Anthony Nanfito's Blog, page 5

Love Your Enemy

This week I learned …

The world really does need more love. Even economists are beginning to think so! Okay, maybe not all economist — I haven’t done a survey to ask them all — but the economist, Arthur Brooks, featured on Episode #478 of Freakonomics Radio does think the world needs more love. Particularly the political world.

I don’t want to get into a lengthy political discussion, but I will say that at the bare minimum I, as a citizen, just want my government to work. I don’t play into partisan politics (as best as my human frailties will let me) which is probably why the past two decades or so of politics have just left me banging my head on the wall. 

Standing back from an objective point of view, it seems politicians just throw ‘hate’ or ‘shade’ around without getting anything done. This is further exacerbated when you have partisan bills rushed through the U.S. Congress and government shutdowns because congress peeps can’t decide how to keep the lights on.

In this episode, Brooks argues that part of the problem is we (both politicians and citizens) have contempt (anger + disgust) for each other which prevents us from hearing the other side’s argument. This episode highlights several examples of this from real-life politicians.

Personally, I believe in order for a democracy to thrive there has to be discourse. By discourse I mean a back and forth, healthy form of debate based on evidence about what do what’s best for citizens. I don’t think we’ve seen much of that in recent times. But how do we get there? 

Well, as Brooks argues, it takes a little bit of love; love for the person on the other side of the aisle. In other words, approach all people with empathy as individual human beings. We all have different experiences we bring to the table. Those experiences are valid and — perhaps — needed for a democracy to thrive and grow.

That said, I know this is an extremely difficult thing to practice. I’ve struggled with it in my own life, but I truly believe that if we can learn to approach more people (including ourselves) and situations with love and empathy the world will only be better for it.

Below you’ll find my tweet-sized summaries and takeaways from this episode. Admittedly, it was difficult to condense this 45+ minute episode into 280 characters, so I highly recommend you listen to it in full to get all the nuance and details.

Lastly, I think the thing that resonates with me the most is the quote from Arthur Brooks about how we need people to vote for not just to protect us from the other person. When citizens of a democracy can vote for a person, that’s when democracy is functioning at optimal capacity.

Love Your Enemy (via Freakonomics Radio)

A conservative economist says we can fight contempt and political polarization with love. “We need people from both parties who people are going to vote for as opposed to someone who’s going to defend me from the other side.” —Arthur Brooks (~paraphrased)

Takeaways: Anger + Disgust = Contempt. Contempt leads us to be less likely to hear the other side’s argument and more likely to attack on an emotional basis instead of logical/argumentative basis. Addiction to contempt is correlated to the type of media you consume and NOT your gender, ethnicity, age, occupation, etc. The more you watch cable TV and consume social media the more likely you are going to be both a victim and perpetrator of contempt.Populism (and populist ideas/ideals) generally rises after a big (once in a century) financial crisis such as the Great Depression or the 2008 Financial crisis. People are hurt & angry which makes it easier for them to feel contempt toward others.Thanks for reading!

If you liked this post, share it with a friend or on social media. You can tag me on Twitter @wordsbyfifi. 

Don’t forget to leave a comment: how will you approach more people and situations with love and empathy?

Blog Post Updates

Never miss a blog post! Sign-up for email updates below and you’ll get an immediate email when I post new stuff. Unsubscribe at anytime.

Email Address:

Email me blog posts!

Note: This is different from my newsletter mailing list which is emailed monthly.

Fifi’s Vox Box

Introducing …

I’m excited to introduce to you my latest creative project: Fifi’s Vox Box. This is a little side project I’ve been working on for a few months. I’ve been recording funny videos with different character voices and sending them to friends.

After this “beta testing” period, I decided to keep making videos with the intention of posting them publicly. Well, today is the debut!

This project has created a lot of fun and joy for me which I’m excited to share with others. It’s been a while since I’ve been on the Improv stage and I have to admit, I miss it. Well, maybe not the stage itself — planning and performing shows can be fun, but also hectic — but I do miss the people, the characters, and the stories that come out of Improv (on or off the stage).

These has been a fun way for me to inject a little bit of Improv Comedy back into my life. The character voices and (most) of their lines are created by me. Today’s debut video features Sammy the Sloth telling a joke for Slow Joke Sunday.

