Ellie Di Julio's Blog, page 20

200,000 Memories: Elegy for a Ford Focus

200,000 miles in 12 years.

That’s 8 times around Earth.

She’s been with me for a decade. 132,000 of those miles are mine. Ours.

She’s taken me all over the continent, across state and international borders, carried me to and from places I’ve called home.

She’s cradled me while I cried, embraced me as I laughed, harmonized with me as I sang. Welcomed my lovers, my friends, my family, my pets, my belongings.

She saw me quit smoking. Helped me graduate college. Reunited me with a lost friend. Maintai...

Remembrance 2013: In Flanders Fields the Poppies Grow

It’s Remembrance Day here in Canada (Veteran’s Day in the US) – a circled date on the calendar when we take a moment to be grateful for those who have served and dedicated their lives to protecting ours.

It’s hard for me to express my feelings about the military; I get tangled up in my own emotions. What I can do, though, is to thank everyone who has fought and who continues to fight. They’ve sacrificed so much to make sure I sleep at night untroubled, so I don’t have to make those sacrifices...

Pay artists to make art. Period.

This is a public service announcement.
Pay artists.

No arguing. No “buts”. No excuses. Just do it.

There’s this egregiously wrong assumption in society that creatives pull their work out of the ether. That they’re merely a channel for a higher power or are blessed/cursed with an ineffable something normal humans are not. That they’re somehow exempt from the obstacles and needs of “real” jobs. When we think of “an artist”, we tend to picture a woman in quasi-bohemian clothes with a dreamy look on...

Choosing sanity over NaNoWriMo

I said I’d do it. I told friends, family, strangers, and the whole internet I would. I brainstormed for hours to create a moderately-detailed plan and blacked out chunks of my schedule to accommodate it. But, when the moment finally came to hunker down and commit, I couldn’tperform.

I couldn’t NaNo.

*sad trombone*

Between the higher-than-expected emotional toll taken by crowdfundingCora Riley, the staggering to-do list of fulfillment and buildup to launch, and the back-to-back travel dates reach...

The State of the Ellie: November 2013

Anyone else have, like, the most awkward October ever? What the fuck. Between the eclipses, Mercury retrograde, Halloween candy, and the sudden, rude exit of warm weather, my head’s all a-spin. Let’s see if I can recall what happened last month.

In October, I…

launched, angsted over, and successfully completed my first crowdfunding campaign
spent a day in Toronto catching up with girlfriends
attending the first local Girls’ Night we’ve had in a super long time, to good effect
walked my first 5K an...

Internet Karma: Other crowdfunding projects that need love

Since the IndieGoGo campaign for Cora Riley went totally gangbusters (because you guys rock!), I thought it would be a karmically good idea for me to spread the word about other projects needing a little love. If you’re looking for innovators and artists doing cool new shit, check out what these people are up to.

The Stanley Hotel Writer’s Retreat

I’m hosting this writers retreat at the historic and haunted birthplace of Stephen King’sThe Shining,The Stanley Hotelin Estes Park, Colorado.If you...

The Book That Love Built: What I learned about running a crowdfunding campaign

31 days.

53 funders.

$2,000 goal.

$2,560 raised.

1 gorgeous cover.

6 official ISBNs.

50 printed copies.

100 postcards.

1 short story.

50 signed prints.

1 tandem webcast.

2 incredibly happy creatives.

1 book that love built.

You guys did this. Not me, not Desz, not IndieGoGo – you. You’re the ones who went above and beyond, reaching deep into pockets and social media feeds to show that you believe in me, in Desz, in the book, and in each other. You’ve changed the way I look at being an indie creator and am...

The Book That Love Built: Thoughts on crowdsourcing and deconstructing the campaign

31 days.

53 funders.

$2,000 goal.

$2,560 raised.

1 gorgeous cover.

6 official ISBNs.

50 printed copies.

100 postcards.

1 short story.

50 signed prints.

1 tandem webcast.

2 incredibly happy creatives.

1 book that love built.

You guys did this. Not me, not Desz, not IndieGoGo – you. You’re the ones who went above and beyond, reaching deep into pockets and social media feeds to show that you believe in me, in Desz, in the book, and in each other. You’ve changed the way I look at being an indie creator and am...

Crowdfunding Cora Riley: It’s the final countdown!

This is it, folks!

Today’s the last day to contribute to the IndieGoGo campaignforthe beautification and legitimization of The Transmigration of Cora Riley!

You’ve already exceeded our original funding goal of $2,000, which totally blew my fucking mind, by the way. You’re getting a kickass cover, real ISBNs for the whole series, art postcards, and printed, signed paperbacks.

Effin’ A.

You’ve also already gotten extra credit in the form of a young Jack Alexander short story and a run of limited ed...

Crowdfunding Cora Riley: We’re in the home stretch!

It’s been a crazy ride, y’all, but it’s not over yet. We’re $110 away from the third stretch goal on our list with less than 4 days to go!

The tandem webcast at the $2,500 mark is probably my favourite of the six goals, so I’m rooting for it to come through. Loads of folks have asked me questions about writing and aboutCora Riley itself, and hanging out in a virtual party while Desz paints and I chat is going to be the raddest way to answer those questions and connect with you. I want us to ha...