Suburban (in)Sanity

Domperidone and breastfeeding - Survey

I hope those of you who are breastfeeding and who have taken domperidone (or reglan) for milk supply issues will consider taking this survey that Kathleen Kendall Tackett and Dr. Thomas Hale have put together. Per Kathy:

"Tom Hale and I could use your help. We have a small window with the FDA regarding domperidone in the U.S. But we need some data to document its safety and efficacy and how it compares to Reglan. If you've taken either (or your mothers have), please fill out our questionnaire. And feel free to share this link. We only have a small opening but we want to do what we can with it. Thanks."

I hope you'll consider helping.

iPhone 4 Review - A Mom's Perspective

As has been previously established, I'm a geek, a nerd. To earn one of the Geek Badges, you absolutely have to have a new technology toy tool on the day it's released. It's just a requirement. Waiting in line for more than two hours gets you the gold hashmark annotation for your badge. Alas, I won't be getting that golden hashmark, but I gots me the New Tech Geek Badge.

I pre-ordered a new iPhone 4 for myself from my friendly neighborhood AT&T store. I wasn't optimistic about receiving it yesterday, but I stopped in at 9 AM on my way home from camp drop-offs, and they said it was "in shipping." Later in the afternoon it had "in shipped" right to the store and I dashed in to pick it up. There was no line-waiting required. I walked right up to the AT&T guy who had originally taken my order and had called me (to be fair, I told him I'd be right over and only had 25 mins, so he was sort of waiting for me, I think? Not complaining, as it might have appeared I was line-jumping, but it was no Jason Batemen line-jump. I was CALLED. The guy was WAITING for me to get there.)

First impressions:

It's gorgeous. This is no surprise, those Apple Folk know design. It feels as heavy as the iPhone 3G (not the 3GS, I was such a technology red-headed stepchild that I didn't have the most recent generation, I was one removed. Let's not mention that DH is using my hand-me-down first gen, shall we? I'll be procuring his upgrade soon.) It feels as heavy as the 3G, yet it's a good 25% thinner (z-axis) and a little bit skinnier (x-axis.) The result is that you have no doubt that you're holding a DEVICE. It feels very substantial in your hand. 

It doesn't have the soft dove-bar like corners and edges, instead it's a rounded-off rectangle. Reminds me of the difference between cutting slices off a roll of cookie dough (the new phone) versus plopping down a blob. Not that the 3G is a blob, of course, but it really gives the new phone a different appearance.

In addition to the cookie-roll cut, it also doesn't have the silver bevel my 3G has. the screen runs edge-to-edge, further enhancing the cut glass look of it. It's really spectacular, I might just have to run away and marry this phone. Sorry honey. It's a very manly design, I think. 

 

On to actual features:

The iOS4 was released a few nights ago, which I had already downloaded to my 3G, so I was familiar with some of the features. One of the silliest is that the "dock" of apps at the bottom of the screen now has a cool reflection-effect, so it looks like they're tiles standing upright on an infinity pool edge. But that's just look (but it also goes to the whole point that them Apple Folk know design. It just looks pretty.)

One of the biggest enhancements is being able to multi-task. It's not unique to the iPhone4, since the new OS is available for other iPhone customers, and I haven't really looked into that so I won't comment further, but this was on pretty much every iPhone user's wishlist.

They also have introduced foldering for apps. This works on the old phone as well as new, but in typical Apple fashion, they've pre-anticipated how you'd like to do this, and it's not a geek-way like "File - New Folder...name folder, fill folder, etc." Instead, you press and hold on one of your apps that you'd like to bundle with another. You get that wiggly dancing app icon thing. You drag App A onto App B. A folder is created. You must now immediately make your naming decision (keep the default name - it came up with "Games" when I put checkers on top of chess, and "Books" when I put the B&N ereader on top of Classics, a freeware reader for public-domain titles. Not bad.) You can't put a third app into the folder until you've decided what you're calling the folder.

The interface to then access the folder is great - I was fearing a nesting screen-page-turning thing that would be difficult to travel down into and then back out of, but instead, when you select one of these folders, the screen darkens, and the contents of the folder come up in a dialog-like pop-over, complete with a little carrot to show you which folder you're looking at. Works for me. 

