Making a blog on your own is an intimidating process in the beginning stages, but honestly, once you give it a shot, it is surprisingly a smooth ride most of the time. What’s your favorite hobby? How much do you like writing? If you have the knack for typing out your personal story or if the idea of reviewing your latest TV show binge or would love to explain why that new Video Game you just bought ain’t all that, then you should probably create a blog like everybody else is doing here on the net.
Below are the three most important services you’ll need to sign up for to get started with creating your own good-looking, professional blog site. Read on to find out what you need to do to get started blogging!
1. Hosting your blog site
Domains usually are like 15 dollars a year, but most services have a 3 year, 5 year or 10 year deal you can pay up front. Also you will see extra things to add like privacy and other things that come up. You want to be able to have a site that is “https://” and not just “http://”.
There’s a lot going on here, I know, but I have like 5 sites all together and if I can handle it you can too!
2. WordPress for creating your content
WP is the leader in making websites. They have a free version, but there are no ads if you pay for the WordPress service.
It’s not hard to learn how to use the WordPress administrative “dashboard” and once you do it’ll become second nature and you’ll be in business.
3. Get Response for starting your email list or newsletter
For email lists use a place like Get Response. They have a free trial, but after that you have to pay for their service. It’s very user friendly and I find it’s easy in lots of ways. Sign up at the link below to get your own account for yourself.
Make a Blog, Be a Blogger
Communicating through the blog-o-sphere is one of the most rewarding things I’ve done to stay in touch with friends and to make new ones virtually. Being creative with WordPress is the “ultimate” with all their plug-ins, keeping yourself organized with MailChimp makes the whole online process easy, with that said, take the time to check out these three services to create your cool blog and then you too can sit in cafes all day with your laptop sipping on those café au laits you like so much.
Make Money in Bull (or Bear) Markets with these 3 Books
Maybe you’ve seen the headlines recently where everyone’s celebrating the longest bull market in history (at the time of this writing).
That’s debatable as I see, but really what has happened is that the stock market, particularly the S&P 500, the SPY, has reached a new high and it’s never been this high before.
Most people are scared and saying the market is ripe for a “correction” meaning it’s going to go down, but again… debate.
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I had a history teacher in high school who said, “Opinion’s are like assholes… everybody has one.”
In a weird way that’s good advice because no matter what you do in life, whether playing the stock market or learning how to take care of your pet dog or cat properly, you don’t necessarily need opinions. What you really need is the right information that always, always, always come from a good book or paying for an “edumacation.”
I’m 43 and currently I’m thinking about taking a class on how to be a comic book writer where you work with artists to make a graphic novel or comic. It costs 199 and the man who runs it told me he’s worked in comic books for 50 years. Needless to say, he sold me on the 10 week class he’s offering and I’m all sorts of excited!
Whatever you are thinking about doing take the time to find a class or read a book and make money in bull (or bear) Markets with these 3 books we’ve listed… Survive!
Right now, a lot of people are going to lose money by throwing it into the stock market without knowing what they are doing. They won’t read a book, they won’t take a class and instead just respond to any old headline the financial websites throw at them, which is a bad way to do things.
If you’re interested in getting in the stock market, right now, do yourself a favor and buy the several books I mention below I’ve read myself.
OptionsPop gives you simple options buy alerts that have a high probability of moving up in price in the next 2 to 9 days!
Do you get emotional about money? Do you get analysis paralysis when it comes to technical analysis? If so, this philosophical book will give you some insight on how to sit down at your computer every morning in your underwear with your trading account. Most people lose money when they trade and most success in this arena comes from the people who know how to control their actions, emotions and attitude to make money trading. Learn how to do all that by referring to this important book on the subject.
Alexander Elder came to this country from Russia hardly knowing any english. His book has a great story on how he figured out to make lots of money in the stock market on his own and he shares solid information with the reader all based on his lifetime of trading experiences. Don’t hesitate to add this book to your stock market library to gain huge insight form this man’s wisdom.
Maybe you’re waiting for a “correction” or more importantly a bear market. If you’re a contrarian then you can prepare for a down direction in the market with this book. It’s full of easy to understand charts and pictures to show you what a down market looks like. William J. O’Neil and his family created IBD, so they “totes” know what they’re talking about when it comes to selling short.
