Indie Author Fringe is a three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), fringe to the major global publishing fairs.
All online, all free.
Organized by authors for authors.
“Preschoolers can Infer General Rules Governing Fantastical Events in Fiction,” by J.W. Van de Vondervoort and O. Friedman
This is an interesting article, by Guneet Daid, from OnFiction, about a study, “Preschoolers can Infer General Rules Governing Fantastical Events in Fiction,” by J.W. Van de Vondervoort and O. Friedman, that reveals the ability of children to easily differentiate between fantasy and reality. Continue reading . . .
Antoni Gaudí’s mosaics at Park Güell—stories within stories
In the world of words, creativity is not restricted to writers: reading is creative, too. Even if neither is aware of the process, readers complete a story by understanding, interpreting and meshing it with their own inner narratives. A reader brings his or her own ‘voice’ to the task. It’s a collaborative process. And sometimes, the meaning readers make from a tale is not what the author intended: writers must release their stories to make their own relationships with their audience. Without readers would there be writers?
Continue reading . . .
Twitter: @TrishaNicholson
Chomolungma
Hell is a place where nothing connects with nothing. —Dante
In the last couple of years I’ve authored two travelogues, and a third, much longer one about Papua New Guinea, is in the pipeline. But this week, Collca released my science ebook. Science? Some people were askance. “But you’re a travel writer. You can’t switch genre like that, your readers won’t know where they are.”
Can. Have done. So there. And I credit readers with enough intelligence to understand plain English and know exactly where they are when they read each of my books.
Continue reading . . .
In this video, German filmmaker Werner Herzog (@wernerherzog) appears in conversation with acclaimed author and essayist, Pico Iyer at UC Santa Barbara. I’m not sure how many times I’ve watched and listened to it, but I find it to be one of the finest examples of storytelling. On the back of Herzog’s engaging delivery, the story naturally unfolds and numerous peculiar surprises are revealed from one moment to the next. Who is your favorite storyteller?
Dear Friends,
I would like to extend my deep appreciation to each of you Creative Flux writers and contributors for generously sharing your visions with this community. You never failed to spark the curiosity and nourish the spirits of our readers with your infectious love of language and unique storytelling abilities, and I thank you for it!
Continue reading . . .
My sincere thanks go out to Thomas Drinkard (@ThomasDrinkard) for nominating Creative Flux for the “One Lovely Blog Award”!
Tom is a writer, editor and teacher with a strong military background whose specialty is writing about characters who command attention in suspense, mystery and action-packed novels. Recently, he was a guest on Blog Talk Radio in a dynamic and entertaining interview by Donna Cavanagh that reveals the man behind the pen.
I met Tom a few years ago on social media and and it was an honor to interview him in June, 2011 (includes audio clips). He has also contributed an excellent piece on writing—”Planner or Panster?”—on CF, and you can find his writing blog here. Thanks again, Tom!
You can view some of my favorite words and other blog nominations in the updated “Inspiring Blog Award” post.
As for nominees for the “One Lovely Blog,” each of you is special to me in a unique way:
As the guidelines go, if you so choose, you are requested to:
I look forward to learning more about you:) Have fun!
Me and “The Green Vase” that won Best in Show at Artel Gallery, Pensacola, FL.
Friends, I’ve missed you all! And back in April/May, when I mentioned on Twitter that I would be taking a break from curating Creative Flux, I hadn’t expected to be away so long. But events of the last six months redefined my time and priorities. A long story short: within four months of that time we moved twice, and this last time, in July, it was across the state. I apologize to all of you reading this, you members of the Creative Flux community, for I know I’ve been negligent and it makes me feel awful. And, because of new opportunities, the future of Creative Flux is still undecided.
On the other side of things, Life has finally given me an opportunity to reunite my deepest artistic love with action! In under two months of living in our new Pensacolian digs, I’ve met a number of amazing artists, entered my first juried art competition at the Artel Gallery (@artelPensacola) and was awarded Best of Show!
And there’s more news; please come read about it and share in my excitement–Terre Britton: Best of Show at Artel Gallery–because each of you in the Creative Flux community has been instrumental at helping me arrive at where I am today, through your stories, conversations, kindness, laughter, wisdom and insights. I’ve just loved being immersed in your generosity; so thank you!
I do hope you’ll swing by my art blog (which still needs a name), when you get a chance, to catch a glimpse of works to come or to sit and chat.
Again, friends, thank you.
“I dream my painting and I paint my dream.”
