P.A. Wilson's Blog, page 32

I see stories – a bathtub of flowers

I have been trying to think of a theme for my blog posts that might be of interest to my readers and be something I can consistently post. Today I was talking with my writing group and an idea came to me. One of the common questions writers hear is "where do you get your ideas?"

Well, I've always found the ideas easy. So, I'm going to try to test that assumption. I'll post random pictures from my library and tell a very short story about it.  I hope you'll find it entertaining.

A bathtub of flowers

It was only an old tub, I thought as we renovated the bathroom. The enamel was chipped, and it didn't sit evenly on the cracked tiles.

The new tub would have jets and a beautiful tap. The new tub would have wide shoulders for candles and wine glasses.

We lifted the weight of iron with groans and grunts. Carefully down the stairs, through the open door and across the porch. If we left it by the side of the road, the city would come and cart it away. As we crossed the lawn, the memories seeped from the cracked enamel; my son's baths as an infant, my hands supporting him as I rinsed soap from his eyes; sea battles with plastic ships eaten by bubble monsters.

I stopped walking and dropped my end. My husband grunted and dropped his. "I can't let them take it," I confessed. "Please, I'm not ready to let it go."

We planted the flowers that spring and now I see beauty every time I look through my window.

 

Interview with Magda Olchawska, filmmaker and author of the Mikolay & Julia Adventures

Today I'm posting an interview with Magda because I saw her on Twitter and was fascinated with her ability to balance film-making and writing and supporting other writers. She will have an interview with me up on her blog this month.

Magda, give us a little background on you.

My name is Magda M. Olchawska and I'm an author of children books (Mikolay & Julia Adventures www.mikolayandjulia.com) as well as an award winning filmmaker.  I've been making films for almost 10 years now and have been writing for 6 years. I did write a lot of poetry and short stories when I was a kid. But one day I destroyed all my work. Just right before graduating from film school I was right back hooked on writing scripts.

What made you start making films?

Since I was a kid I always wanted to tell stories so "jumping" from writing to film-making wasn't that difficult for me. After all, it is still story telling, but using visuals mostly with a bit of dialogue.

How do you get started with a new film?

Before I can make a movie, I have to come up with a story and write a script so the whole cast & crew know what we are working on.

I usually write the most during autumn, winter & early spring. During the summer is way too hot for me to concentrate properly on writing and that is why I give myself this time to make movies. I make movies at least every 2 years (it takes a long time to have everything ready for the shooting of a movie).

Film is a fantastic art form. However, according to me filmmaking couldn't exist without all the wonderful books written throughout the history.

Where else can my readers find you?

Apart from writing & filmmaking I also run a website www.magdaolchawska.com which I use not only to promote my work but also to promote other authors & filmmakers.

What made you decide to interview other authors?

I have come up with an interview and spotlight section for authors after my not so successful blog tour for my children book "Mikolay & Julia In The Attic".

Even though there are so many websites out there, relatively few offer interviews or spotlight section for authors, indie authors in particular. I thought to myself that this could be a fantastic way of helping my fellow writers by making my readers aware of all these amazing indie books.

How is it going?

So far the interview section turned out to be very popular and I have managed to get a lot of wonderful authors involved.

I also hope the Spotlight section will be useful for the authors & their new or recent publications.

As an indie artist I know how hard it is to promote one's work. That is why building communities to support one another is the best way we can help one another.

Thank you so much for reading my blog. I hope you enjoyed it.

If you would like to find out more about my work as a writer & filmmaker please visit www.magdaolchawska.com

If you would like to find our more about my children books please visit www.mikolayandjulia.com

Thanks, Magda for a great interview. You can also find her on twitter at @magdaolchawska

 

Censorship or protection? SOPA and PIPA a view from outside America

The furor has died down a bit now, but watching from outside of this issue has been interesting. Like many things, what happens in America affects the world, whether we like it or not. I had no power to influence the outcome, but I could support those who did. And, I'm grateful these bills are dead -  for now.

In this pause, it is a good time to think beyond the reaction. As an author I do think I have the right to own my work and decide whether I get paid for it or not. As a marketer, I want visibility and that means giving up some income to find readers, in fact, piracy is being used as a marketing tool by some. As a reader, I want to be able to get my books from the Internet at reasonable prices. So, like many people out there, I am having difficulty taking a side logically.

Emotionally, not a problem. I don't want censorship. I want freedom.

The two are not mutually exclusive. It's nice to to have the law to fall back on if I want to try to stop people stealing my work (I just had a flash of a little boy with his finger in a dyke). But, I don't think it's the job of the government to enforce this kind of law for me, and I certainly don't need a foreign government to enforce their laws on me.

I think we'll be fighting this battle for a long time. I hope we always find a way to keep the Internet free while we do it.

Shameless plug:

If you haven't read Off Track, now is the time. The second book will be available soon.

 

Facing a new year

Christmas is behind us again and now many of us take the time to reflect on the coming year. This practice is something I do periodically throughout the year, but in this week between the Christmas and the New Year I find it more valuable to assess where I am and what baggage or false assumptions I have to unload.

Like my heroine Madeline, I have a set of assumptions about what I should be doing and what I am capable of. And this year I took some steps to push myself over the edge of some assumptions. Most notably, this website. I'm not ashamed to say that it all seems like magic to me. But I jumped in and got WordPress for Dummies and gave it a shot.

You'll see that there is a lot of content still to be filled, but I've overcome the biggest hurdle. My own limitations.

There have been a lot of changes in my life in the last three years. I think of myself as someone who sees opportunity in change so I have made the most of each change as it came along.

As you reflect on the ending of the year and think of the opportunities that 2012 brings, will you challenge yourself to try something new, something you don't think you can do?

Happy end of 2011 and -despite the dire predictions – I say bring it on 2012!

Perry

What's coming, slightly better than a 'underconstruction' post

Hello, everyone. If you've been following my old blog, you'll have noticed that I've switched the page. I admit, it was because I am setting up a new author site and didn't realize I'd substituted the URL for the old one. And then I got surprisingly busy – okay it's Christmas, I should have seen that one coming. So, here's what you'll see as I build the site.

The most significant change is that I'll be aiming my posts at readers now, rather than writers. I'll understand if you don't continue to follow, but I'll still throw out advice on other formats.

First, this will be the home page (unless I've totally misunderstood the process) and I'll get a blog up and running in a while – a month.

Then I'll put together some series pages and a "who the heck is Perry" page.

I'll also try to find a way to give you the ability to sign up for newsletters and book announcements. I'm optimistic that I can figure it out.

For now, I'll wish you a happy holidays and sign off.

Perry