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  author page for writer Erin Bedford

Photo on Friday

2/28/2014

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Not a good job for the depressed, or the weak of bladder ...
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via oobject.com
The real story: Construction of the American airship, USS Macon, which was christened in 1933,  but sunk to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean just two years later. 
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Beautiful Word on Wednesday

2/26/2014

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  I've long envied people in the horse world who get a chance to drop this word into normal conversation once in a while. 
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Pronunciation: with-erz
Meaning: 
          noun 1.  the highest part of a horse’s back, lying at the base of the neck above the shoulders. The height of a horse is   
                             measured to the withers.
Etymology: 16th century, from Old English dialectical wiðer (“against”) because it is the part of the horse that pushes against a load. 
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In the Workshop: the tools you need to be a better writer

2/25/2014

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QUICK FIXES

PictureDarning
 The writing process takes time and concentration. There is no quick-fix for the thousands of hours it takes to write a novel. You must sit at your computer and think of great things to write. You must do this until you have a complete story. Depending on your brilliance and how much time you have every day to write, this could take one month, three years, a decade or two. It will always seem like a lifetime.  
  And then, as reward for all your time and effort, you must spend many more hours editing your good draft into a great work. 
The good news? Not every aspect of editing takes a lot of time and/or brain power. Here are five quick edits that you can complete in a few hours: 

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Photo on Friday

2/21/2014

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This time, I have no idea what the real story is that led to this photograph. But I imagine swans do not make great travel companions. 
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via
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Beautiful Words on Wednesday

2/19/2014

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Pronunciation: mahr-ses-uhnt
Meaning:
     adjective  1.   (of a leaf or frond) withering but remaining attached to the stem.
Etymology: early 18th century: from Latin marcescent- 'beginning to wither'
Source: Oxford English Dictionary
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Gone for a Walk

2/18/2014

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  By the end of this short month, if I want to stay on track to meet my 2014 goals, I have to submit new work to two different literary journals or websites. I have a few pieces in editing stages, but I'm not firing many lightning bolts of inspiration onto the blank page this month. 
 So today, (instead of laying down a blinking cursor-synchopated drum beat) I am going for a walk. Here are three reasons why you should too, especially if you're a writer with nothing worthwhile to say at the moment:


  1. Walking makes you happy. 
  2. Walking fuels your creativity.
  3. Walking puts you in your place. 
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Title page of "Physiologie du flâneur" by French writer and journalist Louis Adrien Huart (1813-1865)
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Photo on Friday 

2/14/2014

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This looks like a different planet:
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The real story: Niccoló Bonfadini captured this and other amazing images of snow-covered trees in Finland's Lapland. Winter can be beautiful. 
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Beautiful Words on Wednesday

2/12/2014

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Every time I read this word, my brain reads it like it is a three-syllable word rhyming with soap. It is so much more beautiful when it is pronounced properly. 
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Pronunciation: kuh-lahy-uh-pee
Meaning:
    noun 1. an American keyboard instrument resembling an organ but with the notes produced by steam whistles,      
                      formerly used on showboats and in travelling fairs.
Etymology:  from Greek Kalliopē, literally 'having a beautiful voice'.
Source: Oxford Dictionary
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Calliope! The wonderful Operonicon or Steam Car of the Muses, 1874.
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A Seal of Approval

2/10/2014

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aiafinal
  Fathom Lines, is Awesome Indies Approved!  An independent, unpaid, (non-relative!) has rated my book five stars out of five. In addition to comparing my work to my second-favourite Margaret Atwood book, The Robber Bride, the reviewer called Fathom Lines an "unflinching exploration of women's lives," and "a beautifully written story of three generations of women." Oh yeah, and the word exquisite was used!  
  Please, check out the review and then take a look around the rest of the Awesome Indies website. Their rating system and in-depth reviews by publishing industry professionals make it a dependable place to find your next great read. 
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Photo on Friday

2/7/2014

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If you're suspicious, this is the worst luck ever. My dad, on the other hand, wants a time machine, the exact address, and a crate of Tender Vittles.
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Photo by Ralph Crane for Life magazine.
The real story: an audition in Hollywood for the part of a black cat, circa 1961.
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Beautiful Words on Wednesday

2/5/2014

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This is a deep thought kind of word, one that describes things as being neither here nor there, but in the process of going from here to there. It is used mainly in technical or medical writing, but I see no reason why we shouldn't start using it to describe all sorts of in-betweens. 
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Pronunciation: lim'-uh-nl
Meaning: 
        adj.  1. occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold.
Etymology: from Latin, limen/limin, meaning threshold.
Source: Oxford Dictionary
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True Stories that seem like Fiction

2/3/2014

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  I read a news story this morning that gave me the idea for this post. 
  Last Thursday, Jose Salvador Albarengo washed up on the shores of a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, and claimed to have been drifting at sea for the last sixteen months, surviving off fish and turtles and birds that he caught himself. Most people who have had interaction with Jose are quick to admit their skepticism of his story. Looking at a picture of Jose, he seems hardly affected physically by what would definitely mean starvation and death for most people. And yet, there have been other stories told that seemed too unlikely to be the truth, but they were. Real life is sometimes incredible, in the literal sense of the word. Here are a few more true stories that will amaze you.
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A Russian family isolated in the Taiga for forty years that didn't know WWII had happened.

The man who lived with Grizzlies in Alaska for thirteen summers

The only known person to escape from an internment camp in North Korea.

The African-German boy who wanted to be a Nazi.
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    Who

    Erin Bedford, writer.

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