Progress is made in jumps not gradual increments

I am struck by how we move — in jumps not smooth gradual progressions. For the last 6 months I’ve been reading geology books and in some of them the scientists talk about how the earth systems change in leaps – jumps – and that one of their concerns about climate changes is that the rest of us think somehow the warming will occur in small incremental gradual increments over a long period of time. And they believe the systems leap into new territory in much shorter time frames.

I picked up a book called the Black Swan and while I have not read it yet, I see from the flap that it talks about how the assumptions underlying our system models do not account well for sudden, unpredictable abrupt change. Just look at the recent financial crises to see this in action.

Finding the right energy

Another letter for the BAIPA News (July 2008)

Being an author and a publisher can pull at us in different ways – and being small, independent publishers means that there are dozens of tasks we need to complete on a regular basis. Some days I get up gung-ho and step right into the external tasks on my plate – calling people, making connections, negotiating, asking for help. And some days I turn off my phone and write or read. I used to fight this. I used to push myself to make those calls or I’d get angry with myself if I couldn’t sit down and read a manuscript or write.

The Ferry Building, San Francisco

I love adaptive re-use. I love using old buildings for new purposes. I love renovations that honor the old: old craftsmanship, old materials, and old styles. But I also love the new. I often say I want to stay in the Palace Hotel and have my wifi too.

I don’t know exactly how to label what was done to the Ferry Building. I know it was renovated or rehabbed or something. Upgraded, made seismically safer. But what I do know is I love it. I love the marketplace that has been designed into it and has sprung into life. There are so many reasons to go there now and there are so many ways I’m made to feel welcome, invited.

101 Second, San Francisco

I want to write about place. I want to write about how my environments affect me. I want to voice my opinion about buildings and cityscapes. And I’m terrified that my thoughts will go into a black hole and no one will pay attention. That what I care about and what I think about what I care about won’t matter.

I have not submitted my ideas to anyone because I felt unqualified. Untrained, Uneducated. Unfamiliar. With the world of the built environment. I knew what I liked and what I didn’t. I thought perhaps I was out of synch with my times.

Taking baby steps

Another of my letters for the BAIPA News (June 2008)

In my email yesterday, I got the Writers Digest newsletter and the subject line read “Push Past Writer’s Block” – it made me think about how we begin to move, how we begin after a fallow time, how we are able to act when it all seems so hard.

Taking these steps, these positive steps – I call them baby steps — is important. And it’s equally important to acknowledge taking these steps, whatever they are, to move you onward.

Beyond the money. Living in the book world.

I have been writing articles for the BAIPA News — and thought I’d post some of them here. I hope they are helpful to you. (May 2008)

I have been working on projects recently where I’m dealing with the business realities of publishing – how to make enough money to pay for all the things needed to build the books and generate the sales. At times it seems difficult, if not impossible, to make it all work, especially because I personally don’t like selling and don’t want to be doing the things it often takes to sell a lot of books. I like writing books. I like designing books. I like managing book projects. I like helping others with their books. That’s where my heart lies.   

Imprints: a meditation

“I bought more steno pads today. I’ve opened the package and put one in my purse.” I can hear her shift, her clothes sliding against the fabric of her chair. Her breathing. In. Out. As I hold my own breath.

“Okay.” I sigh. ” I’ve started writing in it. I love the pale green paper with the pale rose red stripe. This is dumb. I mean it’s a steno pad.”

Silence. Breathing. A bus on Lexington. A child’s laugher. The maple frames of the tall windows glowing in the afternoon light. The chip on the edge of the door to the small bathroom, showing brown under the white.

Find what works for you

There is no one right way to write or to create a book or to be published. There are so many choices today. Find the path that’s right for you.

Some books are written from the inside out. The book shapes itself. The book and the characters take over and tell you what is happening. You may not even know what kind of book you are writing until you are deep into it. Trust this process. Trust your instincts. I heard a writer, I think it was Isabelle Allende… anyway, she said her job was just to get out of the way; that the book used her to get written.

Why I like writing groups

I knew I needed a writing group. Where I could read my new stuff in a safe environment. I participated in a GREAT writing group in Santa Fe and another good one in Corrales. But I hadn’t found one yet in San Francisco. It all takes time and luck.

Well, I found one. Last Sunday, we met at one members’ house out by the ocean. It was a lovely day and we met in the afternoon. We did a bit of catching up, then we wrote bits about ourselves including 1 lie that the others had to guess. Then we read our new work.

What I am reading today: 5/9/06

I am reading a new author, Allison Brennan. The book is The Kill. Another mystery. I am also reading Under and Alone, by William Queen. And I have just finished Skinny Dip, by Carl Hiasen. He is so funny. I loved Stormy Weather.