Time to Clean Up and Organize My Blogs.

Announcing the birth of:

http://hollybarbo-books.com

I first started blogging for our furniture business and the “green” movement that we are a part of. Since I was writing “Conscious Thought” it was the blog that came up when people googled my name. That was fine if they wanted to hear about the furniture industry and the eco-movement but not if they wished to follow me and my writing. “Conscious Thought” is fairly inactive because I am writing on more than one blog in my spare time (..working my day job and writing my books etc.). If you are following that blog but aren’t interested in the furniture industry then please go to my new blog: http://hollybarbo-books.com I really want to stay in touch with you.

The second blog came about because of my line of science/fantasy books. It was started in July of 2011 in preparation of my first e-book coming out and is the more active blog. The “Sage Seed Chronicles” blog actually had two locations. One was attached to my website which I built  because I couldn’t figure out how to do everything I wanted to do on the WordPress blog site and .. you guessed it.. the other was on WordPress but didn’t have any book information. The two “Sage Seed Chronicles” sites were cumbersome. They had the same blog posts (I didn’t know how else to handle it).  One had more book information and pictures but no ability to communicate via commenting, tweeting or sharing. The other had only the blog posts but we could interact with each other.

~sigh~

Entering from stage left is my website/blog savior. My publisher, Paper Crane Books, http://www.papercranebooks.com/ saw the mess I was making of things and decided to give me a helping hand. So I now have a new website. It has information on my books and my blog is there also. We can communicate with each other and share.  YEA!

The old Sage Seed Chronicles sites will disappear. Please my friends, go to my new.. lovely.. remastered website to keep in touch.

http://hollybarbo-books.com

Follow me..

Tag.. You’re it! 

See you there.

Are We Original?

Many years ago I submitted a design to Danbury Mint for a Christmas ornament. The man in charge of the submissions department was a patient and professional voice on the other end of the phone. Over the weeks we spoke several times as my design made its way beyond several levels of cuts. One of the things he said has stuck with me. “Holly, there really is nothing new or original under the sun.”

Such a simple statement. Not necessarily profound but it has stuck with me because we were speaking artistically and it seemed to be a very non creative type of comment.

As an artist and a writer I have always tried to be original. But here was a man who dealt with artists daily and he spoke of patterns, concepts and formulas being repeated down through history. Rinse and repeat. He wasn’t saying to copy, steal or plagiarize but he was recognizing the unconscious tendency to use formulas. To look at what works or what we like and adopt it into our style. It is a lesson both humbling and helpful.

What he expressed was accurate in a sense. If we reduce our stories to the bare bones of structure most will fall into a plot pattern. I don’t write with a formula in mind though there is probably one at its roots.

Where his statement stops working, in my mind, is in the truly creative innovations in science and technology.. and in really interestingly plot twists. As a reader and a consumer both delight me. That is what I strive for.

I work hard to create something fresh. I simply don’t like the prepackaged. My creative spirit has never liked following patterns. My sewing machine and I had an adversarial relationship because repeatedly I wanted it to do things my way…not necessarily using the approved method for sewing. The machine and I parted ways when my son grew out of Trick-or-Treating. Both of us are happier for it ..though I must say the costumes were very special. 

Oh, my design for the Christmas Ornament? It made it as far as the second-to-the-last cut of fifteen out of the collection of twelve but I proudly hang the prototype on my tree every year. It was a lovely learning experience.

My Rant: Economic Balance

I am a Libra and my sign is the scales. That may be entirely a coincidence but a big thing in my value system is–Balance. Our economic world could use a bit more of a level playing field and I want to take a moment to rant.

Let’s look at two sides of one problem. Monopoly: Control of a commodity in a particular market that makes it possible to manipulate prices (Amazon with book prices and Banks with their fees and lending capital) and Monopsony: where a firm captures the ability to dictate price to its suppliers (Walmart).

Any time one.. Or a just a few.. Companies hold the lion’s share of a given market place we are dealing with a possible destructive monopolistic situation.

Justice Department is looking at Amazon; Price fixing.

In 1990 there were thirty-seven major banks. Now we have four; Predatory lending and fees.

Another example would be Walmart who accounts for thirty percent of all U.S. sales; price fixing which forces  suppliers to off-shore or out of business.