What did the cars do at the party?

For more videos like this, you can follow voxboxbyfifi on Instagram or subscribe to my YouTube Channel. New videos will be posted Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays with a few extras sprinkled here and there.

Looking for a Voice Artist?

All of this isn’t just for fun. I also want to showcase my voice talent as a voice artist. I’ve been working as a freelance voice over artist for about a year now. I’ve greatly enjoyed it and I’m looking for more work. If you or someone you know is looking for voice talent, I’d be grateful to work with them.

As a writer, improv actor, and podcaster I know what it takes to bring words to life. You have to put yourself in the character’s shoes, embrace who they are as an individual, and let their voice shine through yours. Let my voice be the conduit for your character to shine. Visit my Voice Talent Services page to learn more.

It’s Writer’s Brew. NOT Writer’s Block.

This week I learned …

This week’s TWIL post is themed for writers and other creatives. I’m a writer (mostly) so I’ll use that term throughout, but feel free to replace it with whatever type of creative you are (e.g. painter, singer, actor, sculptor, YouTuber, podcaster, etc.). Of course, I think some of these could apply to everyone, regardless if you’re a creative or not. 

Here’s my big epiphany for the week: 

It’s ‘writer’s brew’ NOT ‘writer’s block.’ Your brain needs time to process the ideas brewing in your head. Once the brew is ready, open the tap and drink up!

Tweet

Just as different types of stews, soups, beers, wines, and other liquor take different amounts of time (and ingredients) to brew, so do different writers. For me, I’m starting to realize that I’m not the type of writer who can just write everyday. I did that at one point, but it left me feeling burnt out. 

Lately, I’ve been embracing the mindset of writing once my ‘writer’s brew’ is ready. That is, I’m thinking about the next scene I want in my story, the characters, the dialogue, etc. And I’m keeping it in my head until I feel I’m going to just burst! Then I grab my pen or keyboard and put those words down.

So far, it’s been working and I’ve left my writing sessions feeling more satisfied than if I had just cranked out a minimum amount of words. In addition to making me feel more satisfied, I think this also helps me create higher quality of work which will (hopefully) save some time/energy during the editing phase. 

This reminds me of Stephen King, who I once heard saying he aims to have six pages of high quality writing every day. I’m nowhere near the level of writing as Stephen King. Nor do I expect to be. I’m Anthony Nanfito, not Stephen King. I admire him from afar, but I have to walk my own path on this writers’ journey. And so do you fellow writers reading this.

This idea and the ones shared below, connect to an Instagram post I shared earlier this week about taking care of your body because it’s the vessel through which you create your art. I hope these help you on your writers’ journey as they have helped me. 

Below, you’ll find my tweet-sized summaries and a few takeaways for each topic. As well as the source, in case you want to take a deep dive into the topic yourself.

Let me know in the comments which topic is your favorite. Happy writing!

You’ve been called to create, so create! (via Unpublished)

If you’ve been called to create art, ignore the inner and outer critics and embrace it. Create your art. YOU are the sort of person who writes/paints/sculpts/sews/knits/codes/films/creates. So do it!

Takeaways: The narrative you tell yourself is the narrative you will live. Do you want to be the creative that’s constantly seeking the approval of others or do you want to simply give yourself permission to create? Whose approval matters most: theirs or yours?As creatives, we all are intimately aware of how long the journey can be toward creating our art. Thus, we should be more compassionate toward our fellow creatives. If they’re rushing/struggling, remind them they can go at their own pace in a gentle manner that works best for them. (Hey! That’s what I’m doing with this post! So creative, go at your own pace to create your art. If you need permission, I give it to you!)There’s no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way for how you choose to create your art. And what works best for one might not work for another. We’re all on our own journeys and we need to respect that. (See my previous comment about myself and Stephen King.)The Lie of Laziness (via Unpublished)

Research shows the average human can only do high quality work for about 3-4 hours per day … yet the work day is typically 8 hours. The ideal would be to have a min & max for working time.

