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cygnoir · 4 years

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The now of June 2020

Hello, friends! Before I dig into the news of the past few months, I will start with some housekeeping. Going forward, I will post my content to cygnoir.net and syndicate it elsewhere. Some follow-up notes:

Facebook and Instagram prevent people from easily syndicating their own content. You won’t see cygnoir.net posts there anymore.

You will still see cygnoir.net posts on Micro.blog, Tumblr, and Twitter.

If you follow cygnoir.net by email, you may want to unsubscribe, because you’ll be getting a lot more email from this site! (WordPress.com doesn’t allow me to limit email notifications to only long-form posts like this one.)

A personal news reader is the easiest way to follow many sites, including cygnoir.net, on your own terms. I recommend NewsBlur.

If you want to know more about why I’m making the switch, read the IndieWeb overview of POSSE, which stands for Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere.

And now onto the update …

About three months after the COVID-19 pandemic closure of the library building and the transition to remote work, the senior managers and I returned to the building to prepare for part-time onsite work again. And now, with the help of staggered schedules, physical distancing, face coverings, and sanitizing protocols, most of our team is working onsite for roughly half of their week, and working from home the rest of the time. We rolled out our “Library Takeout” service last week, enabling our patrons to make appointments to get their holds in a curbside pickup model. To write it out like that makes it seem so easy, but it has required months of many people brainstorming, planning, and testing to get to this stage. And we have so much more work to do.

If you know me at all, you know that I’m a structure and process nerd. I enjoy setting up rules, templates, and procedures because I find it challenging to keep myself motivated when I don’t know what is expected of me. I like knowing the rules because I like knowing when it is important to follow them … and when it is important not to.

The pandemic, then, has precipitated some upheaval in my brainmeats. The rules are made, and then the rules change, sometimes within a week or even a few days. This level of change adds a whole other layer of complexity to communication: in the midst of communicating with my team about a rule change, the rules change again, rendering the initial communication invalid.

And then, on May 25th, George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police, and a whole bunch of white people woke up all at once. (Why now? I highly recommend the “Why Now, White People?” episode of Code Switch.) And even though I was at a different place on my personal journey of understanding systemic racism, I had a reckoning too. For years, I have avoided speaking about anything “too political” online, avoiding subjects that might cause confrontation with friends, family members, or even strangers. I used my white privilege as a shield to protect me from discomfort. I excused myself from the fight. I opted out because I could.

Can you relate? Can you recall a time when a friend made a racist comment and you did not speak up because you were afraid of hurting their feelings? Or because you were too tired, or felt like you didn’t know what to say, or because you were afraid that you’d make a mistake? I can. And while I am embarrassed to admit that to you, all the embarrassment and guilt that we white people feel now, that all well-intentioned white people have ever felt, doesn’t matter at all. Action matters. And we start with educating ourselves and then getting to work, and doing the work every day for the rest of our lives.

I started my own education by listening to Black activists, which is how I found this shared document of anti-racism resources for white people, which lists books, articles, videos, podcasts, films/television series, and organizations. A few of the books were already on my holds list at the library, so I started with the first one available to check out: So You Want to Talk about Race (public library). Ijeoma Oluo’s book is an excellent primer on systemic racism, well-researched and written in a straightforward way. It is a great place to start.

Loyalty Bookstore, a Black-owned independent bookseller in the DC area, has created an excellent list of anti-racist reading recommendations. I dearly hope that your local public library is sharing lists of anti-racist reading recommendations as well, especially e-books that can be accessed while library buildings are still closed. (Use the LibraryExtension browser add-on if you want to see library holdings on Amazon and Goodreads.) And if your local public library isn’t, well … I have something to say about that.

In fact, I have a lot to say about the pandemic, public libraries, and equity, enough for a whole other post I’ve already started to draft. Damn, it feels good to be writing again.

That’s it from my corner of the world today. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Dismantle white supremacy.

Photo by Alex Blăjan on Unsplash.

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audreynickel · 7 years

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No More Bad Irish Tattoos!

Tri-colour pre-St. Patrick’s Day ad for The Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook and The Scottish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook from Bradan Press, Nova Scotia, Canada.

It’s almost ready!

It’s hard to believe it, but after all the time and planning, we’re in the editing homestretch for The Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook! Copy edits are pretty much done, the index has been compiled, the glossary will soon be on its way to two professional Irish-speaking proofreaders, and we’re looking at a publication date of May 1 (Lá Bealtaine).

With tomorrow being St. Patrick’s Day (a day when I normally go into hiding, because one can only take so many green beers, “begorrahs” (no, the Irish really don’t say that) and requests to sing “Danny Boy” in a lifetime without going insane), I thought I’d take this opportunity to answer some questions people have been asking me about the book.

What, exactly, is a “tattoo handbook”?

Put simply, The Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook is a guide for people who want to incorporate the Irish language into a tattoo design.

In the 13+ years that I’ve been studying Irish, I’ve seen thousands of requests for tattoo translations. I’ve also seen an awful lot of really, really bad Irish tattoos.

Most of these “tattoo fails” happen because people don’t understand just how complicated translations between languages can be, or because they trust the wrong sources. The aim of this book is to give you the resources you need to get a tattoo you can be proud of.

The handbook consists of three basic parts. The center section is the “meat” of the book: a glossary of more than 400 Irish words, phrases, mottoes, and proverbs commonly requested for tattoo designs. The glossary is organized into categories, such as “Family and Relationships” “Religion and Spirituality,” and “Traditional Irish Proverbs.”

The glossary is also indexed by keyword. So, for example, if you know you want a particular phrase, or a quote built around a particular concept, but don’t know what category it would fall under, you could look up the words in the index, which would guide you to the listing or listings in the glossary.

And, as I mentioned above, the glossary is being proofed for accuracy by two professional Irish-speaking editors.

The section preceding the glossary provides you with the kind of background you need to make a sound tattoo decision (and to have fun sharing your tattoo with family and friends!)

This section includes chapters on the language itself (its history, its status in Ireland today, its relationship with other Celtic languages, and some of its more interesting features, such as the lack of words for “yes” and “no”), as well as on traditional Irish writing and authentic symbols.

