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Geeking Science: Ancient Arts and Crafts in an Electronic Age

Erin Penn

Image courtesy of dan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I need art to stay sane. Right now, as mentioned earlier this month in my Magical Words post, I’m not doing any. But I need to get out in the soil and garden, break out my silks and embroider, stain my fingers with ink, and smear clay over the world in one huge mosaic. I need to do it soon.

And now I have scientific backing about how important it is!

In a computer age, where things are measured in the nanosecond and the end-product is somewhere on the interwebs, having something that slowly grows, where you can gain skill and measure the difference with your own eyes and fingers, is calming in a way a computer game never can be. We are built for slightly repetitive tasks where we gain improvement and have a product at the end; basket weaving and gathering herbs are just two examples.

Crafts heal the mind and body, fighting depression and social anxiety. According to research, the benefits include:

relaxation; relief from stress; a sense of accomplishment; connection to tradition; increased happiness; reduced anxiety; enhanced confidence, as well as cognitive abilities (improved memory, concentration and ability to think through problems). (Luckman, 2018)

Basically crafting is a form of mediation, giving similar results including reduction of stress and fighting inflammation. Moving the fingers to create something that requires concentration, but not thought, gives the brain the time out desperately needed to decouple from the brain weasels presenting scenarios of disaster. 

“Playing” with arts and crafts provides the body something to do while the brain is relaxing. And the brain relaxes best, interestingly enough, when it gets used in a new way. Working in crafting involves:

many different areas of your brain. It can work your memory and attention span while involving your visuospatial processing, creative side and problem-solving abilities. (Wilson, 2015)

I could use some of that in my life right now. Mediation, relief from stress, and increased happiness. Maybe I do have time to break out the pins and needles.

 

Biography

Luckman, Susan. “In Our Brutal Modern World, Science Shows Our Brain Need Craft More Than Ever”. The Conversation. 2018 July 28. (last viewed 1/26/2019: https://www.sciencealert.com/modern-life-is-brutal-here-s-why-craft-is-so-good-for-our-health)

Wilson, Jacque. “This is your brain on crafting.” CNN. 2015 January 5. (last viewed 1/26/2019: https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/25/health/brain-crafting-benefits/index.html)

Author Spotlight: Patrick Dugan

Erin Penn

Cover from Amazon

The wonderful thing about editing is getting to know authors on levels not normally found in a professional relationship. Perfecting a story in someone’s voice means knowing that voice, the values in the voice; not necessarily where the values came from, but what the author treasures and wants to share with the world. An editor helps an author hone that and all other aspects of the voice.

Patrick Dugan, whom I edited Storm Forged and the forthcoming Unbreakable Storm for, has been a joy to get to know during the editing process. His voice is uplifting. The process to get that voice on paper, not always as spiritual. Sometimes we banged heads, and sometimes the banging of the heads had stuff fall out which amazed us both. But most times we were just passing secret notes back and forth, him asking “what do you think?” and me going “write it out, now!”

He has a story to tell, several in fact, both entertaining and enlightening. The superhero series is not only about being a superhero and all the wonder using powers entails, but a coming-of-age story for the main character and a social commentary on institutionalized racism. And family, central to the series is a sense of family.

Family is also central to Mr. Dugan. I got to attend the book release party at his house for Storm Forged where his family and friends gathered to congratulate him on moving from a writer to a published author. The party was for them, those that took the journey with him over the years to get to the point he had words within a book. A thank you. I was along for the last few steps of his trip and was honored he asked me to join the celebration.

Mr. Dugan is good about that. Thank yous. He realizes the journey, whichever one you take –  programming (his day job), raising children, or writing a book – is not a solitary one.

Look up the Dark Storm series. It’s about heroes, and family; about never going it alone, and growing up; about the horrors the world can create, and how they should be fought.

Patrick Dugan can be found at his Secret Lair website here: http://www.patrickdugan.net/

Dark Storm can be bought through Square direct from the publisher in paperback format (giving the author maximum profits): Paperback

And here is the link is to Amazon for the eBook and Audio book.

 

Flash: Peace Out

Erin Penn

Photo by Kyle Szegedi on Unsplash

The damp reached its oxidizing claws toward the abandoned VW camper. The cheerful sky blue outside an affront to its power. Even though the daisy and flower decals long ago succumbed to its strength, peeling back the paper and glue, the metal sides continued to shrug off its assault year after year. Not heat, frost, or cold mattered.

Vandals and homeless equally tried to leave their mark, attempting to break windows or streak the side with obscene and vulgar messages. Only one tag stayed after the assailant left, a beautiful mural of a mother holding a baby who transformed into a solider, died, had flowers grow and another child, clearly related to the solider, was shown running with flowers in hand to a grandmother. Even that artistry did not stand up to the onslaught of time and elements.

The only thing left was the annoying cheerful sky blue van-a-gon, waiting for its driver to return from a long-forgotten concert held near the field where the vehicle had been abandoned. The damp pulled back as the sun raised above the hill, cursing its failure in dozens of spiraling evaporation trails as heat dissolved the dew.

Sometime later the vehicle sighed, a shifting of metal during the heat of the day. Sliding side doors became arms, wheels became hands and feet. The robot stumbled as it stood in his true form for the first time in decades.

“Man, what a trip.” He looked at the sky stretching from horizon to horizon, as blue as his body. Missing his driver and the group of Deadheads they gathered crossing the country, and their multi-colored smokes filling his cabin-lungs, he sighed again, “Guess it’s time to peace out.”

The damp screamed its frustration in unending steam as the metal body launched itself into the waterless void of space.

(Words 303; first published 2/17/2019)

Editing Rant: Head Hopping

Erin Penn

Image courtesy of Somkiat Fakmee at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Head hopping. A virtual Easter Bunny jumping from point-of-view (POV) character to another; a camera so mobile, as to make one nauseous from the concussive force of the head-banging switches. Reading the work of a writer operating an “over the shoulder” drone flying so fast we get glimpses of the decision-making and emotional state of each character, not from one scene to another, but one sentence to another … and no telepathy involved.

Please make it stop!

What is the problem with headhopping? Well, while multiple close third person allows for one POV character per chapter or scene to have their thoughts revealed, headhopping switches the emotions and thoughts of one character for another paragraph by paragraph (or one sentence following another) creating a whip-lash effect in a reader who is trying to emotionally connect with a character.

Connecting with a character, empathizing with them, is an essential component of recreational reading. Prominent headhopping prevents that. In addition, headhopping increases confusion about the story’s focus.

Readers don’t need to know everyone’s reactions to a character’s declaration. Observing how people react and interpreting it can double up the character development. Think about it. A headhop would only provide surface information about the two characters – one acting and one reacting. But staying with the primary action character means we not only see the thoughts of the action, but we observe how the character interprets the reaction, giving us insights on how the singular POV character views the world and the people in it. This is a great way to show an unreliable narrator, as we see the reaction through the character’s eyes, and “hear” their interpretation of the reaction.

Jennifer Ellis has a marvelous blog on the subject, showing different conventions for shifting POV including one of the most common – focusing on a common foot solider, then zooming out for a bird’s eye view of the battle, and then dropping the drone of the storyteller behind the general watching on the hill.

You can find out more details about headhopping, its pros and cons, AND HOW TO AVOID IT (please, please avoid it) at her blog here: (NOTE 2/28/2022 – Looks like this website has been taken down.). There is lots more on the topic available, so google-hop around the head of the interwebs and learn all about it.