virtualDavis - Latest Comments

Re: Pinterest Interest

KathyPooler — Sat, 12 May 2012 08:00:24 -0000

LOL, George! I have resisted the urge to get involved in (i.e. addicted to) yet another online program but you certainly bring up some good selling points about Pinterest. It's lurking in the background just waiting for me to dive in (succumb!) I see another rabbit hole with perks to fall into. Thanks for an intriguing review.

Re: Print Books: Purge or Hoard?

virtualDavis — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:03:15 -0000

As you know, I've been beating the bundle, bundle, bundle drum roll for some time now. And perhaps, maybe, possibly it's finally happening! Thanks for the recent bundling links, Amy. You ready to trade the Tamarindo surf scene for the Adirondack surf scene? Tell Brian that Lake Champlain is like glass today and already warmer than 40 degrees...

Re: Print Books: Purge or Hoard?

Amy Guglielmo — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:04:35 -0000

I'm still waiting for the bundle. Not only do I hoard books I have some books in print, audio and digital. Ugh. Give up books? NEVER!

Re: Rosslyn in the Desert

KathyPooler — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:16:49 -0000

Good to hear from you George! Yes, it's time to get those memoirs cranked out. I'm still aiming to complete my first draft this year. Wrestling with social media distractions. A month in the desert sounds appealing right now!

Re: Print Books: Purge or Hoard?

virtualDavis — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:50:16 -0000

I'll add you to the marginalia fan club, Terra! I've been using Kindle Fire and iPad for ebooks, and both TOTALLY frustrate my marginalia tendencies. Digital highlight? Digital notes? Ugh! Some geeky marginalia fans must exist, right? I sure hope they can come up with something of good before books are all are "born again"... http://www.virtualdavis.com/20...

Re: Rosslyn in the Desert

virtualDavis — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:32:02 -0000

Karl, your confidence and cheer leading remain instrumental in my progress. Thank you! What a gracious and upbeat comment. Your staple. I'm grateful for your optimism-tinted spectacles, though I admit you imagine me a far grander adventurer than I am. Don't stop! :-)

Re: Print Books: Purge or Hoard?

Terra Pfund Kroll — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:59:06 -0000

I could never purge my books. I am a terrible book owner, I always underline and scribble notes in the margins. It doesn't matter if it's fiction or non-fiction. Every one of my books as been desecrated by my pen/pencil in one form or another. I often pull one from the shelves that I haven't touched in years just to flip through the pages to see what I found important enough to underline. You can't underline or scribble notes in the margins of a kindle (that I know of, though I am sure there's an app for that!). I find the idea of personal libraries around the world disappearing to be heartbreaking! The thought of never smelling an old book brings tears to my eyes. Traditionalist, yes. Purge, never. :)

Re: Post-Gutenberg Paradigm

virtualDavis — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:57:05 -0000

"All changes... have their melancholy; for what
we leave behind us is part of ourselves; we must die to one life before
we can enter another." Wow! Sounds like Neil Postman crossed with Buddha, spoken by A.E Housman, Paula. I agree 100% and I'm going to quote you loudly and often. But first, better print that gem and stick it on the wall above my monitor. :-)

Re: Post-Gutenberg Paradigm

virtualDavis — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:52:35 -0000

Guns blazing, Kathy. Glad you liked (and endured) it, though I suspect you'll be the ONLY one to describe this still-evolving "data dump" as succinct! ;-) Sometimes distilling is distorting...

Re: Power of Story

virtualDavis — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:26:09 -0000

I'm usually the last one to know who wins Academy Awards, the distinct quirk/pleasure of living a virtually TV-free existence. But The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore has proven the exception. And thrilled about it! Thanks again for your recommendation.

Re: Productivity, Publishing & Apex Predators

virtualDavis — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:22:45 -0000

The sequestered me... [almost] quiet and [almost] invisible. But not quite! ;-) I liked it too. Staggering how productive we can be when we strip away the distractions. But I was also VERY ready to come home. Missed my bride, my dog, my friends. Frankly, I missed being connected to the people and pulse of daily life. Balance is the key, and I'm pleased to be the guinea pig seeking balance. ;-) Thanks for stopping by and sharing your comment, Tia. What news on your end? How's your story?

Re: Print Books: Purge or Hoard?

virtualDavis — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:19:03 -0000

Great comment, Tia! I'm especially compelled by this: "While I admit to having purchased a few books through the app store for
convenience, the ones I really like I bought the actual book from
B&N later." I totally agree and consider this one of the most exciting aspect of multimodal storytelling. Not only do we have the opportunity to *read* texts according to the ideal format/price for that specific work, we also have the opportunity to dilate our experience by revisiting the work in diverse ways. Reading a book digitally and in print, listening to the audio book, immersing ourselves in the enhanced ebook with audio/video and interactive elements, playing the video game, and/or watching a film are all fundamentally and profoundly different experiences even if the core text is identical. Amazing opportunities unfold! Exciting times to be a storyteller. And even MORE exciting times to be a reader/audience/student... Thanks for chiming in, Tia. "Change is inevitable but respect for the past makes us students." Amen!

