Post from The Burnside Writers Blog
Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 10:13 pm
Read more: Writing

Greetings from the road. I am traveling with Don Miller on his “Million Miles” tour. We started off doing a dozen shows in a dozen days in a dozen cities (and 2 countries!). It felt like we traveled a million miles in the first fortnight.

I couldn’t be happier. Well except that my dear husband Larry only got to come the first two weeks. And that my hometown show in Hollywood was hard. Wow, tough crowd. My friend Tony said I was terrific, I’m just being hard on myself. But they also say a prophet is not welcome in his/her own town. Portland was rough on Don. But he says it’s because his mom was there. See?

The Million Miles Tour

Don is out promoting his new book, A Million Miles In A Thousand Years, and I’m the warm-up act. AKA the dangleberry. Opening for Don is like opening for U2. Don hates that analogy, but I offered to change it to, “it’s like opening for Flock of Seagulls.” So he relented.

Blue Like Jazz hit a nerve amongst younger Christians who didn’t fit in with their parents’ yuppie American Christianity; not to mention many Yuppie American Christian parents who finally realized the Yuppie American Christian Dream was a bucket of dookie.

I am not knocking honest, biblical Christianity; but rather the pretty, shiny Churchianity where all questions are answered, every conflict ends in an altar call, and y’all live your Best Life Now. Anyone else out there for whom that did not happen? Upside down on a bad mortgage? Out of work? Kids hate you? Spouse depressed? You depressed? Remember the catch-phrase, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?” Wondering what kind of alternate universe in which this life is called “wonderful?”

That’s what both Don and I are talking about on the “Million Miles” tour. The big story that God calls you to live actually involves conflict, trauma, and soul-searing character change. Call it the “The Feel-Good, Escapist Tour of 2009.” Before you go running for your Prozac, just have a listen.

My book, Angry Conversations With God, begins when I hit forty and found myself loveless, jobless, and living over a garage. When a friend said my relationship with God was like a marriage, I decided to take God to marriage counseling. Of course the God that showed up for counseling was my twisted version of the real God. Over time God did change – into the real God. And man, the real God read me the riot act: if this was a marriage, I had married Him for his money – for what I could get out of him. Psyche! I had to learn to love God for better or worse; for richer or poorer, for fun and for free. I did not go quietly. But in the end, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. All those disappointments and heartbreaks became the tools God used to mature me into someone who could recognize and enjoy all the good he really had for me.

Don’s book goes a step further. When filmmaker Steve Taylor approached Don to make a movie out of Blue Like Jazz, Steve said Don’s real life was too boring. Don and Steve went to Robert McKee’s story structure seminar and learned the basics of storytelling. Don had an epiphany in that seminar: the same elements that make a good movie make a good life. A main character overcomes conflict to reach his goal. Further, the main character has to be someone we care about, and his goal has to be something big enough that we care, and something important enough that if he doesn’t accomplish his goal, people will die, lives will be ruined, hearts broken. We have to want this character to achieve that goal!

Personally, I would add that if the main character’s goal is a bad one, we pray he doesn’t get what he wants, but that his goals are shattered and he learns to want better things. Think of Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca. He wants to stay out of the war and punish Ingrid Bergman for breaking his heart. Eventually he realizes he needs to help Ingrid and her husband escape Casablanca and rejoin the resistance movement. Thank God Bogart didn’t get what he wanted but rather what he needed.

Don’s book reflects on how editing his life for a movie called him to live a bigger story. He went on a bike trip to raise money to drill wells in Africa. He pursued a girl fully. His goals didn’t always end happily. But he led a big life, and became a bigger person for it. Don’s message: God wants you to live a big story: a beautiful story that involves peril, conflict, and great stakes. That is a life that is worth living.

The first time I heard Don speak about this, a huge burden of guilt fell off me: if my life wasn’t easy at the moment, it wasn’t necessarily that I was screwing up; it was because life is hard and conflict is part of the story. And conflict is okay: whether it’s thrust upon you or you even cause it, God can take what you give him and work with that.

And you know? It was a feel-good moment; and not an escapist moment. It was a moment I was ennobled to step into the conflict and work through it to live a bigger story.

Every time I hear Don give this message on the tour, every time I see someone take his book home, I know they too will be challenged to live a better, more beautiful story than to simply own a Volvo or a beige condo somewhere.

We are traveling to another 60 cities all over the country. Come watch me do a segment of my solo show based Angry Conversations With God. Listen to Don talk about how Don dared to live a bigger story in A Million Miles In A Thousand Years. I bet you will leave energized and excited to live the bit story God has for you.

For more info about the tour, go to http://amillionmiles.com

Follow us on twitter: @donmilleris and @susanisaacs

Join Donald Miller on Steve Brown Etc. on October 16th.

