tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.comments2023-10-21T03:54:12.029-04:00A Gift UniverseSheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comBlogger4121125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-58408481733932740932023-05-30T20:50:21.463-04:002023-05-30T20:50:21.463-04:00Weird, I didn't see either of these comments. ...Weird, I didn't see either of these comments. I wonder if Blogger stopped notifying me.<br /><br />Mr Roivas, I totally agree. Striving is the good life. Life shouldn't be all striving, but it shouldn't be all peace either.<br /><br />AJS, you're probably right. But that worries me because some people's moral intuitions are absolutely *terrible.*Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-35088312404426712812023-04-26T21:28:40.020-04:002023-04-26T21:28:40.020-04:00Those "longtermists" sound a bit as if t...Those "longtermists" sound a bit as if they are concocting their ethical system to match what they want to do anyway. And your own objections seem to be based on your own internal moral sense as well. I think that's what all ethics ultimately comes down: one's internal moral sense. I think the practice of ethics is as much a matter of introspection and awareness of one's own internal values and how they rank amongst themselves and how they relate to the world around one as it is about logical systems of right vs wrong. Right and wrong come from within and systems like utilitarianism are rationalizations of what we already believe. That's my current opinion, anyway.AJSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-39928565768677039692023-04-25T17:16:58.477-04:002023-04-25T17:16:58.477-04:00This is beautiful.
Along with the books I'm ...This is beautiful. <br /><br />Along with the books I'm still writing in the foolish hope I can sell them someday and have the general public read them, I'm training for a marathon. Its something I've wanted to do for years, but stuff keeps happening. Injuries, sickness, and other things besides.<br /><br />When I'm running, sweating and panting, its not exactly zoning out with a video game. But it makes me feel good to have done so, and every day I do it, I'm running longer, faster, or on occasion, both. <br /><br />Striving is the good life. MrRoivashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12018731012247569416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-55173903360993092332022-06-13T20:23:31.242-04:002022-06-13T20:23:31.242-04:00The publisher is Hansen House, though I think they...The publisher is Hansen House, though I think they may be closed right now. But if you're interested in that pathway, my other blog has a post with some ideas: https://sheilajenne.com/2022/04/17/the-small-press-publishing-path/Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-45290590292439118302022-06-13T10:43:31.966-04:002022-06-13T10:43:31.966-04:00So glad to hear you've done it!
Who's th...So glad to hear you've done it! <br /><br />Who's the publisher? Do you know if they'd be open to more queries right now?Mine has been rejected by about every agent I can find, and if the small publisher is open to direct queries that's at least another avenue.MrRoivashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12018731012247569416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-17523398830858375332022-06-08T11:57:35.758-04:002022-06-08T11:57:35.758-04:00WOW! Congratulations!WOW! Congratulations!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-86163797062567664942022-03-26T13:43:53.686-04:002022-03-26T13:43:53.686-04:00Yeah, trying to find meaning, or even to try to ma...Yeah, trying to find meaning, or even to try to make sure you're offering it up, is extra effort you don't really need when you're having a hard time. I always appreciate empathy that consists in "yes, that sounds like it sucks," rather than the kind of bright-siding religious people often do. Sometimes it helps to just acknowledge that things are objectively bad!Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-16926231914593864312022-03-26T13:39:46.358-04:002022-03-26T13:39:46.358-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07670454501751270576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-71048387887711165052022-03-12T12:22:50.465-05:002022-03-12T12:22:50.465-05:00Hi Sheila, I don't know whether this will help...Hi Sheila, I don't know whether this will help, but one of the reasons I stopped being a Christian (Catholic) was how God seemed unjust in the way suffering got dished out. Putting it in a child's perspective, I found it was depressing believing in a mean God. Now at least when there is suffering, I am not prompted to try to analyze or figure out God's plan or any of those other unanswerable mind-crushers.ficino4mlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00805116221735364590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-92118349357656236022022-03-05T10:51:54.114-05:002022-03-05T10:51:54.114-05:00These are both good tips. I have never read any Ca...These are both good tips. I have never read any Camus before, but I should.<br /><br />Meditation . . . argh. When I have quiet time to do it, it's so precious I tend to spend it on something else! But I suppose it's like brushing my teeth, a chore I should do because it'll pay off.Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-26758495907246959192022-03-02T13:38:15.516-05:002022-03-02T13:38:15.516-05:00:(
Have you read any Buddhist stuff on suffering?...:(<br /><br />Have you read any Buddhist stuff on suffering? I've done that, and then never stuck to the regime of meditation that would help me dissolve suffering... but if there's some non-transhuman solution to suffering (and there might not be) that's where I'd put most of my chips.<br /><br />And when I have stuck to the meditation, I've generally been better, FWIW.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-32827749258900596072022-03-02T12:11:29.662-05:002022-03-02T12:11:29.662-05:00You should read (or re-read) Camus' Myth of Si...You should read (or re-read) Camus' Myth of Sisyphus, and his novel The Plague. If I were an atheist, I'd be...Camuian? Not sure how you're supposed to spell a word describing someone who appreciates Camus above others.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-89918619690992352512021-12-31T19:25:37.765-05:002021-12-31T19:25:37.765-05:00Sure! sheilathebard at gmail dot com.
