How to be an Indie Author 4: Formatting

This is the fourth post in a series about self-publishing from ideation through sales. To check out other posts in this series, click here.


Last time I wrote about editing, which most writers think of as the bear in the process. I'm here to tell you, that formatting is just as tedious, if not more so. This is where the real work for the indie author begins.

The Indie Difference

Indie tools: coffee, notepad, pen, & laptop

Formatting is a serious difference between traditionally published and independent authors. The reason is simple - this is the beginning of the publishing process.

Before we were working on the content. Editing, is really polishing content. Formatting, however, is making sure content is accessible in whatever form a manuscript takes.

For the purposes of this discussion, I'm going to talk about both digital and print-on-demand publishing. While there are many options in the wide world of digital and POD publishing, I will dive into the reasons why I made the choices I did for the distributors I did etc.

Digital

First, it should be noted, choosing a distributor will change your formatting process because different distributors do different things. For the most accessibility, I recommend the following things:

1. Set up a style throughout your manuscript (for example first line indent for text body, chapter title/heading style for section titles).
2. Get rid of any extra spaces unless they are necessary for content readability (extra lines, extra spaces, extra indents).
3. Embed fonts if you're attached to them.
4. Include a message at the beginning of your document reminding people if they got your book for free, to buy a copy because it was a lot of work to produce the book.
5. Include an "About the Author" section at the end with a little bio about you.
6. Include a "Connect Online" section that has all the major places readers can find you online.
7. If you're really tech savvy, create hyperlinked table of contents that allows readers to jump easily to chapter headings (I'm not tech savvy, so I don't have this in my docs because every time I try things explode.).

Keep in mind, different file types will look differently in digital readers. If you have a reading app on your phone, ereader, or app on your computer, USE THEM. This is especially important when you're starting out because you won't have a system in place. That said, once you've done this a few times, it will become second nature, and you may decide to skip the ereader review altogether (like I do, for better or worse).

Also important to note is different distributors have different capacities. Some will only provide a single file type, like MOBI or EPUB (the most common). If you have to choose one kind of file, choose an EPUB file. However, I would strongly recommend that you not limit yourself to one type of file or one place to be read.

That said, if you have any confusion around formatting, or the distributor rejects your document for some reason, most have a guide or FAQ that you can reference for assistance. Smashwords, my ebook distributor, has a ton of resources for authors (and readers!) which are very accessible and easy to understand.

If you read all this and it stressed you out, however, you can pay someone else to format your work for you or buy a template to use. The cost varies significantly, and I cannot make recommendations this way because, well, I've never been a la cart. I've always been a bootstrapper (If you have recommendations for formatting services or templates, please comment below!).

Print-on-Demand

The second kind of formatting fun is, well, worse. Formatting for print is, as a friend once said, an art form. To format from scratch takes finesse and deep knowledge of printing.

Before you go through the nuts and bolts, make sure you include - just as you did for your digital copies - "About the Author" and "Connect Online" sections at the end of the manuscript.

Now that everything is where you need it, be sure you have selected your printer/distributor. Formatting requirements vary widely from company to company, and one set of formatting choices may not translate to another company.

In my next post on publishing, I'll talk about the reasons why you might choose one printer/distributor over another, but for the purposes of formatting, let's just recognize the two choices available (similar to digital):

1. Use the template provided by the printer.
2. Pay someone to go through the process for you.

If you use the template provided, make sure it matches the size of book you want (6'x9' for example). Make sure the pagination places everything on the correct page. So, the title page should have the binding margin on the left. The table of contents should start on a page with the binding margin on the left, etc.

If you pay someone else to do this for you, make sure they are comfortable with the printer/distributor you plan to use and you clearly communicate what size book you intend to have (5'x8' or 6'x9' or ?).

Even if you pay someone else to do this for you, check every chapter. Make sure there are no pages with a single word on them. Make sure the chapter headings are consistent. Make sure the fonts are what you want. Make sure the pages are tracking. Double check that binding margins are where they need to be. THIS IS IMPORTANT! If anything is wrong with the formatting, it will slow everything down. You will have to change the document, go over it again, and possibly again.

I cannot stress the importance of formatting. Once you have this process down, it makes everything easier and faster. But it does take some time to get comfortable and confident in this (I'm just now comfortable with POD and it's been almost 4 years since I started doing it!).

