Don't ask too many questions about this post. My fantasy author, Sandy Lender, just called in here and asked if I'd tell the story of the day she totally screwed up in one of her core classes in college. I have no idea what a core class is, and I'm "in" education.
She says this is a nightmare college students in this society often have.
She went to class one morning to see many other students stapling papers together and stuffing papers in nice colored folders, etc., and she wondered at the buzz of energy in everyone. Then the professor walked in and asked for everyone to hand their papers forward. Oops. She thought the paper was due a week later and had not even begun work on it. So she watched helplessly as every other student turned in the assignment, worth whatever percent of the final class grade it was worth, while she had nothing to hand forward.
At the end of the class hour, she sprinted back to her dorm room, whisked out some reference books, and wrote a paper on whatever the topic was. She cited her sources at the end, printed it out, put it in a nice colored folder, and sprinted over to her professor's office. He wasn't in. So she wrote an honest note that she had forgotten to prepare the paper for class that morning and asked him to please accept it late and left it under his door.
He was very kind to accept the paper and even gave her an A.
Sandy says THAT is stressful writing. It reminds me of the proposal she had to write for her publisher when she pitched the Choices trilogy. She had to do that whole marketing piece one night because she thought her pitch was going to be a weekend later than it actually was. Another nightmare for some people that she's actually lived. Interesting...
All my best,
Nigel
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
She Makes Lists
I must apologize for my long absence from posting. To those of you who have been sending me e-mail, and to those of you who accosted me in person over the Christmas holiday, I want to say I’m sorry for neglecting to keep you up to date on the happenings in Sandy’s life. You must understand, though, taking care of my fantasy author, Sandy Lender, has been a fulltime job as of late. I have good news there: she’s doing very well. In fact, she’s doing so well that she’s participating in your society’s annual tradition of setting new year’s resolutions. (You can share at the main blog.)
I can’t recall her ever doing this before…
Now, I’ve seen her set goals. And I’ve seen the crazy system she uses to meet the goals. You can use this blog as a how-to guide if you like—how to make your new years resolution a reality or how to keep your new years resolution. Whatever you like. But, I warn you, it’s a bit odd. It focuses on lists. Stages of lists. Random lists and organized lists.
She starts by writing the goal in the middle of a piece of paper. Then she writes out random two- to four-word actions she will have to take to get to the goal. She writes them as they occur to her in rapid-fire succession all over the paper, speckling it with these action items in no particular order. It looks chaotic but she refers to it as stream-of-consciousness. She will usually set the paper aside after a while and come back to it frequently with new action items that have occurred to her over the period of a couple days.
When she feels satisfied that she has plenty of actions written down to help her get to her goal, she’ll sit down and prepare an organized list or two…or three… Depending on the goal she’s trying to reach, there might be internal goals to hit first.
Here’s an example to make it all make sense.
Back when Sandy moved to Florida, she needed an extra large sheet of paper. She bought one of those huge sketch pads and placed “move” in the middle of it. Some of the random actions were “sell house”, “find a school for xxx”, “find a job”, “pack”, “get boxes”, “revise resume”, “garage sale”, “clean out basement”, etc. Now, as you can see, “revise resume” would go on a list under “find a job”, but for this initial, stream-of-consciousness exercise, the point is to get as many action items down on paper as you can. Organizing them is the second step.
And that’s what she did next. She turned over all school-related actions to her ex-husband because the move centered around getting him to a school where he could lift out of his decade-long depression. The rest of the items went on lists that she organized and put in motion so the goal of moving could be met.
So what new years resolution do you need to sit down and think about meeting? You might try this anal-retentive list-making system of Sandy’s. Start with the “splatter” of actions and ideas all over a large piece of paper, and then organize those actions and ideas into manageable lists that lead you to success.
Good luck with your goals and resolutions this year.
Tags: new years resolution, goal, list, actions
I can’t recall her ever doing this before…
Now, I’ve seen her set goals. And I’ve seen the crazy system she uses to meet the goals. You can use this blog as a how-to guide if you like—how to make your new years resolution a reality or how to keep your new years resolution. Whatever you like. But, I warn you, it’s a bit odd. It focuses on lists. Stages of lists. Random lists and organized lists.
