Betsy Miller's Blog, page 8
June 14, 2012
One Hip World Event
I’m happy to announce that as part of the One Hip World Event, from June 15 through June 30, 2012 all sales of my book The Parents’ Guide to Hip Dysplasia and sales of my short stories in ebook format at the Untreed Reads Store will benefit the International Hip Dysplasia Institute (IDHI).
To participate in this fundraiser:
Purchase a copy of my book The Parents’ Guide to Hip Dysplasia , and I will donate $1.00 to the IHDI. (It is available through online booksellers or you can order it at bookstores.)
Buy my short stories in ebook format at the Untreed Reads Store, and for each story that is sold, I will donate 25 cents to the IHDI.If you’re new to ebooks and don’t have a reader, don’t worry. You can choose the format that you prefer—PDF, Kindle, or epub, and then read the story on your computer, e-reader, or tablet. Three stories are available:
Equilibrium, a sweet romance in the Candlelight Romance Line.Half and Half, a short work of crime in the Fingerprints Line. Negative Space, a story about loss in the Nibs Literary Line.
May 15, 2012
Titles, Art, and The Creative Productivity Project
For today’s blog post, I met with Keiko O’Leary to talk about her blog
The Creative Productivity Project
. Keiko is a visual artist and a writer, and her blog reflects both of these elements.What made you decide to start the Creative Productivity Project?
January of last year I made a website. I was blogging on Tumblr, posting art only. My first blog post has an image—one of the first of my daily compositions. These are pencil drawings that you make every day. The drawings were influenced by a Mastering Composition book I had just bought.
What made you decide to create a blog of your art?
I thought it would be cool to have a blog and website. I don’t worry about what people think of my artwork, so I used whatever pages I could scan. They were postcard size.
Did you set up your blog and website yourself, or did you have help?
My husband helped me with the website—he does it for a living. I did the design and had the ideas. I learned some html years ago, but he helps me when I don’t know how to do something. With Tumblr, you can just post a whole bunch of short—well, anything, and then people get an idea of your life and thoughts. But, I don’t use it that way.
You use Tumblr, but you have some long posts on your blog.
I’m thinking of doing more that way. Ideas and images are cool to post, and you can use photo categories in Tumblr, but there’s no title. You can view archives, and see the image or photo, but that isn’t always related to the topic.
Let’s talk about your blog post about using titles for artwork.
I had already started titling everything. It’s easier to talk about pieces by title than by number—still life number 3—that doesn’t remind you of a specific piece.
The title of this painting is The Lion and the Lamb Drink Sake #1: After the First Class. Why did you decide to paint sake and animals?
I was taking a 10-week composition class and we had to paint the same still life 20 times. I was thinking, “What could I paint?” I was cleaning the garage and found a sake set that my husband gave me back before we got married. I thought it would be pretty for a still life.
How did the animals come into it?
The teacher said we should put some asymmetrical objects into the still life. That was good advice. We have these Fischer Price farm animals that my mom saved from when I was a kid that my daughter plays with. I like the cow, but I couldn’t find it. I found the sheep, and then I found the lion. We must have circus animals, too, because the lion wouldn’t be on the farm. Then I had the lion and the lamb, and instead of laying down (the lion lays down with the lamb) they were drinking sake.
The idea of this exercise is to just use stuff you have around the house. Some people agonize over what to paint, but the whole point is to get away from the subject so you start looking at light and color. I had fun with it.
Did your daughter want the animals back?
Oh, I did a drawing and then disassembled the pieces. The still life is supposed to be from the same angle each time, so it’s better to refer to the drawing. Plus, I don’t have enough room to leave the still life set up.
Thanks for meeting with me to talk about your blog. I’m looking forward to your next post.
Thank you, too! It was really interesting for me to talk about these projects.
April 21, 2012
My Author Copies of The Parents' Guide to Clubfoot Are Here
My book The Parents’ Guide to Clubfoot was originally published as a print-on-demand (POD) book through a small publisher last year. Then Hunter House Publishers acquired my book. The new edition is done! Hunter House sent me my author copies and even included a nice note signed by the Hunter House editors and production staff. The books look great! I’m really happy, and wanted to share the news.
March 15, 2012
Script Frenzy: Coming Your Way in April
[image error]
If you like to set big writing goals and then dive in, you might want to check out the Script Frenzy event that runs April 1-30. Script Frenzy is an annual event sponsored by the nonprofit organization the Office of Letters and Light to encourage creative writing.
The goal is to write 100 pages of a screenplay, stage play, graphic novel, or TV script, all within that 30-day time period. If you reach your goal, you get a certificate. You can write a screenplay yourself, or team up with a partner and work on it together. Anyone can participate. There's even a Script Frenzy Young Writers Program for kids who are 12 or younger, with classroom resources for teachers.
