How I blog: then and now

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Ten years of blogging went by in a flash, though when I think about all that’s happened in those years, it hits me how long that really is.

While real life has changed more than my blogging life, over the decade I’ve also made some changes to the way I blog. I’ve changed blog platform, and I’ve changed the tools I use for blogging.

I love reading about other people’s workflow and tools, so today we’re going behind the scenes to look at the Unruly blogging process.

The Platform

Then: Blogger
Now: WordPress
Why the change: One word: plugins
I kept hearing about WordPress plugins, and I wanted them. I wanted plugins that would play nice with social media and plugins that would let me use forms and all the other plugins for all the other reasons.

Also, another website I manage is a WordPress site, so I was gonna be doing Gale Courses to learn about WordPress, so the stars aligned.

The transfer to WordPress was not as smooth as they said it would be (all those encouraging things I found online that said it would be seamless… yeah, not so much).

But: no regrets. I like this new home of mine, and I like the WordPress app, and I like tinkering with the whole thing when I have time.

The Software

Then: Microsoft Word
Now: Google Drive
Why the change: Google Drive: it’s available everywhere

Back in the day, I drafted blog posts in Microsoft Word. As I read, I added notes on the piece of paper I use as a bookmark, and then I transferred those notes to Word and expanded on them. It worked.

But once I started using Google Drive… oh, my land. Life-changing.

Now I draft posts in Google Docs, and I can add thoughts and ideas from anywhere. No need to wait until I get home, and no need to boot up the laptop. Instead, I carry it around in my purse. I can add thoughts when I’m in the grocery store line, or when I’m waiting for my oatmeal to cook, or when I’m reading wherever I’m reading. I can add notes about books when I’m sitting with my feet up, in front of the fireplace, reading a book.

I cannot tell you how much I love this.

And the other piece of the puzzle: Google Sheets, where I track my reading. I also track my reading (all the books since 1996!) on Goodreads, but Google Sheets is where I add all the data: the 3 words that best capture the book’s essence, the appeal characteristics, the reason I read each book.

And I love that I can add notes about each book to Sheets from anywhere, too. Sometimes the perfect adjective hits me, and I open Sheets and toss it in there.

The Hardware

Then: laptop
Now: laptop and iPhone
Why the change: portability!

These days I’m running around all over the place all the time, and I love being able to post from my iPhone. I don’t do it often, but in a pinch, I’ve done the entire blogging operation on my phone. Pretty amazing. (Thank you, WordPress, for your nice little app.)

A couple of months ago, I got a wireless keyboard, and that’s made things even easier. I can type on a keyboard so much faster than I can type on my phone, and I’m actually writing this very post using my wireless keyboard at Caribou. (Very happy right now)

My usual process is to add stuff to Google Drive as I’m reading a book, and then I write most blog posts using my laptop and pre-post them. But if I’m out and about, or if I’m traveling, the iPhone + wireless keyboard is the thing.

So the upshot is: it’s all gotten more mobile, and I’m a happy blogger because of it.

So, my fellow bloggers… what are your favorite blogging tools? And how has your blogging changed over the years?

Mysteries I can’t wait to be published

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Anyone else look at their library hold list just for thrills and anticipation? So do I. And right now I have such good stuff on the horizon, I hardly know what to do with myself.

Currently, my hold list is filled with pre-pub mysteries, and I feel like a kid again, waiting for the next library visit so I can stock up on Nancy Drews.

Here’s the grown-up version…

 

 

Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson

I love Craig Johnson, and we all know it. Every June for years, I’d have a super happy moment when his latest book was released and my hold came in at the library. This year, he’s got a September 4 publication date, and that means my June is gonna feel a little bereft. But… I’m skilled at anticipation, so things are gonna work out just fine.

 

Island of the Mad by Laurie R. King

It’s another Mary Russell mystery, and there are few things more delightful than that. Especially since June 12 is its pub date, so June is rescued after all!

 

The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

Horowitz has been hitting the mystery scene hard these last few years, with the magnificent Magpie Murders and his Sherlock Holmes novels, Moriarty and House of Silk. Now he’s beginning a new series with The Word Is Murder, which drops August 24.

 

The three of them are enough to keep me flapping in anticipation all season.

 

So, my fellow readers… What pre-pub books are you looking forward to?

 

Book club update: eclectic!

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Sometimes our book club reads by theme. But lately, we’ve been about as random as humanly possible: a classic British novel, a self-improvement book, a horror/alt-history mash-up, and a romantic memoir.

