Blog Under the Spotlight: Skull-A-Day

My next Blog Workshop is on Saturday 6th April. Every time I prepare for a workshop I learn so much, partly because social media is always developing and partly because of all the new blogs I find myself visiting. I love coming across original blogs and finding out about the blogger's journey. I'm especially interested in blogs that became books!

 

Skull-a-Day was featured in Blogging for Creatives. It was set up by Noah Scalin, who on the 4th of June 2007 posted an orange paper skull and wrote, "I'm making a skull a day for a year". He made his 365th skull on 2nd June 2008.

 

The project caught people's imagination, and the following year, the blog featured daily submissions from readers. In October 2008 a book based on Skull-A-Day was published by Lark Books, featuring 150 images from the first half of the project.

 

The popular blog is still going strong and Noah Scalin was kind enough to stop by and tell me more about it.

Why skulls?

 

Initially the idea of having skulls as my focus was a completely random thought. It was something that popped into my head and since I like them, I figured it would be fun.  Both of my parents are artists, so I grew up around anatomical imagery and as far as I can tell I've pretty much always liked skulls (I still have a very nice drawing of one I did when I was six). Of course with the benefit of hindsight it seems like the perfect subject matter for a daily meditation on creativity since the memento mori is a traditional art concept of using the skull as a reminder to live each day fully. Of course I'm not smart enough to have actually chosen it consciously for that reason!

What was your motivation behind the blog?

To get myself out of a creative slump. I was really burnt out with clients and not feeling like I was making progress getting people thinking of me as a fine artist, rather than just a graphic artist.

 

How did you promote it?

Initially I just let 100 of my friends know about it and encouraged them to share. A lot of the initial work was done by them really! Most of the biggest early press came through friends of friends.

 

 

Did you contact the publisher or did they come to you? 

I was actually contacted by a book publishing agent who thought it would make a good book and she was the one that helped me craft a book proposal and pitch it. And she's still my agent today! 

 

How do you make money from the blog?

I don't really. The blog is more about building an audience and interest in my work, which then allows me to make money in other ways (books, talks, art sales, etc.). The site is now run by 3 volunteer editors, who were originally über fans of the site, and it's hosted by Blogger, so there are no real expenses (other than everyone's time) to keep it running. We do however run weekly giveaways, and that's an opportunity for the editors to get some free stuff in exchange for their hard work.

 

What would be your advice to anyone thinking of starting a blog?

Set yourself achievable goals and be consistent with posting. Don't try to do great things from day one, just aim for getting it done and getting it out there. The audience will come over time if you keep showing up and sharing. More than anything it's the persistence that pays off.

 

Visit Skull-A-Day 

Follow @Skulladay @NoahScalin on Twitter

 

 

Catholics - We aren't all bad!

The Church where I got married!

I'm not going to start blogging about religion. It's a subject that makes people uneasy. It makes me uneasy and I'm Catholic. If you're imagining me whispering the rosary with a black lace mantilla on my head you can stop it now. There are Zulu warriors above my bed not a sacred bleeding heart.

To be honest, the only thing that really matters to me is the bit about 'love they neighbour as thyself' - and that's a big enough challenge for a lifetime without needing to complicate things with other rules.  

The resignation of the pope and the discovery of yet more cases of sexual misconduct has made it even more confusing to be a Catholic than usual. The Roman Catholic church works hard to appear a righteous establishment but fails miserably. Often I've sat in church and thought: "I'm a rational human being, what am I doing here?" 

The upsurge of right wing Catholics desperate to maintain the old ways and stop the church becoming more inclusive would depress me if I thought about it too much. Because it's simple, isn't it? The whole message of Jesus is to love people unconditionally, even when people are virtually unlovable. It's an easy concept even if it's very difficult, borderline impossible to do.   

The problem is the church is getting too fussy about this idea of their 'neighbour'. It doesn't think everyone should be loved after all. It doesn't think gays should be loved quite as much, or divorcees, or religious women, or women in general.

