Sally Ember's Blog, page 130
January 21, 2014
My #Pinterest Boards are for you, my #Readers and #Fans
I decided about four months ago that even though I am excited about getting readers and fans for The Spanners Series, I am so busy writing, revising, marketing and trying to find a job/having a job and a life that I do not have much time to explain, interact or engage with you. My #Pinterest Boards are for YOU, my #readers and #fans!
Please visit, follow, enjoy, and pin on the open Boards. I now have 75 followers and I follow 295 Boards (or try to). I look forward to hearing what you have to say. Come back here and comment!
Here is a tour of my Boards, to date:
Board #1: “Writers I love: Authors who influence and inspire Me” http://www.pinterest.com/sallyember/writers-i-love/
Board #2: “The Spanners Series includes….Books, songs, musicals, poetry, celebrities, events featured or mentioned in The Spanners Series sci-fi novels, starting with This Changes Everything, Volume I”
http://www.pinterest.com/sallyember/the-spanners-series-includes/
Board #3: “Space Shots I like: NASA, Hubble, Spitzer and other telescopes and photographers post space shots I like, so I share. Captions are NOT astronomical terminology (mostly). Just for fun.”
http://www.pinterest.com/sallyember/space-shots-i-like/
Board #4: “Inspirations for the Earth locations in The Spanners Series: Towns, cities, topographies, places Clara Branon and other characters live and go.”
Board #5: “Resonating Pins: Others’ Pins I resonate with and want to share”
http://www.pinterest.com/sallyember/resonating-pins/
Board #6: “Flora & Fauna that amaze me: Laugh, gasp, sigh, smile, weep with wonder”
http://www.pinterest.com/sallyember/flora-fauna-that-amaze-me/
Board #7: “TV Shows and Movies I actually like: My son says most of what I like are ‘all the same.’ You decide!”
http://www.pinterest.com/sallyember/tv-shows-and-movies-i-actually-like/
Board #8: “Music of The Spanners Series: Songs, lyrics, performances that are mentioned or depict events/characters/relationships in this sci-fi series. Thanks for all composers and artist!”
http://www.pinterest.com/sallyember/music-of-the-spanners-series/
Board #9: “My Blog Posts: Links and images for each Blog post at my website blogs on WordPress and Tumblr (and echoed at Rebel Mouse and Goodreads)”
http://www.pinterest.com/sallyember/my-blog-posts/
Board #10: “Artists, Musicians, Groups I Endorse and Support:
Talented, worthwhile people and groups to explore and support”
http://www.pinterest.com/sallyember/artists-musicians-groups-i-endorse-and-support/
I also participate/pin to these collective Boards started by other Pinterest folks:
“Books that changed my life: As avid readers I (Philip Newey) am inviting you to pin those books that have meant the most to you over the years, with perhaps a word or two about why. Happy choosing! (Note: self-promotions will be deleted)”
http://www.pinterest.com/philipnewey/books-that-changed-my-life/
“Book Billboard ([Philip Newey asks authors to] Advertise your books here): FREE ADVERTISING! I invite you to add links to your own books here. In return, consider purchasing one of mine. (Note: repeat posts will be deleted)”
http://www.pinterest.com/philipnewey/book-billboard-advertise-your-books-here/
“World of Indie Writers: Welcome to the World of Indie Writers. (Scribe77 asks us to) Pin anything and everything relating to indie books and their authors. All genres welcome.”
http://www.pinterest.com/scribe77/world-of-indie-writers/
“Authors and Book Lovers: Where Independent Authors and their friends can post their books. (MerridM asks) Please, no nudity. Do not post your work more than once. Only book/author/reader related pictures. Thank you.”
http://www.pinterest.com/merridm/authors-and-book-lovers/
January 20, 2014
My #Writing Process: Revealed!
“Where do you get your ideas?” is the most-asked question of creative people. I’ve been paying attention to my own #writing process since people started asking me that more often. I now know I have three distinct phases for my creative process, but they are not entirely linear in sequence.