For example, this is an authentic Irish symbol:

This, on the other hand, is not:

(If you want to know more, you’ll need to read the book!)

It also talks about tattoo “fails,” using real-life tattoo mistakes to illustrate exactly what can go wrong if you try to translate into Irish without knowing what you’re doing. It describes the translation process, and gives you some very important advice on what to do if the translation you want isn’t in the glossary, or if you want to adapt something in the glossary to make it more personal.

The third section of the book is a directory that offers listings for everything from finding a professional translator to learning how to pronounce the words of your translation, and even information to help you begin learning Irish yourself!

Why Irish?

People give various reasons for wanting tattoos in Irish, but the majority boil down to pride, either in one’s own Irish heritage or a loved one’s.

Doesn’t this, well...cheapen the language, somehow?

Not the way I see it, no. Any good example of Irish out there in the world helps support the language (and, just as important, bad examples do it nothing but harm).

Tattoos are an extremely popular form of self-expression. People are going to get tattoos in Irish regardless of what anyone else may say or think. My goal is to support the language by helping them to get it right (and if doing so also encourages them to explore learning the language, so much the better!)

OK, but what if I don’t want to get a tattoo?

The nice thing about this book is that it’s useful for just about anything for which you may want an Irish translation.

As it happens, many of the most common tattoo requests are also frequently requested for other purposes: engravings for gifts, wedding bands, or (yes) headstones; T-shirts for family reunions; to be incorporated into other forms of artwork; etc.

The advice for getting accurate tattoo translations applies for other kinds of translations as well. If you ever need a good translation from English to Irish, you will find it extremely useful.

Will it be available on Amazon?

Yes! You’ll find it on Amazon, both as a paperback and for the Kindle. It will also be available in all different DRM-free ebook formats from Smashwords, and through Apple iTunes ebooks, as well as for Kobo, Nook, etc.

What about my local bookstore or library?

I certainly hope so! If you can’t find it, you can ask your local bookseller and/or library to stock it. They can order it directly from Ingram.

In fact, here’s a link to a sell sheet with all the information they’ll need that you can print out and give to them: The Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook Sell Sheet

How will I know for sure when the book is available?

If you’d like to be among the first to know when The Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook is available for purchase, the best way is to subscribe to Bradan Press’s email list:

http://eepurl.com/b3MRqH

The publisher will also be doing a paperback and e-book giveaway via a random drawing of list members, so there are definite perks for joining!

Bradan Press is a small, independent press that specializes in Celtic-themed publications, so if this is an interest of yours, I strongly recommend signing up for the list. You’ll be supporting a small business and keeping yourself abreast of new offerings. Win win!

My cousin’s an Outlander fan. Is there something like this for Scottish Gaelic?

Yes, there is! The Scottish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook (see the picture at the top of this post) is already out and available for purchase from the same places that will carry the Irish book: Amazon, Ingram, etc. Check it out here: http://www.bradanpress.com/gaelic-tattoo-handbook/

What about other Celtic languages?

A Welsh version is in the works for 2018! Subscribe to Bradan Press’s newsletter (above) to be kept abreast of developments!

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!

Well, for now I’m off to spend some quality time with my harps (Turlough O’Carolan is calling my name!). I’ve been neglecting them shamefully while I’ve been working in writer mode!

Have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day, all you who celebrate!

Beannachtaí,

#Irish #Gaelic #Irish Gaelic #Scottish Gaelic #Ireland #tattoos #Irish tattoo translations #Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook

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stacks-reviews · 7 years

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New Releases 7/18/17

Happy New Release Day! There’s a lot going on in books, a few things in movies, and a certain beta I’ve been waiting on.

In Books –The Betrayal Knows My Name volume 7 by Hotaru Odagiri Yuki is an orphan with a strange ability to feel others emotions when he touches them. One day a beautiful stranger named Zess appears and saves Yuki before he can be hit by a car. Yuki feels like he knows this stranger from somewhere

I have been waiting for this for FOUR YEARS. I checked yesterday and volume 6 came out in September of 2013. After volume 6 I would check every now and then like I do for the series I follow monthly but I never heard a word about it. After about a year I just finally came to terms that it had been canceled. Then they announced its return earlier this year. It has been on hiatus for Hotaru Odagiri’s health. I’m just glad it’s finally back. I really enjoyed it the series when it first came out except for the fact that I had trouble telling some of the characters apart. I will soon be rereading the whole series because I can’t remember what happened at the end of volume 6. There should be at least one more volume to go. Not long after they announced it’s return, they also announced that it would be ending soon. There is also a twenty-four episode anime based off the series that was released in sub titles only by Funimation earlier this year.

–Blood Mirror (The Lightbringer #4) by Brent Weeks (in paperback) This will contain spoilers if you have not read book 3 The Broken Eye of the Lightbringer series. At the end of The Broken Eye Gavin Guile is powerless and is locked in the prison he made for his brother. Kip has fled the Chromeria with the help of his grandfather to try and slow the advance of the White Kings army. Karris is taking over as her duties of The White and will try to keep the empire from falling apart. Teia will go deeper into the spy organization she is infiltrating while also reporting on their actions to Karris. Ironfist has shown his true colors and has also left the Chromeria to continue his work for his true master.

I love this series. I had so many theories destroyed in this book but it also created a lot of new ones. I’m still numb from the realization in The Broken Eye that Andross might actually be the good guy here instead of the villain I’ve always seen him as. And where could I even start about Gavin. Then there’s Kip and what happened in this book.

It’s a really great series. I love the ocular powers in this series. Just how it is set up, how each color has it’s own properties, and the consequences of using it too much. There are so many twists and turns. I really recommend this series if you haven’t read it yet.

–Dept. H volume 2 by Matt Kindt, water colorist Sharlene Kindt, and letterer Marie Enger Mia is a special investigator sent to research the murder of her father in a deep-sea research station. Everyone in the station is a suspect, including her own brother.

Mind MGMT was my first experience with Matt Kindt’s work and I was blown away. The story is fantastic (I’m about to start volume 3 out of 6). The illustrations are amazing water colors. I had to read more of his work. And Dept. H did not disappoint.