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Do you have any tips or tricks to make sure your formatting is correct? Have any horror stories to share? Leave a comment below!

Check out my next post in this series on publishing where I will talk about why I chose the distributors/printers I did. And to support your local, lovely indie bootstrapper, visit my website to donate or buy my books! All the links on my site give me maximum royalty percentages, as opposed to supporting big companies. Buy a book there and see how my formatting went (or didn't!).

My Cell Phone Changed My Life

I'm a little bit of a gadget person - just a little bit. Still I never expected I would be so shaken by a change in my cell phone.

Remember how I wanted to wait for Blackberry to get their act together? Well, I couldn't. I couldn't because my battery was expanding and not holding a charge. In short, if I waited until a company decided to release their latest and greatest, I could have had acid burns on my cheek from my phone exploding.

Not ideal.

It helped that my husband's phone was some crazy Chinese knock-off that refused to stand up to his regular abuse (His pants and his phones last half as long as other people's - I swear!). So we both got new phones.

Because I have crazy personal goals that require a revamp of my social media presence, I started downloading apps that I hadn't even dreamed of.

I finally committed to Hootesuite, which has been somewhat of an improvement, though if I had the money to pay for the service, I think it would be better. But beyond the expected, I also downloaded Sparksfly, Konnect Social, and ShoutOMatic.

So far, Sparksfly has upped the ease of engaging with my Tweeps (though not as much with Facebook...). I've done more retweeting in the last few days than I have done in a 48 hour period EVER. I started to fool around with Konnect Social, but I have yet to really dive into the possibilities with this app. The possibilities do appeal, especially because I want to engage more with people who will be interested in my content (duh! Who doesn't?!). ShoutOMatic seems really cool and would help me put up greater variety of content, but again, I have yet to use it. Often times I have a sleeping baby around when I have time (like right now) and trying to fool with extra sounds doesn't seem like a good idea.

This is just the beginning.

I've started taking videos of related things and am looking forward to revisiting my YouTube account and creating a few channels (one per blog?). This is in part because of some super easy video editing apps that I can put on my phone, as well as the GoPro and my husband's amazing tech skills. I'm both anxious and excited about these prospects.

And I wouldn't have ventured down this crazy path without my new phone. While it's not the new hotness, it is enough of a change from my previous phone that the improvement is marked. The possibilities have grown exponentially. Doors have opened.

I'm a kid in a candy shop.

Come stuff your face with me. It's amazing.

What are some social media apps that have changed your online life? What are some tech gadgets that opened doors for you? Leave a comment below!

For the Love of Qwerty

Why oh why are all the keyboards gone?! For some idiotic reason the designs of cell phones these days have removed keyboards except for the "old people model" (you know what I'm talking about).

This is the STUPIDEST thing ever.

First of all, I hate touch screen keyboards. Why? Because I can't FEEL what I'm touching except for that annoying vibrate feedback. Yelch. I also don't feel comfortable using 2 thumbs on a touchscreen (Does this make me old? Probably...sigh). Inevitably what I intended to press doesn't read as "pressed" and something completely unexpected occurs. It's super fun.

Beyond this, however, touchscreen keys do not work well for me - I don't just mean pressing the wrong spot. I mean I don't have enough blood in my fingers. Literally they cannot always register my fingers on the screen. If I have to use a touchscreen keyboard, I will live in an endless circuit of frustration (thanks phone companies!).

My husband also has problems with touchscreen keys. He has good circulation. So what's his issue? Why can't the screen register his fingers? Callouses.

Just like some people will always buy paper books, or records, keep a classic option like the QWERTY KEYBOARD! I love feeling the buttons click as they press into the board. I love how I know EXACTLY what button I pressed and what letter will show up on my screen. I love how my keyboard never takes up a third of my screen and how I'm never a slave to it when viewing webpages or apps.

So, HTC and Samsung, SOMEONE - do an ANDROID lover a favor - make a few REAL keyboard options that don't suck giant hairy ones. Thanks a bunch!

Love, Your Neighborhood Hipster

Advice for the Walking EMP - Empaths & Poltergeists Welcome

I've gotten a few inquiries about being a walking EMP. It seems this is a concern for people, and like me, there are quite a few of us out there. Oh, and did I mention, most of us are lost? As one of the lost, I decided to learn about my situation and following a hunch, I began researching. It turns out there are a couple of sides to this painful electro-magnetic coin.

