ROW80, Characters Reacting to the Paranormal, Pottermore, and Dr Seuss Art

Oh hello. I had a deadline today, didn't I?

Promised to have all the on-screen edits of Druid's Moon completed. (Also blog comments and advance A-Z posts to catch up on, plus a couple of writing projects...)

So what have I been doing? Not sure... I have been editing, just not devoting as much time to it as I should. Yes, despite the schedule. I'm thinking that something has to go...

I enjoy Twitter quite a lot, and have gotten used to not checking every minute of it now that I'm following so many more people than when I started. I thought about blogging only once a week, but I like blogging! And I love interacting with all of you. It's nice to have a forum for longer, more elaborate discussions and thoughts.

Speaking of forums, I'm still active in the Compuserve Books and Writers Community. We've been having some great monthly writing exercises lately.

All in all, I'm thinking it's got to be Facebook that I drop... I've already fallen out of the Pinterest habit, and I love tumblr but it's easy to explore that in half-hour spurts once a month. Actually, speaking of tumblr, Maureen Johnson has been posting each day leading up to her book release and she had an interesting post the other day about extending the moment of surprise in a book featuring ghoulies and ghosties and other things that go bump in the night:

"I tried to have that realization roll over [the main character] a few times. I wanted to extend her acceptance curve a bit. I wanted there to be a bit more, 'Wait, what? Ghosts? WHAT?' What happens to her mind when the initial shock wears off?"

I agree with this idea a lot. Druid's Moon is my first paranormal, but I also had Austin going back in time in my MG The Face of a Lion, and in both stories the characters responded with a little more "what's going on?!" than "oh, paranormal/fantasy stuff. cool."

Each in their own way, of course. Austin, after his initial surprise, is eager to follow Kedi. Lyne, on the other hand... she doesn't want to be responsible for rescuing Fred, and she resents being thrown into the role of Beauty. Especially since he knows so much about the legend/curse, and she was never told a thing from her mother, about the tradition that's been passed down her family.

Back to the Facebook issue. It's got to go. Not least because, beyond the usual to do lists and hobbies and reading and interests, there are longer term projects I've got to make time for (like replacing ALL the copyrighted photos in my oldest blog posts with Creative Commons ones. Like maybe adding tags to all those blog posts (would you believe I have never tagged a single blog post?!). Like adding new tabs to the blog. Like updating the catalogue of my library. And - oh, my brain hurts... I wish I was one of those people that could get by on five or six hours of sleep).

I've already stopped playing Farmville, and I'd gotten to the point where I had about 50 of my 500+ friends labelled as close friends - did you know that if you do that, FB will send that person's updates to your email? All I have to do is scroll through my email, and only sign in to FB if I feel like replying to a particular post. Now I've whittled the list down to about 30 people, and most of those don't post very often. Still, sometimes I feel badly that I'm missing out on stuff from other friends and family members. And let's not even get into Google+...



Has anyone else tried to play this? I'm halfway through Book 2 at the moment, and while it's lots of fun, I certainly do not have time to devote to it. If you haven't played, it's basically an interactive journey through every chapter of every Harry Potter book. The best part, of course, is coming across the occasional original tidbit that J. K. Rowling wrote specifically for the site. I love finding out new facts and backstory about the characters.

I signed up for my first-ever movie-related blogfest!


Hosted by ninja captain Alex! Hope to see you all there!

Also, did anyone else know about this? Apparently, Dr Seuss had other art. Secret art, that he shared only with his family but wanted the public to see after he'd passed away. And now prints of it are for sale...

Love the lions strolling through the top one...

I especially want that wave... (please ignore the non-edited screenshot with scroll bars visible)

And this one is for Claire Legrand! I'd like a copy too...

Which Dr Seuss art do you like?

Comments

Glad you're on board for the blogfest!
I limit my online sites because it can become overwhelming. (I'm not even on Facebook.) Blogging is my focus and I enjoy it the most.
Old Kitty said…
My goodness!!! Dr Seuss secret art is fabulous!!! I love all his stuff - but this site is great, thank you for the link!