Great! You now know how to make money in bull (or bear) markets with these 3 Books! Congrats!
There are those niche “nerd” websites that talk about video games and cosplay, but I find those to be complete nonsense half the time.
When you are looking to learn, to find answers to your problems, you could spend hours before you find one blog post that is worth your time.
If you are as frustrated with the “internets” as I am then maybe you should try something I just recently rediscovered.
Reading books.
I’m not a big book reader even though I write.
Someone at my writers group recently wanted to get rid of two boxes of books and she let me look through her boxes and grab some. I picked up Dennis Lehane (My favorite), Brad Thor, James Patterson and some others, and all of them were NY Times Bestsellers.
Reading could be the quickest way I’ve ever added meaning to my life.
They say you read to know you’re not alone.
Reading NY Times Bestsellers, you can’t really go wrong, because people are already buying these like cray and the reason is they are well written and are a great escape.
I’ve read many a blog post to try to find meaning in my life and lots of them give advice like run, join a gym, meditate, volunteer — sure, all great ideas, and I do all this at certain times, but picking up a book and reading it, in my opinion, is a lot more meaningful than scouring blogs for life’s answers.
A book will probably give you those anyway.
One of my favorite books is Moby Dick. It’s about a “bum” who signs up to be a whaler when he grows tired of being a landlubber.
It’s a “classic” and the book is timeless so if you pick it up and read it you will just forget your problems immediately.
You can even download books from libraries now for free. Did you know this? Yeah, Amazon owns that too, but it’s cool. It’s called OverDrive.
The sad part is they make you wait for a copy if it’s checked out. Not cool. This is the digital age y’all! I don’t have any answers.
Sometimes I wake up in the morning (or go to bed at night) certain life has no meaning and it is all chaos and then we die. I’m depressing aren’t I?
It’s hard to convince myself different when my mind goes along this “track.”
It would be better if I read a book before I went to sleep. I usually watch Amazon Prime though as of late.
Anyway, a book - a bound set of pages - that’s what a book is. You can use your kindle for it, too of course. Or you can read what someone chiseled in stone or wrote on papyrus leaves or try a modern book instead.
There’s no way to get over it, so just suffer– I’m kidding!
There’s always hope.
It’s hard to follow someone else’s advice when you’re heartbroken.
In the end you know as well as I that it’s best to be around friends who care when you feel brokenhearted, but here are some suggestions that might help ease your pain.
Buy A Moon Reading & Explore the Deepest Depths of Your Personality and Relationships.
1. Type “How to get over Heartache” into YouTube search and see what comes up
Sometimes it’s hard to find a YouTube video that isn’t sale-sy, but honestly I’m good at finding something useful on the YouTubes. When it does happen I suggest you binge watch the whole series of videos you found until you get something out of it and start to feel better or learn a new way to cope with your heartache.
2. Realize you will get over it… Say what?
So many ladies and not enough time! at least that is how the voice inside my head sees it when I feel like shit because my heart’s been broken into smithereens. Honestly, I’d much rather act like a tragic Romeo or Tristan character than listen to that tiny voice that tells me to buck up and get over it, but every once in a while it presents a solid case.
For example, I remember once I heard the voice inside me say, “You got over that other girl that made you lay in your bed in the fetal position for six months straight, so you can definitely get over this other pretty face, can’t ya? In fact there’s a slew of girls you’ve met in your life that you don’t have a crush on anymore, so chew on that, buster.”
Like I said it’s hard to listen to this voice of reason where the truth is so blunt and I would much rather pity myself and go die than listen to this voice of encouragement inside myself explaining that I have more life to live and more women to meet, but alas, this voice really does have a good point even if I don’t ever want to see it.
3. Seek professional help
I’ve sought so much professional help, in the last eighteen years specifically, I should have my own degree in psychology. Some people say they can’t afford to see a shrink (most girls I thought I wanted to date said this… Hmmmmm) but that shouldn’t stop you from begging, stealing and doing whatever you can to get the money for a professional’s advice. We do live in an advanced civilization and not an ancient one so suffering in depression is not something you need to do. You know I’m right, playa!
4. Go out and about
Try a cafe where people are and allow yourself to observe others. Drink coffee, eat a pastry and live a little. Most people will look more happy than you are, this is a given, but it should encourage you in the end. For example, can you smile at a happy couple flirting with each other because you know deep down you can have what they have in the future. It’s nicer than scowling at them because you’re jealous don’t you think? It helps to be happy for others that have what you hope to have soon… Love.
