Artist Sam Van Aken got carried away with fruit-tree grafting. It was the sort of mad-scientist experiment which normally ends in disaster. The result, however, is beautiful art. Check out the "Tree of Forty Fruit" picture of the tree in bloom.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Monday, August 4, 2014
How to be Popular
A reader asked, "How do you get people to read the blog?"
Well, the best way to get people to read an ordinary website is to provide content which is interesting and/or useful. I believe the same is true for blogs. Sommer Marsden primarily uses recipes and book excerpts. Alison Tyler concentrates on writing contests and book excerpts.
The trick is to get a critical mass of people to find you. Most recent calls for story submissions also request a short author bio, which can include a link to your writer's blog.
Writers who know each other link to each other's blogs, and also guest-post on each other's blogs.
Some websites, such as Clean Sheets and ERWA, don't pay money for stories, but if they use a story that you sent them then they will post links to your blog or website.
My experience with my non-blog personal website is that it takes about a year to really get the ball rolling. By "get the ball rolling" I mean attracting 5000 unique vistors per month.
Well, the best way to get people to read an ordinary website is to provide content which is interesting and/or useful. I believe the same is true for blogs. Sommer Marsden primarily uses recipes and book excerpts. Alison Tyler concentrates on writing contests and book excerpts.
The trick is to get a critical mass of people to find you. Most recent calls for story submissions also request a short author bio, which can include a link to your writer's blog.
Writers who know each other link to each other's blogs, and also guest-post on each other's blogs.
Some websites, such as Clean Sheets and ERWA, don't pay money for stories, but if they use a story that you sent them then they will post links to your blog or website.
My experience with my non-blog personal website is that it takes about a year to really get the ball rolling. By "get the ball rolling" I mean attracting 5000 unique vistors per month.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Music Review: Aoife O'Donovan "Fossils" album
Aoife O'Donovan's debut solo album "Fossils" is great music that will make you happy.
She writes modern folk songs which are very much in the spirit of traditional English folk songs from centuries ago. The songs include the traditional topics of love, death, and loneliness, but the songs as delivered are never depressing and often downright cheerful.
Her voice is clear and beautiful. Although many modern singers go into histrionics, Aoife just sings, comfortably within her range. The word to sum her up is "smooth." (She reminds me a bit of singer Janet Pressley from Cincinnati, who I also highly recommend. See www.bluejordan.com for Janet Pressley.)
The arrangements are never cluttered. The musicians are first-rate. The recording is clear; it isn't over-produced or mixed too loud.
Aoife comes out of the bluegrass world, but this album has more in common with Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album than with any bluegrass album. You'll like this music even if you hate bluegrass.
If you like Sade, Joni Mitchell, or Judy Collins, you'll probably like this album.
Highly recommended.
You can listen to MP3 previews on Amazon. You'll find the album if you search for "aoife". I bought the album on CD, instead of MP3,to get the extra sound quality. The CD sounds much much better on a good stereo system than the MP3 does on computer speakers or cheap headphones.
As a bonus, the CD's front cover is an amusing picture of the lovely Aoife O'Donovan herself. As one Amazon reviewer put it, "Could they possibly have made her look any goofier?"
Vimeo has Aoife's video for her song "Red & White & Blue & Gold."
She writes modern folk songs which are very much in the spirit of traditional English folk songs from centuries ago. The songs include the traditional topics of love, death, and loneliness, but the songs as delivered are never depressing and often downright cheerful.
Her voice is clear and beautiful. Although many modern singers go into histrionics, Aoife just sings, comfortably within her range. The word to sum her up is "smooth." (She reminds me a bit of singer Janet Pressley from Cincinnati, who I also highly recommend. See www.bluejordan.com for Janet Pressley.)
The arrangements are never cluttered. The musicians are first-rate. The recording is clear; it isn't over-produced or mixed too loud.
Aoife comes out of the bluegrass world, but this album has more in common with Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album than with any bluegrass album. You'll like this music even if you hate bluegrass.
If you like Sade, Joni Mitchell, or Judy Collins, you'll probably like this album.
Highly recommended.
You can listen to MP3 previews on Amazon. You'll find the album if you search for "aoife". I bought the album on CD, instead of MP3,to get the extra sound quality. The CD sounds much much better on a good stereo system than the MP3 does on computer speakers or cheap headphones.
As a bonus, the CD's front cover is an amusing picture of the lovely Aoife O'Donovan herself. As one Amazon reviewer put it, "Could they possibly have made her look any goofier?"
Vimeo has Aoife's video for her song "Red & White & Blue & Gold."
Friday, July 25, 2014
Twenty sizzling summer sex stories for 99 cents!
The charity ebook to benefit Sommer Marsden's family has finally been released! (Her husband is fighting a serious illness.) "Summer Loving" includes twenty hot erotic stories with a summer theme for the low low price of 99 cents. I've only read the first three stories so far and I've already gotten my money's worth.
The twenty stories are the best of the hundreds of stories submitted by generous writers. You'll recognize the authors and love the stories.
This project was organized by the great Alison Tyler so you're guaranteed high-quality smut.
Go to All Romance Ebooks to download "Summer Loving."
EDIT: As of August 2014, the price had increased from $.99 to $2.99. It's still worth the money.
The twenty stories are the best of the hundreds of stories submitted by generous writers. You'll recognize the authors and love the stories.
This project was organized by the great Alison Tyler so you're guaranteed high-quality smut.
Go to All Romance Ebooks to download "Summer Loving."
EDIT: As of August 2014, the price had increased from $.99 to $2.99. It's still worth the money.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Monday, July 14, 2014
Monday, July 7, 2014
Music Video - Renaissance - BBC Sight and Sound concert from 1977
The band Renaissance performed a beautiful mixture of rock and classical-inspired music featuring Annie Haslam's lovely voice. Here's their BBC Sight and Sound concert from 1977 on Youtube.
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