iPhone

My Kickstarter Campaign for a Book, Photo Show & Music CD

2016 Writer in Residence

I haven’t mentioned it in a while, but I was chosen to be the 2016 Writer in Residence for Tarleton State University’s Langdon Review Weekend – and it’s coming right up! (Click here to read a blog post about last year’s Langdon Review Weekend.)

The Langdon Review Weekend is an amazing annual literary conference, and I am super thrilled and honored to be their resident writer! My residency starts on August 27th. I’ll be staying in the gorgeous historic town of Granbury, Texas for two whole weeks with the sole purpose of creating and reaching out to the community.

2015 Langdon Review Weekend in Granbury, Texas (photo by Tui Snider)

Brainstorm

I’ve been brainstorming recently about what to do for the public outreach aspect of the residency as well as how I can really deliver the most creative bang for the buck, and here’s what I came up with:

Book, Photo & Music CD Extravaganza

Book/Photo/Music Project: As part of my residency, I’m having my first-ever photography exhibit! It’s called “Meme, Myself & iPhone” because I took all the photos with my iPhone.

I thought it would be fun to create a book to accompany the photography exhibit. So, now I’m creating a small book (less than 100 pages) that will contain black and white pictures of the photos in the show. The book will also include the lyrics to a few songs I’ve written.

Lyrics need music, right? Yeah, that’s what I thought, too! So, I will also release a music CD featuring 10 of my songs! (In case you haven’t heard any of my music, I’m sharing a link later in this post.)

Am I crazy?

Perhaps, but here’s the thing: While I respect those who stretch their limits by skydiving and running marathons, I am attracted to different challenges. I enjoy pushing my limits and testing my endurance and trying scary things, but the biggest thrills come to me through artistic projects.

Kickstarter Campaign:

Now here’s the scary “out of my comfort zone” aspect to all this. I’m a very independent, DIY-minded person. I actually enjoy designing book covers and creating the interior and all that, and even though I’ve never hung a photography show, my hubby will help and it’s not exactly rocket science.

But I do need some help! There are, however, some aspects to this project that are beyond my DIY ability. The biggest one of these is producing the music CD. I’ve got a fairly decent home studio, but I need professional help with engineering, mastering, distribution and all that.

Here’s why I’m asking for $$$: If I could do this on my own, I would! In fact, I originally planned to spend the money myself. Unfortunately, my husband recently had a trip to the ER that led to an overnight stay in the hospital and left us with a hefty bill to go along with it.

So… that really put a dent in my DIY plans!

That’s why I created a Kickstarter Campaign to help me raise the $3000 needed to make my writer’s residency a great big creative extravaganza!

What is Kickstarter?
You’ve probably heard of Kickstarter, but you may not have used it. Kickstarter is a crowd-funding site. They offer a platform for people like me to showcase their creative ideas. Since 2009, Kickstarter has successfully funded tens of thousands of creative projects!

What’s in it for you?

What makes Kickstarter different from simply asking for money is that donors receive something from the person in exchange. For example, in exchange for a $10 donation to my campaign, I will send you a signed copy of my 10-song CD (Come to My Senses.) You will also get a handwritten thank you note, I’ll mention you in a “donor thank you” post on my blog, give you credit in my book, and a shout out on Twitter and Facebook! :)

To see a full list of all the Donor Rewards I’m offering check out my Kickstarter Campaign link here:

************************************************************

You can hear my music,

watch a 2-minute video,

& see all the details at this link:

Tui Snider’s Kickstarter

************************************************************

Please help me get the word out!

I hope you will check out my Kickstarter campaign. If you can donate something that’s great, but there are other ways you can help me, too:

Share my Kickstarter on social media (tag me so I can thank you!)
Tell your friends about it.
Let me know if you see any typos or dead links in the campaign.
If you have a good idea for a Donor Reward, let me know.

Any advice?

Have you ever used Kickstarter or some other crowdfunding site? Do you have any tips to share with me? Please tell me in a comment on this blog post. I really want to succeed with this.

Phew! That’s all for now. I’d better quit staring at this screen and get cracking on my project!

Want to read more from Tui Snider?

To read about more weird, offbeat, and overlooked places, check out my best-selling travel guide:
UNEXPECTED TEXAS.

For ghost hunting hot spots, check out my best-selling travel guide to haunted places:
PARANORMAL TEXAS

For a strange-but-true tale of Texas history, check out this bizarre piece of West Texas history:
The Lynching of the Santa Claus Bank Robber

Hey, you! Want to come along for the ride?

