David T. List's Blog, page 11

Year End

Hello blogosphere

I've been so neglectful of you lately! I'm sorry. But I wanted to write and tell you some things to come.

Author / web designer / marketing expert / publishing wizard Carrie Butler did a "Breaking it Down" episode where she evaluated my personal web presence (at my request) and offered some suggestions. It's located here. You should go have a look at it. Especially if you are trying to establish yourself online. If you're into it, have a look at all the others she's done as well.

So. To come.

In the next couple of weeks I'll find myself with a few days off work. During that time, I'm going to apply all the notes I took from Carrie's vid/rundown. I especially liked her idea of a central theme... Makes me think brand. This would be helpful since so many of my websites look nothing alike.

It's also entirely on me right now to move forward with Mr. Jason Tasi's debut art book and get it published as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, my desktop's monitor went out.

I've learned the hard way that it simply had too much power. It's death left a glaring hole in productivity. There was a time when my productivity loss meant nothing to anyone but me. It's not that way anymore. Tasi's art book, to be produced and published by Sky Island Publishing, is literally at a stand-still. I hate this for him. He wanted the book out in time for Christmas and I did, too.

Stick around. I'll try to update youse guys more frequently.

I hope you enjoy your Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Pancha Ganapati, Yuletide, Newtonmas (Grav-mass), New Year, and every other holiday you celebrate!

Stay safe

Introducing Jason Tasi & The latest on Sky Island Publishing

I've used el blogo to introduce artist Tracy E Flynn who collaborated with me on A Sawmill's Hope (check out his work on the Compendium!),
fellow blogger, artist, and author Brandon Ax,
editor (and many other things) Jamie Cain,
and, most recently, metal rocker Jonny Atma.

It's high time I introduce, here on the blog, my latest collaborator in all things Silexare and Sky Island Publishing - artist Jason Tasi .


Quick flashback
I met Tasi (that's Mr Tasi to you) back in the mid 90s in the small northeast Georgia town  where I grew up. It's universal that there's not much to do in small towns but get in trouble and waste time, but he was already drawing, dreaming. I was dreaming, too. But more-so getting in trouble and wasting time.

Flash forward almost 20 years
Another small town in northeast Georgia. I find out Tasi's tattooing at a nearby shop. At this point my dream is crystal clear - Unleash Silexare to storm the earth with an onslaught of fantasy stories and art focusing on epic monsters inspired by worldwide legends. 

So I go talk to Tasi. To say that I found in him a kindred soul is an understatement. He's been drawing for a long time. A long, long time. Amassing an arsenal of skills and a collection of art in the same way Saruman amassed an army of 10,000 orcs. Except Tasi's army won't fall at the Battle of the Hornburg. (sorry to go all LotR)

I'm always looking for more artists. And Tasi was looking to publish some stuff of his own. Turns out, I have a publishing company, thanks largely to the Kickstarter I ran late last year. It's funny how these things work. So he and I started talking and plotting and bouncing around ideas. It was exciting. It still is. I'll cut to the chase.

In the next year, Jason and I are going to conquer four projects. Four books. Sky Island Publishing will add four titles to its library.

I will give details as they arise. But if all goes as planned, the first will release BEFORE 2015.

David, this all sounds very rushed! Do you guys know what you're doing? Maybe you should slow down, take a breath, stop and think about all this!

I'll be honest. The worst thing about doing something you've never done is that you have no idea what you're doing. But that's also the best thing, if the molten-iron blood of a trail-blazing, pioneering adventurer surges through the channels of your anatomy!

Besides, I have about as much chance of stopping this now as I do using my face to stop an unmanned school bus rolling down Mt Everest!
I'd have a better chance using a flamethrower to stop a fire racing over the surface of a lake of gasoline!
I'd have a better chance using a crimson cape to halt a herd of rabid, stampeding bulls!
I'd have a better chance extracting dinosaur DNA from a mosquito preserved in a lump of amber, then fusing it with the DNA of a modern day reptile and... you get the idea.

No better way to end this blog than show you a bit of Mr Tasi's contributions to Silexare so far.

This is Jason's interpretation of Lesovik, the Unwithering. Follow this link for details and a brief excerpt from A Sawmill's Hope.

This one's of Elibubo. Being one-of-a-kind, her race is unnamed. She's the pet of one Aureo Bombastis Ro'evoahal Seltys - an alchemist living under a mangled tree in the Unwithering Woods. Here's her page on the Compendium.