One is empathy.

Chances are, if you have electro-magnetic waves coming off you, you're an empath. I've been reading a lot about this in the past few months because I was tired. I got tired of feeling other people's feelings and things getting weird for me. It wasn't just breaking electronics any more - I realized I had feelings that were not my own. It has be a difficult path, but slowly I am learning ways of coping. For example, when you find yourself all of a sudden feeling something that has nothing to do your situation, I recommend looking around the room to find the person experiencing it. Just finding that person is enough to bring you back to reality. You can accept the emotions, allow them to pass without wallowing in them.

Controlling my emotions was helpful, but it didn't end my issues. I still have trouble with electronics. I will probably always have trouble with electronics.

However, I do have something not many others have.

Even though I break computers just by touching them, I have a husband who is basically a technopath. If technopaths exist, my husband is one. Literally, all he needs to do is touch my broken electronic device and it begins to work.

Okay, so let's say you're a person like me and you don't have a fabulous technopath in your family, friend, or lover. There are several things you can do. First, you need to get rid of Windows. I don't know about Mac, but Windows with a walking EMP is a recipe for disaster. Install Ubuntu or Mint on your PC. If you have a smart phone, get an Android OS. The software has fewer holes, fewer glitches, and therefore isn't going to break as easily. This might seem strange considering you break hardware, but I've found that better software helps me stay calmer. The calmer I am, the fewer frying episodes I have.

Second, make friends with an IT guy and a handyman. There's no reason you should pay out the butt to fix things that you know will break. Besides, isn't it a good idea to have friends in as many sectors as possible?

Third, when replacing ANYTHING that is DAMAGED BEYOND REPAIR - buy the longest lasting thing you can. Check out consumer reviews etc. See if the company has a good reputation. You may want to buy an older model that's higher quality. However, take this with a grain of salt. If you have such difficulty with electronics that you break it beyond repair after your first encounter, then cheaper may be better. It's a question of funds - whichever way is going to make the most sense for you is what you should choose.

Now, those were all mitigating fixes. But this doesn't address the underlying problem.

This type of behavior (EMP), comes in two sizes. Let's call them type 1 and type 2.

Type 1 is when even though you have control over your emotions, you still fry things. You just happen to operate on a different frequency than everyone else. For example, I'm ALWAYS a type 1. My phone never works right. My husband finds things that don't make sense with my phone. Things go wrong with my phone that literally NEVER happen to other people's. My husband attributes my phone's failures to my proximity.

Type 2 is very different. Suspend your disbelief and work with me here. It is basically a poltergeist. I say poltergeist because that is the name given to the most extreme examples of this behavior, though genuine poltergeist phenomenon are rare. Poltergeists aren't ghosts. They're people - people with crazed hormones or emotions. If you find yourself extremely upset, some strange things may occur if you're exhibiting poltergeist behavior. A relatively benign example that happened to me was at a Halloween party.

I don't like playing video games very much (seeing as they break on me). My friends wanted to play Wii. I told them I didn't want to. They were pushing it pretty hard, to the point they turned the thing on. Once on, it wouldn't work. They tried and tried to get the game to load but it just wouldn't. Then the screen went fuzzy. They gave up and we watched a movie instead. When I left that night, they checked their Wii again. It was fine. It never had a problem before that night and it has never had a problem since. 

I really didn't want to play video games.

As you can tell, this second type is a temporary state which people can slip into and out of quickly. Usually behavior like this would happen around puberty (a time of extreme hormonal change) and then disappear altogether. If, however, you're an empath and you're really upset, it is possible to display this kind of behavior at any point in life.

It is important to understand where you fit on this spectrum so you know how to act. It may be you don't need to replace everything in your house if this is a type 2 temporary situation. Find out what is upsetting you and deal with it. That will correct your situation.

If you are lucky like me and type 1, then you need to learn how to calm yourself. Take up meditation. You also should buy types of software and devices that work for you. Honestly, the simpler the device, the better the software, the easier everything will be because it causes less stress. I say simpler because generally there are fewer things that can go wrong. The less potential problems the better.

These are the lessons I've learned with my own EMP issues. I had to learn them the hard way. I hope this post helps you deal with your electrical issues and saves you the pain of breaking your dishwasher - again.

BAMBOO! My New Toy, I mean, Wacom Tablet

I'm really excited about my new toy. You might wonder, how am I able to get such a new toy? Well, let's start at the beginning.

