Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Fighting for the Writing....

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A quick note here during the "pre-holiday" week of fun....

Maybe like you, we enjoy the holidays around our house and look forward to the excitement and fun every year. As a writer, and I mean if I'm being hard core focused here for a moment, it's a HUGE intrusion on my writerly efforts, not just because I'm away from the computer more but because there's just a lot going on and my little mind is distracted by both my love for giving AND receiving.....
Hmmmmm....receiving? what would that be like you ask? (cue dreamy music...harps and tinkly sounds...)

I hope my 2011 (though I'll take a 2010 close-out model if it's the Platinum series) metallic black Escalade ESV with heavy tow package ( so I can tow my new Belgian horse and his cool trailer) and 20" wheels is under the tree, the big oak outside, that is....and under the one in the house - my new Warrior assault rifle with dual sport scope and extra clips ( in case all hell breaks loose on Earth and I have to fight my way to the high ground in the mountains).....and XXL sub-zero survival gear - including tent ( in the event the world is suddenly thrust into an ice age as the environmentalists are predicting and a trek across the glacier is part of my escape route ) and lest I not forget my technical needs - one of the latest large screen killer Alienware laptops with at least 6 gigs of ram.  I have more stuff on the list but some of it is private and the rest of it may cause you to wonder about my mental stability because the items are extremely dangerous. Okay, a hint, one of them is a really fast motorcycle that also flies....

I hope YOU, where ever you are and no matter your circumstance, can find a moment or two to relax and have a little fun and enjoy the love of those in your life. AND - Please take a moment to remember the lost and lonely, to pray for them that the day may come when they will know the joy and peace and comfort some of us have been blessed with. Remember the greatest gift you can give anyone, be they friend or stranger, is your LOVE.
I want to also ask that you make a point to gather family together and offer a prayer for the sentinels and soldiers of freedom who stand where ever duty calls, day and night, ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for all of us here at home. Beyond that, well, just know that I'll be thinking of you this saturday(You too Jane) and wonder where you are and how you're doing.
You know where to find me...

LUVU

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Daniel Audet: A little perspective...

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A quick update on what I'm up to lately.

     As many of you know I'm active in the blogosphere and in social media, mostly Twitter and Facebook. I read and follow dozens of writerly blogs and publishing industry websites and try to keep up on the latest news and information as it pertains.
A troubling perspective has formed in my little brain that I wanted to ramble about today.
   
     I've made some great friends in the past and more recently too Thanks to social media, and, by contributing to and interacting with numerous literary and writer blog sites in support of my fellow scribes and their efforts. This is something I am sincere about.
 Many editors, agents and publishers offer their opinions and advice freely in well done blogs and awesome websites and I've noticed tightly knit communities in these fields as well. 
     I also follow closely several of the cutting edge tech and SEO type sites like Hubspot, Mashable, Technorati, Digital Book World and a few others. Being both a techie and a writer, for me, these two worlds easily blend together in some ways, and yet, in others they don't.
I wanted to talk today about the ways they don't.

     Let me ask you something: How do you act, think, feel about, and treat people you're close to, like friends, family, relatives, or even colleagues? Is the bond or connection for you personal and emotional or does it lean more and more to a business or marketing mentality, or is it a bit of both? And, is it  the same or different from the way you speak to and think about and interact with clients, customers and business associates and others you don't know so well? 
What? You might be asking right now.
Here's what I see every single day as I zoom around the internet touching base with friends and fellow writer's, writer sites, tech sites and just about everywhere else. I see the lines blurring between friendships and marketing - between people, and an odd mentality of association for gain or profit ONLY taking the place of a basic human trait of people just wanting to be together. Not that being and communicating with people I like is, (everyone together holding hands skipping through sunlit green pastures throwing rose petals in the air and singing,) all I expect or had hoped for the web to be for me or anyone else. Maybe it's because for most people the web and all it's glory and power is so new to them and since 99% of what's on the internet is profit driven the influence is invasively overt and at the same time subliminal and fuses with people's perception, development and use of the internet. Even to the point of changing how we find, see, interact and treat each other.It's becoming a capture (site) and convert (to sale) world.
It's okay to sell stuff, I have no problem with that. It's just that it's more and more selling and less and less people just plain talking with and enjoying each other.
     Back in the early to mid nineties when I got my first computer, the world I knew to be out there was suddenly at my finger tips in living color filled with real people I could communicate with no matter where in the world they were. I kept in daily touch with a group of scientists stationed in Antarctica who were studying the dispersement and effects of sediment particles(pollution) in the atmosphere. I recall a somber Dr. telling me they had found diesel and other emission carbon particles up to 3 feet down in the older ice pack. This was historical news, very bad news. In those days it was a daily, momentary thrill to be part of something called "The World Wide Web" and we all knew it would soon change the world. Early on, I had a tech genius friend and pioneer who would regale us with tall tales of the future of computing and what the computers of tomorrow would be like.
Awesome stuff since I see his theories and predictions all coming true. For many it's still a new and exciting frontier but they're entering a different cyber world than we did back then.
I still see light speed changes, and new technology and it's application spreading it's mighty wings every day but I'm troubled by the dis-associative current silently(and sometimes not so silently) flowing underneath it all. 