Re: Rosslyn in the Desert

virtualDavis — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:07:18 -0000

Thanks for joining me on my journey, Shell. Again and again. And thanks for your patience! I never could have imagined how much patience I was asking of everyone... This has proven to be a much longer and more involved adventure than I had anticipated at the outset. In fact, the quest to tell the story of Rosslyn's renovation and our life transformation has paralleled the actual Rosslyn Redux pattern in uncanny and persistent ways. At last the "big picture" coalesced while I was ranting away in my desert hermitage. I discovered that I've been resisting two major components of our unconventional story, trying to squeeze it into a conventional package. It didn't fit. It doesn't fit. It will never fit. And this -- more than anything else -- is what makes it unique and compelling. So say I, the humble chronicler... ;-) I hope you'll indulge me a short while longer. It's getting close!

Re: Rosslyn in the Desert

virtualDavis — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 07:58:20 -0000

Returning to Tuscany for another writing retreat this summer? Mia you live a charmed life! Good luck to you as you prepare for a productive leap forward with the Morning Sun. Many of us standing by, waiting to plunge into Vietnam with you.

Thanks for your encouragement and support on Rosslyn Redux. Still plenty of work to be done in the coming months, but my desert writing "boot camp" was a game changer in so many ways. My single most productive writing/revising block ever, the scope/map/limits of Rosslyn Redux defined, and 1/3+ into *almost* final format... Fingers crossed and soldiering forward.

Re: Rosslyn in the Desert

virtualDavis — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 07:53:18 -0000

The "agony and ecstasy" indeed! Sorry for my slow response, just now returning to my desk and beloved internet connection... A gift it was, from my bride and the Benedictines. Time to show my gratitude with a memoir. Or three!

What news on your end? Memoir progress? Your story/ies continue to vibrate in my memory, Kathy.

Re: Rosslyn in the Desert

karlsprague — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:45:10 -0000

George, you continue to be a man of action - even when it comes to solitude and focus. People dream of going zip-lining in the rainforest, or enjoying a drink at sunset on the beach - and you've been there, done that, in the last year alone. As a writer, we all consider the journey into solitude to focus on our craft - and again, you go do it, while the rest of us sit and daydream. I can't wait to read the finished product, and hearing stories of the journey along the way.

Re: Rosslyn in the Desert

Shell — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:44:35 -0000

Hard to explain, really...but I am so moved by this journey of yours, Geo. And it's not that I know it, the details of it, I don't. Just a feeling that has stuck with me. I feel your devotion to this story. And in turn, it makes me sit back, and patiently wait for all your words to fall into place. No doubt they will, beautifully.
shell

Re: Post-Gutenberg Paradigm

Paula Lifework — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:36:03 -0000

As the word world shifts on its access, some will celebrate, some will grieve: All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.

Re: Post-Gutenberg Paradigm

KathyPooler — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 22:32:57 -0000

George,
This is the best, most succinct description of the current state of publishing I've heard. Welcome ot the "Wild West" , indeed!

Re: Power of Story

Katie — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:07:17 -0000

Awesome. I actually did not know that this won an award later, but I am so glad it did. It is a truly amazing video-and not just because I love books!

Re: Productivity, Publishing & Apex Predators

Tia Robertson — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 19:21:10 -0000

Loved it! I like the sequestered you! I am enjoying you point of view

Re: Rosslyn in the Desert

FourDaysAWeek — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 20:07:24 -0000

George, thanks for sharing your writing journey, tremendous progress, and retreat with us. I love it that you've discovered the heart and soul of your story. Cheering you on all the way.

-Mia

P.S. In an unexpected turn of events, I will be returning to Italy this summer for another Writing Immersion Retreat in Tuscany. I will be working on my Morning Sun (and performing ruthless edits, too).

Re: Rosslyn in the Desert

Kathleen Pooler — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 10:47:52 -0000

George , You certainly have captured the " agony and ecstasy" of memoir writing! What a gift to go off into the desert to find the heart and soul of your story with no distractions. Yes, your bride is amazing to be so supportive of your passion to get your story out. I anxiously await your "svelte"memoir :-)

Re: Immersion Writing

virtualDavis — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 18:57:53 -0000

Thanks for commenting, Kathleen. Patrick's been throwing open the doors to his MFA (and then some) for quite a while now. Much gratitude deserved! My own immersion experience is going well. As of tomorrow I'm at the halfway point for my hermetic desert retreat, and it's been productive. A bit of a roller coaster working through some 265,000 words and distilling "the story", but I've got my teeth into it now. 12+ hours/day, six days a week is unfamiliar but welcome focus-time. What good fortune. Hoping to have more good news by the end of the month... Cheers!

Re: Immersion Writing

Kathleen Pooler — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 21:02:32 -0000

George, I appreciate your distillation of these memoir pearls from AWP. I think it is true that the more vulnerable we allow ourselves to be, the more universal the appeal of our story is. It's tricky & sticky but reminds me of that saying "no tears in the writer, no tears in the reader" That's an interesting point about sharing your story ahead of time to give others an opportunity to work out their reactions. I agree ,there are so many nuggets in Patrick's AWP blog recaps. Hope you are enjoying your memoir immersion experience!