There was one time in my life when I was so heartbroken a friend called me on the phone and found me crying. Then not too long after that a different friend showed up at my place and the door was open and he found me sitting on the floor crying. Yes, I sought professional help, but I was fucking things up by isolating myself and not calling my friends to talk about my heartache. Not all friends can give you good advise or a shoulder to cry on, so choose wisely and open up to your BFF only!
6. Join a gym
There’s nothing like this decision. When you go the gym you’ve basically decided you’re going to change yourself. When you work out you change your state of being and the way you felt before you worked out is not the same as after working out. It’s strange to think about, but it’s true, so if you don’t have a gym membership stop reading this blog post and go get one, now!
7. Stop talking to the person who broke your heart
You’re doing yourself a favor when you stop engaging with the one who is rejecting you. For some reason calling them or texting them will push them away even more especially if you want to argue and stuff. Realize there’s nothing you can do but go and talk to new people and get to know someone else. You really can do it even though it seems a mission impossible.
I’m sorry you experienced heartache
There’s nothing worse really in my book, but you won’t die and you’re going to need to start doing something once you realize you’re still alive and kicking despite this unfortunate circumstance.
Take a baby step today and do something fun.
Call a shrink or a friend.
You just need to try to feel something different than awfulness, that’s all, so take a baby step.
You can do it, good looking!
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Did you know Joseph Campbell said George Lucas was the best student he ever had?
“Who?” you’re wondering. “And why does that matter when I could just go stream a Star Wars movie instead of reading this blog post?”
Well, let me explain. Joe Campbell wrote books about the influence of myths.
This guy Campbell researched ancient religions, tribes, and all their stories from long ago.
Another man named Bill Moyers did a whole series on PBS years ago about the subject of “myth” and even interviewed Joseph Campbell. The show and book is simply called The Power of Myth.
Basically, my point is Campbell’s books are very important to anyone who considers themselves a writer.
For example, have you heard of the hero’s journey? There’s usually a hero, some wise old sage he learns from to help the hero get the insight he needs to defeat evil and his enemies — and these are just a few of the things a writer should think about when writing stories.
Goerge Lucas honored Joseph Campbell once and said, “I had an idea of doing a modern fairy tale . . . (I) stumbled across The Hero with a Thousand Faces . . . I began to understand how I could do this. It was a great gift.”
I don’t know about you, but the fact that George Lucas became a household name because he studied Campbell’s books makes me want to go out and buy everything written by this guy.
Here’s a list of books you should check out to continue your own personal odyssey of becoming the next George Lucas.
How Star Wars Conquered the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of a Multibillion Dollar Franchise by Chris Taylor
Everyone’s reading this one to get the nitty gritty on how George Lucas did it.
Star Wars Trilogy Bonus Disc (2004)
A surprisingly cool video about George Lucas and the cast of Star Wars.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell) by Joseph Campbell
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers
If you purchase through our partner links, we get paid for the referral at no additional cost to you! Visit our disclosure page.
Listen to this gosh darn interview over on Medium.com.
Interview by Evan Hundhausen
Patricia Schudy believes “Birth order is a fact, not a fateTM” and her book, “Oldest Daughters: What to know if you are one or have ever been bossed around by one,” features stories from in-depth interviews with more than 100 family members. The book is the result of a random, online survey, which drew responses from several hundred individuals from diverse ethnicities. The people interviewed share how the position of the first-born daughter impacts adult relationships from siblings to spouses.
I took the time to talk to “Pat” about how she wrote her book, about her career as a reporter and as a former nationally syndicated newspaper columnist (Universal Press Syndicate). I even got her talking about self-publishing and how to promote her book, so let’s not dillydally! Start reading all about oldest daughters below in this interview with Patricia Schudy.
Why were you inspired to write a book called “Oldest Daughters?”
