Came across an unique business in an article by Brittany Lyte of the  Stamford Advocate. The business is called “Demand Poetry” and is run by Elizabeth Howard. She gets back to the essence of writing by putting words in ink on paper with an electric typewriter. For a modest fee, she takes requests and writes poems for men who don’t know how to express their feelings to their wives or girlfriends. It reminded me of Cyrano De Bergerc; romantic and wistful. Typing poems takes us back to a simplier time when we had time to ponder our feelings rather than just banging out a text message in harsh abbreviations that flits through the air and vanishes with a click of the delete key. Howard’s poems can be framed as a lasting memory of emotion.

Great ingenuity! Wishing her success as she helps us pause in our frantic lives to examine our inner world.

Here’s her link: http://elizabethhoward.net/demandpoetry/

It’s a dream come true…for all fiction junkies, the Harvard Business Review now says that research proves that reading fiction can help you earn more money. How? Because people who read fiction learn superior emotional intelligence skills by absorbing their favorite character’s responses to the trials and tribulations their authors put them through. Emotional intelligence or the ability to appropriately read and respond to other’s emotions is key to gaining promotions and earning higher salaries.

So next time you feel guilty for settling into the couch with a blanket, a cup of coffee and a good book, don’t. The dishes can go in the dishwasher. The dust isn’t hurting anyone. So get to work on that promotion and get reading!

Here’s the full story:

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/01/the_business_case_for_reading.html

This is the kind of story I love. A group of smart, twenty-something New Yorkers disenfranchised by traditional literary society/industry strike out on their own and create a new journal and intellectual salon. These writers and editors could have given up when all the doors slammed in their face. But they didn’t. They pushed on and created something new themselves. Now they are starting to gain national attention for their work.

They might not be raking in big salaries yet, but that’s beside the point. They are on the right path. They are on the path of opening doors themselves, not standing outside closed doors passively and waiting for them to open. There may be twists and turns on the path and it may get discouraging, but it’s essential to keep trying and keep learning. Most successful people have experienced plenty of failure as well, but the key thing is they learn from it and move past it.

Here’s the whole story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/fashion/new-yorks-literary-cubs.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha210

1. Give yourself time to daydream. I find great ideas come when I’m doing something physical that requires little thought like running, working out on an exercise machine at the gym, gardening, etc. So unplug the iPod and let the thoughts swirl about in your brain.

2. Go someplace new. While going to the same vacation spot every year is comfortable and creates warm memories, going somewhere new can get new ideas pinging about.

3. Talk to people. Listen to people. I have come up with some great ideas during lectures, presentations or even just meeting and talking with someone new at a conference. Often just one word or phrase from someone else will spark a cascade of ideas related to some problem I’d been mulling for days.

I just love coming up with new ideas. I find myself delving into whole new areas and becoming quite passionate about them. The hard work comes when implementing the ideas. That’s when you have to roll up your sleeves and get to it. This is when the good ideas are sifted out from the less good. But it is also a stumbling point for many. Not only does it take effort to start something new (like a book, project or business), it also takes courage. Many new efforts fail. Even if yours fails, you deserve praise for having tried. And learned. If starting something new were easy, then more people would do it instead of opting out before they start. So don’t look down into the darkness of failure. Be Courageous! Be Passionate! Just Start!

In New England, we’ve passed from inferno hot back to pleasantly cool and grey. I admit it was hard to think in the heat sometimes even with the air conditioning on. So nice to be past that. Despite the weather had some good writing days this month on my thriller #4 manuscript. Starting to see the “light at the end of the tunnel”. It’s always hard to write middles. But I love writing endings! That’s what I’m into now.

Also not forgetting the Small Business Rocket Fuel series. This is such a great series and there are so many more ideas to explore. So exciting to be contemplating a blank slate of a new project.

Hard to believe we’re moving into the final stretch of summer…

I read a great article about James Rollins recently (he’s one of the founders of the International Thriller Writer’s Association, which recently held it’s annual conference in NYC). I  had been searching for awhile for a good definition and most seemed nebulous or incomplete. However, I thought James Rollins’ definition to be complete and on target- at least for my work.

He said, “Thrillers deal in science fiction, romance, suspense, mystery.” That encompasses all the various aspects of my thriller and it’s a useful framework in developing new novels.

Hope you find this definition useful too!

