There is a local Evangelical church around here that really seems to be anti-Lent. One year they had a sign that read 'Give up sin not chocolate'.
They don't seem to understand what the point of Lent is. Sin is something that those of us who are Christians are called to give up 100% of the time, not just for Lent. The things we give up for Lent--- chocolate, meat and such--- are GOOD things, not sins.
We give them up in the same spirit that the Old Testament saints gave up their finely woven clothes for a time and wore sackcloth, and poured ashes on their head (something echoed in the Ash Wednesday tradition). They did this as a sign of mourning. Most particularly, mourning for sin.
Lent is a tradition which has arisen among Christians as a time to prepare for Easter by mourning for our sins--- our INDIVIDUAL sins. Face it: by the time you reached age nine you'd committed enough personal sin that even if no other person on Earth had sinned, Jesus would have had to come down and die to pay for YOURS.
As a sign of this mourning, we may choose to give up something that is good. That's a part of the Christian life, by the way. We often may have to give up something that is good for the sake of the Kingdom. For some, the good they give up may be their life, as even today Christians in some parts of the world face a martyr's death, as that Christian pastor in Iran might face death if he refuses to become Muslim.
I personally am a Catholic convert, because I was convinced by the historical evidence that the Catholic Church is indeed the Church Jesus established and has the teaching authority that Jesus had while on Earth and which He passed on to His Apostles. So when the Church says to observe Lent, I am bound to do so.
Others of my Christian friends do not agree with my conclusion about the Catholic Church, and that is fine. I leave it to God to straighten out whoever is in error on this issue. But all Christians are bound to a life that includes mourning for our sins--- true repentance. We need a time of year for this, such as Lent. We need a little of it in our lives every day, as we confront the daily temptations to sin in our lives--- including the sins of omission such as the times we've failed to speak out against abortion/euthanasia, or the times we could have given to the poor but didn't, or the time we could have spoken to an unattractive but lonely person.
For me personally it's hard to figure out how to do Lent. I have a hard time sticking to anything. Furthermore, Lenten observances that are dietary restrictions are a real chore as with my health situation I have to restrict quite severely every day. With my attention deficit thing (a part of my Asperger Syndrome) it's hard to do things like pray the rosary or read the Bible every day because I get so distracted. And I have a tendency to think up really wild bizarre Lenten things to do that are more about obsessiveness than the spiritual life--- last year I seriously considered watching the movie Con Air each day during Lent.
But God knows the barriers each of us are dealing with. He doesn't need us to be perfect at our attempts, He just wants us to make them.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
I've got a date with a werewolf....
Tonight's the night. I'm expecting to spend a little quality time with a werewolf named George.
Yes, the BBC series Being Human is starting its new season. Frankly, after what happened to a certain vampire in the last episode of last season, I'm surprised to see the series back.
In the promos they say Annie's looking for a new roommate. I guess two werewolves, one of them expecting a were-puppy, are not enough company for her. Perhaps she needs another ghost. Perhaps one that used to be a vampire.....
The BBC series, showing on BBC America in the US, is much better than the SYFY channel version of Being Human which has very intrusive bursts of loud, annoying music. Both versions of the series have unfortunate bouts of anti-Christianism from time to time. But the sheer joy of watching roommates discuss the issue of whether the werewolf should change in the living room when the ghost has just Hoovered in there makes up for the hate.
For the BBC America deprived, the show is available on DVD as well.
Yes, the BBC series Being Human is starting its new season. Frankly, after what happened to a certain vampire in the last episode of last season, I'm surprised to see the series back.
In the promos they say Annie's looking for a new roommate. I guess two werewolves, one of them expecting a were-puppy, are not enough company for her. Perhaps she needs another ghost. Perhaps one that used to be a vampire.....
The BBC series, showing on BBC America in the US, is much better than the SYFY channel version of Being Human which has very intrusive bursts of loud, annoying music. Both versions of the series have unfortunate bouts of anti-Christianism from time to time. But the sheer joy of watching roommates discuss the issue of whether the werewolf should change in the living room when the ghost has just Hoovered in there makes up for the hate.
For the BBC America deprived, the show is available on DVD as well.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
The Realms Thereunder's Rune Poem
"Fyr is First, it burns, it thirsts;
it feasts on flesh and fallen foes.
Urth is dirt, the Second house
we dig the dead, decayed to dust.
Thorn is Third, it cuts, it carves;
a cold and cruel crown for kings.
Ald is age it wastes, it wanes;
want walks Forth; when time wreaks wreck.
Rech is smoke, the smog that smothers
the Fifth sense, smell. It chokes, it chars.
Claw is Sixth, it snicks, it snatches;
when sharp, it shivs, and dull, it catches."
This is the yfelgopes' rune poem from The Realms Thereunder. As someone once keen on Anglo-Saxon/Norse lore from my days as a Norse Pagan, I found it delightful. I even wondered if the yfelgopes were descended from Ymir the primordial giant of Germanic mythology.
Rune poems are a part of Germanic (Anglo-Saxon/Nordic/German) culture. Runes were an alphabet designed, the legend said, by the god Woden, who sacrificed himself to himself in order to gain the alphabetic wisdom. Runes are composed of straight lines, to make them easier to carve into wood. Each letter has a meaning, and the meanings were used both by ancient Norse Pagans and modern Pagan reconstructionists for both rune divination and rune magic.
I note that this rune poem uses a lot of alliteration--- words beginning with the same letter. Alliteration is a characteristic of early Germanic poetry which is often lost in translation. The Lee Hollander translation of the Poetic Edda makes much use of alliteration and gives one a flavor of the Old Norse originals, and for that reason is very popular among Norse Pagans/Odinists/Asatruar.
Here are the verses of the Anglo-Saxon rune poem that compare with the stanzas above:
Wealth is a comfort to all men;
yet must every man bestow it freely,
if he wish to gain honour in the sight of the Lord.
The aurochs is proud and has great horns;
it is a very savage beast and fights with its horns;
a great ranger of the moors, it is a creature of mettle.
The thorn is exceedingly sharp,
an evil thing for any knight to touch,
uncommonly severe on all who sit among them.
The mouth is the source of all language,
a pillar of wisdom and a comfort to wise men,
a blessing and a joy to every knight.
Riding seems easy to every warrior while he is indoors
and very courageous to him who traverses the high-roads
on the back of a stout horse.
The torch is known to every living man by its pale, bright flame;
it always burns where princes sit within.
The problem with this particular translation is that it gives ordinary English words--- wealth, aurochs, thorn, mouth--- for the Anglo-Saxon rune names, which is not common in the translations I'm used to (which I could not find).
But you can see that the yfelgopes' runes are not the same as the Anglo-Saxon ones--- the second rune is 'Urth' meaning earth/dirt, not aurochs, which is a kind of wild ox which is now extinct. Lawhead is tilting the yfelgopes' lore in the direction of being scary, while the ancient rune poems were aimed at nobles/upper class persons, who didn't think of themselves as scary although, in actual fact, they were.
Because of the excitement and coolness of the Anglo-Saxon elements such as the rune poem, the question arises: Is 'The Realms Thereunder' a suitable read for the Norse Pagan reader? Since there is a limited supply of fiction by actual Norse Pagan authors such as Diana Paxson, my answer is a yes. It has those Anglo-Saxon elements, it's well written, it has a good moral tone--- a matter of interest to our ancient Pagan ancestors.... I would say, yes, it's very suitable. Far more suitable than slightly Pagan-friendly works by atheist/agnostic authors who are only nice to Pagans now because they want to use Pagans as a tool in their fight against Christianity.
As a work by a Christian author, it probably raises the same concerns among Norse Pagans that a work by a Norse Pagan would among Christians. But I believe the Christian content of 'The Realms Thereunder' is low-key enough that the Pagan reader need not be offended. And it's a great book to share with Christian friends/relatives who share your interest in Germanic mythology.
By the same token, Christian readers might want to share the book with Norse Pagan, other Pagan, or Wiccan friends. NOT because it will make them 'get saved'. But because it's a good read that may appeal to their interests.