 

Here’s how it went…

 

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Discussibility Score: 4

Because: We had quite the lively discussion about why the dude was in love with the weak, ailing sister instead of the strong, smart, interesting one. We also talked about the writing style–how it felt rather modern. And the pacing (so slow, but so building).

 

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

Discussibility Score: 4

Because: We had different responses to Kondo’s approach, from full embrace to strong skepticism. So: lively conversation. I think this one is gonna crop up in future discussions of ife, if not of books.

 

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

Discussibility Score: 3

Because: We none of us liked this book, despite the fact that one of us is drawn to novels that are quirky and violent. This meant we had a fine time ripping into it. For reasons. We disliked the cardboard characters, we disliked the holes in the plot, we disliked the unbelievable motivations.

 

Fifty Acres and a Poodle by Jeanne Marie Laskas

Discussibility Score: 3

Because: We just plain liked this book too much to really fully discuss it. And some hadn’t completely finished reading it. I loved the book too much to do anything other than extol its virtues. I’m not sorry.

 

What’s up next: true crime! We’re reading Kidnapped: The Tragic Life of J. Paul Getty III by Charles Fox.

 

Romantic memoir

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Photo by Michael Nunes on Unsplash

Fifty Acres and a Poodle: A Story of Love, Livestock, and Finding Myself on a Farm by Jeanne Marie Laskas

3 words: humorous, personal, romantic

 

Don’t you love it when you find a book that keeps you reading past your bedtime? For me, this book was one of those.

The words that come to mind: delightful, engaging, romantic, funny, heartfelt, self-discovery, real.

It’s a classic romance, with a farm and a huge poodle. And it’s all true.

It’s also one of those stories I love reading about, but wouldn’t want to experience. I’ve never lived on a farm, and I never want to. Farms are a lot of work, and not the fun kind. The thought of being in charge of that much property—and the thought of needing a tractor… No, thank you. But I adored reading about it.

And there are parts of the story that are completely lovely and that I identified with in the nicest way. There’s a perfectly real and wonderful mid-life love story here, and there’s the story of finding one’s ideal home.

I knew Laskas from her fabulous book Hidden America, which Citizen Reader recommended. She’s a fun writer to read.

For example: “Probably I should pause here and explain the history of this poodle. Because it is important to note that Alex did not have this poodle when I fell in love with him. I did not know that Alex was a poodle person when I fell in love with him. Repeat: did not know. Alex dropped the poodle bomb about a year into the relationship.” (p. 25)

I was reminded of:

    • Amy Dickinson’s Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things because of the love story, the blend of humor and loss, and the sprightly writing.
    • Judy Corbett’s Castles in the Air because it, too, is a memoir about a couple moving into a bit of a wreck and turning it into the home of their dreams

All in all, a perfect delight of a memoir.

 

Give this book a whirl if you like… memoirs of city dwellers moving to the country, mid-life love stories, a light touch of humor, and compulsively readable writing

 

 

Currently… travel-ready

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Spring is finally arriving in the Midwest, and thank goodness. It’s disheartening to have sunlight at 7 pm shining on snow.

As we launch into spring, here’s what’s going on around here…

 

Lingering on | My eyes have been seeking out vintage books lately. Exhibit A:

 

Reading (books) | After the post-vacation recovery period, I’m back at Tell the Wolves I’m Home. (Literally: I’m home. But please don’t tell the wolves.) And it’s so good, I’m sorry I set it down for those weeks. I’m also seriously loving The Woman’s Hour by Elaine F. Weiss, which describes the work done by brave and smart women to get the 19th amendment ratified.

 

Reading (online) | I’m super excited about Citizen Reader’s Essay Project, and I’m so playing along.

 

Listening | I’m really liking Michael Strahan’s reading of his book Wake Up Happy. Beyond finding his story fascinating and his approach to life inspiring, I really like the sound of his voice (which reminds me of my favorite great-uncle).

 

Watching | Samuel and Audrey travel videos on YouTube. We’re hooked.

 

Eating | The donuts at the new donut place. Oh my land. There’s fig & goat cheese, and then there’s Oreo. I’m not even kidding.

 

Learning | Meditation, you’re not gonna be an easy one. I’ve been reading Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, a book whose title and tone I adore, but man have I been struggling to sit still and breathe. Even when I schedule it, I dismiss the reminder cuz I’m not only fidgety and skeptical, I’m also stubborn. If meditation actually takes, this is gonna be a serious achievement.

 

Loving | My aromatherapy diffuser. I’m completely surprised by how fond I am of this little guy. And it even turns all kinds of pastel colors when I turn it on its lava lamp setting. I know: ridiculous. But it makes me happy. (It does not make me meditate. See above.)

