Sydney Avey's Blog, page 11
October 21, 2015
Step Up Your Game
When is it time to step up your game? I’ve been in the writing game for about four years now. I’m getting sour on on clicking links and signing up for seminars that tell me what I already know. That’s my bad.
There was a time in my writing when I desperately needed to know Ten Errors Writers Make, Responding to Rejection, and Format Your Novel for Submission. Just because I’m familiar with the basics doesn’t mean I’ve mastered them, but spending time reading repackaged tips won’t help me step...
October 15, 2015
The Writing Roller Coaster
The Great Wheel, Seattle
My friend Von sent me a copy of the Afterword to Terri Blackstock‘s book Double Minds that describes the roller coaster writing life. The timing was good. I was down about last week’s social media and sales reports. Low engagement on Facebook. No sales on Amazon. Yesterday I experienced mild elation when I learned I’d been accepted into the Christian Authors Network, but that dissipated quickly when I crested the peak of saw the quick drop into marketing tasks ahead....
September 29, 2015
Writers approach the well
During conference season, we writers approach the well of inspiration to draw ideas and encouragement. Sometimes we drag home with what feels like bricks in our roller bags, discouraging loads of “you have to” and “you can’t.” Other times we float home, buoyed by refreshing new approaches to the art, craft or marketing of writing. We’ve been pleasantly reminded about why we are willing to sing the blues–the highly emotional call and response of writing scratches a creative itch.
I drew much...
September 24, 2015
Book Review: The Liar’s Wife
The Liar’s Wife: Four Novellas by Mary Gordon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Literary fiction does not fit the genre mold and often comes under fire for slow starts, slow pacing, and weak plot. That may be, but I prefer rich characterization and a story with a strong aha moment that dawns on me gradually or shocks me into a new understanding. The Liar’s Wife is such a book. Of the four novellas, the first, for which the book is titled, and the last, “Fine Arts,” are my favorites. True to life, in “T...
September 22, 2015
The Pope’s Challenge
NPR recently broadcast the Pope’s challenge. He is calling all people to look at four issues through a humanitarian rather than a political lens. He is asking us to:
I get the bookend issues (#1 and #4). Myopic fury over abortion fails to consider quality of life issues for people of all ages and circumstances. And i...
September 1, 2015
Wisdom Bubbles
The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook. Proverbs 18:4.
We can drown in our words, but if we wait at the edge of what troubles or intrigues us, wisdom bubbles up.
What a delightful image.
Some bubbleology
LIKE CREAM RISING to the top, wisdom floats to the surface and spreads out into a delicious topping. Skim the cream. Taste and see if it is good.Fold itback into your brew to sweeten your experience.
WHEN TWO BUBBLES MEET, they merge. Male b...
August 25, 2015
Shocking! Donald Trump on a Broca Binge
Thinking about shocking Broca, a marketing ploy to break through the brain function that filters out the predictable and boring, brings to mind Donald Trump.The Donald trumps everyone in shocking Broca. He is building a presidential campaign on shocking his way into the national conscious with outrageous statements. Some of uswince. We grimace and double over in pain. But we all pay attention and do exactly what he wants us to do. We think more deeply about the issues. We participate in a nat...
August 18, 2015
Raw Emotions: Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve
Raw emotions behave like unruly children who burst into anguished howls of disbelief, sadness, and anger when they feel deprived. As children, we find unbearable the injustice of being denied what we rightly cherish–parental attention, a coveted toy, or an experience we were counting on to bring us joy. When we mature, we learn to suppress our outrage and employ patience and understanding. Then something happens. Someone close to us dies. We haven’t been thwarted, we’ve been mugged and left...
August 10, 2015
A summer writers conference special
On sale $0.99 August 10 – 17
What camp is to kids, a summer writers conference is to a writer. My daughter and I have polished our manuscripts and will meet up in Portland to attendthe Oregon Christian Writers Conference.
A writers conference is a mix of relationship building, studying the craft, and learning art of marketing. The experiencecanmotivate you to take your work to the next level, or, despite the best intentions of presenters, it can discourage you.
Like a kid at camp, you may enj...
July 31, 2015
A Grief That Has No Words
Victoria’s garden
In times of grief, no words adequately describe the event that has caused our pain and how we are changed by what has occurred. “I have no words,” we say to each other. Then we struggle to find the right words that will help us make sense of the insensible.
Insensible is a good word to start with. On July 4th, our daughter-in-law set herself free from the pain of depression by taking her life. The violence of her unexpected departure rendered her family, friends, and communi...