Maybe you don't, but I do.
One of the world's top blogger/marketers does too and it has caused him to change his online footprint and write about it recently.
Now, I'm not planning to run off and live in a cave or unplug my computers and throw them in the trash either, I'm just sayin'.......
Being and staying personal on every level, for me is a priority, not a clever sales or networking technique. It's part of who I am and how I demonstrate my love and respect for people. Being a writer online I enjoy daily emails, Twitter and Facebook communications and comments from lots of different folks. and it's still fun to make new friends and learn different things too.
Writers are people whose job can be solitary in it's fundamental execution so I see a higher level of understanding and exuberance among them interacting with each other professionally and socially and I really get a kick out that and happy to be a part of it. 
I hope that never changes.

I just wanted to write a few words about  how I see things lately.
That's it for now, you know where to find me.
                                
                                                              LUVU

A little perspective...

A quick update, an overdue post on what I'm up to lately.

     As many of you know I'm active in the blogosphere and in social media, mostly Twitter and Facebook. I read and follow dozens of writerly blogs and publishing industry websites and I try to keep up on the latest news and information as it pertains.
An interesting perspective has formed in my little brain that I wanted to ramble about today.
  
     Firstly, I've made some great friends in the past and also more recently thanks to social media, and, by contributing to and interacting with numerous writer and writer's blog sites in support of my fellow writers and their efforts. Something I am sincere about.
 Many editors, agents and publishers I follow offer their opinions and advice freely in well done blogs and on awesome websites. I've noticed tightly knit communities in these fields as well. I also follow closely several of the cutting edge tech and SEO type sites, like Hubspot, Mashable, Technorati, Digital Book World and a few others. Being both a techie and a writer, for me, these two worlds easily blend together in some ways, and yet, in others they don't.
I wanted to talk today about the ways they don't.

     Let me ask you something: How do you act, think, feel and treat people you're close to, like friends, family, relatives, or even colleagues? Is the bond or connection for you personal and emotional or does it lean more to a business or marketing mentality, or is it a bit of both? And, is it  the same or different from the way you speak to and think about and interact with clients, customers and business associates or others you don't know so well?
What? You might be asking right now.
Here's what I see every single day as I zoom around the internet touching base with friends and fellow writer friends, writer sites, tech sites and just about everywhere else. I see the lines blurring between friendships and marketing between people, such as writers, and an odd mentality of association for gain or profit, only, taking the place of basic human trait of people just wanting to be together. Not that this is, (everyone together holding hands skipping through green pastures throwing rose petals in the air and singing,) all I expect or had hoped for the web to be for me or anyone else. Maybe it's because for most people the web and all it's glory and power is so new to them and since 99% of what's on the internet is profit driven, the influence is invasively overt and at the same time subliminal and fuses with people's perception, development and use of the internet. Even to the point of changing how we find, see, interact and treat each other.
It's becoming a capture (site) and convert (to sale) world.

     Back in the early to mid nineties when I got my first computer, the world I knew to be out there was suddenly at my finger tips in living color with real people I could communicate with no matter where in the world they were. I kept in daily touch with a group of scientists stationed in Antarctica who were studying the dispersement and effects of sediment particles(pollution) in the atmosphere. I recall a somber Dr. telling me they had found diesel and other emission carbon particles up to 3 feet down in the older ice pack. This was historical news, very bad news. In those days it was a daily, momentary thrill to be part of something we all knew would soon change the world. I had a tech genius friend and pioneer who would regale us with tall tales of the future of computing and what the computers of tomorrow would and could do.
Awesome stuff since I see his theories and predictions all coming true.
I still see light speed changes and new technology and it's application spreading it's mighty wings every day but I'm troubled by the dis-associative current silently(sometimes not so silently) flowing underneath it all. Maybe you don't, but I do.
One of the world's top marketers does and it has caused him to write about it recently.
I'm not planning to run off and live in a cave or unplug my computers and throw them in the trash.

