On a limb with Claudia

On Wednesaday, March 31,  10 year old Satori Lewis is going into surgery. Her entire spine, head to hip, will be fused together with two titanium rods going along either side of it. She has Muscular Atrophy (type II).

This is a major surgery.  Especially for a little girl.

Her mother has asked that people send Satori postcards. Sartori doesn’t know that her mother has set up a Facebook page and a website to recruit people to send a post card.

It’s not too late. Satori will be in the hospital for at least 7-10 days. You can make a huge impact on a little girl’s life.

All it takes is one small postcard.

Rose insisted on sending a card from her. I used my thumbs to put together a postcard with Rose’s picture on it. I also send one from Dinosaur National Monument. It was pretty easy.

I made a couple other cards to send in a couple days. I’m confident the husband will want to get involved. So there’s at least one from him.

Here’s the details :

• Satori Lewis will have surgery on March 31 and be in the hospital for 7-10 days.
• Mailing address : Satori Lewis, Surgery date 3-31-10, Davis 7 Pediatrics, UC Davis Children’s Hospital,,2315 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95817
• Blog address for more information.
• Facebook page for more information.

There’s still time and you have a thumb. Will you send a postcard?

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From Kitchen Gardeners

I don’t think we have to look a lot farther as to why people in the US are gaining weight and dying of cancer. The sick thought is that we pay to support the very industry that’s killing us.

Once again I say, let’s get the corporations out of Congress.

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I want my democracy back.

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When I was nine or ten years old, I learned that the sun would one day burn out. I dissolved into tear at the mere idea that someday the sun would not rise. I was inconsolable. Sent home from school for my ‘bad’ behavior, my parents thought I had lost my mind.

Finally, my father said, “Why do you care? You won’t be here then.”

“But the sun will burn out! The earth will be destroyed!”

“Doesn’t have anything to do with you. Now stop crying,” he said.

More than thirty years later, I still don’t understand what he meant.  Over time, in order to fit in, I learned to control my earth loving feelings. I learned to be cynical about people who cared about the earth. That’s how ‘normal’ people live.

I think I heard the words “Global Warming” sometime in the late 1990s. I was working at A-16, a wilderness outfitters. A-16 employed all kinds of crazy rock climbers, back packers, and the like. Climate change was a topic of conversation. Anyone who has spent real time outdoors knows that the climate has changed. Places that once were lush meadows are now dry. Simple trips taken in the 1990s, such as kayaking near the Alaskan glaciers, are no longer possible.

The climate has changed.

But climate change and “Global Warming” were out there some where. My father’s ‘doesn’t have anything to do with you’ must have sunk in because I don’t think I was truly horrified by climate change until this summer.

This summer, in Denver, Colorado, we had one of the coldest summers on record. Climate change came to my house.  Here’s just a few things that were effected:

• Honeybee queens : The wet and cold weather killed more than one of my honeybee queens. The bees effort to replace the queen were also thwarted. Now it’s easy for me to rationalize that I just suck as a beekeeper, which is entirely possible. But my queen supplier also had the same problem. Queens mysteriously dying and low production. For millennium, honeybee queens have left her hives for a ten day maiden voyage. She returns fertile and ready to lay 1500 eggs a day for the rest of her life. This year, the cold and rain killed these queens.
• Zucchini : For the last two years, I haven’t been able to grow zucchini in my yard. Last year, I assumed it was a fluke. The only person I knew who had a good crop lived at 10,000 feet. This year the same thing happened. Zucchini is the easiest and most bountiful vegetable in the garden. But not at my house.
• Okra : I planted Okra three times this year. When the first frost came, I had harvested exactly one okra. I usually get three or four good crops.
• Tomatoes : The cold brought a terrible blight. We were able to contain it to two tomato plants. But the other plants did not bloom. Not one flower. Our neighbors cut theirs back in hopes of getting it to flower. The plants finally flowered in late August but not soon enough for the first frost.
• Early frost : Last week, we experienced one of the earliest frost on record. On October 10th, the temperatures did not rise above 22 degrees. It was a balmy 26 degrees the next day. Every thing green and living died that day. The ski resorts opened earlier than they EVER have.

