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Who knows if he really did, but Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”

Actually, it does sound like Ben, doesn’t it? He was a smart guy and all, but as a writer himself, he should have known better than to ever say such a thing about excuse-makers. Writers are brilliant at writing and at excusing themselves. But I have noticed, the excuses do tend to be a bit generic and predictable–I have writer’s block. My muse has left me. It’s too pretty to stay inside and write. I can’t find the time. My eyes are demon possessed. You’ve heard them all before.

So, as my gift to you, my talented blogophiles, I am offering ten lemony fresh excuses . . .

1. My characters were summoned for jury duty. Yes. All of them. Even the kids. [Fist to the sky. “Curse you, judicial process!”]
2. I have temporary typing-amnesia. What? Use a pen and paper instead? And risk sustaining a paper cut? Madness! Besides, I’m afraid I might be penphobic.
3. I’ve buckled under the barometric pressure.
4. My toaster is overpopulated with crumbs. It must be thoroughly cleaned. Twice. Safety first. Say, you have a toaster, too, don’t you?
5. I have a sudden, irresistible urge to donate an organ.
6. I must construct a cave to age my cheese. I must. Darn it all to heck. I must.
7. My computer is locked on 6 point Vladimir Script. I can’t read my own writing.
8. Great Aunt [insert name here] called and she wants to tell me her life story. Today. She’s 104.
9. I’ve been commissioned to write New Zealand a new national anthem. They need 18 stanzas. But first, I have to learn Maori.
10. I was doing research on the agricultural practices of Native Americans in the 1500s and learned how corn was planted. Corn planting made me think of candy corn. Candy corn made me think of corn rows. Corn rows made me think of that 80s movie “10” with Bo Derek and Dudley Moore, and that made me think of another Dudley Moore movie, “Arthur,” which I love. So, I made myself some popcorn (so appropriate, right?) and watched it. By then, I kind of forgot why I was doing the research in the first place. What was the question?

Use as many of these as you like this summer, but don’t blame me (or Ben). That would be inexcusable.

I attribute my success to this – I never gave or took any excuse. ~ Florence Nightingale (Well, good for you, Flo.)

Due to a terrible combination of deadlines, travelling, illness and other assorted calamaties Kate Elliott and myself will not be doing the book club this month. We’re bummed about it too. But life she threw too much at us this month.

We will be back in September to discuss Han Suyin’s A Many-Splendored Thing (1952). This is the first out of print book that we’ll be reading. I haven’t been able to find an ebook edition either. It’s truly out of print. Start putting it on hold at your library now.

You can see the schedule for the rest of the year here.

That discussion will be held: 30 September Tues in Australia and 29 September Monday in the USA.

By Susan David

We humans are funny. Often we create beliefs or engage in behaviors that seem to help us in the short term, only to discover they get in the way of the lives we really want to live, or the people we want to become.

Allow me to share the story of my friend, Erin. Over lunch one day, she told both her mentor and me about a division director job she had truly wanted. The role offered good challenges, the chance to develop her skills, fabulous travel, and unparalleled flexibility. It would have been “a dream come true”.

But then Erin began to recite a litany of reasons why she hadn’t gone after the job. She wasn’t good in interviews, having never received the coaching that so many candidates are privy to these days. She was overweight, which would surely make a poor impression. On top of all this, due to the economic downturn, many people more qualified than she would apply. She thought she’d be great at the job if she could have made it beyond the interview, but all things considered, she “knew” she hadn’t stood a chance.

“So I never applied,” she told us. “Instead, I sent the advertisement to a peer and encouraged him to interview.” She paused. “He got the job.”

How was it that this bright, hardworking, lovely young woman also had such an aptitude for self-sabotage?

There are plenty of smart, even gifted, people like Erin. They are bonded by a common behavior psychologists call “self-handicapping,” which involves anticipating a real or imagined obstacle that might get in the way of success, and using that obstacle as an excuse.

Self-handicapping allows us to protect ourselves from the pain of assuming responsibility for our failures, and people do it all the time. In a groundbreaking 1978 study, psychologists Berglas and Jones found that participants who “succeeded” at a test (that was really just luck-based) were more likely to choose to take a performance-inhibiting drug before taking a second test. In other words, they actively set themselves up for failure on the second try. By doing this, they could blame their subsequent poor performance on the drug, and also protect their earlier feeling of success.