The Script Frenzy website has forums and resources for writers, like links that you can use to see sample scripts. There are also some regional events where you can meet with other writers if you want some company or encouragement. Note that this is a writing event, and the focus is writing, not on how to publish your work.
Thousands of people participate in Script Frenzy each year. There's no charge, but since it is run by a nonprofit organization, they happily accept donations.
If you like to set big writing goals and then dive in, you might want to check out the Script Frenzy event that runs April 1-30. Script Frenzy is an annual event sponsored by the nonprofit organization the Office of Letters and Light to encourage creative writing.
The goal is to write 100 pages of a screenplay, stage play, graphic novel, or TV script, all within that 30-day time period. If you reach your goal, you get a certificate. You can write a screenplay yourself, or team up with a partner and work on it together. Anyone can participate. There's even a Script Frenzy Young Writers Program for kids who are 12 or younger, with classroom resources for teachers.
The Script Frenzy website has forums and resources for writers, like links that you can use to see sample scripts. There are also some regional events where you can meet with other writers if you want some company or encouragement. Note that this is a writing event, and the focus is writing, not on how to publish your work.
Thousands of people participate in Script Frenzy each year. There's no charge, but since it is run by a nonprofit organization, they happily accept donations.
February 22, 2012
Easy Access to Health Information
_ Hi, I'm Betsy Miller. My blog is about writing and related topics like research and publishing that I hope you find interesting whether or not you like to write.
A New Resource in Cupertino
I recently visited the PlaneTree Health Information Center located inside the Cupertino Library. PlaneTree is a community health library, which means it has health and medical resources that range from simple brochures to medical text books and journal articles.
You don't have to be a medical expert to use PlaneTree. If you aren't sure how to research your topic, the PlaneTree librarian and volunteer staff can help you. They are quite knowledgeable, and can point you to resources that you might not know about otherwise. The Cupertino branch is open the following days and hours:
Tues. 4-8pm
Wed. 10am-2pm
Thurs., Fri., & Sat. 2pm-6pm
I went to PlaneTree to do research for a book. I'm a technical writer, but I also write books for families who are coping with children's medical issues ( The Parents' Guide to Clubfoot and The Parents' Guide to Hip Dysplasia ). I discovered community health libraries when I was writing my first book, and a whole new world opened up to me.
Medical Websites and Databases
When I research a medical topic, I often start with the National Institute of Health (NIH) website, which has very good health information for consumers. If I want more depth, I go to Pubmed. Pubmed is the online U.S. Library of Medicine, which is geared toward medical professionals.
Anyone can visit the Pubmed website to search the medical databases and read abstracts of medical journal articles. Many of these journals charge a fee for the complete article unless you're a subscriber.
Instead of paying a fee for an article or subscribing to a journal, you can go to a community health library like PlaneTree. The staff can typically get full journal articles. If you want a copy of an article, then there is a small fee to cover the photocopying cost.
If you aren't located near the Cupertino Library, or you want to visit a community health library at a different location, ask your doctor's office to recommend one.
A New Resource in Cupertino
I recently visited the PlaneTree Health Information Center located inside the Cupertino Library. PlaneTree is a community health library, which means it has health and medical resources that range from simple brochures to medical text books and journal articles.
You don't have to be a medical expert to use PlaneTree. If you aren't sure how to research your topic, the PlaneTree librarian and volunteer staff can help you. They are quite knowledgeable, and can point you to resources that you might not know about otherwise. The Cupertino branch is open the following days and hours:
Tues. 4-8pm
Wed. 10am-2pm
Thurs., Fri., & Sat. 2pm-6pm
I went to PlaneTree to do research for a book. I'm a technical writer, but I also write books for families who are coping with children's medical issues ( The Parents' Guide to Clubfoot and The Parents' Guide to Hip Dysplasia ). I discovered community health libraries when I was writing my first book, and a whole new world opened up to me.
Medical Websites and Databases
When I research a medical topic, I often start with the National Institute of Health (NIH) website, which has very good health information for consumers. If I want more depth, I go to Pubmed. Pubmed is the online U.S. Library of Medicine, which is geared toward medical professionals.
Anyone can visit the Pubmed website to search the medical databases and read abstracts of medical journal articles. Many of these journals charge a fee for the complete article unless you're a subscriber.
Instead of paying a fee for an article or subscribing to a journal, you can go to a community health library like PlaneTree. The staff can typically get full journal articles. If you want a copy of an article, then there is a small fee to cover the photocopying cost.
If you aren't located near the Cupertino Library, or you want to visit a community health library at a different location, ask your doctor's office to recommend one.