She starts by writing the goal in the middle of a piece of paper. Then she writes out random two- to four-word actions she will have to take to get to the goal. She writes them as they occur to her in rapid-fire succession all over the paper, speckling it with these action items in no particular order. It looks chaotic but she refers to it as stream-of-consciousness. She will usually set the paper aside after a while and come back to it frequently with new action items that have occurred to her over the period of a couple days.
When she feels satisfied that she has plenty of actions written down to help her get to her goal, she’ll sit down and prepare an organized list or two…or three… Depending on the goal she’s trying to reach, there might be internal goals to hit first.
Here’s an example to make it all make sense.
Back when Sandy moved to Florida, she needed an extra large sheet of paper. She bought one of those huge sketch pads and placed “move” in the middle of it. Some of the random actions were “sell house”, “find a school for xxx”, “find a job”, “pack”, “get boxes”, “revise resume”, “garage sale”, “clean out basement”, etc. Now, as you can see, “revise resume” would go on a list under “find a job”, but for this initial, stream-of-consciousness exercise, the point is to get as many action items down on paper as you can. Organizing them is the second step.
And that’s what she did next. She turned over all school-related actions to her ex-husband because the move centered around getting him to a school where he could lift out of his decade-long depression. The rest of the items went on lists that she organized and put in motion so the goal of moving could be met.
So what new years resolution do you need to sit down and think about meeting? You might try this anal-retentive list-making system of Sandy’s. Start with the “splatter” of actions and ideas all over a large piece of paper, and then organize those actions and ideas into manageable lists that lead you to success.
Good luck with your goals and resolutions this year.
Tags: new years resolution, goal, list, actions
Friday, November 7, 2008
She Got Flowers...Sort of
So my fantasy author got home from today's radiation zapping and said, "oooo, the apartment smells a bit like stinky trash. I'll take that out." She proceeded to do this. On her way back from the dumpster she saw a woman walking around the corner of the building with a large vase of tall pink roses and a plush white teddy bear clinging to the large vase. She was instantly intrigued. 
The woman began walking up the steps to the apartment and Sandy became further intrigued.
But no.
The woman stopped halfway up the stairs, looked at the number on the door and started back down the stairs. When she saw Sandy walking toward the building, she called out, "Do you know which apartment is 202?"
Sandy was very disappointed, but after relating the story to a friend, she received the lovely image above via e-mail. She says it's as cool as the real thing.
Tags: fantasy author
Sunday, November 2, 2008
She Hasn't Repressed This One, Careless Memory #13
A Glimpse into a Writer's Life
When my fantasy author, Sandy Lender, was a young girl, she stood in the check-out line at the grocery store with her mother one day. In your society, towns are so highly populated that people have to stand in line with their food to pay for—oh, she tells me you already know this.
Anyway, Sandy stared at the headlines on the magazines while they waited their turn in line, and one particularly large title stood out from the others. It said, "Talking to Your Teens About Virginity". She found this curious, so, in front of everyone in the store, she turned from the magazines to her mother and asked, out loud, "Mom, what's virginity?" And she pronounced it incorrectly, to boot.
Given the nature of this parent-offspring moment, she knew, in the future, that she had to incorporate it into a story. (You know how those writers are…everything's fair game.) She knew that a young Amanda Chariss, the heroine of her epic fantasy trilogy, had to supply one of these embarrassing moments to her guardian and mentor, the great wizard Hrazon. Because there's no room for such backstory in the Choices Meant for Gods trilogy, Sandy included the little tale in the upcoming short story anthology What Choices We Made. You won't be able to get your hands on the piece until the end of November (the busiest shopping day of the year, she says…whatever that means), but, as soon as the book is available, she'll let me announce it here and you can enjoy Hrazon's embarrassment as much as I did when I read it.
In the meantime, the first novel in the trilogy is already out. You can pick it up at Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc., or order it online or at Amazon.
