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Saturday, April 21, 2012

Southern Writers and Websites for Muggles


It's too, too easy to get caught up in the web everyday and forget to write. There are so many excellent websites and blogs that dish up brilliant updates everyday and far too many filled with repeats and general junk. Is it just me or does anyone else believe there is a secret school with a curriculum of website topics for muggles? Read one and you've read them all. Know-what-I-mean-Vern? I just had to throw in that great Southern line from the Captain of Craziness, Ernest aka Jim Varney. It works very well in situations like this, but back to the topic at hand.


The secret academy of website scholastics no doubt has a strong alumni organization because the better sites refer to each other over and over and over again, and they're all teaching/preaching from the same text. Sadly, this is causing me to hit the unsubscribe button more than I like, but there is only so much time in the day, etc. etc. etc. It's similar to one of those roundabout definitions in the dictionary, or better yet, forgetting what you were looking up in the first place when you get lost in The Chicago Manual of Style.

I'm pretty sure there was arresting information about writing shared prior to the lawsuits involving Amazon, why writers should switch from traditional to indie publishing, the reverse of that last clause, and how much money I stand to lose if I don't SEO and maximize my blogging through Google, Yahoo, etc. At least I think there was - did you forget where I started with that last sentence? See what I mean?

On to a more inspiring topic: Southern Writers. I've been exploring the writing of Mark Childress again (Crazy in Alabama, A World of Fire.

Bless his pea-picking heart, the man can write, and his momma should have given him “Pacing” as his middle name. Fraught with tension - internal and external, he takes readers on the ride of their lives through snake infested, paranormal, Bible thumping of the highest ilk. Childress can tear your heart out, stomp on it, and put it back in place without missing a step. I've got Georgia Bottoms 2012 and will step cautiously within its covers shortly after I post this. I'll let y'all know next week if it was worth the trip. I'm not takin' bets.

Mahala

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