Sunday, November 30, 2014

DAWN OF ART

Dawn of ArtDawn of Art by Jean-Marie Chauvet
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

DAWN OF ART - Imagine spelunking in France, stumbling upon a cave filled with wondrous charcoal and ocher paintings, later realizing the environment had remained untouched for 30,000 years! The book, entitled ‘Dawn of Art: The Chauvet Cave’, includes over 100 pages of stunning photographs of this magnificent art. The writer in me finds imagining the lives of our early human ancestors--their life struggles, obvious spiritually and amazing talents--absolutely enthralling. This discovery led archeologists and historians to reformulate theories of the evolution of human art. At different times, the caves seemed to have been dwelled by humans, as well as cave bears. For a related post, check out ‘The Cave of Forgotten Dreams’, go visit my blog.
http://chadschimke.blogspot.com/2011/...


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DAWN OF ART vid clip

Monday, November 24, 2014

SANDIA PEAK TRAM

Sandia Peak tram - At the base of the Sandia Mountains--located in Albuquerque, New Mexico--go for a tram ride experience like none other. The Sandia Peak Tramway ascends the steep western side of the mountain, close to cliffs and pinnacles, from the base to the top. The view from the tram includes all of Albuquerque and roughly 11,000 square miles of the New Mexico countryside. The Sandia Peak Ski Area is on the opposite side of the mountain from the tramway and the city. Skiing is available in the wintertime, and during the summer mountain bike trails are available. 






Tuesday, November 18, 2014

LITCRAWL

LITCRAWL – Recently, the Alabama Street Writers Group (ASWG) read at Litcrawl, one of SF’s most anticipated literary events, Over 130 people attended the ASWG event--hosted by City Art Gallery in the Mission District's Valencia Street corridor--listening to the 8 writers who presented work. Enjoy the show, then while you’re at it, check out the ASWG’s website. Enjoy!











Saturday, November 15, 2014

WHEN WE WERE NEARLY YOUNG SHORT STORY REVIEW

When We Were Nearly Young - The inspiration for Mavis Gallant’s short story, entitled ‘When We Were Nearly Young’ was a diary she kept during the 1950’s. The backstory goes that Gallant was living in Madrid, forced to pawn her typewriter, while waiting for a check from her agent. She did what every writer does by turning a real-life situation into fiction. The short story deals with a woman on a quest for self-discovery, living with three friends, all of whom are waiting for money. They eat cheap, loaf around and try to enjoy life on a budget. Gallant is a prolific contributor to The New Yorker, featuring publication of more than one hundred stories in the magazine. I wonder, now that handwritten journals are obsolete, how will writer’s notes be remembered?

Thursday, November 6, 2014

DO YOU READ ME?

DO YOU READ ME?  - Today’s post is the second in a series of reflections I had after attending a recent book event. Namely, Litquake’s digital publishing conference, digi.lit, which took place in San Francisco on June 21, 2014. This session was all about building an audience, how to promote and building an author identity. One of the panelists blogged her book. Another hosted a series of podcasts featuring authors reading their own stories. Others formed writer collectives, of sorts. They discussed spinoffs, social media, starting local, an effective call to action, comparison titles and emerging themes. The panel was pretty much split into two camps. Namely, authors who figured out their brand (prior to writing anything) and those who made it up (their brand) as they went along. This panel didn’t really offer anything I hadn’t heard before. As it was not so much a how-to, rather it was a cross section of panelists, what they did and what worked for them.

The following conference sessions will be covered in this series of blog posts.
1. Digital 101: Is Digital publishing the best option for me?
2. Do you read me? Author Branding and Marketing
3. Building a Book
4. The Changing Ways we Read