Maybe it was a fluke. Maybe it’s a long term weather cycle that will right itself in the next few years.

But what if it’s not? What if honeybees can’t requeen themselves? Can you imagine a world without zucchini? tomatoes? okra? and other flowering vegetables? Imagine a world with out nuts and seeds – almonds, pecans, and walnuts are dependent on honeybees for their crop. Just for a second, think about going to the market and not finding what was once common – peanut butter, blueberries, and other flowering fruits and vegetables.

You better start.

‘Global warming’ is a misnomer. Overall, the world’s oceans are warming. That means that areas like Denver, Colorado are colder and are going to get colder. In fact, what I saw in my garden happened to a lot of Midwestern US farmers this year.

The climate has already changed.

What are you going to do about it?

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I guess it’s save the kids week here…. This 1 minute video really moved me.

We really need to pass this insurance reform legislation.

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Thursday 13 – On publishing

(Thursday 13′s were revived by Janet and?Megan?)

Ok, I’m on a little bit of a rant. So please forgive me, but I think people need to know about the changes in publishing. So many authors hold on to their fiction, hoping and praying for to win the lotto and a big publishing house will deem them valuable.?

It’s a new time. New times require different and new methods of publishing.

So here’s my list of thirteen thoughts on publishing:

1. Publishing standards were created when books were set one character at a time.

2. Most ‘great works of fiction’ were written long hand with fountain tip pens.

3. There’s never been a time when so many people not only could read but had the capacity (internet, libraries, Amazon) to read.

4. eBooks are the only growing segment of the publishing market.

5. Large publishers have consistently lost money while small publishers have flourished.

6. Large publishing houses no longer support their authors with editing, copyediting or marketing assistance.?

7. More and more, authors are on their own to care for their books including all marketing, copyediting and content editing.

8. ?On average, a new book sells fifty copies. Most assume that’s the number of friends and relatives recruited to purchase the book. (This number is from ‘How to write a bestseller by Mueller.)

9. The large publishing houses have stopped or dramatically slowed their purchases. I’ve heard that they are simply ‘not buying’.

10. At the same time, traditional distribution channels (i.e., book stores) are locked down by publishers. In other words, you must be a publisher to get your book into most bookstores.

11. ?If you’re interested in publishing, and books, you should read these articles.?

• Giving it away by Corey Doctorow
• Books, Going Forward by Mark Tavani
• Read it and weep by Jason Boog
• Blog books open doors by Jason Davis
• Generate Buzz on the Web
• The Wovel
• Tim Ferris on using a viral idea to create a best seller

12. Many publishers are hiring writers to churn out the same books over and over again so that they can fill their list. These authors work for the publishers writing exactly what the publishers want them to write. Period.

13. The number one reason publishers fail is over stock. Publishers must pre-print books. They sell them to book stores who buy them on credit. Book stores have months to attempt to sell the book. If they are unable to sell them, they return the books to the publisher. Ever been to a 50% off store? That’s all the back stock that didn’t sell and was returned from bookstores.

Share with me - what do you know about publishing today that you’d like to share? Leave it in the comments and I’ll link to you here.

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For much of my life, this was the motto. You have to publish or you’ll perish in achedemia. Day by day, research grant by research grant, theories and bullshit were pulled together into papers. Most papers were published because:

• Frank knew Sam
• Sam knew Joe
• Joe sits on John’s research grant committee.
• John’s brother’s wife’s sister’s husband runs a scientific magazine.

Of course they have ‘peer review’ but that’s mostly Sam, Joe, John, and Frank. Yep, that’s how it works.

Have friends? You’ll get published.

When this thing happened to me, and I had to had to had to write a novel, I had friends. Just not friends in publishing. That’s not exactly true since Lynda Sandoval and I are friends. Still, you know what I mean.

First, I was arrogant. Write a great book, it will get published. (I’m sure you’re laughing WITH me here….)

Because I wrote for the Open Grove for ten years, I knew that a great novel needed a peer review. The first draft of the novel went out to twenty-five friends. Their responses were amazing, helpful, and fabulous. One woman bought me a copy of her seventh grade English book so that I would have it. People were so generous with their time.