Without even consciously knowing I am in it, I am often in the incubation period, phase one for all creative endeavors. This assumes ground zero is pre-phase one, the part in which I determine I’m open to creating and what I want to create, in a general way.
For me, the incubation period is highly receptive. I am like a sponge; I am seemingly almost indiscriminate in my voracious appetite for information, as in Short Circuit‘s Johnny Five’s demands for “more input.”
Phase one includes: getting cognitive but silent input from reading fiction and nonfiction books and magazine or ‘zine articles and blog posts; visual/emotional/audio content input from watching films/TV, TED talks and videos via Facebook, youtube, Google+, blogs and other sources; musical inspiration gleaned from radio, Spotify and other online music players, playing piano, singing; conversing with friends, family, strangers and acquaintances. All of this sparks thousands of ideas.
Next comes the internal percolating, still incubation, from all input and other connections being made. Percolating occurs while: dreaming, meditating, thinking, contemplating, swimming, walking, driving. I love this part: although most of it is invisible, it is palpable. I feel buzzed: re-routed, re-programmed, inspired, electrified. I often feel as if I am in a remembering or retrieval mode, recalling and almost hearing or seeing what I’m about to write as if it’s already written.
Inevitably, I get woken up from sleep or can’t fall asleep because these first gems of ideas are starting to surface and I MUST write them down. I hear them narrated or see them in paragraphs. I make lists, gather URLs and quotes, write down remembered dreams and conversations, make mini-outlines, generate summaries and plot intentions, describe characters and do many other cultivating things with the seeds already planted.
I have to move quickly; these deliveries are clear and sharp at first, but the longer I wait or the longer it takes to put them into form, the weaker the connection or recollection gets. This phase is very exciting but also quite frustrating. I feel as if I only get to write down or collect about half of what I receive.
I am now in phase two: full writing mode. I’m generating and composing my ideas into text. Organizing, whittling, deciding, creating connections are now dominant. Characters, plots, dialog, events, circumstances, facts and conflicts all converge in seemingly random and chaotic ways until I can sift through and wrest them into some order. It feels as if I’m gathering spiderwebs, tantalizing aromas and musical notes and transforming them into particular words, coherent paragraphs, comprehensible stories.
Once I start writing them down as lists or collect ideas into documents and folders for later use, I am compelled to follow clues, leads, research trails. These lead to more input and ideas, and those lead to further incubations, more percolating, etc.
These first two phases loop many times until the ideas erupt from me, birthed into existence as writing. I hate to be interrupted when I’m on a trail.
However, I love and crave, even make my own interruptions in the next part, the testing period of writing. I reach out to people to talk things out, hear ideas or dialogue aloud for the first time, getting first bounce-back reactions and more ideas from these interactions. I call certain people many times: my son, my mom, my sisters, a niece, some friends. I post questions and comments online and get responses from strangers/acquaintances. Suggestions, critiques, future-use ideas all welcomed, here.
Eventually, the input receiving slows down and the output starts to take precedence. I spend more time writing than researching. This is the highest output part of the process, generating most of the writing. Much of what I generate may not get used, or not used for this immediate project, but I keep it all.
I have dozens of drafts, pieces, drafts of chapters and whole volumes for The Spanners Series in folders that may be mined for future Volumes if not used for the one I’m currently writing. I leave myself gifts and find them later. When I was ready to write Volume II, I was shocked to discover that I had already written large chunks of it while writing Volume I and didn’t even remember having done so much writing for that Volume!
Phase three involves combining, rewriting, generating, refining, selecting, drafting and completing the work. I spend more time revising than creating, which means I’m in the third phase. I do get new ideas and do more research during this final phase, in many of the same ways, but the proportions reverse from the earlier phases.
Some people call these three phases Prewriting, Writing, Revising. Works for me.
Steven Johnson’s TED talk from 2010: Where good ideas come from, in which he ends with “Chance favors the connected mind,” describes a lot of what I experience. I love that quote.
http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_johnson_where_good_ideas_come_from.html
Good luck with your writing!