 

Anticipating | The Dear Man and I are doing preliminary planning for a trip with his dear sister and dear brother-in-law, and I can’t wait. I’m writing a packing list and agonizing over which books to take and getting all shivery with excitement.

 

Celebrating | Day trip season has begun! We made our first springtime day trip to some Black Hawk War sites and geeked it up right. More happy geek couple travel ahead…

Great book discussion book: West with the Night

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West with the Night by Beryl Markham

3 words: lyrical, understated, adventurous

You know that thing when you re-read a book and it’s even better than you’d remembered? That happened with West with the Night.

I kept thinking: my high school self was reading some intensely good writing.

The writing, people. The writing.

Markham (or whoever wrote it — there’s a juicy authorship controversy) had some serious talent as an author. There are sentences like this:

“I never knew what their digging got them, if it got them anything, because, when I set my small biplane down on the narrow runway they had hacked out of the bush, it was night and there were fires of oil-soaked rags burning in bent chunks of tin to guide my landing.” (p. 4)

I mean, that’s some gorgeous writing, and that’s some serious romance.

And this paragraph that I remembered from my reading of the book in my teens*:

“I have learned that if you must leave a place that you have lived in and loved and where all your yesterdays are buried deep—leave it any way except a slow way, leave it the fastest way you can. Never turn back and never believe that an hour you remember is a better hour because it is dead. Passed years seem safe ones, vanquished ones, while the future lives in a cloud, formidable from a distance. The cloud clears as you enter it. I have learned this, but like everyone, I learned it late.” (p. 131)

Lovely, right?

Not only is the writing lush, but the storytelling is incredible and nuanced and delightfully incomplete. (Memoir, you’re a book discussion’s best friend.)

Markham is attacked by a lion and nearly attacked by an elephant, she trains derby-winning horses from her teen years on, and she flew an open cockpit biplane in Africa. And she had multiple affairs (not alluded to in this book, but legendary).

It was not a typical life.

There’s just something enticing about stories of growing up in Africa. This book evoked Alexandra Fuller’s Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight and William Kamkwamba’s The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

Except Markham’s book contained some allusions to race that made me frankly uncomfortable. We can see these comments as typical of the time the book was written (1942), but that doesn’t mean a modern reader won’t squirm a bit. And that’s yet another topic of discussion: how do the treatments of race and colonialism affect our reading of the book?

Well worth reading—for the writing, the stories, the discussibility.

Give this book a whirl if you like… memoirs of a woman leading an unconventional life, the Golden Age of aviation, ex-pats in Africa in the early 20th century, reading about free spirits, sympathetic narratives about animals, tales of daring

What’s the book you re-read and found it better than you remembered?

*I might’ve even copied it into my Quotes notebook (such a dork)

Launch of Rocket Men

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The Rocket Men book launch…

3 words: thrilled, awestruck, verklempt

A book launch that was a transcendent experience — these things don’t happen just every day. Robert Kurson released his latest book, Rocket Men, in the best of all possible ways: with the full crew of Apollo 8 participating in a panel discussion.

And we were there.

In the same room with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders.

Of course I was beside myself with joy. The thing that was a revelation was the degree to which the Dear Man and my friend were exhilarated to be in the presence of those men.

It was truly an honor to be in the room with them. And such a delight to hear them interact with each other — there was jocular fondness, there was humor. They’re seriously likeable guys.

One of my favorite moments: Anders was describing the violence of takeoff, and he said they were shaking so hard, Borman took his hand off the abort handle, so he wouldn’t pull it by accident due to the way they were being thrashed around. “Just like any other fighter pilot, he’d rather be dead than screw up.”

Apollo 8 command module, Museum of Science & Industry

I love that.

I had the good fortune to read an advance copy of Rocket Men, which I adored

for all kinds of reasons. And the people brought to life in its pages were clearly recognizable in that room. Kurson really captures their essence.

So, the event is over. But the story lives on in the pages of Rocket Men, a book I truly love.

This one’s going down in my personal history as the best book event ever.

My fellow readers… Book launches can be amazing. Tell us about the best book event you’ve ever attended. What made it fantastic?

Quiet Books

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Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash

I’ve been pondering books that are reserved in tone* and it makes me realize I’m a total sucker for books that are quiet and understated.

This preference wouldn’t surprise too many people who’ve heard my librarian voice (I’m told it’s quiet. I’m told to Speak Up). And I come from stoic people, so understated… it’s comfortable.

If you like this stuff, or if you’ve never gone there but are wondering what all the hush is about, here are some books notable for their quiet tone…

 

There’s fiction…

 

And nonfiction…

 

And the most obvious choice of them all…

 

And I adore them all.

