages with roses round the door. They can be if that's what you want, but you can paint anything you want with watercolors including abstracts. Look at the beautiful watercolors from Leora Wenger she painted during a blackout. It's a brilliant medium to take on holiday. I have a little Winsor Newton box that is about 3"x  5 " with a telescopic paintbrush inside. The paints are little squares like a kids paint set. I've had so much fun with that little box. The key to both drawing and painting is really looking at your subject. And don't try and get the whole thing in the painting. Just pick a small section, like a doorway not the whole house, or a single plant, not the whole garden etc. If you really want to be adventurous, try acrylics or oil paints. The textures are delicious.

7.Drawing

A.K.Andrew,http://akandrew.com

Kids have so much fun with drawing , and there is no reason why adults can't either. If you want your drawings to look as if you were classically trained, good for you. But if like me, you don't have that skill, then draw whatever it is you see. If it's stick figures - fabulous.  You know who they are, and I can guarantee that if you forget about it having to look realistic, you will have fun with it. Think simple , but creative. Look at the work of Keith Haring. I used to think drawing was an innate skill. Some people have more of a natural talent, but it can basically be learned by anyone. So you might want to elaborate on your stick figures, and give it a shot. Drawing your own hands is a great way to practise. Or look in a mirror as I did above for this self portrait. Drawing images from photographs is much easier than from real life, so that's a good place to start too. Pencils are great, but charcoal or pastels are also really fun too. The important thing for me is the process.

8.Gardening

A.K.Andrew, http://akandrew.com

Gardening  is a fantastically creative pursuit and I'm often amazed the effects people can get from very simple things eg. putting a plant in an old metal jug, or combining flowers with herbs. It's hot and dry in the summer where I live, and I've seen some of the most amazing succulent gardens in our neighborhood. Years ago I thought they were a very boring plant, but once I saw them in the US, and particularly the ones that bloom, I've come to love them. They're great for needing little water too, which is always a good choice. Watch your back though - gardening is addictive, and it's easy to forget how much work you've done. If you find this is the case then try using raised beds. Here's one surprise I found in a neighbors garden....

 9. Music

How many times have you heard people say, I can't sing? Nonsense! Everyone who does not have vocal chord issues can sing. Some voices are more pleasant to listen to than others, but we're talking about having fun here. Sing at the top of your lungs, and who cares what it sounds like. Or pick up a musical instrument you haven't tried before. Harmonica's and tin whistles are inexpensive. Ukulele's can be very cheap these days. The chords are very simple,  - some only use one finger. It's all about having fun.

10. Cooking

A.K.Andrew,http://akandrew.com

Cooking does not have to be complicated, and in the summer, many of the dishes we eat are cold. Some people are so creative in what they make. Check out Susan Cooper's siteFindingourwaynow.com. She has lots of great recipes, and you can tell she has fun in her cooking. I like simple dishes in the summer. There's nothing more beautiful than a caprese salad - luscious heirloom tomatoes with fresh buffalo mozzarella, sprinkled with chopped basil and dribbled with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Talk about a treat for all the senses.

What else do you like to do creatively? Welding, sculpture, making jewellery, beading, rockhounding? Try something new this summer, and whatever it is, make sure you enjoy yourself.

Have a fantastic summer everyone and don't forget, comments have "Gone Fishing" until after Labor Day!

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Barbara Kingsolver: What is the Heart of a Novel?

 Barbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the Congo in her early childhood. The novel which earned her a pulitzer prize nomination and an Oprah endorsement, was "The Poisonwood Bible"  published in 1998, and follows a missionary family in the colonial Congo.  She is now the author of 14 books and her most recent novel "Flight Behaviour ", deals with climate change.

How Does a Novel Start?

I talked a couple of weeks ago in my post on Ray Bradbury, about the short story, referencing one of his quotes. This week I'd like, through Barbara Kingsolver, to look at how a novel might come to fruition. We can look at what is the heart of a novel by looking at her inspiration for it's beginning.