Oh my gosh he won! (Laughter) Yes and I’ve been one all my life, so I just had things that I’ve observed. I had various kind of unwritten, unproven statistic that oldest daughters tend to know, interact with, work with other oldest daughters. One of the stories in the book I wrote is a woman who’s been, I’m not going to mention her companies whatever, but she was … a big time corporate person in a big time company and she said it used to just amaze her, wherever she went, she’d find herself in conversations in workgroups in appointment committees with oldest daughters she said there’s just something at some level where oldest daughters recognize each other. I obviously hadn’t heard that story before I began writing but one of the things that I suggest in the book that I write is go back and look at how many people you know, and this again is for women, of your friends, of your close friends, of your college roommates, your high school best friends, people at your wedding, how many of them were oldest daughters and it is just amazing… so I’ve done a lot of observing. I’ve also observed family relationship, inter-relationships between, and I’m not saying among now, I’m saying between an oldest daughter and one or another sibling, and how the expectations of an oldest daughter in adulthood, and I should’ve said that right away, Evan, this book is about adult oldest daughters this is not a … this is not a book of parenting, this is a book about relationships and because I had observed that relationships, were often, very often, frequently most often, take your pick from the above or all the above, their relationships were so affected by the expectations of family members of the adult oldest daughter that the expectations were the same of her in adulthood as they’d been in childhood and everything in me said, “Woh, we are all adults now, come on!” you know. Let’s look at our relationships now, so long answer to your question of how I became intrigued by the topic that was it.
“… a columnist, is an observer of human nature and of what makes a good story and of being able to interview people to get that good story out and then to write that good story.”
Alright and what’s your background? You’re a psychologist and a journalist?
Not a psychologist! No! Wait a minute. What’s that commercial on television I just play one? I’m not a doctor I just play one on TV. No. I have a psychology minor… In my five children the oldest daughter is a clinical psychologist, so lots of conversational, years of conversations about psychology, plus study on my own academically, but no I am not a psychologist and nor I do I pretend to be in this book. I’m a reporter. A feature writer, which is what I was for 30 years and a columnist, is an observer of human nature and of what makes a good story and of being able to interview people to get that good story out and then to write that good story. It’s very different from writing a memoir because, well, we have to go back before the recent brew ha ha about news, but when I was trained in journalism it was that you are objective unless you are an editorial writer, so I was very used to telling other people’s stories and letting them tell the story.
Well, that’s interesting. Blogging seems to destroy everything that you’re talking about.
Oh, yeah.
Every time I read a blog post I’m 90 percent of the time not impressed.
I struggle with that, which is why I have very few blog posts and posts on my own blog because I don’t want to speak as an oldest daughter, which in marketing that’s what I should do if I want to promote my book, so looking for other stories that are truly relevant to the oldest daughters vision I don’t have a lot to say. In fact, I probably am going to start a new blog just under another website that I own, that’s my own name, and then I’ll write as myself and if somebody cares what I think as myself they can go to that.
GoshDarnBlog.com 2022.
When you interview these oldest daughters do you use their names in the book or do you stay away from that? What’s the formula for interviewing other people in a self-published book?
Good question. Well in the first place I didn’t know it was going to be self-published because I didn’t know it was going to take me 10 years to write it and I had just completed some things, which would’ve given me as I know you know the term “writers platform.” By the time I had finished writing and re-writing this book I no longer had an active writer’s platform, so I didn’t want to go through the explaining of all that to possible agents waiting for them to go through a 2 year process waiting 2 years to see—no, I’d written this book. I believed it had important things for readers to read and to know, and so I would self-publish, so that’s what I did. I also wanted to just elaborate a little bit… I did not just interview oldest daughters. This is a book about sibling relationships primarily and under the BISAC codes I think it goes family relationships and sibling relationships… so what I was saying is that I wanted to write a well-balanced book, that meant that I interviewed not only oldest daughters and told their stories, but I looked at the adult oldest daughters from the perspective of siblings brothers and sister and from spouses because these are the people with whom adult relationships function within a family and I could’ve expanded that because I’ve done a lot of corporate work. I could’ve expanded that to oldest daughters in the work place. Well, I didn’t want to write a three-volume book, so I just stuck to family relationships.
“I created an online survey and I’m a big believer in word of mouth and it just circulated and I eventually I had over 800 responses…”
How’d you find these people?