After waiting months for another copy of volume 1 to arrive at my work, I finally got to read it last week. It also has a great story with wonderful water colors. There was a moment where my jaw dropped open because chaos happened and it came out of nowhere. Not everything has been revealed yet. For example Mia has talked about her mother a few times and how she died from some kind of infection of which there is no cure. Although not expressly stated, it would appear that those in the station are trying to find a cure but even the fish they are examining might also be infected. Volume 1 was amazing and I can’t wait to read volume 2.

–Kakegurui Compulsive Gambler volume 1 by Homura Kawamoto Hyakkaou Private Academy is an institution for the sons and daughters of the wealthy. here it’s learning how to read your opponent, the art of the deal that keeps you ahead. To hone those skills Hyakkaou Private Academy has a rigorous curriculum of gambling. Here the winners live like kings and the losers are put through the wringer.

I’m interested in this series because it reminds me of Liar Game by Shinobu Kaitani but with less murder. Maybe. There might be murder. I would like to give it a try because I love mind game series. Watching as L and Light played mind games with each other is a big part of the reason I enjoyed Death Note as much as I did.

–Liselotte and Witch’s Forest volume 5 by Natsuki Takaya “They say that in a place far, far away; in the east, of the east, of the east…there is a forest where witches dwell. They are said to bestow blessings or inflict curses, brew potions in steaming cauldrons, practice their magic…and fly their brooms into the night sky. This is where Liselotte has decided to live after she was banished from her home by her brother.

The final volume of this cute series by the creator of Fruits Basket. It is still on hiatus while Natsuki Takaya looks after her health.

It is a cute series that follows Liselotte as she and two attendants live in the forest. One day she is saved by a stranger who looks a lot like a boy she was in love with who had died. Volume 4 never came to a bookseller near me and I haven’t had time to order it yet.

–Monstress volume 2 (B&N exclusive edition) by Marjorie M. Liu, artist Sana Takeda, and letterer/designer Rus Wooton “Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900′s Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, Monstress tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers.”

The Cumea are a race of sorcerers who experiment and kill a race called Arcanics, magical creatures with human characteristics. Maika; who is suffering from some memory loss, is an Arcanic who’s mother was killed by a Cumea. Desiring answers Maika infiltrates a sorcerers home and chaos ensues because of the ancient god who is living inside of Maika.

It’s been a while since I read the first volume and a friend is currently borrowing it so I don’t have much to fall back on for more details. I enjoyed the first volume. It was dark, violent, beautifully illustrated, and has a very rich world building. The series; at least from what I’ve heard cause I haven’t seen many cats (talking cats, what’s not to love about that) in the graphic novels I’ve read lately, has some of the best cats in graphic novels right now.

I actually saw where the B&N exclusive edition arrived last week to my local B&N but I also wanted to mention it on it’s official street date in case other B&N go it late for some reason.

–Princess Jellyfish volume 5 by Akiko Higashimura In the bustling city of Tokyo there resides a place called Amamizukan, a safe haven for girl geeks (otakus of trains, jellyfish, Japanese dolls, and more) who are terrified of ‘stylish’ people. One such girl is Tsukimi who loves jellyfish. One night she meets a stylish lady who helps her save the life of a jellyfish at a pet shop. This chance encounter will result in an odd friendship (at first anyway) between the two and the rest of the residents at Amamizukan. But this stylish girl is actually a boy.

It’s super cute shojo series that was made into an anime a while back. As well as a live-action film that according to one of my friends is very well done.

–Twinkle Star volume 3 by Natsuki Takaya Sakuya lives with her cousin Kanade. In times of pain, she looks up at the stars. On her birthday a strange boy shows up at her house with a present and then leaves. At school she finds out his name is Chihiro and he just transferred there. He treats her coldly until an incident at the club information session. Will it bring them closer or will they forever remain in the dark?

Another cute series by Natsuki Takaya. I have the first volume but haven’t finished it yet. It is a completed series. There should be two more volumes after this one.

–Waiting for Spring volume 1 by Anashin Mizuki is a shy girl who is about to enter high school. She vowed to open herself up to new friendships but the four stars of the boys basketball team is not who she had in mind. Soon she’s targeted by jealous girls and forced into the spotlight.

This just sounds like a really cute shojo series.

In Video Games –Destiny 2 Beta The beta of Destiny 2 opens to all preordered PS4 versions of the game today. I’m really excited for it.

In DVD/BLU-RAY –Adventure Time complete season 7 Finn, Jake, and the whole gang return. This season contains the miniseries Stakes starring Marceline and that creepy but good episode where we find out BMO’s imaginary friend Football is real and lives inside that mirror.

–K: Return of Kings The second season of the series K that takes place after the movies K: Missing Kings. It has been a while since I watched K and although I own the movie, I haven’t had time to watch it yet. K was really good and the animation was fantastic. It was gorgeous to watch. Return of Kings follows the events after Missing Kings.

–Record of Lodoss War (DVD/BLU-RAY combo pack) “In a land torn by war, young Parn and a ragtag team of adventurers set out to restore peace to the island of Lodoss. While an evil sorcerer seeks the destructive power of an ancient goddess, the Grey Witch presides over all with a cold-hearted bent for neutrality. The ensuing battles cost many lives before a brave new generation of heroes rises to face the sinister enemies once and for all.”

This combo pack contains episodes 1-13 of the OVA series Record of Lodoss War and episodes 1-27 of Chronicles of a Heroic Knight. I’ve never seen the series before but I’ve heard of it several different times. I have one friend who loved the series when he first saw it years ago and was excited to hear that it was getting this release by Funimation. I really want to give it a try sometime. I looked up the trailer and it looks pretty good. The dub to it doesn’t sound that great because some of the characters in the trailer didn’t sound like they tried very hard. I’m hoping that it will improve in later episodes. As a general rule if an anime I purchase has a dub, I have to watch the dub first. Unless the dub is really bad then I may switch to subbed. Second watches I watch it subbed.

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maggiehaha · 7 years

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Everyone’s a fan of someone... with Amber Kirk

UNCONVENTIONAL is set on the fan convention circuit - which means, really, it’s about community. And when it comes to talking about the YA community (and the UKYA community in particular), that has to include the amazing book bloggers, booktubers, librarians, booksellers, reviewers and readers.