Book link - http://www.amazon.com/Realms-
Author’s Web site - http://www.rosslawhead.com/
Visiting other tour members' blogs is an ESSENTIAL part of the blog tour. To encourage this, I have hidden a variety of strange objects in the comments section of the blogs below. How many can you find?:
Gillian Adams
Red Bissell
Keanan Brand
Beckie Burnham
Melissa Carswell
Jeff Chapman
CSFF Blog Tour
Theresa Dunlap
Emmalyn Edwards
April Erwin
Victor Gentile
Tori Greene
Nikole Hahn
Ryan Heart
Bruce Hennigan
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Rebekah Loper
Marzabeth
Shannon McDermott
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirriam Neal
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
John W. Otte
Donita K. Paul
Joan Nienhuis
Crista Richey
Sarah Sawyer
Chawna Schroeder
Kathleen Smith
Donna Swanson
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Dona Watson
Shane Werlinger
Nicole White
Rachel Wyant
Thomas Clayton Booher
Janeen Ippolito
Monday, February 20, 2012
New Poem: cat poem for Chachamaru
the ginger cat Chachamaru
kneads my sore leg with needle-like claws
tucked away in my lap, she feels the kittens
playing insider her - it must be spring
but outside the door the piles of snow
and roof-icicles tell a winter story.
(c) Feb 5, 2012 Nissa Annakindt
A sijo. Chachamaru is the cat on the cover of Where the Opium Cactus Grows. Besides posing for poetry book covers she enjoys chasing mice and fighting with other cats. The picture shows Chachamaru, her son Joel (the orange one) and her two stolen kittens.
kneads my sore leg with needle-like claws
tucked away in my lap, she feels the kittens
playing insider her - it must be spring
but outside the door the piles of snow
and roof-icicles tell a winter story.
(c) Feb 5, 2012 Nissa Annakindt
A sijo. Chachamaru is the cat on the cover of Where the Opium Cactus Grows. Besides posing for poetry book covers she enjoys chasing mice and fighting with other cats. The picture shows Chachamaru, her son Joel (the orange one) and her two stolen kittens.
The Realms Thereunder by Ross Lawhead
As young teens, Daniel Tully and Freya Reynolds went missing and discovered a world few know is real. After returning, life went on, but they were not left unmarked. Freya, a university student, has symptoms of OCD. Daniel is now homeless. And the strange world they once shared is bleeding into our own in dangerous ways....
Aftermath
How many books have I read where young people are whisked off into strange and dangerous worlds, and then come home with no aftereffects? I've always been interested in the effect of adventures on the adventurers. As a child I'd make up stories based on the aftermath of Star Trek episodes, and how the crew were traumatized by such things as the death of a redshirt.
The Realms Thereunder starts with two characters who have already had a big adventure and are marked by it. I like that. It shows that actions have consequences. Very realistic.
The Realms Thereunder also has a rune poem in it. Next time, if there is a next time, I will compare it to the traditional rune poems that I learned back when I was a Norse Pagan.
Routine government-demanded disclaimer:
I did NOT receive a review copy of this book, but bought a Kindle copy out of my own very tiny money supply. Even if I HAD received a review copy, the First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees that I am under no obligation to mention it.
Write a Christian Poem for Lent!
Not a poet? Only a beginning writer? No matter! You are still invited to show your love for Jesus by writing a Christian poem this Lent. You don't have to be from a church that does Lent to qualify---- Protestants, Catholics, Evangelicals, Latter Day Saints and other followers of Christ are welcome.
Any style of poem is accepted, modern, traditional, words picked out of hats..... Contest is open NOW, for more details see Opium Cactus: Write a Christian Poem for Lent contest.
Book link - http://www.amazon.com/Realms-
Author’s Web site - http://www.rosslawhead.com/
Visit the blog tour links and find the many strange hidden objects I have placed on other tour members' blogs:
Gillian Adams V
Red Bissell
Keanan Brand V
Beckie Burnham V
Melissa Carswell
Jeff Chapman Niðergeard
CSFF Blog Tour
Theresa Dunlap
Emmalyn Edwards
April Erwin
Victor Gentile
Tori Greene
Nikole Hahn
Ryan Heart
Bruce Hennigan V
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Rebekah Loper
Marzabeth
Shannon McDermott
Rebecca LuElla Miller V
Mirriam Neal
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
John W. Otte
Donita K. Paul
Joan Nienhuis
Crista Richey
Sarah Sawyer
Chawna Schroeder V
Kathleen Smith
Donna Swanson
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Fred Warren V
Dona Watson
Shane Werlinger
Nicole White
Rachel Wyant
Thomas Clayton Booher
Janeen Ippolito V
Aftermath
How many books have I read where young people are whisked off into strange and dangerous worlds, and then come home with no aftereffects? I've always been interested in the effect of adventures on the adventurers. As a child I'd make up stories based on the aftermath of Star Trek episodes, and how the crew were traumatized by such things as the death of a redshirt.
The Realms Thereunder starts with two characters who have already had a big adventure and are marked by it. I like that. It shows that actions have consequences. Very realistic.
The Realms Thereunder also has a rune poem in it. Next time, if there is a next time, I will compare it to the traditional rune poems that I learned back when I was a Norse Pagan.
Routine government-demanded disclaimer:
I did NOT receive a review copy of this book, but bought a Kindle copy out of my own very tiny money supply. Even if I HAD received a review copy, the First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees that I am under no obligation to mention it.
Write a Christian Poem for Lent!
Not a poet? Only a beginning writer? No matter! You are still invited to show your love for Jesus by writing a Christian poem this Lent. You don't have to be from a church that does Lent to qualify---- Protestants, Catholics, Evangelicals, Latter Day Saints and other followers of Christ are welcome.
Any style of poem is accepted, modern, traditional, words picked out of hats..... Contest is open NOW, for more details see Opium Cactus: Write a Christian Poem for Lent contest.
Book link - http://www.amazon.com/Realms-
Author’s Web site - http://www.rosslawhead.com/
Visit the blog tour links and find the many strange hidden objects I have placed on other tour members' blogs:
Gillian Adams V
Red Bissell
Keanan Brand V
Beckie Burnham V
Melissa Carswell
Jeff Chapman Niðergeard
CSFF Blog Tour
Theresa Dunlap
Emmalyn Edwards
April Erwin
Victor Gentile
Tori Greene
Nikole Hahn
Ryan Heart
Bruce Hennigan V
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Rebekah Loper
Marzabeth
Shannon McDermott
Rebecca LuElla Miller V
Mirriam Neal
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
John W. Otte
Donita K. Paul
Joan Nienhuis
Crista Richey
Sarah Sawyer
Chawna Schroeder V
Kathleen Smith
Donna Swanson
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Fred Warren V
Dona Watson
Shane Werlinger
Nicole White
Rachel Wyant
Thomas Clayton Booher
Janeen Ippolito V
Sunday, February 19, 2012
the lonely man goes to mass
for five years he has gone
to the same small church
each sunday
but no one greets him
or speaks to him
or wants to call him friend
and so he is
alone
so one spring sunday
he brings a chicken with him
to church
and an old woman said
dear brother, you are not permitted
to bring poultry in here
during the alleluia
the chicken laid her egg
not quietly
and an usher said
dear christian brother,
you must not bring
your livestock to church
going up for communion
the deacon advanced
your chicken may not be here
dear brother
you must know that
after mass the man went out
to shake pastor's hand
and for the first time
the pastor spoke
it is so good you are here
my dear brother in christ
but you must not bring a chicken
to the lord's house
the lonely man smiled
and said
i know that
but i did not know
how to be your brother
and now i know
bring a chicken
(c) Feb. 19, 2012 Nissa Annakindt
The story in this poem, in a chicken-free version, was told in a homily by Fr. Michael Ocran, our associate pastor who is from Africa. He was speaking on the importance of being friends to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
I can identify with the man as I have a lifetime of being the one that no one speaks to. In a more outgoing Evangelical-type church, people may greet me superficially rather than not speak at all.
(If you are wondering why I don't hang out with non-religious people--- my experience in life has been this: non-religious people throw rocks at me, call me x-rated names, and otherwise show contempt. Christians at least tolerate my presence, and once in a great while will even say 'hello'.)
It's funny that Christian people know that there are people who are painfully shy, or have Asperger Syndrome, or for other reasons are not outgoing people who can easily make friends. But when they see a person who goes to their church time and again, but who does not go up to them to introduce themselves, they conclude that person is standoffish or stuck-up rather than understanding that the person desperately wants their love and friendship.
Perhaps this Lent some of you people with good social skills might 'adopt' some lonely person at your church--- not just greet them, but try to have conversations with them, perhaps invite them to lunch some time.