We bank with Chase. This is mostly because Washington Mutual folded and was swallowed by Chase, so we kept our accounts there for convenience, among other things. My husband has a reward card - so whenever we use his card, we get points. Normally I would think these things would only result in Skymall type purchases, but so far we've gotten a few fun things.

For example, we got an awesome water dispenser for our cat. Okay, this sounds like a skymall thing, but supposedly cats like running water more than water from a dish. It's also supposed to be healthier - or so they say. In any case, we thought we were getting a little one. We ended up getting the biggest water dispenser I've ever seen in my life for free. Normally it would be around $50, but again, we got it for free.

Well, it had been a while since we had taken advantage of our points. So Christian decided to check out what options we had as far as redemption. Turns out Chase had upgraded their rewards program, so now, you can go through a bunch of different vendors to get fun gadgets etc. Well, after browsing through the bagillion options, we decided to look at tablets.

It was something I had been wanting for some time because drawing with your finger on a touchpad just isn't the same as having a stylus in your hand. You don't have the same kind of control as you would if you had a stylus or a pencil. Being the artist I am, it was frustrating to try to make graphics without this.

Turned out, I could get a Bamboo using my reward points. So I ended up getting a pen/touch for free. The thing is the size of my netbook, which is kind of weird, but it is certainly big enough to get the job done, and small enough that I could take it with me if I wanted to. For the moment however, I am waiting. My current kernel of Ubuntu isn't working with the beautiful toy, though the later version that is on our media PC does. Just a little while longer and the new kernel comes out. When that happens, I'll update and start playing with my new toy. This will mean I will probably do a few comics (woohoo!) and will possibly do some graphics for shirts etc.

Of course, I'll also do some concept art for The Khloe Alwell Series....that goes without saying. :-)

Twitter, Internet Withdrawal, & Self-Promotion

The last couple days I've been able to enjoy the use of my parents' hotel wi-fi. It's made a huge difference when it has come to keeping up with Twitter, emails, and the infrequent research requirement for my current project. It's been an unexpected boon considering the fact I haven't had internet at my new apartment and my phone bricked this past week.

My father has kindly offered me the use of his old Windows phone, which is great, because it means I can take calls at my phone number. It sucks because well, it's an old Windows phone, and let's face it. Windows can't compete with Android hotness.

Mix in the stress of trying to rent out our house in Phoenix for August, trying to get a day job, and hitting writing roadblocks with the second book in the Khloe Alwell Trilogy (I say trilogy, but I reserve the right to extend it into more books if I so choose), and you get a right little mess.

So here is my disclaimer. I want you to know, right now, I may be a little delinquent in the next week or so with blogging. I'm expecting our internet situation to be less than optimal which means there are going to be a few days where I will be MIA. Believe me, this is harder for me than it is for you. In fact, it is the most difficult when it comes to Twitter.

Honestly, before I became a "Twit" as my husband likes to call Twitter fans, I didn't understand the appeal of 140 character thoughts. Now, I couldn't imagine my internet life without it. Part of this is because Twitter is one of the most useful social networking tools you could possibly have as a self-published author. Yes, you need people to review your book (incidentally, if you're reading my book, please write a review!). Yes you need to blog about things, and you likely need your own domain name for your book (no, I don't have one but that's because I'm poor at the moment - but, if you spread the word about my book I may be able to get one soon!).

Still, nothing can compare to tweeting using searchable terms and following people with like interests, or in positions to help you carry your book, brand, or product to some special height. These things do take time (usually) and they take a little work.  Personally, I'm feeling a little anxious about how my lack of internet may influence my direction on Twitter. Absence with something like Twitter doesn't necessarily make the heart grow fonder unless you've already got a huge following through something other than Twitter (a celebrity in your own right, for example). This is where a smart phone is so great. You download an app for your personal communicator, and then WAPOW! You have instant connectivity and status changes can happen the moment something interesting pops into your beautiful head. Unless you're me, of course. I can't. But you can!

The moral of the story, Twitter is your friend. It is addicting, I won't lie. When combined with the powers of your smart phone it makes things exponentially easier for you to network with people who may be able to help you get the word out about your book etc. And, when you do that, share the wealth. Do what you want others to do for you. Help other authors promote their work. Also, pray for me that my internet access will speed up quickly and an amazing smartphone show up in my life again... because seriously, this is killing me.