A second draft came. Another round of peer reivew with fabulous helpful suggestions. Amazing.

After revisions, the second draft made the rounds of agents, publishers, and anyone I could show it to. The rejections were immediate, painful, sometimes personal and worse, impersonal dismissive. Wow.

Until Scott Eagen emailed me to say, “Love the characters, but you need to rework it”.

Fuck.

The third draft happened and made the rounds. ?In the process, people said things like: “The best book I’ve read all year” or “If I was on the bus, I’d have missed my stop”.?

I was thrilled! I finally have a book ready, really ready to present to the publishing world.

And the publishing world fell apart.

Three years of work, fifty people’s time and effort, and… the publishing titan are falling down. I couldn’t imagine putting my three years of work onto the Titanic and hope that it makes the voyage. I’m not stupid.

Out of frustration:

• ?I started the Denver Cereal. And loved it. ?
• I read a few interesting articles.
• I watched?Cory Doctorow?create a career for his fiction online. ?(If you haven’t read the article?Giving it away, it’s worth a read.) His latest book was on the New York Times bestseller list for months.?

What should I do??

Then Black Wednesday happened. December 3, 2008, the publishing industry downsized.

Crap.

After a long, heart wreching conversation, I made my decision. ?I’m releasing the novel, called The Fey, into the wild.

To that end, the group of us started Cook Street Publishing. We plan to specialize in novels released on the web. Our motto is “fiction that’s written to be read.”

The Fey will make it’s debut appearance on this blog on Friday. Like Denver Cereal, I will release one chapter at a time on this blog and StoriesbyClaudia.com. The book will be available every day at AlextheFey.com. And the book is available for purchase.?

Unlike Denver Cereal, which is a serial fiction, this is a novel. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. The Fey is a thriller and the first of a series. The second book, Learning to Stand, is another waiting in the wings to be released, probably next year. The third book, Who I am, will be released in 2011.

At least that’s the plan so far.?

We’re starting something that’s sort of new and sort of old school. Remember James Joyce published the Dubliners himself. Walt Whitman sold his books door to door. Even Mark Twain owned a publishing company.

In the end, I can either leave the manuscripts rotting on my hard drive or share them.?

I guess I’m fool enough to share.

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I received a list of questions for Perpst at Popping Bubbles. SHE said I agreed to be interviewed. Again.  I tried to argue but….

She’s very very short.

Short people are ALWAYS up so to something. And you never know what it is.  And short people are a little scary.  

So I acquessed. 

THEN, I received questions from my buddy Ivanhoe at From Ohio with Love. Now she’s not so short, but she’s from the Czech republic. Having been raised in the middle of the cold war, I knew better than to cross her. 

I honestly think of myself as the most boring person on the planet. So, if you can tolerate some more nattering about myself, here goes two interviews.

Perpstu at PoppingBubbles asks:

• If you had to write your autobiography today, what would the title be? Why? Worker Bee in Search of Her Hive 
   
• Aside from the delicious honey, what attracted you to beekeeping? I love bees. I love being around them. I love to watch them interact with each other. Even when they are mad at me, they are so communicative. They buzz, move, bat, and only sting when forced to. I love that they created EVERY flowering plant. The Egyptians believed that bees were the closest thing to God. I think they were onto something.
   
• You love Pandora, even if it throws John Tesh at you on occasion, build a 10 song playlist that describes the last 6 months of your life. Why would you pick those songs? (Links are to YouTube videos)
  I hate everything about you, why do I love you? by Three Days Grace
  Behind Blue Eye by the Who/Limp Bizkit
  Forget it by Breaking Benjamin
  Fade by Staind
  Closure by Chevelle
  Away from the Sun by Three Doors Down
  When you wish upon a star by Louis Armstrong rendition
  A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke (original) 
  Headstrong by Trapt
  Somewhere over the rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo Ole 
• What is your favorite memory of the last five years? Oh…. I strive to not split my life into ‘good vs. bad’, ‘favorite vs. disliked’, so I don’t really know what a favorite would be…. Every moment on this planet sparkles like the hope diamond to me. Even when life is hard, I still love it here.