It'll b...Sure! sheilathebard at gmail dot com.<br /><br />It'll be the unpublished leading the unpublished, but at least I'm a second pair of eyes!Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-12751349433759584102021-12-31T19:24:04.775-05:002021-12-31T19:24:04.775-05:00Thank you for the quick and friendly response.
W...Thank you for the quick and friendly response. <br /><br />Would you terribly mind if I sent you one of my sample queries plus the first five pages, which was the most commonly requested amount? If you're willing to critique, I'm willing to listen.<br /><br />MrRoivashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12018731012247569416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-41201688006588060512021-12-31T17:24:06.033-05:002021-12-31T17:24:06.033-05:00Mainly the knowledge that the determination, persi...Mainly the knowledge that the determination, persistence, cussedness, or spite involved in keeping writing after rejection is the main thing that separates the writing men from the writing boys. Like, anybody can write, that's easy; quite a few people can write well. But not that many people even submit their writing, and fewer than that actually keep doing it as long as it actually takes to succeed. I am extremely stubborn, so here we are.<br /><br />Beyond that, I guess it's important to keep the writing part of your mind and submitting completely separate. With the writing part, you write, and you try to fall so much in love with that story that you develop a little detachment from the one you're submitting. And with the submitting part, you try to collect as many rejections as you possibly can. Don't think about success, it's too crippling. Think about making a great story about how many rejections you've had before success. If anybody requests pages, take that as engraved proof you're eventually going to be a success. If anybody writes a personal rejection explaining what's wrong with your work, treasure that as some of the best advice you'll ever get (even though the feedback may contradict, nature of the beast there). Decide how many rejections the book must get before you shelve it, and try to continue until you reach that number. Every time you get a rejection, have a cookie/beer/ice cream and send out another. Kind of trains you to feel the rejections as progress, which they are.<br /><br />Whoops it turns out I have a lot of tips. The last one is, if you're getting no requests, revise your query and/or pages. QueryTracker has a forum where you can post yours for help revising it. Or I could take a look at it. Remember that most of the rejections you get won't be rejections of *you,* just your query, which means half rejections of the concept itself (that agent isn't into it, doesn't like it, already reps something like it, whatever) and half because the query doesn't sound like the book is interesting, which it might still be! If you haven't looked through the Query Shark blog, you definitely should.<br /><br />Here's hoping the story takes off! Do keep in mind, though, that even when it feels like you're pulling teeth, that doesn't mean the quality isn't good. I pulled teeth the whole way through the space colony novel but when I read it now, I really can't tell.Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-48070971487477802212021-12-31T17:04:35.912-05:002021-12-31T17:04:35.912-05:00I liked your short story.
