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My Post-Twitter Social Media Landscape: One Month In
With Twitter crashing and burning, I thought I'd share a bit about rebuilding on other platforms and share some of my experiences.
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In the Wake of the Twitterpocalypse: Everywhere You Can Find Me
Where to find me -- a continually updating list.
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ThreadTalk is Moving… and Changing – Thoughts on Twitter, Boundaries, and Platform Ownership
You say that things change, my dear For the last 14 years, Twitter has been the center of my writing life. And no single contribution has been as big or far-reaching as ThreadTalk, my fashion history mini-lectures on the beautiful and terrible world fabric culture. Twitter has never been safe; it’s always been a double-edged sword. Even before this most recent crap, countless users (myself included) have been the target of hate groups, threats, and more, just for stating opinions or, you know, existing. And it’s about to get worse. It’s already gotten worse. We’ve seen the writing on the wall. As someone who built my other career on social…
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People Who Rock: Brigid Ashwood
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the people I love. The people who’ve helped me through tough times, have inspired me creatively, and become friends and cohorts and partners in crime. Most of them have been discovered through this web of wonder, and I see them rarely (if ever). So I thought it might be fun to share with you some of the people I know who rock. I think we as writers and creatives spend so much talking about ourselves (especially on these platform-building blogs) that it’s important to take a second and recognize those around us who’ve contributed to our success. The first that comes to mind…
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On Feminism and Women Who Rock
The Spark I was sitting in the bleacher seats in one of the music classrooms at UMass, and sort of staring top-down at the Music 101 professor. She walked around the podium and said, “Now, some of you have been asking why we’re not covering the sections of women composers, the ones listed in the book. Well, the truth is that they’re just not very good.” My breath caught in my throat. She continued with a smile, “And it’s just more important that we cover the influential composers.” This was roughly twelve years ago, my freshman year. At the time, I was still hellbent on becoming a singer-songwriter. Hearing the professor–a…
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The Middle Eight Manifesto or; Behold! The Secret to Writing!
Well, I’ve reached the middle eight. Almost. At least, I’m cruising just about to the 30K mark, a little more than a third of the way through Rock Revival. Musically speaking that might be where I put a bridge. Or a pre-chorus. Or something interesting. Certainly we’ve established the verse and chorus, and now we’re shaking things up. And hoo-boy are we. It’s been so long since I’ve been this deep in a novel (I did the math; it’s been over two years, between day jobbery, health issues, and pregnancy…) that I’ve absolutely forgotten how characters can throw you for a loop. I had this planned, damnit. WTF?! Maybe part of…
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I can’t stay here to hold your hand, I’ve been away for so long
That's a Neko Case lyric, from "The Next Time You Say Forever" from Middle Cyclone. It sums up things nicely for where the book is going right now.
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More Pilgrim of the Sky Reviews!
I’ve been very behind in providing reviews for Pilgrim of the Sky — mostly due to being insanely busy and preparing to bring the new little creature into the world (9 weeks to go, for those who are counting). However, I am grateful and thrilled that so many people have connected with the book, and offer here a few choice bits for you to read: From Chuck Lawton at GeekDad (whose band The Vitrolum Republic you should check out, not to mention the project of his wife, Sue, The Circus and the Cyclone): The novel is grand in scope, rich in description and full of wonderful discovery. It will take you from…
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Five Ways Social Media Can Destroy Your Writing (and, Potentially, Your Career)
Ah, social media. You can’t cross the street any more without having it cross your consciousness (I wonder if there’s a check-in here!). And as useful as social media can be for us writerly types, I guarantee you for every pro there is a serious and potentially hazardous con. Having written before on some of the reasons I love Twitter for writing, I thought I’d share five ways that social media can, you know, go all Cthulhu on your writing rather than foster it. 1) You drive yourself to distraction. This is perhaps the most obvious pitfall of social media. It’s damn distracting. There’s plenty of time to talk about…