• I’m coming to visit you – for 24 hours – what are we going to do in that limited time frame? It would depend on where you are. Most people are so exhausted in their lives that I would probably schedule some spa treatments and rest. There’s great eating here in Denver. I might take you on the Denver Cereal tour – tour to all the places in Denver Cereal. If LW came with you, then it’s a whirlwind of fabulously fun activities for kids – Children’s Museum, Butterfly Museum, Zoo, Natural History museum and spalsh fountain, Dinsaur Ridge….But again, it would depend on the circumstances. 
   

Ok, still with me? Here’s Ivanhoe’s set:

1. How did you come up with Simply Kind Tuesdays? In doing the Everyday Kindness challenge, I had a hard time writing about kindness for the blog. Kindness is a ‘doing’ word, not a ‘thinking or writing’ word. I wanted a chance to put Kindness out in front of people. I thought that talking about kindness, once a day, would help bring kindness to people’s minds or at least to mine. So many people say, ‘kindness is hard!’ It’s hard for me too. I thought if I wrote about it once  a week, included tools and experiences, maybe I could encourage other people to practice being a little more kind to each other.
    
2. Can you give us an update on your queen bee and her gang?

 

Sigh… I don’t know. I usually don’t check the hives until February since bees hybernate in the winter. From the outside, I’ve lost at least one hive. I expected this as we are switching from using toxic chemicals to all natural. We have to find the right mix of bee genetics and bee handling to keep them alive. I am hopeful to have at least one hive by the spring. 

Please keep them in your prayers.
 

3. You write books, but can you tell us what do you read/enjoy reading?

 

I love serials (Dickens), mysteries, and some edges of fantasy (Ursala Le Guin, Susan Cooper, Madeline L’Engle).  I read every Sue Grafton book out of sheer love for Kinsey Mahlone and Grafton’s capacity to hold the era in her work. I also love thrillers.  

And Shakespeare. I grew up with his work as my only guide in how to behave in the world.

I used to read anything and everything. I read very quickly, so reading a book isn’t a big undertaking to me. I devoired all kinds of fiction, but particularly liked series.  That said, since I’ve been working on the Fey series, I haven’t read very much. I was relieved when Lawrence Block said that’s common for writers. Now, I mostly read friend’s book, blogs, and Sue Grafton once a year.
 

4. If you won a roundtrip ticket anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? I love Paris. I would love to have an apartment there. I just like being there. I like the people, the weather (especially in early spring), and the language. I’ve heard that Prague is a lot ‘better’ than Paris, but I haven’t been there. 

 

The other place I love is Northern Ireland. Genetic memory? Maybe. I love the coast, the people, and just being there. I’ve only found like of it in Northern California above Fort Bragg. When I need sustainance, I go to the Lost Coast of California.



5. What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?

Uh, after I pee?  I make my husband’s breakfast and lunch, eat, then check my email. 

~~~~~~~

I owe people interviews, so I’m not going to ask if you want to be interviewed. BUT if you do, I can add you to the list. For those of you waiting for questions? I’ll get there… I’ll get there… Pinky Swear.

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I had to share this with you.  We’ve all heard of the Taliban’s acid attacks on girls going to school in Afghanistan. Check out these girls. They’ve already been attacked AND they continue to go to school.

“We’re all afraid, but we don’t care.”

If you have a moment this holiday season, and can spare a prayer, send one up to these brave girls.

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In my life time, I saw a great man  destroy his career, shame himself and usher in this current time.  I was at Berkeley when he was nominated to the Supreme Court. You can imagine the conversations! The dialog! The fear! As it turns out, this man did a decent job of steering the Supreme Court. He was fair, pig headedly conservative and a constitutionalist, but fair none the less. Until December 12, 2000. 

Thank God he didn’t live long enough to see the results of what he had done.

You may not know this, but the very same situation was placed before the Supreme Court this month.

Like the previous question (Did Bush win a county in FL where they votes weren’t counted and most likely thrown away?) posed to the Supreme Court, the question is absurd.  

The question? Was Barack Obama a legal US Citizen.

This week, we all owe a round of applause to John Roberts for refusing to hear the question.

Thanks John!

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