Monday, July 23, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Gita Talk: Self-Paced Virtual Seminar on the Bhagavad Gita
(What am I up to reading the Gita? Why, rewriting and expanding the introduction to my translation-- the first into English-- of the 1911 Spiritist Manual by Bhima, that is, Francisco I. Madero, leader of Mexico's 1910 Revolution and President of Mexico from 1911-1913. Read about the current edition of my translation here. It is, as the title says, about Spiritism, but it also draws from the Bhagavad Gita and other works. Pretty chewy.)
P.S. Top 10 Reasons to Read the Gita
More about Madero's copy of and take on the Gita anon.
Monday, July 09, 2012
Cyberflanerie
When Robert Temple met Salvador Dali
An amusing anecdote by Robert Temple, expert on Egyptian esoterica and more
Nina Katchadourian mends spider webs
Prof Frank Pajares' handy Outline and Study Guide to Kuhn
Jonah Lehrer reports on The decline effect and the scientific method
The Accidental Blogger lauds my favorite novel of all time
Jane Brody says to watch out for B12
Evgeny Morozov says the cyberflaneur is dead. Obviously, he has not been reading Madam Mayo.
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Anna Dello Russo and The Leopard
Here's an amusing video starring fashion editor & icon Anna Dello Russo in which (look carefully) you'll see her trompe l'oeil of a scene from the movie based on the novel The Leopard.
Monday, July 02, 2012
Bringing In Light with Bottles
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
On Being with Krista Tippet
On Being with Krista Tippet
which is on American Public Media
That website also has the best "how to" for new podcast listeners I've seen yet.
As those of you follow this blog know, I'm working on an iBook, Podcasting for Writers & Other Creative Entrepreneurs, which will be available later this summer from Dancing Chiva.
>Listen to my podcasts here.
>Q & A with other podcasters
Tod Goldberg (Literary Disco)
Chris Gondek (Heron & Crane, The Invisible Hand)
Ricë Freeman-Zachery (Notes from the Voodoo Lounge)
http://madammayo.blogspot.com/2012/06/rice-freeman-zachery-q-on-creative.html
Monday, June 25, 2012
The Manuscript is Ready - (Or Is It?) - What's Next?
Especially valuable in this seminar was historian Ken Ackerman's talk on his e-book venture-- like many authors (including Yours Truly), he is bringing out the ebook editions of his several previously published books. Among them:
The Gold Ring: Jim Fisk, Jay Gould, and Black Friday
Boss Tweed: The Rise and Fall of the Corrupt Pol Who Conceived the Soul of Modern New York
Young J. Edgar Hoover: The Red Scare, and the Assault on Civil Liberties
I am crossing my fingers that the Writer's Center will turn this into an annual seminar.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Podcasting Q & A with Literary Disco (Tod Goldberg in Particular)
As those of you who follow this blog know, I'm not only hosting two podcast series (Marfa Mondays and Conversations with Other Writers), but I'm writing an iBook, Podcasting for Writers & Other Creative Entrepreneurs, which is based on my Writer's Center workshop and will be available later this summer from Dancing Chiva on iTunes. So naturally, I'm interested to know-- and I imagine you might be, too--what other podcasters have to say about podcasting.
Today's Podcasting Q & A is the third in a series (the first was with writer and artist Ricë Freeman-Zachery, host of Notes from the Voodoo Lounge; the second, with Chris Gondek, host of The Invisible Hand and founder of Heron and Crane, podcaster for several university presses).
So: let's shimmy over to Literary Disco, which is hosted by Tod Goldberg, Julia Pistell, and Rider Strong.
Literary Disco (Tod Golderg in particular) gives the A's to my Q's:
C.M. Mayo: What inspired you to start your podcast?
Literary Disco: Well, we really like talking to each other about books and writing and, at the same time, we were frustrated by the lack of literary podcasts that didn't descend into self importance. The nice thing about the Internet is that if you're into something, there are about 20 million people out there equally into that same thing and it occurred to us that there might just be a few people who were interested in having a good time while talking about literature. We take books seriously, but we don't take ourselves that seriously in the process.