If the person, like me, has Asperger Syndrome, you may have to learn how to be friends with an aspie. You may need to always be the one who takes the initiative to talk to him or phone him. You may always be the one who suggests doing something like going to lunch together. You may get bored when he talks about one of his 'special interests' that you are not interested in, such as anime or Dark Shadows fandom or promoting American monarchism. But the Lord will bless you for it.
Write a Christian Poem for Lent
My other blog, Opium Cactus Poetry Immersion, is challenging all Christian writers out there to write a Christian poem for Lent, and submit it at: http://opiumcactus.blogspot.com/2012/02/write-christian-poem-for-lent-contest.html
The contest is NOT just for Catholics, but is open to Evangelicals, Protestants, Latter Day Saints, and other followers of Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible. And you don't have to be observing Lent to participate. (Please spread the word about the contest on your blog or Facebook page.)
to the same small church
each sunday
but no one greets him
or speaks to him
or wants to call him friend
and so he is
alone
so one spring sunday
he brings a chicken with him
to church
and an old woman said
dear brother, you are not permitted
to bring poultry in here
during the alleluia
the chicken laid her egg
not quietly
and an usher said
dear christian brother,
you must not bring
your livestock to church
going up for communion
the deacon advanced
your chicken may not be here
dear brother
you must know that
after mass the man went out
to shake pastor's hand
and for the first time
the pastor spoke
it is so good you are here
my dear brother in christ
but you must not bring a chicken
to the lord's house
the lonely man smiled
and said
i know that
but i did not know
how to be your brother
and now i know
bring a chicken
(c) Feb. 19, 2012 Nissa Annakindt
The story in this poem, in a chicken-free version, was told in a homily by Fr. Michael Ocran, our associate pastor who is from Africa. He was speaking on the importance of being friends to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
I can identify with the man as I have a lifetime of being the one that no one speaks to. In a more outgoing Evangelical-type church, people may greet me superficially rather than not speak at all.
(If you are wondering why I don't hang out with non-religious people--- my experience in life has been this: non-religious people throw rocks at me, call me x-rated names, and otherwise show contempt. Christians at least tolerate my presence, and once in a great while will even say 'hello'.)
It's funny that Christian people know that there are people who are painfully shy, or have Asperger Syndrome, or for other reasons are not outgoing people who can easily make friends. But when they see a person who goes to their church time and again, but who does not go up to them to introduce themselves, they conclude that person is standoffish or stuck-up rather than understanding that the person desperately wants their love and friendship.
Perhaps this Lent some of you people with good social skills might 'adopt' some lonely person at your church--- not just greet them, but try to have conversations with them, perhaps invite them to lunch some time.
If the person, like me, has Asperger Syndrome, you may have to learn how to be friends with an aspie. You may need to always be the one who takes the initiative to talk to him or phone him. You may always be the one who suggests doing something like going to lunch together. You may get bored when he talks about one of his 'special interests' that you are not interested in, such as anime or Dark Shadows fandom or promoting American monarchism. But the Lord will bless you for it.
Write a Christian Poem for Lent
My other blog, Opium Cactus Poetry Immersion, is challenging all Christian writers out there to write a Christian poem for Lent, and submit it at: http://opiumcactus.blogspot.com/2012/02/write-christian-poem-for-lent-contest.html
The contest is NOT just for Catholics, but is open to Evangelicals, Protestants, Latter Day Saints, and other followers of Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible. And you don't have to be observing Lent to participate. (Please spread the word about the contest on your blog or Facebook page.)
Friday, February 17, 2012
William Blake: The Tyger
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
William Blake (1757 – 1827)
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
William Blake (1757 – 1827)
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| William Blake's Tyger |
4 Online Resources for Korean Sijo Poetry
This blog is publishing a lot of sijo lately and so I thought I would share some sijo resources.
1. Sijo Poetry website A website by the Sejong Cultural Society, with pages on various sijo-topics. A good place to start looking.
2. 'Sijo' at Wikipedia, the Liberal Encyclopedia --- gives examples of classic sijo and also tells the history of English-language sijo.
3. Sijo at ahapoetry.com --- gives a great number of classic Korean sijo.
4. Sejong Cultural Society Sijo Competition for students below college level --- Gives examples and explanations about the sijo. Entry deadline for the contest is March 31st this year.
1. Sijo Poetry website A website by the Sejong Cultural Society, with pages on various sijo-topics. A good place to start looking.
2. 'Sijo' at Wikipedia, the Liberal Encyclopedia --- gives examples of classic sijo and also tells the history of English-language sijo.
3. Sijo at ahapoetry.com --- gives a great number of classic Korean sijo.
4. Sejong Cultural Society Sijo Competition for students below college level --- Gives examples and explanations about the sijo. Entry deadline for the contest is March 31st this year.
4 Online Resources for Korean Sijo Poetry
This blog is publishing a lot of sijo lately and so I thought I would share some sijo resources.
1. Sijo Poetry website A website by the Sejong Cultural Society, with pages on various sijo-topics. A good place to start looking.
2. 'Sijo' at Wikipedia, the Liberal Encyclopedia --- gives examples of classic sijo and also tells the history of English-language sijo.
3. Sijo at ahapoetry.com --- gives a great number of classic Korean sijo.
4. Sejong Cultural Society Sijo Competition for students below college level --- Gives examples and explanations about the sijo. Entry deadline for the contest is March 31st this year.
1. Sijo Poetry website A website by the Sejong Cultural Society, with pages on various sijo-topics. A good place to start looking.
2. 'Sijo' at Wikipedia, the Liberal Encyclopedia --- gives examples of classic sijo and also tells the history of English-language sijo.
3. Sijo at ahapoetry.com --- gives a great number of classic Korean sijo.
4. Sejong Cultural Society Sijo Competition for students below college level --- Gives examples and explanations about the sijo. Entry deadline for the contest is March 31st this year.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
What if your novel inspires a murder?
A great reason to procrastinate on writing your novel, or perhaps never finish: it might inspire a murder.
You might think that only Stephen King or Jeff Lindsay (author of the Dexter novels) really has to worry about that. But murderers can be inspired by anything.
There were two teen girls in New Zealand who were inspired by the music of Mario Lanza. They went on to make up their own fantasy world, and when the grown-ups objected, the two girls murdered the mother of one of them. With a brick. (One of the girls grew up to be the mystery author Anne Perry).
If Mario Lanza music can inspire murder, ANY old novel you might write could inspire a murder. You might not get called on it if you write books about saintly elderly nuns tending a garden rather than about serial killers chopping up prostitutes. But there is no predicting ahead of time what some deranged killer might claim as inspiration.
What is our moral responsibility as writers, then? We cannot control how other people will react to our work. But what we can do is ensure that our fiction has a moral compass.
'Fiction with a moral compass'. It's not fiction in which no character, not even Lord Voldemort, ever does anything morally questionable. Our characters may sin away. They may not even be aware that what they are doing is wrong. But if our fiction has a moral compass, we, as authors, must know, and we must find ways to share that knowledge with our readers. You don't need to preach a sermon. Just a word or two, perhaps out of the mouth of a minor character, to show that killings, theft, adulteries and the like are not the right or wise thing to do.
To be good at this, you must have an accurate moral compass yourself. If you have been trained by your church in catechism classes and know the Christian moral teachings well (or Jewish teachings, or Muslim teachings...), you have a head start.
If you are the sort of person who rejects moral absolutes and traditional Christian values--- the way I used to be--- this can cause a problem as it's difficult to get across the message that murder is absolutely wrong if you also have a message that NOTHING is absolutely wrong. But it can be done--- there are secularist, non-Christian and anti-Christian authors who write as if they had a good moral compass at least when it comes to murder, rape, child sexual abuse, major thefts and the other traditional moral teachings of Western culture that they don't reject.
Still it seems to me it's safest not to publish at all, just to be safe. ;)
You might think that only Stephen King or Jeff Lindsay (author of the Dexter novels) really has to worry about that. But murderers can be inspired by anything.
There were two teen girls in New Zealand who were inspired by the music of Mario Lanza. They went on to make up their own fantasy world, and when the grown-ups objected, the two girls murdered the mother of one of them. With a brick. (One of the girls grew up to be the mystery author Anne Perry).
If Mario Lanza music can inspire murder, ANY old novel you might write could inspire a murder. You might not get called on it if you write books about saintly elderly nuns tending a garden rather than about serial killers chopping up prostitutes. But there is no predicting ahead of time what some deranged killer might claim as inspiration.
