Andrea Judy's Blog, page 10

Merry Christmas!

 

I hope that whether you celebrate Christmas or not, you have a wonderful holiday filled with love, laughter, and awesomeness!

Real Posed Comics

So for the holiday party my roommate and I threw this year, we had a new game… I found some comic book poses from various places and then folded them up. Everyone drew at random and then chose the people to help them with their pose (or people were voluntold.)

What resulted was pure magic that I had to share.

The original…

The real world…

The original…

The real world…

The original…

The real world…

The original…

The real world…

The original…

The real world…

The original…

The real world…

The original…

The real world…

The original…

The real world…

The original…

The real world…

The original…

The real world…

The original…

The real world…

The original…

The real world…

 

This is quite possibly the best party game ever and will be a mandatory at all of our future parties!

Gifts for Writers

So the Christmas season is upon us (though if you go by the retail calendar, it’s been the holiday season October…) and I wanted to take the chance to share some simple gift ideas for writers.

Soapbox:

On another note, I want to encourage you to do your shopping with local and small businesses as opposed to big retail chains. I know it can be a challenge to do this, but it really does make all the difference to those people, and to your community.

/soapbox

1. Books!

This is a gee no duh suggestion. Books are a writer’s best friend. If you have seen your writer buddy lusting over a book in your local library or bookstore… write down the title and buy it for them later..then surprise them with it. If you don’t know a book, find a gift card or take a chance and buy them one of the books on this list.

2. Time.

You know those kind of cheesy coupon books.

Take a note from those and make offers of time or help for your writer loved one. Offer to provide dinner one night, to help clean their kitchen, to watch their cat/dog/house one time for free. Promise to encourage them to write, and to not call them at 7pm when you know that’s there hour of writing time.

 

3. Office Supplies!

Maybe I am bias here because I love office supplies, but I know a lot of writers need and use office supplies on a regular basis. Some plot out their novels on post-its or notecards. Some go through sharpies like its going out of style with signing books. If you know your writer uses them, than they can be a great, practical gift.

 

4. A Class, Workshop, or Magazine subscription.

There are some great magazines, and online classes and workshops that can be available for writers. There are tons of options. Some of the better known ones are Writer’s Digest and Poets and Writers, but there are plenty of others, including local universities and colleges. (Check their Continuing Education courses). See if there’s one your loved one has been looking out and help them out.

 

5. A full edit of a manuscript.

Now this one really can be very pricey, but a great gift is to offer to pay for your loved one’s manuscript to be professionally edited. Let your friend determine the details, but promise to pay for it (again, this can be a lot of money so discuss price limits beforehand).

 

 

And that’s my list of a few suggestions for gifts for writers. Let me know if you’ve got any other ideas!

A long , and unexpected hiatus…

I did not intend to disappear from the face of the blogging world… but then the end of the semesters finals hit, and I pretty much had a total mental breakdown.

I still do not feel back to 100%, and probably will not until I am done with grad school and can have a few seconds to breathe. Without a doubt, grad school has kicked my butt. This semester in particular was very rough. I missed nearly the entire first week of classes due to a family emergency and never quite felt like I got back on my feet. I also am trying to work out my thesis and having a lot of trouble with getting a topic approved.

But, I am still planning on keeping this blog running and back on its bi-weekly schedule. I think keeping to a schedule is my best bet to keep myself sane.

I’m working on a great short story for an amazingly fun collection that will be out next year, and have several other projects in the works.

So to make up for my absence, here are a few treats!

A great presentation I put together about Fandom (seriously, I am very proud of this)

Me reading the first part of my story The Pulptress!

Expect regular posts to resume this weekend with the first real ‘return’ post this Tuesday!

Thank you all so much for your patience.

And let me know if you enjoy the reading, I’d consider doing more if any one was interested.

Wonder and Worry

One of the things that I hear asked most frequently is about what  a story needs in order to succeed. The best answer I’ve heard was at a panel at a convention (but I can’t remember when or where or who said it… eek!) when this mysterious person proclaimed that all stories only need two things:

Worry and Wonder

It made so much sense to me that I wondered how in the world did I ever try to answer that question before. It’s such a simple, succinct and perfect answer, and sometimes the big questions need those simple answers.

A reader needs to worry about the characters, and the world they’re involved with. If there’s no problem, no trouble brewing then what is there to worry about? What reason is there to keep turning the page? Your characters need to have real things at risk. I don’t just mean oh no, little Timmy forgot his lunch and will be hungry. That’s not enough of a worry. Something needs to be in serious danger, whether it’s someone’s life, home, happiness, etc. It needs to be something lasting.