Today I’m very excited to welcome award-winning blogger (with exceptional taste in YA - I may be biased here!) and fellow cat lover – the brilliant Amber Kirk-Ford from The Mile Long Bookshelf blog!

1. What book is your 'Piecekeepers'? Was there one in particular that you wished you could live in - or that changed everything for you - when you were Lexi's age?

Lots of books have had a huge impact on my life. Most recent, though, would be When We Collided by Emery Lord, which I read at the beginning of 2016, otherwise known as the cursed year… To put it simply I wasn’t in a good place, but that book made me so happy and so hopeful – probably because it depicts mental health issues in a positive, optimistic way, when lots don’t. As for a book I wish I could live in? Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare. Kind of. I mean, I love the characters and I’d love to meet them – plus it’s set in LA, which looks like a beautiful place – but hunting demons seems far too physically laborious for me…

2. What's your favourite convention memory, and what would your dream convention event be?

I try to go to YALC (Young Adult Literature Convention) every year; in fact, it’s the only convention I’ve ever been to! Last year was great, because I managed to meet way more people than I had at the previous convention, and I got to meet authors like Keris Stainton, Sophia Bennett, and Keren David, who I’ve known for years but had never actually met in person. My dream convention event would be one where I can miraculously go to ALL THE THINGS, magically overriding queues and schedule-clashes.

3. Everyone's a fan of someone: who are you a fan of, and why?

I’m one of those people who loves most people, so this is a really hard question… After a lot of thought, I’ve decided on Cimorelli, a band of six sisters who started their career on YouTube about seven years ago. They’re different to mainstream musicians and I find their music to be really hopeful, inspirational and uplifting. They’re based in the US but I’ve seen them perform twice in London, and I actually got to meet them a few months ago!

4. Which Hogwarts house do you belong to... and if you could override the Sorting Hat, would you choose a different one? (And why?)

When I first read the books, I was like, I WANNA BE GRYFFINDOR. Gryffindor, to me, seemed to be where all the cool kids were. But since then I’ve realized (as has Pottermore) that I am firmly a Ravenclaw. It fits me perfectly. I couldn’t be anything else.

5. What's the best thing about the YA book tribe?

With the exception of a few, we have each other’s backs. If you have a problem, someone’s there to help, whether you’re after book recommendations, you’re struggling to code a new blog design, or you’re trying to raise funds for vet bills, or rent, or a family member struck with illness – all things I have seen rectified astoundingly quickly recently. I’ve had people look over my CV for me when applying for bookish jobs. I’ve had stacks of books arrive after mentioning a charity I volunteer for and their need for donations. And I’ve made friends for life. We’re like-minded people; a support network. I don’t know where I’d be without it.

Thanks so much for taking part, Amber!

You can find Amber blogging at themilelongbookshelf.com and I highly recommend you check out her YouTube channel at youtube.com/themilelongbookshelf. You can also follow Amber on Twitter @MileLongBookS.

#Unconventional #Maggie Harcourt #Conventions #Harry Potter #Ravenclaw #cimorelli #milelongbookshelf #cassandra clare #keris stanton #sophia bennett #keren david #everyone's a fan of someone

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islamcketta · 6 years

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When I saw on Twitter that Robert Macfarlane had proposed a book group where we all start reading The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper on Midwinter’s Eve (the day the book starts) and share our experiences under the hashtag #TheDarkisReading, I was in heaven. He’d brought together my so many of my favorite things in one simple idea: my favorite social platform, sharing thoughts about books, and a beloved childhood classic. What a wonderful trip the past few days have been.

The First Time I Read The Dark is Rising

I can’t remember if I was nine or ten when I read Greenwitch, the third book in this series, for school, but I was instantly hooked and read the whole series. Though I’ve always been a reader, this was my first “gotta read ’em all” experience. I don’t remember a lot else from that first exposure, except a swelling pride in my Welsh heritage and maybe (just once I swear) asking my mom if we were descended from Welsh magicians. And when I saw the word “rook” in this text, I remembered these books were my introduction to that word (and others) and what that quest to understand first felt like.

The Dark is Rising in the Past 30 Years

I may have re-read the series once since I was a child, but my main relationship to the books since then has been forcing them on anyone I cared about who I thought would enjoy the books themselves and maybe also sharing in this magical other world that I carried in my heart. My victims included my brother (who lost my copies but eventually bought me the new ones I’m reading today), my now husband (who probably never actually read the books but humored me with Salinger so he’s forgiven), and my stepbrother (who found the books too scary at his tender age and was the reason I stopped forcing them on people). I’ve been saving my (new, thanks Tosh!) copies in my son’s closet for the day I thought he might be ready for them, but at the age of two he thinks Gruffalo is scary, so we have a ways to go.

What Re-reading The Dark is Rising Felt Like

The Old is New Again

In opening The Dark is Rising for the first time in decades this past week, I realized how little I remembered and how much this book now reminded me of other books. From echoes of Woolf’s To the Lighthouse on the first page to more expected similarities between Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and Grossman’s The Magicians and L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. Some of these convergences are unavoidable coincidences of trope and some are loving tributes (in all directions because some of those books predate The Dark is Rising, one is a contemporary of the book and one is modern to now). Regardless, The Dark is Rising manages to feel fresh and compelling throughout. Even to someone who’s read it before.

Coming of Age, Coming to Light

“As he stared at the fierce, secret lines of that face, the world he had inhabited since he was born seemed to whirl and break and come down again in a pattern that was not the same as before.” – Susan Cooper, The Dark is Rising

Perhaps one of the most important things The Dark is Rising made me appreciate was the way books written for children use the specialness of one child to inspire generations of children on their own individual quests for greatness. This should have occurred to me with Harry Potter (which I still haven’t read) or any number of other books, but the craft in The Dark is Rising is such that I could see how other children could aspire to be like Will, an otherwise ordinary boy among a passel of siblings, who happens to be born on Midwinter’s Day as the seventh son of a seventh son. It isn’t until his eleventh birthday that he starts to realize he is special, the last of the Old Ones to be born, and even that realization takes much coaching from a mysterious old fellow called Merriman Lyon (a name that made my heart leap with glee and reminded me instantly of his true name—but that’s a story for another book).

