The Director of Public Ministries aboard Logos Hope on leading a multicultural team and the inspiration that shapes his life

At a recent missions event, OM Founder George Verwer was welcomed with open arms in the country where OM’s ministry started: Mexico.

Brian Poole in Latin America shares how God has woven together his twin passions for business and missions.

When they come back to us in the fall, our students’ need for connection, belonging, and real-world experience will be fierce, and we need to adjust our approach based on their needs, writes teacher Ariel Sacks.

Julie Gunlock closes out her week of guest blogging by lamenting how, despite the creative ideas out there, her school district, for example, doesn't seem to be deploying any of the innovative solutions we hear so much about.

This national map tracks each state's mandates or recommendations on K-12 school closures and openings related to the coronavirus.

Abortion-related ballot initiatives were voted on in 10 states during the election. Here is a state-by-state breakdown of where abortion currently stands in each state.

Residential rental growth has reached its best levels since the pandemic started, a new report shows.

The rental market is recovering, including in higher rental brackets. and estate agents reveal what you can get for R20 000 a month.

With the 2020 Census numbers starting to come out, it's interesting to look at what states are gaining (or losing) people. In this example, I create a custom map similar to the ones the US Census Bureau likes to use, and plot the 10-year change in population. But before we [...]

The post Where are people moving to/from in the US? appeared first on Graphically Speaking.

Canada is a geographically large country, but I've heard that much of the population lives in the small southernmost sections (near the US border). I decided to use my mapping skills, and put that to the test. Follow along, and we'll see what that looks like on a map ... [...]

The post Where do Canadians live? appeared first on Graphically Speaking.

When a short-term outreach team finds openness among an unreached people group, their church gets motivated to send more people.

Allu Arjun, the star of Pushpa 2, will join Nandamuri Balakrishna on the iconic Telugu talk show ‘Unstoppable with NBK’. In this episode, airing November 15 on Aha, Arjun speaks about his acting inspirations, memorable co-stars, and personal insights shared by his mother. The episode will also preview Pushpa 2 and his historic National Award win.

Prashanth Neel’s Bagheera, starring Sriimurali as a vigilante IPS officer, comes to Netflix for streaming this December. Known for its compelling storyline and powerful cast, including Prakash Raj and Rukmini Vasanth, Bagheera captivated cinema-goers and emerged as a Diwali hit. Netflix’s acquisition marks a significant step for Kannada cinema on the platform, with Bagheera joining other Hombale Films projects. The exact streaming date remains unconfirmed, but fans can expect the movie in early December.

A Very Royal Scandal, featuring Ruth Wilson and Michael Sheen, brings viewers into the world of the British royal family’s explosive 2019 interview that revealed new truths about Prince Andrew. Now available in India on SonyLIV, the series dives deep into royal drama. Directed by Julian Jarrold and produced by Amazon MGM Studios, it revisits key events and figures surrounding one of the monarchy’s most notable scandals.

Disney+ Hotstar's new Tamil series Parachute, directed by Sridhar K, features actors Shaam, Kishore, and Kani Thiru, focusing on a warm family dynamic. The teaser, now available on Disney+ Hotstar’s social media, introduces two children exploring the world around them. Produced by Krishna's Tribal Horse Entertainment, the series has a skilled technical crew, with Om Narayan on cinematography and Richard Kevin editing. Set to air on Disney+ Hotstar, this show is aimed at viewers who enjoy heartfelt family narratives.

The supernatural horror fantasy The Watchers will stream on JioCinema in India beginning November 14, 2024. Directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan, the film stars Dakota Fanning as Mina, a young artist trapped in an eerie Irish forest with nocturnal beasts pursuing her and three strangers. The Watchers has gained attention for its gripping story, chilling atmosphere and for being Ishana’s directorial debut. The film is adapted from A.M. Shine's 2021 novel and has already captivated horror fans worldwide.

Who says you can't mix it up? The Imperial's 1911 Brasserie's new menu is all about classic dishes with Indian flavours - and it's genius.

The Demandbase ABM Innovation Summit was granular on execution, far-sighted on the potential for omnichannel ABM

Insights from Emma and their customers on storytelling across marketing channels, from the Marketing United summit

[spotlight] Highly effective treatments for HIV have existed since the mid-1990s. But while these treatments keep people healthy, we do not yet have a safe and scalable way to completely rid the body of the virus. In this Spotlight special briefing, Elri Voigt takes stock of where we are in the decades-long search for an HIV cure.

I am scripting gds streamin using 'strmin', which works fine so far.

