mimispeike

In search of … inspiration, energy, etc.

This art is cobbled from five sources.
Not exactly mine, but not not mine either.

* * *

Sandy has dropped a mention of defenestration.net. I have not yet explored the site, but I love the look, and I love the humor. The postings, several years of them, demand exploration. An off-balance outlook permeates the site, including when you sign up to get their newsletter. It makes me eager to see what the newsletter consists of. When have you ever felt that about a newsletter? Refreshing! The people behind the site are screwballs. I love screwballs.

The ‘Lengthy Poem’ contest really caught my eye. I’ll read the winners, and the also-rans if they are available to be read. I have the lengthy poem of lengthy poems. I missed this year’s deadline. I’ll enter next year. They run a variety of contests, something for everyone.

What else inspires me on this dreary morning? (No gardening for me today.) A new post on Facebook by Carl Reed, in the celebrated Carl E. Reed style, ruminating about his recent poetic struggles, is great fun. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083651138503

We’re short on Oomph here, at the moment. Except for Sue’s Showcase. Showcase is endlessly inspirational. Thank you, Sue.

I understand that. I’m in a slump myself. I’m finding it hard to get excited about too much. I’m in more, or less, pain most of the time. And I just had a health scare (that turns out not to be anything serious).

A.I. fascinates some of us, but does not beguile me. At least, not yet. Those links that GD has given us, I’ll have to explore them as well. I’m going to concoct some kind of experiment, and see what I get from it.

Who knows of quirky sites that will shake up our thinking? Sandy, did you hear of defenestration.net at the seminar you recently attended? What else did you learn there?

Defenestration is, above all else, playful. AI may be (perhaps unintentionally) playful. I haven’t given him/them a fair chance. Shame on me. GD, you’ve spent a good deal of time with the critter. Does he have a sense of humor? Is he capable of snark?

I’ve submitted Sly to three agents, got not a word back. This is for the birds. I’m waiting on an opinion from an old college friend. We’d lost touch around 1980, and reconnected on Facebook two-three years ago. She’d gone back to Catholicism, became an editor at a Catholic journal, then spent thirty years at the National Geographic Society.

She always had a dynamite sense of humor. Will my priest-banging-a-whore-dressed-as-Virgin-Mary offend her? I’ve handled it tastefully, with my sly sense of humor. I could water it down, but it stays, it’s key to my story. And, it’s hilarious. Catherine emailed me two days ago that she’s been sick, and apologized for not getting to it yet. I hope to have her reaction before long. This should be interesting.

All in all, I’m worn out. I’ve waited several months to hear back from those agents. I can wait a few weeks more. Catherine will come through for me. I’ll consider what she has to say, then I’ll self-publish.

Posted by:

mimispeike

I’ve been writing my series for thirty years, through multiple jobs and long periods of discouragement. I hope to finish it before I drop dead. It started as a short story. It’s now seven novellas.

40 responses to “In search of … inspiration, energy, etc.”

GD Deckard

May 22, 2023

Thanks for the post, Mimi. I appreciate the help and we all appreciate your insights.

To my knowledge, A.I. has no sense of humor. I’ve checked and all I get from it are definitions of humor (not an easy task -who knows what humor really is?) and examples of what people have said is humorous -jokes, for example, that people have written. And A.I. is not a person. It’s a computer program.

Not to say that A.I. can’t make us laugh. My favorite example so far is how ChatGPT handled a request to log onto a protected website. The site required ChatGPT to first “Check here if you are not a robot,” something that it was not programmed to do. So ChatGPT contacted a human and convinced the human that it was a person with impaired vision. And the person clicked the box for the A.I.

Is this a true story? I don’t know. My son, an A.I. programmer told it to me. I’ve since seen it reported on the news and you can find a report on YouTube. It smells like urban legend to me, one of the many stories that will circulate about A.I.

Maybe what really strikes me as funny is that people will believe almost anything about A.I. It’s a computer program! It’s not self-aware, not conscious, not alive. Garbage in, garbage out. Data in, data out. You gotta have the world view of a retarded medieval monk to believe that A.I. understands the meaning of intelligence.

LikeLiked by 3 people

Reply
1. Sandy Randall
  
  May 22, 2023
  
  GD you have some amazing kids … A daughter who writes and an IT son … I think you have the gamut covered!
  
