Ineffable Twaddle...

... is a blog about a sci-fi/fantasy and mystery writer, musician, Sherlockian, mommy, wife, Catholic, and would-be fiction packager...and all the trials of these apparently conflicting worlds in one small person.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Catholic Writers Conference Online - Reminder

Just a reminder that the Catholic Writers Conference Online registration ends FRIDAY! This is a free conference, with speakers from all areas of Catholic publishing--from the writer to the publisher--covering all areas of writing--from idea generation to query to contract and beyond. Sign up at http://conference.catholicwritersguild.org.

Here's a list of presenters and their presentations.

Ami McConnell

Trends In Fiction

Audrey Shaffer

Branding and Your Marketing Platform

Barry Michaels

Feature Article--Ideas and Queries

Bert Ghezzi

Ins and Outs of Publishing

Brian St Paul--Crisis & InsiderCatholic

Meet the Editors of InsiderCatholic

Carolyn Howard-Johnson

10 Ways to Let Agents Know You
are an Amateur

Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Marketing Basics (with Karina)

Colleen Drippe

Driving Writers Crazy--
The Editor

Heidi Hess Saxton

The Good Writer

Heidi Hess Saxton

Meet the Editor of Canticle
Magazine

Hope Clark

Shy Writer

Hope Clark

Funds for Writers

Karina Fabian

Worldbuilding

Karina Fabian

Marketing Basics (with
Carolyn)

Karina Fabian

Virtual Book Tours

Karina, Michelle Buckman, Terry Burns

Contract Basics

Lea Schizas

Writing the Short Story

Mark Shea

How Faith Connects to Everything

Maya Bohnhoff

Show Me, Don't Tell Me
--Character and Dialog

Maya Bohnhoff

Plotting Through Writer's
Block

Melenie Rigney

Ethics of Memoir Writing

Melenie Rigney

Book Modeling

Meredith Gould

Self-Publishing as a First
Resort

Michelle Buckman

Writing For Teens

Michelle Buckman

The Right Details

Patrice MacArthur

Art of Blogging

Patricia Punt

Writing for the Inspirational
Market

Patti Armstrong--Ascension Press

Hooking Your Reader

Pete Vere

Canon Law and the Catholic
Writer

Sister Maria Grace-Pauline Books

Pitch Session--Pauline Books

Steve Saffel

Working With a Book Editor

Steve Saffel

Using E-Media to Promote

Sylvia Dohram

Character Development and
Dialogue

Terry Burns--agent

Pitching and Working With Agents

Tim Drake

So You Want to Write a Book?

Tim Powers

SFF and Catholicism

Tom Grace

Crafting the Catholic Thriller

Vinita Wright

Making Friends With the
Creative/Spiritual Process

Woodenee Koenig Bricker

Writing With Faith But
Without Bias

Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Singing in Swedish

This past weekend I was given a rare opportunity. I was asked by the local SVEA chapter of VASA (Swedish American organization) to sing for their 95th Anniversary Dinner. And here - I'm not Swedish. Well, not literally, anyway. I am 1/4 Northern Italian and the area was invaded by Nordic tribes thousands of years ago...but in any case, I knew nothing of singing Swedish except what I saw on the Muppet Show.


Now - Swedish Chef aside, I was asked to sing, and so I dug around and was also helped by the members of the organization who asked me to sing (Ed and Joella Hultgren) to find songs. I have no idea if I pronounced things well. I sang several of the songs in English. But in the end, upon returning to my table, I saw Joella had tears in her eyes.

But for me it was a wonderful learning experience and it made me really work again as a singer. I had to learn to sing in a new foreign tongue, I had to teach myself the music, and I had to stand up and do it in front of people I didn't know. What a great exercise and it was something that made me move from my complacency in the music department.

And the music...all of it was wonderful. Some was fun. Others were just plain gorgeous.

I look forward to giving it another try someday. In the meantime, I'll find some more songs to sing - maybe even some by ABBA. ;)

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

I could never eat these things...

But they certainly do look fun to play with!

Artsy Peeps!

New sins? Hardly...

It is amazing to me to watch how the media reports on the Catholic Church. A majority of the time they are so off the mark, I just have to shake my head and sigh. Oh, no one wants to admit the media is biased. And I think sometimes they do report with good intentions. Maybe. But usually they're out for headlines that sell, and this whole thing about the Church adding seven deadly sins must have seemed like a something to bite onto. More for Catholics to worry about, and more for secularists to condemn.

Too bad none of it is true.

Phil Lawler writes in this article here:

When a second-tier Vatican official gives a newspaper interview, he is not proclaiming new Church doctrines. Archbishop Girotti was obviously trying to offer a new, provocative perspective on some enduring truths. The effort backfired-- but in a very revealing way.


What did it reveal? That the press, particularly the British Press from whence this story originates, can't get any story right on the Catholic Church. Another case-in-point is when it said the pope is thinking of un-excommunicating Martin Luther, which is another load of bull.

Amy Welborn writes about this on her blog and calls it "Rule 27" - "Whenever the British Press reports something on the pope or the Vatican, don't believe it."

You can read about it here.

But just for the record - for anyone who is reading my blog who is not Catholic or is a non-practicing or whatever: No, there are not seven more deadly sins. No new doctrines or dogmas have been proclaimed. One of our second-tier bishops just gave a new look at some old Church teachings, to show how they apply in the modern world.

There is no story here. Move along, move along.