If you want to see more of Mr Tasi's art, have a look at his DeviantArt page.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Jonny Atma

"Oh, hi blog!"

[Bouncer bars the door. David looks surprised for a moment then smiles.]

"Ha ha ha. You don't understand. I work here. This is my blog."

[David tries to walk in again. Bouncer blocks doorway. David stumbles back. Smile gives way to concerned look.]

"I see. I haven't been around in a while. You don't recognize me."

[David pulls out ID and shows it. Bouncer glances at it. Doesn't move, only scowls. David shakes his head and sighs deeply.]

"It didn't have to be this way. If you'll just have a look at -"

BLAM!

[Bouncer has leaned back against the alley wall, eyes drifting upward lazily, back sliding down the bricks. A mosaic of blood and fractured skull glisten in the dim light, right behind where his head just was. David tucks the revolver away and steps over Bouncer.]

-

I like metal. And progressive rock/metal. And concept albums (particularly Dream Theater - Scenes from a Memory, and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence). And video games. And video game music.

A few years ago, I ran across a fellow on Newgrounds called Jonny Atma, aka GaMetal.
In case you aren't familiar, Newgrounds is a place where you can upload music or art or games or videos, if they were produced by you. People browse all the content and get together and collaborate. Artists find musicians, developers find animators, and so on.

I don't know how popular the site is now. I use Soundcloud to post my music publicly, despite that Soundcloud cuts a bit of the quality of MP3s upon upload. There's an app for Soundcloud, making it more accessible and portable. There's not for Newground.
{But here's my Newground page if you wanna see it - http://ankalegon.newgrounds.com}

Anyway,

I found Jonny Atma. He was awesome. He produced metal versions of my favorite video game scores. And he did it alone, whether he sequenced or actually played live instruments.

Eventually I stopped frequenting Newgrounds so much (and as a result, missed some opportunities to collaborate with game developers, but oh well). I then discovered GaMetal's Youtube channel.

This is, for now, one of my chief sources of entertainment if I need some instrumental music accompanying me, which I do a lot while writing.

I decided to give him a shout out largely because of this track, which I'm embedding below - Legend of the Seven Stars

In 1996, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was released on SNES. The soundtrack was composed by Yoko Shimomura , and inspired by works of Koji Kondo (who composed most of the Super Mario Bro and Zelda games since forever) and Nobuo Uematsu (who composed most of the Final Fantasy games since forever).

The soundtrack she produced was brilliant. Still is. Some say this job was the turning point in her career. She went on to compose for the Kingdom Hearts games and a shiton of others (She'll be composing FFXV. omg). Unfortunately, not all music connoisseurs can stomach the 16-bit sound of the soundtrack, and so songs like this are lost on them.


Luckily, some of us are cursed with tireless imaginations and can't HELP but see the potential in such tunes, despite their presumed technological inferiority. Thank God.

Because now there's this.




Eventually I'll write in depth on why I'd dedicate a post (one might say an entire month of my blog) toward a Youtube channel vidgame soundtrack rocker.

Short answer - I'm impressed by Jonny Atma, I appreciate his work and him making it public and accessible. One day I'd like to have the time to do this myself, so don't say you weren't warned.
Also, word of mouth and user ratings/reviews are the future. We all have a voice of some sort. Some of us are lucky enough to have the freedom to use it. Don't squander it, says I.

Turesia

January of 2013, I procrastinated working on ASH to draw up some character concept art for a work in progress.

Then, the entire month of April '13, I posted daily for the A to Z challenge, going into some detail on 20+ different aspects from the same story.

In September '13, Brandon Ax called me out in his blog (which, go check out his blog if you haven't!) to talk briefly about my next big project. By this time I'd already shelved ASH, not realizing I'd run a successful Kickstarter for it in December '13.

In March '14 I delve into the process I adopted to sort out a story with 20+ relevant characters.

I released A Sawmill's Hope last month, giving me no excuse but to dive into the thick of Turesia.

BUT in my typical procrastinating fashion, I decided instead to draw. This video (here's an actual link) is a time-compressed look at the third draft of a map of Turesia. It's 2+ hours squeezed into 9+ minutes, meaning for every second that passes in the video, about 13 seconds of drawing took place.