January 18, 2014
Was Einstein a Buddhist?
Reblogged from The Responsive Universe:
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 and is well-known for his scientific research in modern physics. Famous for his theory of relativity, much of his exceptional work is still considered a benchmark in the modern world of quantum science.
Across Facebook and Twitter I always see philosophical and even spiritual quotes from Einstein that not only portrayed him as a scientist but also as an awakened being.
Of course any thinking person who studied Buddhism would see the correlations and similarities between Buddhist science, thought, philosophy and precepts to physics, astronomy, psychology, sociology and many other disciplines!
January 17, 2014
Are We Practicing Vajrasattva With Its Original Intention?
Vajrasattva mantra and practice are more than karma purification. Typically, the practice is taught in this manner in most Tibetan Buddhist sects. However, I wish to include another element to Vajrasattva that is not always discussed and may deepen our practice.
First, the history of Vajrasattva originates probably from Indian Buddhism sources with the original mantra spoken and written in Classical Sanskrit.
Thanks, OkieBuddhist! This relates exactly to the portion of my miniretreat in which I am studying Dzogchen practices (t'hregchod and t'hodgal) and enhances my understanding well. May all beings benefit.
#SciFi and #Fantasy #Books into #Films Upcoming
READ THEM NOW, WATCH THEM LATER: SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY AND HORROR ADAPTATION WATCH by John DeNardo on January 15, 2014 | Posted in Science Fiction and Fantasy
John DeNardo is the editor of SF Signal, a Hugo Award-winning group science-fiction and fantasy blog featuring news, reviews and interviews. You can follow him on Twitter as @sfsignal.
Read these books, then go see this year’s film adaptations:
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Wool by Hugh Howey
Beta by Rachel Cohn
More about each here, including DeNardo’s summaries, opinions and links:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/read-them-now-watch-them-later-science-fiction-2/
January 16, 2014
Like on LinkedIn by 1/21/14 PLEASE!
TCE needs 32 more votes to be entered in contest. Thanks!
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CONTES...
“5 Wonderful Stars” for #THISCHANGESEVERYTHING!
Another 5-Star Review! for This Changes Everything, Volume I, The Spanners Series.
Review and comments from Sandra Love, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7339622.Sandra_Love:
“Hello I really love this book. It was intriguing and well-written.”
She gives it “5 Wonderful Stars” and writes:
“First, I received a copy of this book exchange for an honest review.
“I really did enjoy this book I thought it was intriguing, brilliant and it held my interest from page 1 until the last word. I love reading about Clara Branon, who was visited by aliens one night, and wow it got very exciting. I truly believe in aliens and other worlds so this book was a book I would have read anyways. The details that Sally put into this book were amazing, and if I could have given her more stars, I would have.
“If you like sci-fi, fantasy and or aliens this is the book for you. I do recommend this book and I hope you try it because you won’t be disappointed.
“Well done, Sally! I look forward to your future books!!”
Buy links, excerpts and more: http://www.sallyember.com
January 15, 2014
Top 10 Scientific Benefits of Compassion
To view correctly, please click the image and then click again to magnify!
Excellent! Everyone and the planet and all beings benefit!
Full Moon Meditation: 8 pm ET today
Reblogged from The Practice of Living Awareness:
Click here to join just before 8 pm ET.
Full Moon #Meditation for #peace, worldwide, 5 PM EST. Join in!
25 Examples of Real-Life Superheroes That Rescued Others
A boy is pulled from beneath a collapsed wall at the Plaza Towers Elementary School, on May 20, 2013.
Bijlee, the 58-year-old ailing elephant rescued by individuals and NGOs sometime back, Mumbai, India.
Fisherman Gernot Quaschny rescues a deer from the floods near Schoenhausen, Germany, on June 12, 2013. Due to a broken dike on the Elbe River, several villages in the area were flooded.
I love reading about kindness, courage and compassion in action. Thanks for posting! I'm reposting!
