15 Minute Rule

Somewhere in the 1980's, I was reading my subscription of Guidepost, by Norman Vincent Peale. There was a story that had stayed with me all these years. It was about a person visiting a man who was telling about all that he had done to his house, and all that he has yet to do. It was an enormous amount of work, only to find out that he works on it 15 minutes a day, no more, no less. And, although the person then applied this to reading the Bible, I have implemented this for various projects in my life since.



When beginning my work on "Legends in Wood, Stories of the Totems," It was not too long after my accident (on the freeway, stop and go, traffic stopped, guy behind me didn't). There was a burning desire to illustrate the totems of Klawock, and get down the stories into poetry form. Some days I would get home from work and just have enough energy to eat dinner and go right to bed, I was in sooo much pain. With the 15 minute story in mind, I had decided to work on my project everyday, even if it wasn't 15 minutes, even if I only had enough energy to shade a little bit more on a drawing, or just a few words on a poem. And my original poems rhymed, and were 5 to 9 pages long. It amazed me that I had accomplished not only the poems for "Legends..." but I had also made a poem "The Potlatch Before Christmas" at the same time, and then submitted that poem and won a prize with it in the poetry division of the first annual art show of the "Indian Art Northwest," at Portland OR in 1998.

So, now that I've written for 3 encyclopedias, and have just finished a 7000 word entry of "Inuits" for "21st Century Anthropology" that will be published in 2010, and my "Legends..." book has gone out of print and I have another publisher, it's time to get to work! I have a notebook for my project, and devote at least 15 minutes a day on this project. Should there be time later to work more, I work more on it.



But, there are lots, and lots of ideas that I want to publish, and have agreed to work on. These other projects have their own notebooks, and I set the timer for 15 minutes on them. So, that when I finally finish with "Legends...", I'll at least be started on the other projects, and take up the one that is next in line, to be the one I'll focus on. With the encyclopedias I just worked on one entry after another until they were finished. I was lucky to squeeze "Transformation Masks" into the schedule.

So, I'm looking forward to an even more productive writing schedule! Fingers crossed :^)

Have a Great Week-end,
Pamela

THEY'RE CUTTING DOWN THE TOTEM POLES!!!!

Find out about it on my blog on

http://www.myspace.com/thlingit

Aug 27, 2009 8:09
THEY'RE CUTTING DOWN THE TOTEM POLES!!!!

1 Blog... 2 Blogs... United

After much deliberation the decision has become final! It all started with the blog on my MySpace/Thlingit site, which talked about my books, it was a yearly event (3 blogs resulting). Then the decision to make it more frequent. Well, there was also a burning desire to just be able to just work out in writing the daily trials as a writer. This was in conflict with my MySpace page which totally focused on my publications.

There was also the need to reach more readers. I had searched various blog sites, and liked the the Blogger/Blogspot site, which a person could click on "next blog" and discover new blogs. Also, it had the prestige of being a "Blog Site" that pulled me in.

Now I had 2 blog spaces. One direction was to cut off the MySpace blog, and focus on the Journey of a Writer on blogger; to which I put my 2 new blogs on my new blogger site. Then I started getting people reading the MySpace/Thlingit blog. There was an idea to put the up an coming blogs on both sites, but that would be too much trouble, especially if pictures were involved.

The decision: to write blogs that pertain to subjects that I've published on my myspace/thlingit.com site; and to have ramblings of being a writer (like this one) on my Journey of a Writer blogger site. But, references to each of the blogs will be on both sites. For instance the www.myspace/thlingit.com will have a reference about this blog, on it's blog list. But, my next blot "They're Cutting down the Totem Poles!!!" will by on my MySpace site, and a reference here on the "Journey of a Writer" blogger site will be made to go to the MySpace site.

I think it will work. Just trying to have the best of both worlds I guess.

Until Next Time,
Pamela

The Author's Photo

There is definetly an evolution in Author's Photos. In the beginning of course, in the 4th millennium BC in Mesopotamia with the "proto-cuneiform" writing, an image of an author accompaning his work wasn't even conceived, much less the practice. Although, there have been hand prints found next to cave drawings, which can be seen as the combined signature and and portrait of the artist/author.


Early authors such as Plato (around 428BC - 347BC) and Sun Tzu of "Art of War" (from around 722BC -221BC) at least had statues of themselfs. Up until the medieval era, men dominated the literary field; that is, until Christine de Pizan became the first professional published female, although she doesn't have a statue, she does have a beautiful portrait painting. Today these author's images may be seen on the front cover of their published works.