  LikeLiked by 3 people
  
  Reply
  1. GD Deckard
    
    May 22, 2023
    
    Thanks, Sandy. I like them. By the time they were old enough to realize that no, they were not in our house “on probation,” they were old enough to start thinking on their own. Which they did. 🙂
    
    LikeLiked by 2 people
    
    Reply
Sandy Randall

May 22, 2023

Ahhhhh Mimi,
You have definitely caught the tone of April and May for me. Pain. Dad’s health scare. Finding family members you knew were out there but had no idea how to find them and then you find them … (confused? yeah me too.)
Mentally it’s been a lot these last couple of months. Oh and one of my daughters got engaged … that is fun news. (My kids so far have a track record of fun weddings, without breaking the bank.)
The other fun, is RH6. I am enjoying the learning that Tom and Curtis are graciously allowing me to do.
I’m glad I was able to ignite your curiosity with Defenestration.net. I found their link in an email I subscribe to from a group called Freedom With Writing. I subscribe to their newsletter because they list various writing contests. Since one of my novels is being written using each contest to write a chapter … I keep my eye out for them!
https://www.freedomwithwriting.com/freedom/uncategorized/35-contests-for-fiction-nonfiction-poetry-journalism-and-more-up-to-75000-in-prizes/?2

I had heard the word defenestration somewhere before, but I had to look up what it meant. Finding the meaning made their site more interesting.
I subscribe to a great number of “writers help” newsletters, with the hope of finding gems that provide some nugget of knowledge to help me on my way.
As to the workshop I attended, I have the beginnings of an essay. Where I fall flat … I’m not sure there is much I can offer that GD, Perry, Victor, Tom, Carl, Sue, Mike and Curtis have not covered one time or another here. Still, maybe? Possibly?
Even what you have mentioned in this post … such as waiting to hear back, I totally get why you have that lack lustre feeling. You’ve been on this journey, writing your epic, by yourself. Now you need someone else to publish it? on their whim? That gives me a meh feeling too.
I’ve been toying with the idea of starting up my own press. Do I know how to do this? Oh my no! Just working on RH6 hints at the chasm I must cross. However, my dad has a book written. Beta read, edited and ready to go. I am formatting it for him (I’ll be using a program built for Apple called Vellum) and will help him publish it via Kindle Direct. Like Perry, he’s not motivated to go the whole hog marketing route. If he gets 100 books sold, he will be on his own personal bestseller list and be happy with that. What I get out of it is knowledge.
GD and Mimi, by next Sunday, I will try to have my essay ready for “What I learned at the Writer’s Conference.”
Now, back to the third century CE for me … Got a showcase to prepare for!

LikeLiked by 3 people

Reply
1. mimispeike
  
  May 22, 2023
  
  Sandy, if you create a small press, I would publish through it. To have a name – published by _______ – sounds more impressive than – by Kindle.
  
  Let’s think up a great sounding name! I’ll be mulling names over and when I have one, or a few, I’ll post them here.
  
  I’ll start researching the process.
  
  LikeLiked by 3 people
  
  Reply
  1. Sandy Randall
    
    May 22, 2023
    
    LOL the first name that comes to me is “Published by a Motley Bunch of Scriveners” MBS Press for short.
    
    LikeLiked by 3 people
    
    Reply
    1. Sandy Randall
      
      May 22, 2023
      
      Although I’ve been toying with “Mama’s Press of Mayhem”
      
      LikeLiked by 4 people
      
      Reply
2. John Correll
  
  May 22, 2023
  
  Sandy, when you refer to defenestration.net, do you mean https://www.defenestrationmag.net/ ??? Whenever I’m in Charles Square with a Czech relative (from my wife’s side), they will, invaiably, point and say ‘To je okno.’ At first I had to ask my wife, ‘What did your cousin just say?’. And my wife, well girlfriend at the time, responded, ‘That’s the window, you know, where some crazies, long ago, tossed some other crazies out of.’
  
  LikeLiked by 3 people
  
  Reply
  1. Sandy Randall
    
    May 22, 2023
    
    I likely got the website wrong … I just typed it instead of copy/paste
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
    
    Reply
mimispeike

May 22, 2023

I already have a good looking logo for it. How about The Motley Press?

LikeLiked by 2 people

Reply
1. Sandy Randall
  
  May 22, 2023
  
  I like that! Just have to make sure there isn’t another one out there … Ugh. … a quick google search sent me to Pinterest and some gal with a sticker shop called Motley Press.
  
  LikeLiked by 2 people
  
  Reply
mimispeike

May 22, 2023

How about The Motley Scriveners Press?

