The Art of Writing

The majority of my time at my job is spent working on a computer, typing. Whenever November comes around and I attempt to write holiday cards, it is not uncommon for me to literally get a cramp in my hand. How pathetic!

I wanted to share this awesome project, because many people are in a similar situation to mine-- the art of writing is slowly dying.

Ecriture Infinie is an art project by Bili Bidjocka: eight giant-sized books made of blank, silent pages placed around the world one at a time. Each installation includes a large writing desk, a lamp, a pen. One by one, people approach the pages and leave their mark. They are invited to write as if it were the last time they could write by hand. The focus is not so much on the words, but on the gesture, the flow of the pen on paper, recorded on video. When each book is completed, it is sealed, wrapped, and hidden in a secret place, as in a time capsule. Will the people who will find the books in thousands of years be able to decipher it?

Track the travel of the current eighth book here.

The Kindle Million Club gets a new member

Today, Amazon announced that self-published author John Locke, has sold over 1 million books using Kindle Direct Publishing becoming the first independently published author inducted into the “Kindle Million club.” Current members of the "club" include authors like Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Charlaine Harris, Lee Child, Suzanne Collins and Michael Connelly.

Locke, the international best-selling author of seven Donovan Creed novels, all of which have made the Amazon/Kindle Top 20 Best Seller's List, has published nine total works including: “Vegas Moon,” “Wish List,” “A Girl Like You,” and “Saving Rachel.”

Tech Crunch sums up the situation well, "Taking a look at Locke’s works (i.e. Now & Then, which pictures a half-naked woman on the cover), it looks like he may not be in line for a Pulitzer, but the milestone is impressive for an independent author."