In a more recent set of experiments conducted by psychologist Sean McCrea at the University of Konstanz in Germany, participants were asked to take several intelligence tests under a variety of conditions. The research showed that people who were encouraged to make excuses for their poor performance — blaming poor performance on loud noises, for example — maintained high self-esteem, but were also less motivated to improve.

This kind of behavior is often so subtle and habitual that we don’t notice we’re doing it. Think about the manager who has to give a big presentation and fails to practice ahead of the event, or people who procrastinate on work projects and wind up “not having enough time” to do a good job. In a 2010 HBR article, Jeffrey Pfeffer identified self-handicapping as one of three major barriers to building professional power: people avoid the pain of failure by never trying to build power in the first place.

What can you do to overcome self-handicapping? Here are four steps:

1. Watch for the warning signs. Drawing down your efforts, generating lists of excuses, or distracting yourself (music, alcohol, etc.) are signs that you’re engaging in self-handicapping. Everyone needs to take breaks and manage energy during the work day, but these activities can be clues that you are veering onto the trail of self-sabotage. A mentor or colleague can often help steer you back on course.
2. Use “what-ifs” and “if-onlys” to help you generate goals instead of excuses. Research shows that the thinking people engage in during self-handicapping can just as easily be flipped to be motivational. When you ponder what could have gone better, or recognize obstacles in your way, you generate valuable information. Identify factors within your control, and see what you can do about them. Erin, for example, could have responded to the thought “I’m not great in interviews” by researching the right skills, practicing them, and requesting support from her mentor.
3. Recognize and manage your negative emotions. Research shows that when we use our “if-onlys” to motivate rather than excuse ourselves, we will also likely experience negative emotions, such as disappointment and self-directed anger . If you can notice these emotions and be kind to yourself in working through them, you’re more likely to be able to move into positive, empowering behavior.
4. Go for mastery. Self-handicapping is most likely to kick in when we are trying to perform well in order to avoid negative feedback from external sources, such as criticism from colleagues. When we focus instead on developing mastery in a domain we care about, we tap into our inherent motivation to learn and grow. Recognize what matters to you, and brainstorm ideas to get yourself moving in that direction.

Going for what you really want takes considerable courage. Let’s face it, even when you put forth your best effort, things don’t always turn out as you would like. But by taking a risk you open yourself not only to the possibility of failure, but also the possibility of learning, growth, and real attainment. It’s up to you to decide which is more perilous: the risk of disappointment, or the risk of never reaching your potential.

Reprinted with permission from Harvard Business Reveiw.  This blog was originally published here.

Susan David is co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Happiness (due out in January 2013) with Ilona Boniwell and Amanda Conley Ayers. Susan is is a founder and co-director of the Harvard/McLean Institute of Coaching and a member of the Harvard faculty. She is also the director of Evidence Based Psychology, a leadership development organization and management consultancy.

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The post New year’s resolution: don’t sabotage yourself appeared first on OUPblog.

-one ms was rejected no less than 6 times (it was loved by a publisher who went out of business a short time later)

-one was read by 20 friends who LOVED it and 1 friend who HATED it

-one needed new illustrations and I didn't take the time to redraw them

-one required a "dummy" book to showcase the pictures I took and I never got around to finding out
how exactly to do that

-one worked better as a short story instead of as a novel and I didn't think I could write a good short story-- though I did some good research on what makes a good short story (which is attached to the original notes with a paper clip)

-one had a strange split between really funny, personable characters and a heavy, dramatic subject and I wasn't sure if it worked or not

-one picture book got pretty far until I couldn't figure out how to draw the Taj Mahal in a spider web

-one was missing page # 7 and I couldn't figure out what to put

-one has a blind guy as one of the main characters and an actual blind professor listened to it and said I chose the wrong degenerative disease and I couldn't figure out how else to make my character go blind in the given time frame

-one had far too many words for a picture book and I couldn't decide where to cut

-one is totally forgotten-- I'm sure I'd be surprised if I came across it

-one needs a revamping of the princess' governess-- I think she's a bit too harsh

-one requires a new ending

-one requires that I actually decide how to end it

-one was just a whim and it was fun writing it (though it would never, ever be published)