Electro-magnetic People - AKA "I break stuff"

Toast. Dust. Done. Dead. Kicked.

Yes, that is my phone, well more appropriately, bricked.

When I was younger I wanted to have super powers. It's a fairly common phenomenon for young children growing up around comic books and their cartoon renditions to want to be like their favorite protagonists. But of course, then it happens and really it's more of an inconvenience than anything.

Jokingly, I call it my superpower. When my emotions get riled, no matter what direction - enraged or ecstatic - I break things. I'm not saying I go through some wild manic expression or a rage where I physically take things and throw them on the floor.  No.  I never do that.  I hate cleaning up messes made for no reason. No, I actually cause computers, tech, and even the occassional mechanical item to spazz out.

Most people reading this will get that look of disbelief on their face thinking I'm crazy, except of course, its true.  I've broken the dishwasher, the toaster oven, computers, cell phones, and gaming systems.  The more fragile the thing is, the more likely I will cause it problems.  So the older computer models and smartphones, the more likely it is that I will actually break it. There have been times I've walked into the room and my presence makes a computer crash. If I really didn't want to play a game, a gaming system would stop working. If I get frustrated with Google Maps on my phone, suddenly it freezes. That is my life.

I tell people and they don't believe me, until they see it. And then they realize I'm for real. And of course, it's hereditary... but I don't think anyone knew of my mom's awesome abilities. She just thinks of herself as a ludite. But of course, she's not just a ludite. She's electric.

There are other perks I get for having this weird energy, but I don't really have control over any of them. And its worse when I'm exhausted.

This leads me to my present state - or rather, my phone's. Yesterday I worked solidly all day unpacking, cleaning, and following other domestic pursuits.  Needless to say, by the end of the day, I was totally loopy. And then I wanted to space. So I played Trefoil on my phone until it stopped registering my fingers on the touchscreen. At first I didn't realize what was happening. My fingers don't always register on the touchscreen. Sometimes it takes me three or four times for any touchscreen to catch what I'm asking it to do. But of course, this time, even the solid menu button on my faithful G1 wouldn't cause a menu to come up. So I had Christian touch the phone.

This sounds superstitious, but as much as I break tech, Christian can cajole it into action, which is fortunate for me, otherwise I think I'd be relegated to a rotary phone and a day-planner.

Unfortunately, even after messing with it for a while, Christian was unable to breathe life into my little friend.  Radio silence. This after having no internet (with the exception now of my hubby's rooted G1 tether app) was a little too much. When I woke up in the middle of the night and reached for my little black box, it wasn't there. I itched like an addict for her drug.

It's ironic that I, with all my electro-magnetic super powers of destruction, would be addicted to my smartphone, but of course, I am. Just like I've become dependent on the internet and my little Ubuntu sporting netbook, I am dependent on my personal mobile communicator.

In this spirit, I ask, what is the best most solid resettable phone you can think of? It must have a keypad for those times when the touchscreen won't take my fingers. Mechanical is always better than high tech when it comes to my special skills...

Grammar Nazis Forever

i can haz cheezburger?
ur sucha qtpie!
imma go to da liberry on wensday

The brilliance of "casual" grammar is pervasive these days.  You can't get away from it.  Text messaging, internet forums, and social networking sites facilitate poor spelling (even with spell checking programs), incorrect abbreviation and punctuation, as well as "creative" word usage.

On top of this, self publishing allows for more people to write and publish than ever before.  It happens that many people think they are quite capable writers, when in fact, they have the command of the English language of an isolated Uighur child.  Frequently when searching some topic or another, I find an article that seems to have promising information, only to discover the writer is incapable of writing complete and coherent sentences.  If I find a single typo in an article, I can overlook it.  I will admit I do check to see if there are any more. However, if there are syntax errors and style issues that could be smoothed by a first grader, I cannot take the information in the article seriously.  They have put their site on my shit list. 

Honestly, and this is quite sad, it reminds me of some of the papers I read when I was a teaching assistant at UCSB.  Some students had never really written a paper.  They invented words.  They used three block quotes per double-spaced page.  Frequently their sentences wouldn't be a complete thought.  Occasionally they would use "filler" words such as "like" leading me to believe they took the advice to write in their own voices a little too literally.  By the way, I'm talking about the native English speakers here.