“He was crystal-clear awake, in a Midwinter Day that had been waiting for him to wake into it since the day he had been born, and, he somehow knew, for centuries before that.” – Susan Cooper, The Dark is Rising

This type of story reaches into the heart of every child at an age where they’re growing from the light of their mothers’ eyes to being parts of a much larger world. It’s a tricky age and a difficult transition and, while a standard formulation for a coming of age novel, Cooper does a better job than most of creating that atmosphere where each of us is special enough to become something more than we are today. She shows us some of the struggles and the work, specialness isn’t simply handed out, and that we each have a role to play. Whether we’re descended from Welsh magicians or not.

The Craft of Unfolding

The biggest literary lesson I’m taking away from The Dark is Rising is how Cooper uses Merriman Lyon to teach the reader about the world Will is newly entering. On the surface, Merriman is teaching Will with lines like “Expect nothing and fear nothing, here or anywhere” because the Dark cannot kill an Old One, but these words also tell the reader what to expect. From direct instructions on what will come next to advice on how to cope, Merriman imparts these lessons throughout the book which keeps Will from bumbling through a disorganized quest and also helps us understand the rules of the book we are reading. This is not a tactic I’d actually recommend to most writers because it’s far too easy to end up telling the reader things you want them to experience instead, but Cooper’s allusions are just delicate enough and the rest of the text enthralling enough that it’s the perfect choice here.

About the Magic

I start to crave magical stories at this time of year. Maybe it’s because I’m not religious but would like to be. Maybe because my dad read Lord of the Rings to my brother and me at a very early age. Or maybe it’s because it’s easy to get a little cooped up in a Seattle winter. But I had just finished binge-watching the latest season of The Magicians on Netflix when it was time to read The Dark is Rising and I didn’t see the connection until I read this piece in The Guardian and understood that this is a season when many of us seek wonder. Because virgin births and a man who can fit through every chimney don’t quite do it for me (though my son thinks Santa is the shit), I’m glad for a great series of books that can connect me to a more ancient form of wonder.

I sometimes wish I could write books like these—full of wonder and eschewing the boundaries of our world. I can’t, yet, but I can run back and start this series over again with Over Sea, Under Stone. Maybe we can re-read it together.

Buy The Dark is Rising for a young person, buy it for yourself. If you buy it from Powell’s Books using that link, your purchase keeps indie booksellers in business and I receive a commission.

The post Revisiting a Beloved Childhood Favorite for #TheDarkisReading: The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper appeared first on A Geography of Reading.

#Lit #Books #Western Europe #thedarkisreading #coming of age #magic #susan cooper #the dark is risin

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xtremelocalguide-blog · 7 years

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Three ways local businesses can survive the on-demand threat

Is there any business that Amazon can’t disrupt?

In recent weeks, I’ve seen Amazon entering businesses ranging from home furnishings to banana distribution to grocery stores. The company that arguably introduced the on-demand economy continues to spread its influence across multiple industries: fashion, entertainment, home automation… you name it, Amazon is there.

Furthermore, Amazon has seemingly triggered the rise of an entire on-demand economy in which people can order what they want and when they want it without having to pay a premium for convenience and speed.

And the key season for retailers — the winter holidays, when consumers are more time-sensitive than ever — is coming right up.

The major players in this market include names you know, such as Lyft (which Amazon is competing with for drivers) and Zappos (which Amazon acquired). New entrants are bursting on the scene, too, such as Instacart, the Internet-based grocery service.

For businesses that operate brick-and-mortar locations with traditional models of generating revenue, the rise of the digital on-demand businesses can look disheartening.

If it seems like no company is safe from on-demand disruption, it’s because no company is safe. That said, some businesses stand a better chance than others to counter the on-demand tide.

Here’s how I break down the factors that can help local businesses successfully compete:

Convenience and cost

There remain a host of services and products where it just makes more sense to leave your home and go to them. Personal services often fall into this category. Although it’s possible to get a haircut and manicure at home, the barbers and stylists delivering these services would charge such a premium that the time saved wouldn’t be worth the extra cost.

The same holds true for getting your automobile serviced. It’s more convenient, as well as necessary, for you to hop in your car and visit a mechanic to have access to specialty equipment required for services like this.

On a more serious note, even though more healthcare than ever is being delivered at home, receiving extensive healthcare usually requires you to visit a facility where the providers and equipment are under one roof.

Businesses can survive the on-demand world by making it easier for consumers to get access to specialty products and services clustered in one place. But such businesses are not immune; if we’ve learned anything about technological change, it’s that tools of production can be consolidated into smaller, more portable devices or become obsolete.

Ten years ago, who thought we could complete complex tasks on our mobile phones? And as on-demand transportation services continue to take hold, consumers will require gas stations and auto repair shops less frequently.

High touch

High-touch businesses rely on personal interaction to attract and keep people. Personal services often fall into this category.

Many hair salons gain a following because of the popularity of their stylists, who get to know their customers, families and lives through the interaction that comes with getting your hair done. The same holds true for personal care and fitness categories where getting to know the people in the facility enriches the experience and makes it more likely that you will spend time where they are.

High-touch businesses play off the emotional and intangible appeal of human interaction, not convenience or price. One of the reasons retailers have been disrupted by the on-demand economy is that they often lack this high-touch factor — mostly due to their inability to retain talent on the front lines of customer service. I don’t go to my local big-box retailer because I have a particularly warm relationship with the staff. I don’t remember their names, and they don’t remember mine.

The exception is family-owned retailers that retain a stable employee base year after year: that indie bookseller where everyone on staff knows you and your family, or that shoe store that has been in the same family for decades.

High-touch does not mean “independent,” either. Many Starbucks coffee shops rely on the high-volume, repeat nature of their business to make it possible for the baristas to get to know their customers personally, even if for but a fleeting moment of greeting each customer by name.

But high-touch does not necessarily mean personal touch. With its effective algorithms, Amazon has demonstrated it can get to know you as well as your local retailer and offer recommendations based on your purchase history. But an algorithm can’t provide the personal touch. Businesses that understand how to form relationships based on the human touch will withstand the Amazon threat for quite some time.