Being and staying personal on every level, for me, is a priority, not a clever sales or networking technique. It's part of who I am and how I demonstrate my love and respect for people. Being a writer, I enjoy daily emails, Twitter and Facebook communications and comments from lots of different folks. n it's still fun to make new friends too.
Writers are people whose job can be solitary in it's fundamental execution so I see a higher level of understanding and exuberance among them interacting with each other professionally and socially and I really get a kick out that. I hope that never changes.

I just wanted to write a few words about  how I see things lately.
That's it for now, you know where to find me.
                                
                                                              LUVU

Monday, November 22, 2010

I'm writing I'm writing

Usually I take Sunday's off, from writing that is, but yesterday I felt compelled (<--- I get headaches when I use big words....) to finish and tweak a themed short story for an elder care group, so I did, or tried to anyway. We'll see what happens, I hope they and YOU, like it.
While I was online I also did a little networking too.
Today I'm back at it trying to put myself in the poet mood to finish a piece I started last week for a poetry site and do a non-fic piece for one of the new writer sites. 500 words, should be a breeze....yeah right....hopefully I can go back to my second short story, third actually if you count the one I finished yesterday - "Mrs. Murphy Rocks". My first recent effort, a short called "The Magic Whistle" will appear somewhere soon, I'm looking at the best showcase opp's for it.
On Twitter you may find me posting in my usual wise-ass mode or promoting fellow authors, most of whom are a lot further down 'the writers road' than I am, but it's all good since I truly love this biz and the better the writing gets the more fun it becomes and I've made a LOT of good friends both in and out of the writing/publishing community.
Heidi Ayarbe is a great find, she's a YA author with great creds.
Look for me on Goodreads, whether you're a fan of books or an author it's a great place to hang and put your 2 cents in. Readers shouldn't underestimate the value of their input and reviews of books written by authors who are also members of  Goodreads . Alex Berenson, James Patterson and Steven Gore are members.

The fundamentals of writing, for me, have not become second nature yet, though I think about them a lot less these days and focus more on the depth and scope of my own translation, from my mind to the page to your mind. I can't tell how someone will reconstitute the story for themselves but I CAN make sure as much feature is there in tight sentencing. I love writing dialogue, even though, to me, narration and description are just other forms of it and come from a different angle, just not spoken, but "voice" is an element of them all. I love to blabber and oddly, so do my characters. Some of them.
(In real life, whatever that is, I'm more the strong silent type who, secretly, always wanted be Jerry Lewis.)
Blogging has helped me a lot in that department, of voice and the fundamentals that is, and I've written under the pressure of knowing many thousands of people will be reading what I write, so, though they are vastly dis-similar in some ways, yet, in others, they have the same effect on how I go about writing.
I'd better get back to it, before I wear myself out.
I'll see you on Daniel on Twitter or My Facebook Page or Goodreads, and, I'll let you know when something happens with my work and where it will be, in case you want to read it.

LUVU

Monday, November 15, 2010

Update on my writing.....



     All week I've been trying to get myself together enough to do a little scribbling, while waiting for the edit of a short story that came out really well.