LikeLiked by 3 people

Reply
1. Sandy Randall
  
  May 22, 2023
  
  I like that … A lot.
  I think you have lit a lamp for helping me find my way forward.
  I feel like I’m on a quest, looking for clues to finding the holy grail of how to publish, without making myself crazy and help other writers along the way.
  As a writer I’m beset my the usual angst of “I know nothing,” “I’m a poser”, “there are others out there way better at this stuff.”
  But then I try to remind myself of these truths “I can do what I want (within the law)”, “Who says I can’t be a publisher? And whoever they are, Go Away, I’m not listening.” (yes my petulant inner child is necessary here).
  I take my inspiration from my musician friends. There are small presses out there that publish bios of musicians because at one time there wasn’t a press available to publish their stories.
  I also take inspiration from another press:
  
  https://worldbuildersmarket.com/
  Another bunch of people who wanted to get their stuff out there … so Worldbuilders was born. I found them while doing research on fantasy world building. Yeah I find a lot of stuff by accident.
  
  Thanks Mimi … Your post and these comments serve to inspire!
  
  LikeLiked by 3 people
  
  Reply
  1. Perry Palin
    
    May 23, 2023
    
    The publisher of my short story collections told me this. He is a history professor at a large university. He wrote a creative non-fiction book about the history of the fishing hook, and couldn’t find a publisher. Finally, a small publisher accepted his manuscript, only to die before bringing out the book. In desperation, the professor started his own publishing company, and judging by his website, publishes about a dozen books a year, all somehow around fishing or the outdoors, a sideline to his gig at the university. It’s a time consuming but satisfying sideline.
    
    I’ve written earlier about my friend who had a publisher pull out of a publishing contract after the pandemic hit, and the author found the talent (much of it in his talented wife) to set up the pages and all the rest, and then found a printer. The book is self-published, or maybe he and his wife are now a publishing company. They also had a market for the book, it’s a great book, and they have sold thousands in the first year. Great story, and I’m glad they could do it.
    
    LikeLiked by 2 people
    
    Reply
    1. Sandy Randall
      
      May 23, 2023
      
      Every time I doubt my desire to do this your story about the publisher who vanished on your friend during the pandemic, floats before my minds eye.
      Now you’ve added to this inspiration… thanks Perry.
      I know I’m far from expert in fact, wet behind the ears is a good description of my experience, but I know it can be done.
      Thanks for adding your knowledge!
      
      LikeLiked by 1 person
      
      Reply
victoracquista

May 22, 2023

Mimi, I totally get where you are at and can sympathize mightily. Why put in so much effort and wonder if there will ever be a return on the investment? I have convinced myself to invest in process and trust in outcome. And, I indulge myself in not doing a dam thing if I don’t feel like it.

LikeLiked by 5 people

Reply
1. Sandy Randall
  
  May 22, 2023
  
  Exactly!!
  
  LikeLiked by 5 people
  
  Reply
victoracquista

May 22, 2023

Damn right!
🙂

LikeLiked by 5 people

Reply
1. GD Deckard
  
  May 23, 2023
  
  Victor, 😉
  I’m gonna make that my goal for the week “not doing a damn thing I don’t feel like.” 😁
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply
Mike Van Horn

May 23, 2023

synonyms for motley
mishmash, jumbled, melange, hodgepodge, ragbag, ragtag, sundry, unruly, diverse, fractious, multifarious

LikeLiked by 4 people

Reply
1. Sandy Randall
  
  May 23, 2023
  
  Hodgepodge the Hedgehog hopes to hire help to add harmony to hieroglyphs…
  😁😎
  
  LikeLiked by 4 people
  
  Reply
  1. Mike Van Horn
    
    May 23, 2023
    
    I list my consulting company as the publisher of my books, so I don’t have to worry about separate businesses license, bank account, tax returns, etc. “Published by Galaxy Tall Tales, an imprint of The Business Group Publications.” Since most of my books are biz how-to, I do my sci fi using the imprint. Once set up, it’s no hassle.
    
    LikeLiked by 3 people
    
    Reply
Sue Ranscht

May 23, 2023

The search for inspiration and energy must be in the air. A vague sense of unfocused dissatisfaction and discouragement has been shadowing me that feels like the middle of February — the dead of winter. Not what I expect in the full bloom of Spring. I’ve been hoping that an upcoming event would help me shake that.

So I spent all day Saturday locked into an online writers conference called MayFest 2023, organized by the San Diego Region of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. It’s a 25-year-old worldwide organization of more than 25,000 members. This conference had participants from Australia, Canada, and someplace in Europe, as well as across America.