Not all books have Author's Photos, some just have "About the Author." And there are countless books without any reference to the author besides "by ___________". Jane Austen for instance never had a professional portrait painted; her sister Cassandra though did do a couple of sketches, and there is a silhouette; since then several attempts have been made to reconstruct what Jane may have looked like. Uh oh, I've just did a fopaux, and assumed familiarity and used Miss Austen's first name (it's an inside Janeite thing). :^)



Some authors have been very creative and illustrated their image, like Robert E. Stanley Sr. of "Northwest Native Arts: Basic Forms, and did his illustration in formline (a Northwest Native Art style). Frederica de Laguna borrowed regalia for her photo, for her edited with additions edition of George Thornton Emmons' "The Tlingit Indians." As it turns out, I did both; on "Legends in Wood, Stories of the Totems" I borrowed my great-grandmother Hannah Cogo's Eagle button blanket, and my grandmother Florence Meilke's spruceroot hat; on "Coloring Alaska, the Greatland on a Summer's Day" I had drawn the picture from "Legends...", who knows there's probably purple crayon all over my face right now, lol.


A great many authors will have a professional photo taken for their book. Salt Publishing.com utilized a funny page on "10 Ways to Take a Bad Author Photo" to emphasize the importance of a good photo. Julie Kramer of "Stalking Susan" checked out other author's photos in her local bookstore, and since she is a television news producer, she had her cameraman/friend do her photo, after her professional makeup artist worked her over, so she could aquire that "edgy" "thriller writer" look:
(Wednesday, July 16, 2008 Stalking An Author Photo http://workingstiffs.blogspot.com/2008/07/stalking-author-photo.html).


There are a couple of books on Author's Photos:
Writers: Photographs
by Nancy Crampton, & Mark Strand

Author Photo: Portraits, 1983 - 2002
by Marion Ettlinger (Photographer)


Why obsess on an Author's Photo? With increasing pressure on authors to have a good photo, and as Martha Woodroof's NPR Morning Edition pointed out in "Author's Photograph Essential In Marking A Book", the author's photo IS part of todays book, and is part of the deciding factor of future readers.




So, while redesigning "Legends...", my original photo will be represented somewhere in the book, but am really courting the idea of a new photo.

For "Transformation Masks" the photo used is one taken just prior to setting off to the 2005 Der Ring des Nibelungen. My editor and friend H. James Birx was seated beside me in the original photo. When relating this story, he said that he had
been "edited out". :^) (the photo on the top of the page)

Well, with digital camera in hand, I'm off to see if I can get a good Author's Photo!

Until Next Time,
Pamela

The life of a writer can be a bit busy.


So, Bolstered and Inspired by the whole "Julie & Julia" book and movie (I've watched twice so far), I've been rethinking the "Blog" thing. Don't get me wrong, I have done one blog per year for the past three years, and if nothing else this is my token blog for the year. Do I have any visions of grandeur of camera's following me around as I walk through a totem park, or try on Transformation Masks and describe what the "viewers" will be seeing, and a blockbuster movie about me, that say... Johnny Dep would LOVE to be in (I've found out that Johnny has recently visited my hometown of Klawock earlier this summer, and have seen the very totems in my "Legends in Wood, Stories of the Totems" book!!!!!)? I'm not sure, time will tell.


Being a Gemini my interests are Very diverse. The internal battle of what I should blog about has been the biggest hold back for me. A part of me says that my blog should consist of my books, for the eternal marketing process that writers in this day and age are required to participate in if they ever want to have readers. It was certainly a revelation to me when my first book "Legends..." came out; from that moment I was a poet become Salesman/Marketer/MySpace designer/Blogger/etc. And thanks to the suggestions from the "guerrilla marketing - for authors", I am now in the possession of a T-shirt with a big picture of "Legends..." with big bold letters of "ASK ME ABOUT MY NEW BOOK", which by the way has brought sales. Being naturally shy though, I do feel a bit conspicuous and WAY out of my comfort zone when wearing it. But, I have to get over all of those people looking at my chest, if I'm at a Native function, and am carrying around 100 books. (wearing the T-shirt in the picture)


Well, I don't have an Icon like Julia Child that I can blog about, and a deadline to finish "The Project." I am a writer who happens to be Native (Thlingit and Haida from SE Alaska to be precise), and not a Native Writer. It is a term that I've learned from the comedian Gabriel Iglesias, who said he was a comedian who happens to Mexican, not a Mexican Comedian. In the Encyclopedia of Time (which just came out this January 13th, 2009), in addition to my entries on: Chaco Canyon, Pueblo,Totems, and Tribal Calendars; there is a very exciting entry of: Myths of Creation or Creation, Myths of. This entry took me on an adventure throughout Creation Myths around the world and through Wagner's Ring Cycle, I loved it!!!


So, this is my blog, the journey of a writer (who happens to be from the Thlingit and Haida tribes of SE Alaska)


Have a Great Day,
Pamela