“I woke up one morning with a vision,” she says. “I don’t know whether it was a dream, but it felt very dreamlike. And I saw – I don’t want to say it because I’ve made a point of not revealing the secret – the beautiful thing that arrives, that starts this novel rolling. I just woke up and saw that, in these forested mountains where I live.”...“I didn’t even understand what I’d imagined,” Kingsolver says, recalling that vision she had, “but I spent all day thinking about it and I’m enough of a biologist to ponder what it would really mean if that did happen here. I immediately saw the whole thing. Often there is a moment when I can see the novel sort of unrolling like a carpet in front of me and that did happen with this book. I think the novel is very much about how we understand and process what we see and how very true it is how we decide first what we believe and then collect evidence to support it, rather than the reverse. When you look at the conversation about climate change it’s baffling that everyone is presented with the same facts but people come away with very different convictions about what’s going on.”

This is one person's experience, but it struck a chord for me. A novel can start with just the tiniest of sparks, and from that it can unfold or unroll like a carpet, as Kingsolver says. Like the short story, and even more so, you need to have a feeling about the work and be totally immersed in that feeling, otherwise what the book is really about - it's theme - will be jumbled and confused. One can have more than one theme, but there needs to be a core sentence which you can refer to that tells us what the novel is about. You could call it the elevator pitch, but it is really the heart of the novel. "Flight Behaviour"  certainly has plenty of heart, and while I loved "Poisonwood Bible", I think "Flight Behaviour" is her best novel to date. [tweetthis]I think the novel is very much about how we understand and process what we see ~Barbara Kingsolver[/tweetthis]As a novelist, can you summarise your latest novel in one sentence? As a reader do you think it's important to know the theme? Does the theme of the novel influence you in buying the book?

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Do You Keep A #Writer's Notebook?

I've recently been taking a free online poetry class through the Iowa Writer's workshop, and it reminded me how useful - essential even - a writer's notebook is. After all I did name a whole website after it!

What is A Writer's Notebook?

Any kind of notebook that you jot down ideas, words, stories, poems or drawings if that helps you. You don't need the classic Moleskine notebook, any notebook will work. Sometimes the more ordinary it is the better. Fancy notebooks can make us feel overly precious about what we write.

Who Would Benefit from Using A Writer's Notebook?

Any kind of writer, or anyone who wants to record their thoughts. It's not important to give yourself a label to use a useful tool.

What Are the Benefits?

1. You won't forget your ideas

When you overhear a conversation where someone says something memorable, what are the chances of remembering it word for word ?  Nil of course. But beyond whole conversations , even small details, in fact particularly small details, are things that will be lost but have the potential to enrich our work. Red shoes on a subway station. The bird had a pinkish head with a pale underbelly. "I could 'ave bloody well killed 'er" I overheard on a cell call on a bus one time in England.

2. Developing Ideas without Pressure

The important thing about a writer's notebook is that it is totally private - unless of course you want to share it. This in itself lets you write down ideas you might never consider sharing with anyone. Which is liberating, because you can jot down things you might think are stupid but once followed through lead onto to a kernel of something worth running with.

 3. Brainstorming is productive - one idea leads to another

Whenever I'm thinking of a title of a piece I start with one word, which leads to another, letting them lead on until I have a whole list of words. Inside that list I can usually find a title. The same goes for character traits, or descriptions - words to describe the wind blowing against a pane of glass for example. Lashing, hurl, pebbles, slanting rain, rain heavily, heaving against the glass, pouring, slash, ripples, windswept, sweeping torrents etc. You will likely go through a number of options before you get to something you like.

4. Writing words makes you write more words

When you start writing, something becomes released. Almost as if to put it on a page lets it go and you can move on to the next thing. Often when we have writer's block all we need to do is write. Jotting something down on a piece of paper, is a very low threat way to get back into the flow of one word following another.