But, as it apparently doesn't have an option to specify where the cds.lib file is, I have to run it from the directory where the cds.lib file is, or I guess I could create a dummy one to source that one.

Is there a way to tell strmin where the cds.lib file is?

OrCAD X is the next-generation integrated PCB design platform. It brings to you a powerful cloud-enabled design solution that includes design and library data management integrated with the proven PCB design and analysis product portfolio of Cad...(read more)

I'm completely new to Cadence. I've been able to run a very simple simulation with the -gui option. Simvision opens, I add the variables to the waveform viewer, and press run. All is good.

I don't understand the flow when using the -nogui option. It appears that the simulation runs and returns control to the OS. When I launch Simvision, is there a database or file that I can open to display the already-simulated data?

My command is of the form:

xrun -gui -64bit -sv -access +rwc -top tb_top.sv <src files>

The social turmoil in Hong Kong has triggered an economic crisis, raising questions over the special administrative region’s future as a major financial hub on mainland China’s doorstep. 

As of Nov. 12, get the JBL Clip 4 for just $39.95 at Walmart, which is $35.04 off its normal price.

“It’s been horrible; I’ve been sick on and off for the last 10 days,” said 29-year-old asthmatic Natasha Sohail, who teaches A-Level students at three private schools in Lahore. Last week, her condition worsened with a vertigo attack and fever. “It’s criminal what is happening here,” said an incensed Sohail, referring to the “band-aid measures” […]

AFTER silently watching Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza for the past one year, the leaders of the Arab and Muslim countries have once more met in Riyadh to discuss the escalating conflict.

The so-called international alliance conceived by Saudi Arabia, with its aim of pressing for the establishment of a Palestinian state, failed to formulate a concrete plan of action to stop the Israeli invasion that has been extended to Lebanon.

Interestingly, the resolution issued at the conclusion of the joint summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and Arab League is restricted to the usual condemnation of Israeli aggression. It doesn’t even plainly describe the ongoing Israeli military action in Gaza, which has killed more than 43,000 people, mostly women and children, as a genocide.

There is no suggestion to sever the diplomatic and trade ties with Israel that some of these countries continue to have, despite the war crimes being committed by the Zionist forces. With the complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, more than a million people face death by starvation and disease. Mere condemnation cannot stop Israel’s genocidal war. It is nothing short of a betrayal of the hapless people of Palestine.

In fact, the inaction of the Muslim world has given impunity to the Zionist state, which is now threatening to annihilate the entire occupied territory. The latest summit was held a year after a similar gathering in Riyadh. Then, too, the leaders had merely condemned the Israeli military action in Gaza. They could not agree on even a minimum plan of action to stop Israeli atrocities.

The OIC-Arab League resolution does not go beyond the usual condemnation of Israel.

They did not even leverage their oil and economic capabilities to apply pressure on countries supplying arms to Israel to stop the war. One year of war crimes doesn’t seem to have brought any change in their position, which can be described as capitulation. The resolution is as toothless as the previous one.

The most shocking part of the resolution is the decision “to affirm support and express appreciation for the tireless efforts made by the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Qatar in cooperation with the United States of America to achieve an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip… “. It couldn’t get more outrageous given that the ongoing genocide in Gaza is essentially supported by the US. It is massive American military aid that has helped Israel sustain its war.

Notwithstanding the occasional rebuke by US officials, there has never been any real American pressure on Israel to implement a ceasefire. In fact, the Biden administration has repeatedly vetoed resolutions in the UN calling for one. Some of the Arab rulers are believed to have tacitly supported what Israel has described as its war against Hamas. Moreover, America has its bases in Arab countries, and concerns have been raised that they could have supplied Israel with weapons to kill Palestinians. These countries have not prohibited the use of these bases.

Significantly, the latest summit took place soon after Donald Trump’s victory, which has been hailed by some member countries, prompting observers to conclude that it was meant to send a message to the incoming US administration. It seems that the ‘international alliance’ is now pinning its hopes on the incoming Trump administration to get Israel to agree to a ceasefire and accept the creation of a Palestinian state.

For instance, while addressing a Council of Foreign Ministers preparatory meeting a day before the summit, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar expressed the hope that the incoming US administration would “lend its weight to reinvigorate efforts for peace in the Middle East”. His remarks show his utter ignorance about Trump’s hard-line approach to the Middle East conflict.