Post from Lee Goldberg
Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 4:10 pm
Read more: Writing

Celebrity makes people stupid. That’s the only explanation for Harvey Weinstein calling Roman Polanski’s drugging, rape and sodomy of a 13-year-old girl a “so-called” crime, or Whoopi Goldberg shrugging it off as not a “rape-rape.” Today, LA Times columnist Steve…

Post from Writers Write
Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 12:00 am
Read more: Writing

Tired of other people impersonating her, J.K. Rowling has finally joined Twitter. She warned, however, that she won’t be tweeting regularly as she prefers pen and paper.

I am told that people have been twittering on my behalf, so I thought a brief visit was in order just to prevent any more confusion!



However, I should flag up now that although I could twitter endlessly, I’m afraid you won’t be hearing from me very often……….
as pen and paper is my priority at the moment

Post from Lasting Tribute
Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 3:56 pm
Read more: Writing

Author Graham Greene will be remembered in his home town this week when Berkhamsted plays host to the 12th annual Graham Greene International Festival.From Thursday until Sunday events to celebrate the writer’s life and work will be held at The Rex Ci…

Post from Lasting Tribute
Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 12:54 pm
Read more: Art

Fallen hero Corporal Bryan Budd has been honoured with a painting showing him in action on the day he died.Military artist Stuart Brown was commissioned by the soldier’s former comrades in 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment.Cpl Budd was the first ser…

Post from Alex Wire
Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 12:06 pm
Read more: Writing

I’ve discovered a new method of relaxing at night to combat my insomnia – I turn off all the lights, climb into bed and listen to murder mysteries (my latest obsession) on the radio.The only problem is, last night I fell asleep midway through The M…

Post from Tattoo Flash
Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 11:25 am
Read more: Art

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Post from Tattoo Flash
Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 10:37 am
Read more: Art

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Post from Mike hussey
Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 10:20 am
Read more: Art

Post from Lee Goldberg
Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 5:20 am
Read more: Writing

Variety reports that Leonardo DiCaprio has signed to portray Travis McGee in a movie version of John D. MacDonald’s THE DEEP BLUE GOODBYE . Dana Stevens wrote the script, and Peter Chernin will produce, but no director has been set…

Post from Writers Write
Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 12:00 am
Read more: Writing

Speechwriter, journalist, political pundit and author William Safire has died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He died in a hospice in Maryland. Safire, who was a speechwriter for President Nixon, wrote the On Language column for The New York Times for many years. The New York Times has the obituary:

There may be many sides in a genteel debate, but in the Safire world of politics and journalism it was simpler: There was his own unambiguous wit and wisdom on one hand and, on the other, the blubber of fools he called “nattering nabobs of negativism” and “hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.”
He was a college dropout and proud of it, a public relations go-getter who set up the famous Nixon-Khrushchev “kitchen debate” in Moscow, and a White House wordsmith in the tumultuous era of war in Vietnam, Nixon’s visit to China and the gathering storm of the Watergate scandal, which drove the president from office.



Then, from 1973 to 2005, Mr. Safire wrote his twice-weekly “Essay” for the Op-Ed page of The Times, a forceful conservative voice in the liberal chorus. Unlike most Washington columnists who offer judgments with Olympian detachment, Mr. Safire was a pugnacious contrarian who did much of his own reporting, called people liars in print and laced his opinions with outrageous wordplay.



Critics initially dismissed him as an apologist for the disgraced Nixon coterie. But he won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, and for 32 years tenaciously attacked and defended foreign and domestic policies, and the foibles, of seven administrations. Along the way, he incurred enmity and admiration, and made a lot of powerful people squirm.


*****


And from 1979 until earlier this month, he wrote “On Language,” a New York Times Magazine column that explored written and oral trends, plumbed the origins and meanings of words and phrases, and drew a devoted following, including a stable of correspondents he called his Lexicographic Irregulars.

Post from Lee Goldberg
Monday, September 28, 2009, 9:43 pm
Read more: Writing

Roman Polanski drugged, raped, and sodomized a 13-year-old girl and then fled to Europe to avoid imprisonment. If his name was Tyrell Washington, and he was black, and did everything Polanski did except direct movies, people would be thrilled that…

Post from Writers Anonymous
Monday, September 28, 2009, 10:20 am
Read more: Writing

I stumbled across this video last night, and was both amazed and inspired, and wanted to share this with everyone reading this blog.  As an artist, among other talents, I am always looking to be amazed by the talents of others.  This video fits the bill.

In most movies, the movie is made up of many, [...]

Post from Lee Goldberg
Sunday, September 27, 2009, 9:55 pm
Read more: Writing

Denis McGrath was talking about fanfic on his blog the other day, and happened to mention my many discussions here on the same topic, prompting someone to comment: I find your posts re: fanfic far more fun because you actually…

Post from Lee Goldberg
Sunday, September 27, 2009, 9:44 pm
Read more: Writing

My daughter asked me what it meant when my wife told her that she sounded “like a broken record.” I realized that technology was leaping way ahead of our cliches, rendering many of them obsolete to entire generations. I explained…

Post from Omni Writers & Artists admin
Sunday, September 27, 2009, 9:07 pm
Read more: Uncategorized

We recently announced that the poster of the 10,000th blog on the OmniBlog network would receive a £20 Amazon voucher on us.
Well, we’re nearing that milestone this week and we thought it would be fun to see where the smart money is by looking at the most popular categories on our busiest site, OmniFootball.
Arsenal bloggers [...]