5. Writing down rather than typing makes for a strong connection

Although I don't find it feasible to write a whole novel by hand, I'm a big believer that writing by hand taps into the subconscious more readily than if you type it. There are studies that have proved that people learn better if the exercise has been written by hand.

6. All your Ideas in one place

I know you have "notes" and "evernote" and a myriad other ways of keeping information on a computer and obviously I do, but there's nothing like picking up a notebook, flicking through it's pages and having your information all in one place. If you don't want to carry a notebook with you, carry a post-it pad or other little pad to jot things down on. You can consolidate it later. Paste it in with Scotch tape if you dont' want to rewrite it. My particular favorite is a notebook that has a little envelope at the back where I can keep either scraps of notes, or say a ticket stub to remind me of an exhibition or a train ride.[tweetthis]The important thing about a writer's notebook is that it is totally private.[/tweetthis]

Do you keep a notebook of any kind? How do you like to organise your thoughts, memories or experiences?

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Do You Want to Watch An Animated Ray Bradbury Interview?

Lisa Potts did an interview with Ray Bradbury  in 1972 and she by chance found it again in 2012. Since then, it's been animated though the wonderful "Blank on Blank" , in part of their PBS series. Thanks so much to Maria Popova of Brainpickings.org - one of my favourite websites BTW - for introducing me to this wonderful series. Alongside writer Bradbury, Blank on Blank  have animated interviews with Maya Angelou, musicians such as Lou Reed, John Lennon and actors Philip Seymour Hoffman and Heath Ledger among others. A real gem of a find.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ciQoov55fMHere is part of what Ray Bradbury says about writing:

"Don’t pay any attention to what anyone else says — no opinions! The important thing is to explode with the story, to emotionalize it, not to think it. If you start to think it, the story’s going to die on its feet. It’s like anything else… People who take books on sex to bed become frigid — you get self-conscious.You can’t think a story — you can’t think, “I shall do a story to improve mankind.” It’s nonsense! All the great stories, all the really worthwhile plays, are emotional experiences. If you have to ask yourself whether you love a girl, or whether you love a boy, forget it — you don’t! A story is the same way — you either feel a story and need to write it, or you’d better not write it.[…]You write to please yourself. You write for the joy of writing. And then your public reads you and it begins to gather around…The enthusiasm, the joy itself draws me — so that means, every day of my life, I’ve written. When the joy stops, I’ll stop writing."

You Can't Think a Story

This to me was the best thing I've heard on writing for a while. So what is the difference between thinking and feeling a story? To me, "thinking " a story is working out the plot, developing a clever idea that would make a snappy little tale. "Feeling' the story is either having a call to write about a particular thing you feel strongly about, or starting a story with an essence and let the words flow from that emotion.Bradbury might not have  meant this at all, but that's how I look at the written word. It's not that I don't plot - of course I do at a certain level - especially with a novel. But with a short story, the mood of the piece needs to carry you forward to allow the story to unfold.[tweetthis]All the great stories, all the really worthwhile plays, are emotional experiences ~ Ray Bradbury[/tweetthis]How do you like to write? Do you plot and plan? Do you pick a theme? Do you start with a freewrite,no clue as to how the story is going to unfold? 

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Do You Shop at Independent #Bookstores?

Saturday May 2nd is Independent Bookstore Day, so I've written a short, tongue in cheek piece of fiction, in honour of the experience of small bookstores and keeping them alive. Enjoy!

A child reading in Brookline Booksmith, an ind...

Cover scan of a Classics Comics book

Watercolour of Mr Bumble from Oliver Twist by ...