I'd like to discuss the music chosen for a second. First of all, to whomever eventually reads this story, I'm sorry. I didn't start writing it thinking I'd write the most tragic tale I could possibly imagine. But I'm afraid it will be. And so the music I would choose for a book trailer would reflect that.

Prelude to Liberation

This song feels like an entity has given its very hardest effort to make the best of a catastrophic situation... Like a girl planting flowers in the ashes of a destroyed city. To be honest, it's a little more upbeat than I'd chose for a trailer.

Reminiscence

Ugh... I can hardly listen to a note of this song without tearing up. Feel free to laugh at that. But in my mind I've adopted this song as the theme for the entire story. If there was a book trailer that highlighted the emotional, tragic, or otherwise painful moments of the story, this would be the song.

The Ultimate Treasure OR Seize the Artifact for Tallness

Finally, a song to match the action packed moments. This song best reflects one particular scene. A violent king has been granted the war he's always wanted. He's finally free to loose the terrifying force of his entire nation on his damnable enemies. This song reflects the freedom he feels, standing on the prow of his ship, like Leo on the Titanic, rushing over the Faithless Sea to crush his foes once and for all.

The Battle of Red Cliff

I'm just digging this song / score right now. If you're into Chinese history / legend, check out the film Red Cliff. It might be my favorite movie of all time (today, anyway).

~~~
Locations mentioned in the map -
Adenhelm
Ausgan
Erudition
Faithless Sea
Fohrvylda
Keswall
Promontory
Redemier

Thanks for reading. I'd like to promise to release Turesia in 2015. We shall see.

David

Live!

Book is live!

My debut has officially launched and is currently for sale through various vendors, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Websites are live!
Sky Island Publishing - In its current form, it doesn't need its own individual site. A page on Silexare.com will suffice. It's here that I will hopefully deposit title after title after title...


I really need to come up with a logo... The Silexare Compendium - This is the one I'm the most stoked about. Fantasy lore and illustrations. I'll be adding new entries and uploading art frequently.

Also, I updated the Follow page on the Silexare website to accommodate a bunch of different profiles (Amazon Author, Blogger, Facebook, Google +, Goodreads, Soundcloud, Twitter)

By the way, here's what I'm taking to Dragon*Con

I promise it'll be more done/organized/professional by then... maybe. The truth is, I'm not there to sell stuff. I'm there to represent and introduce Silexare to whomever might listen.

Throughout Dragon*Con, connect with me via Facebook or Twitter to stay up on pictures, signing-booth guests, and to get a general idea of where I am / what I'm doing at any point!

I hope you guys have a good weekend!

My own story

(Spoiler: I'm going to swear in this post. Don't come crying to me about it)

In November of 2011 I began writing an outline for a story. December 27th I wrote the first words, "Deep in the forest..."

Time passed. I wrote and wrote. Read and read. Learned and grew and changed course and changed course again.

October of 2012 I began to follow the method I'd learned. The generally accepted one. I queried a lot of agents, asked them to have a look, to consider it, to give me a chance. Because that was how to get a book on my bookshelf. That was how to get Silexare alive.

The agents weren't interested. Some sent automated emails saying "No, thank you" a couple weeks after I'd poured out my heart to them. One or two actually typed the rejection emails out. The majority never acknowledged I'd attempted to contact them.

I wondered what I'd done wrong, what I was doing wrong, why I couldn't just get a bite. I considered maybe changing the story so they'd like it better. Surely I could do something they'd like. Maybe it needed more romance or a love-conflict. Maybe I should change the sex of the main character. But what if they still didn't like it? Should I give up?

Then one day in October of 2013, I had a quiet, peaceful, volcanic-eruption of an epiphany.

My dreams are my own. Their dreams are their own. Stop trying to merge the two.
About ten months later, on August 11th 2014, I pressed "publish" on Amazon KDP. This was almost three years after starting writing. Almost twenty years after the first time Silexare crossed my mind. But it felt a bit empty.

I mentioned it to a few people I'd done it.
"Congratulations!" they said. But I was numb.
"How does it feel?" they asked. I felt exactly as I did before. Exhausted but with work to be done.

I trudged through IngramSpark's process. It was frustrating and complex. I put together a cover, front and back. Went through the entire document, adjusting spacing, headers, chapter titles, illustrations. Finally I got my file uploaded. I pressed "publish."

This time I didn't mention it to anyone. And I'm sorry. Some of you have been waiting a long time to hear about this.