An experience

If you’ve ever been to an Apple store or Bass Pro Shop, you understand the value of an experience. Bass Pro Shops are experiences in and of themselves. They immerse you in an environment that celebrates the great outdoors, featuring aquariums, archery ranges, fly-fishing demos and restaurants.

On the other hand, Apple stores don’t overwhelm you with a lot of bells and whistles. They provide an experience in more subtle ways, such as their elegant design, use of comfortable furniture, and an open layout that encourages shoppers to stay and browse.

In fact, they’re doubling down on the power of the experience with their recently announced “Today at Apple” program. Through this program, Apple will give shoppers access to hands-on educational sessions with artists, photographers and musicians:

We’re creating a modern-day town square, where everyone is welcome in a space where the best of Apple comes together to connect with one another, discover a new passion or take their skill to the next level.

Both Apple and Bass Pro Shop demonstrate what might be the ultimate advantage that brick-and-mortar businesses have in the on-demand world: the experience. Amazon does many, many things for me, but providing a special experience is not one of them.

The user experience is fine, but does anyone ever get thoroughly immersed in Amazon like you do when you step foot into a Tiffany’s jewelry store or a Shinola watch boutique? Amazon can design for efficiency, but not for experience (so far).

Final thoughts

Ultimately, I don’t think any business is immune from the on-demand world. Advances in artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality alone promise to reinvent the online world into the kind of immersive and playful experience you get at the best brick-and-mortar locations.

But those days are far off. There are too many near-term obstacles to overcome (such as access to the equipment and a lack of content) for on-demand businesses to compete on experience.

For now, brick-and-mortar businesses can compete by focusing on their proprietary assets — among them their experiences, the human touch and their unique services — and amplifying those assets with the right data and content to stand apart at the location level.

Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.

Source

http://feeds.marketingland.com/~r/mktingland/~3/ycp8LX2OVKQ/three-ways-local-businesses-can-survive-demand-threat-219996

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pwylldavydd · 7 years

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All the Realms

The Gods

I was fortunate to be present for the reunion. Or reconciliation, as it was intended. While a recent arrival in Toronto – and only twenty-three years old – I’d ingratiated myself in its society of booksellers, writers, and scholars; although the events I experienced, or persons I met, often found me out of my depth. Not unlike my first exposure to Buddy Ebsen, as Jed Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies. I was only twelve years old then and didn’t know he’d been a song-and-dance man in the movies and vaudeville. (He was going to be Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz no less, but he couldn’t tolerate the makeup.) Barker Fairley, one of the two desired to be reconciled, was himself less famous than his depth might recommend. A poet and painter, he’d written a landmark study of Goethe, and was friends with members of the Group of Seven and other distinguished persons in the Arts and Letters Club circle. He’d painted A.Y. Jackson in 1939, and Fred Varley had painted him in 1922, when he was thirty-five. By the time the launch for his book of poems was being refashioned for rectification in 1977 he was ninety. Everyone thought the two had better patch things up, because they weren’t going to live forever and people ought not go to the grave with things unresolved. In fact, he didn’t die until 1986, at the advanced age of ninety-nine. Thoreau MacDonald, the one from whom Barker was estranged, also had many years still to live, passing away in 1989 at the age of eighty-eight. He was and is among Canada’s most distinguished artists. His preferred medium was woodcut illustration, and he’d decorated and lettered poems of Barker Fairley’s in the 1920s. But they’d had a falling out and hadn’t spoken for forty years. It was Thoreau who got up from his chair that evening at the party. He walked over to where Barker was sitting and leaned forward slightly on his walking stick. “Hello, Barker,” he said. “Hello, Thoreau,” Barker replied. Then Thoreau turned and walked back to his seat.

Demigods

You could spot the men and women who travelled with the company, as opposed to the local hires. They were deeply tanned. Seasoned. Vaguely dangerous. They had their own train! Which you could see parked on a railway siding beside the fairground while the show was on. At its peak Royal American Shows was the largest carnival company in North America, which after the War included a number of city fairs in western Canada where I lived. You’d often read in the newspaper back then how people wanted the midway cleaned up, or modernized. Little was changed or updated over the years, and by the late 60s the Royal American train was a rolling anachronism, loaded with the artefacts of an already-bygone era. Today, exhibition midways are mostly amusement rides and games of chance offering plush toys for their hapless winners. In that earlier era, carnival operators had those things, but they also had sideshows, announced by hand-painted banners, hung in rows like huge lettered sails. There was Leon Miller’s Club Lido, a burlesque tent that travelled with Royal American. Blaze Fury! The Human Heat Wave the banner announced, famous for twirling flaming tassels. The company was also renown for its girl-to-gorilla illusion, a must-see, portrayed on one of these colourful flags. Next to that, a banner for Serpentina, the Reptile Queen! in the Museum of Mystery. At bottom, it was this everyone wanted “cleaned up.” The freak show. The circus tradition of parading shocking medical anomalies and persons of peculiar talents (such as contortionists and sword swallowers) in a sideshow tent came to trouble public conscience. Not so for the Wall of Death, though, where daring motorcyclists rode stunts on the inside wall of a carnival motordrome, like a giant wooden barrel 16 feet high and 30 feet across. We watched from the spectator platform around the top edge above as they entered the arena floor below, waving up at us as they started their stripped-down Indians and Harley-Davidsons, the roar of the engines engulfing our applause.