The other killer app of the new phone (in my book) is the Facetime video calling, which I'll have to address in a separate post after my friends catch up with my light-speed technology adoption curve. (Read as: I haven't found anyone else who is available who has the new phone and can test this feature out with me. Haven't gotten DH's upgrade yet. Our primary use case for Facetime is for DH to be able to videocall with the kids when he's out of town. Can't wait. More on this soon.)

The new camera is splendid. You probably already know that there are actually TWO cameras, one on the back of the camera like before (with a flash which is very easy to change to auto, on, or off using a small button in the upper left corner that's done in outline form so you can still see the picture you're trying to capture.)

The cool new thing is the forward-facing camera. Man is my face getting OLD looking. I mean, oh how nifty! The kids thought this was fantastic, and this is the way facetime will work (since only a back-facing camera would require contortions of epic proportions.) This front-facing camera does not have the flash, you've been warned.

The camera is significantly upgraded from the 3G. I am now in a new state of hard-drive-space-panic, since I am a somewhat prolific phone-photo-taker. When I went to email a photo I had taken this morning, the interface helpfully informed me the filesize was 1.2M (or something like that) and offered me the option to compress the file to a small, medium, or large size. This is where Apple just gets it. A standard user does not want/need/care/even know about the need to go to another app, look at the picture, save it as a jpg, select a lower-quality compression, etc. etc. Who has time for that baloney anyway? We're busy moms (I maintain that the iPhone was invented by a mom for use by moms to keep us from losing our cotton-picking minds on a daily basis.)

So excellent step on this option to compress as I'm emailing, I'm sure my email recipients will be pleased as well.

I tried it out in our very ancient Bose sounddock (a 1st gen iPod dock.) As expected, it will not charge my iPhone 4. It wouldn't charge my iPhone 3G either. It only charges the 1st gen old iPod brick we have and the 1st gen iPhone. This is fine, though, because of course I use the Bose not for its charging abilities but for the superior sound quality. One thing I noticed (might be true of the iOS4, not specific to the iPhone 4, don't know) is that the error messages that tell me that this device will not charge on this dock were clearer, and included only the "Dismiss" button. Previously, I'd get the "this dock will not charge this device and might get interference, do you want to turn on Airplane Mode?" which if you're rushing and not paying attention (who does that?) you might not notice and might hit the wrong button and then might miss that important call from the doctor's office that you've only been waiting for ALL AFTERNOON. Not that I'd know what that was like.

So the clearer error messages for unsupported docks/accessories was appreciated, thanks Apple Folk. 

The sound was lovely. However, I ran side-by-side tests with the 3G and the iPhone 4 both undocked (ironically enough, playing the REM song "Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight") and I think the iPhone 3G has a little edge over the iPhone 4 in sound quality. I felt the iPhone 4 was a teensy bit tinnier, more of a machine-speaker sound, less roundness to the sound. But I'm very much not an audio snob so I really don't know what I'm talking about, and the difference was small. Just thought I'd mention it. If you are an audio snob, you might want to look up the speaker specs on the iPhone 4 as I think they've changed the design (they probably had to in order to accommodate that nifty wraparound aluminum antenna. Which you can see that and all kinds of other iPhone 4 nakedness on the ifixit's teardown of the iPhone 4, which is really cool.)

The email handling that was part of the iOS4 upgrade is a significant improvement in how I manage my life, because I regularly read three email inboxes (an ISP one, a gmail account, and a hotmail account.) It's always been a bit of a chore in the 3G to have to delve into an account, then an inbox to get to my messages. The new interface for mail includes a unified inbox, but then also the same account breakdowns so I can zoom in and just read the slush messages for the online magazine I am a staff editor for, or dig just in the email box that I use for "work"ish kinds of things. Or just the one where I send all the email solicitations from gap and amazon and such.

Did I mention the crazy bright screen yet? I wish I could photograph the difference, because it's REMARKABLE. I played photos from my photo library on my 3G next to the same photos from the same library on the iPhone 4. Holy crapola. The 3G was like looking through a gray overwash. The colors were duller, the lights less bright. And I've always thought the pictures looked GREAT on the 3G! The new Retina screen or whatever fancy name they came up with has moved the goal posts on screen resolution, yet again. The pictures, all of which were shot with the crappier 3G camera, were astonishingly different looking. The sky was bluer, the greens greener, everything brighter and clearer. Unbelievable. I haven't watched a movie on the new phone yet but I can't wait!

