Happy Birthday (yes, I'm conceited. Complain to my mother.)

Beginning Farmer Program

Got lots of cool stuff today. Not only is it my birthday, but the National Institute of Food and Agriculture has a beginning farmer program. It’s a lot of bureaucracy, but still of interest. Find it at www.nifa.usda.gov.

Audio Books and Graphic Novels

I must confess, geek that I am, I’ve only recently read my first graphic novels. And from the first, I was hooked. They’ll never replace books for me certainly, but the ones I’ve enjoyed thus far definitely complement the books they’re based on. Diana Gabaldon’s The Exile is amazing, and my Buffy the Vampire Slayer craving got sated with The Long Way Home. Still looking forward to Angel: After the Fall to see what happens after Los Angeles gets sucked into hell. I’ve been a Patricia Briggs fan for some time and the graphic novel of Mercy Thompson, Homecoming, really stretched my fantasy imagination. I even went to far as to take serious notice of a college that offers an MFA in graphic novels, though I’m not up to taking the plunge into that just yet.

On another note of alternative literature, I drive. A lot. And radio certainly leaves something to be desired some days. So I’ve recently become a convert of audio books. Just to zen out and listen to someone read, doing the work for me, is really turning into a treat.

Related to this messy discussion of art forms and ways to enjoy books, there’s an ongoing debate about the hard copy book versus the digital book. To me, really, there is no debate. If it gets people to read, digital, graphic, hardback, or pogo stick, it’s legitimate. Some ways of delivery work better for some than others. I love my hard copy books, but reading while driving simply isn’t an option. With audio books I can have my drive and my books too. For someone who has limited space or limited need to hold a book in their hands, a digital reader is a great option. Granted, technology could crash, so there will always be us purists who clamor for print. But either way, if technology can help people read more and stretch their minds, I’m all for it.

Okay, end of ramble and happy birthday to me :p

P.S.

Diana Gabaldon, author of the best-selling Outlander series, describes this process the same way in her podcasts, saying she sees something, the looks around it, describing it, then might realize something odd about her character, like that one of them is blind. Her approach to plot is piecemeal, seeing continents slowly emerge out of the ocean, first knowing something is there, then seeing the very tips of the mountains emerge, then the sides, then the plains, then the valleys, and at last there’s this whole massive landscape, dripping and new-formed. Though one must have the skill of an archeologist and patience of a research scientist to get there.

Guess who's back? (Back again?)

I took a, what? several months long hiatus to “reinvent myself” as a friend of mine would put it, but guess who’s back

(back again, shady’s back…anyway…)

with farm tales, short how-to posts, maybe some writing tips, recipe successes and disasters, book shout-outs and reviews, knitting and crochet disasters, and the occasional old-fashioned all-around rant, most days of the week? At least, that’s the idea. :)

So, for those of you who don’t know me (and a sorry to those who do), I’m a Michigan writer and farmer; I milk cows (not mine), read voraciously, and spend way too much time in the barn.

I want to include some book shout-outs. It’s not like Stephen King needs any more publicity, but I finished reading his Dark Tower series the other day. Loved it! Must read for anyone who loves western/sci-fi/horror. At the other end of the spectrum is Beverly Jenkins. Needed a break from the sex and violence I tend to write and read and found it in her books. I’ve read Sexy/Dangerous, Deadly Sexy, and just received Captured in the mail so looking very forward to that. Every book is like visiting with my favorite girlfriend. I got to see Beverly speak at a reading in Jackson last year, along with Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series, and have been as impressed with her books as I was with her. A great all around package. And for the record, I hate romance. That says a lot for her style and characters.

Well it was a long night in the parlor. Cows worked good and it wasn’t too cold. But I’m whupped after a writing most of the day and five-mile jog. Will wrap it up here now by saying it’s good to be back.