Daniel M. Bensen's Blog, page 35

The Sequel to Junction

Here I am in lovely (if muggy) southwestern Bulgaria and ОХ, БОЖЕ do I have some news for you! Remember Junction? I’ve just signed the contract for the sequel: INTERCHANGE.

Thank you Don and Jennie! Thank you to everyone who read and liked Junction. I’m about 50K words into the sequel now. Oh, it’s got such cool creatures in it.

Sunlight Through Roses

Sunlight through roses

Dark and light both green and pink

Is that a chicken?

After the Skunk Trees

After the skunk trees

Linden flowers smell nicer

But still the sneezes?

Shrill Calls from the Sky

Shrill calls from the sky

Swifts beat their wings when they must

When I look I sneeze

That Ailanthus Smell

That ailanthus smell.

Now that I know about it

It’s everywhere.

Workshop notes: Having Fun While Writing

The Human Library and I put on a workshop/discussion yesterday about having fun while writing, and it evolved into a sort of writing-as-mental-health thing. There were lots of good bits of advice, including:

Track your writing. What time do you start? When do you stop? What patterns emerge?

What time to day do you usually write. Usually it’s early morning, late morning, or late at night. Are there any people who write well in the middle of the day or early evening? We didn’t find any.

What happens when the pattern breaks? You’re sick or you have life issues to deal with. Can your pattern survive? How difficult is it to re-establish the pattern?

How do you set up a pattern? Make writing a habit. Reward yourself. Develop rituals that trigger the habit (i.e. a special playlist). Write with other people. (Recommended books: The Power of Habit,Smarter, Faster, Better, Mini Habits)

How can you make sure you are open to inspiration? (Recommended books: Big Magic)

What do you do when inspiration strikes but you don’t have time to write? Keep notes. Use an audio recorder. Google keep. Send emails to yourself. (recommended apps: Google Keep, Speech Notes)

How can you get rid of distractions? Turn off notifications. Airplane mode. Use a notebook. Use a crappy old computer that can’t handle the internet. (Recommended books: Make Time)

If you don’t feel like writing? Write a few sentences and let them call out for more. Meditate. Take a walk. (Recommended app: Headspace)

Write as therapy. “Brain dump” the terrible things you’re thinking.

Your next assignment: experiment! Try something new and track how it changes your writing habit. What tools work for you? Tell me in the comments.

Leaves Froth in the Wind

Leaves froth in the wind

Finding new stabilities

We are back in school

Valuable Asteroid Strikes Ethiopia

This may be a silly idea, but I was wondering about what would happen if an asteroid composed of some valuable mineral struck a random place on Earth (on land).

With the help of Random.org, I decided that the asteroid strikes just north of the town of Kemba, in the Gamo Gofa Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region of Ethiopia.

I want the asteroid to be small enough that it doesn’t kill too many people, and valuable enough to cause a major upheaval to the global economy (think “16th-century Spain’s plundering of the gold, silver, and nitrates of South and Central Americas” – that level of upheaval).

But what would be so valuable per gram? Neodymium? Heavy-water ice? Stable superheavy elements? Cavorite? How silly do we want to get here?

Podcast Interview: Time for Cakes and Ale

Hey check this out. I had a great time at Eastercon and you can get a taste of that right here. Thanks, Becks and Eeson!

Birdsong from a Bush

Birdsong from a bush

I don’t know what kind it is

But at least we’re fine.