With the unbelievably crisp and bright screen also comes an unbelievably smooth and shiny surface on both front and back, which I am now completely terrified about scratching. It's so pristine, so beautiful. Off to hunt (through one of those amazon emails...) for iPhone 4 cases (the AT&T store had a few models that looked good, but I do love me the marware brand and want to see what they've come up with for the new phone.)

Meanwhile, the biggest downside to the pretty new phone? I now expect everything else in my life to work nicely, give me a crazy-clear view, and be beautiful to see and touch.

Oh, and by the way, the phone handles calls just fine. Kind of funny that here I am 1700 words into a cell phone review, wrapping it up, and only just thought about commenting on the actual phone feature. Ah, well, we're not in Kansas anymore, ladies and gentlemen. And as a sci-fi writer, I have to tell you, that's pretty cool.

Things I learned about myself while cleaning the kids' art desk

I'm one of "those" moms. The ones who let their kids dig in the dirt. Who does stop to smell the flowers (and show them the butterflies.) Who asks and answers more questions in a day than any given call center in India. I've always believed that if I spoil my kids with art supplies, books, and blocks and legos, well then, I haven't done too bad.

Don't worry, I'm not one of "those" moms. We still eat at McDonalds on a (probably too) frequent basis. We play video games (we being the operative word - a lot of them I play with the kids.) We watch movies. We have entire days devoted to electronic pursuits. I'm no saint.

But ages ago at a LLL Garage Sale, I bought a little-kid sized workshop table. It was sturdy, with red-painted legs and peg holes along the front, a little stool with storage space in the seat, and--best of all--pen cups, I mean tool holders across the entire length of the back of the desk. It was supposed to be for play tools, but we put it in the kitchen next to the kitchen table and plunked crayons and markers and safety scissors in those tool holders (oh-so-conveniently shaped like pen cups.) A stack of scrap paper, and voila! The origin of the "Art Desk."

Well that little tool bench went off to the Great Toolbench in the Sky (actually, to Rachel's house for her little artists/builders) and I replaced it with an inexpensive (is there any other descriptor that goes here?) IKEA desk with a stack of drawers down one side, a simple maple laiminate top, and IKEA (read as: flimsier than they look) metal post legs.

For the last ...er, since the last time I cleaned off the Art Desk 6+ months ago, the Art Desk has been an Art Desk in name only, since no art was possible on its surface. It had become victim to the piling that happens in our house (turns out, I'm a piler. Who knew?) So my mom tried to help (she straightened the piles.) In that oh-so-helpful-not-helpful way only mothers and spouses can help. :D Love ya, mom. Really.

But it did get us ready to tackle the project, made it easier to tackle, truthfully.

So here are some (but not all) of the things that I learned about myself while cleaning off the kids' art desk:

1. We have enough colored pencils to survive a nuclear holocaust. I will never need to buy another colored pencil as long as I shall live.

2. There are absolutely zero black markers. There are over twenty yellow (thin and thick, not counting highlighters.) WTF? (Why The Face?) Two blue. A dozen gray. I didn't think gray even CAME in the standard crayola pack.

3. Crayola is totally putting one of my kids through college, I've paid them enough already.

4. I am way more attached to some of the art supplies than the children are. Lucky for me it was a low-attachment kind of day. I did pause momentarily over the scratch-art book, which my daughter had followed the directions of even though she didn't know how to read at the time. But then I threw it away. I'll get her a new one for vacation this year!

5. I am devious when it comes to getting rid of things I fear the kids will pine for. Garbage bags are already in the can in the garage, recyclables covered with other (smelly and wet) recyclables. [1]

6. I prefer my piles to be hidden.

7. Jobs with tangible AND quantifiable ends provide way greater feelings of accomplishment than nebulous jobs or jobs on the computer.

[1] Need a Mommy's Law for this phenomenon: Why is it that if the kids see something in the garbage can/giveaway pile/recycle bin that they didn't know we were getting rid of, they will moan and whine for hours, remembering for ages how "I used to have X but MOMMY GOT RID OF IT. <hairy eyeballs at mommy.>" but if you just disappear the items, they don't even remember they've ever existed. Or, better yet, my youngest will claim credit for having lost it! "I used to have a <insert annoying toy/art supply item here> but then I lost it." Yep, sure sweetie. You lost it right into the garbage can under the coffee grounds and the leftover dogfood. Yep.

