P.J. Kaiser's Blog, page 12

Inspiration Minute: Gregory Colbert, Apr 25, 2011

In my new feature, "Inspiration Minute," I'd like to share with you something that has caught my attention or inspired me during the course of the week.  Be forewarned, it may take a bit more than a minute! For readers, these posts might show you something interesting that you hadn't considered before and for writers, these posts might inspire a story – either directly or indirectly.

When I was heavily pregnant with my son (my oldest child) in 2005, we were living in Jersey City, NJ.  I heard a story on National Public Radio about an art exhibit over in Manhattan by a photographer named Gregory Colbert.  The exhibit would be closing within a couple of weeks and I was due to have my baby a few weeks after that.  It might be my last big outing until after the baby came, so I decided I wanted to go.  I got tickets for a Saturday afternoon so my husband and I could go.  It was a hot August day and at the last moment my husband fell ill.  Leaving him at home with the remote, I decided to make the excursion solo.  I took public transportation and walked several blocks from the subway stop to the exhibit.  Even with advance tickets, the line was long since they were controlling how many people could enter the exhibit at a time.

I remember that day as one of extremes.  Sizzling temperatures, extreme physical exhaustion and pain were countered by breathtaking beauty and a zen-like meditative state while viewing the photographs.

"In exploring the shared language and poetic sensibilities of all animals, I am working towards rediscovering the common ground that once existed when people lived in harmony with animals. The images depict a world that is without beginning or end, here or there, past or present."

—Gregory Colbert, Creator of Ashes and Snow

You can see a selection of Gregory Colbert's photos for yourself.

Please let me know if this is interesting or inspiring in the comments!  It will help me to hone in on the best items for future installments of "Inspiration Minute."

Defending the Capital (#FridayFlash)

You can listen to this story by pressing "play" below and read along with the text that follows …

{note:  I recorded this audio while recovering from bronchitis so I'm sorry I'm a bit raspy.  And I had trouble fitting it under five minutes so you'll find that it ends a bit abruptly }

Listen!

 

"Defending the Capital" by P.J. Kaiser

The President lay on his makeshift bed in the meeting room:  a stack of four blankets with a fifth folded for a pillow.  Rolling over, he reached for the flashlight and illuminated his watch for a moment.  It was well after midnight.

He said another prayer for the army:  that they would be successful in their mission of defending their capital city.

Most nights he was able to sleep in spite of the sound of gunfire in the streets, but this night a feeling of dread filled his soul.  They had already lost most of the provincial areas but the troops had fortified their defenses to protect the capital from the rebels.  It was for the sake of his countrymen – he couldn't let them down.  A tear rolled down his cheek as he thought of the thousands – no, millions – of people forever changed by this rebellion.  He thought of the lives lost and he made a silent vow to their families that he would see the battle through.

The President forced his eyes closed and hoped sleep would come soon.  He would need all his strength and alertness the following day to carry out his duties.

The sound of a blast ripped through the air.  The underground hallway in the presidential palace reverberated with the echo.  The President leapt to his feet, grabbed his flashlight and ran towards the "war room" – as it had come to be known in the past four months.  He passed the security guard crouched under a table outside the door.  "Get up, man – this building is safe!"

His heart pounding in his ears, the President ran through the doorway and took a seat at the large table.  Thierry, his only remaining advisor, was already seated and turning on the generator-operated light and radio console. "Station north five, come in."  Thierry pushed his hair back from his face as long moments passed.

Crisp static filled the room.  "Station north five, come in."

A man's voice could barely be heard over the static.  "Station north five, go ahead."

Thierry said, "Was something hit?  Over."

"Affirmative.  The munitions store. Over."

The words hung in the air.  Thierry waited for some signal from the President as to what to do next.

The President leaned back in his chair, laced his fingers together, pushed his palms outward and cracked his knuckles.

Thierry leaned forward and moved his head around to catch the President's eye, then shook his head.  "That's the last one, sir."

