A weekend of writing …

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Mary and I headed east for a weekend in Plain, Washington. My goal was to get a lot of writing done. I figured that the snow and the quiet would motivate me. And it did! I wrote about 5,000 words this weekend, and things are really moving along. I also enjoyed the beautiful snow. We got several inches over the weekend (of course, had I known that Tacoma would get dumped on too, we probably could have just stayed here for the same experience). The snow dragon was from an afternoon trip into Leavenworth yesterday. And the colorful fiber is Read more…

RIP Reginald Hill, author of Dalziel and Pascoe mysteries

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One of my favorite mystery authors, Reginald Hill, recently died at 75. His Dalziel and Pascoe series were always a treat. Funny, literary, thoughtful, compelling … they were fabulous. I didn’t read them in order, so allow me to recommend one from mid-series: Pictures of Perfection. I don’t know what it would be like to read this one first, but it’s one of my favorites of his. It’s a book that few authors could pull off: the central mystery is trying to figure out if a crime has even been committed. Reginald Hill taught me a few good things about writing Read more…

A day in front of people

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If you get TVTacoma, you might see me on CityLine this week, talking about upcoming programs at City Club. We taped it this morning, and it was a lot of fun. Shortly thereafter I was a panelist at the Women’s Council of Realtors lunch, where I talked about using social media. Co-panelists included Realtor-extraordinaire Marguerite Giguere, Tessa Miller of the Business Examiner, and Matt Sweet, who handles social media for Ticor Title. We had an interesting panel discussion about good uses of blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. I mostly talked about how I used social media for the election last year Read more…

Convenient!

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This is an interesting alternative to reading newspapers online. Clicking that “next” button is so much hassle. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOMIBdM6N7Q?wmode=transparent] (via The Stranger)

The first of many

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Last night my dad came down to Metro Parks headquarters to swear me in before the first park board meeting of 2012. It was also the first meeting of my six-year term as an elected Metro Parks board member. I look ahead to all the interesting things we have coming up, and knowing that I'll be there for them is really exciting.

I saw some movies in the last couple of weeks …

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Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is a really good action movie. Enjoyed it a lot. It's also better than Sherlock Holmes 2: Game of Shadows. SH2 had all the weaknesses of the first Sherlock Holmes, but fewer of the strengths. Young Adult features a very unlikeable character, but it's still a pretty funny movie. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was slow and deliberate. A little too slow and deliberate. (I read the book previously and enjoyed it.) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher version). I've now seen two movie versions and read the book. I've liked it in all versions. The American Read more…

Have you read one of my books?

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One of the great things about self-publishing is getting reviews and feedback from readers. This one was came yesterday from a new Executive Director of a nonprofit who took the time to email after reading The Little Book of Gold. "It's given me incredible 'peace' in fundraising and outlook in the future, a few ideas I thought about abstractly which you confirmed in your book. It is truly appreciated and just thanking you for this resource."   Now, first–holy cow! This is soooo incredibly gratifying. But alternatively, The Little Book of Gold sits on the Amazon shelf without a single Read more…

10 Days on an Amazon bestseller list (no, really!)

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My self-publishing experiments actually began in 2009, before I started publishing murder mysteries to the Kindle. I wanted to create a book that would be helpful to people. The thing I knew the most about was managing nonprofits. And what I saw were a lot of nonprofits who were terrible at fundraising. This was most true in small nonprofits, where the organization was too small to have paid development staff. My model was Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. I wanted a book that was very short, readable, and specific to a very narrow segment. Even though I think Read more…

My year in Instagram photos

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I've been using the Instagram app all year. Here was my year, as captured by Instagram. The Robert Burns Dinner. I tried haggis for the first time, and am–amazingly–still smiling. A visit to Carleton College in Minnesota in early April. They get very excited about spring there. Two photos from the St. Louis City Museum.  An amazing outdoor playground (and yes that's a bus hanging over the roof). Looking down on a 12-story spiral slide. I love this place. New York City, from the Highline Park. The new park is an incredible public space. The Campaign. Button up! Three Signs Read more…