Read A Book A Day

Posted by random olio

I just finished reading the book: “Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World” by Lisa Bloom. Near the end of the book Lisa mentions Nina Sankovitch in a section on reading. Lisa talks about how important reading is for women, and shares Nina’s website and a bit about her story. Nina decided back in 2008 to read a book a day (of normal length, 200-350 pages). I read a lot of books a year, but I do not know how it is possible to read one a day. I am completely impressed. On Nina’s website, she shares a list of places you can read (which is how she read a book a day). Here are a few places that I read:

in the car when Chris is driving
in the car when I pick him up from work and I am waiting for him
while I blow dry my hair
when I sit outside in the summer and enjoy the sun
while I run
sometimes just before bed
if we are watching a movie and I am half watching it because it is not that great of a movie
in the bathroom (of course – who does not)

A few more from Nina’s site, her list starts with “Always have a book with you.”

when waiting in line
instead of updating Facebook or Twitter
read with your kid

Or, I would add-on to the last one, “read with your spouse.” So what will you be bringing with you the next time you leave the house?

In honor of Nora Ephron, I am reposting a quote by Nora that David Kanigan recently posted on his blog.

Pubslush – A Writing Kickstarter Site

Posted by random olio

Pubslush – (love the name) for this Kickstarter type company – for writers. Here is a bit of background on Pubslush. It is a brilliant idea and if it is as successful as Kickstarter we will see lots of new published material. The idea is that a writer can post an excerpt of ten excerpt pages, a summary, and pitch of their work. Pubslush users can support the work, and if 1,000 users back the work, then Publslush will publish the book. For each book sold, one book is donated to kids worldwide who do not have access to books.

We see many authors who self-publish, but this is backed and financially supported by fans, or Pubslush enthusiasts who are intrigued and interested by the content of a book excerpt. AND a kid somewhere else in the world receives a book. A stellar idea. What will this mean for future writers and for publishers? I look forward to watching how it unfolds.

DailyCandy had the following to say about Pubslush:

“A novel idea that beats the fame game is Pubslush, a new Kickstarter-esque social publishing platform that lets people submit, endorse, and fund fiction and nonfiction works based on excerpts. Forget sappy confessionals: Next great American memoirs include Janna Leyde’s He Never Liked Cake, which tells her story of relearning to love her father after a traumatic brain injury changed his character, and Bethany Parks’s Flipping Chairs, a tale wrought with wry humor of time spent in Kenya and triumph over breast cancer. Tomes need 1,000 supporters to be published, and you get charged only if that goal is met. Embracing the one-for-one trend (a la Tomsand Warby Parker), Pubslush donates a book to a child in need for every one sold.

Bravo to that.”

This article from Mashable, titled: “Pubslush Is Like Kickstarter for Authors” explains that Pubslush guarantees an audience before a book is ever published. Much like what Seth Godin did and wrote about on his blog here. I love the Internet world of supporters to a creative idea. It creates opportunity to so many that may not have a way to be seen or found.

I best get started on the beginning of my book, and have Pubslush advocates decide if it is worthy of finishing.

Serendipity: Freshly Pressed

Posted by random olio

I am in awe and so grateful. I could never have imagined the serendipity of being Freshly Pressed. For those of you that might not know what that means, my blog post last Friday made it on the homepage of WordPress.com.

Freshly Pressed snapshot

It means a lot to me. I have had over 6,000 hits to my blog in the last 3 days. I am very grateful for all the individuals that liked and commented on my post. I have not had the opportunity to respond to many of the comments, but will be doing so in the coming days. Thank you to everyone who has been following my blog these past few months and the many, many more that are now following it.

Last December I was laid off. I had worked for the same company for over 11 years. It was a bit of a shock at first. After a few weeks of exploring my options I realized that after 11 years in corporate communications, I needed to spend more time on my own personal voice and brand. I have been writing for as long as I can remember. In elementary school, I was often selected for my class to participate in what was called the “Young Author’s Conference.” We had to write and illustrate our own story and make it into a book. I have not been successful in finding out if this program still exists in Indiana, but for me it was a prized event. After being selected for my grade in my school, I joined other kids at the conference where we listened to a known author (that I can remember) and then broke out into our age group and read our stories in front of our peers from other schools. It was a bit scary for me to read my story, but I definitely remember being proud to be selected.