What is our moral responsibility as writers, then? We cannot control how other people will react to our work. But what we can do is ensure that our fiction has a moral compass.
'Fiction with a moral compass'. It's not fiction in which no character, not even Lord Voldemort, ever does anything morally questionable. Our characters may sin away. They may not even be aware that what they are doing is wrong. But if our fiction has a moral compass, we, as authors, must know, and we must find ways to share that knowledge with our readers. You don't need to preach a sermon. Just a word or two, perhaps out of the mouth of a minor character, to show that killings, theft, adulteries and the like are not the right or wise thing to do.
To be good at this, you must have an accurate moral compass yourself. If you have been trained by your church in catechism classes and know the Christian moral teachings well (or Jewish teachings, or Muslim teachings...), you have a head start.
If you are the sort of person who rejects moral absolutes and traditional Christian values--- the way I used to be--- this can cause a problem as it's difficult to get across the message that murder is absolutely wrong if you also have a message that NOTHING is absolutely wrong. But it can be done--- there are secularist, non-Christian and anti-Christian authors who write as if they had a good moral compass at least when it comes to murder, rape, child sexual abuse, major thefts and the other traditional moral teachings of Western culture that they don't reject.
Still it seems to me it's safest not to publish at all, just to be safe. ;)
What if your novel inspires a murder?
A great reason to procrastinate on writing your novel, or perhaps never finish: it might inspire a murder.
You might think that only Stephen King or Jeff Lindsay (author of the Dexter novels) really has to worry about that. But murderers can be inspired by anything.
There were two teen girls in New Zealand who were inspired by the music of Mario Lanza. They went on to make up their own fantasy world, and when the grown-ups objected, the two girls murdered the mother of one of them. With a brick. (One of the girls grew up to be the mystery author Anne Perry).
If Mario Lanza music can inspire murder, ANY old novel you might write could inspire a murder. You might not get called on it if you write books about saintly elderly nuns tending a garden rather than about serial killers chopping up prostitutes. But there is no predicting ahead of time what some deranged killer might claim as inspiration.
What is our moral responsibility as writers, then? We cannot control how other people will react to our work. But what we can do is ensure that our fiction has a moral compass.
'Fiction with a moral compass'. It's not fiction in which no character, not even Lord Voldemort, ever does anything morally questionable. Our characters may sin away. They may not even be aware that what they are doing is wrong. But if our fiction has a moral compass, we, as authors, must know, and we must find ways to share that knowledge with our readers. You don't need to preach a sermon. Just a word or two, perhaps out of the mouth of a minor character, to show that killings, theft, adulteries and the like are not the right or wise thing to do.
To be good at this, you must have an accurate moral compass yourself. If you have been trained by your church in catechism classes and know the Christian moral teachings well (or Jewish teachings, or Muslim teachings...), you have a head start.
If you are the sort of person who rejects moral absolutes and traditional Christian values--- the way I used to be--- this can cause a problem as it's difficult to get across the message that murder is absolutely wrong if you also have a message that NOTHING is absolutely wrong. But it can be done--- there are secularist, non-Christian and anti-Christian authors who write as if they had a good moral compass at least when it comes to murder, rape, child sexual abuse, major thefts and the other traditional moral teachings of Western culture that they don't reject.
Still it seems to me it's safest not to publish at all, just to be safe. ;)
You might think that only Stephen King or Jeff Lindsay (author of the Dexter novels) really has to worry about that. But murderers can be inspired by anything.
There were two teen girls in New Zealand who were inspired by the music of Mario Lanza. They went on to make up their own fantasy world, and when the grown-ups objected, the two girls murdered the mother of one of them. With a brick. (One of the girls grew up to be the mystery author Anne Perry).
If Mario Lanza music can inspire murder, ANY old novel you might write could inspire a murder. You might not get called on it if you write books about saintly elderly nuns tending a garden rather than about serial killers chopping up prostitutes. But there is no predicting ahead of time what some deranged killer might claim as inspiration.
What is our moral responsibility as writers, then? We cannot control how other people will react to our work. But what we can do is ensure that our fiction has a moral compass.
'Fiction with a moral compass'. It's not fiction in which no character, not even Lord Voldemort, ever does anything morally questionable. Our characters may sin away. They may not even be aware that what they are doing is wrong. But if our fiction has a moral compass, we, as authors, must know, and we must find ways to share that knowledge with our readers. You don't need to preach a sermon. Just a word or two, perhaps out of the mouth of a minor character, to show that killings, theft, adulteries and the like are not the right or wise thing to do.
To be good at this, you must have an accurate moral compass yourself. If you have been trained by your church in catechism classes and know the Christian moral teachings well (or Jewish teachings, or Muslim teachings...), you have a head start.
If you are the sort of person who rejects moral absolutes and traditional Christian values--- the way I used to be--- this can cause a problem as it's difficult to get across the message that murder is absolutely wrong if you also have a message that NOTHING is absolutely wrong. But it can be done--- there are secularist, non-Christian and anti-Christian authors who write as if they had a good moral compass at least when it comes to murder, rape, child sexual abuse, major thefts and the other traditional moral teachings of Western culture that they don't reject.
Still it seems to me it's safest not to publish at all, just to be safe. ;)
Song Sammun: A pine tree
When you ask me what I'd wish to be
after my death,
I would answer, a pine tree, tall and hardy
on the highest peak of Mount Pongnae,
And to be green, alone, green
when snow fills heaven and earth.
Song Sammun (1418-1456)
A sijo written in Korean by one of the Six Martyred Ministers of Tanjong. I found it in The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Korean Poetry, edited by Peter H. Lee. It has a good section on sijo as well as on other Korean forms of poetry. The two poems of Song Sammun's I've blogged so far are rather death-y, but then he was executed and all (and perhaps he suspected his fate long enough before he died to write poems about it).
The sijo of this period were transmitted orally for some generations, and were sung/chanted. The book mentioned above tells a bit more about it.
after my death,
I would answer, a pine tree, tall and hardy
on the highest peak of Mount Pongnae,
And to be green, alone, green
when snow fills heaven and earth.
Song Sammun (1418-1456)
A sijo written in Korean by one of the Six Martyred Ministers of Tanjong. I found it in The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Korean Poetry, edited by Peter H. Lee. It has a good section on sijo as well as on other Korean forms of poetry. The two poems of Song Sammun's I've blogged so far are rather death-y, but then he was executed and all (and perhaps he suspected his fate long enough before he died to write poems about it).
The sijo of this period were transmitted orally for some generations, and were sung/chanted. The book mentioned above tells a bit more about it.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Inspired by what I DIDN'T like in a favorite book
Recently I read the whole Hunger Games trilogy on Kindle (because it was cheap, and the story sounded interesting). I liked it. But what inspired my writing side was not the good parts of the book, but something I didn't care for.
Panem, the world in which the Hunger Games takes place is a future United States, but it is also a parallel to the ancient Roman empire. With one big difference between it and its sources. In Panem, there are no Christians. Or Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Wiccans or Pagans, for that matter. I felt the lack was illogical.
This inspired ideas about an unfallen Roman empire in which Christians existed but never became dominant, and were subjected to persecutions including the possibility of death in the arena. My story was centered around the idea that a group of young people--- children of Christian parents--- were ordered to fight to the death in the arena.
The unfallen Rome of the story I named 'Kirinia' and decided it was another world, that ancient Romans had gotten to by means of a Portal (transportation gateway between worlds/locations). I got the name 'Kirinia' from the name of an obscure Roman god, Quirinius. The Romans were actually sometimes called 'Quirites' from that name. I changed the spelling to eliminate the 'q'.
The name 'Kirinia' reminded me of the 'kirin', an Asian mythological beast which played a part in a world I created called 'Erileth'. This world had 5 kingdoms which corresponded to the Asian 5 Elements (wood, fire, earth, water, metal). Each element had colors, directions, creatures, livestock, grains and the like which corresponded to it, and so I decided to use these as a basis for creating the kingdoms.
The Earth kingdom in the Center of the world had the kirin as its beast. When I consulted my Erileth binder, I saw that I had decided to base the Earth kingdom's culture on ancient Rome. That decided me on the project of merging the new story's world with that of my old Erileth/5 Elements world.
Anyway, I got to wondering: what is it about our favorite books that inspires us with more/better story ideas of our own--- the parts we do like, or the parts we don't? In YOUR experience, what inspires YOU more???