On Sunday the priest chose to speak out about everything that had been nagging at his heart. He began by telling us about a woman in the parish who had been married, had had children, and had later divorced. He told us that she  had found happiness late in life, and he really wanted to bless her. "I can bless a dog, I can bless a car, but why can't I bless two people who love each other?" he asked.

He spoke out about discrimination against gender and sexuality. "Why is so much energy wasted on looking at what people are doing in their beds rather than what's in their hearts?" He was visibly moved as was most of the congregation who had been yearning for this truth to be shouted from the rooftops for so long.

 

The priest got a standing ovation for his sermon. And that gives me hope. I'm not going to blog about religion. But I just wanted to share that hope, in case, like me, you needed it.

Do You Want To Be a Super Centenarian?

Photo from AnimalSpot

What's more important, that you live long or you live well? Unlike some species of animal, humans have an unfortunate tendency to fall apart as they get older. If the Bowhead Whale, with its average life span of 200 years, felt how we inevitably would at that age, it would sink. Instead it keeps on swimming without the need of a stick, reading glasses or a fin massage. But though the longevity of their life might appeal, the thought of swimming for more than an hour makes me want to put my feet up and have a snooze.

       

What about being a Giant Tortoise? They can live to well over 100 years. The downside is that they're born already looking old and decrepit, and they don't move all that much faster than your average ancient human.

The Tuatara lizard seems a happy medium, again with an average life expectancy of a 100 years, which they live fully and actively till the end, centenarian lizards being perfectly capable of baring children.

Personally I don't want the option of having kids when I'm a hundred. I just don't want to be stuck in my armchair for the last ten years of my life.

My vision is of pottering around in my sun lit terrace at the ripe old age of 104. I'm still active, still writing novels (with decent sex scenes in them, at last). I'm growing mint for my mojitos and I've got a little dog called TinTin. My husband, 108, is in the living room designing an even more flashy and complicated way of turning on the television than we had in 2013.

 

Fauja Singh - Photo from PravasiToday

 

I know I need to put some effort in now if I intend to arrive at 104 in great shape. My hero of the month is Fauja Singh, a 101 year old marathon runner. Unfortunately marathon running is a bit extreme for me. I'm thinking more along the lines of stretching.  

Not long ago I discovered this video which simultaneously teaches you yoga and takes you to Costa Rica.  At the moment, every single muscle aches when I do the exercises. If I put it off till I'm any older it will be like flexing a chicken with rigor mortis. Where I'm the chicken.

 

            


Obviously keeping physically fit is only half the battle, an intact mind is also vital.

Now I'm wondering what those Bowhead Whales have been thinking about for the last two centuries. How sane are they? Because I know for a fact, there's no Sudoku in the deep blue sea.

I Married a Foreigner



It began in Wales...



 

When my Mum was young she swore she'd 'never become a teacher' and 'never marry a foreigner'. Before you associate her with UKIP, let me explain. At the time my Mum was studying German. Not only are German words very long but they tend to resemble a line-up of letters in Scrabble when you've been particularly unlucky. The experience completely put her off learning languages and she knew if she married a Brit the chances of needing to learn a foreign tongue was very low.

 

My Mum went on to teach Art and marry my Spanish father. To make matters worse, he was from Catalonia, meaning that my Mum found herself having to learn not just one language, but two.

 

I've been thinking about this story because I've been eating a lot of avocadoes recently. This is the direct effect of being married to a Colombian who doesn't really see the purpose of lettuce.

 

Colombian fritanga - spot the salad!

 

This observation made me think how my diet has changed. I would never have bought plantain before, or cassava, and I love both. When I went travelling I hated arepas, the corn bread eaten so widely in South America, but now, even though I'd still prefer toast and butter any day, I have grown fond of them.

 

Nowadays we make special trips to a newsagent in Camden Town which supplies lots of Colombian goodies. We buy packs of chocolate slabs to melt into 'proper' hot chocolate, and then I turn my nose up as my husband puts a lump of cheese in his.

