Huh! Time management strategies actually help with productivity. Who'd've thought?

My boss is still wimpy, but I'm taking matters into my own hands and trying to do some time management, and what do you know, I've been much more productive. But that means I'm not blogging so much. I'm on the fence with how much blogs help, from a productivity standpoint, anyway. I've always blogged for myself mostly. I know there are highly motivated people whose blogs bring in new readers/listeners, but I'm doubtful I could ever be one of them. So I blog sporadically. Thanks to the few who stick with me, despite the lack of regular entries.

Anyway, I wanted to dash off a quick entry before getting back to writing and audio editing. Why the head in the jar? Aside from the fact that I didn't know which picture to post, I think it's a good example of all of the fun/timewasting options there are out there in the world now. This was made using the "head in a jar" ipod/iphone app. So if you've ever wanted to make a Futurama head in a jar avatar of yourself, now you can! I am trying not to do too much of that kind of thing, however. I'm trying to be productive and efficient. A couple of weeks ago I watched this amazing lecture on Youtube on time management given by Randy Pausch before he died. You should check it out if you haven't already. It inspired me to make todo lists and commit to using my time more wisely (or should that be using my time wiser? hmm....). I hate todo lists but I found this ipod app that I'm using and somehow that's making it all more tolerable.

So really fast, before I get back to work, here are a couple of other links you might want to check out:

Catastrophe Baker and the Cold Equations by the great Mike Resnick is the latest Dunesteef story that I produced. I had a lot of fun with it. There was threat of castration and operatic sex. What's not to like? Plus it's really funny!

Then I had a role in a fullcast podcast of an incredible short story called "The Machine Stops" by E.M. Forster. It was written back in 1909 but is amazingly accurate in some of its predictions for the future. Give it a listen.

Finally, Dreaming of Deliverance was reviewed by The Self-Publishing Review. I was worried about what she might say about it, because she has high standards and doesn't finish 90% of the books she's sent, but she read all of DoD in one day and said she missed the characters when it was over. Of course she also had areas she thought could be improved. I want to blog more about that, but for now I'm just going to give you the link: The Self-Publishing Review

Okay! I will try not to let too much more time pass before I post another entry. If I get it on my todo list next week sometime, I should be all set!

Writing Mind Games, Cowry Catchers, Dunesteef, and Website Woes

I've been a blogging slacker lately. Sorry! But on a much more positive note, I've been writing like the wind! Unfortunately, I need to play mind games with myself to get myself to write and I've had to adjust those strategies over the years as my circumstances change. So when I first started writing fiction, I wrote during nap time. Then my kids stopped taking naps and I had to adapt. That's when the 4:30 AM approach began. Lately, however, it's been tougher to get up that early. My kids are staying up later making 4:30 seem even earlier than it used to seem. So instead, I'm not letting myself log onto the internet until I've met the day's writing goal. It's working out really well so far.

In other news, I'm going to redo my website. For some reason I can't update it and since I've never really liked the way it looks, I've decided to stop struggling with it as is, and redo it using WordPress. That could take a while, unfortunately.



However, I can still update you here about a couple of new voice work projects. First, six episodes of Book 3 of the Guild of the Cowry Catchers, by Abigail Hilton are now available. If you've read this blog post from November, you know how much I love this story. I am thrilled to be a part of its podcast! Listen to Books 1 and 2 first, so you'll be up to speed, but then you can start Book 3 and hear me play Dakar, a girl that Abbie describes as both creepy and sweet. Listen to Dakar hum in episode 4 and you'll see why!









Then I produced another Dunesteef story: "Sides", by Clay Dugger. I had a lot of fun with this one. My character is creepy and not so sweet, and there are zombies, a scary lab, and lots of humor.

So although I haven't been blogging much lately, I've been busy as usual. And remember, even if I haven't posted here in awhile, you can usually find me on Facebook and Twitter, but not before I've completed my writing for the day!

New Dunesteef Story: Check out this promo!

Not too long ago Bryan Lincoln of the Fullcast Podcast asked me to do some lines for a Dunesteef story he was producing called "Plague Birds", by Jason Sanford. It's now live at The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine, and wow, what a cool story. The production was amazing. I was really impressed. And the vomit discussion afterwards, was hilarious (albeit, kind of gross) but my favorite part of the after-story commentary was Abbie giving Rish dating advice!

Here's the Plague Birds promo. Check it out!

Cenizas and the Ash King

My first fullcast fiction production went live earlier this week at the Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine: Cenizas and the Ash King by Lizanne Herd.

Because I'm recovering from fighting the Black Friday crowds*, I'm not going to reinvent the wheel here by describing my involvement, and instead am cutting and pasting some of my comment from the story listing:

When I offered to produce one of the Broken Mirror Stories, I warned Big and Rish that I’d never put together a full cast production and had no experience with sound effects. I was a little stressed out about that part of it because I know how much time and finesse can be put into sound effects and I don’t have the experience or the temperament to do them well. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the Cenizas experience! Putting together a fullcast fiction podcast is story-telling and I hadn’t realized that before. I always love story-telling.

The best thing about producing the story was that I got to hear the unedited lines from Big and Rish! So entertaining! And really, it was easy to edit the voice track into something that sounded good because they do such a great job with the narration and their characters. It was also fun to give lines to Rhonda, EMZ, and Kenn. They were awesome about getting them back quickly and did a great job with them! Kenn also helped me with the production–the lines that were said in unison–because I was not getting that to work. My kids had a blast doing the kids’ voices and they also liked hearing the story come together.

The crowd noise was probably the biggest challenge–well that and the sound effects for the fountain scene, which I think could have been much better. Oh and all of the spitting, which wasn’t challenging, but wasn’t my favorite part to listen to. I was provided with lots of loogie-hawking that didn’t make it into the final version!

One more somewhat unrelated thing: because it's Black Friday, that means the holiday shopping season has officially begun! I want to remind you all that the print version of Dreaming of Deliverance is a mere $9.99. Maybe you have someone on your shopping list who loves to read and isn't into podcasts. You could share DoD with them! And if you'd like me to send you a signed book plate to stick inside, just let me know. 

I'll try not to be too obnoxious about reminding you about the now-inexpensive nature of the print version. I'm just exited that the price is low enough that people could give it away as gifts! And I'm really hoping that you take me up on receiving the signed book plates. I have a stack of them all ready to personalize and send out!

Have a nice, relaxing weekend!

*Okay, I didn't really fight the Black Friday crowds. I prefer to celebrate B-F by vegging all day!