-one is WAY too autobiographical to actually be fiction :o)

-one was offered a vanity press offer, which I declined since I don't have $3,000

-one was described as being "too good, too pie-in-the-sky" and I didn't have the heart to throw in more drama just to make it more of a soap opera

-one requires a complete overhaul since I wrote it in a "stream of consciousness" style for NaNoWriMo and it lacks chapters, a coherent time line, and that ever-important denouement and ending


Sometimes it's easier to start a new manuscript than it is to work through the bugs/kinks/problems that hold you up. Plus, the thrill of the discovery for a new manuscript is much, much more exciting than slogging through the 8th revision and reworking the same scene over and over again.

Some day some, perhaps not, but definitely NOT all of them will get reworked. They will see the light of day again and be dusted off and reworked. When? Not so sure on that. I think it's going to take a herculean effort of forcing myself to do the nitty-gritty, sometimes painful, less than glamorous work that characterizes the majority of a writer's time but is never glorified or portrayed in movies.

I'll get there. For now, I decided to at least be honest about my list of excuses.

What are yours??

I’ve been promising a post about writing Liar using Scrivener for two years now. It wasn’t a fake promise. I’ve been working on the post. But given my hassles with RSI and othe injuries it’s been slow going.

A friend asked about it recently and I realised that I haven’t touched the post in a year. The odds of my finishing it are low. When I spend my scant few hours at the keyboard I focus on my novels, not blog posts. So here is my unfinished and pretty rough account of writing Liar using Scrivener:

In the acknowledgements of Liar I wrote the following: “Without Scrivener this book would most likely not exist.” Ever since people have been asking me to please explain. Here, at long last, is my explanation.

For those who don’t know Scrivener is novel-writing software. A while back I wrote an overview. If you’re unfamiliar with Scrivener I suggest reading that first.

Scrivener Streamlines

The first words I wrote of the novel were “I’m a liar.” What came after the words “I’m a liar” in my first draft of the opening bears no resemblance to the final novel:

I’m a liar. I don’t do it on purpose. Well, okay, yeah, I do. But it’s not like I have a choice. It’s just what comes out of my mouth. If my mouth is closed then I’m cool, no lies at all. Well, okay, there’s also writing, isn’t there? I do that with my mouth closed and there’s just as much bullshit on my blog as there is coming out of my mouth. Like I’m not 30, I’m not blonde and I don’t live in New York City. I am a girl though, and Australian.

That was written in October 2006. By the time the novel was published in 2009 the opening looked like this:

Promise

I was born with a light covering of fur.

After three days it had all fallen off, but the damage was done. My mother stopped trusting my father because it was a family condition he had not told her about. One of many omissions and lies.

My father is a liar and so am I.

But I’m going to stop. I have to stop.

I will tell you my story and I will tell it straight. No lies, no omissions.

That’s my promise.

This time I truly mean it.

I began writing Liar in Word way back in 2006. I spewed out a bit over 500 words which were mostly notes like this:

After preamble. First chapter starts with her at a new school in NYC. Preamble can mention that she’s determined not to lie anymore that the new school’s going to give her a new start. And as it’s in a foreign country she’ll be the cool one. So she tells all these outrageous stories such as dropbears and they all buy it and she’s the cool one and there’s this really cute guy.

Beginning of second chapter she’s all like okay so the last chapter was the total truth except that there was another oz student in the class. So then she tells the story going back a little ways and having the other oz blow her first outrageous story about Australia. And also the other oz likes the boy too (who is now different in this chapter).

As you can see, originally I thought it would be more of a comedy than Liar turned out to be.

I didn’t work on Liar again until 2008. This time I was using Scrivener, not Word. I’d already used Scrivener to write “Thinner than Water” so I was comfortable with the program and very excited about writing my first novel on it.

I plugged in the existing words, quoted above. They looked wrong i

I offer to bust readers’ excuses for not pitching magazines — or, if they’re pitching, for approaching only low/no-pay pubs. If you have an excuse you’d like me to bust, you can send it to [email protected].

Here’s Stacy’s excuse: I just sold my first query-ever! And while I’m excited to get paid for my writing, I’d like to pitch the big league magazines. I know I should be pitching FOB ideas, but I get super nervous. Plus my pitch letters are too long or too short. How can I find a safe middle ground?