I had written a nationally syndicated column, a youth advice column. I was in, I don’t know, 80 plus newspapers, which is nice… I always point out that I think Doonesbury is in a thousand… but I was happy with my 80 and they were nationwide, and because I’d done a lot of work in 6 or 7 years with that column, with asking for opinions and working with different groups around the country, different high school and college groups, that I created an online survey, I knew how to do that, I created an online survey and I’m a big believer in word of mouth and it just circulated and I eventually I had over 800 responses to it and it is demographically valid, but not statistically valid, which means that through word of mouth people of absolutely every ethnicity responded to it, but not in numbers that would make it statistically valid. Far more Caucasians than say Native Americans and yet had responses from Native Americans, from Asians, from African Americans, from Hispanic, from… I eventually called one category melting pot… I used survey monkey, which is a well-respected survey instrument and that’s how I did it and then on that survey I asked, “Would you be willing” … Evan, I know that knowing me you would absolutely agree with this I am a person of integrity right? Say yes, Evan.
Yes.
Ah, thanks. So, I was, I should’ve said noble, because I did not want, I wanted people to express their feelings, so I did not to the horror later of marketing people I talked to, I did not collect any personal information. The survey was totally anonymous. However, at the very end of it… there was a question, Would you be interested in or willing to talk in a telephone interview about your experiences either as or with an oldest daughter? If so that will require you giving me your name and your phone number, so I had, oh golly, two to 300 of the 800 said yes… Well, I couldn’t do that. I eventually interviewed 125 and that was more than I could include in the book and you asked me about using their name, I always got (that). There’s only one person out of the, gosh, the huge notebook of the printed-out interviews that I have. Only one person that I get just a first name from. Everybody else gave me their name. Some of them, who wanted to be contacted after the book was published, of course when I did the interviews I had no idea how many more years it would take before I published, but they gave me their email addresses and their phone numbers and when I interviewed them, this is your choice. I’m only going to identify people by your first names because suppose your name is Bob Smith and it’s your real name and I publish this story about your oldest daughter and it’s a terrible story and there’s another Bob Smith with an oldest daughter. What are you going to do? So, I only used first names and if they were uncomfortable because the stories they were telling either had some embarrassing aspects to it. I only published one abuse story, but personal stories that the person telling me the story, knew their families would not want to have told, they used an assumed name and I explained that in the introduction to the book. If you see a name in quotes that means, it’s an assumed name.
“… a highly respected Philadelphia Newspaper, had done a series of stories on how juvenile kids were treated in the system including putting them in solitary and underground whatevers and I was just horrified by that. “
You were a journalist in Kansas City?
The very first story I had printed became an inside the magazine cover story… It was on the juvenile justice system and I had the Philadelphia Enquirer, which is not the National Enquirer, please note that, Philadelphia Enquirer, a highly respected Philadelphia Newspaper, had done a series of stories on how juvenile kids were treated in the system including putting them in solitary and underground whatevers and I was just horrified by that. Probably that was the oldest daughter in me, not to mention that I had for three years taught high school, so I took the story idea to a local magazine and asked if I could write a story for ‘em. So you know the term Evan on spec? Yes, I could write a story on spec. Well it became a big deal story and that catapulted me into the Kansas City Star and I wrote features and columns for them, over 200 byline there, and I think I have over 300 byline stories, but in my resume I only say 200 because I was also in trade magazines. I was also in National Catholic Reporter and the Catholic Digest because I am by religious affiliation Catholic and so I went to them because I thought they’d be interested in some of the stories and editorials and they were, but my home base was Kansas City… I didn’t mention that kids wrote into us, young people, teenagers, they’re not kids and some of them, eventually we were responding to people in colleges, community colleges and it ran for several years.
GoshDarnBlog.com 2022.
How did working for the Kansas City Star result in a column?
In the national column? I was selected… in 1987 I was selected as one of I think there was 17 or 18 of us women who were selected, I don’t know if you even know this person’s name, senator Dale Bumpers was a prominent senator, united state senator, and his wife Betty Bumpers had formed an affiliation with the first Russian cosmonaut who was a woman… and together they felt that if we were going to get out of the cold war situation it would take women to do so. Kind of a precursor to what some of the senators and congressman and governors are now saying about the current situation, that we need more women as elected leaders, but so this group called Peace Links was the first group of American women invited to meetings after president, prime minister, whatever he was Gorbachev mandated glasnost and perestroika and so I was one of the ones selected to go because of my writing.
I was at a book signing of yours recently. How do you set up a book signing as a self-published author?
