Saturday Serendipity

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Saturday!

This is my second Saturday putting up a post, so it means I’ve posted every day for over a week. I didn’t start out last week to blog every day, but I’m really enjoying giving it a shot.

I didn’t quite meet my goal of working on the novel each day, but I did journal every morning (well, in the afternoon that one day when I had been up until almost three a.m., and had to take a morning nap…). It’s been a wonderful exercise to get back to my journal. In her book, The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron suggests that you do Morning Pages first thing. That way your mind isn’t cluttered with the minutiae of the coming day. (I think I feel a different blog post coming on.)

Saturday is about news, and things I came across this past week.

My big news is that I’ve redesigned my website, and it will go up sometime next week. I can’t wait for you to see it! I’ve added two new parts to it that I’m excited about: 1) Everyone who signs up for my newsletter will receive a free ebook. I frequently give things away in my newsletter, but this means the goodies start right away. 2) My main blog page will have a “Subscribe by Email” button so you can get this blog (Laura’s Notes From the Handbasket) delivered to you every day! (I bet you didn’t know my blog is called Notes From the Handbasket because it’s not very prominent on my site. I started blogging on MySpace (!) in 2006, and moved to Blogger…hmmm, I think it was around 2010. Then I moved it onto my website three years ago.) I hope you’ll subscribe and visit when you can!

UPDATE: I almost forgot–The Abandoned Heart, my latest novel, takes The Page 69 Test. Check it out for a peek at the book.

This week:

I love this story about a flock of Trumpeter swans that returns to a lake in Arkansas every year, traveling much farther south than any other Trumpeter swans. Gorgeous photos.

So many of us are multi-taskers. But does the habit of doing only one thing at a time mean you’re smarter?

Found footage of Marilyn Monroe. Fascinating story that made me sad for her.

Even Jane Austen wrote juvenilia–including a history of England when she was 16. That girl was meant for big things, obviously.

There’s a tiny bookstore without employees in Seoul, South Korea. It looks like a lovely place to stop and browse a few selected books and read.

Cassette tapes are making a comeback? Really? Kind of…

Writers rarely talk to one another about how much money they make writing. There are lots of surprises in this piece. Can’t wait to read the book.

I’m interested in learning how to do photographic portraits. While looking for lighting, I discovered that there are these weird lights you can put on your phone for taking fabulous selfies. I bet Kim Kardashian has one.

Bake lemon bars in the winter? Yes, please! I think the powdered sugar on them looks like snow, don’t you?

Mozart’s Symphony No. 25, 1st movement… surfer style. All kinds of awesome.

Next week:

Husband was out of town last week, and so I had double parent duty. But things are back to normal now, and next week I have to buckle down on the novel. I’m glad to be working regularly, but maintaining a balance between being a homeschooling  mom taxi and a professional writer gets challenging sometimes.

I hope you’re not as covered in ice as we are here in Southern Illinois. Stay cozy and have a great weekend!

 

 

January  13th Words

Journal:  500 words

Long fiction: 0 words

Short fiction: 0

Non-fiction: 0 words

Blogging: 592 words

Exercise: 59 minutes on the treadmill