First, congratulations!

A query should be as long as it needs to be to get your idea across. However, one mistake many new writers make is give too little info for the editor to be able to get a good idea of what you’re pitching. A query needs to have an eye-catching lede, describe the idea, give examples of what you plan to include in the article, and convince the editor that you’re the right person to write the article. You want the editor to be able to envision the article in her magazine. It’s hard to do all that in one paragraph! My first sale to a national women’s magazine resulted from a three-page query.

However, if you’ve worked with the editor before and have a good relationship, you may be able to get away with quick pitches. I have sold ideas that I described in just a paragraph or two, but these were to editors who already knew my work.

One rule of thumb: Your query shouldn’t be longer than the article you’re pitching. That’s why some writers prefer to just write up FOBs (Front of Book pieces — in other words, shorts) instead of pitching them — they say it would take longer to sell the idea than to just write it. And that’s fine!

One other thing: Don’t think that as a relative beginner, you have to pitch FOBs. If you have a great idea for a feature, go for it! If the editor thinks your idea would make a better short she’ll let you know — but why limit yourself? [lf]

I just happened to walk into the room the other day as my 5-year-old took a running dive headfirst into the couch.

As some of you may have noticed I’ve not been around much online. Sorry! Thank you so much for all the concerned supportive emails. They are much appreciated. (You made me all teary.)

Here’s where things stand with me:

The good news: The original injury that caused me to cut back on blogging is completely healed. Yay!

The bad news: The RSI in my hands and forearms got worse.

I took four weeks off from the computer entirely. I have reorganised my computer setup. I’ve been doing a vast amount of physical therapy. I’m improving. Slowly and frustratingly but surely.

However, my time at keyboard remains limited and my top priority is my novel. All else—blogging, tweeting, emailing—is on hiatus until I can get through a day’s¹ work without pain.

I see that all sounds depressing. But honestly I’m doing great. While I miss being in close contact with all my fabby online friends.² I’ve been spending more time with friends in the real world. I’ve been reading more than I have in years. Watching lots of crazy good anime. Who recommended Moribito? I LOVE YOU.³ I’ve been cooking up a storm. And immersing myself in the WNBA, NBA, French Open, various cricket series and am ecstatic about the coming World Cup and Wimbledon and the Tour de France.

Life is very good.

So this is farewell for now. Thanks for all the support. It means heaps.⁴

I’ll be back.⁵

1. I.e. four hours.
2. A LOT.
3. Feel free to make more recs in the comments.
4. Thanks to the lovely folks who inquired after my health at BEA. Even if most of you were Team Unicorn. What’s up with that?
5. But not in a scary way. I swear that I’m not a cyborg from the future hellbent on wiping out humanity. Me, I like humanity.

You’re unlikely to get anything sensible out of me for awhile. This will be brief. First, thanks for all the responses yesterday. That was truly fascinating.

Second, we recently finished watching Fullmetal Alchemist and Read or Die and LOVED them both with a fiery burning passion. Thanks everyone who recommended them. What should we watch next? And why do you recommend it?

Third, without googling how many have you heard of Joel Chandler Harris? And what do you know about him? And where are you from? (I suspect how old you are is pertinent also.)

Thank you!

If you’re in NYC you can see me and Scott reading this Saturday:

Justine Larbalestier, Bennett Madison,
Scott Westerfeld, & Cecily von Ziegesar
Reading and Q&A
12:30PM-1:15PM, Saturday, 10 April
Center for Fiction
17 E. 47th Street, Second floor
(between Madison & Fifth Ave.)
NY NY

The price of admission? Your donation of two or more new or gently used board books through grade 12.

I’ll be reading from my 1930s book.

Later!

(Or answering email or responding to IM requests or to comments or been on Twitter or read many blogs.)

Like almost every writer I know, I have a number of chronic—though not particularly bad¹—injuries, that were caused by (or flare up when) I spend a lot of time at my computer. Sitting at a computer for long hours is not good for your body. Which is why so many writers, receptionists, data processors, computer programmers etc etc² have repetitive strain injuries, headaches, chronic back and neck problems, shooting pains in the arms and hands and so on and so forth.³

Like many of you, I frequently spend more than fourteen hours a day at my computer.⁴ A recent injury (not sitting-at-computer related) has made that impossible. In order for my injury to heal I have had to drastically reduce my time at the computer, which forced me to prioritise what I do there:

1. Write novel.
2. Answer urgent business related email.
3. Blog.
4. Answer other emails.
5. IM with friends.
6. Read blogs, twitter etc.