It’s important to know if there’s a community relations person. If a store is big enough to have a community relations person, they want to bring in authors who will bring in or attract buyers who enter the store, so I cold called for the community relations person… When you’re dealing with a retail store like Barnes and Noble I believe things have to be win win, so if they’re going to give me the opportunity to come in I’m going to do my best and I ’ve learned more and more the more I do these things how to bring people into their store, how to make them glad they had me in their store and the tool I use… is that I look to see what’s on the calendar… I used National Women’s History month because in my book there’s a chapter on that. The Louisville presentation that I’m going to do, I’m going to do it May 2nd and May 2nd is Brothers and Sisters Day, perfect, so I try to find some kind of a link or a hook that the store itself can use in their publications.
You have your book on Createspace or Ingram Spark?
Well because Ingram Spark supports libraries and bookstores, Createspace uses amazon, which is a competitor to bookstores, so the first thing that, at least in my experience… that retailers want to know is what your ISBN number is…. and it’s really important. Early on I did this wrong, it’s really important when they get their ISBN number, IBS, well come on Pat, I-S-B-N number, and they look for that in their website, I mean in their system and find that it’s offered through Ingram Spark, what’s very, very, very, did I say very often enough? It’s very important that on your Ingram Spark account page you had checked that books can be returned.
Oh, okay.
That’s critical.
And what does a return look like? They just return it to you or do they return it to Ingram Spark?
Oh, no. There are choices at Ingram Spark in the way you want to do that. You want to have them returned in any condition, returned and sent to you, returned—it’s all off the top of my head Evan. I’m not looking at this.
Yeah. Yeah.
It’s just what I’m recalling or return and destroy and I just mark “return and destroy” … Who knows what kind of condition the books are in depending on the retailer or whatever. All the retailer’s interested in is that they can send these back that they’re not going to be stuck with them and have to pay for them, so if they send them back they get a credit on a bill and then the author gets that deducted from whatever the next month’s royalties are, for example.
Wow, okay cool. Yeah, I didn’t know any that so that’s why I’m asking ya. When I was there with you at your book signing you had some good advice on how to sell books to people, so let’s go over that again because that was realty interesting. Do you remember what you told me?
Oh heaven’s no. (laughter)
“Some of them are hysterically funny. Some of them are hysterically sad, but everybody has a story.”
Well you were like, “You look ‘em in the eyes and if they look you in the eyes you can ask them a question?”
Oh, yeah, you read their body language first of all. If somebody’s rushing through the store, Barnes and Noble does it nicely, at least the two that I’ve done, they’ve put me right inside the door, so right away if I see a man on a mission, a person with a purpose and they are zeroing in on where they’re going to go, I’m not going to interrupt them, these people, whatever. A lot of customers are coming in ‘cause they really like their bookstores and they want to look at some books that they’ve been interested in and it’s raining outside and a good day to go to Barnes and Noble, so those kind of people, who are more relaxed when they’re coming in, if they look over and they look over at the book signer near the entrance and they kind of, you can read their eyes and see are they reading, whatever, so then you can say “Hi, afternoon!” whatever it is, “I’d love to tell you about my book if you have a few minutes” and some of them say, “Well, I’ll come back later.” and some of them say, “Yeah, what is this oldest daughter stuff?” you know, so then I follow up with depending on what they said, “Are you an oldest daughter?” Obviously, you don’t say that to a man, a male customer. I used to have onetime slogan Oldest daughter: There’s one in everybody’s life. And there is. You cannot talk to anybody who doesn’t know an oldest daughter somewhere. What I learned when I wrote this book is that most people in the families, and this is a book for families, most people within a family had stories to tell about the oldest daughter. Some of them are hysterically funny. Some of them are hysterically sad, but everybody has a story. I mean you cannot mention the oldest daughter without someone going, “Yes, I can tell you that” or “Yee-Gods, yes I can tell you that,” so I kind of take my clues. I don’t have a scripted how you attract customers. I do that by intuition.
How much does it cost to make the banner for your table?
There was one that they created… I brought a table top poster with a built-in easel. I had that printed for a library presentation I did out in California earlier this year… I did bookmarks, those posters and I think I had author cards… I just called and asked to do a book signing… I wanted to be able to interact with customers who were coming in and for me the best way to do that is through a book signing. I’m going to do a presentation at the Louisville library and I’m creating the agenda for that. The way the program will be set up, and it’s definitely going to be interactive… I’m very pleased to be doing that.
