Adam Selzer's Blog, page 5
February 7, 2014
Make Your Own Fold-Out Chalkboard
I'm always customizing my work environment - cleaning the desk, reorganizing, testing new pens, making playlists..you know. All the stuff you do as an excuse not to actually work. My favorite customization of my workspace (where I almost never actually work, honestly) is my fold-out chalkboard.
I take notes all over. There are little notebooks in the pockets of each of my jackets, and one on my dashboard, one by my bed. Sometimes I brainstorm by typing into Evernote. And sometimes I just want to crank up some music and draw on a chalkboard.
My apartment is small. Wall-space is a real commodity - there's no way I could find the space for an actual chalkboard of any size. But I do have room for a fold-out one that I made for roughly 30 bucks (though it would've been more if I didn't have hinges and castors lying around).
It fits right up against the rack where I keep my pots and pans:
Making this thing is easy as pie. Most lumber and home-goods type stores sell folding closet doors in sets of 2 for about 20 bucks. They're light weight and smooth - you do want smooth (my first one was made using closet doors I found in the alley; they were rough and a pain to erase). All you need besides the doors is some chalkboard spray paint, a set of castors (wheels), and some hingest to attach the thing to the wall. Drill holes in the bottom to insert the castors, then spray down the inside panels with chalkboard paint, then voila! Attach it to your wall. When not in use as a chalkboard, it fills two inches of otherwise useless space (blocking my view of the pots and pans - no big loss) and doubling as a hat rack / mini calendar I added to the front using leftover chalkboard paint:
But open it up, and there it is: a chalkboard that I don't have anywhere near
enough room for otherwise:
By taking a picture of it using Evernote before heaving out to the coffee shop, you can pretty much sync the chalkboard with your computer.
I take notes all over. There are little notebooks in the pockets of each of my jackets, and one on my dashboard, one by my bed. Sometimes I brainstorm by typing into Evernote. And sometimes I just want to crank up some music and draw on a chalkboard.
My apartment is small. Wall-space is a real commodity - there's no way I could find the space for an actual chalkboard of any size. But I do have room for a fold-out one that I made for roughly 30 bucks (though it would've been more if I didn't have hinges and castors lying around).
It fits right up against the rack where I keep my pots and pans:
Making this thing is easy as pie. Most lumber and home-goods type stores sell folding closet doors in sets of 2 for about 20 bucks. They're light weight and smooth - you do want smooth (my first one was made using closet doors I found in the alley; they were rough and a pain to erase). All you need besides the doors is some chalkboard spray paint, a set of castors (wheels), and some hingest to attach the thing to the wall. Drill holes in the bottom to insert the castors, then spray down the inside panels with chalkboard paint, then voila! Attach it to your wall. When not in use as a chalkboard, it fills two inches of otherwise useless space (blocking my view of the pots and pans - no big loss) and doubling as a hat rack / mini calendar I added to the front using leftover chalkboard paint:
But open it up, and there it is: a chalkboard that I don't have anywhere near
enough room for otherwise:
By taking a picture of it using Evernote before heaving out to the coffee shop, you can pretty much sync the chalkboard with your computer.
February 4, 2014
News of the Week
Sparks, which I wrote as SJ Adams, has made YALSA's Popular Paperbacks list for 2014 - the little novel that could! Every now and then that book keeps getting a new burst of life. It's still my favorite of my books to date. I really must get into Des Moines and leave an offering to the Naked Trike Angel, who is mentioned in the book. It's in a back yard now; offerings are made by putting a quarter in its mouth. I am an orthodox Naked Trike Angelicist.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway for Play Me Backwards, my latest, to be released in August via Simon and Schuster. I will now start referring to that book, coupled with the earlier How To Get Suspended and Influence People and Pirates of the Retail Wasteland as the How to Get Your $%^& Together trilogy, perhaps. At least until I come up with a better name. Look for a trailer soon, or least a downloadable song entitled "Satan's Parents' Basement." I think advance copies are starting to circulate now.
Meanwhile, in other news from my other life, the old Chicago Unbelievable blog has been relauched as the Mysterious Chicago blog. Bringing you all the best in Chicago's forgotten history, ghostlore, and more. I've spent much of the last few months digging through paperwork from 19th century lawsuits in which serial killer H.H. Holmes was being sued (dude was a swindler first and foremost and got sued a lot), next week I'm looking forward into seeing another murderer's paperwork. The party never stops around here! I've filmed segments for two cable shows in the last few months, and may have a couple more in the pipeline.
