This is a short one due to brain
overload. I'll be putting out mini blogs during the week with more
information.
I really do appreciate advances in
technology, despite ample evidence to the contrary. I still write my
fiction in longhand. Heck, I write actual letters to people. However,
I cannot imagine writing fiction or scripts on a typewriter. I don't
like thinking about using a typewriter or a business letter. Between
services like Skype and shared file interfaces have allowed me to
work with people in Japan on manga and short stories. And I
completely get why the most rudimentary cell phone is valuable in
keeping safe in a deserted area. One doesn't need to leave the car to
seek out the lone pay phone on a desolate street to call for help.
One just needs to keep that battery charged. And I completely get
that the social networks are a must for both established and
independent artists to build and audience and hawk their wares.
Digital Manga expects their localizing teams to keep a blog and a
twitter account to generate buzz for their titles.
But I'm still the same person who
avoids having a walkie talkie on film set. My cell phone is barely smart at all.
I only upgraded from one that only made phone calls, because of the
trip to San Francisco. Airlines update by e-mail or an app, and I
could use social networks to send one message to many people that we
arrived safely. A reasonably smart phone is also handy in medical
situations for getting word out or requesting help from a bunch of
folks at a clip. My attitude has changed enough that I no longer call
people who text me to yell at them. I can't believe how much info I
can carry on a phone to transmit to others for work. I got the
smarter phone reluctantly and use it sparingly. My Twitter account
happened as an accident of sorts. When I signed my blog up for some
kind of cross promotion, the process also set up a Twitter account. I
wasn't going to use it at all until I discovered that my favorite
chefs hung out there, and they were willing to answer questions from
fans and retweet their efforts to their followers. I later found it
to be valuable in driving my book sales.
But this week, I have to confess that
all this accessibility grew trying. There are currently four ways to
engage me in a direct dialog online and two ways to communicate with
me by phone. A couple of times in the past week, I swear that all
five ways of reaching me were on fire. It always seemed to happen
when I was trying to solve a nettlesome problem with editing. Two
days this week, the multi-tasking began at 10 am and I was still at
it in some fashion when Jon was walking in the door at 6pm! I hadn't
even made dinner. It's difficult to cut off the online access,
because I need it to do the editing. There have been long days when
I've spent hours going back and forth with our manga typesetter. Was
my brain ever tired by the end of those days. I could do nothing in
the evening beyond staring at the TV. I don't even think I could
engage enough to watch a program. I don't know how these young-ungs
handle all that hardware and all those conversations at once. I'm not
sure that I'll ever get used to it. As for electronic tablets, I have
no use for one yet. I can see highly useful applications on a set,
but not right now. I can't justify the expense. While I have embraced
some of the high tech of this century and continue to be amazed by
what it can accomplish, I'm not a complete techie yet. I don't know
if I ever will be. I will always like hand writing stories (and
letters). I will always love reading an actual book.
Though I was terribly busy this week, I
was mostly housebound. I didn't do my usual walking every day. I
seemed to have injured my back at some point and needed the rest. I
couldn't even cook the way I usually do. It was frustrating, and no
doubt lessened my patience with the various difficulties I had this
past week. I was out on Saturday and walked almost five miles. I plan
to slowly get back on track. The really vexing thing is that I don't
know exactly how I hurt my back in the first place. Still, I cleared
a bunch of stuff off my plate writing-wise. I'll soon be able to
focus on some really big projects that I need and very much want to
focus on.
Updates
There is a lot going on with my titles
and on the web series front. I did a casting session for the first
time in years. It was a lot of fun. I'll put out a couple of blogs
about the goings on tomorrow. I have a pot roast to attend to, and my
brain is still a little tired from all that multi-tasking.
Stay tuned.
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