Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Wednesday Scramble

Thursday's Guest

My interview with Joyce Elson Moore, author of historical fiction, is on the schedule for tomorrow. And Joyce is giving away a $15.00 gift certificate to one lucky commenter toward the purchase of glass art jewelry and accessories, pictured in the post. Be sure to drop by.


Critique Groups and Other Busyness

I'm up to my eyeballs in critiques this week. My regular group meets tonight, and the new group I've started for Northern Colorado Writers meets tomorrow night.

Last night I attended the artist's reception at the NCW Studio. NCW has a different artist's work displayed every two months.

Today I'm (wo)maning the studio from 9-12. Tomorrow afternoon I have a meeting with the editorial committee for the Senior Center's Mountain Scribe Anthology, published every other year.

Friday is my day to work on the Kindle etal project.

This weekend, it's going to be all about writing and reading and relaxing. At least, that's the plan.


E-Publishing at The Blood-Red Pencil

Don't forget about the e-publishing series running at BRP through next week. You'll find lots of good information and links and comments.


What I'm Reading

I'm still plugging away at State of Fear by Michael Crichton. This novel is about the global warming "controversy" and is full of information dumps, footnotes, and an opinion piece at the end that tells us where Michael Crichton stood on the issues. Yes, I checked out the attached materials first to get a feel for the authors POV.

The novel is slow reading, especially if you actually pay attention to the charts and statistics, but it's fascinating. If you have an interest in the the science or politics of climate change and an open mind, you'll probably find State of Fear a good read.


Alvin Toffler Said:

"Future shock . . . the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time."
---------------Future Shock [1970], Introduction

How many of you read Future Shock when it was first published? Or more recently (since some of you weren't even born yet in 1970)? Any thoughts about Toffler's ideas? Do you think we've become accustomed to rapid change?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Patricia - You are having a busy week! I always learn from my beta readers and other critiquers, and I'm glad you have a resource like that for your own writing.

I'll be interested to see what you think of the Crichton book when you've finished.

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

I can't keep pace with you Patricia, always on the go, enjoyed your post as always.

Have a good day.
Yvonne.

N. R. Williams said...

You are so busy. I can't imagine trying to juggle all that. However, a great deal of my time is taking care of others. So, I guess I'm busy too.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

Patricia Stoltey said...

Margot -- I can already tell you one thing -- State of Fear is a first class info dump -- without the documentation, the book would probably be half as long as it is. Of course, it also wouldn't be a interesting.

Hi Yvonne -- I'm looking forward to a nice long spell of few activities and lots of writing. I thought that would start Nov. 1st...oh, well, we'll try for Nov. 22nd.

Nancy, taking care of others is what we do. I had quite a few years of care giving, even after my kids were on their own. It was hard and exhausting. I'm just glad I was young and strong enough to deal with the challenges at the time. It all makes my present-day busyness seem like a cakewalk.

Terry Odell said...

I read Crichton's book (but I skip over the footnotes and references--that's Hubster's domain.)

I'm thinking I read Future Shock, but I have very little recollection of anything much earlier than this morning's breakfast these days. I should go check it out again.


Terry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist--of Mystery

Patricia Stoltey said...

I'm going to reread Future Shock, Terry. Could be very interesting considering the pace of change today compared with the 60s and 70s.

Unknown said...

I got tired just reading about all the chores on your plate.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Hi Kay -- Yeah, I gotta slow down so I can get some writing done. :)

Anonymous said...

I think we just try to live with rapid change. I'm glad I'm not in the thick of things in my life at this point. It's sometimes too overwhelming to even read the news!! I never did read Future Shock. I heard lots about it. Maybe I'll try it now.

You ARE a busy woman, but what fun! Yes, the weekend for reading, writing, relaxing. I hope this happens for you!

Unknown said...

Some great stuff to come! Can't wait. I'll check out the links.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Ann -- Me, too.

Hi Clarissa. The Blood-Red Pencil series is really interesting so far. Lots of information there, including in the comments.

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

Hi Patricia,

I love it that you are so into the arts community. I think art is really my first love because I can never really let it go! We have an open house second Friday every month at Petersburg Regional Arts Center and I look forward to seeing the artists there.

You mentioned Kindle etal project. What is that?

Good luck with your many project--what a community dynamo!

Monti
NotesAlongTheWay

Talli Roland said...

You've a lot on the go!

I'm really enjoying Blood Red's ebook posts this week.

Good luck with the critiques!

Patricia Stoltey said...

Sorry for neglecting your question, Monti. What I meant by Kindle etal was Kindle, Nook, I-whatever, Sony, etc. I was being lazy.