Got anything else you want to talk about?
If you listen carefully through our interview, relationships were at the basis of everything, and the relationships are important.
D D Stewart has sixty-one mazes scanned into his computer. Apparently he has hundreds more at his disposal, just waiting for the privilege of becoming digitized.
I sit with him at a booth in a Boulder, Colorado Denny’s. If the restaurant allowed smoking we would both be partaking. He seems like he is anxious to step outside and have a cigarette. He has not touched his “Grand Slam-which.”
Then I start to ask him questions about mazes.
What was your first maze like?
“The manager was twenty-one and hired a staff of eighteen-year-olds. Somewhere in middle of this crazy atmosphere, in a dead mall with no customers, I sat at the counter and drew this trippy maze. That was the first one I ever did. Not enough sleep… and working in a dead mall.”
How many mazes have you done all together?
“Several hundred since I was 18. I’ve been doing it for fifteen years.”
Do you “do” mazes? Do you play them?
“I collect maze books. I’m able to go through mazes with my eyes, without a pen or pencil… I have to go through every single one of my own mazes because to draw a maze you have to go through it. The way is not the path from beginning to end, but it is to go through every path and make sure there is one way through it.”
What’s the definition of a maze to you?
Kulsiz.com
(There’s a long silence as D D sits across from me in the booth.)
“A beginning and an end and there’s an intricate path between… I’m able to do these in a lot of different mediums. When I started doing mazes I would start with pencil and then outline it with permanent marker. Then I would take white-out and make it look all pretty. Next I would take it to Kinkos and make copies of it. Then I copied that and redid it again and again. I would make like six versions of one maze. I’ve spent a lot of time at Kinkos just copying designs and redo-ing them with white-out.”
Currently you’re making mazes that serve as stand alone art pieces that hang on a wall?
“Now-a-days I do mazes in different mediums. Pencil, pen, permanent marker, on computer software… Currently, I’m working in ‘Paint’ on Windows and making straight, pixilated lines and the end result is an optical illusion because I’ve situated lines into certain patterns. The medium itself creates the complicated design. It’s the background I create that’s the focus now. It’s what I do before I draw a maze that creates the maze now. I’ve designed simple walking mazes before and it is something I would like to do again. A museum, an amusement park, a Halloween event; there are lots of places I could design something really neat if the right people were involved. I had a lot of fun at an Art Walk one year, putting down an eighty-foot by twenty-foot maze on the sidewalk in front of Stonebridge Games on Main Street. You could enter on either the North or South side, find your way to the store entrance, and then back out the maze the other direction. Kids and adults both had fun trying to find their way in and out.”
Above: A scale model of the walking maze design by D D Stewart with two entrances on the sidewalk that lead to the entrance of a store.
“In the future I would like to find someone who can invest a lot of money into a restaurant with three floors. Before you get to the entrance of the restaurant you have to journey through two floors of mazes. I’ve even figured out the proper fire codes to adhere to for this project.”
D D sees promise in looking for newspapers and magazines to publish his mazes. He also likes the idea of making a book to sell online both digitally and physically.
“A big one, you can put it on a coffee table in the living room even. Maybe selling it in other countries is a possibility, too.”
He also likes the idea of using mazes as Brain Therapy.
“Thinking therapy… Brain therapy… Mazes are complicated and have to do with problem solving. Mazes could be marketed to people with brain injuries or for brain training.”
Interview originally done back on 6-12-2015.
Photo Selfie: D D Stewart
Update 2018:
Visit www.kulsiz.com or buy D D’s maze books off Amazon as “Print on Demand” here.
If you purchase through our partner links, we get paid for the referral at no additional cost to you! Visit our disclosure page.
They say, Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, but sometimes all we talk about at my writers group is the opposite of that saying.
There’s always a huge debate on how artistically designed book covers will sell more copies on Amazon than a poorly designed one and if you don’t hire a graphic designer for hundreds of dollars you’re really missing the boat!
Common questions that usually come up are How much does cover design cost? or Can I design my book cover on my own? and after a while you feel stumped and are left thinking people don’t read, they just look at the pretty pictures.
Well there’s some truth to all that because recently I talked to a local writer, Caitlin Berve, and she had something to say about book cover design. You see, Caitlin used to work in a chain bookstore and she’s seen lots of books fly off the shelves based on just the covers.
