Sunday, March 22, 2009

Hot Cocoa Master Minds 6 - Twitter Fiction or Schizophrenia


Hot Cocoa Master Minds 6 - Twitter Fiction or Schizophrenia



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The Master Minds:



Carlin Comm


Web Site | Twitter


Christine Taylor


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CJ


Web Site | Twitter


Zack Daggy


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LIVE EPISODES EVERY THURSDAY JUST AFTER 10PM EASTERN (7PM PACIFIC)

Shout out to Cybster DJ

Music by The Clintons

Cocoa graphic by DeathByBokeh

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Friday, March 13, 2009

Hot Cocoa Master Minds 5 - Now Live


Hot Cocoa Master Minds 5 - Now Live



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The Master Minds:



Carlin Comm


Web Site | Twitter


Christine Taylor


Web Site | Twitter


CJ


Web Site | Twitter


Zack Daggy


Web Site | Twitter

LIVE EPISODES EVERY THURSDAY JUST AFTER 10PM EASTERN (7PM PACIFIC)

Music by The Clintons

Cocoa graphic by DeathByBokeh

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Friday, March 6, 2009

Hot Cocoa Master Minds 4 - Jaw Dropping Jeri


Hot Cocoa Master Minds 4 - Jaw Dropping Jeri



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The Master Minds:



Carlin Comm


Web Site | Twitter


Christine Taylor


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CJ


Web Site | Twitter


Zack Daggy


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Special Guest



Jeri Smith-Ready


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Music by The Clintons

Cocoa graphic by DeathByBokeh

This Program is a Mothpod Production

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Friday, February 27, 2009

Hot Cocoa Master Minds 3 - I Take The Third


Hot Cocoa Master Minds 3 - I Take The Third



Download Episode (Right-Click Save As)

The Master Minds:



Carlin Comm


Web Site | Twitter


Christine Taylor


Web Site | Twitter


CJ


Web Site | Twitter


Zack Daggy


Web Site | Twitter

Special appearance by Stacy J-M Taylor

Music by The Clintons

Cocoa graphic by DeathByBokeh

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Friday, February 20, 2009

Hot Cocoa Master Minds 2 - Time Flies


Hot Cocoa Master Minds 2 - Time Flies



Download Episode (Right-Click Save As)

The Master Minds:



Carlin Comm


Web Site | Twitter


Christine Taylor


Web Site | Twitter


CJ


Web Site | Twitter


Zack Daggy


Web Site | Twitter

Music by The Clintons

Cocoa graphic by DeathByBokeh

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Friday, February 13, 2009

Hot Cocoa Master Minds 1 - And So It Begins


Hot Cocoa Master Minds 1 - And So It Begins



Download Episode (Right-Click Save As)

The Master Minds:



Carlin Comm


Web Site | Twitter


Christine Taylor


Web Site | Twitter


CJ


Web Site | Twitter


Zack Daggy


Web Site | Twitter

Music by The Clintons

Cocoa graphic by DeathByBokeh

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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Dark Worlds: The Secret (Free Ebook)

Download PDF (Right-Click Save As)

Well Moth Maniacs, Dark Worlds: Project 31 is officially in my publisher’s hands and is on target for a possible March release! In the meantime, if you haven’t read the short story that spawned the Dark Worlds Trilogy, now’s your chance. Dark Worlds: The Secret is now available as a FREE Ebook! Simply use the link above to download the DRM free PDF and enjoy!

Want to spread the darkness? Dark Worlds: The Secret is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. So you are free to blog it, podcast it, share it, link it, plug it.

There is a storm coming my Moth Maniacs, and you are its eye.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Work, Re-creation, and Geeky TV Shows

In our Hot Cocoa Masterminds meeting yesterday, we talked a bit about our projects, as expected; but interestingly, we spent most of the time discussing the pastimes we enjoy. (Okay, geek out over.) The topics skipped from Battlestar Galactica to obscure, short-lived TV series, with a good dose of childhood action figures inbetween. We joked about it, justifying our recreational activities by saying we were "doing research" for our creative projects. Sure, watching the Star Wars parody episode of Family Guy is important--it inspires us to write science fiction! Yeah, that's it.

But joking aside, we all agreed that recreation is just as important as work. Add a hyphen, and it becomes re-creation. And it's something that, personally, I have a hard time spending enough time doing.

"Like ships on the sea"

I love it when a plan comes together---especially when it's God's plan. I've been reading Joanna Weaver's Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World in my morning devotionals lately. Well, today I opened it to a page about achieving balance in life. In chapter eleven ("this one goes to eleven"), Joanna writes:

Because we were created for balance, we feel the difference in our souls when our lives tilt too far in one direction or another. The imbalance will show in our attitudes, our energy level, and in the way we interact with other people.

Using the metaphor of bodies of water, if you feel a sense of "dryness and emptiness," it's because you have many outlets and demands, but no inlets or sources of strength. You're like a lake that empties into a waterfall, pouring everything from your soul until you got nothing left.

On the flip side, if you have only inlets---you spend too much time in re-creation, self-indulgence, even devotions---there's no healthy, balanced flow. Without outlets, you become "like the Dead Sea": stagnant.

So, much like we discussed in our Masterminds meeting, work, creativity, and interaction are important. But re-creation---even if it's vegging out in front of Probe---is essential, too.

But wait, there's more!

Soon after reading that, I discovered another truth...the hard way.

There I was, filled up with inspiration, ready to tackle my novel and let the energy flow. I walked through the living room to get a fortifying cup of coffee...and drifted to a halt. My sister was watching Andy Griffith. Imagine a loud slurping sound as my attention got sucked in.

About ten minutes into it---still standing halfway to the kitchen---I realized my brain was going numb, while my afternoon ticked away. I turned around to leave, and caught sight of an article in a nearby newspaper. The headline read:

What happens when funds become diverted?

Wow. That made me realize: Some activities are neither an inlet nor an outlet for our purpose. Sometimes, they just divert the flow. In this case, it wasn't the activity itself, because watching Andy Griffith would be a fun way to re-create. It was the timing of the activity. I was between an inlet and an outlet--fresh from inspiration, on my way to start working--and I let my attention get diverted. I didn't get inspired or refreshed, and I didn't accomplish any tasks. I just dribbled off in a random direction.

I don't know about you, but I want my life to have a refreshing flow. So I'm going to do what I can to achieve a great balance between the inlets and outlets. And I'll keep a weather eye out for diversions that take me off-course.

Once I do that, it should be smooth sailing. ;-)

~Christine

Friday, January 30, 2009

Weigh Anchor

"They thought they could achieve their purpose; so they weighed anchor and began to sail..."--Acts 27:13

Sometimes, all you need to do is pull up that anchor--wherever you have it stuck--and start moving forward. :-)


~Chris

Monday, January 19, 2009

Falling Forward

I’ve always liked the idea, from Football, etc. of Falling Forward…
You know you’re going down, but by tipping over in a forward
direction, you get a couple extra yards

Put that toward a business or creative venture, even making a mistake
is worth while, you’ve got some experience and possibly exposure you
wouldn’t have gotten if you stayed safe.

Me? I’ve learned a lot from doing some pretty dumb things But I
think I’m in pretty good company here

Carlin

@carlincomm