Tags: virginity, Choices Meant for Gods, What Choices We Made, fantasy author, Sandy Lender, writers life
When my fantasy author, Sandy Lender, was a young girl, she stood in the check-out line at the grocery store with her mother one day. In your society, towns are so highly populated that people have to stand in line with their food to pay for—oh, she tells me you already know this.
Anyway, Sandy stared at the headlines on the magazines while they waited their turn in line, and one particularly large title stood out from the others. It said, "Talking to Your Teens About Virginity". She found this curious, so, in front of everyone in the store, she turned from the magazines to her mother and asked, out loud, "Mom, what's virginity?" And she pronounced it incorrectly, to boot.
Given the nature of this parent-offspring moment, she knew, in the future, that she had to incorporate it into a story. (You know how those writers are…everything's fair game.) She knew that a young Amanda Chariss, the heroine of her epic fantasy trilogy, had to supply one of these embarrassing moments to her guardian and mentor, the great wizard Hrazon. Because there's no room for such backstory in the Choices Meant for Gods trilogy, Sandy included the little tale in the upcoming short story anthology What Choices We Made. You won't be able to get your hands on the piece until the end of November (the busiest shopping day of the year, she says…whatever that means), but, as soon as the book is available, she'll let me announce it here and you can enjoy Hrazon's embarrassment as much as I did when I read it.
In the meantime, the first novel in the trilogy is already out. You can pick it up at Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc., or order it online or at Amazon.
Tags: virginity, Choices Meant for Gods, What Choices We Made, fantasy author, Sandy Lender, writers life
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
She's Teaching me About Employment and the Economy
My fantasy author, Sandy Lender, created a host of careers for the characters in the society from which I hail, but she can't wave the magic pen and create jobs for her friends who are looking for work in your society. After speaking with one of these friends, she started to explain something to me. War, high gas and food prices, a housing market meltdown, record unemployment numbers, etc. make the headlines—and have been making the headlines for years. The mass media bombards already stressed people with constant negativity, constant gloom-and-doom.
You can't turn on the television or radio without hearing some negative political ad frightening middle-class America about their health benefits or some negatively charged news story trying to out-sensationalize the "other station's" negatively charged news story. A local job fair drew 11 employers and more than 700 job seekers one weekday afternoon and the local news stations couldn't stop emphasizing how this was a harbinger of doom for the area…and with three more hours of the job fair to go!
But the television and radio aren't the only culprits feeding your society's stress. The front page of newspapers flash the latest business closings and County job cuts, leading above the fold with headlines that state the number of people losing their jobs for the sake of saving taxpayer dollars. You can't fire up your e-mail server without seeing headlines that tell of war, death totals, the latest victims in corporate scandals, etc.
It's enough to drive an already stressed out person over the edge. (Sandy would be an already stressed out person, by the way.) It's enough to make you want to unplug all devices that can receive a signal.
What brought this to her mind was a job interview one of her friends went on. It was at a rehab center. THAT place is hiring. THAT place is at capacity. THAT place needs more employees to handle the influx of disturbed, substance-abusing people who seek medical attention to help them through this troubled time.
And that's a shame.
What has this society come to when stress is so great that, as a community, people are falling apart? It will be so wonderful when the elections are over and the political crap can stop. It will be wonderful when the eventual upswing in the economy takes place. It will be wonderful when people stop listening to the constant bombardment of crap and start accepting that there are good things going on around them, too. Won't it be a great day when there's so much good news that the local news station will have no choice but to lead with a good news story?
In the meantime, Sandy encourages you to try to look on the bright side of life. (She also suggests a great fantasy novel at this Amazon page to take you out of reality for a while.) She posts inspirational quotes at her main blog every morning and tries to give fun, light, creative writing ideas there. She says we can't bury our heads in the sand (wait…what? How would you breathe? Oh, well, it's a strange colloquialism!) …we can't bury our heads in the sand, but we can shut out some of the negativity, focus on the positives and uplifting things around us, and wait out the tough times together.
Looking forward to a great news day,
Nigel Taiman
Tags: employment, economy, headlines, inspirational quote
You can't turn on the television or radio without hearing some negative political ad frightening middle-class America about their health benefits or some negatively charged news story trying to out-sensationalize the "other station's" negatively charged news story. A local job fair drew 11 employers and more than 700 job seekers one weekday afternoon and the local news stations couldn't stop emphasizing how this was a harbinger of doom for the area…and with three more hours of the job fair to go!