In each of these examples we have moved completely out of balance. It is a crazy, tippy world we are in. We, as a country didn’t start this way. It has only been in the last thirty years when some laws were adjusted that we have moved from focusing on anti-monopoly policies to seeking efficiency and ever increasing consolidation to achieve it. (Monopoly)

I don’t want to go back in time. That never has made sense to me. We can’t. There are no time machines. The simpler times that some people long for…. were not that simple..ever! What I do wish for is awareness and balance. I want to move forward in a manner that equity is restored to the marketplace and price is determined in the open market by competition.

I am mindful that this is an election year. The U.S. Constitution was written as a model of cooperative statesmanship and the art of compromise. The preamble to our Constitution lists fundamental purposes and guiding principles. The Founding Fathers’ intentions were clear and balanced.

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Let’s move back toward that future!

Little Gifts for the Imagination

Serendipity. You have to love it. As a writer it has helped me through plot walls, flawed dialog and incomplete settings.

Let me give you an example. I was about six chapters into The Founders (which will be out late this month or early May). Marisily had fled her childhood home after watching her mother die…to go… Somewhere. Hmm. Blank wall.

I had to leave town for a big furniture convention (my day job) so I shut everything down and boarded the plane.

The story was simmering in the back of my mind while walking the miles of hallways and talking to countless home furniture and furnishings vendors.

Then we passed a photographer’s booth. He had some big images that he was showing as decor. As we walked in there was this picture. It was a panorama of a desert landscape..totally the wrong type of topography for the story BUT the photo had been shot from inside a cave high up in a cliff. I just stood there transfixed staring at this awesome picture. At that moment I knew where Marisily had escaped to and how that place was important to the story.

These small moments are the treasured gifts that I so appreciate. Share with me your serendipitous moments. I’d love to hear them!

When a Door Closes Another Opens

It has been awhile since I last wrote on my blog. There is so much to share with you. I have learned a lot … which is really cool as that is what life is about isn’t it.

I told you in a previous blog that my publisher, Red Willow Press had decided to close their fiction arm. Red Willow had given my books a chance, had seen my worth as a writer and for that I will be forever grateful. However though the loss of a publisher was a shock it opened up a marvelous opportunity.

I found a lovely boutique press called Paper Crane Books that not only wanted my series but wished to issue them in chronological order (my previous publisher started with book three) and was willing to edit and reissue books three and four. This is really unusual my friends. It is common practice that once a book is out no other publishing company wants it. So Paper Crane Books won my heart on two counts.

Then the work started. I had heard from other writers that the editing was arduous and that their book bled red ink. That hadn’t been the case with my first publisher. I had asked him about that and he had said that there were different styles of editing. His company focused on punctuation and things like that.. wanting to preserve the author’s voice. Paper Crane Books had more of the red ink style of editing. Oh My!  Punctuation, phrasing suggestion, changing “point of view” so a different character picks up the action …and deleting. Yes. Deleting sections to help the story move. It has been a real learning experience. Wow. And the learning continues.

By the way.. The Founders…the prequel book in a four book series (The Sage Seed Chronicles) will be out at the end of this month or early May. It will be available in paper as well as an e-book… and it will be a better book than you would have received before the red ink editing. You deserve it.

The Times.. They are a Changing!

This will be a personal blog post. So much has happened recently and I need to bring you up to date.

On January 1st my second book was released as an e-book on Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes& Nobel. This was an exciting event as I have four books complete in the series and wanted more of the story available for the lovely readers that had enjoyed the first one.

On February 1st I was pre-editing the prequel to the series: The Founders (yes the series was released out of order) when I received word that my publisher had decided to close the fiction arm of the business and that I could have back my books and the rights associated to them.

Now I should briefly touch on my experience with “the system” of getting published. I got an agent right out of the gate, a local woman who liked my writing and started trying to peddle my work to “the big 6 of the New York Publishers”. I learned over the ensuing months that the industry was basically looking for what had been a hit yesterday by known authors. In essence my work didn’t fit.

Fast forward to May 2011 when a boutique publishing house “Red Willow Press” was delighted to sign up my writing, my stories and my series. On Labor Day “The Unraveling” was out as an e-book.

