@nlowell@zirk.us
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

nlowell

@nlowell@zirk.us

Professional teller of tales

I write the books I want to read but can't find.

he/him

#selfpublishing #sff #dailyhaikuprompt #bookstodon #fountainpens

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nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

My well ordered daily routine has fallen into a new, well ordered routine. It's not productive in terms of work produced, but it's familiar.

This routine will break down eventually. Maybe tomorrow.

Maybe even today.

I'll deal with it when it happens, just like I have the hundreds of times before.

But I'll make my bread, do my few tasks as if it might last for the rest of my life.

Because it might.

I hope you find satisfaction

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

My reading this morning reminded me that limitations are the geography of life. Neither good nor bad.

Some can be expanded, extended, but they cannot be removed.

Recognizing them, respecting them, allows us to use them to our advantage. Lets us use the energy others spend fighting them in more productive ways.

Allows us to build a solid foundation upon which to base a lifetime.

I hope you find your limitations useful

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

There's nothing like a fresh cup of coffee, a quiet house, and a few moments to take some unhurried breaths.

I'm still working on my surfing, although I don't bring it up directly very much. The ideas
of balance, awareness, response, and patience still hold sway.

Surfers can't be in the water all the time. I feel like I might have been a bit pruned up by being too immersed too much.

Time to dry off a little.

I hope you find some time to dry out

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Mornings dawn with such promise.

It's not like everything is possible. Some things just aren't.

I'm not going to flap my arms and fly.

I'm not going to plant my garden in the morning and harvest by afternoon.

I can't build a snowman without snow.

Some things take time. Others, timing.

Most worthwhile things take much more than a day.

For me, every morning is only a start.

I hope you start something good in your life

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Funny word, succeed.

I've had the work/goal orientation on it almost all my life.

Early on it was "get good grades" and later on it was "stay out of Vietnam."

For decades following, it meant keeping my bank account in positive numbers while not starving.

Then "more words" and "next book" and ...

Always chasing something.

Then cancer and everything changed.

Now, success is another day just being.

I hope you find your success

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Some days have very little planned. For some reason they seem to all pile up on the same day.

Granted its a nice change from having to do something every day of the week whether I want to or not, but still.

What was I thinking?

Maybe it's just that some days of the week are like the bends in a river where eddies form. Stuff just washes up on the bank, deposited by the unceasing flow.

I hope you can continue with the flow in your day

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

I've planned out the day in detail.

Listed everything I want to accomplish on this last day of the month.

The chores are few. The list, short.

While I had big aspirations for the month, mostly I've come to see what I'm doing is recovery work.

Recovering from existential crisis turns out to be a long process. Being reminded every day of how tenuous life might be.

Continuing anyway.

I hope you find the strength you need to continue

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Funny how things change over time.

I've looped around in my daily readings, re-reading the passages I first saw last year.

Some I remember. Most I don't.

I'm often surprised by the ones that resonate with me as if I'm reading them for the first time.

Sometimes it's just a sentence that hits me, like this one this morning:

"Everything has to be created, and we are the artists."

Our lives are art.

I hope you create something good and lasting

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

A little momentum and a different perspective has my writing moving again.

I'm not exactly spewing words but I am finding some that fit. Some of the old ones that I relegated to the drawer have come back and clicked into the new context.

My process has changed and needs to change some more before I'm going to be happy with it, but change can't happen without movement.

Even if it's the wrong direction.

I hope you find some movement for your changes

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Time to bake some bread again. We're almost out. It's a habit I've gotten into over the last few months.

While the ingredients are few, common, and relatively cheap, the value doesn't lie in the cost in time or money.

The satisfaction I get from making and eating our daily bread continues to repay me in ways I didn't expect

I need to teach my kids. It's a legacy that can linger when I'm gone.

I hope you find satisfaction in your efforts

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Sun's up on a gray, laundry looking day. One of those where you wake to the reminder of the things you forgot and will have to spend at least part of the day catching up.

Still, there's time. My ambitions are few.

Write a few words. Read a few.

Did I mention laundry?

A couple of long cycles broken up by a few minutes of concrete accomplishment resulting in fresh clothes for a couple of weeks.

I hope you find comfort in your accomplishments

CuriousMagpie, to bookstodon
@CuriousMagpie@wandering.shop avatar

We need to create new, sustainable, author & reader friendly systems.

“… in 2020, only 268 titles sold more than 100,000 copies, and 96 percent of books sold less than 1,000 copies. That’s still the vibe.”
@bookstodon
https://www.elysian.press/p/no-one-buys-books

nlowell,
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

@CuriousMagpie @bookstodon

They already exist, but too many authors and readers don't use them, preferring to accept the Same Ole Same Ole without reservation.

gbhnews, to random
@gbhnews@mastodon.social avatar

what do you all think about the state of news visibility here on mastodon?

https://mastodon.social/@MediaOnMastodon@toot.io/112316173190323025

#journalism

nlowell,
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

@gbhnews

A few great people doing Good Works.

