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Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’

Time to Play

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , on August 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Sick by Shel Silverstein

“I cannot go to school today,”
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
“I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps…

— click through for the full poem from one of my favorite childhood authors

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Photo by Ramin Talebi on Unsplash

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Worth Staying Up For

Posted in Entertainment, Science!, tagged , , , , , on August 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »

What are you doing this weekend? Maybe you have plans for an all-night rave this weekend, but if you’re free at some point between the hours of dark Saturday night and dawn Sunday morning, consider the Perseids.

That’s right, it’s that time again, for one of the best shows in the night sky, the Perseid Meteor Shower. And unlike last year, the Moon won’t be crashing the party.

Here’s a time-lapse video from 2021 to whet your appetite:

How to Watch the Highly Anticipated Perseid Meteor Shower | Smart News| Smithsonian Magazine

The Perseids are known to treat viewers to a fantastic display, and coupled with a particularly dark sky, this year’s show is shaping up to be one you won’t want to miss…

During a meteor shower such as the Perseids, Earth passes through a large cloud of debris in space. Right now, the planet is moving amid the rocks and ice left behind by the comet Swift-Tuttle, which last was seen from Earth in 1992. The 16-mile-long comet orbits the sun over a 133-year period, which means it won’t be seen again until 2125. But every August, its remains create the radiant Perseid meteor shower.

/rubs hands in anticipation

This weekend’s Perseid meteor shower is ‘worth staying up for’ | CBC News

While there’s a major meteor shower every month, there’s nothing quite like the Perseid shower for those in the northern hemisphere, with the warm summer nights and better chances of clear skies. And this year, Canada is in a particularly favourable position for the peak night of Aug. 12–13.

And what do you know? I’m in Canada!

Perhaps you’re interested in a bunch of complicated graphs and a cool “activity level” dial? The Global Meteor Network has you covered. 

Meteor shower flux

The dial shows the peak sum of activity from all currently active showers and the sporadic background in the next 24 hours.

More interesting background information:

The 2023 Perseids Meteor Shower – YouTube

Sky & Telescope gives advice on how to watch the 2023 #perseids and explains how the #Perseids are formed in this video. 

Not into staying up late? In that case, I recommend looking for new time lapse video of the weekend event on Monday morning. 

Because this weekend, the best show in the solar system will be right on our doorstep.

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Photo by Michał Mancewicz on Unsplash

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Talent, Shared

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on August 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The week-long Writers of the Future workshop included a number of interviews touching on topics ranging from our work, how we made it to the contest, to what it was like to win. One of these interviews was for the contest’s own podcast, and we were asked to do an episode. 

Constant blogging aside, I’m actually a bit shy, and I was not looking forward to talking for an hour All About Me. As I headed up to the interview room, I realized that there were already three other winners inside. It was my lucky day: all four of us did the interview together and it was terrific. If you follow this site you’ve seen Elaine’s work before, but here she talks about her history and her writing. Sarah and April are both brilliant illustrators, and it was fascinating to hear more about that side of the contest, as well as their experiences on the way to becoming winners.

Chatting with such interesting and talented women was a great experience. Hope you enjoy the interview too.

Stream episode 237. 4 Award-winning authors and artists discuss their journeys to winning

— Elaine Midcoh, author of “A Trickle in History” (elainemidcoh.wordpress.com) 

— J.R. Johnson, author of “Piracy for Beginners” (jrjohnson.me)

— Sarah Morrison, illustrator of “Death and the Taxman” (sarahmorrisonillustration.com)

— April Solomon, illustrator of “Moonlight and Funk” (AprilSolomonArt.com)

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See the World

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on August 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

“Stuff your eyes with wonder,” he said, “live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” 

― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

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Photo by Amy Shamblen on Unsplash

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Today’s Motivation

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »

“The more shots you get at the target, the more likely you’ll eventually score a bull’s-eye, but the more misses you’ll accrue as well. The bull’s-eyes end up in museums and on library shelves, not the misses. Which, when you think about it, is a shame. It feeds the myth that geniuses get it right the first time, that they don’t make mistakes, when, in fact, they make more mistakes than the rest of us.”

― Eric Weiner, The Geography of Genius

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Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash

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Tiny, Big

Posted in Holidays, Other, tagged , , , , on August 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Summer can be a time to plan big, but today I am going to suggest that you consider adventures a little closer to home.

The Microadventure-Filled Life of Alastair Humphreys

Humphreys defines a microadventure as “a shorter, simpler, cheaper, more local, more accessible version of what you deem to be an adventure. It’s something that you can squeeze in around the margins of real life.”

I kind of love this idea, of finding what’s interesting right around the corner.

Now I’m off to consider what might be fun to do around town. Like this, which holy crap, looks both scary and crazy cool! 

Interzip Rogers – The interprovincial zip line.

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Photo by Jeff Vinluan on Pexels.com

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Writer, Know Thyself

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on July 30, 2023| 1 Comment »

Some days you just don’t wanna, you know? On such days, it helps to rely on the motivating power of a streak. 

I’ve written daily posts here since January 1, 2021. That’s not a lot of time compared to some writers (Dean Wesley Smith and John Scalzi, I’m looking at you), but it’s long enough that I don’t want to break it for no good reason.

So here I am, writing and posting, even though I’d rather be chilling with Chewbacca and Mr Man.*

Which is exactly why I started this streak in the first place:)

* Now that’s an excellent band name.

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Rainy Day with Books (and a Cat)

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on July 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

“The world should take note: not everything is getting worse.”

― Ian McEwan, Saturday

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Photo by Allen Cheng on Unsplash

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The Well

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on July 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I am the sort of person who loves to learn interesting things. Stuffing my head with random facts until it all merges together into a well of creative ideas also serves me as a writer.

While I hope I’ll ever need this information, one of my characters might.

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Photo by Deva Darshan on Unsplash

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The 2023 Hugo Finalists

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The finalists for the 2023 Hugo Awards have been announced! 

The Hugo Awards

Best Novel

See the full list of nominees across all categories at Locus Online: 2023 Hugo, Astounding, and Lodestar Awards Finalists. Winners will be announced at Chengdu Worldcon in October.

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Photo by Andy Hermawan on Unsplash

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