• 2013: The Year In Review

    December 18, 2013 / 2 Comments

    At the end of the year, I always take a moment to examine the ups and downs I experienced, both personally and professionally. What follows is my accounting of 2013:

    * Produced hundreds of breaking news stories, including the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the intensive manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers and countless mass shootings.

    * Blogged for The Obituary Forum, The Blog of Death, Hooked From The First Page and Afterthoughts.

    * Passed the 29,000th tweet mark on my personal Twitter account (@jadewalker) and received the “I’m real” checkmark of verification.

    * Penned 60 journal entries.

    * Worked on my novel.

    * Purchased a Fitbit, increased my daily steps/stairs and cut back on my sleep debt. Also started using FitBolt to decrease time spent sitting.

    * Subscribed to the HelloFresh and Plated food services, then cooked a ton of delicious dishes.

    * Read 38 books and countless magazines.

    * Watched more than 30 films.

    * Took classes in archaeology, disaster preparedness, health/nutrition, literature and photography.

    * Launched The 10th Muse, a mailing list of writing prompts.

    * Updated The Written Word.

    * Participated in the New York City Writers Group, the South Florida Freelancers Group and the Journalism & Women Symposium.

    * Attended The Society of Professional Obituary Writers (SPOW) conference in Canada and launched the group’s private Facebook page.

    * Created a YouTube video about the future of obituaries.

    * Featured in a CNN article about obituaries.

    * Profiled on JobShadow.

    * Built websites for my husband and grandfather.

    * Redesigned The SPOW website as well as my own.

    * Went house-hunting in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.

    * Dyed my hair red.

    * Traveled to Burlington Vt., New York City, Toronto and Scotland.

    * Visited the monument to Phineas Gage.

    * Tended a garden of basil, oregano, catnip, romaine lettuce, mint, thyme and flowers.

    * Dealt with the libelous rantings of a couple of cyber-trolls (yes, lawyers were involved).

    * Saw Stephen King, Sting and Stuart McLean in person.

    * Leased a new car.

    * Perfected my versions of fudge, chocolate drop cookies, carrot cake, chicken pilaf and lasagna.

    * Celebrated my 4th wedding anniversary.

    * Turned 40.

    * * *

    End of the yearPlans/goals for 2014

    * Save up enough money for a down payment on a house.

    * Write more snail mail letters.

    * Work on my books.

    * Write more obits.

    * Write more poetry/short stories.

    * Experience fewer migraines.

    * Eat more fruits and vegetables.

    * Exercise.

    * Win the lottery.

  • My Bucket List v2.0

    August 24, 2013 / No Comments

    Here are the 50 things I want to do before I die (in no particular order):

    1. Write and publish at least a dozen novels
    2. Go on a cemetery tour of New Orleans
    3. Attend the Academy Awards
    4. See the aurora borealis
    5. Visit New Zealand
    6. Be a guest on “Fresh Air”
    7. Write/syndicate a column
    8. Play the piano
    9. Learn to fight
    10. Become fluent in French, German, Scottish Gaelic, Italian and ASL
    11. Get at least three more tattoos
    12. Write a screenplay that’s produced into a Hollywood film
    13. Host a radio show/podcast/interview program
    14. Go on a whale watching tour – and see a whale
    15. Take a hot air balloon ride over something beautiful
    16. See the earth from outer space
    17. Tour the Pyramids in Egypt
    18. Live in a house with an ocean view
    19. Hit the best-seller list
    20. Take a cruise around the world
    21. Buy and complete a Bob Ross paint set
    22. Spend Samhain on a moonlit beach next to a bonfire
    23. Have coffee with Henry Rollins
    24. Become a top-notch cook/baker
    25. Win the lottery
    26. Create a tour of a historic boneyard
    27. Become a better photographer
    28. Do the castle tour through the Black Forest
    29. Get my body into optimum shape
    30. Launch a podcast
    31. Launch a wire service
    32. Discover treasure (perhaps a rare and priceless book once thought to be “lost”)
    33. Finish/publish the Belva bio
    34. Plant a fruit tree and eat what it produces
    35. Win a bake-off
    36. Celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary
    37. Receive a “genius grant” from the MacArthur Fellows Program
    38. Fully organize and catalog my library
    39. Move to Scotland
    40. Build our dream home(s)
    41. Own a Manhattan townhouse
    42. Work on a movie
    43. Change the world for the better
    44. Appear in a photograph taken by Annie Leibovitz
    45. Live a life worthy of being the subject of a profile by Chris Jones
    46. Live a life worthy of doing a Not My Job segment on “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”
    47. Live a life worthy of an obituary in The New York Times
    48. Become immortal
    49. If immortality is not an option, then live a healthy life until at least 104
    50. Appear in a quote book of famous (and awesome) last words

    GravesPhoto by ikitje

  • A bookstore of my own

    July 6, 2013 / 1 Comment

    Bookstore

    Lately, I’ve had bookstores on the brain.

