Emdashery Blog

The return of the Random Distraction--

Whatever you do, DO NOT press the red button. You have work to do. You do not have time for this. I'm beggin you...don't do it.

But just in case. here's the link...

Playing games with book promotion--

Brian Haig, novelist and author of Man in the Middle, has an online game where you can test your knowledge of recent military controversies. In the game, you decide whether the different events are part of a Haig novel or an actual event.

You wouldn't want it to be your sole source of information on our honorable military, but the game is creative, has cool music, only takes a few minutes.

Check it out here:

Writer's Distraction: Despair.com

Feeling upbeat today? Ready to conquer the world? You've read the daily motivator from your planner, and you're all pumped to achieve your dreams?

Well, that's no way to be a writer. Where's the angst? Where's the self-doubt? We all know those are necessary for true literary success.

To get your ship headed back in the right direction, check out Despair.com for  some dark but hilarious revisions of those motivator posters and calendars that mysteriously appear in every corporate office.

It's good tongue-in-cheek humor for a Monday morning...

Writer's Distraction: Thought Audio--

All day, every day, the only sounds my words produce come from the clicking of the keyboard or the voice inside my head re-reading something. It sure would be nice to take a five-minute break every so often and listen to real sound of some fine literature.

Well, check out ThoughtAudio.com, and you can do just that. They're populating their online library with fine works of literature and philosophy that are in the public domain. You can download the mp3 files and listen to them immediately or at your leisure.

Here's the opening to London's Call of the Wild.

Here's the beginning of Genesis.

And here's the opening of The Declaration of Independence.

Oh, boy. This could require many more five-minute breaks than I'm use to...

Writer's Distraction of the (Random) Day--

Time Magazine picking "You" as the their Person of the Year might have been hokey, but the group Beliefnet picked as their Most Inspiring Person of the Year is perfect and indeed inspiring. The winning "person" goes to the Amish of Nickel Mines, Pa.

You'll recall that community lost five young girls when a local milkman stormed into a one-room schoolhouse and shot ten of them.

During the ordeal, one of the girls, 13-year-old Marian Fisher, offered to be killed first in hopes that the others would be spared. (View video: A Young Girl's Sacrifice.)...Within hours of the shooting, the families of the children not only expressed their forgiveness of the killer but reached out to his family, giving food and raising money for his wife and children. 

In a Beliefnet video interview, Herman Bontrager, a spokesman for the Amish of Nickel Mines, explained, “The Amish believe that we must forgive because we ourselves need to be forgiven. [They're] trying to live the way Jesus lived. He turned the other cheek, he told us to love everybody, to love our enemies."

In this article, a Beliefnet member asks, "If the Amish can forgive the man who killed their children, how much more should the rest of us be able to forgive the petty hurts and perceived insults we receive each day?”

Yeah, I've got some of that I need to be working on this Christmas season.

If you're struggling with the Writer's or Christmas Blues and want a healthy distraction, check out this article and the related videos, and also check out the the articles on the other nominees. They'll inspire you.

Writer's Distraction for the (Random) Day--

The angel on my shoulder meows.

This seems to be Sammy's new favorite spot to hang out while I work. When I'm not trying to take his picture, he likes to watch the computer monitor with its captivating blinking cursor and mesmerizing rolling screens. I just wish he wouldn't hiss when I type a passive sentence. He should understand that sometimes a sentence needs to be written that way!

Writer's Distraction for the (Random) Day

It's hard to write when your writing instrument doubles as Kitten Chow...

Writer's Distraction for the (Random) Day--

Feeling lousy today? Words not flowing? Received three rejections in the last hour? Does your forehead have key imprints from banging it against the keyboard?

Then check this out. And then follow it up with this.

If you don't feel at least a little better, give up now. You're hopeless.

Writer's Distraction of the (Random) Day--

I can see some of the most vibrant fall leaf colors right outside my writer's window. The first photo is from five days ago and the other is from today. Sometimes it's more enjoyable to watch the colors change than to change that paragraph that just won't work.

Writer's Distraction of the (Random) Day--

Did you know that the title of your upcoming book has a 20.8% chance of becoming a bestseller? Think I'm lying? Then try out the Lulu Titlescorer, which considers several attributes in considering if your title has what it takes.

Just for fun, I tried out a few titles to see what kind of chance they had at becoming bestsellers. Somebody should tell Kenneth Grahame that his book about Rat, Toad, Mole, and Badger is doomed:

The Year of Magical Thinking has a 63.7% chance
David Copperfield has a 45.6% chance
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has a 45.6% chance
The Purpose Driven Life has a 41.4% chance
The Canterbury Tales has a 35.9% chance
The Wind in the Willows has a 10.2% chance