Panem, the world in which the Hunger Games takes place is a future United States, but it is also a parallel to the ancient Roman empire. With one big difference between it and its sources. In Panem, there are no Christians. Or Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Wiccans or Pagans, for that matter. I felt the lack was illogical.
This inspired ideas about an unfallen Roman empire in which Christians existed but never became dominant, and were subjected to persecutions including the possibility of death in the arena. My story was centered around the idea that a group of young people--- children of Christian parents--- were ordered to fight to the death in the arena.
The unfallen Rome of the story I named 'Kirinia' and decided it was another world, that ancient Romans had gotten to by means of a Portal (transportation gateway between worlds/locations). I got the name 'Kirinia' from the name of an obscure Roman god, Quirinius. The Romans were actually sometimes called 'Quirites' from that name. I changed the spelling to eliminate the 'q'.
The name 'Kirinia' reminded me of the 'kirin', an Asian mythological beast which played a part in a world I created called 'Erileth'. This world had 5 kingdoms which corresponded to the Asian 5 Elements (wood, fire, earth, water, metal). Each element had colors, directions, creatures, livestock, grains and the like which corresponded to it, and so I decided to use these as a basis for creating the kingdoms.
The Earth kingdom in the Center of the world had the kirin as its beast. When I consulted my Erileth binder, I saw that I had decided to base the Earth kingdom's culture on ancient Rome. That decided me on the project of merging the new story's world with that of my old Erileth/5 Elements world.
Anyway, I got to wondering: what is it about our favorite books that inspires us with more/better story ideas of our own--- the parts we do like, or the parts we don't? In YOUR experience, what inspires YOU more???
Inspired by what I DIDN'T like in a favorite book
Recently I read the whole Hunger Games trilogy on Kindle (because it was cheap, and the story sounded interesting). I liked it. But what inspired my writing side was not the good parts of the book, but something I didn't care for.
Panem, the world in which the Hunger Games takes place is a future United States, but it is also a parallel to the ancient Roman empire. With one big difference between it and its sources. In Panem, there are no Christians. Or Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Wiccans or Pagans, for that matter. I felt the lack was illogical.
This inspired ideas about an unfallen Roman empire in which Christians existed but never became dominant, and were subjected to persecutions including the possibility of death in the arena. My story was centered around the idea that a group of young people--- children of Christian parents--- were ordered to fight to the death in the arena.
The unfallen Rome of the story I named 'Kirinia' and decided it was another world, that ancient Romans had gotten to by means of a Portal (transportation gateway between worlds/locations). I got the name 'Kirinia' from the name of an obscure Roman god, Quirinius. The Romans were actually sometimes called 'Quirites' from that name. I changed the spelling to eliminate the 'q'.
The name 'Kirinia' reminded me of the 'kirin', an Asian mythological beast which played a part in a world I created called 'Erileth'. This world had 5 kingdoms which corresponded to the Asian 5 Elements (wood, fire, earth, water, metal). Each element had colors, directions, creatures, livestock, grains and the like which corresponded to it, and so I decided to use these as a basis for creating the kingdoms.
The Earth kingdom in the Center of the world had the kirin as its beast. When I consulted my Erileth binder, I saw that I had decided to base the Earth kingdom's culture on ancient Rome. That decided me on the project of merging the new story's world with that of my old Erileth/5 Elements world.
Anyway, I got to wondering: what is it about our favorite books that inspires us with more/better story ideas of our own--- the parts we do like, or the parts we don't? In YOUR experience, what inspires YOU more???
Panem, the world in which the Hunger Games takes place is a future United States, but it is also a parallel to the ancient Roman empire. With one big difference between it and its sources. In Panem, there are no Christians. Or Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Wiccans or Pagans, for that matter. I felt the lack was illogical.
This inspired ideas about an unfallen Roman empire in which Christians existed but never became dominant, and were subjected to persecutions including the possibility of death in the arena. My story was centered around the idea that a group of young people--- children of Christian parents--- were ordered to fight to the death in the arena.
The unfallen Rome of the story I named 'Kirinia' and decided it was another world, that ancient Romans had gotten to by means of a Portal (transportation gateway between worlds/locations). I got the name 'Kirinia' from the name of an obscure Roman god, Quirinius. The Romans were actually sometimes called 'Quirites' from that name. I changed the spelling to eliminate the 'q'.
The name 'Kirinia' reminded me of the 'kirin', an Asian mythological beast which played a part in a world I created called 'Erileth'. This world had 5 kingdoms which corresponded to the Asian 5 Elements (wood, fire, earth, water, metal). Each element had colors, directions, creatures, livestock, grains and the like which corresponded to it, and so I decided to use these as a basis for creating the kingdoms.
The Earth kingdom in the Center of the world had the kirin as its beast. When I consulted my Erileth binder, I saw that I had decided to base the Earth kingdom's culture on ancient Rome. That decided me on the project of merging the new story's world with that of my old Erileth/5 Elements world.
Anyway, I got to wondering: what is it about our favorite books that inspires us with more/better story ideas of our own--- the parts we do like, or the parts we don't? In YOUR experience, what inspires YOU more???
Monday, February 13, 2012
We're Missing an Opportunity: Why the Obama Healthcare Debate is not really about Religious Liberty?
Did Jesus Christ beg for religious toleration? canterbury tales blog has a thoughtful post on a topic that most don't want to actually think about.
Origins Blogfest: O Rose, thou art sick.....
When I was about 13 (about 1971), a learned doctor told me he could cure me of my extreme mental illness--- my fantasy life. I lived a good deal of the time in the worlds of my imagination where I had adventures with Batman and Robin, the crew of the starship Enterprise, and the gang at Stalag 13 from the TV show Hogan's Heroes. Sometimes the adventures mixed character-groups, as when the Enterprise was thrown back in time and a couple of crewmembers were beamed down to Stalag 13, a mythical magical place where anyone who combed his hair right and put on a fake mustache could successfully impersonate Adolf Hitler.
But this was a sickness. Experts had said so. My parents continued to send me to the therapist. I never actually tried to give up making up fantasy stories or my other odd behaviors such as obsessively reading the Bible and the Star Trek by James Blish, and obsessively re-watching television shows that fed my fantasy worlds. But, then again, the therapist never asked me to.
At some point I read the book Little Women by Louisa May Alcott--- not as a school assignment, I rarely read books assigned to me, but because I was weird enough to like old books like that. The character Jo was like me--- she made up stories--- but unlike me she wrote them down and considered herself a writer.
I liked the identity of being a writer better than that of being a mental patient. So I began to think of myself as at least a potential writer. But actually writing down stories was hard. If they stay in your head, they cannot be harshly judged and made into a subject for mockery. I had enough mockery. The neighbor kids called me Retardo as it was locally rumored that in spite of my high IQ I was mentally retarded. And my sweet loving younger brother called me Pigface.
In one of the four high schools I attended, I somehow ended up in a creative writing class. Our assignment: write an opening paragraph for a story. This is what I wrote:
"In the beginning, John created the heavens and the earth. At least, that was John's opinion. It was for that arrogance that I vowed he must die."
The teacher started the next class day reading what I had written as an example of an excellent beginning. The first confirmation that my self-identity as a writer was more than mental illness at work. I tried hard to finish that story but got stuck. Maybe if the teacher had ever talked to me as an individual, he could have helped. But none of my high school teachers ever did.
In the subsequent years my fantasy life continued. My writing-things-down life continued to be unsuccessful. Some years after college I began writing weird poems. The first kind of writing that I could finish. I sent a few of them out to publishers. My first acceptance came from a Stalinist/Communist magazine called 'Struggle'. Since I was in my Youthful Marxist phase at the time that worked out well. I got more publications but gave up sending work out in time because of the high cost of postage and of sample copies of poetry magazines.
Recently I found out that my 'mental illness' was actually undiagnosed Asperger Syndrome. I also found out that my difficulty in finishing novels and other long writing projects was not due to my essential badness/laziness, but because I have Attention Deficit Disorder.
With this knowledge, I am working on my writing in new ways. I have started writing poetry again. I've self-published a poetry book, 'Where the Opium Cactus Grows', and started a poetry blog, Opium Cactus Poetry Immersion.