Here’s what most days since the injury have looked like:

1. Write novel.

I no longer spend more than four hours on the computer. If the pain flares before four hours I stop. Four hours is not long so my novel gets my top priority. Many days writing my novel is the only thing I do at the computer. Ironically, I’ve written more in the last month than in the previous six. The book’s going well and I’m loving it. Bless, this injury!⁵ I have not once gotten past no. 4 on my list. So that is why you have not heard from me.

The acute injury is improving, slowly but surely.⁶ However, I have decided to stick to the current regime at least until the injury is completely healed and maybe longer because I have experienced less pain with my other chronic injuries as well.

In fact, February has seen me increase the amount of walking I do every day, I’ve taken up Pilates⁷, and I’ve upped the amount of time I spend at the gym.⁸ Injury aside, I feel better than I have in a long, long time. I’ve been reading way more books and manga as well.⁹

Because of this injury I’m fitter than I was, more flexible and, best of all, getting more writing and reading done. All good, right?

Not exactly. The reduced computer time has meant that I have not been communicating regularly with many of my close friends. I’m massively behind on email. I no longer IM.¹⁰ I feel like I’m losing touch with my online communities, which may sound trivial, but as Varian pointed out last week that sense of community is very important. It’s a large part of why I blog in the first place. Not blogging and responding to your comments has been difficult.

In fact, that is why this post. I don’t much like whingeing about my health here.¹¹ Boring! But I couldn’t really think of any other way to let people know that even when I’m not responding I’m thinking about them. I feel especially bad about all the lovely fan mail I’m not answering.¹² Several of the letters people have written me about Liar and have reduced me to tears.¹³ Thank you.

Thank you also to all my guest bloggers. You’ve kept this blog alive with entertaining, moving, informative, funny, wonderful posts. Bless you all. And thank you readers for supporting the blog in my absence. I’ve been so delighted to see the continued volume of traffic and comments. Yay!

One last thing: I know a fair number of you are in your teens and twenties and spending a vast amount of time at computers.¹⁴ If you’re not already taking care of your

How did we manage to go a week without a post?  Us, who managed to post daily for sooo long...and then only missing a day here or there...and now...wow.  A whole week.  It's a slippery slope, that's for sure.

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By: Justine Larbalestier, on 2/12/2010
Blog: Justine Larbalestier (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Frippery, Viewing, Excuses, Zombies, Unicorns, Toilets, Guest post, Zombies v Unicorns, Add a tag

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By: Justine Larbalestier, on 9/2/2009
Blog: Justine Larbalestier (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Bloggery, Excuses, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Liar, Add a tag

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You have a great marriage. Your wife is fantastic. You also have a job that you are thoroughly satisfied with. What could possibly go wrong? Oops, you misplaced your wedding ring. What are you going to do? Here are five excuses for losing your wedding ring:

1.  You wouldn’t believe it but our dog swallowed my wedding ring. I guess he mistook it for a tasty treat.

2.   My ring fell off while I was polishing our car. It got lost in the grass. What’s that? You just saw the car and it was filthy dirty. Um, um, um. Well it was clean two minutes ago. On second thought, it was off my finger while I was mowing the lawn. What’s that? The grass doesn’t look like it has been mowed. Um, um, um. On third thought, I’ll tell you the truth. My ring was cutting off the circulation to my finger. It was a horrible sight. I couldn’t wear the ring anymore. I decided to donate my ring to Goodwill. Wasn’t I being generous?

3.   It fell in the sink. I tried to take it out of the sink, but I dropped it. The next thing you know it was being chewed up by the garbage disposal. We need to replace our garbage disposal immediately.

4.   I was at work when my ring came off my finger and landed in the shredder. Oh my word, all I have left is twisted metal.