Takeaways: Embrace what energizes & excites you. Don’t just eliminate that which drains you.  When creativity & passion strike, run with it! Life is short & far from perfect. Take a break when you need it. Creatives (in fact all of us) need rest. Creating is hard work and draining. When we rest, we refill our creative wells which let us create more & do what we love.Quitting or not finishing a project is okay too. Just because you didn’t finish the project doesn’t mean you didn’t learn something in the process or that it didn’t provide value to you at that time.The MYTH of the Bulletproof Writer (via Write Now)

A bulletproof writer? More like the MYTH of the bulletproof writer. This is the writers’ pep talk I needed to hear from the Write Note podcast. 

Note: This TWIL was also a Tweet thread I shared last week.

Takeaways: No writer (or creator, or anyone) is “bulletproof” and immune to the challenges of life. Life will throw challenges & obstacles at you no matter how “successful” you are. We just have to do our best each day & try again the next. The Stephen King quote (“Life isn’t a support system for art. It’s the other way around.”) resonated with how I’ve been shifting my own mindset with regards to my writing & what I create.Our bodies are the vessel through which we live and experience life and only when we take care of them will we be able to create our art. Thanks for reading!

If you liked this post, share it with another creative or on social media. You can tag me on Twitter @wordsbyfifi.

Don’t forget to leave a comment: which topic resonated the most with you?

Blog Post Updates

Never miss a blog post! Sign-up for email updates below and you’ll get an immediate email when I post new stuff. Unsubscribe at anytime.

Email Address:

Email me blog posts!

Note: This is different from my newsletter mailing list which is emailed monthly.

Human hair? No, it’s human fur!

This week I learned …

As a writer, I consume a lot of media in the form of books, podcasts, and videos. Alongside traveling to new places, this information helps fill my creative ‘well’ and provides inspiration for the stories I create. 

In other words: I’m a learner and I love learning. Each day, I keep a quick list of things I learned and save it for future reference. 

I also love sharing what I learned. However, I can only bombard my partner, friends, and family with so many “Did you know …” conversations. Hence, here’s a blog post about the things I learned this week.

You’ll find my tweet-sized summaries and a few takeaways for each topic. As well as the source, in case you want to take a deep dive into the topic yourself.

Let me know in the comments which topic is your favorite. Happy learning!

Human hair? No, it’s human fur! (via NPR’s Short Wave)

Calling the follicles on your head ‘hair’ is just another example of human vanity. It’s really just fur. And it’s style (straight vs. curly) evolved as an adaptation to the environment our ancestors lived in.

Takeaways: Humans lost their fur everywhere else on their body in exchange for sweat glands to cool the body BUT they retained the fur on their heads to help reduce heat & protect the brain from radiation The more curly your head fur is the better it is at protecting your head from those dangerous solar rays from the local star (i.e. the Sun). Human head fur varies not just from head to head but also follicle to follicle. U.S. News Media is negative (via Freakonomics Radio)

Okay, you’re probably not surprised with that statement, but I did find it interesting that there’s research to back it up. In this episode, Stephen Dubner looks at why the U.S. media is so negative. He interviews some researchers that looked at media news outlets reports—both during and before the pandemic—and compared them to regional and international news outlets reporting.

Takeaways: The U.S. national news media tends to skew more negative compared to regional and international counterparts. Some blame the business model of the news media (including social media), but another thing to consider is the English language itself. Unlike other languages, it has a higher proportion of words to describe negative things vs. positive things. For example, we have the words ‘shame’ and ‘guilt’ to describe negative emotions, but only ‘happy’ (or some synonym of it) to describe positive emotions. Some other languages have a specific word to describe the happiness of a delicious meal, whereas in English we’ll simply say, “That was delicious.” Or “That was good.” More frequent examples occur with verbs; we use the verb ’to lie’ for when someone has been deceitful but there isn’t an opposite version when you’re being truthful. It’s a whole phrase like “to tell the truth” or “they’re a straight shooter.”With regards to social media, both positive and negative posts have an equal chance of going ‘viral,’ but currently the Algorithms in place put more emphasis on negative posts (with negative words). A simple change to the Algorithms could change what goes viral and shows up in our feeds. I personally would love more cute puppy pics and videos please! Also, negative posts have a higher chance of going ‘viral’ when they include in-group and out-group dynamics. For example, if I were a democrat posting something negative and included the words ‘republican,’ or ’Trump’ it’s more likely to be picked up by the Algorithm and negatively (or positively?) reacted to by my followers. The opposite is also true; if I were a republican, posting about democrats in a negative manner. This of course extends beyond politics and can apply to any in-group/out-group dynamic.Why Music Sticks in Our Brains (via NPR’s Short Wave)

Music sticks in our brains because it engages multiple areas of our brains.

