more cultural, plus some writing life

[olmue]

1. I hate bugs, but we seriously have Ms. Charlotte Webb living on our front porch. I keep trying to take a picture, but the sun is never right and you can't see the web. I swept away a lot of cobwebs over the weekend out there, but I can't bring myself to wreck someone's work of art.

2. Americans chew a lot of gum. At least the ones in this town. I was watching in church on Sunday and counted at LEAST four adults chewing away. It's like sitting in a meeting full of cows. Gum is as freely available in Germany as it is here, and kids chew it, but I can't remember the last time I saw an adult chewing away.

3. Walmart has dropped its "We will not be undersold!" logo (probably because they are more expensive than the used to be, hm?). They also have TV screens to watch as you stand in line. I kid you not. (They are ads, of course.) I can see having TVs on in the TV aisle, but all over the store? 

4. I'm always sad when I hear the reactions people get when they sell a book. Most friends are excited for them, but a few people always seem to react badly. I can sort of understand professional jealousy--how come SHE sold a book and I didn't? What I can't understand is the people who think it's perfectly okay to ask how much money a writer is getting. Would you ask your high school teacher friend exactly how much they're making? Or your dental hygienist? Or the person bagging your groceries? Did you know that it's just as rude to ask someone how much they make as a writer? It's a job, just as much as being a dental hygienist is. And, let me stress that it's a job. It's not the lottery. It took actual work to get there; money did not fall out of the sky. (FWIW, I don't think it would bother me if very close family members asked me. But I would probably tell them before they asked.) What a person in this position hopes for is just someone to celebrate with.

5. Going along with the hypothetical writing thoughts, if I'm ever a real, published author, I don't plan to use the phrase "local author" ever. It seems to conjure up images of Publish American and Lulu.com in the minds of booksellers. I don't plan to ever be self-published, thanks. I'll just say I was in the area and stopped in to sign some stock or whatever. I know people who have even said things like, "My book is coming out from Random House," and chain store workers have asked if that was like Publish America? (Okay, that person shouldn't be working in a bookstore to start out with...)

Now my littlie is wanting help with the reading program on the computer (starfall.com, which I can only recommend). See you!

Comments

[kathys-shadow.livejournal.com]

1. That's why movies, even if filmed on location, add artificial lighting. If taking a picture of a spiderweb is anything like filming rain, it'll need to be backlit.... so have your husband shine a flashlight towards the opposite side from where you're standing to take the picture. Hmmm... that sounds complicated.

4. I agree on not asking people how much they make from selling a book...While getting paid to do something you've spent months and years of your life on does help, the reason you chose writing over any other job you get paid to do is the excitement of having others read your work, and touching people's lives, etc.

[olmue.livejournal.com]

Okay, that's good to know, about the lighting. The spider has now moved into our garbage can outside--HUGE, and very jumpy. Hopefully there will be more art soon, though!

[wordsrmylife.livejournal.com]

1. Fall is definitely Charlotte's season. They're so beautiful when the dew falls, too.

2. The weirdest thing I ever watched was an older man, retired professor no less, who chewed parafin in church on Sunday, as if it were chewing gum. I was a kid at the time and as soon as I found out what he chewed, I couldn't take my eyes off him.

3. I can relate to the TVs everywhere. When my daughter came back from India, she said she knew she was in the US when they were walking off the plane in Boston and saw TV news screens at the end of the tunnel. She wasn't thrilled.

4/5. Makes you wonder where some people learned there manners. The other response I love is, "I could be a writer. I wrote this story once and my mother/my kids/my teacher/my professor loved it." I'm with you on using the phrase "local author" and self-publishing. I don't intend to use either. I suspect my local newspapers would use the former, though. Funny thing is, I'm editing a manuscript for someone who is bound and determined to self-publish, because he doesn't want to share his profits with a publisher. Since he's a born marketer, he'll do fine, but me, I want a publisher.

Happy writing (and reading).

[olmue.livejournal.com]

The few times I've met other people who admitted two writing, they were totally sane and seemed to be really trying to learn and go somewhere (and not to the printer's, either). But then, I don't talk about it a lot with people I don't think would get it. I've heard so many horror stories, though. I guess as long as I'm not published, it doesn't come up. If you have a real book out there with your name on it, it's a bit harder to avoid...