Spreading the Word

In her blog Building My Writing Careeer, writer Katherine Huether has just listed some ways of promoting our lenses (portals) at squidoo.com. As I read that, I realized that after creating two lenses myself, I had done little or nothing to promote them.

For a writer, spreading the word is the time we spend developing an Intenet Presence. In addition to the traditional things we might do to tell the world about our books or our editorial services or our grant writing skills, we buzz around the Internet creating blogs, commenting on other people's blogs, developing articles for ezines and Associated Comment, more or less trying to engage in interesting discussions with people who don't yet know we exist--because we want people to know that we exist and that our books and articles also exist.

The downside, I think, is that spreading the word takes up so much time, we often go for weeks without writing the word. It's also easy to lose track of some of the pieces of our presence puzzle, mine being these squidoo lenses. So here they are:

Myth Rider is allied to my novel The Sun Singer and is focused mythology, the journey, the hero path and related themes. Feral Goat is allied to my book of parody news stories Worst of Jock Stewart. It focuses on more off beat stuff.

What are your hobbies and avocations? Chances are, somebody has created a lens for them. If not, why not create your own. If you're a writer, you can spread the word about what you're writing (assuming you have time for writing while spreading the word). If you're not a writer, you can maintain the lens for the pure fun of it, using it to steer people to websites and blogs and other lenses you like.

Okay, here in north Georgia this afternoon, the sun is out. It's too windy to do anything outside, the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona race is over and the TV is off, it's too soon to head out to the kitchen to start that oven fried chicken for dinner, so I think that means I can get some work done on the manuscript for my companion novel to The Sun Singer.

(Unless Oprah calls and tells me her bookclub wants to help spread the word.)

Memories of a river in peril

Almost everyone in Georgia knows that Atlanta is taking more than its fair share of water out of the Chattahoochee River system and that this is yet another threat to the fragile ecosystem of the Aplalachicola River system in Florida.

We've done our best to destroy that river along with the swamps, salt marshes and sloughs near Apalachicola and Carrabelle, Florida. Roads, dredging, pesticides, logging, the Jim Woodruff dam and other "civilised" approaches to the natural world are on the list of culprits.

Atlanta scoffs at the woes of downriver ecosystems for how could swamps and marshes and the creatures living in them possibly take precedence over the needs of a metroplex determined sprawl across the whole of north Georgia. We have more than enough ecosystems left to destroy here, making room for Wal-Marts and uncontrolled growth, so let the Floridians sweat what's left of the rare Torreya trees and the wild beauty of Tate's Hell Swamp.

While doing research for my novel in progress, partly set in Tate's Hell, I came across a wonderful volume of oral history stories from the people who have lived and worked along the Aplachicola River. It's called Voices of the Aplachicola. Compiled and edited by Faith Eidse, it was published in 2006 by the University Press of Florida. Click here for my brief review of the book.

While I have lived in Georgia for 29 years, I grew up in North Florida and spent more than my fair share of time along the coast from Aligator Point to Apalachicola. I remember the great river for that is where I made my first discoveries about life and all of its interconnections.

The Break of Day

When I was young, I ran an early morning paper route before going to school. I saw mornings most people didn't know existed. I continued to see mornings in college due to a constant string of early classes, in the Navy aboard an aircraft carrier where "early" was the only word anyone knew when describing when you had to report to work, and later on through a series of jobs that required hour-long commutes.

It took years to break myself of the habit of waking up at 5:30 a.m. I am, when it comes down to it, more of a night person. I know that I miss a lot by getting up "late" at 8 a.m., but I am more a creature of dark forests. Nonetheless, after hearing author Philip Lee Williams (A Distant Flame) read from his book of essays, In the Morning: Reflections from First Light, I was hooked by the poetry of his words and the clarity in which he conveys the sights and sounds and sense of morning.

As I noted in my review of the book on Associated Content, Williams' writing is a must read for those who love writing about the out of doors in the spirit of such great works as A Sand County Almanac (Leopold), Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (Dillard) and The Klamath Knot (Wallace).

335,000+ signatures for Nazanin

It is heartening to see people stepping out of the hustle and bustle of their own lives long enough to notice injustice and to find some way to take a stand.

Over 335,000 people signed the petition on Nazanin's behalf. She is one of many suffering under the dictates or very outmoded--and never justified--legal and social climate for women in Arab countries.

As for Nazanin, it appears she will be cleared of the murder charges against her stemming from the death of a would-be rapist that occured while she was defending herself in an Iranian park several years ago. Can she get her life back? I hope so even though she may first be ordered by the court to pay "blood money" to the family of the man who died. Three of the five judges hearing the case appear to favor this. The other two favor unconditional freedom. All five appear to agree that the was rightfully acting in self-defense. The family still needs help in the form of donations, for if she is released on bail pending a final decision about the blood money, the bail amount may be 40,000 to 45,000. If you can contribute, go to http://helpnazanin.com.

While at the site, you will see the latest news, including a way you can send her a message.

294,506 signatures (and counting)

Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi was sentenced to death for murder in Iran because she stabbed her attacker during an attempted rape in Karaj, Iran in March 2005 and he ultimately died.

That sentence (January 3, 2006) was stayed in June 2006 and a new trial was ordered and ultimately scheduled for January 10, 2007.

Nazanin's plight stems from the harsh treatment of women under Iran's law. Had she not fought off her attacker and had been raped, she would have faced conviction (and death) for adultery. In fighting off the three men who tried to rape her and her 16-year old niece, she may again face conviction for murder and be sentenced to death by hanging (using a very painful execution method).

Candian song writer Nazanin Afshin-Jam has created a web site where you may follow this case, sign a petition to The Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan (and others) protesting the handling of this case, donate money to help pay Nazanin's court costs, and keep up with news updates.

If you are a woman living in Iran, you are officially worth half of what a man is worth in every possible yardstick of value. Nazanin is not alone in suffering within a barbaric legal system.

Many more have signed this petition since I signed it this afternoon and while I was writing this post. Perhaps the 300,000-signature mark is possible by the day's end.

One never knows what a review will bring

In her recent review of The Sun Singer, Nancy Morris of Allbooks Review, wrote that the novel's plot "is sometimes a bit confusing" but that "the author does an admirable job of describing some difficult images, and uses wonderful, almost poetic, prose in the process."

I am intrigued by her comment that the book demands a sequel as well as a prequel. That is, Morris is hoping this book is part of a series. Looks like I'm going to be busy.

While The Sun Singer focused on the hero's journey, the sequel will focus on the heroine's journey. Depending on your mythic viewpoint here, the books will either be two different coins from the same realm or two sides of the same coin. We will simply change from Robert Adams' point of view to Sarabande's point of view.

That book is in the wings while I finish a novel about David Ward, another character who appeared in The Sun Singer. The events in it occur prior to those in The Sun Singer. It's not the prequel Nancy Morris expects, but that's good, I think. I want it to be something nobody expects! The plot is more complex than that of The Sun Singer, so I won't promise that it won't be a bit confusing at times. Take a few notes as you read and have your Tarot cards ready in case odd questions or images arise.