Your post hit me where ...I liked your short story.<br /><br />Your post hit me where I live, more than I expected. Of all things, I'm actually in the process of trying to get an agent for a novel I completed back in late October. Its not going well, to put it mildly. I suspect it will be passed over, as so many other books are.<br /><br />How do you find motivation to keep writing, in the face of rejection? I'm trying to start something new for the new year, but its like pulling teeth in comparison to writing this first one, where sometimes I got so into writing it I could do 4k+ words a day. What's allows you to keep at it? MrRoivashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12018731012247569416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-62441873182460944422021-09-28T18:29:12.405-04:002021-09-28T18:29:12.405-04:00Oh I've got lots of footage. Though it always ...Oh I've got lots of footage. Though it always ends with Jackie noticing and flying at the camera to make the filming stop!Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-59986758123297371252021-09-28T18:06:53.773-04:002021-09-28T18:06:53.773-04:00The wife suggested half-jokingly that you wear a b...The wife suggested half-jokingly that you wear a body cam to capture Jackie's home behavior.Charlemagnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07935899105940585444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-91403585192781620822021-08-16T20:53:41.805-04:002021-08-16T20:53:41.805-04:00It's not the town, it's the county that ca...It's not the town, it's the county that can afford to make that can afford to make the area look so nice. Part of the reason they can do that is because they are closer to the city. The other reason is because the north side of the river has zoning ordinances which limit development and are meant to protect the watershed but also raise the land value substantially. Most of those business on the south side of the river were built there decades ago before the area was as built up as it is now. People didn't care if there was a car dealership on the road to the next town over, but now that road is part of town and they're an eyesore but we can't get rid of them without putting people out of business.<br /><br />America isn't the only place with ugly neighborhoods. I recently visited a country with some <i>really</i> ugly neighborhoods that put America's to shame. It also has some really beautiful ones but those were mostly builtin the 19th century before the automobile so that's probably part of the problem. <br /><br />The way I've seen the problem framed, and I think I agree, is that a lot of American neighborhoods lack a 'sense of place'. This happens for a lot of reasons. One is because of the cookie-cutter approach to development. Another is because of the lack of distinction between <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ1HhLq-Huo" rel="nofollow">streets and roads</a>. Greenery helps too, but there are a lot of cookie-cutter neighborhoods around here with plenty of greenery that are still pretty ugly in my opinion; just flat, samey, lawns as far as the eye can see.AJSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-37322304589834447862021-08-03T11:46:21.428-04:002021-08-03T11:46:21.428-04:00I mean, if the shoe fits, what can it hurt? I thin...I mean, if the shoe fits, what can it hurt? I think at best it helps you understand yourself in relation to the rest of the world. If you find yourself in need of support, it helps narrow down your options to the viable ones.<br /><br />I found myself musing the other day that perhaps our children will push back at all the therapy and knowing thyself that's popular these days. I kind of doubt it, because I look at certain family members and think "All I want for you is for you to be okay with yourself." And that's really the crux of it all, isn't it? ettelochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01133817046210501204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-28555978090169679592021-08-03T11:40:15.926-04:002021-08-03T11:40:15.926-04:00I am seeing this a month later, after logging on t...I am seeing this a month later, after logging on to Feedly for the first time in...well, while.<br /><br />Hope things are smoothing out! Every place has its ups and downs and readjusting is hard. Summer is its own kind of hard because everyone's schedule is wonky. <br /><br />I'm guessing your kids will go from "these guys talk differently" to utilizing a weird form of Spanglish very soon. At least, that's how it goes with us. ettelochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01133817046210501204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-22424593624680323812021-07-30T12:52:18.769-04:002021-07-30T12:52:18.769-04:00Yeah, but "aspie" has the exact same pro...Yeah, but "aspie" has the exact same problem. They had to lump aspbergers with autism because otherwise everyone insisted on giving the aspergers kids less support because "after all, it's MILD autism." No it isn't, it's autism without a verbal delay, that's all it means! Some people with classic autism outpace people with aspergers when it comes to things like self-care and independence.<br /><br />Here's another area for research: a robust instrument for scoring an autistic person's wellbeing. Right now they measure everything by "symptoms" and claim to fix a child by training them out of the more obvious ones. What if we measured happiness, self care ability, academic performance compared to potential, meeting personal goals? Then we could maybe assess whether we are doing enough for autistic kids who need varying levels of support.Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-58624337436812291682021-07-28T23:15:00.420-04:002021-07-28T23:15:00.420-04:00"I don't love this. Treating these dispar..."I don't love this. Treating these disparate conditions as one thing means that my children, when I say they are autistic, are always assessed based on the most classic symptoms and then told they "must not have it that bad" and therefore don't need help."<br /><br />Yeah, this is why a lot of autistics like to retain the term 'aspie'. The whole shift to a single 'ASD' classification was just the medical community admitting that they don't know enough about the underlying conditions to be more specific than the amount of assistance someone needs. The categorization they had used before wasn't necessarily based on natural categories. I don't know that we'll ever be able to get to the type1/type2/type3 classification stage because there just might not be clear clusters to group people into. AJSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-64579850728537383152021-07-27T21:24:53.288-04:002021-07-27T21:24:53.288-04:00I really hope you guys eventually find your groove...I really hope you guys eventually find your groove here. This town is not so bad overall. AJSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-17484648711230900042021-07-11T12:34:01.530-04:002021-07-11T12:34:01.530-04:00Wow, I have no wisdom to convey. I hope things get...Wow, I have no wisdom to convey. I hope things get better with time. I've always felt bad after moving.<br /><br /> Big cyber hugs. xoxo Fficino4mlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00805116221735364590noreply@blogger.com