The Right In Write

The 4th draft of my 1st book has been lengthy. I guess, when you consider that it's a complete rewrite of, at least, the first half of the book, then you'll begin to understand why it's taking me so long to finish it.

On March 25, 2009, we hit the one-year anniversary of the day that I started writing it. I haven't been at it full-time, but definitely got serious about it starting last November until I started looking for income in the beginning of 2009. With each day, IMHO, it gets so much better. It's the first thing in my life that I don't mind doing over 'cause I got it wrong the first time.

There is a feeling that I am supposed to write; it's my calling and nothing else seems to be working out or feeling right unless I write.

I've come up with the name of the 3-book series and the name of each book. Plus, the content and time line of each get more detailed each week. We're only on book one, so I guess I need to get choppin.' I find that I'm writing something everyday: something about the past OR something about the present when the past just won't come back OR something just completely wacky from my dreams or from the dark... must be the influence of all the King & Koontz that I've read over the years. Indeed.

So, all these things will come out someday in a book or a column or a blog post or any other number of places... just keep writing, right?

Write on!

C-H-I-C-A-G-O LOVE

CHICAGO, my favorite city in the entire country. Yeah, I can hear everyone whining about the cold, but d-e-a-l. There's only been one time in my life when I raised the white flag in this town and that was shortly after my DIGITAL camera (i.e., one with no moving parts) FROZE. Indeed, it was a battery thing.

My tribute to this Chicago trip:

• C is for nothing other than COOL.
• H is for HELLS YA, which I was told I said way too early this morning.
• I is for ID (both my happy id and my I.D.; it gets checked, I feel young).
• C is for CITY, urban is me.
• A is for AMAZING, yes she is.
• G is for GIRL, see "A" above.
• O is for OH, it's time for beer.

CYA.

[sheesh, this may be the most lame post i've ever written]

The Brand As Self-Filter (Handmark)

A week ago, I noticed that Handmark was retweeting every tweet others were making that included their brand name. My initial reaction was one of annoyance. In their response, they said, "the thought is that everyone is running search filters." I didn't pay too much attention to this at first, but then I thought, if I'm a really avid Handmark fan, then I'm already following their account and have a search filter set to catch their brand whenever tweeted.

So, in effect, Handmark was preaching to the choir, annoying the loyalists while not necessarily gaining followers by retweeting everything that had been broadcast about them.

When Handmark asked for advice, I asked the twitterati what they thought about this practice:

• average_jane: Trader Joe's does that, too. I think it shows a lack of strategy behind tweeting in the first plan. What R they trying 2 accomplish?
• edubya: That would get annoying fast. I'd be hard pressed to follow their actual account at that point.
• edroberts: I wouldn't RT everything. But, if one tweet stands out or is especially relevant to everyone, the RT away!

Ed's advice is similar to what I would propose to Handmark; let your followers know when something great has been said about your brand and it will strengthen it. On the other hand, bombard us with everything said about your brand and it will weaken it. In this case, the brand has to be the filter.

But, do we trust brands enough to be their own filters?

12/52: "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk

Book #12 = "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk, 4.5/5 Stars
It was far too long for me to have waited to read this book. I'm a so-so fan of the movie, though I've seen it several times. Fortunately, visualizing the characters from the movie into the book doesn't take away from the story.

For me, the entire book is a journey into the darker reality that exists in my own mind. It's the sh1t that I don't let out except in my own writings... and, yes, I have a name for the darkness, but you will have to wait for my first book to come out to learn more about it.

Of all the quotables in "Fight Club," I take this Durden quote to heart:
“We are the middle children of history, raised by television to believe that someday we’ll be millionaires and movie stars and rock stars, but we won’t. And we’re just learning this fact,” Tyler said. “So don’t fuck with us.”

Well played.

GOAL: 52 books in 52 weeks!

Book #11 = "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger, 5/5 Stars
Book #10 = "The Finder" by Colin Harrison, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #9 = "Veronika Decides To Die" by Paulo Coelho, 1/5 Stars
Book #8 = "By The River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept" by Paulo Coelho, 3/5 Stars
Book #7 = "Stiff" by Mary Roach, 2/5 Stars
Book #6 = "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, 1/5 Stars
Book #5 = "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, 3/5 Stars
Book #4 = "Eleven Minutes" by Paulo Coelho, 2/5 Stars
Book #3 = "The Good Guy" by Dean Koontz, 3/5 Stars
Book #2 = "My Ishmael" by Dan Quinn, 2/5 Stars
Book #1 = "The Zahir" by Paulo Coelho, 3.5/5 Stars

READ!

The Day I Met Someone New

Our day has come
Your gift, my sun
But earlier than planned
When I accepted your demand
To meet on that very night
Address our nerves and fright

You rang and I ran to the door
From never met to suddenly adore
We laughed and sat near
Body language so dear
Waiting for a time
When your ear would be mine

I met the nose that the summer sun kissed
Just like it, I couldn’t resist
To put my lips in a place
Above your eyes and on your face
And when you joked it a sin
I just did it again

Could it really be true
That I’m so much like you
And would everyone else see
That you’re just like me
If it’s as simple as this
It’ll be sealed with a kiss

After we danced in the street
On the night of our meet
Despite the cold
We’d never get old
You got in a miraculous cab
Ending a time so wonderfully fab

And for the rest of my night
Warm from your sight
All snuggly in bed
Where you twirled in my head
We texted about a thing
Only Cupid could bring