In today's writing world, poetry is pretty useless--- as useless as I often feel since I had to go on disability. But I've heard some nice things about some of my poems. I gave my current therapist a copy of my poetry book and he was impressed by it. Here is a poem from the book (with audio):
jump-rope-song of the apocalypse
fallout's fallingout
allaround myhouse
nuclear missals
commonerthan thistles
radiation ratkiller
firestormthe stormcellar
radiation sickness
reallymakes adiff'rence
bodiesinthe driveway
peopledying allday
fallout's fallingout
allaround myhouse
(c) 1989-2010 Nissa Annakindt
My novel-writing I am revising to make use of the things that have worked in my poetry--- mainly writing things in shorter sections which I can handle rather than the paralyzing largeness of saying 'now I am sitting down to write A WHOLE NOVEL!!!' Will it work? I don't know. But still, I make up stories. And I write.
This blog post is part of the Origins blogfest. Please go there to visit some other participants.
A Fortnight of Mustard: Origins Blogfest: How I Decided Writing Was the Best Form of Self-Flagellation
Sunday, February 12, 2012
The Disorganized Writer: Cluttered Writing Area, Writer's Block and Asperger Syndrome
Once when I was working on background for a science fiction novel, I came up with a perfect military rank scheme for the space fleet in the story. 'Perfect' meaning 'not stolen from 'Star Trek'. I wrote it all down, put the paper in a safe place--- and forgot where that place was. I never found it in my household clutter.
For long after that whenever I worked on that particular novel I kept getting stopped by the fact that I needed the information on that lost bit of paper to get anywhere. It drove me nuts. And the novel never even got off the ground because of it.
I've also noted that I don't write much lately--- either on my WIP or blogs. It is probably NOT a coincidence that my computer desk is piled with clutter--- books, papers, notebooks, an emergency radio for blackouts, band-aid boxes.... This is not TOO surprising. My housekeeping skills are such that my place is only slightly better than those detailed on those 'Hoarder' reality shows.
There are books that help a writer organize their writing stuff. There are organizing books that help people organize their homes. Just one little problem: the writers of such books tend to presume that their readers DON'T have Asperger Syndrome. Or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Or, as in my case, both.*
Organizing strategies devised by folks who are neurotypical (normal) and who are naturally pretty well organized work well for people who are neurotypical and tend toward being organized. They don't work for folks like me.
I've read that for people with ADHD, putting something in a file cabinet is like burying it forever. And I said, yeah, that's me. Recently I looked in my file cabinet for the first time in a couple of years, and I found some stuff I had forgotten--- such as my children's story, The Dust Mouse.
I found a book which is helping me get my writing life organized in a way that works for me: Organizing Solutions for People with Attention Deficit Disorder by Susan C. Pinsky.
This is a large book with loads of color illustrations (so don't cheap out and buy the Kindle edition). I've already found some good solutions for some of my most notable problems. I very much recommend that other Disorganized Writers read the book.
One caveat, though. Don't be like the victims/subjects of those Hoarder shows who have to accept the rules laid down by the organizer/expert as Gospel. You are your own unique person and should not be governed by some rule that might not make sense to you.
An example: in 'Organizing Solutions' Miz Pinsky lays down a rule for avoiding magazine clutter--- throw out all issues of a magazine except for the current one. This may work for typical mass-market magazines. But many that I've subscribed to are on obscure topics for which books may not be widely available--- such as my livestock related magazines, which I often consulted years after the issue date as new events happened with my goats or sheep. For this type of magazine, throwing them out after the month is up makes about as much sense as throwing out your books a month or so after you buy them. So in this area, I have to make a rule for myself rather than blindly following one set by the 'expert' organizer.
Another thing to be aware of in using the book is that sometimes it seems that the book is written not for the person with ADHD, but for the parent or spouse of the person with ADHD who wants to impose an organizing system on the ADHD person. In other words, it's not the ADHD person that has to be pleased with the proposed solution, but the spouse/parent.
My life experience is that organization imposed from outside only works as long as the person imposing it is there to enforce and tend the organized routine. As an adult I want a system that works for me, myself, even if there is no mommy-figure around to order me to put things where they belong in the organizational system, or to sigh and do it for me.
Many of the strategies in 'Organizing Solutions' work for me because I'm able to adopt them as my own. And I'm ALSO keeping some of the things that I've done over the years that have worked well. I'll be sharing some of the details of these things in future blog posts--- so be warned.
This is the first post in a series called 'The Disorganized Writer' dealing with issues specific to folks with Asperger Syndrome or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or chronically disorganized writers in general.
*Actually, my therapist says that the fact that I have 100% of the symptoms of ADHD doesn't count since executive function deficit is part of Asperger Syndrome. Executive function deficit has the exact same symptoms as ADHD and is treated in the same way, when it gets treated. So I tell folks I have Asperger Syndrome AND ADHD because that way they actually know what I mean.
For long after that whenever I worked on that particular novel I kept getting stopped by the fact that I needed the information on that lost bit of paper to get anywhere. It drove me nuts. And the novel never even got off the ground because of it.
I've also noted that I don't write much lately--- either on my WIP or blogs. It is probably NOT a coincidence that my computer desk is piled with clutter--- books, papers, notebooks, an emergency radio for blackouts, band-aid boxes.... This is not TOO surprising. My housekeeping skills are such that my place is only slightly better than those detailed on those 'Hoarder' reality shows.
There are books that help a writer organize their writing stuff. There are organizing books that help people organize their homes. Just one little problem: the writers of such books tend to presume that their readers DON'T have Asperger Syndrome. Or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Or, as in my case, both.*
Organizing strategies devised by folks who are neurotypical (normal) and who are naturally pretty well organized work well for people who are neurotypical and tend toward being organized. They don't work for folks like me.
I've read that for people with ADHD, putting something in a file cabinet is like burying it forever. And I said, yeah, that's me. Recently I looked in my file cabinet for the first time in a couple of years, and I found some stuff I had forgotten--- such as my children's story, The Dust Mouse.
I found a book which is helping me get my writing life organized in a way that works for me: Organizing Solutions for People with Attention Deficit Disorder by Susan C. Pinsky.
This is a large book with loads of color illustrations (so don't cheap out and buy the Kindle edition). I've already found some good solutions for some of my most notable problems. I very much recommend that other Disorganized Writers read the book.
One caveat, though. Don't be like the victims/subjects of those Hoarder shows who have to accept the rules laid down by the organizer/expert as Gospel. You are your own unique person and should not be governed by some rule that might not make sense to you.
An example: in 'Organizing Solutions' Miz Pinsky lays down a rule for avoiding magazine clutter--- throw out all issues of a magazine except for the current one. This may work for typical mass-market magazines. But many that I've subscribed to are on obscure topics for which books may not be widely available--- such as my livestock related magazines, which I often consulted years after the issue date as new events happened with my goats or sheep. For this type of magazine, throwing them out after the month is up makes about as much sense as throwing out your books a month or so after you buy them. So in this area, I have to make a rule for myself rather than blindly following one set by the 'expert' organizer.
Another thing to be aware of in using the book is that sometimes it seems that the book is written not for the person with ADHD, but for the parent or spouse of the person with ADHD who wants to impose an organizing system on the ADHD person. In other words, it's not the ADHD person that has to be pleased with the proposed solution, but the spouse/parent.
My life experience is that organization imposed from outside only works as long as the person imposing it is there to enforce and tend the organized routine. As an adult I want a system that works for me, myself, even if there is no mommy-figure around to order me to put things where they belong in the organizational system, or to sigh and do it for me.
Many of the strategies in 'Organizing Solutions' work for me because I'm able to adopt them as my own. And I'm ALSO keeping some of the things that I've done over the years that have worked well. I'll be sharing some of the details of these things in future blog posts--- so be warned.
This is the first post in a series called 'The Disorganized Writer' dealing with issues specific to folks with Asperger Syndrome or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or chronically disorganized writers in general.
*Actually, my therapist says that the fact that I have 100% of the symptoms of ADHD doesn't count since executive function deficit is part of Asperger Syndrome. Executive function deficit has the exact same symptoms as ADHD and is treated in the same way, when it gets treated. So I tell folks I have Asperger Syndrome AND ADHD because that way they actually know what I mean.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
A different way to 'cast' your characters
Ever hear this? "Pretend your novel-in-planning is an upcoming movie and pick which actors/actresses to cast in the roles of your characters."
It never worked for me. NONE of my characters look like Johnny Depp, or Errol Flynn, or David Tennant. Or Olivia DeHavilland, Billie Piper or Lara Parker.
