One of the magazines I enjoy is 'Seizure'. Australian, stroppy and funny the editors send out a great newsletter.
Their novella competition is now open http://seizureonline.com/projects/
In a recent Agony Aunt column Auntie dealt with a subject dear to all writers' hearts, advice for the friendly fan. It's great stuff and well worth a read. As one whose near family live thousands of miles away and whose blood relatives are bloody awful I lack that circle of rellies who might support my novels.
I do have friends, however, who have asked what they could do. Seems to me that Aunty's column is most timely. Do read it, all my friends, and put into practice her advice.
Find Agony Aunt's column here: http://seizureonline.com/agony-aunt-friendly-fan/ And do yourself a favour, read the rest of the magazine. It's a darned good read.
Friday, 26 September 2014
Saturday, 20 September 2014
And another thing...!
And whilst I'm on the rampage because I am fed up of people moaning that they don't know what to do to help, or that they can't help because they have no money/time/don't live near enough etc. here's another website where you can help just by playing educational games at home on your computer.
http://freerice.com.
Free rice supplies rice to the UN World Food programme. This is something you can do for five minutes a day and you can play with your children, your English language students or elderly people who have to do brain exercises. Every right answer gives 10 grains of rice to the programme.
Seems to me there is a lot out there that people can do to help if only they’d stop moaning and start looking!
http://freerice.com.
Free rice supplies rice to the UN World Food programme. This is something you can do for five minutes a day and you can play with your children, your English language students or elderly people who have to do brain exercises. Every right answer gives 10 grains of rice to the programme.
Seems to me there is a lot out there that people can do to help if only they’d stop moaning and start looking!
Sunday, 14 September 2014
Friday, 12 September 2014
I keep hearing people moan about not being able to do anything. Or it's 'What can they do?' when some horrific disaster or event hits the news again.
I've tried to live my life following the precepts I believe in. ‘Put your money where your mouth is’ was the old challenge. It isn't easy but those international horrors, those rapes in India, or the Syrian government, or religious intolerance, sometimes you can join in a world wide protest because someone in the know cares enough to run a petition. Some years ago I found Avaaz, and have been supporting many of their petitions ever since. http://www.avaaz.org/en/contact/?footer
If you want to do something about an international event they probably have a petition going. Is it worth it? Do they work? Well, I think 3 million or more signatures from people around the world might make a nasty govt/person know that the world is watching. That tends to make people more careful!
At least it is a simple doable way of doing something, of standing up and being counted for something all people should care about. I can’t fly out to the Middle East and bang heads together until these stupid men stop killing their women and children, but I can remind them that I, and a few million others, want a peaceful settlement, not more fighting, for the sake of their children.
I've tried to live my life following the precepts I believe in. ‘Put your money where your mouth is’ was the old challenge. It isn't easy but those international horrors, those rapes in India, or the Syrian government, or religious intolerance, sometimes you can join in a world wide protest because someone in the know cares enough to run a petition. Some years ago I found Avaaz, and have been supporting many of their petitions ever since. http://www.avaaz.org/en/contact/?footer
If you want to do something about an international event they probably have a petition going. Is it worth it? Do they work? Well, I think 3 million or more signatures from people around the world might make a nasty govt/person know that the world is watching. That tends to make people more careful!
At least it is a simple doable way of doing something, of standing up and being counted for something all people should care about. I can’t fly out to the Middle East and bang heads together until these stupid men stop killing their women and children, but I can remind them that I, and a few million others, want a peaceful settlement, not more fighting, for the sake of their children.
Friday, 5 September 2014
Down with Air New Zealand.
What a joke! Air New Zealand ran a inflight safety film which was all bikini and boobs on some Pacific island. Naturally the guys drooled but we women protested. I didn't see half naked men in the ad, it was just women. Either they do an ad like that for both men and women to drool if they must or it's rank male chauvinist piggery.
There was a Twitter campaign a friend told me about. I joined in and we did get the safety film off the air. But Air New Zealand had a squad of Tweeters to protest us and I received a lot of silly tweets. They did make me laugh! Honestly it seems to me no one knows how to insult any more. My tweets were so boring - 'You're jealous 'cos you're ugly or old or fat' was popular as was 'You jealous lessie'. I tweeted back and told them they made me laugh. The idiots from Montana who emailed my private email - wouldn't it be Montana? - got a polite email from me saying I was so impressed with their standard of education I was sending copies of their emails to their State representatives with the comment that I really admired the level and standard of the Montana education system and hoped the representatives were impressed. Haven't heard back yet.
Invective has to be inventive to be of use. And Air New Zealand have merely lost a customer, but not just one as this customer is one who books flights for other people and won’t be using Air New Zealand again. Now that’s a lot more powerful and useful than a load of silly Tweets.
What a joke! Air New Zealand ran a inflight safety film which was all bikini and boobs on some Pacific island. Naturally the guys drooled but we women protested. I didn't see half naked men in the ad, it was just women. Either they do an ad like that for both men and women to drool if they must or it's rank male chauvinist piggery.
There was a Twitter campaign a friend told me about. I joined in and we did get the safety film off the air. But Air New Zealand had a squad of Tweeters to protest us and I received a lot of silly tweets. They did make me laugh! Honestly it seems to me no one knows how to insult any more. My tweets were so boring - 'You're jealous 'cos you're ugly or old or fat' was popular as was 'You jealous lessie'. I tweeted back and told them they made me laugh. The idiots from Montana who emailed my private email - wouldn't it be Montana? - got a polite email from me saying I was so impressed with their standard of education I was sending copies of their emails to their State representatives with the comment that I really admired the level and standard of the Montana education system and hoped the representatives were impressed. Haven't heard back yet.
Invective has to be inventive to be of use. And Air New Zealand have merely lost a customer, but not just one as this customer is one who books flights for other people and won’t be using Air New Zealand again. Now that’s a lot more powerful and useful than a load of silly Tweets.
September.
That will teach me!
The Indie Book Fair was great, not for books sales but because of the people I met and stayed with. I haven't had so much fun, sitting chatting round the dining table, for years.
There's a tremendous amount of work to do now it's Spring. I am planting the seeds ready for the fine weather outside. The bottom paddock is still very wet and have I have lost most of my hazel trees down there because their roots drowned. Bang goes my income.
Seems to me the whole farming lark is one long battle which one inevitably loses.
Jim Azevedo's visit from Smaswords was a great success and he left a whole group of people fully informed as to what ebooks are and how writers should be making them and why. He was a good speaker and he and his wife were fun to have as visitors.
Now with at least half the world raging mad it seems to me we need a universal peace movement to bring a little sanity back to ordinary people's lives.
The general election looms. As our current conservative government has ruined the country lining the pockets of their friends
I despair of ever seeing good government in New Zealand.
That will teach me!
The Indie Book Fair was great, not for books sales but because of the people I met and stayed with. I haven't had so much fun, sitting chatting round the dining table, for years.
There's a tremendous amount of work to do now it's Spring. I am planting the seeds ready for the fine weather outside. The bottom paddock is still very wet and have I have lost most of my hazel trees down there because their roots drowned. Bang goes my income.
Seems to me the whole farming lark is one long battle which one inevitably loses.
Jim Azevedo's visit from Smaswords was a great success and he left a whole group of people fully informed as to what ebooks are and how writers should be making them and why. He was a good speaker and he and his wife were fun to have as visitors.
Now with at least half the world raging mad it seems to me we need a universal peace movement to bring a little sanity back to ordinary people's lives.
The general election looms. As our current conservative government has ruined the country lining the pockets of their friends
I despair of ever seeing good government in New Zealand.
Tuesday, 22 July 2014
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