Now wonder is the other critical piece. The reader needs to be curious about what is going to happen next, where the story is going, and how these problems are going to be resolved. Every word needs to be serving the purpose of moving the story and building that sense of wonder for the reader, keep them engaged, curious, and involved and you will have them for your entire story.

Memphis Comic and Fantasy Convention Schedule

Next weekend I will be at the Memphis Comic and Fantasy Convention! I’m very excited about this convention and wanted to share my schedule. Let me know if you’re going to be there, I’d love to meet up!

 

Sat 3pm: Where Inspiration Comes From

Sat 9pm:  Get Pulped � Theatre of Panic

Sun 12pm:  Meet My New Character

 

I won’t have my own table, but I’ll be about some of the other booths when not in panels. You’ll also be able to buy your own copy of  The Pulptress!

 

More than a writer… The expanding task list of a writer.

I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on transmedia narratives and how stories now flow through several mediums. I’ve listened to a few about this topic, and one in particular caught my attention because they brought up a minor issue about what the role of the creator is… is it to make sure the website is accurate and up to date, that the twitter page is working, or to create the story. What is the creator’s role and how can they do it all?

This is a question that I see popping up over and over again. Writers can no longer lock themselves away and just write. There are websites to update, blogs to write, conventions to attend,  tweets to send out and Facebook events to create. After all of that (let alone a day job), when is there time left to write? How can you be all of that and still have time to write?

And I don’t claim to have the answer. I don’t know how you can do it all. I struggle with it, all the writers I know struggle with it, but the game has fundamentally changed and people expect writer interactions and multiple means of communication. Now, I know some writers who let one or two close friends or long term fans manage their social media accounts. I know I personally would not be comfortable with that, but it seems to work well for them.

Things like hootsuite (or other social media management sites) can help manage some of the time, delegating tasks to others (either paid of volunteering) can also help, but just the simple fact that the role of the writer has so fundamentally changed is something that I think is just starting to be realized on a wide scale.

This generation of writers (people writing now, not based on age) have new challenges to navigate, and some of those are going to veer into uncharted territory. The truth of the matter is, is that we are still mastering the use of the internet as a tool for writers. It changes every day and there is no way to predict what will be the next thing that takes off and where the future is leading us.

For right now, I feel a little bit like I’m heading out to sea in a row boat and some supplies with the hope of building an engine in the future.

I’m very curious how you manage these new roles a writer takes on.

An awesome cause to help!

Today I want to take the chance to share an amazing project that one of my friends is working on. Hopefully, you will remember him from the interview he was kind enough to give me not too long ago. D.A. Adams is an amazing friend, writer and person, and I felt like this was more than worthy cause and wanted to share it.

He is looking to build a second hydroponic grow unit and to help bring organic farming to Tennessee. He describes, ”Organic farming has been slow to come to Tennessee, while traditional farming has been in decline for decades. We want to restore the local agricultural base to this area by creating a blueprint for other farmers to follow and stimulate awareness in the areas of sustainability, environmental conservation, and energy efficiency. Currently, there is a growing demand for fresh organic produce in this area but not enough local farms to supply this demand. We also want to provide agricultural jobs that pay a living wage to our employees and offer opportunities for them to live well.

Our goal is make A&M Organics a 100% self-sufficient farm.  In the future, we will add solar panels and wind generators to create our own energy, and we will access our natural spring for our water needs.  We intend to build a sustainable organic farm that positively impacts this region.”

Now, what really makes this great for up and coming writers in particular is that D.A. Adams is offering a total critique of up to 30,000 words of fiction. Adams is an amazing writer and the chance to have him look over your work is an amazing opportunity.

But more than that it’s an amazing chance to help out a great guy do some great work.

Please go check it out, donate what you can, and share! Let’s make this happen?

Go check out more about this project and donate here!

What a good business card needs…

IS LASERS!

Unfortunately, lasers are not in every budget for every person. So, what else does a good business card need?

Thankfully it’s pretty simple to put together a good, basic business card. The things you need to remember to include are:

Your name/Company Name
Contact Information
What you do

That’s it really. Those are the things your card needs to have, end of story. If I don’t know who are, how to get in touch with you, or what you do, then what was the point of giving a card?

Now, after the basics of information you get into bigger details like… print at home or print professionally. That depends on how seriously you want to be taken. I’ve been printing mine at home but I’m just now upgrading to professionally printed through vistaprint because I am taking myself  more seriously as a writer and editor now.

