Kelli Russell Agodon's Blog, page 61

Confession Tuesday

Dear Reader,



It has been one light snowfall and an unused sled since my last confession.  I have been busy with writing and creative thoughts.



Last night after watching one of my very favorite movies ever-- Midnight in Paris (with Owen Wilson, a must-see if you're a reader or writer) I had a literary dream and I confess I did not write it down, I can't remember the exact authors I spoke with, but I know they had interesting and inspiring things to tell me.  I am so bummed I have forgotten.  Note to self: Do not trust that you will remember the dream in the morning.



But there's more, so to the confessional--





I confess I recently heard Oprah say this quote and I so believe it--



When people show you who they are, believe them the first time. 





I want to add something more here, to say something interesting about this quote, but I think it speaks itself better than I do.



But it does also remind of this quote I love:  If you see crazy coming, cross the street.





~





I confess there's a snowstorm coming to our state and I'm thrilled.  We don't get a lot of snow, but I love how snow makes you have to stop and slow down.  We plan to go sledding and take long walks followed by hot chocolate (I better get whipped cream, I think we're out).  I love being home and "stuck" in the house.



On a recent writing date with Susan Rich, I told her, "I know this might sound weird, but I'm looking for new ways to be productive, creative and to also support myself financial without having to leave my house."  She laughed and said, "That doesn't sound weird to me at all!"



Susan also loves her house, being home, and appreciates her alone time as well, she's a writer.  I'm realizing more and more, my favorite place is home, I prefer it over adventure, over exploring, or going for a drive.



If you've read Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room, you may have noticed that part of my anxiety was causing me to become the next Emily Dickinson (not in sense of writing, but in her reclusiveness).  I could be the woman lowering bread down from my bedroom woman to the children below.  And I think, in certain ways I moving towards that.



But this other love of home and solitude, comes from a healthier place.  It's not that I'm afraid to leave the house, but I am just so happy here, I make sure I only say yes to things I really want to do.



My present-time optimistic self is always signing my future-self up for events I don't want to do.  My optimistic self thinks-- how much fun, yes I'd love to do that.  When the event comes around, future-self rolls her eyes and says, I'd really like to stay home. I'm always seeking that balance of extrovert activities vs introvert activities.  It shouldn't be so hard to do, but I struggle with it.





~





I confess some of this love of home and solitude comes from my introverted side in needing alone time to recharge.  For every hour with people, I need about 2-3 hours to myself.  I know, it's kind of crazy, but I realized it.



I'm not someone who loves big groups.  I like one-on-one time with people.  A large group to me is anything more than four.  It took me quite a long time to realize this about myself.  I hadn't understood why in high school, I used to hope we didn't win the football game because then my boyfriend wouldn't want to go to the party afterwards.  When we lost, we stayed home and watched movies...and I loved staying home.



I think this learning about yourself and always remembering your future-self is so important.  Sometimes, when I'm about to do something half-arse, I think about my future-self and how annoyed she'll be that I didn't do it right when I had the time to do it.



~



Here's a great article called The Rise of GroupThink from the NY Times that begins "Solitude is out of fashion..."   But Susan Cain writes:





Solitude has long been associated with creativity and transcendence. "Without great solitude, no serious work is possible," Picasso said. A central narrative of many religions is the seeker — Moses, Jesus, Buddha — who goes off by himself and brings profound insights back to the community. . .







Privacy also makes us productive. In a fascinating study known as the Coding War Games, consultants Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister compared the work of more than 600 computer programmers at 92 companies. They found that people from the same companies performed at roughly the same level — but that there was an enormous performance gap between organizations. What distinguished programmers at the top-performing companies wasn't greater experience or better pay. It was how much privacy, personal workspace and freedom from interruption they enjoyed. Sixty-two percent of the best performers said their workspace was sufficiently private compared with only 19 percent of the worst performers. Seventy-six percent of the worst programmers but only 38 percent of the best said that they were often interrupted needlessly.



_________



Anyway, lots to think about on this snowy day.  And I can, quietly, as the snow continues to fall.



Amen.







Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

New Fire On Her Tongue Anthology Book Trailer & How To with iMovie

So here's our new book trailer for Fire On Her Tongue: An eBook Anthology of Contemporary Women's Poetry.













Last year I wrote this post about other book trailers and how I went about mine with iMovie.



This was created with iMovie as well. Took about 3 hours. The images and photos had been taken a few days earlier while visiting Susan Rich and I had no idea they would end up in here.



Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Some Thoughts on Switching Over to Facebook Timeline: #socialmedia

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So, I've decide to make the switch to Facebook's Timeline (now that I made the commitment, I will have 7 days until it's published --it will go live on January 21 unless I choose earlier.)



I decided to make the change because I didn't want to wake up one morning and find my page in Timeline and not have had the chance to view the information and choose what they call "Your Cover Photo."  (My worst case scenario is I walk up to my giant face plastered across my Facebook page in my most unflattering photo ever...)  So vanity won out as it usually does and today I began creating my Facebook timeline.



I wrote some notes as my status for others making the change and I'll include them here along with others--







1)  If you choose to do Timeline you have 7 days before you have to publish it.  The bonus with this is that gives you the opportunity to take anything off Timeline that you want to keep private.



2)  While you can still keep your friends private, your Timeline will show when you become friends with someone, so it looks like you will need to delete these updates on your timeline if you want them private.



3)  There is a little bit of the "creepster" element to timeline if you have checked into places, as it allows people see where you were and if you use location check-in, it will show where you are (it does this now, but for some reason, having maps seems creepy to me).



I have learned you can go into your privacy settings (under "tags") and set it so people can't check you into places.



4) I just realized you can delete maps (choose Hide from Favorites)-- I'm hoping it doesn't show up anywhere else once I publish this.



5)  If you are friends with people you don't know, I'd recommend being careful with any dates since sometimes those are used for security measures with your accounts



6)  When choosing your cover photo, something simple works best



7)  You can still see if how your page looks to other if you click on the little star next to "Activity Log"



If I learn anything else, I'll let you know.



Surprisingly though, I'm not hating Timeline as much as I thought and do see a few benefits with it.









Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

What's a Blog Hop? Meet New Writers & A Chance to Win a Free Kindle!

Not a Bunny Hop, but Blog Hop




Collin Kelley is participating in a Friday the 13th blog hop today.

What a fantastic idea!



Basically, what you do is you go from writer's blog to writer's blog until you get to the end when you have a chance to enter to win a Kindle among other prizes.



The fiction authors sure get things done!



Here's what I liked about it:



1)  You get to "meet" new authors and learn about their books.



2)  Authors get a chance to increase their readership and have more people connect with them through their books and blog.



3)  It's rewarding-- both in clicking through the links, then finishing and being able to enter to win a Kindle



4)  It's fun and was set up on a very memorable day-- Friday the 13th!



5)  Each author had his/her own style, but you could see how this blog hop was all connected.



6) Everyone did it correctly-- the concern with such a big blog hop is that one person doesn't link up correctly or forgets to do their post, then it would be a not-so-happy mess (but it wasn't).



7)  I think it's a win/win for readers and authors.





Poets should do something like for poetry month to learn about new poets.



Anyway, a great idea!



Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Thankful Thursday - Beatles Photobomb!

I know, what kind of gratitude is this?  But this photo makes me smile. In fact, I love it.



Paul McCartney in the background, George Harrison with the girls.  Maybe the first photobomb, but I'm grateful for this photo because it makes me happy...



Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Confession Tuesday - In Bed

[image error] Dear Reader,



It's been a week and I'm a year old since my last confession.  Amazing math is happening at my house, from being the meaning of life (42) to being another prime number (43).



But we're readers here, why am I so caught up in numbers?  Could it be that I was always better at math? (Truth: I was.)



To the confessional--



I confess that I spent most of my birthday in bed.



If I had turned 23, this statement might suggest the day included champagne with two glasses and whipped cream.  If I had turned 30, you might think I was depressed.  In my early 40's, when I say this people assume I'm sick or that I've pulled something.



What's really going on?  I'm down with a cold and having been knocked down by it a few times in the last weeks (thinking I'm better, but am really not), I'm taking it easy, super-easy, babysteps to my regular life, that kind of thing.  Since I'm never sick, I find all this sickness a drag, a limiting drag.



But don't feel bad for me, I actually *love* my bed and love spending the day in it.  To me, this is a treat, a luxurious life, a love affair with down comforters, pillows, and a new electric blanket.



While there is another part of me that signs up for ridiculously long races that include paddleboards and medals, my other self loves lounging, reading in bed, napping, and lollygagging the day away.  This is the self I feel like today, as I type this from my bed, laptop on lapdesk, two cats asleep next to me, and a view of the sky.



~



I confess one reason I love my bedroom is that it's on the second floor.  I hate being on ground level, I love being up.  Someone told me that this is because I'm a Capricorn and we climb mountains. I have never climbed a mountain (besides a day hike), but have climbed stairs to get a good view of my neighborhood.