Takeaways: We remember things better w/ music b/c of how it gets encoded in our memory. It can engage the auditory, visual, motor, and emotional regions of our brainsIt’s been documented in Alzheimer’s patients that even though they can’t remember the names of their loved ones, they can remember songs or how to play a music instrument. Music also engages muscle memory. Not just rhythm & dance moves, but also words. You can hear a song you haven’t heard in a long time, perhaps forgotten the words, but the muscles in your lips will still remember how to form the words. Giving you a hint at what the lyrics are. Thanks for reading!

If you liked this post, share it with a friend or on social media. You can tag me on Twitter @wordsbyfifi. 

Don’t forget to leave a comment: which topic was your favorite?

Blog Post Updates

Never miss a blog post! Sign-up for email updates below and you’ll get an immediate email when I post new stuff. Unsubscribe at anytime.

Email Address:

Email me blog posts!

Note: This is different from my newsletter mailing list which is emailed monthly.

Six Lessons from My First Audiobook Project

SummaryIt’s going to take longer to edit than you think.Set a limit on your recording and editing time.Vocal warm-ups are a MUST!My Vocal Warm-up RoutineRecord all your audio first, then edit.Record in the most quiet environment possible.Have a method for tracking your progress.Intro

This week I finished completion on my first audiobook project. The gig was for a language learning service based in China to record 10 children’s books for elementary aged children. Each book ended up being about 2 hours of finished audio, so about 20 hours total.

What a journey it was. I have longed to get into audio projects including podcasts and audiobooks. I’ve had my voice talent services listed on Fiverr for a while now and a few months ago I was responding to buyer requests and not getting much back. Only a few gigs here and there.

Then, to my surprise, in August I got a message from a buyer to record and produce a series of audiobooks for a language service. At the time, I was surprised, anxious, and apprehensive about taking on the project. I had long suspected they had chosen another recording artist for the project since it was months before I heard back from them and was surprised to hear them.

I was anxious and apprehensive about taking on the project because it was so large and I had not done such a large project. Up until that point I had only recorded short audio projects. Nothing this large or extensive.

With the new regulations in China going into effect regarding online teaching, I graciously accepted the project. It would be good to have some extra income to be able to pay the bills.

But this project gave me a lot more than just money to pay the bills. It gave me some valuable lessons about recording and producing audio projects. Here’s some of what I learned.

I share in hopes it will help someone else or to satisfy your curiosity about what goes on behind the mic for an audiobook. These lessons are listed numerically, but the assignment of numbers is arbitrary — they’re not reflections of the importance of the lessons learned.

1. It’s going to take longer to edit than you think.

I had worked with editing audio for my podcasts for some time now so I had a general idea of how long it would take to edit the audio. And by edit I mean, check it’s quality, make sure there’s no background noises, remove weird mouth clicks or breath noises, and (if necessary) re-record.

I currently would say for every 1 minute of finished audio there’s about 5 minutes of recording and editing. Obviously, it will vary depending on the project, your performance, your recording environment, etc. But this is the average ratio I found with this project which helped me plan my working time accordingly.

2. Set a limit on your recording and editing time.

I found that I maxed out at about 6 hours per day. Usually, about 2 hours of recording and then 4 hours of editing. Beyond that it was too much for my voice and my eyes (there’s lots of screen time when it comes to edit). Others might be capable of more (or less) so if you’re a voice over artist starting out, experiment and figure out what works best for your situation.

3. Vocal warm-ups are a MUST!

This is probably the most valuable lesson I learned from this project. For the few books, I did NOT do any vocal warm-ups before I started recording. And I paid for it. My voice was tired and my vocal cords were sore. I had a nice wrasp to my voice afterward. I had to take a day to rest before getting back into the recording booth (i.e. the pillow fort I made for recording).