C.M. Mayo: How do you select the guests / topics for your show?
Literary Disco: We pick books we're interested in talking about, which is an entirely subjective affair. We'll look at old books and new books and books we think will be good and books we think will be bad. Truthfully, some of our best shows have been about books we hated -- i.e., Sweet Valley High -- because it's a lot of fun to discuss the mortal pain one suffers while reading something that you hate. By and large, we're driven to talk about books that we want to share with the world for some specific purpose -- it doesn't need to be a hot book or a bestseller or even something current -- but it does need to get our collective interest in some way.
C.M. Mayo: What's the best part of doing the podcasts?
Literary Disco: For us, it's the chance to talk about something we're each very passionate about. But, also, it's just an awful lot of fun for the three of us to get to spend an hour every week or two in each other's online company giggling and talking about stuff. We're basically recording the conversations we'd have with or without an audience.
C.M. Mayo: What keeps you podcasting?
Literary Disco: The fame, the money, the parties with Jay-Z.
C.M. Mayo: (C'est vrai, it's intense.) What has surprised / frustrated / enchanted / bamboozled / amazed you about podcasting?
Literary Disco: The quick and effusive response. We just assumed no one would ever listen and yet just a few days after posting our first episode, we were getting flooded with downloads and emails and strange people demanding we read their books about aquatic alien overlords. Once you get the aquatic alien overlord people, well, you've made it. Oh, and that we all hate the sound of our voices.
C.M. Mayo: (I get the YA vampires of Gotham, not that I could tell you why. Maybe it's a west coast vs east coast kind of thing, you think?) What equipment do you use to record and what software to edit?
Literary Disco: Rider and Julia use GarageBand and Tod uses Audacity. We each have different mics, but what we've found is that good mics make a huge difference. Our first shows were recorded using crappy mics and it was hard to listen to them sometimes without feeling very frustrated. So don't scrimp on mics.
C.M. Mayo: Any tips on improving sound quality?
Literary Disco: Not screaming helps. Keeping the mic a consistent distance away doesn't hurt. Recording in a sound proof chamber buried beneath the ground would be great.
C.M. Mayo: (You mean not screaming like this?) Um, any tips on promoting podcasts?
Literary Disco: We've subsisted on word of mouth and social media mostly and it helps that each of us had a platform of some kind previous to the show -- Rider is an actor and writer, Julia is part of a very popular improv troupe in addition to be an essayist and commentator on NPR, and Tod is an author and book critic -- so we each have brought a portion of our audience to the fore. We've also thought about starting a rumor about one of us getting into a fight with Drake at a bar or maybe that one of us is really a Kardashian, but thus far we've mostly been content to talk about books we think people will be interested in hearing us talk about and not worrying too much about hit counts. We're making the show for an audience we hope exists out there and thus we're ever hopeful they'll find us, either organically or through word of mouth or through a condition of their parole.
C.M. Mayo: Any other tips for podcasters?
Literary Disco: Try not to be too terribly drunk when recording.
C.M. Mayo: (Helps not to hit the mic with your forehead.) What podcasts do you enjoy listening to?
Literary Disco: Other People, WTF, This American Life, Rich Eisen, Adam Carolla, The Nerdist and about a billion others.
C.M. Mayo: Do you have tips for podcast listeners?
Literary Disco: Try to wear pants when listening to the show. Really. It's strange that you don't.
C.M. Mayo: What kind of feedback do you get from your listeners, and do you encourage it?
Literary Disco: There's the aforementioned "please read my novel about our aquatic alien overlords" emails, which are always somewhat frightening, because, you know, we live near a body of water...but, generally, the feedback we get is filled with suggestions of books people would like us to read, or comments about how listening to the show is like having three friends sitting in the back seat of their car talking about funny stuff, or it's people correcting us on things we've said on the show, or it's people who want us to know how they felt about a particular book we read or it's people who can't believe we hold X opinion about Y topic. The preponderance of comments we get, however, tend to just thank us for doing the show and providing a little bit of entertainment for them on their lunch break. That's always the best, really, knowing people save us for their lunch breaks. That's sacred time right there.