Such expectations from the president-elect, who is considered even more pro-Israel than the outgoing Biden administration, are unrealistic. During his election campaign, Trump had called on Israel to finish the offensive and “get the job done”. He has stated that he would “defend our friend and ally in the State of Israel like nobody has ever”.

How can one forget that in his previous term he shifted the American embassy to occupied Jerusalem? The move defied Washington’s earlier position of not recognising one of the most sacred of Islam’s holy places as Israel’s capital. In his previous term, Trump had also endorsed Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law. Under the so-called Abraham Accords, he oversaw the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco.

Although Saudi Arabia did not enter into such an agreement, it did indicate its willingness to recognise Israel in return for security and economic benefits, though insisting there would be no diplomatic ties without a Palestinian state. Some analysts believe that the Riyadh summit has sent a clear signal to the incoming Trump administration that it can rely on the kingdom as a strong partner in extending American interests in the region. The summit has pushed for greater American leverage in bringing the war to an end.

But it is very clear that the incoming Trump administration will not push for the establishment of a Palestinian state as envisaged by the ‘international alliance’. There has been no mention of the two-state solution in his recent statements on the Middle East conflict.

Since winning the election, Trump has spoken to the Israeli prime minister more than once. Therefore, it’s not surprising to see the right-wing Israeli government harden its position after Trump’s election.

In a recent statement, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying it was “unrealistic”. Surely the inaction of the Arab and Muslim countries has made things worse for the Palestinians. The joint resolution indicates that these countries do not have any intention of using their leverage to put pressure on Israel and its allies to end the war.

The writer is an author and journalist.

zhussain100@yahoo.com

X: @hidhussain

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2024

ABSTRACTMore than half of births among Indigenous women in Guatemala are still being attended at home by providers with no formal training. We describe the incorporation of comadronas (traditional midwives) into casas maternas (birthing centers) in the rural highlands of western Guatemala. Although there was initial resistance to the casa, comadronas and clients have become increasingly enthusiastic about them. The casas provide the opportunity for comadronas to continue the cultural traditions of prayers, massages, and other practices that honor the vital spiritual dimension of childbirth close to home in a home-like environment with extended family support while at the same time providing a safer childbirth experience in which complications can be detected by trained personnel at the casa, managed locally, or promptly referred to a higher-level facility. Given the growing acceptance of this innovation in an environment in which geographical, financial, and cultural barriers to deliveries at higher-level facilities lead most women to deliver at home, casas maternas represent a feasible option for reducing the high level of maternal mortality in Guatemala.This article provides an update on the growing utilization of casas and provides new insights into the role of comadronas as birthing team members and enthusiastic promotors of casas maternas as a preferable alternative to home births. Through the end of 2023, these casas maternas had cared for 4,322 women giving birth. No maternal deaths occurred at a casa, but 4 died after referral.The Ministry of Health of Guatemala has recently adopted this approach and has begun to implement it in other rural areas where home births still predominate. This approach deserves consideration as a viable and feasible option for reducing maternal mortality throughout the world where home births are still common, while at the same time providing women with respectful and culturally appropriate care.

Destiny 2's Exotic vendor, Xur, is back again this week. Here's how to find him, what he's selling, and whether we recommend his offerings before he vanishes again.

Cement is ubiquitous, but the process of making it emits carbon into the atmosphere. The industry says there's no easy way to avoid that, which is why it's turning to carbon capture and storage technology as a way to decarbonize.

The Portuguese midfielder is settling into life in east London well after his loan move.

See the interactive version of this story on our site →

While most fans have been looking forward to Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 or basically a sequel to Warhammer 40,000: …

Continue reading "Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Steam Deck Review (in Progress) – GOTY Contender, but Play It Elsewhere for Now"

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Continue reading "They Put the Power Button WHERE!? – The TouchArcade Show #607"

A group representing hunters in the Nordic countries says it’s more optimistic than ever that the European Union will lift a longtime ban on trading seal products that deprived Canadian sealers of their primary market.

If you're looking for a place to live and you don't mind some seriously frosty winters, you have plenty of options to choose from. But some places endure more than a few blustery months, and no parka or insulated mittens will feel like enough. Those are contenders for the title of coldest city in the world.

While public transit in many Canadian cities is struggling with rising fares and falling ridership, one Ontario community has more than doubled its transit use in the past two years. Orangeville has made its buses free, joining a list of much larger communities that have gone fare-free.

• Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicines gives a peek inside its $43 billion gross-to-net bubble

• Optum Rx joins the private label biosimilar bandwagon

• Biosimilars boom for provider-administered drugs

• Fresh evidence of how copay accumulators hurt patients

There’s still time to request an invite to the inaugural Drug Channels Leadership Forum. Attendance will be highly limited. We have already begun extending invitations, so apply now to be considered. Click here to view the full agenda.