I’m not sure why I didn’t think about vocal warm-ups until after I started because I knew that the vocal cords or voice box in the human throat is a very delicate organ and can very easily be damaged even with speaking every day in normal circumstances. I’ve even listened to podcasts and watched YouTube videos that have expressed the importance of vocal warm-ups.

Anyway, the lesson here is to do your vocal warm-ups before doing any vocalizations for a long period of time. Whether it’s for recording, singing, giving a speech, or lecturing. I’m now an advocate for vocal warm-ups for everyone.

And they don’t have to take too much time. About 5-10 minutes. You can do it when you’re getting ready in the morning. Lately, I’ve been favoring doing my warm-ups first thing in the morning while doing the dishes. It makes the dishes more fun.

Here is the vocal warm-up routine I settled on:

Drink lots of water at room temperature before, during, and after recording sessions

1: Stretch mouth/tongue/jaw

Stretch mouth as wide open as possible (like yawning)Stick your tongue out as far as possibleGently massage your jaw, cheeks, and face

2: Lip Trills & Humming Octaves

Lip trills from low to high to warm up your rangeHumming from low to high, try to really smooth out middle pitch

3: Focus breath (i.e. relax)

Take a deep, focused breath in and outBreath all the way down to your core while staying relaxedRepeat as many times until feeling relaxed

4: Tongue Trills

Role out your R’s to loosen things upTry to go up and down the octaves as well

Source: https://youtu.be/slOvGW2FBs4

5: Phonetic Articulation
ABT EBT IBT OBT UBT
ACT ECT ICT OCT UCT
ADT EDT IDT ODT UDT
AFT EFT IFT OFT UFT
AGT EGT IGT OGT UGT
AHT EHT IHT OHT UHT
AJT EJT IJT OJT UJT
ALT ELT ILT OLT ULT
AMT EMT IMT OMT UMT
ANT ENT INT ONT UNT
APT EPT IPT OPT UPT
ART ERT IRT ORT URT
AST EST IST OST UST
ATT ETT ITT OTT UTT
AWT EWT IWT OWT UWT
AXT EXT IXT OXT UXT
AZT EZT IZT OZT UZT

Source: https://youtu.be/m8uKrqRXaxk

4. Record all your audio first, then edit.

When I started the project, I was recording a few chapters in the morning and editing them in the afternoon. At first, I thought this would be more efficient but given the size and the scope of the project it ended up slowing me down.

I later learned that I could record an entire book in about two hours and then edit the audio at a later date.

This is something that will probably vary with the audio project and the environment in which you record in. I share a studio apartment with my partner so having a designated recording time in the morning (i.e. my partner needs to leave or be quiet) and then editing in the afternoon/evening worked best for my living situation and my relationship. Again, here, experiment and find out what works best for you and your situation.

5. Record in the most quiet environment possible.

This probably could be number one and it’s a pretty obvious lesson that anyone could figure out so let me explain a little.

I don’t have a sound booth or a professional studio I record in. I record in a pillow and blanket fort I construct when I need to record. However, since this was going to be a longer project I decided to build that fort in a designated area instead of constructing each time I needed to record. This would make it easier to just plug-in and record.

I first decided on the corner of the TV table/stand/hutch instead of my usual spot on the desk. This opened the desk space for other uses because the pillow-blanket fort takes up the whole desk.

The initial setup of my pillow-fort studio.

However, by recording on the TV stand instead of the desk, a little bit of background noise from the street traffic, my breathing, and other sources go past the noise gate on my digital audio workspace (DAW). I paid for this later in the editing because I had to either re-record some segments or edit out noise in between every sentence spoken.

When I moved back to my original recording spot at the desk, much less background noise got past the noise gate. In fact, it was such a dramatic difference in editing that I was able to cut the editing time in half. Instead of editing out breaths or mouth clicks or whatever else in between each spoken sentence or word, it was more like editing them out in between each paragraph (if that!)

Again, this will vary depending on the recording space you’re using so experiment around and see how the acoustics of your space work. It surprised me what (and where) worked best, and you may be surprised too.

6. Have a method for tracking your progress.

I highly recommend you have a method to track your progress, especially for larger projects. I’m a huge fan of spreadsheets so that’s what I used, but I could easily see someone using sticky notes, a pad of paper, a whiteboard, or perhaps some more advanced tracking software for project management.