Still it felt weird. I still had (have) a ton of work to do. Website stuff, pledger prizes, artwork, promotion...

But today (written Thursday, Aug 21st),
I pulled into my driveway from work. On my front porch was a box. I had a good idea what it was. I went around back and let Jax out of the pen. Got the dishes out of the car. Waited for Bray and Simon to get home. Then I went and looked at the box. It was pretty banged up. There had been options to have it sent first class or with special accommodations. But those were more expensive and frankly, I'm scraping the bottom right now. So I brought the box inside and opened it slowly while Bray watched from the blue recliner.

Here's what was inside.




I don't know about you other published authors out there. But it wasn't until this moment that I realized what I'd done.
This is all I had wanted. I just wanted a book to hold in my hand, to put on my shelf. I just wanted a book to hand to my son, or my mom, or my wife. That's all.
Well, here it is. I did this. And now, it's mine.

To all seventeen agents who told me no or ignored me entirely, (and yes, I consider seventeen a lot. It's a hell of a lot more than I should have ever queried) I'd like to say two things.
First -
This is all I wanted, you motherfuckers! Was it really too much to ask?
Secondly, and most importantly -
I thank God you all said no.
Because now Silexare belongs to me. Sky Island Publishing belongs to me. The Silexare Compendium belongs to me. A Sawmill's Hope belongs to me.
And it belongs to whomever decides to give it a chance.
This is all ours. And I can't wait to share it with you.

Please allow me to offer a word of advice for those of you who are where I was:

If you want your own book sitting on your bookshelf
Don't waste your time lurking on forums, seeking validation for your ideas.
Don't waste your time begging agents to look at you, consider you.
Don't waste your time reworking your query and synopsis and pitch over and over and over.
Don't waste your time studying an agent, an editor, a trend.
Don't waste your time on people who will never care more for your dream than how much money it can make them.  



Just get up and go put a book on your bookshelf. 



For all of you who've already put a book on a shelf (whether virtually or physically, traditionally or independently)

Congratulations!You have made a permanent mark on literature that NO ONE can ever take away from you! I hope you loved every bit of the process as much I did and I hope for your sake, for literature's sake, and for your fans' sake (no matter their number) that you do it again!

This is very poor self-promotion, I realize. That's ok. Self-promotion isn't my intent with this post. I just want you to know what I had to learn. There are options.

If your intent as an author is something besides what I mentioned above, and you're interested in the traditional publishing system, I'm not judging you or encouraging others to judge you. It's just not for me.

The state of ASH!

The picture says it better than I can!

Here's a detailed update, copied straight from the latest message to the pledgers (AKA, the Silexare Army)

Regarding the book

I've received all art and have grafted it into the final manuscript. 95% of story-level edits are finished. I estimate two - four hours remain to be done. 85% of line-level edits are finished. I estimate one hour of work remains.

Ebook - I had originally considered formatting the book to several formats, for all the various stores and platforms. Then I became aware of a handful of key factors that changed my mind. 1. If you own an electronic device, you have access to Kindle 2. Kindle is the single largest distributor of ebooks, anywhere. 3. If I can narrow the learning curve down and convert to a single ebook format, everyone gets their book quicker!

That said, A Sawmill's Hope ebook will be available via Kindle devices. If you don't have a Kindle, there's a free app for your PC, MAC, Iphone, Android, or tablet. If you're the individual keeping Nook in business, and would prefer to read it on your (the last remaining) Nook, fear not. I have a solution for you, too.

If there's another device on which you'd like to read A Sawmill's Hope and no other means is available, I can accommodate you. Trust me.

Physical Book (hardcover, softcover) - While I'd like to throw a single, brilliantly orchestrated launch and infiltrate every orifice of the literary world simultaneously in a glorious penetrata Silexari trifecta, I am but un hombre, with only dos handos. And since I don't have the marketing muscle of Simon & Schuster, Penguin, Hachette, or any of the other crumbling behemoths, no one would notice anyway. (This is ok. The truth doesn't hurt so much unless it catches you with your pants down. And I don't wear pants unless I simply have no choice.)

So as soon as my educks are in a row, I'll be blazing the lines of Lightning Source / Ingram Spark and get youse guys' books printing.