But the television and radio aren't the only culprits feeding your society's stress. The front page of newspapers flash the latest business closings and County job cuts, leading above the fold with headlines that state the number of people losing their jobs for the sake of saving taxpayer dollars. You can't fire up your e-mail server without seeing headlines that tell of war, death totals, the latest victims in corporate scandals, etc.
It's enough to drive an already stressed out person over the edge. (Sandy would be an already stressed out person, by the way.) It's enough to make you want to unplug all devices that can receive a signal.
What brought this to her mind was a job interview one of her friends went on. It was at a rehab center. THAT place is hiring. THAT place is at capacity. THAT place needs more employees to handle the influx of disturbed, substance-abusing people who seek medical attention to help them through this troubled time.
And that's a shame.
What has this society come to when stress is so great that, as a community, people are falling apart? It will be so wonderful when the elections are over and the political crap can stop. It will be wonderful when the eventual upswing in the economy takes place. It will be wonderful when people stop listening to the constant bombardment of crap and start accepting that there are good things going on around them, too. Won't it be a great day when there's so much good news that the local news station will have no choice but to lead with a good news story?
In the meantime, Sandy encourages you to try to look on the bright side of life. (She also suggests a great fantasy novel at this Amazon page to take you out of reality for a while.) She posts inspirational quotes at her main blog every morning and tries to give fun, light, creative writing ideas there. She says we can't bury our heads in the sand (wait…what? How would you breathe? Oh, well, it's a strange colloquialism!) …we can't bury our heads in the sand, but we can shut out some of the negativity, focus on the positives and uplifting things around us, and wait out the tough times together.
Looking forward to a great news day,
Nigel Taiman
Tags: employment, economy, headlines, inspirational quote
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
She Got Up Too Early
But it's not her fault. Nor (this time) is it mine. You know how I like to offer subliminal suggestions to my fantasy author when she's sleeping...and this often results in her waking up and writing in the middle of the night or early in the morning. It can make her very fussy with me, but the results are worth it.
Today was not my fault. Today she curses Waste Management.
You see, she's got the windows thrown open wide to give the air conditioner (thus the electric bill) a break. I suggested this might be unsafe but she lives on the second floor and she figures anyone climbing up to break through the screens in the middle of the night deserves a sword through the heart anyway (yes, she keeps the cutlery near the bed). But this morning at the cheery hour of 5 a.m. the garbage truck emptied the dumpster about 40 yards from her bedroom window. It first had to back into position with its backup alarm wailing.
She's not pleased. I think this means Tuesday nights will find the air conditioner on and the windows closed.
Tags: waste management, cutlery, sword, fantasy author
Today was not my fault. Today she curses Waste Management.
You see, she's got the windows thrown open wide to give the air conditioner (thus the electric bill) a break. I suggested this might be unsafe but she lives on the second floor and she figures anyone climbing up to break through the screens in the middle of the night deserves a sword through the heart anyway (yes, she keeps the cutlery near the bed). But this morning at the cheery hour of 5 a.m. the garbage truck emptied the dumpster about 40 yards from her bedroom window. It first had to back into position with its backup alarm wailing.
She's not pleased. I think this means Tuesday nights will find the air conditioner on and the windows closed.
Tags: waste management, cutlery, sword, fantasy author
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
She Found This Blogsite...
I'm not happy.
My fantasy author, Sandy Lender, reviewed a site called Writers and Authors over at Today the Dragon Wins this morning and it has me quite concerned. She liked the site. In fact, she went on and on in rapturous tones saying, "oh, check this out!" and "oh, look at this!" and "oh, there's a thesaurus!" Whatever that is. (Okay, she's just explained that the thesaurus is part of an "Online Reference" tool that the administrator, Jo Linsdell, has up all the time on the site.)
This site has myriad features that are going to lure my author back when she should be listening to me. It has interviews with other authors and she's just always intrigued by what other authors have to say about their publishing experiences. It can be exasperating for us characters when we're trying to force-feed ideas, you know.
