Showing posts with label YAtM. Show all posts
Updatey type things
- Much stuff happened this weekend, but none of it involved getting a new vehicle. Looks like I’m homebound for another week.
- If you haven’t been over to my new blog lately, you should go by and check it out. The latest post is a guest article from my blog buddy (and published author) Sarah Stockton, who gives advice on how to work through negative messages.
- My oldest went to her first school dance. 6th grade seems a little young, but they treated it as a sort of masquerade, with prizes for the best costumes. She wore a fancy dress and a boa and big, blingy sunglasses and went as a starlet. I made her hair into a Veronica Lake and let her wear eyeliner and red lipstick. She got so many compliments that now she expects to be able to wear eyeliner every day. Um, no.
- Our kitty cat disappeared Thursday, and we found her on Saturday—in a hollow log where she had died. Getting her out of the log took some doing, but finally we buried her in the pet cemetery with Marmalade and Slippers. I was glad we at least knew what had happened to her, but I’m sad that we put her at risk by adopting her as a kitten. I thought the curse of the Yard of Death was over, but apparently not.
- My latest obsession is personality typing.
- I haven’t felt much like Internetting, but a lot like writing. All my creative energy is going to the new blog and the new novel, and I have very little to spend on others’ blogs, so I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m a little spare in my commenting.
A new blog
My little experiment with You Are the Muse on Thursdays hasn’t really worked. Originally I thought YAtM needed its own space, but I was too afraid to give that level of commitment when I didn’t even know if I could sustain it for a long period of time, so I left it here to see how I would do. Several weeks later, YAtM grew legs and walked out into the world.
I’m happy to announce my new blog, You Are the Muse. I’ve moved the YAtM posts from here to there and added a couple since, while I waited for the right time to tell you about it. Everything about this is different from anything I’ve ever tried before. It might not be an original concept, might not even be very important in the grand scheme of things. It might not turn into anything at all, ever, just me pissin’ in the wind here. (Hard for a lady, but not impossible. ;) I might not ever finish, but it’s asking me to begin.
I tried to box it in here where I’m comfortable but it never felt right, so now I’m trying to let it go where it wants, without a plan or even a destination. There may be many changes in the early days while I adjust course. I have a feeling I won’t be able to see the turns until I’m right upon them.
It’s funny how a blog about finding the muse within oneself seems to be coming from the outside. It might be the only way my subconscious can get around my inability to promote myself. I mean, who am I to tell other people what they should value? Am I really so audacious as to think I might make something out of this? Really? I can only do it if it’s not me doing it, that’s what I think.
And so I ask for your help on behalf of this-thing-that-is-not-me.
Here’s what I need, and you may do any of these or all, whatever you feel comfortable with. I understand you might not be interested in the subject of the new blog, but your friends might be. Anything will help.
- On Twitter: Follow YAtM on Twitter, and if you feel so moved, give a #FF shout-out
- On Facebook: “Like” the new YAtM Facebook page and share with your friends. I’ll be suggesting the page to my friends, to make it easier. Subscribe to YAtM with a FB app called Networked Blogs. It’s a safe subscription service, with no spam whatsoever. Very unobtrusive. I’ll also be sending invites for that.
- On your blog: If you think your readers will be interested, give YAtM a mention and/or put it in your blogroll. I’ll return the favor. I invite you to write your own post about creativity or the muse and tag it with You Are the Muse, or send it to me as a guest post, or both. I have two lined up, but would love more.
I think that’s a good start.
I imagine I will still post here with news of my life, but I might be a bit busy with YAtM for a little while. I would be EXTRASPECIALLY HAPPY, NO LIE, to hear your suggestions for features or improvements. This is a project for all, not just for me.
Thanks for all your support.
What would make you change course?
Or maybe you haven’t noticed that my schedule is now Mondays and Thursdays and so you weren’t waiting for my post. In that case, disregard the first paragraph. And this one. Oh hell, just stop reading right here.
Please don't go.
I’m still getting used to my new laptop. It’s a teensy bit annoying that the keyboard and mousepad are squished over to the left to make room for the 10-key pad, but it’s a small price to pay to have that. Plus when I had to get something off my old laptop, whose mousepad is firmly centered, I kept having to correct the alignment of my hands, so I guess I’m assimilating the new layout. I’m still having trouble with the ancillary keys like delete and pg up/down, and it looks like I’ll have to make a concerted effort to memorize those.
Like I said, people, small price to pay. Can I get an amen?
I bought this laptop for greater portability, as my old one is made for viewing movies and not for carrying. The inconvenience of the keyboard is worth the 4-lb difference in weight, especially since I have a fantastic wireless keyboard for any serious writing sessions. Which is ironic, since I think I may be done with the path of career novelist.
So that brings me to the topic of the first real You Are the Muse post planned for Thursday, and questions for you. No matter how we plan, there’s so much we can’t control anytime we reach for a goal. What if we’re so obsessed with that goal we refuse to see our true calling? How can we tell when we need to change paths? What would it take for you to abandon your current guiding star and navigate by another?