5.   Joe in the warehouse picked up my ring that I accidentally placed in the shipping department while I was working on inventory. He thought it was suppose to go in the box marked fake jewelry. Before I knew it, Joe had shipped my ring to a company in Puerto Rico. Isn’t that the craziest thing that you have ever  heard?

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By: Jessica Stockton, on 4/29/2009
Blog: The Written Nerd (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  excuses, comics, e-books, author events, Free Comic Book Day, Add a tag

Blogging has been, and is likely to remain, sparse... as Greenlight Bookstore prep ramps up, the rest of life ain't going anywhere, and your friendly neighborhood Book Nerd is feeling a bit under the gun. I'll try to get up here once a week or so, but forgive me my semi-absence, okay?

Still, there's time for a few links.

In e-reader news:

The IndieBound iPhone app makes me long even more for that lovely little piece of hardware. Props to the ABA for rolling this out so fast! The IndieBound app means that you can use the iPhone to find bookstores and other indie shops, search books, buy books online -- along with reading books and emailing and making calls (and, as I learned at a delicious early summer barbecue this weekend, mapping the stars... )

In the meantime, not only does your Kindle become a brick if you lose your Amazon account, but rumors persist that Apple is coming out with a more book-friendly device. E-reader enthusiasts, start your engines!


In comics news:

This Saturday, May 2, is Free Comic Book Day! Find yourself a local comic shop (there's a great locator tool on the FCBD website) and get yourself some free comics action. And buy something while you're there, why don't ya? (When, by the way, are bookstores going to instigate Free Galley Day? How about it, book industry?)

If you happen to be in my part of the world, you've got some pretty awesome options: Rocketship is hosting a signing by Wolverine writer Fred Van Lente (along with giving away a new comic about the spiky-knuckled guy), and Bergen Street Comics is hosting a showing of original art from act_i_vate.com ("where every day is free comics day!")

And, while I'm hoping to have time to stop in to one or both of these stores, I'll be spending most of my day at another venue for comics love: the PEN World Voices Festival. At Cooper Union on Saturday, McNally Jackson will be selling books for events with Neil Gaiman, Emmanuel Guibert, David Polonsky, Shaun Tan, Jonathan Ames, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, and Adrian Tomine. And of course, the Festival hosts wonderful literary events happening all week long.

It's a good week for books! Happy reading!

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By: Jessica Stockton, on 3/30/2009
Blog: The Written Nerd (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  excuses, internet, bookstores in the news, good news, Add a tag

Apologies, Written Nerd readers: there's been a distinct lack of posting around here. I blame the truly frenzied level of real-ness which the bookstore project is approaching. More details and announcements as soon as I'm able, I promise. In the meantime, since I have no attention span, here's some random cool stuff I've noticed lately.

Via the ALP's friend Heather (thanks!): The Most Interesting Bookstores in the World. Can't argue with the title. These photos make me woozy with desire, especially the Lello bookstore in Portugal. (Watch out for the hairless cat, though -- rather disconcerting.)

Closer to home, Mona Molarsky of the New York Examiner website continues her series on Favorite Bookstore of New York with the Upper East Side (that's Corner Bookstore, Archivia, and Crawford Doyle if you're trying to get your bearings.) Check it out, then browse through the previous 7 articles in the series for an in-depth look at some of the city's best. I recommend the Village and SoHo, naturally.

Someday I should be so lucky. A Nova Scotia book club, too big to continue meeting in homes, just went ahead and opened a private bar to hold book discussions. It's called Fables, and it's beautiful. Sigh.

Can't wait to listen to this radio broadcast on genre fiction, featuring Michael Chabon, Richard Price, and Agatha Christie's grandson. I'm in kind of a genre mood right now; I'm reading and pondering G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Knew Too Much, and looking forward to starting Berry's The Manual of Detection right after that.

My awesome sister who works in Santa Barbara, possibly the most beautiful town in Southern California, sent me this article on the one thing the town lacks: strong indie bookstores. The piece is typically doom-and-gloom (the internet is killing the indies!), but it does have a list of the few that are still around, an interesting interview with an indie internet entrepreneur, and a great quote from indie bookstore champion Roy Blount Jr.: “I'd say the more local and personal and informed a store is, the more it will provide what the Internet can't.” Right on, Roy (and thanks, Sarah).

Okay, I'll end on that note -- too antsy to keep pasting links. Better do some yoga, then get back to work. Will update you soon, promise promise promise.