Now is the time for health plans to step up and embrace the tools and strategies that will not only meet regulatory demands, but also drive innovation in care delivery. 

The post Where Medicare Advantage Goes From Here appeared first on MedCity News.

Nov 2, 2022

U.S. power extends beyond the military and economic spheres to include policing. The United States has used its global policing power to capture terrorists, warlords, and drug kingpins. But extradition is not simply a bureaucratic tool. States’ geopolitical interests shape their willingness to cooperate with others in extraditing fugitives. 

May 23, 2024

MEI Fellow Yuree Noh assesses public opinion in Kuwait following the suspension of its parliament.

May 1, 2024

Viktoria Waldenfels MPA 2025 reflects on promising ways forward for Arctic cooperation.

This study group, led by Arctic Initiative Senior Fellow Margaret Williams, is evaluating the costs and benefits of renewing cooperation with Russia on science and conservation issues.

Hi everybody.

The question I get most is: "Where do you get your ideas?"

Generally, when I'm asked this question, it's at a book event where it's difficult to answer, because… Well, the answer is long, and complicated, and hard to pin down, and most of the time, I don't really remember how it happened. When an idea starts to arrive, I get to work. I'm not paying attention to how it's happening, or how it would look to an outsider. 

But — a few weeks ago, a new book idea started knocking on the door of my mind. And this time, I decided to pay attention!

What follows is probably the most detailed explanation I'll ever give of where my ideas come from. More specifically, where this particular idea came from, because it's not always the same. But my experience of the past few weeks has been fairly typical for me, and I'll add that there are a few activities I need to engage in every single time, if I want an idea to take root. Namely: PATIENCE. LISTENING. And, LABOR. Book ideas require a certain honed receptiveness, and they require a LOT OF WORK. 

I'm yelling because I'm trying to push back against the idea that ideas simply come to writers. Yes, some parts of ideas come to writers. But when I first get a book idea, what "comes to me" probably comprises about 0.1% of what could properly be called a book idea. Often, it's little more than an inchoate feeling. With patience, listening, and labor, I transform the idea into something I can grasp, and work with.

I'll add that yes, we do hear sometimes of writers whose ideas "simply came to them," fully formed. I'm going to take a guess that (1) this doesn't happen very often, if ever, with books that have complicated structures or plots, and (2) writers who are blessed by ideas in this way probably have a long-honed practice of receptiveness.

Anyway. Warning upfront that this may be a little unstructured, because the process is a little unstructured. It's challenging to describe, and I'm still in the middle of it. But here's what my last few weeks have been like.

A few weeks ago, while watching a TV show that had a certain mood/aura that'd really sucked me in, I found myself drawn to the idea of a story involving three characters. I'm not going to tell you what TV show I was watching, and I'm not going to tell you anything about my three characters, because story ideas are intensely, intensely private. The first time I say anything publicly about it will probably be years from now, if and when this book is ever scheduled for release. But let me try to explain a bit about that moment when the first glimmering of the idea appeared. 

Like I said, I'd been watching a TV show when it happened. But my three characters weren't characters in that TV show. Nor did anyone in that TV show relate to each other the way my three characters seemed to want to relate. Nor did my three characters seem to live in a world like the world of the TV show. The TV show helped to launch the idea at me because of the show's mood and its feeling, and how much I cared about the people in it. But my idea? As is often the case, my idea came from something I saw missing in the TV show. Not missing because there was a flaw in the TV writers' story; I loved their story! But missing (for me and possibly only me) because their story was not the story I would have told.

I think that a lot of my idea seeds come from my adoration of other people's stories, but also from my noticing what's missing in those stories, for me. What story I would've like to have seen told; what characters the story lacked.

Anyway. So this idea of these three characters came to me. But when I say "idea of these three characters," already that sounds more substantial than it was. I knew they were three humans (or humanoids; I didn't know what genre the story was, so they could've been aliens on another planet, for all I knew. In fact, I actively considered whether they might have different biology than ours). I knew they cared about each other, but I didn't know in what way. I knew they were facing a challenge that would strain all of their relationships. I thought they might be grown-ups, but I wasn't sure. I thought I knew at least two of their genders, but I wasn't sure. I knew they lived in a world with magic, but I didn't know what "magic" meant in the context of their world. I didn't know where they lived, or when they lived (past? future? futuristic past? postindustrial future? any of about a hundred other possibilities). I knew a whole lot of things that the characters weren't, and that the world wasn't — which is another way of saying that my sense of what this story was was actually more defined by all the things I knew it wasn't. (Apologies if this is vague. I'm not being intentionally vague! I'll try for some concrete examples: I knew I didn't want to write a story where partway through, someone suddenly discovers they have an inborn power they didn't know they had. I knew I didn't want to write a love triangle. There's a certain kind of high-handed fantasy tone that I knew wasn't right for this story. But I didn't know what I did want yet at this point.)

