Darned Query Letters
On 06 Dec, 2010 By mpm
I'm working hard at query letters for agents. I've had some help, which is great, but it's not helping me get them out the door. And how to really summarize a novel in a few paragraphs? I think in long form, so squeezing it down into such a short space feels like a challenge.
And I guess, something in this process must be work. The writing didn't feel at all like work. Wish writing query letters didn't feel like work.
Here's my current synopsis of the first novel:
In The Casitians Return, life on Earth changes forever when aliens of human origin arrive with a startling new mandate, and the technology to enforce it.
The aliens are here --- and they are us. Or rather, they are human beings from another star system who have come to reunite the two branches of humanity, whether we like it or not. These aliens (who call themselves Casitians since their planet, Casiti, is casi tierra, or "almost earth,") are mandated by the Galactic Council to make earth a more enduring, peaceful and sustainable community --- not so much for people, but for dolphins, the true galactic citizens. Predictably, many Earth humans resist, and the Casitians unveil a surprising solution: Earth humans are given the option to migrate to a whole new planet.
Follow Marianne, a whip-smart programmer, Joel, a SETI scientist, Ja'el, a Casitian woman of mystery, and a host of others on this engaging exploration of what might happen when humans meet ... ourselves. Who stays on Earth, who goes, and how it all unfolds forms the central plot of this 90,000 word novel, the first of a completed trilogy.
We'll see how it goes...
Returning, writing, getting out into the world
On 01 Dec, 2010 By mpm
It's been a long while since I've posted here, and in that time, I've been through a lot with my writing. I've recently had a big break from work (sadly, because of an illness, but I'm better now) but it gave me a good bit of time to get a lot of writing and thinking done.
My trilogy is getting there. The first and third novels are at full first draft stage (actually, second draft for the first novel). The second novel I thought was finished, but in doing a re-read through, it's not. I'm also submitting several short stories that I've recently edited to varied places.
Short stories are not my medium, really, although I'm pretty happy with about four of the ones I've written over the years, enough to send them out into the world. I'm thinking a lot about sending things out, to finally have people (other than my friends) read my work. It feels like a big leap of faith, one that has been sort of waiting for me to get ready to jump.
I'm doing the next thing, too, writing query letters to agents, and see if anyone bites on the first novel. I'm hopeful.
I'm going to come back and make this my primary vehicle for writing about writing. I hope to blog a lot more in the coming weeks and months.
The end of the world as we know it?
On 27 Oct, 2010 By mpm With 1 Comments
For some reason, I've been thinking a lot about our society (particularly in the U.S., but also as we affect the world) as it is now, and how it's pretty clear it's unsustainable, unhealthy for human beings, and creates and perpetuates systems of inequality and oppression. I figured this blog would be a good place to start a bit of thought and research about what the core problems are, and how we can perhaps manage to figure our way to new ways of living.
I will outline my core assumptions - ones that are obvious for those that know me, but there are plenty of people who don't agree with these core assumptions or values. But these are my starting places.
1) Every human being deserves (and should be provided with) adequate food, clothing, shelter, access to education, access to health care, and freedom to pursue activities that give them joy, no matter who they are, where they live, what they are able to contribute to society, or what they can accomplish on their own.
2) Every human being (both individually, as well as collectively) should follow the basic rule, present in just about every religious tradition: don't do to others what you would not want done to yourself.
3) We live on a planet with limited resources, and we share it with a host of other species, on which we depend. We need to live on this planet sustainably, both for us, and for all other species on this planet. Otherwise, we risk our own survival.
First up, information from varied sources about why the situation we are currently in is untenable. After that, looking at varied solutions to this situation.\
Living in Community
On 12 Jun, 2010 By mpm
A couple of weeks ago, I moved. I had been living in an apartment in Oakland for about a year, and was getting ready to think about moving back into a community house setting - my definite preference for how to live. I wasn't sure at all where that was going to be. But ... it turned out that a house I'd known about, and had been thinking about a little (but I thought the timing wasn't right) had a room open still. So, I checked it out... and here I sit.\ I'm happy - it's a great group of people, an intentional community of sorts, 6 of us living in West Oakland, being spiritually present to each other and ourselves, and trying to figure out how to do good in the world. We have weekly house meetings, and weekly house dinners, alternating weeks we open the dinners up to other folks we know. Some of us sit together in meditation on weekdays (at very early hours of the morning...)\ I'll be blogging more about it as it develops - it's still quite new.
