Wednesday, April 25, 2012

In Brief: Don't Worry


A friend of mine posted this photo with the explanation that she was trying to install Windows 7 and cursing and screaming at her computer.

This was her dog's response.

A someone who is cursing and screaming at her computer because her characters aren't cooperating with her desires for rewrites, this was a nice reminder for me that sometimes the best thing to do is just to relax and love.

Silly humans.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Are Blogs a Thing of the Past?

So last Thursday, Jessica Faust over at Bookends, LLC announced that Bookends will be disbanding  daily posting (and posting little, if at all). I'm sad to see them go—I find that I refer others to them frequently for discussions of how to sub a book that's been subbed, how to talk to an agent if you've already had an agent, and lots of other things that some agent blogs don't address.

Jessica said an interesting thing in her post, however:

It doesn't seem like blogs have as much "power" as they used to, especially with the ease and speed of sources like Twitter and Facebook. Most important, however, I don't have the passion for the blog that I once did. While I will surely miss hearing from the authors I've learned so much from, I think I will find other ways to interact.
It's an interesting question. Have blogs lost their "power" in the face of speedier sources? I know that I tend toward Twitter, but that, as far as I'm concerned, is a personal preference, mostly due to my time. And that and it's a lot easier to connect to people in 140 characters than on a blog. I'm nothing if not a verbose person and twitter keeps me down to earth.

On the other hand, could that be a sign of the times? It's faster to tweet than to blog, so perhaps my preference is exactly the same as others. 

There's something refreshing about stretching out for a full post, being able to better extol the benefits of something you've enjoyed (like Bookends' blog) and get a chance to talk to others about it. So I like to have that room, also, even if a lot of the time you'll also find me in 140-character bites on twitter. (@jsschley, if you wish.)

What do you think? Are blogs a thing of the past? (And, by extension, are all of us on-submission authors wasting our time cultivating them?) Do "faster" social media take precedence over blogging in this day and age?

And whether blogs are passe or not, I will certainly mourn the passing of this one. Thanks for all your time, Jessica and Bookends. It's been a great ride.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Play Your Game

I don't usually watch the PGA.

When I was growing up, the golf tournaments were always my father's purview. I'd get to watch cartoons in the morning, and then the TV would be commandeered for these four-hour marathon events of golf tournaments. So when I was home this weekend, I was none too surprised to find that while I was writing and fixing viruses on my parents' computer, the Master's was on.

But this time, I picked it up on about round three, when Phil Mickelson had an unbelievable afternoon that put him squarely in the lead. So I was pulling for him to have a fourth green jacket, because although I don't follow the PGA, I do know who Phil Mickelson is. But in round four, this other guy I'd never heard of came to the fore, going from fifth, to fourth, to third, to second...and finally winning on the second hole of sudden-death shootout.

His name is Bubba Watson.

And he's never had a golf lesson in his life.

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