Anyway, I'll bet at the annual Anderson's Bookshop Children's Literature Breakfast on the 15th, rubbing elbows with the guest of honor (Henry Winkler!) and chatting with kidlit folks from all over.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway for Play Me Backwards, my latest, to be released in August via Simon and Schuster. I will now start referring to that book, coupled with the earlier How To Get Suspended and Influence People and Pirates of the Retail Wasteland as the How to Get Your $%^& Together trilogy, perhaps. At least until I come up with a better name. Look for a trailer soon, or least a downloadable song entitled "Satan's Parents' Basement." I think advance copies are starting to circulate now.
Meanwhile, in other news from my other life, the old Chicago Unbelievable blog has been relauched as the Mysterious Chicago blog. Bringing you all the best in Chicago's forgotten history, ghostlore, and more. I've spent much of the last few months digging through paperwork from 19th century lawsuits in which serial killer H.H. Holmes was being sued (dude was a swindler first and foremost and got sued a lot), next week I'm looking forward into seeing another murderer's paperwork. The party never stops around here! I've filmed segments for two cable shows in the last few months, and may have a couple more in the pipeline.
Anyway, I'll bet at the annual Anderson's Bookshop Children's Literature Breakfast on the 15th, rubbing elbows with the guest of honor (Henry Winkler!) and chatting with kidlit folks from all over.
January 10, 2014
Me in the Chicago Reader
I'm this week's Chicagoan in the Chicago Reader. I'm a real Chicagoan now!
The article is all about my night job in the ghost busting business (though I tried to get a plug for Play Me Backwards in at one point during the interview).
In other news, while I'm here, I've edited and annotated a new, full-length edition of Chicago Unbelievable's The Murder Castle of HH Holmes ebook - a dossier of drawings, diagrams, and eyewitness accounts of the famous "Castle." All the best info we can find - right down to the combination to the soundproof vault - with detailed info on the background, context, and sources.
The article is all about my night job in the ghost busting business (though I tried to get a plug for Play Me Backwards in at one point during the interview).
In other news, while I'm here, I've edited and annotated a new, full-length edition of Chicago Unbelievable's The Murder Castle of HH Holmes ebook - a dossier of drawings, diagrams, and eyewitness accounts of the famous "Castle." All the best info we can find - right down to the combination to the soundproof vault - with detailed info on the background, context, and sources.
January 4, 2014
Play Me Backwards advance copies
Advance copies of Play Me Backwards arrived at my PO Box the other day. They look GREAT.
I posed with it wearing many different hats over on tumblr.
On second thought, let's not go to Tumblr. It is a silly place.
I posed with it wearing many different hats over on tumblr.
On second thought, let's not go to Tumblr. It is a silly place.
December 18, 2013
Play Me Backwards COVER REVEAL!
Sometimes, you just have to trust that the dark lord knows what he's doing....
Leon Harris is perfectly satisfied being a slacker. In fact, he’s embraced it.
But when Anna B.—yeah, that Anna B.—says she might be moving back from England, Leon is desperate to get his act together. Desperate enough to ask his best friend, Stan (who may or may not be Satan), for help.
Stan’s orders? Listen to the whole audiobook of Moby-Dick. Find the elusive white grape Slushee. Join the yearbook committee. And go out with a popular girl.
As each strange task takes him farther from slackerville, Leon has to wonder if maybe Stan really does have unholy powers after all….
Excerpts, downloadable soundtrack, and maybe an a NSFW trailer coming soon...
Get updates on the book! Add your email address to the PLAY ME BACKWARDS mailing list:
Delivered by FeedBurner
I promise not to spam, and emails will be infrequent.Bloggers, inquiries, etc, contact me here
Rights inquiries, etc, contact Adrienne Rosado, Nancy Yost Literary
back cover
Leon Harris is perfectly satisfied being a slacker. In fact, he’s embraced it.
But when Anna B.—yeah, that Anna B.—says she might be moving back from England, Leon is desperate to get his act together. Desperate enough to ask his best friend, Stan (who may or may not be Satan), for help.
Stan’s orders? Listen to the whole audiobook of Moby-Dick. Find the elusive white grape Slushee. Join the yearbook committee. And go out with a popular girl.
As each strange task takes him farther from slackerville, Leon has to wonder if maybe Stan really does have unholy powers after all….
Excerpts, downloadable soundtrack, and maybe an a NSFW trailer coming soon...
Get updates on the book! Add your email address to the PLAY ME BACKWARDS mailing list:
Delivered by FeedBurner
I promise not to spam, and emails will be infrequent.Bloggers, inquiries, etc, contact me here
Rights inquiries, etc, contact Adrienne Rosado, Nancy Yost Literary
back cover
