Kristin Bair O'Keeffe: Writer. Mom. Teacher. Traveler.

8 Things I'm Thinking About Right This Very Second

A little something for everyone:

• If Vice President Joe Biden didn't say "this is a f'ing big deal" to President Obama, I'll say it for him. This healthcare thing is a f'ing big deal. Bravo! Standing ovation! Kudos! Cheers! It's about time.

•  Beyond The Margins -- This is my new favorite go-to online pub about writing. The writers are funny, passionate, experienced, and diverse. Check it out. (Lots of them are on Twitter!)

• Steve Almond's new book ROCK AND ROLL WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE (Random House, available April 13, 2010). Almond makes me laugh no matter what work of his I'm reading, so I'm looking forward to this one. (Great for all you music fanatics out there.)

• My hometown of Pittsburgh as a new literary Mecca. The New Yorker says so in "The Hills Are Alive."

• THIRSTY is featured on fREADO right now. See "The Story Behind the Book" on the fREADO home page. (This is a cool way to check out a new book.)

• Cool new ways publishers are marketing books: The Algonquin (hotel) in New York City is not only offering Kindles and Nooks to their guests (free of charge), but it has also formed a partnership with Harper Perennial. HP will provide new titles and classics to the hotel every month and will be hosting author signings & book events at the hotel. (I want to stay there!)

• David Foster Wallace's books (WRITTEN IN!) -- I am not alone. DFW used to write in his books...just like me. Love it.

• Christina Katz--a good friend, a spectacular writing colleague, and an amazing author/teacher/mom/person. Check out her current project, The Prosperous Writer. Sign up for her motivating, informative weekly newsletter.

What are you thinking about right now?

I Am Supposed To Be (blogging, cooking, Twittering, cleaning, visiting...) But...

There's a long, long list of things I'm supposed to be doing...a list that includes but is not limited to:

• blogging (I'm here, I'm here...promise)
• cooking (oh, not good at this one...ever...but right now...just plain awful)
• answering emails (WAY behind on this one)
• Twittering (bits & pieces)
• cleaning (I know, I know, I have an ayi here in Shanghai...really, I don't have all that much to clean...but I still have to clean my office...and other stuff when she's not working)
• visiting (friends...need to catch up with a number of them)
• sleeping (important, I know)
• and...

BUT...and this is exciting news...my mojo is back and I can't stop working on my second novel. I've been breathing, dreaming, daydreaming, and working the hell out of this story. It feels goooooood.

What? You didn't know my mojo was missing?

Oh, gosh, was it missing! To catch up, read this.

And then you'll understand why the heck I'm so excited and happy to be obsessed with this novel of mine.

(brief pause for the "my mojo's back" dance...)

hip swing, shimmy/shimmy, hip swing, shake

So yes, this post is brief, but the lesson?

When the mojo's moving, move with it.

As I've said before, I'm a big believer in working your arse off on your writing all the time, but I'm also a big believer in moving with the mojo.

That said, back to the manuscript.

And one more time...

hip swing, shimmy/shimmy, hip swing, shake.

Come on...do it with me.

hip swing, shimmy/shimmy, hip swing, shake

St. Patrick's Day in Shangai: Parades, Pints, & Irish Poets

And so goes another Paddy's Day in Shanghai...complete with the wonderful, weird, cross-cultural parade that is half-Irish/half-Chinese and (thanks to the Shanghai International Literary Festival) a couple of terrific Irish poets straight from Cork.

It was grand.

I'm often more entranced by the folks watching the parade in Shanghai than the parade itself. Take this pajama-clad attendee, for instance, much more interesting than the green dragon.

And this woman in the window...obviously wondering, just what the heck is going on out there on Yandong Lu?

 

Love this picture with the Irish flag.

And Tully's shamrock...  Billy Ramsell...kick-ass Irish poet.

Alan Titley reading at the Glamour Bar.

  And poet Liz O'Donoghue singing a beautiful Irish tune.

THIRSTY & Self-Promotion at the Shanghai International Literary Festival (ssshhh, secret revealed)

Last Saturday, March 7, I did a session at the Shanghai International Literary Festival about self-promotion and social networking for authors. It was a full house; I had a blast yakking about all the ways there are for writers to connect, share their work, learn about others' work, and open their writing worlds; and since the 7th, two audience members have friended me on Facebook and two others have made their maiden voyages on Twitter.

Success. People got it. Took my words to heart and reached out.

Now for the secret...one of the things I admitted during my session is that I've got a love/hate relationship with all this social networking and self-promotion stuff. 75% of the time, I love reaching out...chatting with readers and writers all over the world...sharing links to pertinent info (and links to irrelevant but fun info as well), and talking books. 25% of the time, I just want to be left alone in my 23rd floor apartment in Shanghai to write. I want to say, "Sssssshhhhh, I'm in writerhead" (or when I feel REALLY sick of it all, "PISS OFF!")...and then, yep, quietly face the page...alone.