C.M. Mayo: How do you see the future of podcasting per se / your podcasts?
Literary Disco: We're hoping that podcasts will eventually involve jet packs or flying cars, but we feel that way about the future of most things. Our podcasts will continue to focus on books and culture and will also continue to have guests coming on to talk about their favorite new books. And there's a good chance we'll eventually have a listener or two come on as a guest, too, since it would be fun to do that. We're also pretty sure that in the future podcasts will be in 3D and will also have the properties of an everlasting gobstopper. And by "pretty sure" we mean: god, we hope so.
--> Listen in to Literary Disco at www.literarydisco.com
--> Q & A with Chris Gondek (The Invisible Hand and Heron and Crane)
--> Q & A with Rice Freeman-Zachery (Notes from the Voodoo Lounge)
--> Podcasting for Writers & Other Creative Entrepreneurs
Publish Now! Seminar This Saturday at the Writer's Center
Here's the official announcement from the Writer's Center (Bethesda MD) www.writer.org
We are all geared up for 'Publish Now!' this Saturday! If you're working on a manuscript of any kind, don't miss this opportunity to learn the ins and outs of digital publishing and network with top industry professionals. Registration begins at 8 a.m. with coffee & pastries. A Brown Bag lunch will be provided. The seminar concludes with a wine & cheese reception at 5 p.m. More information follows:
Take Your Writing from Manuscript to Book & ebook in the New World of Digital Publishing
Saturday, June 23
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$100 non-members, $85 members,$50 students
Registration fee includes networking lunch & reception
Call 301-654-8664 or visit www.writer.org for more information.
Publishing
- “The New World of Publishing” will be led by Justin Branch, a publisher with Greenleaf Book Group, whose clients range from well-known brands such as John Gray and Kanye West to debut authors.
- Ken Ackerman & Neal Gillen will present “The Non-Traditional Publishing Experience.” Ackerman has authored four published books and is founder of Viral History Press. Gillen is the author of eight self-published novels.
Writing
- “The Story – The Manuscript is Finished – Or is It – What’s Next?”, led by C.M. Mayo, author of The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, a Library Journal Best Book 2009; Miraculous Air and Sky Over El Nido, winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, among many other works. Her presentation will answer the question, How do I know when my manuscript is ready to be published, and whose help do I need to get it there; for example, a private editor, writing coach, or trusted reader?
Marketing
- “Developing Your Marketing Plan,” led by Ally Peltier, chief editor, writer and editor of Ambitious Enterprises and Angela Render, owner of Thunderpaw Business Intelligence & Network Systems Management and author of “Marketing for Writers,” will break down what a successful manuscript is and how to design your own program for marketing it.
Legal & Business
- Attorneys Laura Strachan and Cynthia Blake Sanders will demystify copyright, fair use and commercial speech laws, which are changing rapidly in the new world of publishing and help you understand who owns your manuscript.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Marfa Mondays #6: Marfa's Moonlight Gemstones
Now live: my podcast interview with Paul Graybeal, owner of Marfa's Moonlight Gemstones, the 6th is a series of 24 podcasts about Marfa, Texas and environs apropos of a book-in-progress (as yet untitled).
Flying over El Solitario
http://www.cmmayo.com/marfa
It was no exaggeration for historian Walter Prescott Webb to describe the Big Bend region as "an earthwreck in which a great section of country was shaken down, turned over, blown up, and set on fire." In short, there is ample evidence of millions of years of dramatic geological activity, with the craggiest of mountains to rocks of all kinds, from mammoth piles of boulders to pebbles. In this interview with Paul Graybeal, owner of Marfa's magnet for rock hounds, learn about agates, thundereggs, and more.
Related links to surf:
Moonlight Gemstones
The etsy.com video, "There's No Place Like Here: Marfa, Texas"
in which Graybeal makes a brief appearance.
About the Marfa Mondays Podcasting Project:
On flybigbend's YouTube channel:
Flying over La JuntaFlying over El Solitario
http://www.cmmayo.com/marfa
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