Whatever it is, have a way to track your progress so that you know if you’re going to meet the deadline. I used the spreadsheets to make calculations based on how long I estimated it would take me to record and edit. I calculated how many days it would take me to complete the project.

The spreadsheet for tracking my overall progress and estimating my time to completion.

This saved me halfway through the project because I realized I wasn’t working fast enough. To catch up, I had to take a day to record three books in a single day. Something I don’t recommend because I had to rest my voice for two days after that. Thankfully, I had plenty of editing to keep me busy during that time.

The spreadsheet for tracking the progress of an individual book.

So have a way to track your progress and make a plan. It will save you time, stress, and money in the long-run.

Thanks for reading

That’s what I learned from this audiobook project. I’m grateful for both the experience and the pay. I’m looking forward to the next project.

If you found this post helpful, let me know in the comments. If you have questions about audio projects, leave those in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them.

And if you’re looking for voice talent for your project, consider hiring me. You can learn about my services and listen to samples on the Voice page of my website.

Thanks for reading. Until next time, happy recording!

Support My Work

Creators like me work hard to create content you love, but in order to continue creating content we need support from followers like you! Buy Me a Coffee to show your support.

By making a contribution, you can support me to make stories that matter and you enjoy and worry less about how I’m going to keep the power on. Contributions can be one-time, monthly, or yearly.

You can support me on my Buy Me a Coffee page or send money directly to me via PayPal. I do what I do because I love it, but it’s gratifying beyond measure to receive support from fans. Thanks for your support.

Buy Me A CoffeePayPalJoin the Nanfito Space Newsletter

Nanfito Space is a VIP monthly newsletter sent to my readers and fans. As a subscriber of the Nanfito Space newsletter, you’ll get the latest links to my Buy Me A Coffee posts, podcast episodes of Story Time with Fifi, Blinded by Science and The Haiku Pond, news about my upcoming book releases, and more!

When you join, I’ll send you a FREE gift: the prequel short story 2051: Initiative. Learn about how the virtual reality in my debut novel, 2149 Emergence, began.

Enter your email address below to receive your gift and future updates.

Email me your newsletter

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing… Success! You're on the list. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

Story Time with Fifi: An Unexpected Hiatus

Amazon MusicAnchorAppleAudibleBreakerGooglePandoraPocketCastsRadioPublicSpotifyTuneInDescription:

Hello Listener, I took an unexpected hiatus, but I’ll return soon. Join my newsletter for notifications: https://anthonynanfito.com/join.
Learn the reasons behind my hiatus in this blog post “My Well is Dry” https://anthonynanfito.com/2021/09/02/my-well-is-dry/.

SUPPORT & SUBSCRIBE
If you liked the story, share it with a friend. If you want to help me write more stories, you can support me financially at http://buymeacoffee.com/wordsbyfifi.

Listen and subscribe to “Story Time with Fifi” on your favorite podcast app. Visit https://anthonynanfito.com/storytime to learn more.

MY BOOKS
2149: Emergence
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085TL4KYN
Description: Laura’s world is virtual until the glitch. She awakes to a failed utopia and a lost legacy. Can she shift the balance of power before it’s too late?

Haiku Ponderings: A Haiku Collection for Pondering Life
https://books2read.com/haiku
Description: A collection of 100 haiku centered around the themes of Mindfulness, Compassion, Gratitude, Love & Loss, and Give & Forgive.

LET’S CONNECT!

Website: https://anthonynanfito.com/Newsletter: https://anthonynanfito.com/joinEmail: nanfitospace (at) gmail (dot) comVoice Over Gig: https://www.fiverr.com/share/W7Y7VX

Copyright: Anthony Nanfito. All rights reserved.
Image Credit: Unsplash/Patrick Fore

Support My Work

Creators like me work hard to create content you love, but in order to continue creating content we need support from followers like you! Buy Me a Coffee to show your support.

By making a contribution, you can support me to make stories that matter and you enjoy and worry less about how I’m going to keep the power on. Contributions can be one-time, monthly, or yearly.

You can support me on my Buy Me a Coffee page or send money directly to me via PayPal. I do what I do because I love it, but it’s gratifying beyond measure to receive support from fans. Thanks for your support.