Of course, I'm hesitant to admit this love/hate relationship out loud. We're really not supposed to. I'm pretty sure that's in a rule book somewhere.

But I've always hated rule books. And other people's rules. So there, I've said it. Out loud. Most of the time I love reaching out, but sometimes I hate it. Sometimes I feel completely smothered by all the contact.

What's the answer?

A small hut in Borneo? With no electricity and no Internet? 

Mmmmm, a lovely idea, but a tad unrealistic. (Besides...I know me. I'd get lonely and start saying things like, "Wow, I wish I could Twitter.")

So I've decided that balance is a more viable answer. I'm learning (slowly) how to manage my time on Twitter, Facebook, my blog, and the blogs of others. And I'm writing my own rulebook. Here's what I've got so far:

Rule #1: Admit when I'm burnt out & in need of a break.

Rule #2: When Rule #1 moves into play, take needed break (preferably before breakdown...break should not be ).

Rule #3: Do not turn on Internet when writing creative stuff--novel, memoir, etc.

Rule #4: Do not turn on Internet when writing creative stuff--novel, memoir, etc. (Some rules are worth repeating.)

Rule #5: Before shutting down at night, I must close all but seven tabs on Firefox (my blog, the THIRSTY website, Facebook, Twitter, Typepad, Constant Contact, and Google Reader). No more of this keeping 30 tabs open. Too much browsing. Too much reading. Too much, too much, too much.

Rule #6: Take 1 weekend day off every week. Completely. No work. No writing. No Tweeting. No Facebooking. In fact, except on special occasions, don't even turn on the computer. (This will be hard for me.)

So that's where I am. How about you and your relationship with all this stuff? Love? Hate? Some combo? And how do you manage it all? (suggestions welcome)

Shanghai International Literary Festival: Shameless Self-Promotion

Tomorrow (Sunday, March 7, 12:00) I'm giving a talk at the Shanghai International Literary Festival. If you're in Shanghai, come on down to M on the Bund...where all the cool, hip, smart, in-the-know readers/writers are hanging out.

Details?

Here ya go:

“Hi, My Name Is___”: Shameless Self-Promotion & The Art of Social Networking for Authors

Sunday, March 7 (12:00 - 1:00)

It used to be that an author could write a book, publish it, and then draw her curtains while a publicist promoted it to the reading world. Not so anymore. Today when an author gets a book contract, a publisher asks: Do you Twitter? Are you on Facebook? Do you have a newsletter? A website? A blog? How many hits do you get a month? And more. (Translation: How are you going to promote your book?) Come along for the ride as debut novelist & seasoned social media dame Kristin Bair O’Keeffe (Thirsty, Swallow Press, 2009) explores the art of shameless self-promotion and social networking…and shows you just how much fun it can be.

A Writer's Vacation: Can You Disconnect?

For the last eight days, I was in Borneo...breathing in this:

And sinking into that:

And taking in lots of this, too:

Now keep in mind that for weeks before we left Shanghai, I'd planned to work during our vacation. I'd planned to Tweet, Facebook, blog, continue to connect, and yep, even get some work done on the session I'm doing at the Shanghai Literary Festival this weekend.

But, alas, I forgot to take my travel adapter along, and believe it or not, the resort did not have an adapter that fit the three-pronged plug of my computer cord.

The result? I couldn't work.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT??????????

Nope, I couldn't work.

This was, at first, panic-inducing. "What do you mean I can't work? I have to work." My stomach coiled up in knots.

But after a few days of this:

 

And that:

I realized how much I needed NOT to work. Since the launch of THIRSTY back in October, I've been moving at lightning speed. Brain in overdrive. Body in overdrive. Soul in overdrive.

I needed to disconnect, and I'm pretty sure the great gods of travel adapters knew this and conspired to leave me, truly, wireless.

What happened?

I quieted down inside. That idgy feeling in my belly of "I'm not doing enough to get the word out about THIRSTY" and "How do I get THIRSTY to more readers?" went away. I relaxed. I chilled out. I played. I got centered.

And then?

The same thing that always happens when I allow myself some breathing room happened: I started to write in my head.

Tra-la-la. I was writing in my head. Waking from gorgeous, wacky, wonderful dreams with full sentences and scenes. Staring at the ocean and learning something new about the characters in my second novel.

It was glorious.

Now that I'm back in Shanghai, I'm trying to hold onto that feeling. That tra-la-la-ing. And the wisdom of knowing that I when I push a little less, more happens.

Flow.