    While doing one of my monthly real estate porn searches, I stumbled upon an awesome property in Bangor, Maine. It’s an affordable 3-story townhouse on Main Street, right next door to the local opera house. The top floor features a huge master bedroom that opens out to a lovely roof deck. The second floor contains the living areas (family room, kitchen, bathrooms, extra bedrooms), and the ground floor is empty commercial space.

    Now, if I purchased this property, I could easily convert the ground floor into an office or additional living space. Or I could use it for its intended purpose, and open a used bookstore. This fantasy has been on my mind in both the dreaming and the waking realms.

    So what would a Jade Walker-owned bookstore be like?

    Well, my dream bookstore would sell a lot of genre fiction. That’s what I like. That’s what I read. That’s what I know. The stock would be used, and stacked vertically on the shelves, thus saving the avid book browser from developing a nasty case of neck crick. An entire shelf would be dedicated to staff and reader recommendations, but there would also be a themed shelf to celebrate certain holidays/moods.

    Decor would highlight other things that I like: ravens, old typewriters, gargoyles, bats, tombstones, moons, hourglasses, black and white photography and cats. I’d also post quotations on book ends and shelf sides, then change the signs every month or so.

    Comfortable chairs and small reading tables would be positioned throughout the store, and in the back would be a small cafe that serves coffee, tea, water and various baked goods. Internet access would be free, of course. And I’d put the center shelves on wheels so they could be pushed aside for author events.

    Under the cash register, I’d keep a box of intriguing bookmarks (old photos, Metro cards, snippets of poetry, dollar bills). Each customer would receive one of these treasures for free, as a token of my appreciation.

    Despite these fantasies, I’m fully aware that running a used bookstore is no easy task nowadays. For the past 30 years, the big chains — and their deep discounts — have put hundreds of smaller, independent bookstores out of business. The Internet has also claimed a huge chunk of customers. Online retailers offer a wealth of information (back cover blurbs, critical reviews, customer reviews, access to other books by the same author), and deliver purchases right to your home or office. Plus, online retailers are open 24/7, which matters a great deal to vampires like me.

    So yes, I love Amazon just as much as the next person. Why my Kindle has over 250 titles on it, and I’m always adding more. But I still believe there’s a place for the humble bookstore. Much like the local library, it can be an outlet for interaction with favorite writers, a quiet spot to discover new ones and an oasis for bibliophiles who simply prefer to read/buy books in the printed form.

    Perhaps someday, I will own one. A girl can dream.

  • Building dreams

    May 21, 2013 / 1 Comment

    Have you ever dreamed about a place, somewhere you’ve never been and yet it feels familiar?

    Have you had multiple dreams about this location?

    Does this place have any significant features, the kind you remember when you wake?

    And do you think you’d recognize this location if you learned that such a place existed?

    I have a place like that. I’ve never been there in real life and yet it has appeared numerous times in Morpheus’ realm. During these dreams, the features of the place are usually the same.

    For me, it is a skyscraper in some unknown city. The lobby is immense, with soaring ceilings and dark marbled tiles. The walls are made up of floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides, but it’s dark whenever I enter the building so the view is always obscured. Instead, I see the lobby’s reflection in the shimmering black glass.

    Sometimes the building is a hotel, albeit a rather unfriendly one. In these dreams, the building has the feel of a fortress, as if very wealthy or famous people are staying there and no trespassers are allowed. Other times, it is an office building, and various newspapers, publishing houses and wire services fill each floor.

    The left side of the lobby contains an immense paneled security desk, staffed by large, serious men. For some unknown reason, I always try to avoid the guards, using crowds or cunning to sneak past them and up the stairs.

    To the right are two black escalators moving in opposite directions. Frosted glass lines each side of the moving stairways and an obsidian marble median separates them. The stairs are made of thick steel, and the steps are wide enough to comfortably hold three people standing abreast. Slowly the stairs rise to a second floor and then a third. From there, I usually make a quick turn, and hop into a second elevator to reach the higher floors.

    Once the elevator reaches what the panel notes is the top floor, I disembark and walk over to another lift. The door to this elevator is more obscured, but I always seem to know how to find it. This ride takes me to the rooftop, and when I step out of the elevator, I’m treated to a stunningly brilliant view of the city’s lights.

    According to my dream dictionary: “Dreaming that you are on a roof, symbolizes boundless success.” Reaching the roof feels more successful than being on it, at least in my dreams, and I never wake feeling as if I’ve accomplished something or am about to do so. The dictionary also notes: “If you are moving up in the escalator, then it suggests that you are addressing and confronting emotional issues.” Can’t say I know what those issues are, but perhaps the answer will be revealed someday.

    I believe this recurring dream, this unknown yet familiar building, this long ride up to the roof is simply a metaphor for my work life. As such, I find myself wondering if I’ll ever reach that elusive rooftop. More importantly, if I do, will the view from the top be worth the climb?