~



I confess I've been reading and reruns of Will & Grace.



I have returned to rereading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, which is one of the most quotable books, I have highlights & notes all through it.



But mostly, I've spent my first hours of being 43 in bed just reading birthday wishes on Facebook and sleeping.  I remind myself that time isn't wasted if you enjoy what you're doing, but still, I'm ready to run at the world, clean the house, get into my writing studio and create.



But not today.



Amen.



Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

It's My Birthday - I'm a Prime Number...

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This is not what I look like today.  I've been resting in bed trying to allow the last of this cold leave me for good.  I'm wearing yoga pants, a thermal t-shirt and a fuchsia scarf around my neck.  It's not sexy, but this is what 43 looks like today.



43 is optimistic despite this long dragged-out cold.

43 isn't so sick she couldn't eat carrot cake and chocolate chips all day long.

43 has not watched televisions but instead watched her Facebook page fill up with well-wishers.

43 did shower, she loves to shower, long hot showers where she gets her best ideas.

43 sometimes thinks of Frida Kahlo right before she gets into the shower, she isn't sure why.

43 realizes she may be thinking of Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo and not Frida Kahlo as Frida Kahlo.

33-42 has watched that movie quite a number of times.

43 is not in the best shape of her life, but she just signed up to paddle 10K on her stand-up paddleboard in August.

42 also gave 43 a kick in the pants by signing her up for a half marathon.

43 does not like to run, so 43 will walk it...with friends.

43 thinks/hopes/prays this will be a good year of health, happiness & success.

Though really, 43 is searching for a four-leaf clover in a glass of champagne.



Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

For the LOVE of Typewriters...

Midge Raymond at Ashland Creek Press helped create this little Adopt-a-Typewriter Public Service Announcement. The Ashland Creek Press videos always make me smile.







And Ashland Creek Press also sells the cutest Typewriter Notecards here (12 for $15).





I own 3 typewriters my favorite being this one:



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And speaking of Typerwriters-- I LOVE this:







Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Thankful Thursday - A Year of Success

In December, a friend and I were talking about goals for the New Year and she asked me what I was most happy about achieving in 2011 and I said, "Well, I didn't really do too much."



Really? 





"Well, I worked on Crab Creek Review and did a few readings, but that was about it," I said as if her tone was completely uncalled for.



My friend responded:

Hmmm, that's interesting, Kelli, as I remember your book winning the ForeWord Book of the Year Prize in Poetry and that it was a Washington State Book Finalist.  You also edited an anthology and co-directed Poets on the Coast Writing Retreat.  And didn't you start Two Sylvias Press, have two writing residencies, teach at Centrum, Western Washington University, Field's End, have poems published on The Rumpus, in the Alaska Quarterly Review, Cerise Press and continue to volunteer with seniors helping them write their stories?





My response?



"I forgot."



* * *



This conversation with a friend made me realize how easily we forget all the good news, accomplishments (large &small) and successes we have throughout the year.  So I decided to change that this year; I created a Success Chart--





I created this chart to keep on my desk and write down any successes that happen in 2012, from Fire On Her Tongue showing up in the #1 spot for downloaded books on Kindle in Poetry to being asked to being contacted by a stranger who liked a poem of mine.  Anything that made me feel good about my writing life will be included.



And maybe you need one too to help you remember.



So I've uploaded onto MediaFire (something else I'm thankful for)--



if you want a copy of the Success Chart for yourself, you can download it free here.





I think it's easy to forget what we've achieved, so today I give thanks for remembering and for all the successes of last year and the ones in this year to come (and be documented).
















Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Reviewers Wanted for Fire On Her Tongue: An eBook Anthology of Women's Poetry

Okay, we've got our links up at Two Sylvias Press if you want to purchase our eBook anthology, Fire On Her Tongue (or as we like to call it --Over 460 Pages of Crazygood Poetry).



We can also email you a PDF version if you prefer, just click here.



All versions from Kindle to iBooks to Barnes & Noble are $7.99.



We are looking for reviewers, so if you'd like to review our anthology, please drop me an email at kelli (a) agodon.com



I'd LOVE to see it reviewed for Literary Mama or Huffington Post, but honestly, we'd be happy to see it get reviewed most anywhere!  So if you have some ideas and would like a review copy, drop me an email.



Oh and Fire On Her Tongue is now available at Barnes & Noble for the Nook! It just released there today.





Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com