The President slammed his fist on the table.  "I know it's the last one, I can damn well count."

Thierry looked down at the table.  Static continued to sizzle through the air.

Finally, Thierry adjusted his glasses on his face with shaky hands and said, "What should I tell the Commander, sir?"

"Carry on.  Each unit has stores enough for another twenty-four hours."

Thierry spoke loudly into the radio.  "The President says to carry on, station north five.  Copy?"

"Copy.  Out."

Without the static filling the room, the muffled sound of gunfire resumed.

After several minutes, Thierry said, "I think we need to consider their offer, sir."

The President jumped from his chair and paced around the table.  He finally yelled, "What offer?  They didn't make an offer.  They made threats only.  How would it look if they bombed the presidential palace?  They won't do that.  Blood may be running in the streets, but they won't bomb us."

Thierry said, "But maybe we could negotiate an offer.  We could propose a ceasefire in exchange for safe passage out of the capital.  We would also have to secure an offer for exile."

The President kneaded his forehead with his fingers.  His fingernails turned white from the pressure against his head.  He sighed.  "I suppose the time has come.  I have failed my people.  I tried to be strong and hold off the rebels but their forces are just too great."

Thierry said, "Sir, it's not your fault.  You did your best.  The turning point really came when the NATO forces came in to support the rebels in enforcing the election results.  We just couldn't compete against their air power."

The President pinched his lips together and fought the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.  "I just can't believe the end is happening like this."  The shadow lifted for a moment from his eyes.  "Don't you think our forces can hold out another week until the supply shipment comes in?"

Thierry shook his head.

The President groaned.  "No, I guess not.  There would be no way for them to hold their ground, especially if the NATO airstrikes continue.  Thierry, see who you can raise on the radio from the UN and see if you can get us exiled to France.  Or maybe Tahiti."

Thanks for reading and/or listening!  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

 

 

 

Inspired Links – April 20, 2011

In my "Inspired Links" feature, I provide links and brief descriptions of thought-provoking articles.  I hope you enjoy these little treasures

Victoria Mixon has been holding weekly chat sessions "#editingchat."  They may not be permanent, but she plans to hold a few more.  The next one is scheduled for this Thursday (4/21) from noon to 1pm, PST (that's 3pm to 4pm EST, I think).  Here's the transcript from the last one (start reading at the bottom).

Back in March, I saw a series of tweets related to publishing from the SXSW (South by Southwest) Conference.  At the time, I didn't have time to read them closely, but fortunately, Jane Friedman, who moderated a panel at the conference "The Self-Publishing Novelist: Report from the Trenches" has shared a link to the audio for this very interesting session.  The focus is on marketing and it contains some valuable perspectives.

If you have a blog, you'll want to check out this terrific post "50 Ways to Dodge the Blog Burnout Sucker Punch" from "Pushing Social."  This post is useful even if you're not suffering from burnout because it has many useful ideas.

Kristen Lamb recently had an interesting series of posts on her blog dealing with structure.  I'm not sure why I discovered this series only recently.  You'll want to catch all of them and start at the beginning:  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8.

If your creativity needs a boost, then check out "A 12-Step Guide to Fostering Creativity" on Mashable.  Because we all need reminders now and then.

This guest post by Bob Mayer over on J.A. Konrath's blog is a very interesting look at Bob's journey into self-publishing.

Are you still using the term "aspiring writer?"  J.C. Hutchins would like to convince you to ditch the term in his post "On Being an 'Aspiring Writer.'"

Kristin Bair O'Keeffe has a new series on her blog "Writerhead Wednesdays."  I started reading with the first installment by Eugenia Kim and haven't stopped since.  You'll want to get caught up on all of the posts.

If you're wondering about my methodology for choosing links for inclusion in this post, rest assured there isn't one.  It's just a collection of things that I found interesting and I thought you might too.  Please let me know what you think!