Humankind

1930 was not a good year to be born in Tibet. In your late twenties, as you reached your prime, your home and culture and country would be smashed by foreign military forces. You would likely be imprisoned and tortured, and your mother and father would be brutally murdered in front of your eyes. On the other hand, 1930 was the best year ever to be born in the west, especially in Canada or the United States. Too young to serve in World War II, you enjoyed the buoyancy of its patriotic mood in safety as a child; then had many veterans’ benefits available to you when it was over. A time of terrific waste and excess, you suddenly and relentlessly mowed down vast forests, raped the great oceans, and burned huge quantities of petroleum. With these assets, you enjoyed stunning economic and technological prosperity, never before imaginable. And jazz. You had jazz music. Especially swing. Swing was a big band sound for dancing, full of primal rhythms. The best of swing were the bands of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington. For me, their finest moment was Sing Sing Sing, written by Louis Prima and made famous by Benny Goodman. Born in 1954, I was too late for the original passage of all this, although enjoyed the tidewater of its prosperity later. But as a teenager I scorned the jazz singers, like Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, and Ella. And scorned my dad for loving them. Which, when I got to my forties, suddenly flipped to a powerful lesson of just how wrong you can be. My dad was gone so I couldn’t tell him I’d come to this realization. Although opera was my first love then, not jazz, and I woke up to CJRT radio at 6 am for the classical program. One day in a mood of mischief, the announcer played Sing Sing Sing at 6 am for his still-sleepy classical listeners. While I lay there in bed listening to the huge chorus of brass, and Gene Krupa pounding his drums, this seemed to me the very essence of the entire possibility of living.

Animal Kingdom

My supervisor explained that people noticed I was always staring at the shapely young women who came in the shop. I replied I wasn’t looking at all of them; and besides, I wasn’t staring, I was just trying to comprehend them. Besides that, he wasn’t really my supervisor. I was supposed to be working in the back, doing cutting and collating and other bindery jobs for the document printing and copying the others did out front. But I always seemed to drift out to the retail counter, where the supervisor was, where the men and women were, and where I thought I could be more useful. Although, there was the guy who came in one day and grabbed my shirt, saying he’d have killed me if I’d been there in the meeting when he handed out the misfed photocopies I’d done for him the day before. I explained it was really up to him to inspect the work, that the machines weren’t completely reliable. What machine could be! The accounting girl wasn’t my supervisor either, but she caused some trouble when she shooed me out to breakfast one day. There was a restaurant next door where I often had an omelette in the morning, but I was kinda late that day and my boss said “no,” that working hours had started; but a little later the accounting girl said “go ahead,” and I did. But my boss came into the restaurant for his coffee and saw me there and took me back to the shop by the throat, which I thought was excessive. When the new shop expansion opened there was no counter to stand behind, but my boss was still never happy with me, although I was there working even when he wasn’t. It was not unlike how one day a customer came in with a short story to copy. Behind the counter we stood about nine inches higher than the customers down in front, which gave me a sense of superiority to them, but not to this man. I was reading his story and it was moving to me. Like my boss, the character in the story was not happy. He’d become traumatized after he’d seen a bumper sticker that said Jesus loves you, but everyone else thinks you’re an asshole.

Hungry Ghosts

The soles of my shoes were squeaky on the mat my office chair rode over at work, which kept its wheels from grinding the carpet. She said they must be sticky with muck from the raisins I’d mashed. Well, I ate lots of raisins, but I hadn’t mashed any on the plastic mat. But then, only about ten minutes later, what do you think? I mashed a raisin on the mat! Under my shoe. I hadn’t said anything, but I think she knew I couldn’t imagine myself mashing a raisin under my shoe, but then I’d just gone and done it! As though some part of my subconscious brain just had to go and prove I might indeed do the raisin squashing. I remembered how once when I was working at University of Toronto Library I noticed I’d never goofed up my lunch break, going at 12.00 instead of 1.00, say, if I’d been scheduled at 1.00 that day. (When later I first started at the record company my boss said he wanted me to start at 1.30, but he meant $130 dollars a week, not 1.30 in the afternoon, which confusion was awkwardly resolved.) Anyway, the very next day I went for the wrong lunch! Nobody was mad at me because I was usually so reliable and they knew it was just a mistake. But it was as though my mind sought the experience I believed I’d never have, even though when I missed the lunch I’d already forgotten the thought I had the day before. But when I realized my mind would do this, I started thinking, Oh, I’d never see that girl naked! when I went by a beautiful woman on the street, or Wow! An Austin Healey 3000! I could never, ever own a car like that! Everywhere I went I was thinking about the things I’d be so unlikely to have happen. There was no lottery then, or I’d surely have considered that the most unlikely thing of all. But, hey, if I rescued the son of an oil sheik in front of the Ritz Hotel in London, he’d certainly reward me, although it was so improbable I’d be on the spot right at the crucial moment, and would be modest even though I’d have been injured.

The Hells

The air changes when it falls below -40 degrees. Too cold to hold moisture, it becomes dry and still. The air was cold and dry and still every winter in Alberta before the 1970s, when the warming began. A young child then, I didn’t realize there were places elsewhere in the world where winters were mild. I’d seen photographs of tropical islands in Life magazine, abundant with hibiscus flowers and pretty young girls, but I didn’t know they had mild winters, or no winters at all. That they’d never seen sun dogs, or knew the air could be as cold as that. That they didn’t know the sun only shone six or seven hours in a midwinter day, and had never once seen the northern lights. I took our winters in graceful stride, knowing no other life. I knew how to protect myself outside, and how to warm up coming in. How to avoid swollen hands and ears and cracked lips. I don’t know how we could possibly have had jackets and gloves and hats and boots warm enough, but I do remember being upset with my dad for bringing home a new jacket for me, a faux-furry jacket, which I thought was effeminate and I was embarrassed to wear. My friend Grant Hagen didn’t have to wear a girls’ jacket. Grant and I were school patrols on December 15 1964, in Grade 6 at Crestwood Elementary School, the day it was colder than it’d ever been before. The radio announcer didn’t say ‘Crestwood’ reading his list of school closures, so we went on our way, fulfilling our charge at the 96th Avenue crosswalk along the way, unaware that thousands of beef cattle were that moment freezing solid in their shelters. The blizzard raged with heavy snow, high winds, and bitter cold. I saw on the front page of the Edmonton Journal that evening, delivered by another boy indifferent to the crisis, a chart showing the windchill temperature of -92 degrees F. Back then the transit bench by the crosswalk on 96th Avenue was painted with the slogan Rest and Read the Journal, but there was no one relaxing there with the newspaper that day.

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char27martin · 7 years

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Understanding Crowdfunding as a Self-Publishing Option, Part 1

Asking family, friends, and even strangers for money doesn’t carry the stigma it used to. In the last few years, crowdfunding sites—where people collect donations to cover the cost of everything from essential surgery to wearable technology—have become a legitimate option for writers who want to self-publish without plunging into debt.