Inner callings (or why I sold my TV)
On 08 May, 2010 By mpm
In 2005, I felt a call to go to seminary. I wrapped up my non-profit technology work, sold or gave away most of what I owned, and moved across country to go to Pacific School of Religion. For reasons you can read about here, I left seminary, and went back to technology work.\ I think I would say that was a calling to substantially change the structure of my life.\ Now, here it is, 2010, and I'm feeling another calling, or maybe it's the same calling, but it is manifesting very differently. I feel a strong desire to simplify my life - to strip away distractions. I've made radical changes to allow better work/life balance (I now commute to work most days to an office, allowing me to dismantle my home office - something I've not done for a very long time - and I've never really been a typical commuter before.) And I'm in the process of shedding again - selling or giving away a lot of what I own that I feel is unnecessary. \ Ruth gave me a quote from Hans Hoffman which fits perfectly: "The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak."
An entry from my tech blog
On 21 Apr, 2010 By mpm
Title: External, alienated, busy-busy
As you might know, almost a year ago, I made a big change in my use of social media - I segregated my social graph - work related stuff moved to LinkedIn and Twitter, and personal friends only on Facebook. Now, I have taken the next step, and made somewhat of a momentous decision. I'm not alone - Jon Stahl did this before me, and I know there are others. There are plenty of people who never entered these waters at all.
I have been fairly conflicted about this for a while. There are things I really like about Twitter, Identi.ca, Buzz, etc. I like being connected to the nptech community, and learning what's happening. I really like reaching out and getting questions answered. But, being on those networks has taken it's toll on me. It's time spent I need for other things. It's an influx of information in my brain that I really don't need. And I'm sure people really don't need to hear what I think or what I'm doing in 140 characters or less.
Most of the reason I named this blog "Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology" is that I am very interested in the ethical and spiritual dimensions of technology in general, and nonprofit technology in particular. And I'm very interested in the way my work affects me and my life. Thomas Merton, one of the people I look to for wisdom once said:
When I speak of the contemplative life ... I am talking about a special dimension of inner discipline and experience, a certain integrity and fullness of personal development, which are not compatible with a purely external, alienated, busy-busy existence.
(By "alienated" he meant alienated from ourselves.) For me (and only for me I'm not making any generalizations for others) this being almost always-on connected to the 140 characters-or-less social networks lead me to an external, alienated, busy-busy existence - the opposite of the direction I want to go. So ... I deleted my Four Square account, and I disconnected varied things from my twitter account. I won't be using the 1/2 dozen or social media accounts that I have. I won't be tweeting really anymore. I haven't deleted my twitter account, so if you DM me, I'll still get an SMS telling me. But I won't be watching it for the most part.
I'll miss the banter, and the exchange. I'll miss the easy answers. I won't miss the barrage of info I don't need, or the time spent. And, I'll still be blogging. Although it likely won't be on too many up-to-the-minute news items (like the recent Ning Thing) because I'll be paying less attention to those goings on, and more attention to other, deeper things.
The "New" New Monasticism
On 07 Mar, 2010 By mpm
If you google "New Monasticism" you'll come up with a few useful links, and this wikipedia entry. New Monasticism is one of the more recent movements, largely from the evangelical realm, that tries to get back to the roots of what's important in Christianity. Like the "Emergent Church", it is a criticism of the status quo in Christendom - suggesting more of a focus on the teachings of Jesus, and of community. \ I'm mostly a fan of both of those movements. Moreso of the new monastics, since I know at heart I am somewhat of a monastic. \ But, what they haven't been willing to do, for the most part, is question a very deeply imbedded set of ideas about gender and sexuality that many more progressive mainline Christians have been looking at for a while now. From my perspective, this is where it falls short.\ Read these 12 Marks of new monastics:
- Relocation to the "abandoned places of Empire" [at the margins of society]
- Sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us
- Hospitality to the stranger
- Lament for racial divisions within the church and our communities combined with the active pursuit of a just reconciliation
- Humble submission to Christ's body, the Church
- Intentional formation in the way of Christ and the rule of the community along the lines of the old novitiate
- Nurturing common life among members of intentional community
- Support for celibate singles alongside monogamous married couples and their children
- Geographical proximity to community members who share a common rule of life
- Care for the plot of God's earth given to us along with support of our local economies
- Peacemaking in the midst of violence and conflict resolution within communities along the lines of Matthew 18
- Commitment to a disciplined contemplative life
I'm all for these - they are great - but they need a bit of revision:\ 4 should read: "Lament for divisions around gender, race and sexuality within the church and our communities combined with the active pursuit of a just reconciliation"\ And 8 should read: "Support for all types of families, however people wish to define them"\ That would really be "new" monasticism.