I've been going to the By the Book since I was a child. It's still run by the Greene twins - two sisters, now in their  seventies, who always wear red lipstick and dress identically in a smart outfit. When I was away at college, I'd buy books from Amazon, but once I came back home, on principle, I refused to feed the beast, even if it cost a little more. By the Book orders anything for me not in stock and it comes within a week.Last year, By the Book closed for the month of February for renovations. As soon as the Grand re-opening day came, I went into the bookshop and the whole store looked bigger and brighter, with comfy reading chairs at the end of each bookshelf. They'd installed iPads as their new cash registers. I could even have my receipt sent to me by email.The old smell of musty books was a little less strong, but it became more pungent when I wandered through their second hand book section. I noticed a copy of A Tale of Two Cities, and thought I might reread it. I opened the book and immediately felt light headed. My vision blurred and when I opened my eyes again, I was surrounded by a group of people shouting. I looked around to see what the commotion was and three men and two women in raggedy period costumes were being pulled in a wooden cart through a crowd of people, and oh my goodness, at the edge of the crowd was a guillotine!I went up to the nearest person I could find to ask what was going on but they ignored me as if I wasn't there. I reached out to the next person and even more disturbingly, my hand went straight through them. I screamed, closed my eyes tight and willed myself to be back in the store.When I opened my eyes, I was sitting in one of the comfy reading chairs, the book held shakily in my hand. Somehow I'd been transported back to into the period of the book and the French Revolution. I'd been inside the book!! How was this possible? But I knew that's what had happened. I went up to the counter." Excuse me, " I asked one of the twins. "Has anyone noticed anything strange about this book?"" Oh Meredith, so nice to see one of our loyal customers enjoying our renovations." She smiled and moved down the counter to help the next customer.I could barely think, left the book on the counter and went home.But I was back the next day and this time I chose Breakfast at Tiffany's. As soon as I opened the book, my vision blurred and I heard cars honking. I looked around and I was outside a jewellery store in downtown Manhattan, yellow taxis streaming by. Again, I tried to speak to a passerby, but no one seemed to see me, so I willed myself back to the store and came to, sitting again in a reading chair.I’m not one for fantasy books, so this scenario of being transported into the time and place of a book did not sit well with me. I couldn't bring myself to tell anyone what had happened, but over the next couple of weeks, I went into the store and each time I opened a book I had a similar experience. I brought a couple home with me, but the "book travel", if that's what you can call it, only happened in the store.Several weeks passed and my experience repeated itself each time I opened the books in the store and stopped once I willed myself back.  I began to enjoy the "book travel" and each time I went further and further into the scene I had landed in. I also noticed that the comfy reading chairs were all full, customers often having a slightly dazed look about them.Then I changed jobs and moved to the edge of town to lessen the commute, which made it much more difficult to go to By the Book. So, I reluctantly decided it was time to break with tradition and started buying books through Amazon. It was so easy to just hit one click and I could even buy second hand books too. But after a few months, I really missed "book travelling" and went back to the store relishing the thought of being transported to another world.I opened a copy of The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, a risky choice, but I was ready for something more challenging. Nothing happened. Gone Girl, still nothing. I moved back into the second hand section and chose another Dickens book, Oliver Twist. Nothing. I finally went back to A Tale of Two Cities, but no matter how hard I tried, nothing happened. So I went up to the counter unsure of how I would ask my question."Er... Has anything changed with these books?" I asked one of the twins.She looked at me and said, "Oh, nothing's changed with the books, Meredith. It's only our customers loyalty that changes." Her ruby red lips broadened into a smile as she turned away to help the next customer.

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How to Express the Golden Gate Homesick Blues

A.K. Andrew,akandrew.com,a writers notebook ,Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Point

We're coming to the end of National Poetry Month and I want to share a poem I wrote a few years ago in a poetry workshop. I was living in England at the time, feeling very homesick for San Francisco, as well as nostalgic for a time when I was more mobile than I am now.So this was the result - the first poem I'd written since I was a child, in fact. For this collection of emotions, I found the process of writing a poem very cathartic.The location is the waterfront near to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge at Fort Point. For those of you who remember the scene in Vertigo where Kim Novak falls in the water - that's where I'm talking about!