“It was basically… where the cover’s kind of art in itself,” she told me. “It doesn’t just have the name on it or it doesn’t just have a picture that’s only for people who read that genre, but it’s kind of more than that… It’s really one’s that have images.”
The Raven King’s book cover was one she said stood out above the rest.
“Everyone who walked by it picked it up, even the people who I knew who only read non-fiction because they were regular customers.”
She also noticed more sales from the The Mortal Instruments book series and from Hollow City: The Second Book of Ms. Peregrine’s Peculiar Children.
“I’ve been involved in a couple of Facebook groups that are for writers,” she added, “and font makes a huge difference… There have a been a couple of covers where you put it up there and it’s like the person describes the book and I’m like, ‘Because of the font you chose this looks more like a romance and it’s really an action adventure story!’”
Eventually she made her own list and put it up on Pinterest.
If you purchase through our partner links, we get paid for the referral at no additional cost to you! Visit our disclosure page.
It’s no secret. I suck at relationships.
Maybe that’s why I’m always buying books and reading, so I can improve on all the things I suck at.
Whether you’re coupled up or not here’s a book you should check out.
It’s called “The New Power Couple: Designing An Abundant Life And Relationship That Lasts Forever” by Jocelyn and Aaron Freeman.
These two are authors, speakers and social entrepreneurs.
In fact, I met these two at a conference on publishing and was so impressed that I bought their book.
When these two got together they not only decided to fall in love. but also decided to build an abundant life and that’s why they started “a collaborative vision” creating their own business they can do together.
The book will show you how to step outside your “comfort zone “and will help you “find the courage to live unapologetically” as the unique person you are.
Some points covered in the book are:
Getting over fear
Health and wealth management
Watching for traps in relationship
Partnership as an adventure
Intention in relationship
Throughout their book they also share their personal story on how they got together, which always make a good read.
If you purchase through our partner links, we get paid for the referral at not additional cost to you! Visit our disclosure page.
The “maze” has been around forever. There have been archeological sights discovered that hint that mazes have been built in ancient Greece and Egypt. You can find mazes today in amusement parks, in those famous corn mazes at Halloween or in old gardens styled by hedges.
1. Labyrinth vs. Maze
Basically a labyrinth has one route in and out.
A maze has dead ends, multiple paths, but one route out.
A labyrinth is “unicursal” with one path that goes to the center and then you can exit by turning around and going out the same way.
Mazes are confusing and labyrinths are not.
In myth the labyrinthis home of the Minotaur, but in today’s world it’s mainly for walking meditation.
When you walk through a labyrinth you walk methodically, in a civilized fashion because sometimes it’s a group activity and once you get to the center you have to turn around and avoid the other people.
A labyrinth can be a painted floor, built with with rocks, or cut from hedges. There was one time I saw someone spray-paint a labyrinth design onto a grassy field. He even made a mistake with one line and should’ve cut the grass to get rid of the mistake, but left it.
Mazes can be life-like for you to walk through, but mostly they are printed in books for you to go through with a pencil and eraser. You can find them on restaurant place mats or in coloring books. There’s also this great marble maze I played as a child. Maybe you did too?
2. Maze Video Games
Long ago in the 80s, “Maze Craze: A Game of Cops ‘n Robbers” for the Atari 2600 was one of the first maze video games to enter the market. Pac-Man is also considered a maze video game. Would Q-Bert be considered one, too?
3. Of Mice and Ants
Scientist John Lubbock, in 1882, studied insects by putting them in mazes. All the fascinating data he discovered was published in his book Ants, Bees, and Wasps.
Willard Small was the first scientist to make rodents go through mazes for study. He was inspired by a hedge maze, you know, like in the ending of that Stephen King movie “The Shining?”
If you can’t get enough of mice and mazes try reading a good book called “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes.
Buy a Maze Book by DD Stewart
DD is a publisher and designer of mazes.
He’s designed hundreds of mazes in his lifetime. He told me he used to design his mazes with marker, white out and by making copies at Kinkos (Now FedEx, but Kinkos sounds better). Now he designs them in PhotoShop.
His book is called “Tome 1: From Here To There (kulsiz Tome) (Volume 1).”
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If you can’t get enough of mice and mazes try reading a good book called “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes.
