Justine Musk's Blog, page 53
October 26, 2009
failure is good for you: how practice novels helped me get published
cross-posted to Tribal Writer: the writing life in the digital age
Fear of failure is a bitch.
It's like the bitch god or bitch goddess – depending on your preferred visualization – covered with dark shaggy hair, snarling, holding sway over so many of us. We learn young – especially in this culture – that people can be either winners or losers, and to be a loser – to Fail – is the worst humiliation anyone could endure, a kind of psychic tar-and-feathering that marks us for life.
So we choose w...
Fear of failure is a bitch.
It's like the bitch god or bitch goddess – depending on your preferred visualization – covered with dark shaggy hair, snarling, holding sway over so many of us. We learn young – especially in this culture – that people can be either winners or losers, and to be a loser – to Fail – is the worst humiliation anyone could endure, a kind of psychic tar-and-feathering that marks us for life.
So we choose w...
October 25, 2009
why failure is good for you: how practice novels helped me get published...
....is posted over at my wordpress blog (which I've named Tribal Writer...the creative life in the digital age -- because the 'pages' feature of wordpress allows me to include certain elements that make the blog a bit more complex, it's not exactly the same blog as this livejournal. Although eventually I will be launching a truly new and different blog with a similar tagline.)
At some point I'll cross-post the thing here. But it's an epic post and I need the energy involved to go work out.
Later.
At some point I'll cross-post the thing here. But it's an epic post and I need the energy involved to go work out.
Later.
why failure is good for you: the novels I wrote before I got published...
....is posted over at my wordpress blog (which I've named Tribal Writer...the creative life in the digital age -- because the 'pages' feature of wordpress allows me to include certain elements that make the blog a bit more complex, it's not exactly the same blog as this livejournal. Although eventually I will be launching a truly new and different blog with a similar tagline.)
When I get more energy, I'll cross-post the thing here. But it's an epic post and I need the energy involved to go wo...
When I get more energy, I'll cross-post the thing here. But it's an epic post and I need the energy involved to go wo...
October 24, 2009
box seats at the Lakers game with famous people
1
Yesterday I imported this Livejournal to Wordpress.com, so there are now these two mirrored versions of it. I will continue to post here (I love the community here, can't fathom the idea of leaving) as well as over there, which means that you, dearest reader, have your pick.
Sadly, during transport all my gorgeous comments got left behind. I know there are ways to import those as well, but am not nearly so confident that I myself can figure out how to accomplish such a mysterious thing. So t...
Yesterday I imported this Livejournal to Wordpress.com, so there are now these two mirrored versions of it. I will continue to post here (I love the community here, can't fathom the idea of leaving) as well as over there, which means that you, dearest reader, have your pick.
Sadly, during transport all my gorgeous comments got left behind. I know there are ways to import those as well, but am not nearly so confident that I myself can figure out how to accomplish such a mysterious thing. So t...
October 20, 2009
To Develop Your Writer's Intuition, You Must First Read Like a Maniac
cross-posted to Storytellers Unplugged
1
Reading came first. It always does.
Reading is the inhale, writing is the exhale.
I once read somewhere that kids who like to read fall into two groups. The first naturally picks up reading from their environment: they see their parents reading, they find books in the house, they go to libraries and bookstores and learn young and easily the books that they enjoy. These kinds of readers are bright, well-rounded kids. They are socially adept. They h...
1
Reading came first. It always does.
Reading is the inhale, writing is the exhale.
I once read somewhere that kids who like to read fall into two groups. The first naturally picks up reading from their environment: they see their parents reading, they find books in the house, they go to libraries and bookstores and learn young and easily the books that they enjoy. These kinds of readers are bright, well-rounded kids. They are socially adept. They h...
October 18, 2009
Trust Me: Review of TRUST AGENTS: Using the Web to Build Influence...Gain Trust
In my ongoing quest to learn about social media and how it applies to my life as a writer, I've attempted to review one of my favorite books on the topic. Would appreciate your thoughts & comments.
TRUST AGENTS* (by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith) fascinated me from the beginning, not just for the subject matter but the community that the authors were busy building around it months before it came out.
I was so charmed by the book's Facebook fan page -- in which Chris and Julien asked questions,...
TRUST AGENTS* (by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith) fascinated me from the beginning, not just for the subject matter but the community that the authors were busy building around it months before it came out.
I was so charmed by the book's Facebook fan page -- in which Chris and Julien asked questions,...
October 16, 2009
you are what you eat
My trainer, John, is married to a gorgeous ex-model who knows how to cook, which might be why John talks more about food than almost anyone I've ever met. "She made a roast chicken stuffed with lots of garlic last night, and it was awesome," he told me. "So I'm rather pungent today."
He was. He reeked of garlic. It wafted from his pores and through the air to where I stood about a foot away from him. Weight machines clanked all around. "It was so good," he continued, "that I said, 'Screw my cl...
He was. He reeked of garlic. It wafted from his pores and through the air to where I stood about a foot away from him. Weight machines clanked all around. "It was so good," he continued, "that I said, 'Screw my cl...
mom's house, dad's house
Way too long since my last post -- I know, I know. I blame this big, complicated divorce. Also I haven't been feeling very good, in what seems to be an on-again off-again virus. Begone, stupid virus. At least until my kids bring it back and start it circulating through the house's population again (kids plus nannies plus housekeeper plus me, which gives your basic little bug all sorts of chances to mutate).
50/50 custody is weird: a regular and overnight switch from the warm rich chaos of mul...
50/50 custody is weird: a regular and overnight switch from the warm rich chaos of mul...
reality is relative
Way too long since my last post -- I know, I know. Part of it is still being in the middle of this big, complicated divorce. Another part is that I just haven't been feeling very good, in what seems to be an on-again off-again virus. Begone, stupid virus. At least until my kids bring it back and start it circulating through the house's population (kids plus nannies plus housekeeper plus me, which gives your basic little virus all sorts of chances to mutate).
50/50 custody is weird: a regular ...
50/50 custody is weird: a regular ...
September 25, 2009
vamp-angel romance
I've always wanted to write a vampire-romance story, but I'm not sure I would have gotten around to it
if editor Trisha Telep hadn't invited me to submit a piece to The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2. And since I was still in the process of recovering from my divorce, a story involving blood and vampires and death and darkness was probably the only kind of love story of which I was even remotely capable. So the timing worked out well. Trish herself was a lot of fun to deal with: as an edito...
if editor Trisha Telep hadn't invited me to submit a piece to The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2. And since I was still in the process of recovering from my divorce, a story involving blood and vampires and death and darkness was probably the only kind of love story of which I was even remotely capable. So the timing worked out well. Trish herself was a lot of fun to deal with: as an edito...