In high school and college I did not write creatively other than whatever essays I had to do for school. Looking back I wish I would have had someone to encourage me to continue to write, as I often think it would have been good for me to take creative writing classes in college, and pursue more of those types of endeavors. I have been writing creatively off and on for the past 11 years, and increasingly so in the last 1-2 years. All in my journal, never shared with others.

Which leads me to today. My purpose for starting Random Olio was that I felt I needed a more personal portfolio of my writing abilities in addition to the experience I have had in the corporate sector. What I did not know is that I would fall in love with blogging each day. While I have always been considerably conscious of my surroundings, and have always watched the interactions of those around me, my eyes and ears are even more keenly aware. These days I will be running and an idea to write about will pop into my thought. Or I will be in the shower or walking to a meeting. There are so many opportunities for the creation and sharing of ideas as long as one is open to exploring them!

I had no idea when I started this blog over 4 months ago that I would want to keep it up after finding work. I do. I am here and I am not going anywhere.

Thank you again to everyone for sending such heartfelt support and love these past few days. It means a lot.

Children’s Book Week

Posted by random olio

Happy Monday! I had a good full weekend, with sunshine and warmth. It is supposed to be 79 degrees in Portland today. I think it will be the warmest day we have had since last summer! The forecast this week shows sun everyday this week, an exciting thing to look forward to when you live in rainy Portland!

So, this week is Children’s Book Week. Yes, I am addicted to reading and books. Books have changed my life. I was thinking back to the books I read as a child. I can remember sitting on the couch and reading aloud to my dad. Often our dog, Ginger, would lay on the couch with us.

tami, dad, and ginger reading together

(Apologies for the faded photo, it is what my physical copy looks like too).

The books I can remember reading aloud were Amelia Bedelia, most Beverly Cleary books, Corduroy, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Clifford, Where the Wild Things Are, Curious George, and many more. Later I would enjoy Encyclopedia Brown, The Babysitter’s Club, and Nancy Drew, among others.

Later in high school and college when I would babysit and work in a day care center, my favorite books to read to children were: Guess How Much I Love You, Love you Forever, You’re Just What I Need, The Paper Bag Princess, and one of my childhood favorites, The Poky Little Puppy.

What were your favorite childhood books?

In honor of children’s book week, give or send a child you know your favorite children’s book.

Have a great week!

Weekend Recap // National Library Week

Posted by random olio

What a wonderful weekend! Chris’ parents were here for the weekend and we packed in lots of walking, talking, and of course eating. After taking them to the airport, Sunday afternoon was a nap, movie for Chris, and a nice long run for me. Gratefully we had sun this weekend, and it seemed that all Portlanders were outside, many in a t-shirt and shorts which made me cold, the sun was out but it was not super warm. Yet.

So this week is National Library Week (April 8 – April 14). I can remember going to the library when I was little. I do not know how old I was when I started checking out books, but I can remember going in the summer and telling them which books I read, and getting to put stickers on the wall for the summer reading club. I was also involved in the “Book It” program with Pizza Hut. I cannot remember if this was with my school or my local library, but I just looked it up and it is still active. I remember meeting certain reading goals, and then getting a coupon to go to Pizza Hut for a free personal pizza. As a kid I did not get to go for pizza often, so I thought it was the coolest thing to read books and get free pizza!

I now go to my local library weekly, almost as often as I frequent the grocery store. I am either returning books or picking up new ones. At the moment I have 20 books sitting on the shelf to be read. Since you can place books on hold electronically, I am at the mercy of when it is my turn for a specific book. This is my system: My library allows books to be checked out for 3 weeks. For a book where there are a lot of holds, and I know I will not be able to renew it after 3 weeks, I move that to the top of my list to read. For older books where there are not any holds and many copies available, I know I will be able to renew it so it goes lower down in my stack. I am so grateful for our local libraries, I have saved a ton of $$ not purchasing books and I have just finished my 39th book for 2012.

You can find more details about National Library Week events in your area at this link.

Since I am on the topics of libraries and books, I have an odd thing to share. This was in the book I was reading this weekend. It says: “I’ve been gone a lot from library (smiley face) doctors appts.” Was it planted there for the next reader? For the library? Who knows, but very random! It sounds like something I would write when I wake up in the middle of the night and make notes on the pad of paper by my bed. I have been known to write some random things in the middle of the night!