Really, all I knew was that I seemed to be having an idea.

So, like a writer, I did what I needed to do: 

• I made space in my mind for receptiveness. (I scheduled uninterruptable alone time. I stopped listening to podcasts while I was out walking, and instead, just walked, so my mind could wander. I put aside non-urgent tasks for a while so that I didn't have the feeling of a to-do list hanging over my head. I gave myself permission to wool-gather, to become vague and absent-minded. I set three timers any time I cooked anything so I could feel free to forget I was cooking, but also not burn the house down. I remembered to thank my husband frequently for being willing to live with a space cadet.)
• I thought about what fertilizer might help the idea to grow, especially fertilizer in the form of books, TV, and movies. I put all other books, TV, and movies aside. (I kept watching that same TV show, and I also began reading almost exclusively one writer who had a narrative tone — and also subject matter — that helped me sustain a mood that felt concurrent with the mood of my own idea. Why does this kind of intake help? It keeps my mind in a story space, while also giving me something to bounce my own ideas off of. It's a kind of reading, or watching, that involves a state of constant interactivity and reactivity. Everything I'm consuming becomes about something else that I'm looking for. It's difficult to explain, maybe because it gets back to that inexplicable moment when new ideas form.)
• I made sure that every single time I had any new thoughts relating to my idea, I wrote them down. (This meant making reminders on my phone; sending strings of emails to myself; choosing a notebook where I began to jot things down; sending texts to myself on my husband's phone, if his phone was closer to hand than mine.)
• I looked at my schedule to give myself a sense of if and when I might have a few days soon to put my current writing project aside and give some true, devoted time to this new idea. (I was, and still am, in the middle of revisions of the next Graceling Realm book when this happened, and that was, and still is, my absolute first priority. As exciting and intense as a new idea can be, it can't unseat me from my current object of devotion.)

By chance, last week, I did in fact have some time away from my revision while it was briefly with my editor. I was able to devote an entire week to the new book idea. So, next, I'll try to describe what a week of intense idea-gathering looks like for me! (Though I should say that this will differ from book to book. It's been pretty clear to me from the beginning that this new idea is going to be slow to grow — planning this book will take way more than a week. In contrast, last fall, I found myself with a new and sudden book idea that coincided with the end of another project, so I had some free time and was able to sit down and hammer out the entire book plan, which took only a few days. I think this is because that book was shorter and less emotionally complicated than this new book will be, and was set in a less complex world. Also, at the time, I was absolutely thrumming with the adrenaline and momentum of having just finished a writing project, so book-planning became a way to channel that energy. Often these processes are subject to whatever else is going on in my life.)

So. My week of intense idea-gathering looked a lot like what I've already described — reading, watching TV, but now also with long hours of sitting staring at a blank page and/or lying on my back staring at the ceiling — but with a more specific goal. Namely, I was trying to figure out what my main questions were. For me, every book starts (and continues, as I write) with an extremely long list of questions that I'm trying to find the answers to, but it takes work to figure out what the questions are. The questions can be very different from book to book. And it's essential, at the beginning, to identify what the main questions are.

When I'm first idea-gathering, I use very short notebooks in which I scribble down all my random thoughts as they come (I like using these twenty-page notebooks from Laughing Elephant, because they're short enough not to feel intimidatingly important). Then I have one longer, thicker notebook which is for my more coherent thoughts — my more serious book planning. During my week of active idea-gathering, I came up with the following list of major questions, worthy of being written down in my thick, "serious" planning notebook:

MAJOR QUESTIONS.