No matter where you live in the galaxy, Tui's books can take you on a FUN adventure! — No matter where you live in the galaxy, Tui Snider’s books can take you on a FUN adventure!

FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER: For updates on my offbeat travels, books, & other fun stuff (such as postcards from the road!) subscribe to my newsletter using the form below. Each week, I’ll let you know the Historic Cemetery Symbol of the Week, who Teal Gray & I are interviewing on our show that night, and any other fun or interesting news. You can also mix & mingle with me by clicking this link & “liking” my Facebook Author Page:

Florida Flashbacks & How Writing Research is like Gambling

by 12 Comments

Sunset & palm trees along the Florida Keys (photo by Tui Snider)

I’ve got Florida on my mind

Why am I posting a photo essay about Florida all of a sudden? My pal Morgan Dragonwillow recently vacationed there, so now I’m daydreaming about a road trip down the Intercoastal Highway…

I snapped these shots while dining near Key West. I can’t recall the name of the place, but it was a beachfront restaurant on a pier jutting into the clear, blue water. The joint was jumping, and the servers did a great job keeping up with the frenzy. They didn’t just have humans to wait on, either. Shortly before sunset a school of hungry fish showed up – a group of regulars including a small shark – and they expected to be fed, too!

Daydreaming about Unexpected Florida

Florida is full of offbeat and overlooked places, and I can hardly wait to return for a vacation/research trip. I’d love to write a quirky travel guide similar to Unexpected Texas, except this one would be called Unexpected Florida. (Bet ya saw that name coming, eh?)

Heck, I’ve already visited the quirky-and-mysterious Coral Castle, the delightfully retro Mai Kai Tiki bar in Miami and a fascinating shipwreck museum. I’ve even had a bona fide polydactyl Hemingway cat follow me through a cemetery in Key West as I searched for the headstone of an infamous hypochondriac which reads, “I told you I was sick!” (I’m gonna have to dig up those photos.)

If you know of any quirky places that should be included in a travel guide to offbeat and overlooked places in Florida, let me know.

I’ll take all the excuses for a Key West road trip I can get!

My ROW80 Check-in: Writing Research is addictive!

Enough daydreaming! It’s time for a ROW80 check-in.

This is my first check-in this round, and it’s quite overdue. Row80 helps me focus, and that’s exactly what I need to do this week – make clear, definable goals because there is a lot I want to accomplish this summer.

First off, I am working on a new book called Paranormal Texas: Your Guide to Haunted Travel Destinations near Dallas & Fort Worth, which I plan to release in the fall. I’m already having a blast researching it! But I know from experience that writing research is a lot like gambling. I always think I’ll hit the jackpot if I keep at it just a little bit longer. If I’m not careful, I’ll fritter away all my writing time researching things, then find myself scrambling madly to catch up.

So, by next week’s ROW80, I plan to have a clear timeline laid out for the following:

– an ongoing marketing plan for Unexpected Texas

– a detailed timeline for getting the manuscript of Paranormal Texas written, including planning research trips, interviews, and other bits and bobs.

– planning the launch for Paranormal Texas.

– following up with everyone I met at the DFW Writer’s Conference.

– following up with everyone I met at the Granbury Paranormal Expo

– getting my editorial calendar planned for the May, June, and July’s blog posts.

– anything I’ve forgotten to mention at this moment! (Which is probably plenty.)

What is ROW80? Here’s how you can join in:

ROW80 is an online support group for writers. If you’re a writer, feel free to join in! For details, check out: the official ROW80 website.

ROW80 Linky:

That’s how my writing goals are going. How are yours coming along? Here are links to all the other Row80 writers. Check them out:

C is for Coral Castle, a Quirky Florida Must-See

by 15 Comments

Mysterious Coral Castle in Florida (photo by Tui Snider)

Quirky Architecture

OK, so it’s not quite coral, nor is it truly a castle, but the Coral Castle Museum (28655 S Dixie Hwy, Miami, FL 33033) is a delightfully quirky structure, and a great example of someone marching to their own drummer. The grounds include a variety of unusual rock buildings and furniture carved from over 1000 tons of oolite limestone, including a water fountain, a sundial, a crescent moon, tables, and living areas.

Inspired a Billy Idol Song

As the legend goes (and, really, how could a place like this not have a legend behind it) a Latvian immigrant named Edward Leedskalnin built this unusual stone dwelling after being spurned at the altar by his 16-year-old bride-to-be. Now you know who Billy Idol was referring to in his song Sweet Sixteen, and why his lyrics refer to a moon-shaped rocking chair.