Book Review - Magic Thief: Found by Sarah Prineas

Maybe you've noticed the little Shelfari widget on the side of this blog? I read. Lots. Or try to. I am literally always in the middle of one or two books (usually two, one audio book with the kids, one paper or ebook on my own.)

I write reviews on Shelfari's site of the books I read, and wanted to store some here for some of my more favorite titles, and just so I can find things a bit more easily. This whole "create content on the internet" thing is great, but it leaves me feeling stretched.

At any rate - I was thrilled to discover the latest book in the Magic Thief series, hadn't know one was coming out! The good kind of surprise, since when I found out it was coming out it had already been published, I hate waiting for books. My then-7-year-old and I burned through the first book in this series last summer (we each read it in about a day and a half. We also both LOVED it.) We read the second book not long after (which was excellent, but not quite as good as the first.)

This third book is right on par with the first (I think it's the setting more than anything. Wellmet is a better setting than the travel to and from Desh, where the second book took place.) I highly recommend this author and this series, hope you'll consider reading it. We got so inspired by reading the book that we're going back and listening to the first book on audio! (not loving the voice talent, he's a bit of a projector, but it's fun to "read" the book in another manner.)

Magic Thief: Found by Sarah Prineas, book review by Karen T. Smith

I absolutely adore the Magic Thief books. I love the way this author writes. "quick hands!" and I love the character voice of Conn. He's plucky and realistic about what happens to him. He's not without an inner life of his own, but it's a change from a lot of other middle-grade books, he's not a whiner, never complains about his lot in life, just deals with it as things come along. As a result, I feel that the readers get a really good sense of what this character is like, to the point where we can anticipate his actions before they've happened.

In this book, Conn and Nevery are back in Wellmet even though Conn really shouldn't be there (banished and all.) Conn still doesn't have a locus magicalicus, which is causing some issues. He and Nevery eventually perform a finding spell, which causes some ruckus, and he goes off to find his stone, which takes a good 1/3 to 1/2 of the story. As always, he's hungry and determined, and interesting things happen to him.

This is a great book (start with the first) for somewhat reluctant readers or boys in that 8-12 (or older...I'm a non-boy much older than 12 and I really love these books) age range. The book is a little smaller than typical hardbacks, and the pages use whitespace effectively, with illustrations at chapter headings to make that first page of the chapter go quickly. As before, letters and journal entries are done in a different style of paper with a different font. These help break up chapters and are visually different enough than the rest of the story to stand out.

Reluctant readers might identify well with Conn and his plucky determination. Boys will certainly identify with him, though as mentioned, so will girls. The character is somewhat ageless as in book 1 he doesn't really know how old he is, but you get the feeling that he's about 11 or 12, scruffy and small still, on the wrong end of the growth spurt that will surely come.

Excellent book - you should read this one!

Recipe - Lentil soup, by way of Alton Brown

Made this lentil soup recipe after watching Alton Brown, my most favorite on-camera chef, make it on Good Eats (a previously-recorded Good Eats.)

It was fantastic! We're vegetarians, we eat a lot of lentils and black beans, and on the surface this recipe didn't sound all that different from the rest. Cumin and Coriander are the two most often used spices in my cupboard (after Basil and of course just plain salt. Lots and lots of salt.) But this was just a little different, and just thick and stewy enough, it was fantastic.

Here's the adjustments I made:

• I didn't have Grains of Paradise so I used a peppercorn blend that I got at some point - "gourmet" pepper. I don't know that it tastes much different. I might start looking for Grains of Paradise because now I'm curious what additional dimension they might lend.
• Near the end of cooking, I added in 1/2 a bag of baby spinach, which I roughly chopped (personal preference - I hate having to slurp spinach.)
  
• At serving, I added a teaspoon of goat cheese to the top of mine, and a teaspoon of sour cream to the top of my husband's (the infidel doesn't like goat cheese!)
  
• I think I also ended up using the whole container of vegetable broth, rather than just 2 cups (I think the whole thing is three or four cups, but i forget.) It was really thick coming out of the lentil-cooking phase, so it needed some more liquid to feel more like a stew/soup.
  