I've been keeping the Kickstarters informed with private updates but from this point forward, I'm probably going to document the completion of the other prizes on my blog, despite that only a select few are receiving Silexare schwag this go round. I just want to share the experience. Who knows, you might realize you have enough (or can produce enough) exclusive intellectual property to launch your own crowd-funded event.

Prizes

Art - Map is done and printed. Cover is done, soon to be printed (within the week). Prints of Tracy's work are in hand, soon to be printed (also within the week). FIVE computer wallpapers are done, five to go (I'm getting a little crazy with these.) These will double as marketing devices in the weeks to come. The signed, rough, and original inks from Tracy are on their way to me via snail-mail (and you have no freaking idea how stoked I am about that!).

Music - The SoS albums are near. I just have to go down the road and pick them up. I wish I could make that sound more shady... The DL exclusive albums are 75% mastered and ready to go, just needing to be burned to CD.

Now I have one more bit of news regarding August and I'll let you get back to your lives...

Details to come. :)

David

On Editing - Death to Weak Verbs

I'm in the final stages of A Sawmill's Hope edits and I haven't come up for air in ... I don't honestly know how long. My video games are getting super jealous.

I want to take a second and mention some of the line-level edits that have recently transpired. This took place after most of the story-level issues were dealt with.

One of the stages in edits - one that could be considered another draft - was to eliminate weak verbs. Especially ones I use on rapid fire. Some of you writers are thinking, "I've seen this advice before. Nothing new." Perhaps, but I'd like to share with those of you who haven't.

The words I'm guilty of abusing are as follows (And it was my editor who initiated this elimination process by pointing out the words' frequency)

Glance - He glanced back, She threw a glance, he glanced sidelong, etc.
 * edits took ASH from 55 to 16 instances of this word.

Turn - He turned back, turned to face him, turned from red to purple, eyes turned down, etc
 * went from 246 to 120 instances of this word... 246 is a lot. eh? Just wait.

Grew (grown) - River grew wider, it grew dark, he'd grown silent, etc.
 * 74 down to 23.

Look - He looked down, she looked over, he looked hurt, it looked tall, they looked ominous, etc
 * 420 instances down to 173. Seriously. This is my guilty go-to word.

Began to - He began to question, it began to shake, before he began, etc.
 * 73 to 27

I stopped keeping count after that. The next words weren't so guilty. I'd already done elimination process on them.

Become (became)
Feel (felt)

In and of themselves, there is no inherent danger in these words. Like adverbs, there is a place for them all. But, like sniffing military-grade monkey tranquilizer, there's danger in excess.

Regarding Glance and Look (and Turn when it is referring to body movement during a non-action scene) - I first need to determine if the word is necessary at all. If the scenery or dialogue is so weak I need to keep the focus on who is looking at whom, then there's a bigger problem. If the ruins on the Lake of Four Falls look ominous then perhaps they are ominous and removal strengthens the image.
If removal is not an option, here are alternates I found (yes, I right-click and look at synonyms. If it fails to satisfy, I google "synonym glare" and find Glower. Perfect.)
Peer, peep, stare, glare, eye, examine, scan

Regarding Turn, Become\Became, Grew\Grow\Grown - When these words are used a certain way, like to describe a transition or change or such, they can be improved upon.
Some changes are simple - if a river grows wider, it widens. If Brandal's face turns red, it reddens. Sometimes they offer unique possibilities. If an elk grew still, it froze OR solidified. If the road the party traveled became congested, perhaps it squeezed in on them, leaving your reader with a sense of claustrophobia.

In certain situations the weak verb is surrounded by so much action that enhancing it would detract from the scene as a whole.
If the aggravated alchemist grows wilder with each arrow that thumps into his breastplate, don't focus on the word, aim for his face!

For you writers, what are your go-to weak verbs that must be weeded out and ground beneath your heel?

Quick Update!

(this post pretty much mirrors the latest Kickstarter update I posted)

A Sawmill's Hope will not release in June (obviously). I'm sorry. But I'm stoked about the momentum of current progress so I felt the need to share!

Regarding Edits - By next week Jamie will be doing the final pass on the manuscript. Meanwhile, my copy editor will be doing her thing (line editor? The one who fixes grammar). After that's finished, it's just a matter of transforming the finalized book to ebook and print format!

Regarding Art - Tracy has provided enough finished art pieces for me to work on the Kickstarter prizes (prints, wallpapers, etc). Those are underway.

While we're on the subject, here are a few previews. I could not be more excited about Tracy's work!




