It’s been nine days since the Christchurch earthquake.
We are still in a state of emergency but now the NZ media are including in their bulletins other news from around the country and the world.
Daily life in the rest of the country is getting back to normal but the pain is still there under the surface. The people you meet on the street this week don’t look as if someone has kicked out their stomach.
The whole country has rallied around various fund raising efforts as the death toll rises higher and the tally of buildings that are, or need to be, demolished grows. We are all more aware of the ground beneath us, the power and randomness of Nature and the need to acknowledge that, there by the grace of God, you have been spared the worst.
Wellington, where I am based, sits on two fault lines and we get rumblings beneath our feet all the time. We had a nice little (4.5) jolt on Tuesday night to get the heart racing. We would like to think we are prepared at all times for a disaster but in truth we are probably not. Around Wellington the conversations this week are on where to put the disaster kit and what to have in it. The supermarkets have been running low on batteries and torches as everyone pulls out and updates their kits.
I have been mulling over this question, If you had only ten minutes to rescue your possessions from your house, what would you take? In my mad scurry...it would be antique books, photographs, documents and the computer.
I have lots of pottery...I never thought about saving that...the books came first on the list... What does that say about me.....hehehehehe (finding the antique books would be a challenge tho...)
Books....they divert, educate, elucidate, console, challenge, terrify and come in handy as tables and deportment aids.
Hmm can’t see ebooks helping out as a deportment aid however they are increasing their presence in our lives. Bookbee has collected quotes and stats about the uptake of ebooks (women between the ages of 35-55 are the biggest users....I would never have guessed that.)
Piotr Kowalczyk has compiled an interesting look at 40 years of ebooks...no that wasn’t a typo!
If you are struggling with what to put in your book, you might want to check out these links.
James Killick has a great post on the confusion of Plot and Story and how to fix the problem.
Two weeks ago I posted a link to the Writers Knowledge Base...here it is in action... everything you wanted to know about Transitions
Irene Watson of Selling Books has an interesting article on working with a Co Author...she is looking at only one co author tho....The FaBo team have nine...hmmm nine times the fun....
Jody Hedlund has taken a look at first books...Are they usually garbage? and Heather McCorkle is looking at the pitch...in 25 words or less (this could be a good resource for all those going to Spinning Tales in April.)
Over on Craicerplus (My Amplify Page) I have links to articles on
Ten Tips To Effective Book Covers (a must read)
Grief (making sense of it)
Changing Times, Changing Book Design,
A fun look at Deadlines and what they do to us.
Productivity for Creatives...this is an excellent guest post by Charlie Gilkey on Jonathan Fields Blog.
This week the children’s writing community here in New Zealand were in awe of American YA writer Maureen Johnson who organised a fundraising effort for Christchurch Earthquake victims that quickly went viral. Our eyes get a little misty when we think of the generous spirits all around the world who write for children.
To finish, here is a little pick me up from Slushpile Hell....and Some Dancing Books.
enjoy,
maureen
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