Monday, March 18, 2024

Archive Your Writings!

 

Archives of the 1970s.


Dan Sinykin of Fiction, Scholarship, and Academic Twitter

"Reading these archives meant learning in a kind of skimming form. You gradually, incrementally pick up important details. Names that were completely meaningless to you at first start to take on significance. You start to build a sense of who this person is, and then suddenly you come across a document and it’s like, “Oh wow!” 

Sinykin is referring to academic archives at Columbia University. Perusing the literature there helped him think about his writing in a new way. It also gave him a sense of the shifting times. Archives are a way to capture snapshots of history and culture.

Today we are able to retrieve information from online sources as well as print material. The way in which the internet works makes archives necessary if one wishes to retrieve specific information. The archive is especially useful if you are doing cutting-edge research because it will be years before the algorithm resets to include new sources of information.

It is important to archive your writing so that:

  • You can find material to use again.
  • Others can find material they want to read or re-read.
  • To make it easier to find material that probably is not available elsewhere on the internet.
  • To preserve a record of your writing and your growth as a writer.
  • As a backup to the Cloud.

All my writings are archived in indices. Check out how to do this here.

Start today. Every time you publish something, put it in your archive and update the INDEX.

Happy writing! Happy archiving!

Alice C. Linsley


Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Archive of NYT Writers on Writing

 


Writers on Writing


This is a complete archive of the NYT Writers on Writing column, a series in which writers explore literary themes. Writers are listed alphabetically and the links work!

The series began on March 1 when John Updike, writing as his character Henry Bech, considered the relationship between an author and his alter ego.

Please avail yourself of this excellent resource! This is a way we can learn from renown published writers.

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

The Holy Other

 



The Holy Other


How the Only, Holy Other

Would become just another,

To walk among men

I cannot comprehend.

Only His holy character

Caused Him to come matter,

Allowing us here so far below,

To know Him and to show

Us how far we have fallen,

While giving hope of heaven.

Truly God is holy, holy, holy!

Just as true "Woe is me!"

Only God's love and grace

Can compel me to face,

Jesus, born of human mother, 

Imaging the Only, Holy Other.


Hope Ellen Rapson



Wednesday, December 20, 2023

This Christmas, consider His infant hands.

 


This poem about the Incarnation of Jesus, fully human and fully God, is offered as a Christmas poem by Hope Ellen Rapson.


Hypostasis

With his infant hands,

All stars are held in place.

The brightest one stands,

To shine upon the face

Of Him who expands

And orders all matter, space.

So emptied---into finite man,

Here born, lays Eternal Grace.

Bound now within time’s span,

His flesh-clad feet will trace,

An ancient redemptive plan

To re-create Adam’s race---

With His Infinite Hands.



Saturday, October 14, 2023

An Extremely Versatile Author

 



Rayanne Sinclair (Anne Ball) spoke about her books in October to a Seattle-based Book Club. The series has four titles: Steal Away (set in Scotland); Beso Dulce (set in Mexico); Page Turner (set in a Midwestern University), and Flight Risk (set in Alaska). Talk about versatility!

Click on the links to read reviews. 

Anne's most recent book, The Companion, is a novella that pulls the heartstrings. It is published under the pseudonym Pad Brotherton because it is as unlike the first four books as the sun is from the moon. 

The protagonist is Libby Stamas, a wealthy Colorado Springs widow, who hires Will Westfall, a graduate student, to visit with her several times a week. In addition to learning about Libby’s painful life history, Will finds there is something else quite unusual about her. She has vision into the spiritual realm―what she calls “the other side.” What starts as a side job to pay the bills turns into a life-changing experience for Will, the companion. He is at first skeptical, then intrigued, and, ultimately, a believer in more than just Libby’s abilities when one of her visions portends his premature death.

A story deeply focused on the single relationship between Libby and Will, The Companion raises questions about how people deal with the past and present in light of the future. It presses readers to consider contemporary social constructs in new ways as Libby’s painful life story becomes a springboard for Will to grow and identify his own needs.

Readers from all walks of life will enjoy these novels. I know I did!

