Awards, Announcements, and Anguish

The official email came through, confirming I was a finalist, and inviting me to the Shorty Awards ceremony in New York.  I declined.  Obviously.  Where the heck would I find the cash for a plane ticket?  If you're there, when they say 'the nominees are...' and read out my name, raise a glass in the direction of England.

I announced - finally - my desire to self-publish.  How long have I battled with that one? It was always the shiny option for me, but I know that is not a widely held view so I kept putting off the moment I dedicated myself to it in public.  Commitment-phobe.  I made the announcement yesterday on my blog - From Brain to Bookshelf yesterday.

This will be hard.  People yearn for the perfect publishing deal, where they are free from the burdens of enterprise and left to do nothing but write.  I'm not one of them, but I am aware of the task ahead.  Anguish and adventure, here I come.

Awards, Announcements, and Anguish

When Did I Become a BETA Tester?

Well, the slightly secret nature of my slightly secret squirreling is somewhat of a joke now.  'Lists' has been explored in minute detail all across the web but, still, I'd prefer it if you googled the details.  The banner on my Twitter page features the Bluebird of Guilt and you should never underestimate the power of that bird.  It says 'no' and somehow I am unable to ignore it and download screenshots.

Moving along... I'm BETA testing something else: Google Wave.  Fortunately there is no secrecy clause on this one so I can tell you all about it.  It is brilliant.  Of course, my immediate thought upon entering the closed world of Google Wave was: 'how do word nerds use this?'

I have so many thoughts but the one that excites me the most is at the foot of this blog post.  This is my attempt to describe the new Digital Village.  I hope you like it.  http://tiny.cc/rwblog

When Did I Become a BETA Tester?