Buy Me A CoffeePayPalJoin the Nanfito Space Newsletter

Nanfito Space is a VIP monthly newsletter sent to my readers and fans. As a subscriber of the Nanfito Space newsletter, you’ll get the latest links to my Buy Me A Coffee posts, podcast episodes of Story Time with Fifi, Blinded by Science and The Haiku Pond, news about my upcoming book releases, and more!

When you join, I’ll send you a FREE gift: the prequel short story 2051: Initiative. Learn about how the virtual reality in my debut novel, 2149 Emergence, began.

Enter your email address below to receive your gift and future updates.

Email me your newsletter

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing… Success! You're on the list. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

My Well is Dry

The following blog post is modified version of the latest Nanfito Space newsletter. If you’d like to receive full versions of future newsletters, join to my newsletter.

It has been a long, long summer for me. I have battled the stomach flu, eye strain, depression, and my main income source will slowly trickle down to zero in the not-too-distant future.

With all of this, I have had little time to devote to my creative pursuits such as writing and podcasting. I was gratified to hear on The Creative Penn podcast, hosted by Joanna Penn, that she and other authors are feeling similarly. It seems to be a side effect of living in covid times. Lots of uncertainty to deal with which makes it difficult to stay focused toward goals and be creative.

However, I’m pressing ahead (mostly out of boredom, but also as a distraction). I have launched the submissions for Season 2 of my podcast, The Haiku Pond.

And I recently submitted a short story as part of the LeVar Burton Reads contest. The top three winners will have their story published in Fiyah Literary Magazine and the first place winner will have their story read by LeVar Burton himself in Season 10 of his podcast.

I very much would like to take the grand prize and have my story read by him (I’m a huge Star Trek: TNG and Reading Rainbow fan!), but I’m mindful the future is uncertain and unpredictable (the covid pandemic taught me that!).

I do intend to share this story with my newsletter subscribers at a later date. The contest had a limit on the number of words (5200 max) and I wrote 7000+ words! Obviously, I had to cut some words for the version I submitted to the contest.

Without giving too much away, the story follows how a society must change their traditions when their planet is threatened by an unknown planet-wide climate catastrophe. The title of the story is Twin Planets.

I’m still working on finalizing final version and preparing the files to share. If you’d like to receive a copy of it when it’s ready, join my newsletter.

Lastly, with regards to the depression and darker emotions I’ve experienced this summer I’ve attempted (and in some instances succeeded) to be more gentle with myself. So much of the messaging we receive from the world is to be happy and positive all the time. However, as emotional beings we experience a full range of emotions on a spectrum so I find it quite unrealistic to feel happy or positive all the time. 

This has been really helpful to me as I sit with my depression and emotions. By acknowledging them, it’s helped me cope better. Yup, they’re there, but they won’t be forever. Everything is transient in this life, including emotions.

Support My Work

Creators like me work hard to create content you love, but in order to continue creating content we need support from followers like you! Buy Me a Coffee to show your support.

By making a contribution, you can support me to make stories that matter and you enjoy and worry less about how I’m going to keep the power on. Contributions can be one-time, monthly, or yearly.

You can support me on my Buy Me a Coffee page or send money directly to me via PayPal. I do what I do because I love it, but it’s gratifying beyond measure to receive support from fans. Thanks for your support.

Buy Me A CoffeePayPalJoin the Nanfito Space Newsletter

Nanfito Space is a VIP monthly newsletter sent to my readers and fans. As a subscriber of the Nanfito Space newsletter, you’ll get the latest links to my Buy Me A Coffee posts, podcast episodes of Story Time with Fifi, Blinded by Science and The Haiku Pond, news about my upcoming book releases, and more!

When you join, I’ll send you a FREE gift: the prequel short story 2051: Initiative. Learn about how the virtual reality in my debut novel, 2149 Emergence, began.

Enter your email address below to receive your gift and future updates.

Email me your newsletter

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing… Success! You're on the list. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

Season 2 Themes for The Haiku Pond

Amazon MusicAnchorAppleAudibleBreakerCastboxGooglePandoraPocketCastsRadioPublicSpotifyHello listeners, poets, friends, and Ponders!