The industry is changing and everything is up in the air. The big 6 are hunkered down trying to weather it out. They are basically assuming that everything will eventually return to normal. It could be a fatal mistake on their part. Amazon is gobbling up the market share and moving toward monopoly status. E-books are rapidly gaining ground and many authors have lost patience with the fusty strangle-hold the New York publishing houses have had on the industry. You should read this great blog post:  http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/bracing-for-impact-the-future-of-big-publishing-in-the-new-paradigm/#comment-22792

Now for the last bit of news. The Sage Seed Chronicles series has a home. I am in talks with a small boutique publisher who wants to release all of my books, in their chronological order. My work will be coming out as e-books and in paper. This publisher will be focusing on marketing with me so it won’t be all my responsibility. There is hope on the horizon.

Gentle reader.. Good friends.. I truly appreciate you and will keep you informed.

Moonstone Heroes

Pretend you are creating a fantasy character. He or she has a special courage which allows them to calmly accept the risks of their hazardous life quest or their remarkable vision for change. They are charming, confident, intelligent and their humor has shades of humility. In our story our fantasy person’s special qualities are represented by a magical talisman. Our imagined character is of the “Moonstone” brotherhood and when one of this clan falls a bit of the glow from their stone remains with us after their passing.

Can you see this personable figure; fit, calm, striding into danger with a grin on their face?

Though I set the exercise in the fictional realm there are real people in our world who can be considered of that clan. I’m sure you can think of some. They have chosen a path that is either physically hazardous or so innovative that many can’t comprehend their vision. Whatever it is they do they are passionate about it. What makes them of the “Moonstone” brotherhood is their drive and the way they accept the risks, facing their life with courage and humor. Their core philosophy allows them to manage the stress and jeopardy they are in calmly and objectively.

There is an inherent problem with having these wonderfully special individuals. When we lose one we are only left with the glow of the “moonstone magic” their life force created.

These people may or may not be famous. My uncle was a test pilot in the 50’s and early 60’s. There were definitely life threatening risks in flying experimental planes or landing gear through tests. Some pilots didn’t survive the exercise. There are people flying safer planes today because of what my Uncle Johnny and his test pilot friends did. They would be considered of that brotherhood.

Martin Luther King had a belief that he knew was right. He led a movement through very dangerous times and was assassinated because the changes he was advocating frightened certain people. He would be one of our Moonstone knights and the glow of his ideas are still with us.

Steve Jobs was another one. His innovations were so beyond what others envisioned that he was criticized. Look where we are today because of his dreams. His death from cancer took him from us too soon.

These are admirable people. Whether big or small they are risk takers. They stretch the parameters of our existence beyond where you and I would normally go.

Another such a tragedy has just happened. Freestyle skier Sarah Burke was with us 29 short years. I don’t ski or snowboard but I admire the athletes of the X Games. They are phenomenally talented. Years of devoted work has given their movements exciting grace. Sarah dedicated herself to being the best she could be and fought successfully for Superpipe Skiing to be included in the next Olympics. An accident took her away from us.

Uncle Johnny, Martin Luther King, Steve Jobs, Sarah Burke, and many others I have’t named, you are some my “Moonstone” heros and each of you will be truly missed!

Tribute to the Strength of Dreams: Susan Boyle

When I wrote the tribute to Anne McCaffrey I wanted to express how much she contributed to my life. That got me thinking about other people who have touched a chord which resonated deeply. These people can be known to many or few. It really doesn’t matter. They are a warm, mellow note that thrums deep inside me. I will write about others but this blog is for Susan.

Susan Boyle had been singing her whole life. It didn’t happen overnight but had been a natural part of her for years. When she stepped out onto the stage of Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, looking for all the world like my sweet Auntie Fran, no one expected much. The audience was prepared to laugh at this frumpy, forty-seven year old woman’s performance. Simon asked her what her dream was and she answered she wanted to be a professional singer. “I haven’t been given the chance before. Here’s hoping that will change”, she said.

It took courage to go out there and perform and her nervousness showed with her cheeky comment about her age and the momentary lapse while trying to bring the word ”villages” to mind. Yes she was a little flustered but when the music started that fell away and her voice was steady. The notes were true. “I Dreamed a Dream” was exceedingly an appropriate song for that gutsy little woman. It was finally her time to get noticed, to be in the spotlight.