 

Diet isn't the only thing that has been influenced. As my Mum found when she married my Dad, marrying a foreigner comes with lots of new traditions. Take Christmas, the big day in Colombia is the 24th, in Britain it's the 25th and in Spain there are huge celebrations on 6th January when the King's come with all the presents.

 





Christmas Dinner in Spain



But I don't feel like I've simply adopted a few new traditions, I feel like I've adopted a whole country. When the Colombian BMX rider, Mariana Pajón, won gold in the Olympics I was ecstatic. How I see it, having another country to cheer for, can only be a great thing.

 



Now that people can comment on online newspapers, we can see how afraid of foreigners a lot of people are. Maybe it's the  fear of losing one's identity. Or just plain racism. Either way the prejudice and hate makes me shudder. If we identified with being 'human' before we identified with our nationality, wouldn't the world be a better place?

 

 

That said, I've often pondered what country my future children will identify with, and have even felt sad that my own Spanish/British heritage might be watered down. But that's only when I'm being small-minded, because it doesn't matter where they're from. What matters is that their life is enriched by our different cultures and their minds are opened to new ones. 'Never say never,' they say. Well I'm glad my Mum did.     

 

 

  

                                                                                                                                                        

           

I'm Away Guest Blogging!

Hello! I'm guest blogging for Mslexia at the moment so please visit me at their Blog. I'll be back here next month.   

Here are some of my guest posts:

Tweets, Tweeps & Twits
The Pressure of an Online Presence
Social Media: Friend or Foe

Thanks for reading!

Emily x

Mission Accomplished: 1 Serialised Novel

Today I finished my serialised novel after four months, 83,000 words, two notebooks and approximately four packs of post-its. It has been the best experience I've ever had writing.

Seriously, you can't write  Spray Painted Bananas and feel miserable while you're doing it. That said, the last chapter nearly killed me. It was fun, NOT easy!

One part of my brain feels burnt out and the other is buzzing. I'm thrilled by all the positive comment pouring in and excited by the counter which has reached 340,000 hits. But while this is all wonderful, I have also noticed that people keep asking the same question: What are you writing next?

Next?! I cry. You mean I have to write ANOTHER novel?

Now?

And yet it's not such a crazy idea really, is it? That's what writers do.

My husband is particularly pleased that I've completed this novel so quickly.

'That means you can write three novels a year!' he said.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Not happening. Speed isn't everything, my friend. I don't want to write War and Peace, but I don't want to write comics either.

I'm pleased though. When I began this challenge I trusted that it would come together. But I didn't expect to create something I would become so fond of.

 

I think it's the most complete novel I have written to date. And best of all it has a REAL spray painted banana on the front cover, which would look very fetching on the shelves of Waterstones or even better, on the screen of my local ODEON.

 

Alright I think I'll stop there. I'll need some imagination for the next book.

 

 Start Reading Spray Painted Bananas.

 

                               

Above, the book trailer I illustrated when I was still plotting. I originally was going to call the novel 'Spray Painting Bananas' until someone said it sounded like a 'How to..'!

Upcoming: Blogging for Beginners Workshop

 

My next Blogging for Beginners Workshop is taking place on Saturday 9th February in South East London and there are still a few spaces available!  

 

If you'd like to begin a blog but aren't sure where to start, or perhaps you've already started but still have lots of questions, then why not come along to a friendly and informative workshop? I'd love to share with you what I've learned over the last 4 years of blogging!

 

When?

Saturday 9th February 2013

10am - 2pm

 

Where?

77 Tower Bridge Rd

SE1 4TW

 

How much?

£40.00

 

About me

I'm the author of 'Shop Girl Diaries' (Salt Publishing) which began as a blog and was winner of the CompletelyNovel Author Blog Awards 2010. I've contributed to Publishing Talk's Guide to Blogging, Blogging for Creatives and written about social media for Mslexia magazine and The New Writer.

 

 

For more information and booking please visit my Workshop Page 

 

Otherwise don't hesitate to contact me at Emily@emilybenet.com