• What is magic?
• How does bad human behavior manifest in this world? (for real *)
• Where/what culture does each of them come from? What family?
• How is society governed?
• Who is each of them — as a person and as a power manifestation?
• How is the narrative positioned?
• What is the plot?
• How do humans relate to the rest of the natural world?
• What is gender? (for real *)

* and by societal definition

As I began to hammer out my questions, I continued to read, watch things, and wool-gather, but with more intense focus. Because now I was also trying to answer these questions as they came. It was interesting to observe the order in which I began to find the answers. Not surprisingly, probably since my novels tend to be character-based, it was the character-based questions that drew me in first. “What is gender" in particular, because I have a sense that in this story, my characters' relationships to gender are absolutely integral to who they are, and I can’t get very far with a book plan if I don’t know who my characters are. I also started to gather some clues about their personalities and their strengths. Enough that after a couple of days, I got to the point where I suddenly knew I needed their names. Names ground everything, and they can also change some things; at a certain point, I can't make any further progress without names. I spent one entire day last week mostly just trying to figure out three people's names. Once I had the names, I was able to return to my questions.

Then, not too long after that, a moment arose where I knew, again quite suddenly, that what I needed next was at least the broad strokes of a plot. If I’m a little scornful about the concept of inspiration — because it’s a concept that dismisses how hard I work! — I do believe in intuition, and also in experience. Intuition and experience told me that I'd reached the point in my planning where the needs of my plot would hold the answer to a lot of my other questions. Like, how this place is governed; what constitutes bad behavior; and even some character things, like what culture each of my characters is from. Sometimes, once you know what needs to happen in a story, it becomes easier to picture the structure of your world. Because a plot comes with needs; once a plot exists, it limits some of your other options. For example, let's say your plot involves a particular kind of government-based corruption. Well, thinking about that corruption will probably start to show you some of your options for the structure of the government. Once you know the structure of the government, you might begin to understand who holds governmental power — which can lead to answers about how families are structured. Which can lead to answers about culture, which can lead to answers about the societal definition of bad behavior, etc.

So. I reached the point where I needed at least a sense of my plot. But: plotting is a HUGE job. I knew it wasn't something I could do in just a few days, and at this point I also knew that I was going to need to return to my revision soon. So, intuition told me that it was time to stop. Not stop being receptive; not necessarily stop reading or watching the helpful things; not stop sending myself emails, texts, and reminders; but stop trying to make any real, meaty, major progress on this book idea. I needed to save the job of plotting for when I next had a stretch of uninterrupted worktime. Maybe another free week or two somewhere, between other projects.

So, I did some final organizing of my notebook. I transferred things into it from other notebooks and I designating a huge number of empty pages in it for future plot thoughts and future character thoughts. I did this even though in this book, as in most of my books, I sense that character and plot will ultimately end up being the same thing, so it's not going to matter much which thoughts I file where. (In other words, most of my plot is going to spring from who my characters are, and many of my characters will spring from the needs of the plot.) But at this messy stage in planning, it's important to me to feel organized. The illusion of organization stops me from feeling as overwhelmed as I probably should be feeling. So I label things, and delude myself that I can contain this messy process inside a nice neat notebook ????. 

I organized my notebook, and then I put it aside. Today I'm still open to thoughts about my new book idea, but it's not my entire worklife anymore... it's more of a promise for the future. It'll probably be good to have it simmering on the back burner for a while. I'll be able to approach it with a new freshness when I sit down with it again one day.

So. I'm not sure how satisfyingly I've answered the question "Where do you get your ideas?" After all, this idea is still very much in progress. I figured out a lot of stuff last week, but mostly what I figured out is a long list of all the things I don't know yet. There will be many, many more workweeks to go before I'll be able to claim that I truly have an idea for a book. 

But this is my best shot at an answer to the question of where my ideas come from! I guess the point I want to convey is this: I don’t necessarily believe in inspiration. But I believe that sometimes a writer will start to get the merest sense of a story that's missing from the world, and find herself wanting to write that story. At that point, if circumstance allows her the time and space to enter a state that is extremely internally-focused and possibly involves a lot of intake (reading, watching other stories), or if not that, at least an extreme level of sensitivity and receptiveness, of seeing, of listening... And if she puts in the work… her idea-seed will start to take root, and grow into a real, workable idea that might one day be the beginnings of a book! 

And of course, every writer does this differently. Many writers don't plan or plot ahead of time. They figure out the idea as they write. So there's no right or wrong way to do it. 

But this is my best explanation of how I do it.

Godspeed to all writers.

Fans of Voltron: Legendary Defender are disheartened by the news that the series is leaving Netflix. The beloved animated show, which aired for eight seasons from 2016 to 2018, follows teens who join an intergalactic battle while piloting robotic ships shaped like animals. With the news sparkling debates, viewers are eager to learn why it’s […]

The post Why Is Voltron Leaving Netflix & Where Could It Stream Next? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.