• I also used a can of tomatoes (Hunts Petite Diced, which are my favorite of the canned tomatoes) rather than fresh. Will try this again later in the season when I can add fresh tomatoes from the garden!
  

This was excellent, and after the chopping gave me enough time to be able to sit and watch the movie w/the family rather than be stuck in the kitchen the whole time, so that was great.

Best Friend Drama, Manufactured by Adults

Okay, I'm not going to blame helicopter parents on this one. Instead this is squarely, according to how this article reports things, the provenance of the supposed expert adults in children's lives.

I'm fighting nausea. This is insane! Let me count the ways.

First - what psychological evidence are these adults using to base decisions upon? A summer camp where they deliberately separate children who have formed close bonds? I'm not a psychologist and even *I* can see how that could potentially be damaging to the children affected. 

It is normal for some children (introverts, in particular) to gravitate toward one or two close friendships (as this article explains), rather than being or feeling connected to an entire group. Have any of these supposed experts read the research on what makes up children's personalities? Jung's theories of introversion/extraversion are of particular relevance here. I know, I know, I just used the phrase "Jung's theories of..." and that sounds pompous and ridiculous, but do me a favor, click the link and read just the Jung part of the Causes section of the wikipedia article on introversion/extraversion. 

Mainly, introverts gain their energy from solitude or from being with one or two people. They find being in a large social group draining. That's not to say they don't like to be with a large social group, but it is psychologically tiring for them. Extraverts are the opposite. They gain their energy from social interactions, that's where their batteries are restocked. 

So why on earth would people in positions of expertise and authority in children's lives be interested in reducing or eliminating the need some children have for single or small-group close friendships? It's honestly horrifying to me, and I'm extremely grateful that my children's school is small enough and heavily introvert-focused. I honestly can't imagine anyone at their school ever advocating anything like this, barring the odd scenario where an exclusive friendship forms and revels in that exclusion. In my experience and in what I've seen with my children, there is such joy that comes from finding the one (or two or three) people in the world you currently live in (because best friends do come and go, depending on circumstances and geography) who really get you and want to play the same way you do.

Teleport This

I'm the at-home parent right now. I haven't always been (we haven't always had an at-home parent...) but it's true today, it's true now. If you've read my blog before perhaps you've sensed some of the disorientation and conflicted feelings that come with the territory? Perhaps you're in a similar boat? (or wish to be.)

It's odd, because I'm so at-peace with this decision (being at home) but yet I feel the pressure, the need to contribute economically. Some of it is external, but I'd be lying if I didn't acknowledge that some of it is internal.

The logic goes something like this: After all, I am the primary money drain. As the at-home parent, I spend most of the money. Groceries, clothes and shoes for me and the kids, activities fees, eating out, school uniforms, vet bills.

Well, and I have rather expensive taste in technology. Eep.

Yet I see the dilemmas faced by my working friends every single day. The string of babysitters or day-care centers, some more competent than others, the panic related to an unexpected case of strep, the desire to avoid having everyone in the office know you're working from home yet again, the scared feeling in the pit of your stomach when you're late to pick up the kids...again, the pained conversations with spouse whose job is even less flexible than yours, or the intricate dance that divorced friends execute between custody, job, and childcare.

I don't pine for any of that. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be at home, even if it's a kind of begrudging choice based on scheduling impossibilities and a lack of opportunities and quite a lot of reluctance on my part.

Yet I feel like I should work, and I would like the validation on my contribution to the human race that a "regular" job would provide. Because as much as answering the eleventy billion questions my kids pose daily and driving from here to beyond and back every day for their activities is validating, it's not a particularly tangible validation.

Don't get me wrong. It's important to be here, to be witness to this childhood period for them. To be available to listen in, and contribute to conversations about the stories we're reading, listen to them talk about what interests them, being here to answer their questions. It's validating to feed them, to know that I'm helping them grow, to know that I'm teaching them important life skills by teaching them how to cook, giving them increased responsibilities at home, taking them to the bank to open savings accounts (another post for that topic!)