Now, you want your card to stand out and be more than just black text on a white background. You want something that people are going to like, and remember. You want it to be colorful, but still be legible. It can’t be too busy or else people will struggle to read it. There’s thin line between busy and eye-catching. My suggestion would be no more than 3 colors grand total on your card.

Size? Well, there’s a reason that most business cards all come in the standard 3.5 x 2. It works. It’s small, fits in pockets, wallets, business card holders, etc. Going smaller and you risk losing valuable space, bigger and it’s likely your card will be tossed because it doesn’t fit where it’s suppose to go. I suggest keeping it traditional sizewise.

Now some things you don’t need to feel obligated to include (depending on your business. I’m looking at this from a writer perspective): your phone number. An e-mail address will suffice in most situations.  You also do not need HAVE to include how to find you on Facebook or Twitter, though I think that information can’t hurt and is incredibly valuable and mandatory to include, however I understand that some people are uncomfortable sharing that information. Do not include anything you would not be comfortable giving to a stranger, and that will vary from person to person. At minimum though, do include your e-mail address.

And as a final word…feel free to throw my advice to the wind and do your own thing. There are some amazingly creative and fun

business cards out there that break every rule I’ve just laid out, so don’t be afraid to play it a little wild.

The writer and the cake that was not meant to be.

So, my sister is getting married today and since I don’t really have much money to help out with anything, I volunteered to make the groom’s cake. I bake and decorate cupcakes all the time so really, how hard could it be?

Well first off, there was the desire for the cake to have a hunting theme.

I’m a vegetarian. I don’t hunt. I don’t know anything about hunting. I don’t particularly care for hunting.

But okay, I’m game. It’s not my cake, I’ll do it.

They also wanted the cake to have a camo pattern to it… Okay….

I know how’d I do that on cupcakes… but on a cake?

But I’ve totally got this I think. I find a deer hunter cake kit… complete with fake trees, plastic hunter man, and a plastic deer. Easy, right?

Step 1: Make the cake green…

Simple enough, right? Here I am trying to slather the cake with a base green coat…only the sides of the cake aren’t even and I have no idea what I’m doing. I end up with frosting across my face and no idea how that happened.

I vaguely feel like I left the frat party of the smurf’s hippie cousins. I’m dirty and slightly terrified of the things I’ve done.

Step 2: Add plastic deer and hunter man.

I realize the cake is small and ridiculous looking. The deer and the man are literally bumping heads. I mean, there is no distance between them. It’s as though the deer knows how bad this cake is going to turn out and is trying to put himself out his misery.

Step 3: Add some fake trees and a little log thing.

So then I think, wait! The little plastic trees will fix all of this. I try to hide the deer behind the trees, but the deer is bigger than the trees. Apparently this is a prehistoric deer, back when they were the size of dinosaurs.

At this point I realize the hunter is actually aiming at one of the trees. The barrel of his gun is no where near the direction of the deer. I say screw it and decide he’s a prehistoric vegetarian out to kill the dreaded conifer and bring it home for dinner.

Step 4: Realize that all brown frosting looks like poo.

Next, it’s time to create the came pattern along the side. It should be easy, just apply brown and lighter green patches, right? Well, I start putting my ‘palette’ together and nearly gag because the brown frosting just look likes poo. That’s all I can see. I am making a poo cake.

Which is not that far from the truth since it turned into such a monstrosity.

Step 5: Regret every decision you’ve ever made.

By now I hate everything. I have made quite possibly the most horrifying thing ever. The deer won’t even look at me any more, he’s that ashamed of what I’ve done. I can’t blame him. I don’t even want to look at me. I go hide in a corner of shame for a while and think about what I’ve done.

Step 7: Try frantically to save it.

So I thought maybe if I could really swirl the colors together that would fix it. I used a paintbrush (Yes, just a regular arts and craft paintbrush and painted the hell out of the cake.

Step 8: Begin to realize there is no hope.

Now I’m starting to see that swirling the frosting has only made it far, far worse. Now the green blobs look like angry bushes coming for revenge. They’re oozing off the cake, coming for me.

Step 9: Try to kill the cake.

So now I start trying to stab the cake with the paint brush, trying to tame the bushes, kill them snad save myself. It only makes everything worse again.

 

Step 10: Swirl all the colors together into a mass of regret.

By now I realize there is no saving this cake. It is a lost cause, filled with poo frosting and failure. The only option is to smear all of the failure together into a whirlwind of regret and just hope that no one notices the sad little groom cake at the wedding.