Besides, the way my characters look and the sound of their voices don't really matter to me. I don't want to fix them by picking some actor to mold them after.
But yesterday I thought of a different way of casting my characters. Ignore the external things like the red hair or the tentacles. Focus on the essence of the character. And pick your model from the fictional characters you know and love.
So--- Private Detective Mary can be Pam the vampire from Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Series. Her aunt Anna, a nun, can be Hermione from Harry Potter. Mary's eight year old Chuckie can be James T. Kirk from Star Trek. Her brother Arnold can be Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind.
For more complex characters, you can pick two sources, because sometimes Ralph is like Homer Simpson and sometimes he's like Lord Voldemort.
I've given examples from well-known fiction, but if you are a major Mercedes Lackey fan, pick some obscure character from the Valdemar series if that is the one that captures the essence of your character best.
The reason for this exercise is that when we conceive of a character, we often make him bland and generic. You want to start making the character come alive in your head so you can make him come alive to the reader.
So--- pick one character you are creating right now, and pick a fictional character that might capture his essence. And go from there....
It never worked for me. NONE of my characters look like Johnny Depp, or Errol Flynn, or David Tennant. Or Olivia DeHavilland, Billie Piper or Lara Parker.
Besides, the way my characters look and the sound of their voices don't really matter to me. I don't want to fix them by picking some actor to mold them after.
But yesterday I thought of a different way of casting my characters. Ignore the external things like the red hair or the tentacles. Focus on the essence of the character. And pick your model from the fictional characters you know and love.
So--- Private Detective Mary can be Pam the vampire from Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Series. Her aunt Anna, a nun, can be Hermione from Harry Potter. Mary's eight year old Chuckie can be James T. Kirk from Star Trek. Her brother Arnold can be Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind.
For more complex characters, you can pick two sources, because sometimes Ralph is like Homer Simpson and sometimes he's like Lord Voldemort.
I've given examples from well-known fiction, but if you are a major Mercedes Lackey fan, pick some obscure character from the Valdemar series if that is the one that captures the essence of your character best.
The reason for this exercise is that when we conceive of a character, we often make him bland and generic. You want to start making the character come alive in your head so you can make him come alive to the reader.
So--- pick one character you are creating right now, and pick a fictional character that might capture his essence. And go from there....
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
How to do an audio blog
I never knew how to make audio files (mp3s) on my computer until I discovered a project to read the Esperanto language translation of the Holy Bible aloud at Ken Caviness's page.
Here are the steps to get started with audio blogging:
1. Get a good headphone with microphone that plugs into your computer. Mine cost less than $30 at Walmart. I had to ask a girl that worked there to help me find it.
2. Get the free software Audacity which is an audio editor and recorder from http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
3. Play around with recording and playing back. It took me a while how to get it to 'read' the audio from my new microphone. Then I had to adjust it because it was recording my voice at very low volume, and when I raised the volume louder during playback, there was a hissing noise. But the adjustment was fairly easy.
4. Get an account at Ipernity. Ipernity provides a place to put up your audio files and pictures and such. When you upload a file, you will be able to get an embed code. You can put the embed code on your blog post, and the little audio player will appear on your post.
And that is how I audio blog. I think audio blogging is a natural for poets and writers. It's a way to give a reading to your fans/future fans from all over the world, not just in one location.
Preparing your audio blog
1. Write down the material you will be reading. (Print it out.)
2. Make sure the material is not too long. Something you can read in less than 5 minutes is great. Remember that people may not have long enough attention spans to listen to longer audio blogs. One poem (of less than epic length) or a short section from your novel is about right.
3. Practice reading it out loud several times. If there are phrases you always trip up on, repeat them over and over until you can get them smooth.
4. Record a practice run and play it back. Note any problems with the readings--- long pauses, putting the emphasis on the wrong word in a difficult phrase, speaking too fast--- and correct it in your next try.
5. After you have recorded, save it in an mp3 format. That means pressing 'export' and not 'save' in Audacity.
6. Upload your mp3 file to your ipernity page. Make sure the privacy setting is set to 'public'. Then you can use the embed code on your blog.
Have these instructions helped you? If so, be sure to put up a link to your first audioblog in this post's comment section!
Here are the steps to get started with audio blogging:
1. Get a good headphone with microphone that plugs into your computer. Mine cost less than $30 at Walmart. I had to ask a girl that worked there to help me find it.
2. Get the free software Audacity which is an audio editor and recorder from http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
3. Play around with recording and playing back. It took me a while how to get it to 'read' the audio from my new microphone. Then I had to adjust it because it was recording my voice at very low volume, and when I raised the volume louder during playback, there was a hissing noise. But the adjustment was fairly easy.
4. Get an account at Ipernity. Ipernity provides a place to put up your audio files and pictures and such. When you upload a file, you will be able to get an embed code. You can put the embed code on your blog post, and the little audio player will appear on your post.
And that is how I audio blog. I think audio blogging is a natural for poets and writers. It's a way to give a reading to your fans/future fans from all over the world, not just in one location.
Preparing your audio blog
1. Write down the material you will be reading. (Print it out.)
2. Make sure the material is not too long. Something you can read in less than 5 minutes is great. Remember that people may not have long enough attention spans to listen to longer audio blogs. One poem (of less than epic length) or a short section from your novel is about right.
3. Practice reading it out loud several times. If there are phrases you always trip up on, repeat them over and over until you can get them smooth.
4. Record a practice run and play it back. Note any problems with the readings--- long pauses, putting the emphasis on the wrong word in a difficult phrase, speaking too fast--- and correct it in your next try.
5. After you have recorded, save it in an mp3 format. That means pressing 'export' and not 'save' in Audacity.
6. Upload your mp3 file to your ipernity page. Make sure the privacy setting is set to 'public'. Then you can use the embed code on your blog.
Have these instructions helped you? If so, be sure to put up a link to your first audioblog in this post's comment section!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Audioblog: Buy! Bi! Buy! from Where the Opium Cactus Grows
Buy! Bi! Bye!
at a dealer near you
the only leading brand
recommended by more doctors and
handpicked by juan valdez
for confidence that lasts
and whiter washes
anything else is just a
no sugar added
all natural
wimpywimpywimpy
brand x
(c) 2010 Nissa Annakindt
permission to share this poem, including audio, is granted provided a link-back to this blog is provided.
What do you think of the audioblog? I had to read the poem over many times for practice before I recorded it. I'm thinking of doing more audioblogged versions of poems from 'Where the Opium Cactus Grows'.
If you are a poet or writer, what do you think of doing an audioblog of a bit of your work? It's actually quite simple to record sound on your home computer, I may explain how in a future blog post. It's kind of like giving a reading to an audience only in cyberspace instead of the real world. It's also a kindness to folks that have visual impairments or dyslexia.
I think audioblogging might be a way for author bloggers and poet bloggers to stand out a little in the blog world. What do you think?
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Opium Cactus: On the Creation of Found Poetry
a sijo
In a dismal pile are found
stray words from many sources
thrown in a blender, tortured with forks
and aged six years in wooden casks
then inscribed by persian slave
calligraphers upon the floor
(c) Nissa Annakindt
Another day, another sijo--- this one from my book 'Opium Cactus'. The topic is a totally different form of poetry--- found poetry. In the simplest form of found poetry you simply take someone else's prose words and arrange them like a poem. There was one alleged poet who came out with a whole book of 'found poems' from the words of a government spokesman he didn't care for. This type of found poetry raises for me an issue--- is it really my poem if Bill Clinton composed the words and I just arranged them to spite him?
But there is also found poetry where the poet has the work of not only finding the words/phrases but putting them together from different sources, working with them to express the poet's vision. I find this kind of found poetry very satisfying. I also use the method of finding the words/phrases as if for a found poem, but using about an equal amount of words of my own to create the final effect.
As to why I used one poem form--- the sijo--- to describe another--- the found poem--- I'm just weird that way.
Poetic prompt: write a poem about a poetic form that you like--- or one that you hate.
In a dismal pile are found
stray words from many sources
thrown in a blender, tortured with forks
and aged six years in wooden casks
then inscribed by persian slave
calligraphers upon the floor
(c) Nissa Annakindt
Another day, another sijo--- this one from my book 'Opium Cactus'. The topic is a totally different form of poetry--- found poetry. In the simplest form of found poetry you simply take someone else's prose words and arrange them like a poem. There was one alleged poet who came out with a whole book of 'found poems' from the words of a government spokesman he didn't care for. This type of found poetry raises for me an issue--- is it really my poem if Bill Clinton composed the words and I just arranged them to spite him?