Fort Point

A.K. Andrew, Fort Point, Golden Gate Bridge, akandrew.com,a writers notebook

Fort Point, Golden Gate Bridge

Ghosts of blue-bellies dash between chill, meagre quartersRunning up concrete stepsRunning up the flag ofthe Red Brick FortAlone facing the Pacific OceanNow nestled beneath rumbling red girders of the Bridge.An Alliance of Gateway and Protector ofThe CityOur City.White foamy tentacles crash, splitRusting chain links,Goliath chainServing only to taunt, not protectA leap to the rocks or giant watery mouth inviting init’s enormity, its moving depth beckoning.Agonizing beauty surround once morePacific blasts tearing at hair and heartA white rogue wave rises uphitting crumbling brick, splashing medrenchingHer.Laughing stillwe cycle home on the bays blue edgewarmed by love, vigour,youth.

I found the process of writing a poem very cathartic

How do you feel about happy memories? Does it make you sad to think of them and wish that things were still the same, or do you feel fortunate to have had the good times to look back on? Perhaps you don't like to dwell on the past at all, but prefer to look forward rather than back.

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Oscar Wilde:120th Trial Anniversary in National #Poetry Month

Oscar Wilde in New York

April 3rd 2015 marks the 120th anniversary of the start of the trial of Oscar Wilde that went to court in 1895. Ironically it was Wilde himself that pushed for the court hearing, ignoring advice of friends, after the Marquess of Queensbury left her calling card with the note:"For Oscar Wilde, posing somdomite" Wilde picked up the gauntlet and sadly paid dearly to clear his name. While imprisoned for 2yrs, his health deteriorated and he died a few years later in 1900.Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish author, playwright, but also a poet. As April is national Poetry Month, I thought it appropriate to look at his work. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. Today he is remembered for his epigrams, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, his plays, as well as the circumstances of his imprisonment and early death.My favorite epigram is actually the one most quoted:

“We are all in gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” ~ Oscar Wilde

Trials of Oscar Wilde

English: Card of John Douglas, 9th Marquess of...

English: The Wilde Trial as recorded in The Il...

Oscar Wilde was renowned for his quick wit, which he maintained through much of the trial proceedings. Here is a small snippet from the trial:G--Your view, Mr. Wilde, is that the "shame" mentioned here is that shame which is a sense of modesty?W--That was the explanation given to me by the person who wrote it.  The sonnet seemed to me obscure.G--During 1893 and 1894 You were a good deal in the company of Lord Alfred Douglas?W--Oh, yes.G--Did he read that poem to you?W--Yes.G--You can, perhaps, understand that such verses as these would not be acceptable to the reader with an ordinarily balanced mind?W--I am not prepared to say.  It appears to me to be a question of taste, temperament and individuality.  I should say that one man's poetry is another man's poison! (Laughter.)

Wilde’s Poetry

By the Arno The oleander on the wallGrows crimson in the dawning light,Though the grey shadows of the nightLie yet on Florence like a pall.The dew is bright upon the hill,And bright the blossoms overhead,But ah! The grasshoppers have fled,The little Attic song is still.Only the leaves are gently stirredBy the soft breathing of the gale,And in the almond-scented valeThe lonely nightingale is hard.The day will make thee silent soon,O nightingale sing on for love!While yet upon the shadowy groveSplinter the arrows of the moon.Before across the silent lawnOn sea-green vest the morning steals,And to one’s frightened eyes revealsThe long white fingers of the dawn.Fast climbing up the eastern skyTo grasp and slay the shuddering night,All careless of my hearts delight,Or if the nightingale should die. By Oscar Wilde(First published in 1876 in the Dublin University Magazine.)It’s interesting to me that a man with such caustic wit, known for comedic plays, could also write such sensitive verse, which such delicate phrasing.What do you think of most when you remember Oscar Wilde? His trial, his novel "The Picture of Dorian Grey", his plays, his  epigrams or his poetry?

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Does Internet Dopamine Stop You from #Reading #Books?

