Loren Rhoads's Blog
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May.15.2013
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David AllenMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I’m always looking for a way to get more stuff done and this system comes recommended by everyone from the owner of the Samovar Tea Houses to Unclutterer. After reading the book, I’m not...
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May.02.2013
"When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There's magic in that. It's in the listener, and for each and every ear...
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May.01.2013
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read really slowly, so for me to have finished a novel in under a month is remarkable. It's been a long time since I found myself carrying a book around, reading it on the bus and at the movie theater, even staying in bed late in the morning to read.
So why not give...
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Mar.08.2013
The cover image for Wish You Were Here.
I have been completely swamped with my other writing and can't seem to switch gears to blogging. What have I been up to? I'm glad you asked!
First up is Wish You Were Here: Adventures in Cemetery Travel. It is scheduled to...
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Jan.22.2013
My favorite part of reading my work in public is hearing the audience's responses. I treasure every gasp, every chuckle, every soft moan of pleasure.
That's obvious, right? You would think so. However, for many years when I read, I was so focused on getting the words right -- not...
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Jan.01.2013
I held off on writing my 2012 summary because the year didn't go the way I expected or planned. I spent months mourning the end of a professional relationship -- one that had really been over with for a while, but that I wasn't willing to let go. That colored how I felt about the...
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Dec.21.2012
You can treat her to a class at The Writing Salon! You can sign your loved one up for a class -- the winter schedule is here. In addition to the regular in-person classes in the San Francisco Bay Area, there are several online options to get your mom writing in the new year.
Better yet...
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Dec.04.2012
Now that November is over, I can blog again! I've done Nanowrimo 9 times since 2003 (I took off the year that the Morbid Curiosity book came out, so I could concentrate on promotion) and it's always been a valuable experience, whether I crossed the 50,000-word finish line or crashed and...
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Oct.19.2012
I took French in high school because I was a ballet student and I wanted to understand the terms we used. On the first day of class, my (very young) French teacher told us a story about her recent trip to France. She tried to order a glass of vin rouge in a cafe, but the waiter wouldn't...
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Oct.18.2012
Everyone Loves a Good Train Wreck: Why We Can't Look Away by Eric G. Wilson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Full disclosure: I'm one of the morbid people Wilson spoke to as he researched the book. I'm not sure he entirely knew how to take my perky goth sensibilities, but I do get a...
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Oct.17.2012
In trying to get the word out about my little magazine, I held all kinds of readings. There was the annual release party at Borderlands, which showcased the new contributions. I've written before about the Open Mics at the World Horror Conventions. I also hosted a couple of...
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Oct.16.2012
Maybe I should explain the title. There are some memoirs I published in Morbid Curiosity magazine that I still feel really close to, stories that changed me as I read them, edited them, proofread them, and ushered them into print. The Editor's Children are my favorites.
I'm gonna...
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Oct.12.2012
Because I was hosting the Morbid Curiosity Open Mics at the World Horror Conventions, I had the opportunity to meet a whole bunch of horror writers. I was surprised how easy it was to get them up on a stage, baring their real lives in front of an audience.
In fact, Brian Keene opened issue #7...
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Oct.11.2012
Another theme that developed in Morbid Curiosity #7 revolved around serial killers.
Michael Arnzen wrote about growing up in Amityville, near the house where Ronald DeFeo killed his family. Andrew Henderson unknowingly parked on "Lovers' Lane" while the Hooker Murderer was on the loose...
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Oct.10.2012
Putting issue #7 together was rough emotionally. My younger brother died suddenly in July 2002. A month later, I developed a goiter and survived the first needle biopsy of my throat. In September, my dad underwent a second round of open-heart surgery. It seemed Death was all...
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Curiosity is the single most important attribute with which humans are born. Curiosity is a powerful tool, like a scalpel or a searchlight. It is a way to affect change -- even to initiate global change -- on a personal level.”
—Loren's introduction to Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues
About Loren
For 10 years, I edited the nonfiction magazine Morbid Curiosity. Scribner published Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues in 2009. Now I'm blogging about graveyards as travel destinations at Cemetery Travel (http://cemeterytravel.com). A collection of my cemetery...
Connections
Causes Loren Rhoads Supports
Clarion Write-a-Thon
Nanowrimo
Loren’s Favorite Books
Tinker at Pilgrim Creek, A Natural History of the Senses, How We Die, Something Wicked This Way Comes, American Gods, The Bloody Chamber, Owls Hoot in the...
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