Search found 53 matches

by Mark
September 21st, 2010, 4:02 pm
Forum: Books
Topic: What are you reading now?
Replies: 528
Views: 307853

Re: What are you reading now?

unwieldy, I'm assuming you've read Cloud Atlas ? If not, it's Mitchell's best work (in my opinion) and the culmination of his experiments from Ghostwritten and number9dream . The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet is also quite good, but if you put off reading it for a while, you'll be closer to the ...
by Mark
September 16th, 2010, 1:01 pm
Forum: Social Media and Book Promotion
Topic: Do you have a new blog post?
Replies: 2655
Views: 817101

Re: Do you have a new blog post?

My thoughts from a few lines in an interview with David Mitchell. The Writer’s Paradox, or Sacrifice? ... Perhaps this is where a writer’s real talent lies. Understanding the rules of grammar and punctuation are technicalities that can be learned. Narrative structure and character development are mo...
by Mark
September 9th, 2010, 6:32 pm
Forum: Social Media and Book Promotion
Topic: Do you have a new blog post?
Replies: 2655
Views: 817101

Re: Do you have a new blog post?

Back on the wagon after a couple of weeks off: http://www.markfeenstra.com/blog/2010/09/09/the-first-word/ It’s coming up on a year since I conceived the idea for my current project, and today I finally typed out the first sentence. There has been so much anxiety and anticipation surrounding this da...
by Mark
September 9th, 2010, 3:27 pm
Forum: Procrastination
Topic: Show Us Your Tabs
Replies: 15
Views: 6780

Re: Show Us Your Tabs

I draft in fullscreen and try not to exit unless I really need to look something up on the Google. When I switch over to my browser, I always have Gmail, HootSuite, and Google Reader open in pinned tabs. I'm actually quite good at not clicking over to them when I'm in the middle of a writing session.
by Mark
September 3rd, 2010, 8:33 pm
Forum: Procrastination
Topic: Blogs: What do you like to read about?
Replies: 5
Views: 2917

Re: Blogs: What do you like to read about?

I generally don't have much interest in chatty personal information about family members I don't know, personal traumas, etc, unless it relates directly back to writing (how I met my deadline even though I was taking care of my three neices because my sister was in the hospital with pneumonia). It ...
by Mark
September 3rd, 2010, 1:13 pm
Forum: Procrastination
Topic: Blogs: What do you like to read about?
Replies: 5
Views: 2917

Blogs: What do you like to read about?

I've maintained a blog in some form or another for the last ten years. For most of that time it was really just a travel journal that lay dormant when I wasn't going anywhere, but since I quit my job and decided to take a year to write full time, I've been trying to write about writing. I'm not one ...
by Mark
August 26th, 2010, 1:18 pm
Forum: Finding An Agent
Topic: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?
Replies: 75
Views: 37678

Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

amyashley wrote:I really like Mark's site.
Thanks! You just validated the 14 odd hours I spent on a redesign three weeks ago. ;-)
The most difficult part was keeping a restrained hand in not adding all the widgets and extras I wanted to use.
by Mark
August 22nd, 2010, 1:42 pm
Forum: Finding An Agent
Topic: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?
Replies: 75
Views: 37678

Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

@stephmcgee You'll need to pay for a hosting account and then link your domain to the hosting. A domain name is just a road sign. You have to buy a plot of land on a rack server somewhere in a dingy basement, and the domain name tells people how to get to your little portion of internet real-estate....
by Mark
August 19th, 2010, 12:59 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: (This thread is not yet titled)
Replies: 38
Views: 19883

Re: (This thread is not yet titled)

Books are supposed to have... titles?

I thought my WIPs could just go on as _________ Project.
by Mark
August 17th, 2010, 1:35 pm
Forum: Finding An Agent
Topic: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?
Replies: 75
Views: 37678

Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

I've had my own website for a while now ( markfeenstra.com ). My website doubles as travel and writing blog, and although there is an element of being mindful of a future need for platform and visibility, the benefits I've realized at this stage are more community oriented. I've met some really inte...
by Mark
August 12th, 2010, 1:18 pm
Forum: Books
Topic: Dead And Alive: Who Are Your Favorite Writers?
Replies: 22
Views: 7670

Re: Dead And Alive: Who Are Your Favorite Writers?

Dead: Herman Hesse . Reading Narcissus and Goldmund years ago showed me the possibilities of combining vibrant storytelling with complex themes about the nature of life and man. Alive: Michael Chabon . I came late to Chabon, having just read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay two years ago,...
by Mark
August 12th, 2010, 1:54 am
Forum: Procrastination
Topic: Have you ever checked the keywords?
Replies: 12
Views: 6779

Re: Have you ever checked the keywords?

I really enjoyed seeing surfing love metaphors a few days ago. Some of the funnier search terms from the last year: i despise my job can i go in a hot tub the day before running a half marathon? do grand gestures of love work? limmericks bangkok navel "shot in his belly button" tamarindo c...
by Mark
August 12th, 2010, 1:46 am
Forum: Books
Topic: What are you reading now?
Replies: 528
Views: 307853

Re: What are you reading now?

Theft by Peter Carey.

I didn't know what to make of it at first, but I'm enjoying it a lot more as it progresses. I've been reading it slowly over the last two weeks, but in another hour I will have finished the second half in a single sitting--aside from this short break while my tea steeps.
by Mark
August 11th, 2010, 3:09 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Do you keep your WIP to yourself?
Replies: 25
Views: 8423

Re: Do you keep your WIP to yourself?

Some nice replies here, and I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the answers are 'yes', 'no', and 'sort of'. Quite the mixed bag of writers on this site.
by Mark
August 5th, 2010, 4:13 pm
Forum: Social Media and Book Promotion
Topic: Do you have a new blog post?
Replies: 2655
Views: 817101

Re: Do you have a new blog post?

A bit of a double post, as I created a topic for this in the writing forum, but I wrote about why I don't discuss any details of my WIP. I’d Really Rather Not Say Yesterday a reader asked me what my novel is about, and as I was about to reply I realized that I don't think I've talked about the theor...