Great news today! Three of my poems (Lying, Christina’s Reflection, and Troy) have been published at The Lyon Review. It’s always a lot of fun to see your work in “print” (or digital ink) after working so long and hard polishing the words. Just like spring, which arrived today in full force with purple crocus and 75 degree F weather, publication is the rebirth period for writers- the time you can relax for a few moments and say to yourself, “This is what I’ve been working for.” (Paychecks are also welcome, of course.)

The Lyon Review is a newly launched publication. I encourage you to click over to the site (link below) and take a look at the variety and quality of the work they’ve put together ranging from book excerpts to poetry and essays.

The Lyon Review can be enjoyed at: www.thelyonreview.com

That’s it for the pat on the back. (Happiness is fleeting, I know.) Back to work on my novels and other projects….

Studying for an MBA has steeped me in numbers, which at first are slippery and awkward. Gradually as the weeks go by they develop rhythms and tones. Formula’s coalesce naturally, while not being an Albert Einstein, I can tip-toe up to the edge and gaze down into a world where numbers communicate more succinctly, more precisely than words ever could. All of this helps me understand the main character in my forth novel, which is still unraveling toward it’s end. Maybe this is a bit excessive, an extreme length to go to understand someone not even living. Only it’s not just that is it? No, for a linguaphile, for an author addict, it is never just the character. No, it is also about them and how they can shape the clay of letters. And so, a linguaphile floats, immersed in numbers. I can tell you they can’t be misunderstood like words, not by someone who “reads” them, no, only misused. So which is better? Is the reason we love stories rather than calculus texts because we enjoy being deceived? Are we still thrilled by the cottony yellow blanket, eyes appearing above, peek-a-boo so many years later?

I think the answer is yes. Do you?

I have also been studying the peek-a-boo itself. It’s all in the feel and touch of the blanket. One you know so well, you can feel it on your fingers just by looking at it. The tension of the taunt blanket stretched in mid-air by what? Magic? Hiding what? It’s just there if you could reach it, but you can’t. It might crumple down any minute. In the dark behind it might be your neighbor’s pit bull, red-tongued, slavering, breath like rotting meat on your face. It might be your mother, smelling like flour, eyes crinkling, puffing with laughter.  Puffing against the blanket, blowing it in and out slightly. In the still air, the blanket moves, panting.

Cascading down the blanket reveals Steven King, the master blanket maker. If you want to know how to make a blanket, something sweet and baby-yellow, read Steven King. I have now finished Wizard and Glass.

For fun, if you like crime, watch the new Sherlock Holmes on PBS.

Besides making a fabulous story (product), if you are an author, you’ll want to know how to build your products and career. Try reading The Intelligent Entrepreneur by Bill Murphy. It’s a bit heavy on Harvard Business School, but has some good pointers.

Above all, this week give thanks for readers and publishers of alternate realities (fiction, electronic or print). Happy Holiday!

According to a new article by AP writer Jill Lawless, Jane Austen was not a schoolmarmish grammarian. We all know how many of her books have been read and lovingly reread. So for all writers (myself included) whose eyes glaze over at the term “past participle” or who quiver as chalk scratches the blackboard underlining verbs as sentences are diagrammed, you can stop slouching in the back of your writing class and stand tall. You are not a fake. Even Jane Austen loved dialogue more than past participles.

Her story also shows how an editor/writer team can work together to shape a novel and craft a writer’s image. Some may argue that Austen’s original prose was superior to the subsequent polished works. There’s no way to go back and undo history. The books sold. Readers swooned. Years of adoration dubbed them masterpieces. Isn’t that the goal? Who can say which version is better?

Writers, stop biting your pencil tops over whether Owen was sleeping or letting sleeping dogs lie. Only fools trust talking dogs anyway.

Read more about Ms. Austen at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101023/ap_en_ot/eu_britain_jane_austen

Spring has been here for several weeks now, with the usual crazy New England weather- shorts and tee-shirts one week then back to sweaters and coats the next.

Besides the changing but consistently wacky weather, the publishing industry continues as well, changing but expectedly so.  Publisher’s Weekly reported that e-books were up 177% for 2009 while sales of most other books were flat or slightly lower than the year before. All forms of entertainment have been moving digital for a number of years. Yet things rarely move entirely digital or, if they do, convert in their original form. I still listen to the radio periodically. I often listen to the radio online. It’s still the radio, just a different delivery system. I envision paper-based books sharing the world with digital books- reaching an even larger audience.

Spring is a great time for writing- full of energy and bursting with ideas! So now it’s back to a writer’s main job…writing.