Alice C. Linsley


Thursday, July 13, 2023

The First Lords of the Earth: An Anthropological Study

 



Dear Readers,

My book The First Lords of the Earth: An Anthropological Study is now available to purchase on Amazon. Purchase options include Kindle, paperback, and hardcopy. All are priced for the book lover on a tight budget.

The book identifies the social structure and religious beliefs of the early Hebrew ruler-priest caste (6200-4000 years ago), their dispersion out of Africa, their territorial expansion, trade routes, and their influence on the populations of the Fertile Crescent and Ancient Near East.

Readers say this book brings the figures of the Old Testament to life. You will learn how it is that these early Hebrew ruler-priests took seriously God's command to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 

My book is about the early Hebrew, long before the time of the Exodus of Jacob's clan called the "Israelites". It involves tracing the Hebrew dispersion out of the Nile Valley into many parts of the Ancient Near East. These were kingdom builders, and their marriage and ascendancy pattern drove their dispersion through the practice of sending away non-ascendant sons.

Analysis of the kinship pattern of the early Hebrew, beginning with the historical Adam and his contemporary Enoch, reveals that they had the same marriage and ascendancy pattern as Abraham and Moses.

The research took 40 years, but I was able to make a rather complex subject easy to understand. I hope you will buy the book and discover answers to some perennial questions, such as:

  • Who were the Horite Hebrew and the Sethite Hebrew?
  • Where is the oldest known site of Horite Hebrew worship?
  • Why did so many Hebrew men have two wives?
  • What was the difference in status between wives and concubines?
  • What types of authority did the biblical Hebrew?
  • How did they determine which son would rule over the father's territory?
  • How did their acute observation of the patterns in Nature inform their reasoning?
  • If Judaism is NOT the Faith of the early Hebrew, what did they believe?

It is ancient history, anthropology, and Biblical studies wrapped into one fascinating read. I hope you will find it helpful and informative.


Best wishes to you all,

Alice C. Linsley

Monday, May 1, 2023

Don't Fear AI Generated Content

 

Image from Wikimedia Commons.



Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Some readers have asked about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential impact on writing for publication. Some have expressed concern that this may undermine the work of real writers. 

AI draws from a huge information database. That database is largely skewed toward sources that are popular and/or recognized as having expertise (science journals, academic journals, and marketing experts). AI generates content by analyzing and synthesizing data, and then creating content using that data. That said, AI does not replace human creativity. It does not generate unique perspectives. The writer alone does that. 

One concern about AI that should put people on guard is its potential to sway elections. AI can create AI-generated audio, robocalls, or text messages about a candidate and disperse them to millions in an instant. AI is used to "improve fundraising efficiency by targeting prospective donors and voters with increasing specificity."

Some bloggers have found that using AI writing can produce quality content with less effort. However, the AI generated images are not yet perfected, but the quality is better than ever. If the writing sometimes seems flat that is because there is no substitute for the individual's perspective and emotional tone.

AI is cost saving for corporations that market multiple brands. The corporation can produce marketing content faster and at a greatly reduced cost. 

Christian writers should be publishing regularly to add our vocabulary and perspective to the database upon which AI draws. Do not waste time hoping an editor will purchase your work. Do not wait for payment if you have something really pressing to say because by the time you find someone to purchase your piece it may no longer be relevant. 

That is why I publish something every day somewhere online. In addition to the 7 blogs I manage, I publish at sites such as Virtueonline, The North American Anglican, the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, and Christian Women in Science. AI is a tool that Christians should use to correct misinformation about the Gospel, to clarify who Jesus Christ is, to build up the Church, and to present the hopes and struggles of Christians around the world.

Yesterday I published this piece.



The day before yesterday I published this:



Do not be afraid of AI. It can serve the cause of good. Do not delay what you have to say. Create a blog and publish regularly. Do not concern yourself with recognition. That will come when your writing becomes prolific. I now have 2000+ pieces available from which AI can draw data. 

If you have questions, please comment here and I will respond.

Wishing you success in your writing lives!

Alice C. Linsley