 

So, good readers, what titles would you add to the list?

 

 

*for the Reserved square of Book Bingo

 

Vacation Reading

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A week-long vacation in a tropical paradise. You know what I’m thinking, because you’re thinking it, too…

What books to pack?

 

Recently the Dear Man and I joined my sister’s family on a vacation to Costa Rica to visit our aunt and uncle.

So yes, I packed two swimsuits and a sun hat and a gallon of sunscreen and sandals… but most of my packing energy focused on the books. There were hard decisions to make, people. My primary criterion: weight. So I went with all paperbacks.

Here’s what I packed…

 

And coming up… the big reveal of What I Actually Read. But first…

 

What I did instead of reading

So here’s the thing. With a party of 8, things stay busy. And the most fun I really can even imagine. I love these people.

 

My vision was this: while the teenagers are surfing, their auntie will be reading. In reality, it was too much fun watching the kids surf and talking with my people and playing in the waves. So the books stayed in the beach bag, and that was just fine.

 

We spent time in the air (ziplining— a huge triumph for she who fears heights) and in the water (paddle boarding in the sea).

 

And we ate wonderful foods (gallo pinto and casado and pizza #106 and heavenly coffee). But as we know, in the end…

 

Reading always wins 

I grabbed a little reading time while hanging out on the balcony of the house we rented and lounging in the room with a view (oh my land, what a view).

I read the middle section of No More Words: A Journal of My Mother, Anne Morrow Lindbergh by Reeve Lindbergh, which seemed a strange but perfect thing to read while on vacation. (Reading about Alzheimer’s is not particularly light or jolly.)

I actually bought the book at the Charles Lindbergh home in Minnesota during a long weekend, so it was a book bought on vacation and read on vacation. And the book made me think all kinds of thoughts, and it was a pleasure to have the time to consider them.

So I had just enough time for some basic maintenance reading there on the ground…

 

It wasn’t until our long flight home that my books got much attention. And then it got serious.

Here’s what I read…
  • I finished the Lindbergh book.
  • Then I read our upcoming book club book cover to cover. This sounds all impressive, but since the book is only 176 pages long, it’s not that grand an achievement. Sarah Gailey’s River of Teeth was a great vacation book: it’s a swift-moving, surprising, violent Western romp featuring hippos. I don’t mind flying, but the cramped quarters make me glad to be able to escape somewhere else on long flights.
  • Then I read a couple of essays from Portage: A Family, A Canoe, and the Search for the Good Life by Sue Leaf, including a chapter about a river the Dear Man and I have canoed (hello, beautiful Upper Iowa!)
  • And then I dove into Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt, which I also bought on a previous vacation (at the marvelous Novel Neighbor bookstore in Webster Groves, Missouri). And I read half the book on the flight and kept saying to the Dear Man, “This book is so good.”

Now that we’re home, the poor neglected book is in a holding pattern while I get caught up on laundry and all the other adulting things that are clamoring for my attention. But the lovely thing is that once I immerse myself in the book again, it’ll transport me not only into the story itself, but also into The Vacation Feeling. I love that.

 

So, my fellow readers… what’s your favorite vacation reading tactic?

18 for 2018

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One of my weekly treats is listening to the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast.

In episode 149, Gretchen and her co-host (and sister) Elizabeth Craft introduced the concept of 18 for 2018 — a list of things to accomplish this year.

The list can contain whatever a person wants — big things or little, easy or difficult, simple or multi-phased.

I love goal-setting, I love lists, I love this concept.

So I wrote me a list.

Completed items: they’re in italics. And yes, as of the date of this posting, I’ve already ziplined.

Here are my 18 for 2018…

 

  1. Call each old friend on a regular basis
  2. Buy typewriter key jewelry
  3. Go on southern vacation with the Dear Man and Younger Sister
  4. Go on northern vacation with the Dear Man and Older Sister
  5. Roast vegetables once a month
  6. Burn a candle when writing
  7. Buy fresh flowers & watch a YouTube video to figure out how to arrange them
  8. Invite friends for dinner
  9. Begin meditating
  10. Memorize 5 quotes
  11. Visit 3 history geek places
  12. Bake 2 family recipes
  13. Replace long wool coat
  14. Buy warm winter coat & boots
  15. Remind myself to slow down once per day
  16. Complete 2 of the 3: Book Bingo, Read Harder, and Modern Mrs Darcy reading challenges
  17. Zipline
  18. Paddle board a second time

 

So, how about you? Any lists of goals for the year?