Even as the at-home parent, though, it's hard to let go of the concept of measurable job performance (which the consultant in me is laughing at, because of course this is something that most of my clients through the years have been miserable at defining, horrible at recognizing, and almost never rewarding based on actual measurable job performance metrics!) Productivity measures like to-do list items crossed off, accomplishments achieved, goals reached, tasks completed. It's hard to get full credit for your day when the main accomplishment was coming out alive with two small people in your charge.

But even now as I'm trying to live in the moment (something I've asked of myself this summer, because I have to have goals...) I still have my goals for the day, and a constant stream of disappointment as it continues to take me three times as long as even my most conservative gannt chart estimates to accomplish the simplest of tasks.

It would help if I had a teleporter, definitely.

Recipe - Pizza On the Grill

This came from a facebook conversation after I mentioned that Pizza On the Grill was for dinner tonight, and my sister asked how exactly one accomplishes such a thing. I'll admit to a certain incredulity when I first read the recipe in the tribune a couple of summers ago, but it's quickly become one of our main summer grill items.

Being a vegetarian means that the grill takes on a different life. When we went shopping for a new grill 2 summers ago, my primary use case was "large surface area, as we cook pizza on the grill a lot." They wanted to sell me on BTUs, rotisseries (I think I have the rotisserie attachment in a bin in the garage somewhere...) and other whiz-bang features. I wanted square footage, or, more accurately since we're talking grill surface here, square inchage.

So to cook pizza on the grill - Start with a can of pizza dough (or use trader joe's pizza dough in a bag - 99c/each - hard to beat the price.) Can also make dough in a bread machine or...well, there's that whole "by hand" thing but that's just crazy talk. I suggest cutting into four pieces (or however many are in your family), then rolling each out. Easier to handle on the grill. Keep it on the thicker size, easier to handle. Heat up grill pretty hot (not too hot or the dough burns...) Slap them puppies, I mean dough, on the grill. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the bottom starts to get firm, and you can see grill marks. Avoid burn. Tastes bitter.

Flip onto a cookie sheet or other platter/pan/whatever you've helpfully carried out to the grill with you. You want the grilled part facing UP, uncooked side down.

Dress that grilled side however you like your 'za. Kids just do plain old contadina bottled sauce and store-bought shredded mozzarella. I of course make a REAL grown-up pizza with sliced tomatoes, basil (fresh from the garden with a youngest child who is old enough to know which plant is basil, woot!) thin sliced garlic, and fresh mozzarella, because what honestly is better than that? Yum. I do a teensy bit of olive oil on the crust and some pizza sauce or jarred pasta sauce cause it's thicker and I happened to have some in the fridge.

Then put the full pizzas back on the grill to cook the underside. (Reality check: We grill the kids' pizzas first, so they're done and cooling by the time we're ready to eat.) Close the lid to let the cheese melt. it only takes a few minutes - 2-3 or less. You can even kill the flame partway through and let the heat just melt the rest of the cheese/toast the bottom a bit.

The original recipe that I stole this from included fresh cooked cut corn, which is really awesome on the fresh moz/tomato/basil one. John's tonight had asparagus on it, and regular mozzarella. Both of ours were very yummy but mine got a bit burned on the bottom, boo. Was able to eat around the burned part and stuff myself silly, have no fear. ;)

Time to create some Product

One of the things I do (snort, in my spare time, you know from 12:45-1pm on alternate Tuesdays and Saint Swiven's day...) is write. As is evidenced from this whole blog thing where I write words and put it out there for all three of my fans (who coincidentally happen to also be my sisters) to read. But I also write fiction. Science fiction, for the most part. And one day I hope to have my work sold.

The interesting thing is, I've only been writing for a few years (3 and a half, to be precise.) Yet in that time, the pendulum swing of publishing has gone so far from one direction to the other as to cause reverbs I swear I can still hear ringing.

So when first setting out in January 2007 (it was a new year's resolution) - the conventional wisdom was to get an agent, then they would help you sell your book. The issue is, agents often are former editors, employees at publishing houses, and writers/frustrated writers themselves. And cracking into the biz via the agent route meant a two-step process. 1) Get agent 2) Agent sells your book to Big Publisher. Oh, I suppose there's a third step 3) You and your agent laugh all the way to the bank, your agent with 15% of your profits from your sales.