This guest post is by Diane Shipley. Shipley is a freelance journalist who writes about books, pop culture, technology, and psychology—or any combination of the above. Her bylines include The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, Writer’s Digest, and Mental Health Today.

She’s also a frequent contributor to Twitter (@dianeshipley).

Novelists are using crowdfunding to bring passion projects to life, communicate with fans, and connect with Hollywood producers. In some cases, they’re even garnering critical respect. Paul Kingsnorth’s crowdfunded postapocalyptic novel, The Wake, won The Bookseller Industry Book of the Year Award 2015, was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize, and received a favorable review from The New York Times.

On Kickstarter, the biggest and best-known crowdfunding site, donors gave more than $20 million to publishing projects in 2016 alone. And since the site launched in 2009, publishing projects have raised over $100 million.

Yet only 40 percent of projects ever reach their funding goal. So how can you ensure success? In a word, planning.

Define Your Crowdfunding Strategy

Kickstarter’s publishing outreach lead, Maris Kreizman, says that authors need to do their research before deciding how much to ask for. That means getting quotes for services like editing, cover design, and printing. Plus you need to factor in site fees (Kickstarter and its main competitor, Indiegogo, take a 5 percent cut of the earnings for successful projects, plus 3 to 5 percent for processing payments), and the cost of shipping and rewards.

A key part of crowdfunding campaigns is offering backers something for their money at different donation levels: For example, a donation of $10 awards an e-book, and a pledge of $20 awards a print copy. Sometimes authors create merchandise, which Kreizman says is a nice idea but an unnecessary expense. “You can still do exclusive rewards, but it doesn’t have to be a physical object. A phone call or recommended reading list can be just as meaningful.” While crowdfunding campaigns that rake in millions hit the headlines, it’s more realistic to aim for an amount that covers your costs. “We recommend [trying to raise] the bare minimum to make the book you want to make,” Kreizman says.

Whichever site you choose, you’ll need to make your project page as attractive as possible in order to appeal to potential backers, which means explaining what your book’s about and what it means to you. Break up any large blocks of text with bullet points, links to other writing samples, and relevant images (as long as you own the rights to them). According to Indiegogo, campaigns with videos raise 114 percent more money than the average campaign, but a video doesn’t have to be professional quality. Keep it short (under two minutes), sincere, and free of background noise.

Spread the Word

Once you’re happy with the look of your project page, it’s time to launch your campaign. Kelly Thompson, who has used Kickstarter to fund two novels, says that a social media presence is crucial. “You need to be on Twitter or Tumblr or Facebook or a blog, or all of the above,” she says. “You can’t expect to go to Kickstarter and find an audience there. You have to have a preexisting audience, even if it’s a small one.”

Publishing consultant Jane Friedman says that before launching a crowdfunding campaign, you should make a spreadsheet of your contacts and estimate how much you can reasonably expect them to donate. “I recommend with social media that people consider 1 percent of their total following to be potential donors. If you have three thousand [followers], that’s at most thirty [donors], and even that [number] feels optimistic.”

Ideally, you’ll know a handful of people who will be willing to put up the initial 10 to 20 percent in order to build momentum for the campaign. Friedman recommends that authors send an e-mail to their contacts at the start of a campaign asking for support—but know who it’s appropriate to approach. Because Friedman has a lot of Twitter followers (220,000 at last count), strangers frequently ask her to tweet about their campaigns. “They’ve asked me to support their project because they know it can be helpful to have someone with a following mention them. But that doesn’t work; you need to have had some sort of interaction.”

Liz Hennessy, who writes as E.A Hennessy, used Indiegogo to raise money for her first novel, Grigory’s Gadget, a steampunk adventure story. She was keen to self-publish so she could keep creative control, and she looked to crowdfunding when she realized how costly that route would be. She found asking for donations difficult and says that if she were to crowdfund again, she’d assemble a team of ambassadors to help promote her campaign. “I’m a shy, introverted person, so it was difficult for me to approach even friends and family. You know they care, but it’s hard to reach out and say, ‘This is how you can help me.’” In the end, she raised $2,021 of her $4,000 goal, and as she’d chosen Indiegogo’s flexible funding option (as opposed to fixed funding, which requires the campaign to be fully funded to pay out), she got to keep the money she raised. That gave her enough to cover editing. By using personal savings to cover smaller publishing expenses, she was still able to self-publish Grigory’s Gadget.

Which Site Is Right for You?

Weigh the pros and cons of the different options before making your choice.

Kickstarter (Kickstarter.com): biggest and best-known crowdfunding site, and the one with the strictest guidelines. Every project must be well-defined and have a clear end goal and delivery date. Fixed funding only.

Indiegogo (Indiegogo.com): This site doesn’t have the reach or cachet of Kickstarter, but it allows you to choose between fixed or flexible funding, where you can keep every cent you raise (minus fees).

Unbound (Unbound.co.uk): This U.K.-based crowdfunding publisher is favored by literary authors and celebrities. It encourages authors to pitch their book before they’ve started writing and to update their backers regularly.

Inkshares (Inkshares.com): This crowdfunding publisher allows authors to upload drafts of their projects to receive feedback and build a following before their campaign. It offers the option of a 250-book print run for niche projects.

Publishizer (Publishizer.com): A crowdfunding site/matchmaker. For every pre-sales goal met (from 250 to 1000 copies), an author’s book proposal is shared with a bigger group of publishers. It offers flexible funding, but fees start at 15 percent.

Interested in more tips, success stories, and hybrid crowdfunding options? Check out the second half of this post on Thursday morning.

Want more? Pick up Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market

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Order your copy now from our show and get a bonus one-year subscription to WritersMarket.com’s searchable online database of fiction publishers, as well as a free digital download of Writer’s Yearbook, featuring the 100 Best Markets.

If you’re an agent looking to update your information or an author interested in contributing to the GLA blog or the next edition of the book, contact Writer’s Digest Books Managing Editor Cris Freese at [email protected].

The post Understanding Crowdfunding as a Self-Publishing Option, Part 1 appeared first on WritersDigest.com.

from Writing Editor Blogs – WritersDigest.com http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/understanding-crowdfunding-self-publishing-option-part-1

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