And then yesterday there was an article about Lulu.com, which had facts that Sandy obviously didn't know about because she felt the need to interrupt me and read them to me while I was trying to interrupt her. It's all very disconcerting. I went to the site myself when Sandy took a break. The mission statement claims the site is "a place for people in the writing industry to gather and share experiences, tips and advice. Not to mention promote their latest work and discuss various topics related to the writing industry. Included in this blog you will also find; links to sites for writers, competitions and contests, interviews, writer and book event listings and more..." Just what I need: competitions and contests to take Sandy's mind off the job of editing Book III.
Blast Jo Linsdell for making the site so inviting to writers. If you're a character, I tell you to avoid letting your author find it. Avoid it at all costs. If you're a writer...well...it's at this link.
All my best,
Nigel Taiman
Tags: writers and authors, Jo Linsdell
My fantasy author, Sandy Lender, reviewed a site called Writers and Authors over at Today the Dragon Wins this morning and it has me quite concerned. She liked the site. In fact, she went on and on in rapturous tones saying, "oh, check this out!" and "oh, look at this!" and "oh, there's a thesaurus!" Whatever that is. (Okay, she's just explained that the thesaurus is part of an "Online Reference" tool that the administrator, Jo Linsdell, has up all the time on the site.)
This site has myriad features that are going to lure my author back when she should be listening to me. It has interviews with other authors and she's just always intrigued by what other authors have to say about their publishing experiences. It can be exasperating for us characters when we're trying to force-feed ideas, you know.
And then yesterday there was an article about Lulu.com, which had facts that Sandy obviously didn't know about because she felt the need to interrupt me and read them to me while I was trying to interrupt her. It's all very disconcerting. I went to the site myself when Sandy took a break. The mission statement claims the site is "a place for people in the writing industry to gather and share experiences, tips and advice. Not to mention promote their latest work and discuss various topics related to the writing industry. Included in this blog you will also find; links to sites for writers, competitions and contests, interviews, writer and book event listings and more..." Just what I need: competitions and contests to take Sandy's mind off the job of editing Book III.
Blast Jo Linsdell for making the site so inviting to writers. If you're a character, I tell you to avoid letting your author find it. Avoid it at all costs. If you're a writer...well...it's at this link.
All my best,
Nigel Taiman
Tags: writers and authors, Jo Linsdell
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
She Reminds You That Choices Meant for Gods is Available as an Inexpensive eBook, Too
Whether you enjoy collecting hardcover books for your shelves or not, sometimes cash for such luxuries runs low. Fantasy Author Sandy Lender is in a "low-cash" phase these days due to medical bills, foreclosure, etc., so she empathizes with others in negative cashflow situations. (She says "it sucks a lot.")
So, for those of you who want to read new fantasy but don't have the funds to pick up Choices Meant for Gods at the local Barnes & Noble or Hastings book store, Fantasy Author Sandy Lender has your answer. Download the pdf from the publisher's site. It's only $3.99.
You see, the epic fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods is the story of the amazing heroine, Amanda Chariss. It tells of love, tolerance, overcoming insurmountable odds, standing up for yourself, not backing down, coming of age, befriending dragons, and irritating evil sorcerers…but not everyone in the world is able to shell out nearly $30 for a hard cover, first edition book from a fantasy author they've never read before. Enter the oh-so-economical eBook.
If you're unsure about your $4-purchase, you can read a bunch of five-star reviews of Choices Meant for Gods on the Amazon page... Then link over to ArcheBooks Publishing to order/download the electronic version for much less money than the physical book. You can also read the first three chapters for free at that same link.
I know you'll enjoy the story.
Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, fantasy novel, fantasy author, Sandy Lender, eBook, five-star review, Amanda Chariss
So, for those of you who want to read new fantasy but don't have the funds to pick up Choices Meant for Gods at the local Barnes & Noble or Hastings book store, Fantasy Author Sandy Lender has your answer. Download the pdf from the publisher's site. It's only $3.99.