Cue the head-scratch here. If agents can help you get in at publishers where you can't get otherwise, I suppose it makes sense, but a lot of what I read and heard from other authors in the ensuing years has pointed to the idea that agents are not necessarily uniquely talented in doing this. Editors who publish a "no unagented manuscripts accepted" policy will often read unagented pitches.

Plus, the whole idea that someone else gets 15% of my hard earned pennies (yeah, author income is measured in pennies for the most part - wish me luck on that one!) for sending out a few letters of inquiry doesn't sit all that well. I'm a writer for crying out loud. I can write a few letters!

So then it was a direct-to-publisher pitch. The pendulum swung to the dead center of the discussion.

But now, I'm seeing a lot more "publishers are ostriches" commentaries, as far as the whole digital revolution is concerned. Publishers are unclear on the concept of digital publishing, seem unclear on the concept of a streamlined workflow/distribution channel, and unclear on the concept that reduced materials costs should result in lower costs for product (e.g., ebooks should be CHEAPER in some way or another than paper books. At least that's my personal belief.)

Instead, publishers are wringing their hands and bemoaning the death of the (physical) book, which I think is a load of rubbish anyway. A smokescreen for publishers to hide behind while they very desperately search for their new and improved revenue stream.

And yet we new writers continue to get this gloom-and-doom prophecy stuff from the media, authors, agents, and editors. And the thing that bugs me about the gloom-and-doom (you know, things like such-and-such publishing house closed, bad economy. they're just not buying as many titles, bad economy, etc.) Is the bad economy giving everyone an excuse to not talk about the elephant in the room?

Because - here's the thing that bugs me (that I meant to say before but wouldn't fit into that monstrous sentence) - publishers are in a business of delivering PRODUCT to a CONSUMER. They need to constantly refresh their product to make it interesting and attractive to their consumer. They need new product to attract new consumers to their businesses. They need new product to bring back previous consumers who have been off testing their competitor's products. They need PRODUCT!

Writers, well, we create product. This is great news for us. Today's readers are more fickle and more educated/informed than ever. This should be a boon time for authors, instead of all this gloom and doom talk we should be figuring out ways for authors to reach their audiences, particularly niche authors who write in sub-genres or who write for specific age groups or special interests. We should be enabling these authors to sell their own product directly to the consumer (though the publishers aren't so into this, I suppose, as it creates a direct competition thing...) We should be encouraging all types of authors because there are consumers out there looking for product!

Loads of great writers have written loads on this subject, but a lot of my thoughts have come from some of this great stuff by Michael Stackpole, as well as Dean Wesley Smith's Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing, and Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and from Dave Farland's Daily Kick in the Pants. If you're a fiction writer and you haven't read their respective blogs/advice to writers, you're missing out.

Rainy day fun

We learned a new game courtesy of the kids' PE teacher via Field Day. He had a snappy name for it like "marbles in a minute" or something, but for me it's the double-stick tape game.

Materials:

You will need a few plastic cups, a batch of marbles, some masking tape, and some double-stick tape. If you're feeling uber-competitive or you have children who are (or, say, you're setting this up for kids who are over about 10 years old) - you may also want to include a stopwatch or minute hourglass timer. Any flat surface will do, but try to aim for the most level part of said flat surface (or intentionally goose the game by having the surface NOT be level...)

Setting up the game:

Run some masking tape lines down the short width of the table, to make a lane.Put a length of double-stick tape down at each end of the lane (perpendicular to the lane markings. Clear?)Give a cup to one player and put them at one end of the lane. Give the marbles to the other player and put them at the other end of the lane. If you have a timer, make the cup-holder player (who's playing "defense") run the timer.

The object of the game is for the marble player to roll the marbles down the lane ever-so-carefully and get them stuck to the double-stick tape. Too fast a roll and the marble will speed right through your tape barrier and fall off the table (hence the cup-holder's role on defense.) Too slow and the marbles will stop short of the sticky tape goal. Like croquet, a newly rolled marble can sometimes unseat a marble on the sticky tape. Then again, sometimes a newly-rolled marble can bump and situate a marble that hadn't quite made it to the finish line.

Still wondering what the heck I'm talking about? Here are two photos to illustrate the points:

The lane markings (and a marble stuck on this end's goal.)
The double-stick tape, which turns out to be wicked-hard to photograph in low-light conditions, with a marble stuck to it.