 

Should Writers Have Newsletters?

I've been contemplating starting up a newsletter for quite some time.  It seems like all the cool kids are doing it.  Practically every post about author platforms encourages authors to start their newsletter ASAP.  For example, this recent post by Christina Katz for Writer's Digest, "Elements of a Successful Fiction Platform," has a whole section on the benefits of having an email list including offering special perks for subscribers.  And Joel Friedlander, in his guest post "Levels of Engagement, or Why Authors Need an Email List" on the Savvy Book Marketer blog, describes that subscribing to a newsletter is one of the highest points of commitment that a reader can show for a blog or website – a sort of "inner circle," if you will.

I read arguments like this frequently and I find myself nodding my head a lot.  At one point I created an account with MailChimp and set up an email list.  I had a link to the list before my blog imploded and a few people signed up.  I have a carefully disguised tab on my fan page that allows readers to sign up for my yet-to-be-launched newsletter.  I have not been aggressive in getting people to sign up because I continue to have cold feet about the whole concept.

So, I'm going to lay out a few of the pros and cons as I see them and maybe you can help me decide what to do.

Advantages of having a newsletter:

- Being able to offer special insider information or deals to a select group of readers who have "opted in" for this special privilege.

- An email list provides an insurance policy against the shutdown of social media outlets.  I worry, for example, what would happen if one day Twitter or Facebook were to shut down.  They are key components of my online presence.

- An agent or a publisher down the road may look at the number of newsletter subscribers as a key component of an author platform.

Disadvantages of having a newsletter:

- Making non-subscribers feel guilty or left out for not subscribing.  Some people may like your content but may not want to fill up their overflowing inbox any further.

- It makes additional work for a writer – work that has questionable added value and may take away from the time that a writer can spend writing.

I have, in fact, come across very few newsletters, even from writers or websites that I really enjoy, that are worth subscribing to.  Most newsletters are rehashed info that's already available from the website.  There are a few exceptions but it's hard to make time even for the good ones, since I'm already keeping up with these writers on Twitter, Facebook and their websites.  The worst newsletters are the ones that send a huge, unfiltered pile of information to my inbox and somehow expect me to sift through it.  The best newsletters are typically from experts in some field and provide a little nugget of insight or information that's not generally available on their website.

So, I'd love to hear your thoughts.  How do you feel about newsletters, both as a reader and a writer?  Where do you stand on the pros and cons I outlined above?  And, finally, if I were to have a newsletter, what should I include?

Thanks!

 

Inspiration Minute: Global Warming and Island Nations, Apr 18, 2011

In my new feature, "Inspiration Minute," I'd like to share with you something that has caught my attention or inspired me during the course of the week.  Be forewarned, it may take a bit more than a minute! For readers, these posts might show you something interesting that you hadn't considered before and for writers, these posts might inspire a story – either directly or indirectly.

A discussion with my husband caused me to consider the threats posed to island nations by global warming.  This article from Discovery News discusses the societal and legal ramifications of having a nation with no land and encourages nations to consider legal changes now in anticipation of the possibility of large-scale land loss.

This article from Wired provides an overview of how the low-lying country of the Netherlands has fortified itself in the past against rising water and discusses a 200 year plan the country is embarking on to further protect itself.  The scale of this plan is mind-boggling.  It also discusses how to evaluate risk in various areas and engineer accordingly.  And the discussion is wrapped up with some insight into the debate about how much flood protection to construct in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Please let me know if this is interesting or inspiring in the comments!  It will help me to hone in on the best items for future installments of "Inspiration Minute."

Inspiration Minute: Fukishima – April 15, 2011

I'm starting a new feature – "Inspiration Minute."  Some blogs run their features on particular days.  You've seen examples such as "Wordless Wednesday" or "Twitter Tuesday."  I am not nearly consistent enough to run my features on particular days at the moment although maybe down the road I will be able to.