You see, the epic fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods is the story of the amazing heroine, Amanda Chariss. It tells of love, tolerance, overcoming insurmountable odds, standing up for yourself, not backing down, coming of age, befriending dragons, and irritating evil sorcerers…but not everyone in the world is able to shell out nearly $30 for a hard cover, first edition book from a fantasy author they've never read before. Enter the oh-so-economical eBook.
If you're unsure about your $4-purchase, you can read a bunch of five-star reviews of Choices Meant for Gods on the Amazon page... Then link over to ArcheBooks Publishing to order/download the electronic version for much less money than the physical book. You can also read the first three chapters for free at that same link.
I know you'll enjoy the story.
Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, fantasy novel, fantasy author, Sandy Lender, eBook, five-star review, Amanda Chariss
Sunday, October 5, 2008
She's Free
After 17 long months of waiting on "the other side" to get "their" act together, my fantasy author is finally free. Yes, she's single again. And she's very pleased with this.
Seventeen months ago, she filed for divorce from someone who is divorce-worthy. And that's all she's going to allow me to say about this person. (If you've been following the blog from home, you know I've wanted to run him through with a sword on more than one occasion. What!? It's my blog! I'm allowed commentary.)
Fine. She's told me to mind my manners.
The point of this post is to say that Fantasy Author Sandy Lender is rejoicing. She's keeping the pen name for pen name purposes, of course. You don't do several years of marketing, while you know you're getting your maiden name back, and then switch gears on everyone. Besides, the name "Lender" is in the middle of the alphabet and is more likely to get browsers at the book store. (See the pseudonym discussion that went on quite heavily during the entire month of June at Today the Dragon Wins. Several guest bloggers and visitors had interesting comments concerning last names.)
Now that Sandy is single again, there will be fewer manic visits to the attorney's office when "the other side" misses a deadline (oh, you have no idea...a divorce with no children and no assets doesn't go on for 17 months unless one side is actively insane...what!? I'm merely stating my opinion!) Fine. Once again, I'm stating here and now that I'm pleased to see my fantasy author freed up to write instead of flitting off to the attorney's office. She's free to buy paper and toner cartridges because the "other side's" $4,000+ overdue bill is NOT landing in her lap after all. She's free to date a guy if she decides we're worth the time (although, I should warn all members of my sex that she keeps swords and a short temper these days...and she does write about ways to kill sorcerers with or without magic...)
That's my subtle way of suggesting everyone stay clear and let her write.
Congratulations are in order!
Tags: divorce, fantasy author, Sandy Lender, pen name
Seventeen months ago, she filed for divorce from someone who is divorce-worthy. And that's all she's going to allow me to say about this person. (If you've been following the blog from home, you know I've wanted to run him through with a sword on more than one occasion. What!? It's my blog! I'm allowed commentary.)
Fine. She's told me to mind my manners.
The point of this post is to say that Fantasy Author Sandy Lender is rejoicing. She's keeping the pen name for pen name purposes, of course. You don't do several years of marketing, while you know you're getting your maiden name back, and then switch gears on everyone. Besides, the name "Lender" is in the middle of the alphabet and is more likely to get browsers at the book store. (See the pseudonym discussion that went on quite heavily during the entire month of June at Today the Dragon Wins. Several guest bloggers and visitors had interesting comments concerning last names.)
Now that Sandy is single again, there will be fewer manic visits to the attorney's office when "the other side" misses a deadline (oh, you have no idea...a divorce with no children and no assets doesn't go on for 17 months unless one side is actively insane...what!? I'm merely stating my opinion!) Fine. Once again, I'm stating here and now that I'm pleased to see my fantasy author freed up to write instead of flitting off to the attorney's office. She's free to buy paper and toner cartridges because the "other side's" $4,000+ overdue bill is NOT landing in her lap after all. She's free to date a guy if she decides we're worth the time (although, I should warn all members of my sex that she keeps swords and a short temper these days...and she does write about ways to kill sorcerers with or without magic...)
That's my subtle way of suggesting everyone stay clear and let her write.
Congratulations are in order!
Tags: divorce, fantasy author, Sandy Lender, pen name
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