― Vincent van Gogh
Updated: September, 2012I am honored and thrilled that Creative Flux has been nominated for the “Inspiring Blog Award” by Marina Sofia (@MarinaSofia8), author of the blog “Finding Time to Write.”
The nomination goes out to all the talented contributors on CF, as well as those helping to build up the community with their insightful comments.
Also, be sure to check out the inspiring blogs by all the other nominees on Marina’s blog.
Thank you, Marina!
~~~~~~ Update ~~~~~~
Last week I discovered I’d short-changed Marina in my response to this nomination. I thought there was to be a winner who was to share information and nominations. No winner. Just nominees. We are all winners! Sorry, Marina! Live and learn. So, I’ll follow her lead and share seven of my favorite words/phrases:
And a mere hand-full of my favorite bloggers, who I nominate for the “Inspiring Blog Award,” are:
As the guidelines go, if you so choose, you are requested to:
I look forward to learning more about you!
Every once in awhile, I get an email with an embedded video from Britain’s Got Talent, The Voice, American Idol or some other talent discovery program. The message accompanying these videos is always similar: “This is so uplifting. You’ve got to watch this!” Being a sucker for inspiring stories, I usually do . . . even though I know they’re designed to pull on my heart strings.
What the producers of these videos understand is that the stories leading up to a performance are almost as important as the performance itself. The hours it took to cultivate the talent being showcased, the personal struggles encountered and overcome, the long journey to get to the big show about to take place — that’s what draws viewers in, gets them hooked emotionally, and has them completely invested in the outcome of the performance.
“As an author, it’s important to realize the value of the story behind your story.”
As an author, it’s important to realize the value of the story behind your story. Many of you have created entire worlds for your books. How did you do that? Where did your creative ideas, your characters, your plot lines, your scenes come from? What was your journey as a writer? Who and what influenced you and informed your choices as an author? Readers love these stories. They’re like a director’s cut for a film. The minute you see what went into filming a single scene, your connection to the entire project is deeper and longer lasting. The story behind the story fascinates us. It’s human nature.
When you’re trying to find your audience or nurture the kind of reader loyalty that helps build a career in writing, the story behind your story can be almost as important as the story you tell in your book. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying this is a substitute for a well written book. The quality of your book will ultimately be what makes or breaks your writing career, but the story behind the story will enrich it immeasurably.
I mentioned a few writers who do this well in another post here on Creative Flux. It was called “The Art of Book Promotion.” Author Roz Morris and her story of a reluctantly scrapped scene about a “black dress” owned by a character in her book My Memories of a Future Life, perfectly demonstrates the potency of the story behind the story. I suggest you take a look at her original post, and the reader responses it inspired. Your life as a writer is full of interesting tales. Realize the value of the story behind your story, and don’t be afraid to share it.
At the company I founded, Serendipite Studios, we think a lot about how to help authors more effectively find readers in today’s crowded book marketplace. We believe strongly that the story behind the story draws readers toward book content. In fact, we are creating a platform to make it very simple for writers to share small excerpts from their books accompanied by the stories behind them. It’s called Bublish, and it’s going to change the way writers share their stories and readers discover new authors and books.
“With Bublish, social book discovery will be a fun, relaxing and serendipitous experience.”
With Bublish, social book discovery will be a fun, relaxing and serendipitous experience. Writers will be able to send out their enriched book excerpts, called bubbles, across multiple social networks where readers will encounter and interact with them. If a reader likes a bubble, he or she can ask for more. Not only will Bublish lighten the promotional content burdens authors shoulder in our socially connected, 24/7 world, but it will enrich the social conversations between writers and readers. As we’ve already discussed, the story behind your story is a powerful tool for audience engagement.
Writers need more effective ways to find and connect with readers, and readers need a better online book discovery experience. With Bublish, help is on the way. Oh, and did we mention it’s free? We hope you’ll come learn more and sign up for a beta invite at www.serendipitestudios.com. We’re excited to help authors share the stories behind their stories. Who knows, we might even be able to help you pull a couple of heart strings along the way!
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Kathy Meis
Kathy Meis has been a professional writer for more than twenty years. She founded Serendipite Studios in 2010 to empower those who create and enhance quality content. Last week, her company announced the upcoming launch of Bublish, a platform that will redefine how writers share their stories and readers discover new books. If you’d like to learn more about Bublish and sign up for a beta invite, visit www.serendipitestudios.com. You can also find out more on Twitter @BublishMe
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