Regardless, in "Inspiration Minute" I'd like to share with you something that has caught my attention or inspired me during the course of the week.  Be forewarned, it may take a bit more than a minute! For readers, these posts might show you something interesting that you hadn't thought of before and for writers, these posts might inspire a story – either directly or indirectly.  It's interesting to see what random ideas can get generated from things like this.

In the wake of the tragedy in Japan, there is no shortage of heartbreaking images coming through the media outlets.  This crisis is truly beyond words and my thoughts and prayers have been with the people of Japan.

Photographer Athit Perawongmetha has shot a series of photos inside the evacuation zone around Fukishima.  The images are truly stunning.  In this video, Perawongmetha provides narration as the images are shown.  If you click through to the images on the Time website, each image is shown with a caption that provides some further information.

As I watched these images, thoughts of some of the stories that were in "Nothing But Flowers:  Tales of Post-Apocalyptic Love" kept coming to my mind.  If you're considering writing a post-apocalyptic story, these images will truly inspire.

Please let me know if this is interesting or inspiring in the comments!  It will help me to hone in on the best items for future installments of "Inspiration Minute."

Part 2 of Lou Freshwater's Guest Post

…is now up over at Tuesday Serial.  This week she shares some insights that she has gained from various books on how learning about poetry can help any writer of prose.  It's a lovely, highly useful post and inspires me to go write some poetry, so check it out!

 

Guest post by Lou Freshwater over at Tuesday Serial

The title pretty much says it all … Lou is our special guest over at Tuesday Serial this week (and next!) sharing some insights that she has gained from various books on writing.  It's a lovely, highly useful post, so check it out!

Is that PJ at "Escape Into Life"?

Why yes, it is. They apparently are just crazy enough to publish my story "The Artist's Heart" on their site. Could you humor me and go check it out …?

 

What is Spoken Sunday?

You can listen along to this blog post by clicking 'play' below.

Listen!

Today is not Sunday, but I figured it's as good a day as any to tell you about Spoken Sunday, if you're not already familiar with it.  Readers can find a list of *free* mini-podcasts each week of some sort of new fiction.  There's been a relatively low turnout lately, so I wanted to take this opportunity to spread the word to the writers I know and let them know how they can participate.

So, first-up, if you are a reader, you can always find the latest contributions by going to the Write Anything page and checking the "Spoken Sunday" category page.  Click on the entry that you want and then check the comments for that post.  You can also click on the "Mister Linky" icon to see the entries.

And now, if you are a writer, here's how you can participate in Spoken Sunday:

Check their  guidelines .
Essentially, you podcast your fiction, post it on your blog and then add the link to your podcast on Sunday when the Spoken Sunday collector is posted at Write Anything.

Not sure how to podcast your fiction?  Here's one way …

Sign up for a free account at Audioboo .
Choose whether to record your audio on your iPhone or Android phone (you'll need to download the appropriate app) or record directly on the web.
Do your audio recording and upload or import into Audioboo.
Make a blog post and embed a link to your audio recording (from your "my profile" tab, click the title of the audioboo that you want to embed and click "embed".  This will bring up a pop-up window with the html for your recording.  Simply copy/paste this html into your blog post (in html mode).)
Copy the permalink for your blog post (not the general link to your blog, but the link to your specific post), hop on over to Write Anything when the collector is posted on Sunday and add your link to the "Mister Linky" and also to the comments of the post.
All that remains is to tweet about your entry using the "#SpokenSunday" hashtag and spread the word on Facebook also.

See how easy that is?  Providing audio recordings for your fiction may make it more accessible for some readers or may make it more enjoyable for all readers.  I've had many people tell me that listening to an audio version of a story just adds to their reading experience.

So, why not give it a try?  Have you tried audio recording before?  Do you like audio recordings, as a reader?  If you have questions about Spoken Sunday, please share in the comments and we'll track down the answers.