Sydney Avey's Blog, page 2
October 31, 2018
View from the choir pew: Thoughts on Allhallowtide
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This is my view from the choir over the orchestra to music director. A harp and a brass section are to my right.
From where I sit in a choir pew rehearsing the Fauré Requiem, I get a full appreciation of the season. In addition to the fun costume and candy parade, this season comprises many celebrations. Historically, Allhallowtide is a three-day period devoted to the rem...
October 28, 2018
A Nice Surprise: Oct. 28 only, Amazon deal on The Sheep Walker’s Daughter $0.99
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Today only, October 28, 2018, $0.99 on Amazon
What a nice surprise to learn that, just for today, Amazon has selected the Kindle eBook version of The Sheep Walker’s Daughter to be part of a one-day Gold Box Deal! Special pricing, $0.99, Sunday, October 28. http://a.co/d/efRe06w
And now that I have your attention let’s talk about surprises
On my walk through the neighborh...
October 9, 2018
Social Media, Choosing How to Engage
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At its best, social media is a platform for people to engage with each other. The engagement may be commercial or personal. The experience can be sublime or annoying and downright abusive. Because I’m a writer who publishes books, social media is a necessary part of what I do. If I want readers, I have to let them know I have something available they might want to re...
September 11, 2018
Spreading the Wealth, a DIY Project
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Wealth redistribution is a political hot button but, framed differently, making an effort to spread the wealth is not a bad idea. For example, Amazon.com wants to do it all for you–fill every need on your wish list, tie it up with a ribbon, and set it gently on your doorstep. Whether you consider the big shopping jungle a boon to convenience or the bane of small business...
August 21, 2018
Reader’s Taste: Why consider literary fiction?
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I’m always up for a discussion about reader’s taste. On August 4, 2018 literary critic Adam Kirsch wrote a thoughtful piece titled “The Way We Read Now” in the Wall Street Journal. Three points caught my attention.
August 14, 2018
Taking a Breather
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Taking a breather at Seascape
Written August 1, 2018. Our ashy air blots out most of the charm of summer days in the forest. I’ve fled my mountain community, where the sky is thick with smoke from the Ferguson Fire, and driven to the coast. I’ve made a seascape. Here on Seascape Blvd in Rio Del Mar the weather is cool and breezy with a float of warm sunshine.
It’s a doubl...
August 7, 2018
Disaster: The day I drowned my MacBook Air
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Disaster upends daily routine and resets expectations to a default, anything-could-happen mode.
Disaster is the worst kind of distraction. Disasters upend daily routine and reset expectations to a default, anything-could-happen mode.
I dumped a drink on my MacBook Air. In animated conversation with my husband my knuckles caught the rim of a tall-stemmed glass. The glass...
July 17, 2018
Dollars and Distractions
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Made you look!
Last month after I wrote a blog about distractions I picked up a book, Disruptive Witness: Speaking truth in a distracted age, by Alan Noble. I love a book that triggers ideas for actions I can take to support a deeply-held belief. (Read my GoodReads review here.) How timely, then, that as I’ve been contemplating the damaging influence of consumerism in our...
July 10, 2018
Author Readings: Need courage? Don a costume!
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I get nervous before author readings. From the invitation, through the preparation and practice, right up to the minute I stand in front of a microphone, I fret. When super-talented, highly enthusiastic Jill Klajic-Ryan (facilitator of the Sonora Writers’ Group) signed me up for “Hoopla, A Wine & Read Event.” featuring fine wines, great books, and music, she added, “They...
June 26, 2018
Note to Self About Distractions
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Dis.trac.tions n. Distractions are things that prevent us from giving our full attention to something else.
We live in an age of distractions. Like germs in the air we breathe, we can tolerate few disturbances with no ill effect. But the constant battle for our attention can trigger an I-just-don’t-care-anymore numbness that leads to anxiety, apathy, and burnout.
Viral di...