I'm working on a few book reviews and networking my ass off.(not that you needed to know that....)
Articles? Yeah well, not lately, although I do enjoy doing them(arrrrgggghhhh), but, as many of your know doing a good article can take days of research and/or re-writing so, at the moment I can't spare that kind of time. Blogging is a bit easier since I've been doing it for so long and I can bang out 2k in a heartbeat.
Hopefully it all makes sense....(eyeroll...)
I've been asked to write pieces for a few of the better writer sites and I'm trying to figure out what to write about and how in the world I'll have the brain function to do it, but, happy to have been asked.
Though it might seem like there are lots of, maybe too many, options out there to display your work, be careful about how and where you spend your time doing it. Blogging and fiction have little in common except for the rudimentary elements both require, and, I've found that blogging about writing will keep you pointed in the right direction in a weird way but can keep you at a distance from progress or completing a piece or book if you linger too long doing it.
 I'm at that stage right now where the poetry, blog posts and networking are converging and though I enjoy the attention and seeing and meeting great people, I have to keep in mind that I am a fiction author and have no interest in being a journalist or non-fiction writer, or, a poet for that matter.
I DO spend a lot of time expanding my horizons just like anyone else who is building a foundation to support their work.
I have a song writing (and blogger) background so I guess the poetry comes easier for me than for most, and, hopefully I'll hear more songs I've written make it to radio. It's a real thrill to know people like what you write no matter what it is. Just remember, evaluate and keep track of where you are and if your mission statement has changed, if it does or has, and that's okay as long as it's what and who you are. Don't spread yourself too thin or feel like you need to grovel. EVER. The better your writing is and the integrity of your network is what matters. Keep in mind, publishing has a corporate ethic. It's ALL about the money, I'm not saying for me it is, I'm saying in this business it is, that's the cold hard reality - so deal with it. Artistic refuge may be reserved for the elite group of authors on the bestseller list you might think, but I know a few of the male authors who ride the top of the lists and I can tell you that they are all about the business of applying the art and craft USING a strong understanding and determined sense of business to do it. Set your little world up like a business that revolves around your writing. People will help you if the writing is worth their time and they believe they can benefit or if they just plain like you, but be willing to help them too. And, don't be naive when you run the gauntlet of marketers and those who prey on idealistic young writers as you explore the territory of this industry on your way up. Research EVERY direction you take yourself in, and your work, whether that be self-publishing or whatever. Be careful and thoughtful about your choices.
Another thing: Competition.
The only person, place or thing you are in competition with or against is YOURSELF. Great writing will always attract a following and sell books. All the networking, Twitter, Facebook or whatever, activity in the world will NOT if the writing isn't saleable.
Reason your motivation in your mind however you need to when it comes to WHY you write or WHO you write for but believe me when I tell you - the marketplace and genre influences will have an impact on what you compose more so than artistic theology or personal doctrines. Master the technical side then run totally wild with your imagination, refining your "voice" all the way down 'the writer's road'.

Talk to you soon....Daniel
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Sunday, November 14, 2010

On The Writers Road: eBooks...ok. So now what?

On The Writers Road: eBooks...ok. So now what?: " I'll be writing about eBooks, and the elements, as writers, we need to understand in ongoing posts here to try to clarify just what we ..."

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Week 66



Daniel Audet on Twitter                                                                                                                                                                                                        Daniel Audet on Facebook                                                  


Transport For Christ
PRESS  RELEASE
August 1, 2010
For Immediate Release

Educational Webinars Cover Human Trafficking for Trucking and Travel Plaza Industry Members

Human trafficking is a $32-billion-a-year business, destroying countless lives and enslaving its victims, the majority of whom are women and children. Most Americans are aware of the problem in Asia and Africa, but are oblivious to that fact that it is big business here in the United States. 

To a great extent, domestic sex trafficking is occurring along our nation’s highways and at its truck stops. Human traffickers target truckers, because of their transient nature, at truck stops, rest areas and restaurants as consumers of the children and women they sell. Pimps have also been known to recruit truck drivers to transport girls over state lines, removing some of the risk from their shoulders and placing it on those of the trucker and his/her company. 

While the average age for a young girl to enter the sex-for-sale industry in the United States is 12, many of them are forced to lie about their age, pretend they enjoy what they do and present a much older image of themselves.  National statistics puts the annual number of American children and teens trafficked at approximately 300,000. That doesn’t count the additional 17,000 internationals trafficked into our country each year for forced sex and labor. 

Because members of the trucking and travel plaza industry represent the eyes and ears of America on those highways, they can play a critical part in fighting this crime and those who perpetrate it. They simply need to know what to look for, what questions to ask and what steps to take.

Transport For Christ (www.transportforchrist.com) is partnering with a Chapter 61 Ministries (www.chapter61.com) initiative, Truckers Against Trafficking (www.truckersagainsttrafficking.com), to help educate the trucking and travel plaza industries, as well as the general public, about the truth surrounding human trafficking in America and steps they can take to fight it. 

Transport For Christ will host informational webinars presented by Chapter 61 Ministries on September 1, 2, 7, 15, 16 and 23 at 9 p.m. EDT.

If you would like to attend one of these webinars, please send your name and the exact email address for us to mail the invitation (this will be the address you use for the webinar). For more information, please contact Scott Weidner, President and CEO of Transport for Christ at (717) 426-9977.

Please title request “Trafficking webinar”