Built By a Single Man – Not Anti-Gravity!

In addition to all the whimsy, I was amazed to learn that the Coral Castle was built through the efforts of a single man. He was no Paul Bunyan, either. By all accounts, Ed Leedskalnin was a thin-framed man who stood only 5 feet tall, and yet he carved and maneuvered all that rock without any outside help!

Over the years, many have claimed that he must have had supernatural powers to have completed this difficult project. But, as someone who once astounded her family by rearranging heavy furniture all by herself at the age of 6, I know that patience can take you far. Don’t just take my word for it, though. Here’s an article that explains how Mr. Leedskalnin created his masterpiece: Coral Castle Busted – Interesting, but Not Magic. (Although I disagree a little. I think the man had magical patience!)

Follow me on Instagram & I’ll follow you back!

I’ve gone from turning up my nose at the idea of cell phone pictures, to being an avid iPhone photographer, which is why my theme for the 2014 A to Z blog challenge is Instagram Travel Photos. If you are on Instagram, I’d be delighted to follow you. Simply follow my photo feed (@TuiSnider) on Instagram and I’ll follow you back!

For more, check out my collaboration with Morgan Dragonwillow. Morgan used my iPhone photos to accompany her poems in a book called Wild Woman Waking. Check it out!

What is the April A to Z Blog Challenge?

Each April, people from all over the world participate in the April A to Z blog challenge, and you can too. It’s a lot of fun and it’s a great way to meet other bloggers. To play along, all you do is make a blog post for each letter of the alphabet during April, then use the blog hop linky to visit as many other bloggers as you can.

My A to Z Inspired Book: Unexpected Texas

I’d like to thank everyone who commented on my blog during the A to Z Challenge last year, because it convinced me to take the self-publishing plunge. On March 2, 2014, I released Unexpected Texas as a paperback and eBook and it quickly became an Amazon Best Seller!

Check out other A to Z blogs below:

Check out the other participants of the A to Z Challenge

2014 A to Z Blog Challenge Theme Reveal

by 15 Comments

What is the April A to Z Blog Challenge?

Each April, people from all over the world participate in the April A to Z blog challenge, and you can too. It’s a lot of fun and it’s a great way to meet other bloggers.

To play along, all you do is make a blog post for each letter of the alphabet during April, then use the blog hop linky to visit as many other bloggers as you can. Last year for instance, my post for the letter A was “Alien Grave in Aurora, Texas.”

Last Year’s Theme Inspired me…

My theme last year was “Texcentricity” (And, yeah, I made up that word!) Basically, my Texcentricity posts covered quirky, offbeat, and overlooked history, trivia, and travel destinations in Texas.

…to Write an Amazon Best-Selling Book!

I had such a great response to those posts that I wrote a whole book about offbeat and overlooked travel destinations in the Dallas – Fort Worth region of North Texas. The book is called Unexpected Texas. I released it on March 2, 2014 as a paperback and eBook, and it has since become an Amazon Best Seller!

This Year’s A to Z Theme

The theme I’ve chosen for the 2014 A to Z blog challenge is *drum roll please* Instagram Travel Photos. This seemed like fun, because I’ve gone from turning up my nose at the idea of cell phone pictures, to being an avid iPhone photographer. I even collaborated with Morgan Dragonwillow to create a poetry book featuring photos I’ve taken with my iPhone. It’s called Wild Woman Waking and it’s getting some great reviews on Amazon, too. Check it out!

It’s good for A to Z posts to be short, so I will post brief photo essays each day, and let my photos do the talking. Many will showcase Texas, since that’s where I currently live, but I will also feature photo essays from many other places around the world. For instance, the palm tree photo at the top of this post was taken in Arizona. Stay tuned!

Follow me on Instagram

I love sharing photos on Instagram. In fact, if you click here to find me on Instagram, I’ll follow you back!. (You can also find me from my profile name, which is simply @tuisnider.)

What will other A to Z Challenge bloggers write about?

So there you have it! That was my big theme reveal. If you want to find out what other bloggers will be posting about, check out the list below:

Photo Essay: Stalked by a Deer

by 2 Comments

A Little Island You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Some of my family members live on Lummi, a lush island off the coast of Washington State. Every time I visit, we walk the beach at least once a day. We always try to make it down for low tide. That’s the best time to find agates and seashells, the best time to peer into tidal pools to see what they reveal.

No Palm Trees Here

Of course, we’re not talking tropical style beaches with palm trees and pale sand. This is the Pacific Northwest, folks. We’re talking a different kind of beauty. This is the region that spawned sparkly vampires a la Twilight, not bikini-clad “Baywatch” style romps.