My husband has to listen to my gripes about the sad state of writing (and speaking).  He affectionately calls me a "grammar nazi," a term which I whole-heartedly own. 

Don't get me wrong - I understand there is a time and a place for casual speech.  It's just not good if an aspiring writer sucks writing their blog (yes I have seen it, and no, I will not direct you to their blog - it would only encourage them).  It's also bad for a person to write a casual email in l337 to a service company expecting anyone to take their request seriously (yes this has happened to friends of mine in the service sector).

So what does a person do who desperately wants to defend the English language? Correct appropriately and disregard the rest.  There will always be someone wrong on the internet.  It happens.  It will happen for as long as the internet exists.  Do you correct your friends when they use words incorrectly or make up words thinking they're using a common academic term? Absolutely - but tastefully and when the situation allows it.  The less socially adept person might humiliate a person in front of everyone every time, but obviously this is a bad idea for the grammar nazi.  If you did that you would annoy all your friends and quickly isolate yourself socially.  Still, occasionally a little poke in the right grammatical direction is a good thing. Heil Grammar!

Help Us Work for Net Neutrality

Recently I have become seriously concerned about net neutrality - that is when the lines of the internet are kept open rather than being constricted by corporate interests.  So far there are some locations in the U.S. where internet service providers are limiting the bandwidth of their clients, though everywhere in the U.S. is not affected.

If download limits are imposed, you may not be able to use Netflix.  You won't be able to download software updates with any kind of speed.  Literally, Cox, Comcast, and other ISPs like them will bottleneck the internet.

Many people are unaware of this issue.  In order to help those organizations that are spreading awareness and working to maintain net neutrality (i.e. Save the Net and Free Press) Christian and I are making T-shirts.  We have a Net Neutrality design that we are ready to have printed.  Half of all proceeds will go to advocacy organizations working for Net Neutrality.  In order to make this happen, we need at least 15 people to place advance orders so that we can cover the initial cost of the shirt fabrication.  The other half of proceeds will help me eat (always a good idea) and cover the cost of subsequent designs and shirt printing (a.k.a. more money to advocacy groups).

My hope is to make more of these kinds of items in order to help spread awareness and support these organizations that are working on behalf of everyday people like you and me.  If you are interested or know of other people who might be interested, please leave a comment or email me directly through my blog. 

Thanks in advance. :-)

Net Neutrality - The Media Fight

Apparently you can have too many renewals on a library book.  I didn't think it was possible to reach this point, except I have.  For whatever reason I just can't seem to actually make use of the items I borrow from my new library.

Maybe it has something to do with the collection being well, so incredibly limited in genres that I find interesting.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that the majority of the books are quite outdated and showing their wear (I know, you can't judge a book by its cover but I am a visual person and frayed edges with dirty smudges really puts me off of something.).  It could also have to do with the fact that I have Netflix that fills my time (going through Nova, PBS, and National Geographic specials is fun for me - I know I'm a dork.).  That is probably the biggest culprit, the advent of the instant stream.  Instead of having to wait for a week or months to see the next episode of a series, I get to watch it right in a row.  I can have addictive marathon after marathon and no one is the wiser (except Christian, poor bloke).

I have mixed feelings about the accessibility of shows on Netflix. While my bad habit is coming to an end (because there simply aren't enough series available on instant play to whet my appetite) it could have been on-going.  Cable generally puts me off if I end up having to watch something other than what I want or wait, I simply turn it off completely and pick up a book. This result would be bad for the production company no matter what - no money could be made through cable or Netflix. 

Most of the people I know with Netflix are poor intellectuals who can't be bothered to deal with cable.  These people tend to also use the lovely Skype.  Remember these are people who wouldn't have these services except for the cheap accessibility that companies like Skype and Netflix offer.  So then I have to wonder, why would Metro PCS try to charge people more money for their internet service if they use either of these companies' services (or better yet, just blocking them)?

Oh, I remember!  Corporate greed!

It goes back to resource control.  In this, I have to say, I am a bit of a social anarchist.  I think the internet should be free.  Total net neutrality.  Call me a rebel, say I belong with Emma Goldman, but it's true.  One of the things that is so critical to our world today is the free flow of information.  Put a stopper in that and all kinds of things crop up. 

It doesn't just have to do with who makes money off of music files, TV shows, or e-Books.  It's about being able to access the news freely - a number of different sources at any given time.  It's about connecting with people, staging protests or flash mobs, creating communities surrounding issues and making a difference in the world.  It's about sharing our very human experience in America with someone's very human experience in Uzbekistan.  I for one don't want uber-corporate controls stifling information flow.  Even though Comcast hasn't pulled this fast one on us yet, I have to say something, because honestly, like World War 2, we could be next.

Insomnia, Causes and Coping

There are only a few typical reasons why a person (a woman in particular) wakes up in the middle of the night.  There is the hormone cycle, that causes your body to freak out because it's trying to work out hormone levels and so causes you to wake up randomly.  There is anxiety or even anticipation, which can happen for both good things and bad things, making you too excited to stay asleep for a full 8 hours.  Lastly, there is the lovely situation when something is wrong with your body - maybe your temperature is off, or your stomach is bubbly - which forces you awake to address the situation.  I am familiar with all of these.  Tonight was just another one of those typical insomniac moments.

I can't help but stumble into them.  I am by nature, an anxious person.  Add my physical quirks that require a very limited range of bodily equilibrium and sleep is a regular disaster.  Insomniac moments tend to occur regularly for me.  It is a rare and much coveted night when I sleep the entire night and wake up feeling refreshed.  In the past few weeks, I generally wake up at least once during the course of the night and in the morning feel like several freight trains ran over me leaving me in a zombie like stupor. I'd like to take a second to point something out that seems a little strange - I wear an eye mask and ear plugs yet when there is a full moon I tend to have more issues with waking up in the middle of the night regardless of whatever else is going on... or is it? Coincidence? I'm just not sure. 

So how can I work through this? What can I do to make this better? I try everything. I exercise.  I do.  That helps a little.  I never ingest stimulants after a certain hour.  As I said before, I have an eye mask and earplugs. I have organic lavender oil and linen spray to put on my temples and on my pillow (which I use periodically but not nightly).  In order to ease my way back to sleep, I keep water, books, tissues, a journal, Sudoku puzzles, several books, and various decongestants in my night stand.  I could do yoga, maybe meditate.  My mother taught me some basic self Reiki which is very relaxing, but I have been horrible about doing it with any kind of consistency which renders my knowledge effectively useless. 

Generally my best plan of attack is the one where I simply do something for a given amount of time until I start to feel tired again.  That's why I have the journal and the Sudoku.  Tonight however I decided to skip my typical tools.  When I woke up tonight I was so awake, thinking about so many things, that I needed the big guns.  If I had Tylenol PM or something stronger I would have taken that.  Even Benedryl would have been an option.  Instead, I fell back to my action plan, but with the ultimate self-stimming tool - the internet.  So I grabbed my laptop and propped it against my knees.  It's nice having my little netbook.  I could even watch movies or TV shows on this thing right now if I wanted to.  I could research random things for the short story ideas I've been knocking around for over a month in my head. I can carry on conversations with other insomniacs, check the NASDAQ, catch up on world news, and plan next week's menu. All of this, I can do in the middle of the night on my lap.  It seems wrong. But then again, we do live in the future.  Things will only get stranger.  Maybe they'll come up with more useful and pervasive ways to address insomnia.  Hell, maybe they'll get rid of the red-eyed wonder altogether.  That would be amazing.  Give that man a Nobel prize!  Crime stats suddenly drop! People are suddenly nicer!  Healthier! Happier!  All for a little sleep...

Alas.  I'll have to settle for sacrificing an hour in the middle of the night to the goddess of sleep.  When my eyes start to itch and my lids begin to droop, I know I've given her enough time to transition back to the world of dreams.  I really like dreams.  They're so much more interesting than mundane living.  I would much rather spend time with them than reading about stock movement.

No excuses

I will likely share something later and more substantial, but I couldn't resist. I'm blogging from my phone!

I decided I would try and find a Bay area news rss feed last night for my well loved G1. Instead I found myself looking at Twitter apps and other social media randomness. The result is, I still can't log into Twitter from my phone because I still can't remember my password. Lucky for me I have my login for the beloved Blogger. Yes, it may have limits, and yes, if I did this daily I would have to have thumb tendon replacement surgery BUT still. I AM blogging from my cell phone. No excuses for absence. Now I just need to get a battery that lasts longer than 4 hours. *sigh*

We live in the future. Isn't it awesome?!

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