2 Comments on Link-Mad Monday: Cool stuff from the internet, last added: 4/6/2009

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Maggie May said, on 3/30/2009 10:53:00 AM

Great links. I'm surprised Santa Barbara doesn't have more indie bookstores- I've been there a few times and it seems like the perfect place for that.

S.R. Squire said, on 3/30/2009 11:21:00 PM

It DOES seem like the perfect place -- they generally love their local stores and keeping things small-towny-yet-glamorously-hip. Although the rent is ridiculous. There is a huge Borders right across the street from a good-sized Barnes & Noble downtown. Perhaps one day Greenlight Bookstore will have a West Coast offshoot... :)
-Sarah

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By: Jessica Stockton, on 3/17/2009
Blog: The Written Nerd (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Twitter, excuses, Add a tag

We're having some trouble with our phone and internet this week -- something to do with multiple routers or VOIP lifespan or something. So blogging is unlikely as I'll be spending every spare moment on the phone with various communication-oriented companies. I have been Twittering a fair amount from work, though (this is allowed??) -- you can follow me @booknerdnyc. Some more long-attention-span thoughts in the works as soon as everything is humming along again.

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By: Justine Larbalestier, on 12/22/2008
Blog: Justine Larbalestier (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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By: Justine Larbalestier, on 11/3/2008
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By: Justine Larbalestier, on 11/1/2008
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By: Paula Pertile, on 10/7/2008
Blog: Drawing a Fine Line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  attitude, employee and employer, self employed problems, excuses, Add a tag

I have it. In spades. Like this guy~(A guy with attitude from some long ago art project.)

Today I received an email touting a career seminar in my area that would address the issue of problem employees. Namely, ones with attitude. And I had to laugh, because as my own boss, I deal with all of these issues in myself as my own employee. You know what I'm talking about. The two sides of yourself that have to work together when you're self-employed.

They ask~
Do you have employees who:
*don't meet deadlines?
doesn't happen often, or at all really, but its always there, threatening
*make excuses?
hmmm...does being tired or really needing to watch Project Runway count?
*refuse to learn new skills?
you mean like CS2 InDesign or Dreamweaver?
*drain your time and energy?
like with all the useless "why do I bother" soliloquies?
*have a bad attitude?
like grousing about how this doesn't pay enough or I don't have enough time...
*are chronically tardy?
I can sleep another hour because heck, I'm self employed!
*get derailed by personal problems?
you mean like life in general?

I thought it was funny, but it also made me do a reality check about some of these issues. In order to be successful illustrators/designers/artists/art licensors/business people we have to have discipline and a good attitude going for us. We have to be good bosses as well as good employees. We have to manage ourselves well. And its not easy at times. I know I tend to let things slide a bit (like updating that mailing list or sending out samples or letting the excuse that my cats didn't want to get up in the morning be the reason I stayed in bed too long). And I can get pretty grumpy. OK, really grumpy.

On the other end of the spectrum, you can't do everything in one day, and can't beat yourself up for not being superhuman. You can't update your portfolio, send out samples, redo your website, make all those phone calls, weed the yard, do all the laundry, cook home made meals and shampoo the carpets all today. (Unless you have staff, then they can pick up some of those chores, but even so, you'll have to have a meeting with them about how you want the yard done, the amount of starch to put in the linens, the week's menus and which carpets should be done when so you don't have a house full of wet carpets since guests are coming, etc.)
And even if you have assistants for your work you have to go through the same thing with them.


So I guess the trick is to keep things balanced, and try to have a good attitude to go with it.
I'm going to try to be a better employee for my own business and keep my attitude properly adjusted. But also not beat myself up when absolutely everything doesn't get done all at once.

And eat more vegetables.

And stop watching the news altogether.

3 Comments on Attitude, last added: 10/14/2008

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Belinda Lindhardt said, on 10/8/2008 6:10:00 PM

Excellent post Paula and makes me laugh cause its true!

Connie M said, on 10/9/2008 9:45:00 AM

Oh very good! Will you come be MY boss?

leslie said, on 10/14/2008 12:39:00 PM

Yes...more vegetables...that will do it... :)

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By: Justine Larbalestier, on 9/8/2008
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