I freaking love that this exists...
A portal to an ancient desert, nerdy EDM, and 4 ways to make time for your writing.
Eight great things worth sharing this week:
One of my coaching clients recently told me about a live stream set up in the Namib Desert (it’s the oldest desert in the world) and I’m hooked. I like to open it and leave it open behind all my other windows and then when a creature comes on the sound of their footsteps alerts me and I find the buried window to see an oryx or zebra having a sip at the watering hole. I freaking love that this exists.
Ear Candy: This one’s for all the Star Wars lovin’ EDM fans out there. This version of Duel of the Fates takes an unexpected and delicious turn around minute 1:15. Enjoy.
Nerd Word of the Week: Balter ~ to dance badly. As in: Blasting the EDM version of Duel of the Fates led to some serious baltering in our kitchen last night.
“There is no purity in art. The process of how you arrive at something doesn’t matter at all.” - Gabrielle Zevin in Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. I totally agree and (you know me) wrote a short blog post about it.
How are those New Years resolutions going? Spectacularly, I hope, but if you’re having trouble carving out time for your writing, I wrote a post about that too: 4 Ways to Make Time For Your Writing. Check it out.
Family brag: my stepsister Emily just opened up an online shop called Curate the Details and she shares her work in progress on Instagram. Keep her in mind next time you’re in the market for a lovely, handmade gift.
In response to pressure from the Author’s Guild, Amazon is finally changing their return policy for ebooks. Right now, you can return any book within seven days, which has led to a lot of books being returned (and refunded) after getting a full read: #ReadAndReturn. In the very near future, readers won’t be allowed to return ebooks after reading more than 10% of the story. Well, they can, but they will have to submit a return request and anyone who abuses the system will be flagged. Three cheers for making sure authors get paid for their work!
If paying for books makes you cranky, keep in mind that the average paperback costs about $18 and takes about five hours to read. That’s $3.60 per hour. What a bargain. The only place to find cheaper entertainment is the library.
Happy writing, my friends,
April
P.S. In all the research I did for 142 Ostriches, I somehow missed this awesome video of an ostrich running alongside three cyclists in South Africa. It’s worth 75 second of your day.