Writing

#NaPoWriMo #Poem #2 A Screamie Bird Is…

April 3, 2023

“What is a Screamie Bird?”
The thing that squawks with colorful curls?
I hear the question when they read the word
What else could it be, it sounds so absurd
Listen closely, it’s about a girl

She walks around town with a book in one hand
And a transistor radio in the other
On the beach playing music from her favorite band
Telling secrets with words written in the sand
That threaten to blow her mother’s cover

At night you may find her with Earthquake Ethel
Dancing til dawn and breakfast with Norm
Better than proposals from Craig at Bethel
As boring and predictable as Old Faithful
She likes her pancakes crusty, sweet and warm

A Screamie bird is not what you think it is
No feathers or bill or found in a herd
Stumbling across one is hit or miss
A Screamie bird is hard to resist
A rare breed these days this kind of bird

If “screamie” is “singer” and “bird” is a “girl”
A “Screamie Bird” can only be one thing
According to the Beatles of Liverpool
Penning the one about a hill and a fool
The question now is “can the bird sing?”

“She’s Not That Good” – Producing Video, Mixing Audio in Logic Pro (#Music #Production #Audio #Excerpt)

March 31, 2023

I just had to do another video for “She’s Not That Good” on YouTube. Maybe because I was scrolling through my videos and saw this one of the Mariachi Band playing Jazz in the Piazza on the Crown Princess sailing the Mexican Riviera.

But this time I used the video editor in Logic Pro, meaning, I pasted the video I already had into Logic Pro on 1 track, which separated the video and sound into 2 tracks, and then ecorded my audio recording of a book excerpt on another. This way, I could match the video with the sound. It was so much fun!

 

And now here’s the result:

About “She’s Not That Good”

Meet Brandi Redwine from my latest release “She’s Not That Good”

Failing to launch an adult career, haunted by thoughts of never being good enough, Brandi Redwine searches for something she is good at. After chasing music and the exboyfriend in Nashville, she returns to San Francisco feeling like a loser.

Her best friend steps in and recommends her for an opportunity to compete for a job onboard a cruise ship. Her high school sweetheart is also on board, and his girlfriend is competing for the same job.

Will her entire future rest on a final performance, or will she finally realize she is good enough when she pursues what’s really in her heart?

Available now on Kindle

Chapter 1 Audio Excerpt
Chapter 4 Audio Excerpt
Chapter 7 Audio Excerpt

Cruising to Cabo, New Audio Excerpt from “She’s Not That Good”

March 30, 2023

Chapter 7 – Cabo – is the latest audio excerpt paired with my music from FAWM23

In case you missed the others, I’ll add the links below:

Chapter 1 – “She’s Not That Good”

Chapter 4 – “Vlogger Lady” (Parody)

Meet Cyn, Sandy, and Millie, the Ladies of the “Real Women Wear Red” Cruise

March 2, 2023

Okay, so I’m hanging out by the pool today and it hits me how much I love doing that. How much I love the beach, pools, cruise ships and how that is always my first choice for a vacation. No wonder so many of my books take place on a cruise ship, or Las Vegas, or a beach.

So, I had to make another one of those audios with music and spoken word excerpt like I’ve been doing all through February. This time I decided to hang out with Cyn, Sandy, and Millie of Real Women Wear Red.

Yeah, this book has been around for a while. It was my first published book and the one that got me an agent. I still love it!

FAWM23, Song #1: A Lover’s Lover

February 1, 2023

Okay, so it’s day 1 of FAWM 23, and I’ve uploaded song #1, A Lover’s Lover.

What else am I doing on day 1 of FAWM 23? Continuing my read of Digital Minimalism. I do like minimalism, don’t I? I’m almost finished reading Essentialism. Similar ideas.

Both validate my whole POV anyway. But it’s always good to be reminded and to realize you’re not alone in thinking these things and in practicing them, too.

What to do about social media is always a struggle, but it’s good to know the best way to deal with technology is to choose the parts you find essential and to toss the rest.

Take FAWM, for example. It is a bit social media-like and can trigger the dopamine rush checking to see how many comments you get and what people are saying about your music, but it’s also the motivation I need to get some music done. So, overall, I find it worth keeping.

Now, on to some more reading and writing and listening. That’s how FAWM works. You listen to others and they listen to you and you often discover some real gems – both people and music – along the way.

Emotionally Sober (#FAWM Countdown)

January 31, 2023

As I count down the days until FAWM (just 1 more day) I’m catching up on my reading. Julia Cameron’s latest book, Write for Life: Creative Tools for Every Writer (a 6-week Artist’s Way Program), hits me with this thought: Emotionally Sober.

Struck sober at age twenty-nine, I was at the mercy of my moods. Without alcohol to buffer them, my moods were savage. I needed a new way to write and to live. I needed to be emotionally sober. – Julia Cameron, Write for Life.

She stays sober by writing her morning pages daily and by writing 2 pages of whatever writing project she is working on.

Another thing that inspired me was reading Becca Syme’s words of wisdom in yesterday’s email, about February Social Media Challenge (no social media for the first 30 minutes of your day):

If I could put my finger on the one piece of advice I give the most often recently, for any number of different problems, it would by far be: just stop with the social media. – Becca Syme

This answer might solve:

  • Empathy problems (where the Empathy Strength is overloaded by too many people having access to your emotions)
  • Input problems (where you’re using low-quality social media input to fill the well, but it’s only making a penny instead of a dollar because it’s also taking things from you)
  • Intellection problems (where you’re “really quick”ing yourself into social media when you’re stuck, only to realize it’s not making you unstuck
  • Strategic problems (where you’re avoiding the pain of being stuck by soothing on social media)
  • Learner problems (where this one time, you learned something on social media, and now your Learner is getting co-opted by your dopamine receptors into doing social media “really quick”)
  • Relationship-Building problems (where you’re isolated and lonely, and you’re hoping social media will fill your bucket, but again, it’s pennies instead of dollars)
  • Influencing problems (where you’re not getting the impact you want, and you’re hoping social media will give you some impact hits, but again, pennies, not dollars)

Yes, we all know this, right, but sometimes, we need to hear it from somebody outside of ourselves, sometimes we need to be reminded of what we already know, and sometimes we learn something new about something we thought we knew.