(Should you wish to see Susan singing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk&feature=related )

Her performance gives me goosebumps to this day. It isn’t just the lovely voice or the emotion behind the words to the song but it is the spirit and the courage of this woman to step forward and show what she is capable of. It is the strength of Susan Boyle’s belief in herself no matter how she looked or what her age. Susan Boyle can sing.

Every single one of us has an ability that is as much a part of us as is the color of our eyes. Each of us has experienced closed doors with our aspirations. Those set-backs can be so painfully disheartening and deeply bruise our confidence. I am sure that Susan Boyle had those doubts.The important part is that she found the strength to try. She persevered and showed the world the worth of her talent and her dream.

I dreamed a dream in time gone by

When hope was high and life worth living

I dreamed that love would never die

I dreamed that God would be forgiving

Wishing each of us blessings when we dream our dreams. May they find their time in the sun….. soon, of course. 

In Memory of Anne McCaffrey

On Monday, November 21st our world, our realm, lost a lovely voice in story telling. Anne McCaffrey has left us. Though we all realize that death is inevitable it is with a moment of poignancy that I recall a piece of the harper’s song from her Dragon Rider’s Series:

Your voice is sad and your hands are slow

And your eye meeting mine turns away.

Like so many others, Anne touched my life deeply. The first time I read one of her books I was seventeen and had started on that bumpy path of a maturing young woman. Her stories and the themes in them became a part of the fabric of my life.

Anne’s characters are role models with which we can shape our own lives. They offer each of us encouragement that we can overcome difficulties to grasp our dreams. Just look at three of my personal favorites.

Lessa was an intelligent young woman who had endured life-threatening danger by disguising herself and surviving by her wits.

The uniquely talented Menolly was very unappreciated. She escaped the pigeon hole she was being forced into and with the help of some devoted fire lizards found her niche in her world.

When Killashandra’s dreams were shattered she grasped what opportunity she was given and reinvented herself with outstanding success and happiness.

Anne McCaffrey’s characters are my heros ..but her stories are simply cool. It doesn’t matter the age or gender of the reader, the stories are timelessly universal.

When my son was young he had difficulty learning to read and was falling behind in school. He was a bright child with an atypical learning modality and was getting very discouraged. The easy reader books were okay but the plots didn’t capture his interest. Knowing what he liked I started working with him using my old copies of ‘The Dragon Riders of Pern’ series. It was way over his reading level but was just what he needed to capture his interest.

Every evening we would sit together, in the warm lamp light, and take turns reading to each other from Anne McCaffrey’s captivating stories. We celebrated the successes of the characters and absorbed the nuances of the plots. As the weeks went by his reading improved and the characters ability to overcome adversity and triumph.. became his victory also. Confidence in his natural abilities reasserted itself as it had for Menolly and like on dragon’s wings.. he could fly. It was marvelous.

As a mother I would have given him a dragon if I could. That was not an option but with Anne McCaffrey’s lovely stories I was able to help him find his wings.

To celebrate his achievement I did make him a toy bronze fire lizard though.

There was a small part of me that always wanted to put the little stuffed fire lizard into a suitcase and fly to Ireland, show up at tea time and thank Anne McCaffrey personally. That wasn’t to be .. but I send my thanks and appreciation to you, Anne, where you have gone ‘between’ on dragon wing.

Anne you will always be part of the fabric of our lives.

The 2nd book in the Sage Seed Chronicle Series-coming soon

The Reweaving, which is the sequel toThe Unraveling, is due to come out soon… possibly within a month. Isn’t that cool?

There is a delightful story in that. One of the great people that I met on Twitter became intrigued with the concept of my book (The Sage Seed Chronicles: The Unraveling) and bought it. We discovered as we chatted back and forth that she worked as an associate for Red Willow Digital Press, my publisher. She wasn’t aware who the authors were in that house. How much fun was that coincidence!

As she was reading it she would email me and tell me how it was a page-turner and how much she enjoyed it. Then one Sunday I got an email from her. She had finished the book and r-e-a-l-l-y wanted to continue with the story. She asked when the sequel was due to come out. I responded that I didn’t know. I hadn’t heard from my publisher when he wanted the manuscript. Well that lovely lady got on the phone and a few hours later she wrote me that she had been assigned as the editor of my second book! 

So The Reweaving now has gone through three stages of editing and is now in formatting. I am delighted. Here is a sneak peek of the cover art for the new book.