But there is also found poetry where the poet has the work of not only finding the words/phrases but putting them together from different sources, working with them to express the poet's vision. I find this kind of found poetry very satisfying. I also use the method of finding the words/phrases as if for a found poem, but using about an equal amount of words of my own to create the final effect.
As to why I used one poem form--- the sijo--- to describe another--- the found poem--- I'm just weird that way.
Poetic prompt: write a poem about a poetic form that you like--- or one that you hate.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Lina Lamont gets fourth blogging award
Thanks to Amanda Borenstadt, blogger at A Fortnight of Mustard, which is one of the top condiment-related blogs on the web, for this fine award.
She got the award from Nick Wilford at Scattergun Scribblings.
Click 'read more' to find out why my cat is named Consubstantial and what I always bring to a swordfight.
The rules of the award are as follows:
1. In a post on your blog, nominate 15 fellow bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.(or 5 like Nick Wilford - he claims you will not be smited.)
2. In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.
3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.
5. In the same post, include this set of rules.
6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.
Seven Possibly True Things About Me:
1. I've had a massive crush on Tracy Quartermaine for thirty years. Alas, as she is a fictional character on General Hospital, and in addition she's married to the mad mobster Anthony Zacchara, she probably doesn't like me back. I also have crushes on the Racnoss Empress, Chantho, Captain Jack Harkness and Rose Tyler from Doctor Who, and the Crazy Cat Lady from the Simpsons.
2. I think my cat Chachamaru is pregnant for real this time. Just hope she can manage to have fewer than six kittens this time...
3. The first periodical that published a poem of mine was a Stalinist communist 'zine called 'Struggle'. This was before Al Gore invented the internet.
4. I am the one person on Earth who likes the fact that the Catholic Church has changed 'being of one substance with the Father' to 'consubstantial with the Father. I like the word 'consubstantial' so much I now have a kitten named Consubstantial, though I mostly call her Connie or 'damn you cat, get off the counter!'
5. I've always been religious. Used to be a Protestant, from 1987-2005 was a Norse Pagan, now I'm Catholic. I thought once of becoming an atheist, but I'm just too logical for it.
6. I swear too much. My late lamented dog Jadzia wouldn't come when I said 'Come here', but would if I said 'Come (effing) here'. Very embarrassing when company comes. (My current dog Mina is too smart to come when called since I usually call her when I have plans for her she doesn't care for. So when I want Mina, I call one of the cats.)
7. My rule for winning in hand-to-hand combat: Bring a sword.
Bloggers I nominate for the Versatile Blogger Award
Why these blogs? Look at them and see. Each one is here for a reason. Those who guess the reasons right win a prize. Warning: the prize is a kitten.
Julie Bihn
URL: http://kinynchronicles.blogspot.com/
Thomas Fletcher Booher
URL: http://tulipdrivenlife.blogspot.com
Shane Werlinger
URL: http://www.shanewerlinger.com
John W. Otte
URL: http://www.leastread.blogspot.com/
Fred Warren
URL: http://frederation.wordpress.com/
Epic Rat
URL: http://www.theepicrat.com/
My apologies to those worthy bloggers who didn't get included. If you have a blog that deserves recognition, please comment and tell me what it is about your blog that should earn you a blogging award. (Smart aleck answers preferred.)
Blogcrafting: 10 ways to get more comments on your blog.
Building up a blog? Ignore the cool stats feature on Blogger (or whatever your blog host gives you). The real measure of whether your blog is reaching folks is the number of comments you get.
Why is that? It's because many folks hit your blog while Googling for something else. On this blog the perennial top search term is 'david tennant naked', followed by 'anton yelchin naked', 'billie piper pregnant' and 'billie piper naked'. (But never 'billie piper naked and pregnant' or 'john barrowman pregnant' for some reason). Since my blog does NOT feature naked sci-fi celebrities except for that shirtless John Barrowman picture, most folks don't stay.
A comment means that someone has not only found your blog but has looked at it long enough to want to make a comment. This is great, even if the comment is hostile rant! Hostile rants often spur more sympathetic readers to defend you, and those readers are likely to come back for more.
How to get more comments:
I'm sure other bloggers out there have found other ways to increase their comment count. What works best on YOUR blog?
Blogging prompt: Every blogging day, choose one item from the list to increase your blog comments and do it. Go through the list. If you still don't get many comments, go through it a second time.
Welcome to my new blog follower, covnitkepr1, who blogs at AccordingtotheBook. Please check it out!
Why is that? It's because many folks hit your blog while Googling for something else. On this blog the perennial top search term is 'david tennant naked', followed by 'anton yelchin naked', 'billie piper pregnant' and 'billie piper naked'. (But never 'billie piper naked and pregnant' or 'john barrowman pregnant' for some reason). Since my blog does NOT feature naked sci-fi celebrities except for that shirtless John Barrowman picture, most folks don't stay.
A comment means that someone has not only found your blog but has looked at it long enough to want to make a comment. This is great, even if the comment is hostile rant! Hostile rants often spur more sympathetic readers to defend you, and those readers are likely to come back for more.
How to get more comments:
- Comment on other blogs, especially blogs in your niche. Comment both on the more popular blogs and on the lonely struggling blogs. And make them good comments--- not just a 'nice post' or 'interesting blog'. Mention something interesting in the blog post and react to it.
- End your blog post with a question, if only a 'what do you think?'.
- Write good blog posts of general interests. Even if it's your own author blog/book blog, it shouldn't be all about you/your book. Study articles on ProBlogger to learn how to write better blog posts.
- Join NetworkedBlogs on Facebook and publish your blog posts in your Facebook feed. This works best if you have a good number of Facebook friends. NOTE: you will get some of your blog comments on Facebook instead of your blog. This helps your blog also, so don't worry.
- Make it easy to become a follower of your blog, with the Google Friend connect widget AND one from NetworkedBlogs.
- Have good blogrolls. I have one for those who follow my blog, and my big blogroll of all the blogs I follow. They show both blog title and most recent post title. Blogger makes it easy to set up like this.
- Respond to your commenters by follow-up comments and by visiting your commenters blogs, if they have them. This helps turn your blog into a community.
- Be positive and friendly when interacting with commenters, even hostile ones. Take the high road!
- Allow for commenters of different opinion. I've seen blogs where the blog-authors forbid 'debate' in comments. This scares off a lot of commenters as they conclude you won't accept any comments other than 'I agree completely'. Remember, even hostile comments help.
- Delete comments only when needful, as in the case of blatant spam comments and comments with excessive swearing and blasphemy, death threats or the like. I've also reserve the right to delete comments with personal attacks on me that I just can't handle at the moment, but if you are thicker-skinned, I'd recommend against that. Remember, comments are good!
I'm sure other bloggers out there have found other ways to increase their comment count. What works best on YOUR blog?
Blogging prompt: Every blogging day, choose one item from the list to increase your blog comments and do it. Go through the list. If you still don't get many comments, go through it a second time.
Welcome to my new blog follower, covnitkepr1, who blogs at AccordingtotheBook. Please check it out!
Opium Cactus: catpoem/claudius (with audio)
To my cat Claudius
there is a military force
at the nervous crane.
(c) Nissa Annakindt
NOTE: Poem from my book Opium Cactus.
If modern poetry is drawing words out of a hat, this is the high-tech equivalent--- a Babelfish poem. Babelfish poems are created by writing an ordinary sentence, translating it into an exotic language (Asian languages work best) using Babelfish. You then cut-and-paste the Babelfish translation back into the Babelfish window, and re-translate it back to English. Or some other language. You use the resulting word-salad as source material for your poem.
'catpoem/claudius' came to be when I wrote the sentence 'My cat Claudius has a neurological disorder' and translated into-out of Korean using Babelfish. The translation it spat back is exactly what you see here, I only had to arrange it into haiku form.
My cat Claudius, by the way, was the best cat ever invented. He had a neurological condition and walked crooked and stumbled a lot. The vet advised me to let him live in the house. When the house cat Cheney had kittens, Claudius managed to stumble into the kitten basket and became the official kitten-sitter. One of the kittens, Germanicus, became his best buddy for life. Both Claudius and Germanicus died, I believe from drinking some antifreeze from a bottle that was cracked.
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| Claudius as a kitten |
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