In order as they occur - Hunting in the Rain, The Surrounding Forest, Old Man Hastr, Nasties in the Woods, Moderate Resolution

I meant to post this about one week ago but my laptop's harddrive pooped out on a mission trip in Brunswick Ga (will prob write a blog on that trip) and I wasn't able to get much writing done while there.

Alright. Time to get back on it. See you guys soon

David

Prolonging Childhood

We were hanging outside the house the other day, sitting around the fire pit making s'mores with some neighbors and their kids.

Maybe you already knew this. But kids ask a ton of questions. All the time. Sometimes it's just "Why?" Sometimes it's "what are you doing?" ... even regarding the most obvious or mundane task, like arranging the tarp over the firewood or holding the skewer over the fire to melt away the excess marshmallow.

Sometimes I see what I can get away with. See what I can get the kid to believe. But that's easy. Kids believe anything. Maybe because they trust adults, maybe because they're a blank slate and all they have to work with is imagination sans inhibitions.

But I had a revelation. I like hanging out with the kids, not just because they are energetic and adults are docile, but because they're curious. Which means they're trying to learn. They're bettering themselves, whether they look at it that way or not.

A lot of adults don't ask questions anymore. Because they're too cool to care about that. Or too smart to need your input. Or they already know everything they need to know. Idiots.

But kids. Kids are smarter than that.

What are you doing?

"I'm changing the light bulb."

Why?

"Because the old one burned out."

Why?

...

At this point you have a choice. The easy thing to do is make something up, shortchange them, deflect them, ignore them

"Because the gnomes inside lost their torches."
"Because that's what light bulbs do."
"What's your mom doing? Go find her."
"Is that Bubble Guppies I hear on the TV?"

Or pretend to give a good answer while actually repelling them with technical jargon.
 
"The filament that provided illumination evaporated due to prolonged exposure to a roughly 4,000 degree Fahrenheit electrical current over problematic hotspots in the tungsten coil."

Worst of all, you can treat their curiosity as an annoyance. It's an easy thing to do after a long day of work and about two hours of "Why?"  But don't be that person. You'll quench their flame.

Afterall, there's an alternative.

You could look that kid in the eyes and enlighten them.

What you say might change that child's life. They might grow up to invent the next technology of luminescence because of something you say right this moment. You literally hold the future of the world in your hands. Because let's face it. Humans run this. And all grown humans were kid humans once (*subject to change as scifi and reality continue to merge).

But I don't know the answer.

Google does. How do you think I just learned the filaments in light bulbs are made of tungsten? We live in the most information-rich era that's ever been. If you are reading this right now you have access to a every answer that's ever been recorded. (ie. Can you melt wood? )

But I don't have time to answer each and every little question.

Make time. Make the world a better place. You can do it in your own living room while changing a light bulb by using that big mouth you love flapping anyway. Put it to good use.

But he asks so many questions! It's annoying.

Go to the corner! You are a grown human being, able to wipe your own butt, and an inquisitive child is more than you can handle? No desert for you.

If you respond to curiosity with intolerance, you're basically taking a dump on the planet. 

I urge you to reward curiosity. Whether it be your kid or someone else's. And don't resist helping that kid because of something their parents did or failed to do. I don't buy into many "ism" words. They're a load of political bull-diarrhea. But blaming a person for the crimes of their parents is ignorant and petty and perpetuates the divide.

If a kid asks you a question, do the world a favor. Make them smarter. You might even get smarter in the process.

~~~
On the subject of kids...

I was going to write this regardless. But it just so happened that I ran across the following links while this blog was in the works.

This one is Alison Gopnik, a child psychologist, giving an enlightened presentation on Ted talk. Very cool stuff, whether or not you like kids or babies. Check it out if you have twenty minutes. It's way more likely to better you than twenty minutes worth of news, sitcoms, Facebook or reality TV.

What do babies think?

This next link takes less time. Some of you know I'm a fan of Kickstarter. It's the platform from which I pre-sold my debut novel to so many of you lovelies. This project is from LeVar Burton, who is trying to invigorate Reading Rainbow. Yes, they're currently over 3X the goal. But I trust them. And I'm all about kids reading. What business-savvy author wouldn't be?

Bring Reading Rainbow Back for Every Child, Everywhere.