Post from Post Secret
Sunday, September 27, 2009, 4:18 am
Read more: Art

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where peoplemail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard.

See more secrets. Follow PostSecret on Twitter.
Visit PostSecretFrance

The new PostSecret book is being released October 6th. My publisher has posted 90 postcards and commentary for anyone who pre-orders PostSecret Confessions on Life, Death and God. Special [...]

Post from Lee Goldberg
Saturday, September 26, 2009, 11:25 pm
Read more: Writing

To iron out the kinks, we are doing a live test run of next week’s interactive webcast thus Sunday, Sept. 27 at 4 pm PST. Here’s the link: http://live.expandedbooks.com/channels/3/with_player. You are welcome to log in …or send your Skype username…

Post from Mommy Writer - Bethany Hiitola
Saturday, September 26, 2009, 9:08 pm
Read more: Writing

I often start blog posts and then never finish them. Sometimes it is due to lack of time… have 5 minutes, jot down a few thoughts, and then never finish them. Others, it’s just that I find the topic LAME or a bunch or rants that would bore you to tears. And then there are the others that would have found their way to the Internet eventually, if I would remember wrote them. But now, so out of context they make no sense.

To not let the words die, I’m sharing The Lost Posts today (that and the fact I am under deadline for the next chapter of under-contract book. Can’t let another day procrastinating on that get in the way). So, without further ado…. here’s 2 that didn’t make the cut or past the Draft folder until now.

LOST POST #1: Writing with One

They say write and it will come. It being the famous bloggy type topic that will keep the Internet Masses entertained. At the moment, I am doubtful of the advice. Since I am sitting smack dab center of a bustling cafe waiting for inspiration. And I am still writing with little coming to me to complete this post.

Except maybe the fact that at least 4 people are watching me right now thinking that I am not really writing and just “acting” like I am writing (yes people. I have a finished novel out there. Well at least with my agent. Another one is right here on my hard drive. I just need to like the ending before I send it off).

Oh and then there is the whole mess with the house. Which I really don’t want to talk about. Because well, it is going miserably. And I just don’t have enough energy to even blog about its mess. Plus, who knows who reads this blog. I could piss off some more people.

Pregnancy. Yeah. That can always e a topic. But hell, if i start down that path, that is all I will talk about. And you all will be bored. Just like the writing topic. Sure the blog is named Mommy Writer. And I have a lot to say about all that stuff. It would be nice today to not be those things. Or be those things but talk about something more interesting. but my life is not full of anything more interesting at the moment.

See? Now 10 minutes later and I am still where I was. Writing with no topic. This writing and blogging business. It’s for the birds.

A little background on that one, it is over 3 years old. We owned 2 homes, had 2 mortgages, and were likely at least 3 months away from any sort of sale on the first home. and yes, pregnant. And working. And absolutely trying to take advantage of life with only 1 kid and write a little.

LOST POST #2: It Started When….

Wait. It’s an hour ahead of where it was yesterday? An hour faster? Slower? Can’t we just keep the time the way it is. Screw the light and dark thing. Seriously. It just messes with my internal clock that is constantly telling me to get more sleep. But this time around–this earlier than normal crap–really has me reeling. I can’t keep anything straight.

Today (oh shit, now it is actually yesterday) was a prime example. Birthday party madness for a family member. We get up, eat a small breakfast, shower, dress everyone, run ONE errand–oh and look at that. We are late. ONE HOUR EXACTLY late to this party. Now, if it had been the “old” time… well, we’d be on time wouldn’t we?

I can only imagine how tomorrow–oh wait, I mean how TODAY–is going to go at work. Oh you bet your booty I’ll say this more than once, “Now it it were the old time…” Let’s just hope I make it to the morning meeting on time. I don’t think the Daylight Savings Excuse will cut it. Especially after having one practice day that I totally blew off the radar. Or the fact that I am again up late. But hey, no one needs to know my ailments do they? Oh wait, I just spent three posts complaining of my various medical predicaments. Why not tell the world about my psychotic tendencies. It should make for good blogging fodder. Or the next Thanksgiving meal conversation.

This one is about a year old or so. It’s sorta sill right? Or maybe just lame. Either way, it probably was better to stay in the Drafts.

I’m sure you just found me that little bit less interesting. Re-reading them, I am tending to agree. But, that’s a conversation for another day. I have to get to that chapter.

Post from Lee Goldberg
Friday, September 25, 2009, 6:30 pm
Read more: Writing

I got a laugh from the first paragraph of Betsy Sharkey’s review of FAME in today’s Los Angeles Times: “Fame,” it turns out, is not going to live forever. It’s officially DOA. Call the coroner. Then call in the top…