Mostly too many people linking to stuff we need to go elsewhere to actually see/read/participate with.

Not just news.

JMO

nlowell,
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

@gbhnews

Yeah. Other social platforms including their own blogs. Too many posts are basically ads for something somewhere else.

It's rare to get conversations going here that stay here - which used to be a hallmark of social media spaces.

News website, I'd expect to have to look elsewhere for more than 500 characters.

I also expect it to dead end with a paywall or your-email-or-piss-off link so I seldom click them. If the headline grabs me, I'll dig deeper.

But news has a problem.

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

"You need a hand?"

The set up for any number of sight gags involving extra appendages.

Why is it so hard to accept assistance sometimes?

For me it's difficult to figure out what part of the task I can hand off.

Oh, sure. Some extra muscle hauling groceries or shoveling the walk. A sharing of tedious tasks like folding laundry.

But the hard stuff? Like living?

Maybe "lend me your ears" would work better.

Hope you get what you need

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

I had a good day yesterday. At least in the morning. The afternoon drifted away but overall, satisfying.

Can I do it again?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Even if I don't, I've proven to myself that it's still possible.

After cancer.

After COVID.

In spite of all this and the added sense that the world might be circling the drain, I know it's possible.

Sometimes that's enough.

I hope you find enough to keep you going

ianRobinson, to writing
@ianRobinson@mastodon.social avatar

This is depressing.

No one buys books - by Elle Griffin - The Elysian

#Writing #Books https://www.elysian.press/p/no-one-buys-books

nlowell,
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

@ianRobinson

The biggest obstacle between writers and readers has always been publishing.

Lately their stranglehold on distribution through bookstores has been bypassed by upstarts like Amazon, Draft2Digital, and the authors who learned that cutting out the middlemen meant they didn't need to sell 100,000 units to make a living.

A few people still make the most, but Amazon's infinite shelves can, at least, make every book available.

#SelfPublishing

nlowell,
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

@ianRobinson

There's so much room in the market for various kinds of monetization. 💯

I've found there actually is one true path.

Unfortunately, everybody has a unique one and has to figure it out for themselves. 🤪

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Lazy start for what promises to be a lazy day.

Interesting word, lazy. Unsettled etymology but meanings change over time.

Usually a pejorative when applied to others.: averse to work, slothful.

When applied to self? Just an indicator for my level of nope energy.

Languid may have the same root that means lax or weak but often twisted with sensuality in modern contexts.

Appropriate to my mood right now.

I hope you can get a little break

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Apparently a "catch up" day.

I seem to have spent the day so far filling in all the little tasks I didn't do yesterday to clear the path to this morning.

I'm still not caught up but it's early yet. The sun hasn't crawled out of bed. I've got my coffee. Breakfast can wait for a bit while I sip and ponder.

These quiet times when I can sit and listen to the day always make me feel like anything is possible.

I hope you hear the possible in your day

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

glowing in moonlight
wisteria's pale blossoms
tossed by spring breezes

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

While trying to figure out what doesn't work for me any more, I'm finding it a challenge to get down to a solid foundation to rebuild on.

I keep thinking "oh, I can use this part" only to discover that no, I really can't.

This morning a conversation with a friend resulted in a new perspective on my storytelling journey. I need to explore that before it escapes.

To see if that's really a solid rock to build on.

I hope you find something solid

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Today's an errand day. Grocery run this morning. Taxi this afternoon. Tedious but necessary.

I just need to find the opportunities to find joy in them.

Perhaps adding a treat from the store to enjoy later with the fam. Taking the time to talk with my passenger as we make a long trip into town and back.

Maybe just enjoying the open road and a day out of the house.

Simple things matter.

I hope you're able to enjoy some simple things

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

I plan on having an Inch Day.

No big leaps. No series of steps achieving some arbitrary - even, necessary - goal.

Those might happen but that's not my plan.

Just moving things along an inch.

The thing about an inch is that it's a lot like "starting."

Too many efforts get crushed by the magnitude of the whole. The load feels overwhelming even before the effort begins.

But maybe I can do an inch.

I hope you can do an inch

nlowell, to random
@nlowell@zirk.us avatar

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Things to do today, but the worst will be over by mid morning.

I try to eat the frog first thing, whenever possible. Sometimes my procrastination wins and I spend the day in delay and dread.

Kinda silly. The tasks are almost never as bad as I anticipate. Getting them out of the way makes sense.

As a writer, picking up the story every day is my biggest obstacle.

As with so many things, the problem is starting.

I hope you're able to get started

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