Glad your editing is going along well despite all the social media stuff going on! I can't keep up! LOL!

Have a great Sunday! Take care
x
DL Hammons said…
I mostly use Facebook to keep up with family and friends...although I am linked to A LOT of writers. It's very rare that I find out about something on Facebook that I hadn't already heard elsewhere.

Enjoy your Sunday! :)
J.L. Murphey said…
I swore off facebook's games a year ago. They cluttered up my page and and were a waste of valuable time that I could spend writing.

I love Dr. Suess art!

My focus is B&W, blogging, and writing this year. Hopefully I'll be back to my pre-stroke writing within a year or two.
Anonymous said…
I didn't know about Seuss' secret art.

I'd rather blog than do anything else, but I spend a small bit of time on the other sites.
Zan Marie said…
I've never gotten into Twitter or Pinterest and I'm glad. I do go by Facebook a little bit, but mostly for some closed groups like Muse. Blogging and B&W are my main time soakers...Until I joined the new Women's Fiction Writers Association email loop this weekend. But I can justify that one...I think... ; )
Nas said…
Thanks for the link, Deniz. It is fabulous. I loved browsing the art site.

All the best with your editing!
Michael Di Gesu said…
That secret are is GORGEOUS...

Thanks for sharing Deniz!
Carol Riggs said…
Wow, Farmville. Such a time-suck. My hubbs was into that for a while. He finally got off. An interactive HP journey sounds fun, but I just don't have time...well, and not have time to write! :)
Trisha said…
I've never played any Facebook games, so I don't have that problem. I do check FB every day, a few times a day, though. :)

I agree with extending the moment of surprise - but you don't want to extend it so far that the reader is thinking, "This character is soooooo slow!"
S.P. Bowers said…
I think I could be addicted to farmville so I just don't play it.

You know, I recently read a book where someone went back in time. She, and the person she met there both basically said, "huh, cool, lets not worry about it too much." Then went about their daily lives. It kind of irritated me that they were so blase about it. But of course Outlander has spoiled me for other time travel books.
Unknown said…
I understand why you're leaving Facebook, but I and the fellow Musers will miss you!
Don't drop Facebook! My strategy has been to slow blogging because that's the most time consuming for me. I haven't been on Pottermore. Now you're making me want to, and I just joined Twitter. Hm...
J.L. Campbell said…
It's so easy to get sidetracked by everything else but writing and boy is it hard to decide what to drop. I limit my social media time cause I know sites like Fb can be a huge timesuck.
Deniz Bevan said…
Good for you Alex and Jo, not being on Facebook. I wish my family would go back to sharing photos by email instead of on there!

I guess yours does the same, DL. It helps being able to receive them in my email though.

So glad you liked it, Kitty!

I love blogging too Medeia!

I certainly think you can justify it, Zan Marie [g]

Thank you Nas and Michael!

I am SO glad to be off Farmville, Carol! You're smart Trisha not to start them!

Argh, that would have bothered me too, Sara. I think Stephen King did a great job with the time travel stuff in 11//22/63.

Oh no, I couldn't stay away from the Muse, Lara! Just happy to not have to check in every day.

I can't, Theresa! All my family are on there! But getting FB notifications in email makes things a bit easier.
amy kennedy said…
I think everyone has their limits. I love Facebook, I grew up in one state, moved to another where I graduated, moved back to original, so Facebook allows me to stay connected (reconnect) to far away friends.

Love the secret Seuss art!

You are busy! Have fun.
Deniz Bevan said…
That's just it, amy, I have to stay on FB cos so many old friends are on there. But all the notifications pile up so quickly!
Beth Camp said…
Farmville? Yes, I also quit about 8 months ago. It was very nice to stay in touch with my sister, but WAY TOO time-consuming. But I do use FB as the main way to check in with ROW80 and try to stay current with family, friends, and writing buddies. Keep the blog rolling!
Deniz Bevan said…
Thanks Beth! It's great having the ROW80 for support!