Welcome back to another season of The Haiku Pond! I’m delighted to be back to share the themes for Season 2 with you.

If you’re new to the show, my name is Anthony and I’m the caretaker of the pond. Each season I share haiku written by myself and others. Each episode features haiku centered around a pre-chosen theme. To learn more about the show visit anthonynanfito.com/haiku.

Before I get to the themes for Season 2, I want to say thank you to all the listeners who shared their feedback about Season 1 and for sharing themes ideas for Season 2. It’s greatly appreciated. Your feedback let’s me know what you’re enjoying about the show and how to improve it as time goes on. Thanks for trusting with your haiku and thanks for listening.

Speaking of submissions from listeners, in addition to asking for feedback about Season 1, I also collected ideas for themes for Season 2. I’ve collected those ideas from listeners, combined them with a list of my own ideas, and after letting them percolate around my head, I’ve settled on the following themes for Season 2:

Haiku can be submitted here.

You can interpret these themes literally or metaphorically. For example, “Seasons” could be interpreted as the seasons of the weather as often expressed in traditional haiku or more metaphorically as the seasons of life or change. Or, perhaps, you have your own interpretation. Regardless, I’m eager to hear your haiku.

Poets can submit their haiku via a Google Form. You can find a link to the form in the description of this episode as well as on my website at anthonynanfito.com/haiku.

Poets can submit up to three haiku per theme and one will be selected for the podcast episode. Unless desired by the poet, it’s not necessary to include the word of the theme, simply let the theme be your inspiration. You can choose to submit haiku for all ten themes or only a subset.

Submitted haiku poems can be previously published as long as you hold the rights to share them. And, of course, you can submit unpublished haiku.

Poets can submit their haiku anonymously or with their name and social media handle.

The submission period will be open from now until Monday September 6, 2021.

If you have any questions, feel free to send an email to thehaikupond(at)gmail(dot)com.

For podcast updates, join the mailing list at haikupond.ck.page or follow the podcast on Twitter @TheHaikuPond. Thanks for listening and happy writing!

Support My Work

Creators like me work hard to create content you love, but in order to continue creating content we need support from followers like you! Buy Me a Coffee to show your support.

By making a contribution, you can support me to make stories that matter and you enjoy and worry less about how I’m going to keep the power on. Contributions can be one-time, monthly, or yearly.

You can support me on my Buy Me a Coffee page or send money directly to me via PayPal. I do what I do because I love it, but it’s gratifying beyond measure to receive support from fans. Thanks for your support.

Buy Me A CoffeePayPalJoin the Nanfito Space Newsletter

Nanfito Space is a VIP monthly newsletter sent to my readers and fans. As a subscriber of the Nanfito Space newsletter, you’ll get the latest links to my Buy Me A Coffee posts, podcast episodes of Story Time with Fifi, Blinded by Science and The Haiku Pond, news about my upcoming book releases, and more!

When you join, I’ll send you a FREE gift: the prequel short story 2051: Initiative. Learn about how the virtual reality in my debut novel, 2149 Emergence, began.

Enter your email address below to receive your gift and future updates.

Email me your newsletter

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing… Success! You're on the list. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

2051: Initiative Part 1

The next episode of “Story Time with Fifi” is LIVE! 

2051: Initiative – Part 1 of 7

SYNOPSIS: Elizabeth Maverik must convince the Speaker of U.S. House of Representatives to put the the VR Initiative on the House’s agenda so it can be passed into legislation. 

This short story is available for free when you join my newsletter. To sign-up, visit: http://mailchi.mp/ec95629e22a1/nanfitospace

Watch:

Listen:

Read: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wordsbyfifi/2051-initiative-part-1-7-story-time-fifi 

My podcasts are now on Pandora Music

I am happy to announce that all three of my podcasts are now available on Pandora Music. If you are in country where Pandora is available and you use the app, follow the links below to listen and subscribe today.

Story Time with FifiBlinded by ScienceThe Haiku Pond

I’m always adding my podcasts to more distributors. If there’s one where you can’t find my podcast, let me know and I will add it.

And, of course, you can always find the latest episodes on the podcast page of my website or the individual site pages for each podcast: Story Time with Fifi, Blinded by Science, and The Haiku Pond.

Thanks for listening and thanks for your continued support.