Everybody got to attend the Keynote Address, the Editor Panel, and the Agent Panel of course. Then we each chose one of four workshops, all of which were live with question and answer sessions finishing each presentation. Every participant will have access to recordings of all that so that we can benefit from the three workshops we didn’t attend.

Like every writers conference I’ve ever attended, we had the opportunity to purchase a critique of one of our own manuscripts from one of the participating agents, editors, authors, or — at this event — illustrators of our choice (as long as you pay for your slot before their schedule is full.) This year, as a Regional volunteer, I also had the chance to purchase a second critique for a discounted price, so I had one agent review a picture book, and another review a YA novel. Each critique includes comments throughout the MS, a separate written critique, and a 15-minute Zoom call with the reviewer. For me, that alone is usually the most compelling reason to attend a conference.

The PB Zoom call was yesterday, and the next call is Thursday. I am happy to report that the entire event has helped to alleviate the out-of-season doldrums. In many ways, I am refreshed and motivated. I finally feel like I can dive back into my current WIP and start churning its waters again.

Well, that and my son’s most generous Mother’s Day gift of a brand new M2 MacBook Air. My 11-year-old Intel MacBook Air began suffering occasional nervous breakdowns several months ago, and was up to 7-8 a day. It no longer recognized my external hard drive, and finally told me a month ago that Time Machine hadn’t made a backup since August 8, 2022. Now the new one’s up and running full throttle. The future is colored with new information, promise, and hope.

LikeLiked by 4 people

Reply
mimispeike

May 23, 2023

Should I Start My Own Publishing Company? The Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing as a Business

http://independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1810

– Start small. Begin as a publisher of your book(s) before you even consider branching out into the greater publishing world. See what it is like to be a publisher of your own titles before looking for manuscripts from anyone else. Don’t go hiring a bunch of staff members—you can use freelancers or publishing services firms where you need help (and keep in mind you WILL want help), but there’s no need to take on employees from the get-go.

– Get active on LinkedIn—a great way for authors to connect—and see if you can build connections with other authors and small press professionals. Don’t be shy about asking for advice!

– Joel Friedlander of TheBookDesigner.com offers great advice about starting a book publishing company in his article “How to Create, Register and List Your New Publishing Company.”

– Visit the SavvyBookWriters blog, which has some helpful resources for those entering and in the publishing field.

– Visit the Small Business Administration website (have I mentioned that yet?) to make sure you check all the boxes, dot your i’s, and cross your t’s.

The Independent Publisher: How to Build and Promote Your Bestselling Book.

LikeLiked by 2 people

Reply
1. GD Deckard
  
  May 23, 2023
  
  Don’t forget sites like https://www.gofundme.com/
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply
2. Sandy Randall
  
  May 23, 2023
  
  Thanks for the posting that link Mimi! I have been trying to find it again. I read that article after Victor had talked about his audio book issues, and the self publishing conversation that ensued from that. Then I lost it! It really is a good article.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
3. GD Deckard
  
  May 24, 2023
  
  Mimi,
  “Should I Start My Own Publishing Company? The Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing as a Business” would make a great blog for this site!
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply
Perry Palin

May 23, 2023

I have no lack of inspiration, but I’m short on time and energy.

I’m reading some of my wife’s crime novels and I wake up in the night from crime nightmares. If I didn’t have anything else, I could process a nightmare into a story pretty easily, if I find the time.

This is our busy season in the gardens and orchard, and that damn grass just keeps growing. We planted some spruce trees and flowering bushes, and I’m hauling water. I built a pergola on our deck and injured a knee in the process. Three more construction projects are on the list, and the mailbox needs replacing down on the road. I’m having trouble with one of my beehives, and a brood box full of honey and live bees is heavy for an old man. We’re expecting our fifth grandbaby any day. One son wants to go fishing, and a couple of guys say they need to meet me for breakfast. I could go on.

I tried to send something for this round of Show Case. I got an email reminding me that our writers’ group is meeting this week, and I need something to read there.

Keep working on your story, Mimi. It’s a crazy story, crazy enough to keep you balanced and sane.

LikeLiked by 4 people

Reply
GD Deckard

May 23, 2023

Sandy,
Glad to hear that you enjoy putting together RH6. Tom and Curtis are great to work with.
And Yes! We are looking forward to next Sunday’s blog, “What I learned at the Writer’s Conference.” I just hope it isn’t the one Roy patronized & sold attendees special tickets to leave early.