Where do you get your nightly dose of dopamine? No, let me put that a different way... What is your preferred visual stimulation of choice before you go to sleep? Watching a movie, the TV, going online and catching up on email, tweeting, texting, Facebook etc... or reading a book?Come on, let's be honest. I guarantee at least half of you did not go for the book reading option. So why is that? What's happened to our bedtime story?This is from a Post published by Susan Weinschenk Ph.D. on Sep 11, 2012 in Brain Wise which says that "Dopamine makes you addicted to seeking information in an endless loop."  This is from Susan's post:

Pleasure vs. seeking 

— You may have heard that dopamine controls the "pleasure" systems of the brain: that dopamine makes you feel enjoyment, pleasure, and therefore motivates you to seek out certain behaviors, such as food, sex, and drugs. Recent research is changing this view. Instead of dopamine causing you to experience pleasure, the latest research shows that dopamine causes seeking behavior. Dopamine causes you to want, desire, seek out, and search.

Rewards of the Dopamine Loop

So what that's telling us is that one tweet is never enough. We are going to continuously reward ourselves by searching for more information, more connection however tenuous it might be online. Who wouldn't want to be rewarded each time we perform any of these tasks? And there is a sense of accomplishment that we have achieved something. What's not to like?This next part is from a more recent article published in the Guardian in January 2015, and is from a book by Daniel J. Levitin.

In a famous experiment, my McGill colleagues Peter Milner and James Olds, both neuroscientists, placed a small electrode in the brains of rats, in a small structure of the limbic system called the nucleus accumbens. This structure regulates dopamine production and is the region that “lights up” when gamblers win a bet, drug addicts take cocaine, or people have orgasms – Olds and Milner called it the pleasure centre. A lever in the cage allowed the rats to send a small electrical signal directly to their nucleus accumbens. Do you think they liked it? Boy how they did! They liked it so much that they did nothing else. They forgot all about eating and sleeping. Long after they were hungry, they ignored tasty food if they had a chance to press that little chrome bar; they even ignored the opportunity for sex. The rats just pressed the lever over and over again, until they died of starvation and exhaustion. Does that remind you of anything? A 30-year-old man died in Guangzhou (China) after playing video games continuously for three days. Another man died in Daegu (Korea) after playing video games almost continuously for 50 hours, stopped only by his going into cardiac arrest........ But remember, it is the dumb, novelty-seeking portion of the brain driving the limbic system that induces this feeling of pleasure, not the planning, scheduling, higher-level thought centres in the prefrontal cortex. Make no mistake: email-, Facebook- and Twitter-checking constitute a neural addiction.© Daniel J. Levitin. Extracted from The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload, published by Viking

Short attention Span

My concern is that all of this information that we constantly both receive and dispatch, essentially leads not to successful multitasking, but to a short attention span. And that is not something you can have if you want to read a book amongst other things.  What I've been in the habit of doing is to start reading and then feel compelled to look up the meaning of a word, or see exactly what part of the world is the author talking about, or when was that in relation to the first moon landing etc etc. Minutiae that I either dont need or could find out later, but have felt the need to immediately find out while I'm reading a novel!!!

Banished from the Bedside

So what I've been doing recently is banning all  electronic devices from my bedside table, as I was often 'just quickly checking my email, twitter, Facebook account, etc, and before you know it an hour or even two had gone by, my eyes were closing and gone was my reading time! So I've been focusing on books and felt more relaxed for doing so.

Bright Lights

I've also read that the bright light from any kind of display monitor also simulates day time which is obviously not very conducive to sleep. How that works for ebooks I'm not sure, but one does tend to have the screen a little darker at night.So I've just started reading The Gold Finch by Donna Tartt and at 700+ pages, I'm going to definitely need to focus on my reading time. And as a writer, as I mentioned in my last post on writing tips, that is essential.What is your opinion on visual stimulation before you go to bed in particular? And what about the Dopamine Loop-do you find it effects you in the ways described? If so what's the answer?

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