Writing: A Medium of Quiet

I write most mornings.  Today I'm in Connecticut on the shore at South Norwalk.  I'm waking up in my best friend's mom's house, like I did many mornings in junior high school and high school.  We lived in Greenwich then and their house was right on the water by Byram Shore Road. We could walk or swim before school in the early summer months on warm days like today.  Of course the water was freezing, but we were young and foolish.

I'm here for the Book Expo in NYC, a busy noisy place I also used to live in, but now, I crave this quiet sunrise and slightly dewy porch furniture waiting for a new day to start. No hustle and bustle need apply.

No noise here, just so much quiet and as I finish my book, I was thinking about the privacy and quiet neighborhood of a book. It's a place you go to find the thoughtful quiet, reflective musings of another person. I can share the delicate noise of one bird on the porch and the peaceful silence of this shore at sunrise with you in a book and it's hard to find that peace many places these days.

Despite the many ways you can write now (blogging, tweeting, facebooking), a book still has a solid weighty feel like no other.

No surprise there. For goodness' sake, a book is made of trees, like any good neighborhood. The medium has a luxurious quiet and whispers a story person to person, which we share, writer and reader, because as the writer I get up early and carve out the time to take you to the places I see and imagine.

Her house stood in Hurricane Sandy while many to the right and left of her house did not, because it was built in the 1960's by a contractor who already knew how rough Mother Nature could get.  He'd shored it up on a higher level with a rocky undercarriage to keep it out of harm's way, never knowing in 2012 his house would have the last laugh on this street, as his house stood up to the proverbial test of time. That's my idea of a good story with a happy ending.

Getting Back to Normal

After the terrorist bombing of the Boston Marathon only week ago and lock down only four days ago, we're all keen on getting back to normal here. People are doing their level best to just get back to normal and from normal, we long for a day that's boring and routine.  We'd savor that.

It's finally spring and we need to let it remind us of how you can rebound after a long dark winter.  You can start over.  You can (sort of) forget, you can (maybe) forgive, move along wiser and stronger and put one day after another behind you until plain old Boston is just our fair city again.

15 Grammar Goofs by Copyblogger

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My Good Advice for Mike Arrington

I'm a mom. Can I sit you down, offer you a cookie, a glass of milk and share two words of good advice?

Shut up.

Let me remind you, dear, that a person can win in court and still lose in the court of public opinion.

If someone has made allegations against you along the lines that you are a threatening person, try not to end a blog post with something that might sound threatening, like this:

I’ve also asked my attorneys to contact appropriate law enforcement agencies about these false allegations. Given the gravity of the claims, I think it’s important that the police be involved in this now.

You've done many people much good and many favors, but you have also gotten a few people a little pissed off at you.

You're a gifted writer, but it's time to keep all your words to yourself.  Okay, dear?

Top Ten Mistakes of Entrepreneurs by Guy Kawasaki

I think you might like this.  I thought it was awesome.  Guy actually gives you 11 mistakes since he likes to underpromise and over deliver.

Check it out!

Endless Disruptions / Welcome to Saturday

Credit: aliveontheshelves.com

Oy vey!  There are so many forces pulling me in so many directions today.

Okay, here's my mantra.

Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write

RIGHT!

Lean In Fun

Sheryl Sandberg in Boston / Lean In

Terrific day to hear Sheryl Sandberg speak about her book #LeanIn at the Harvard Club event sponsored by Hubspot, MITX, and TechStars among others.  Honestly, as great as it was to see her, it was even better to meet a roomful of amazing women CEO's and entrepreneurs and learn about what they are all up to. Let me dig up some pictures here.

I am really intrigued by how practical her advice is -- it's almost a business etiquette of inclusion and welcoming -- instead of keeping women outside of the circle.  I am encouraged and hopeful about it.

Thanks to my trusty Kindle I downloaded and read the book asap the day it was published. Now to hear her speak and have her make it real is very exciting. Thanks so much C. A. Webb from New England Venture Capital Association for inviting me to ask her a question.

C.A. Webb and Katie Rae

I asked her about startups can change the rules and help women lead. I mentioned as I write my book Founders Less Than Three, even I find it hard to create fictional women founders who are not the male, hoodie-wearing, unwashed, code monkey stereotypes. Her response was great and encouraged all of us to show the world what these women entrepreneurs look like by BEING one.

Here's the video and a paraphrase of her reply to my question about the images of women entrepreneurs. "A local SF magazine did a piece on female entrepreneurs and they took drawings of male entrepreneurs' bodies -- Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Page -- and then just put women's heads on them.  ... For my book, I worked with a researcher and we looked for female characters in popular media ...  who were married, working women, who were happy -- they're are none!  There's no image of  married working women who are happy. There are plenty of images of men who are working and happy.  ... We can be women AND entrepreneurs.  We can help make that happen.  Women need to be at the table and one of those tables is the funding table."  And if that wasn't good enough, she reached out to me personally.  It's not every day you have Sheryl Sandberg say directly to you, "come out and visit me in Silicon Valley and I'll introduce you to more women entrepreneurs," so I do hope to take her up on it.