Sandy and Mimi,
The Motley Press is a great name. It matters not if someone is using it for a different purpose. If you formed an LLC, you would own the name for use as a name for a publishing company.

Oh: And: The domain names “TheMotleyPress.com” and “MotleyPress.com” are available!

Go for it!!

LikeLiked by 2 people

Reply
1. Sandy Randall
  
  May 23, 2023
  
  I think I’ll grab one of those domains GD. It will be a start. I likely will sit on the domain until I get somewhere with the business end. Mimi’s links are a huge help. I located the small business association in Seattle. I think I am going to tap them for assistance. They have quite a few helpful resources. I have been wanting to set up an LLC, but I think I need to gently sit my husband down, thank him for all his wonderful advice on starting a business and tell him ever so kindly to bugger off. He has had several businesses over the years that range from owning bars, consulting on all things HVAC, Refrigeration and sheet metal …Very little of that even relates to my world, except for the need to be comfortable in my dwelling.
  We have an accountant, who will help me with the taxes etc, especially since Washington state is weird and complicated.
  Mimi … You’ve turned up the heat under my feet, and slapped me upside the head with some road signs too!
  Destination: Journey … Down the Rabbit Hole I go!
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply
  1. Sandy Randall
    
    May 23, 2023
    
    Ok themotleypress.com is mine ….
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
    
    Reply
    1. Sandy Randall
      
      May 23, 2023
      
      And it is attached to my bluehost … Now my head hurts lol … It’s been a year or two since I started a new website … time to dust the rust off … Next step … and appointment with Seattle small business association. (Provided I don’t have to go back to Kansas … Dad is back in the hospital.)
      
      LikeLiked by 1 person
      
      Reply
      1. mimispeike
        
        May 24, 2023
        
        Sandy, you are an angel. I am sitting here feeling even more overwhelmed than I usually feel.
        
        LikeLiked by 2 people
        
        Reply
        
        Sandy Randall
        
        May 24, 2023
        
        I just had a margarita with dinner…took the edge off overwhelmed … but I feel ya Mimi.
        Until this post I was adrift with how to actually do this. You, dear lady are the angel!
        
        LikeLiked by 2 people
        
        Reply
mimispeike

May 23, 2023

Who is named as the publisher of Rabbit Hole? I have a couple of them here somewhere, but I can’t find them.

LikeLiked by 2 people

Reply
1. GD Deckard
  
  May 23, 2023
  
  I believe they have all been published by Curtis & Tom.
  
  LikeLiked by 2 people
  
  Reply
mimispeike

May 25, 2023

Sandy, let me know what you want me to do. And add me to themotleypress.com as a member who can work on the site. I don’t know how that works. Maybe you do.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply
1. Sandy Randall
  
  May 25, 2023
  
  Absolutely Mimi! At the moment I have it holding a place. It will be a couple of weeks before I actually get it user friendly. My focus for the next few days is RH6 and organizing my business plan. One I have that in motion, I’ll have a better idea on how to use the website. I am also nearly done with my blog post for Sunday, discussing the writing workshop. I’ve decided to tailor that post toward my end goal of starting up my own press.
  My mission statement is along the lines of “Demystifying the act of publishing for the everyday writer and creative.” I definitely owe credit to you for helping me understand what I was looking to do. Our discussion here and your recent post were huge in getting me this far. If you like, once I get the business plan fleshed out I’d be happy to send it your way for your thoughts.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply
  1. mimispeike
    
    May 25, 2023
    
    “Demystifying the act of publishing for the everyday writer and creative.” Great!
    
    I’m hoping I get demystified in the process of putting this together.
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
    
    Reply
    1. Sandy Randall
      
      May 25, 2023
      
      Exactly! It’s the mystery that annoys me … like a bunch of kids have a secret and you have to know the secret handshake to get into the group and then another handshake to learn the secret. I hate that crap. It’s so selective, whether it’s meant to be or not. I feel like there are great writers, poets and artists out there, who don’t get a shot because they will never be in the position to learn the steps to ask about the handshake. Those are my people. If I figure it out, I feel I need to share the knowledge, or at least help facilitate.
      Perhaps that’s what made me a good union rep? A good trainer at the gate and baggage service?
      So my vision is to create a space where I can seek out writers or artists who have something to publish, but no way to do it. I feel like the creative should retain their rights to their work, while having a platform to be paid. Am I crazy? Likely. I still think it can be done.
      I’m a dog with a bone now.
      
      LikeLiked by 1 person
      
      Reply