While it’s common to see deer hoofprints in the sand, we don’t often see deer at the beach. Even when we do, they are usually off in the distance. On the day I snapped these photos, however, my family and I were joined by a male deer.

Surprise at the Beach

Much to our surprise, the young buck walked right up to us – to me – in fact. Perhaps I looked like someone who feeds him apples, I really don’t know, but it was disconcerting. Not only did he approach me, but he seemed to want his head scratched. I gave him a little rub, as if he were a goat, and that seemed to satisfy him.

As benign as the encounter seemed, I carefully backed away. Much to my relief, the young buck continued his stroll down the beach without us. We all agreed that someone on the island must be feeding him, otherwise he would not have been so casual around us.

Stalked by a Deer

On our walk home, we ran into the same deer. And yes, we could tell it was him because of that wonky right antler of his that bent down at a strange angle. This time, he was standing in the driveway of The Willows Inn, a swanky hotel and restaurant that has put Lummi Island on the map thanks to reviews in prestigious culinary magazines. I hear that the food there is excellent, but my my family can’t afford to eat there even though they live just around the corner. (To put it in perspective, The Willows Inn is the type of place that someone like Martha Stewart or Sting can afford.)

Chuck the Buck

As we stood there joking about how the male deer had beat us to the top of the hill, a passing car rolled down its window and a woman hollered, “I see you’ve met Chuck the Buck.” She went on to explain that the deer we’d met at the beach had grown up in her backyard, that her family fed him by hand, and that he liked to have his head scratched. So there you go, mystery solved!

Quirky Headstones: These Boots Were Made for Walker

by 10 Comments

Headstone with Black Stone Pump in Aurora, TX (photo by Tui Snider)

Aurora Cemetery

With over 1800 graves, Aurora Cemetery claims more inhabitants than the town itself, with its population of 376. As you might imagine, not much happens in Aurora, Texas. There’s no courthouse, no historic town square, no central shopping area at all. There’s so little to this town that it’s nearly impossible to tell you are there.

Headstone with Black Stone Boot in Aurora, TX (photo by Tui Snider)

Bizarre Incident Mentioned on its Historical Marker

Even so, Aurora Cemetery attracts a steady stream of curiosity seekers. They come to look for the grave of a space alien who allegedly crashed there in 1897. The bizarre incident is even mentioned on the graveyard’s Texas State Historical Marker. (For details on this, check out my blog posts and alien headstone photos at A to Z Texas: Alien Grave in Aurora and Alien Gravesite in Aurora Cemetery: The Roswell of Texas?.)

Cowboy Boot Headstone in Aurora, TX (photo by Tui Snider)

Footwear Themed Headstones

As someone who enjoys wandering through historic Texas cemeteries, I must say that the Aurora Cemetery is one of my favorites. It’s well-tended, filled with beautiful old trees, and full of bluebonnets in the springtime.

I also get a kick (pun intended!) out of these footwear-themed headstones in Aurora Cemetery. Two of them are for people with the last name Walker, while the cowboy boot headstone (that doubles as a vase) is for someone else. I’ve never seen anything like them in any other historic graveyard around here. If I ever find out the story behind them, I will let you know.

iPhone

2016 Writer in Residence

Brainstorm

Book, Photo & Music CD Extravaganza

Am I crazy?

Kickstarter Campaign:

What’s in it for you?

Please help me get the word out!

Any advice?

Want to read more from Tui Snider?

Hey, you! Want to come along for the ride?

I’ve got Florida on my mind

Daydreaming about Unexpected Florida

My ROW80 Check-in: Writing Research is addictive!

What is ROW80? Here’s how you can join in:

ROW80 Linky:

Quirky Architecture

Inspired a Billy Idol Song

Built By a Single Man – Not Anti-Gravity!

Follow me on Instagram & I’ll follow you back!

What is the April A to Z Blog Challenge?

My A to Z Inspired Book: Unexpected Texas

Check out other A to Z blogs below:

What is the April A to Z Blog Challenge?

Last Year’s Theme Inspired me…

…to Write an Amazon Best-Selling Book!

This Year’s A to Z Theme

Follow me on Instagram

What will other A to Z Challenge bloggers write about?

A Little Island You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

No Palm Trees Here

Surprise at the Beach

Stalked by a Deer

Chuck the Buck

Aurora Cemetery

Bizarre Incident Mentioned on its Historical Marker

Footwear Themed Headstones

Footer

Follow Tui

Looking for something? Search my site: