“Kinda surprised”

I like seeing reports like this one from Jason Heath:

So I have been doing alot of writing lately, and I am kinda surprised at how well the book  Tarot for Writers has helped me break some terrible writers block.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that the cards are supernatural or have “powers”.

Yeah, funny, the guy who writes horror and has studied Occult phenomena for over 2 decades doesn’t believe in magic.

But I do like writing about the imagery of the cards and the supernatural.

And it is a very good system for me so far.  I have studied alot of the “Hero’s Journey” and I find the cards fit the archetypes of the HJ very well. I am able to generate plots, character background, mood and tons of other things using Tarot Cards.

If you find yourself stuck with a nasty case of writers block, I say put your cards on the table and get this book.

What all the best-dressed psychics will be wearing this weekend

Take a look at my newest handcraft — Pendulets! I’m bringing a bunch of them to this year’s Readers Studio, to gauge my target market’s reaction — but I already think they’re the coolest things I’ve ever made.

Am I an egomaniac, or just an enthusiastic crafter? You be the judge!

I designed Pendulets to solve two problems. First, I had a huge stash of beads piling up in my house. I started beading with fervor last year, when my hands started to stiffen up from typing 12 hours a day. I needed to move my hands more, in different directions, to break the keystroke habit.

Secondly, I also wanted to make beaded pendulums. Unfortunately, that idea had one major drawback: I tend to lose track of the pendulums I already had. They’re small, so they get overlooked, misplaced, and forgotten in my tarot boxes and bags.

Suddenly, it hit me: I could make pendulum bracelets!

In order to develop bracelets that are both beautiful and functional, I went through several prototypes. Choosing beads that looked fashionable — and felt good on my wrist — was a priority. It also took a while to find just the right clasps. They need to hold securely, but also go on and off in a jiffy. These are bracelets for psychics on the go! We don’t have time to wait for the future to appear! Eventually, I found some nice toggles and magnetic clasps.

I also deliberated about the name. I thought about calling them “Pendularms” — a combination of “pendulums” and “arms.” It kind of worked, because it sounds like “pendulums” with a Southern drawl. Unfortunately, the word also made me think of “alarms.” There’s nothing alarming about my designs, so … no.

My husband wanted me to call them “Penduwows,” so I could sell them on TV like the ShamWow guy. He dreams big. (He’s also started wire-wrapping some crystals for me, to use on future Pendulets.)

I think my daughter suggested the name “Penduawesomes.”

Eventually, I went with the obvious blend of “pendulum” and “bracelet.” Pendulets … the word kind of sounds French, don’t you think?

Pendulets work like ordinary pendulums. Simply hold them perfectly still at one end, and wait for them to swing when you ask a question. Like magic, they’ll move up and down for “yes,” side to side for “no,” or spin in a circle if the answer’s not clear cut.

Unlike ordinary pendulums, though, Pendulets look like funky, handcrafted beaded bracelets — until you whip them off and start divining answers to everyone’s questions.

They’re fun to design, fun to make, and fun to use. I can’t wait to see them all in action this weekend!

Pricing Structures

This morning, I’m looking for advice.

I’ve started charging $5 for my Saturday morning “Tarot for Writers” workshops on Meetup.com. Predictably, I suppose, the change has generated a couple of comments from members who think I’m charging too much.

I know where they’re coming from. Nobody wants to part with their money, especially on Meetup, which most people are used to getting for free.

But at the same time, I can’t help wondering about anyone who would think that my time isn’t worth $5 an hour. Seriously … $5! Most writing classes and workshops, when they’re led by a professional, start at $20 or $25, and can easily cost $100 to $150.

Don’t people know what a bargain they’re getting with me?

Apparently not … which means I need to rethink my marketing.

Have you ever had to price your products or services? How do you decide what to charge? What advice can you offer?

I know I’m in a funny “in between” place right now, because I’m using the free Meetup website to lead a professional workshop — so I’m blending two different creatures. A lot of Meetups are free, because they’re primarily social groups, organized around a fun event or activity. The workshops I offer, however, aren’t designed to serve as social events. They’re more like classes. I spend time planning them every week, and I facilitate the group for an hour and a half, when we actually meet.

Also, I’m using Meetup — which is designed for local groups — to reach out to a much larger population. This is the only way most “Tarot for Writers” enthusiasts will ever be able to meet me or other people who are interested in the Tarot for Writers book and concept.

In short, I’m using Meetup for an “expert” activity, in which I offer my talents to others for a very, very low price. I don’t think there are too many authors who would make themselves available for just $5 a week, and I certainly don’t want to send the message that I work for months on end, for free.

In fact, I don’t plan to offer the sessions indefinitely. I almost see this current setup as a trial program, while I work all the bugs out of the techniques and the technology of online classes and workshops.

Making the leap to a price structure that makes sense, though, suddenly seems like a lot of work.

Will you fall, or will you fly?

During tomorrow’s Tarot for Writers Meetup, we’ll follow the Fool as he steps off the cliff. Where will your story land?

Our Saturday-morning sessions are easy and fun. Simply roll out of bed, make yourself a cup of coffee, and join us online in the Tarot for Writers chatroom.

To RSVP or get more details, visit the Tarot for Writers Meetup Group.

Trading Places

I’m just getting ready for my weekly Tarot for Writers meetup. Today we’ll be moving characters from one card to another. The Queen of Cups could be filling in for the Hierophant. The Two of Pentacles juggler might switch places with the dogs from the Moon. You can try it, too. Pull two cards from your deck at random. What would happen if the figures traded places?

Freudian Slips

My daughter Kate is studying psychology this semester, so she asked me to help her create a three-card tarot spread based on Freud’s model of the psyche.

I probed deep into my unconscious mind — and my repressed memories of Psych 101 — for this therapeutic analysis:

Notice how the Ego provides a balance between the Id’s basic drives and the Superego’s dreams. During a reading, I’d probably talk about the Id card first, then the Superego, and then focus most of my attention on the realities of that middle card.

Now who wants a cigar?

Tarot apps for the iPhone

Congratulations to Barbara Moore, who helped create two great tarot decks that are now available for the iPhone!

Llewellyn Publications just released this news:

http://www.llewellyn.com/ Llewellyn Worldwide now has two applications available for Apple’s iPhone, based off of two of our best-selling tarot decks, the Mystic Faerie Tarot and the Mystic Dreamer Tarot.

For more information on Llewellyn’s iPhone apps, visit the iPhone App Store at http://www.apple.com/iphone/appstore/ and enter “Llewellyn” into the “Title/Description” field in the search function of the App Store.

Funny Voices

New Age Retailer just published a really good review of Tarot for Writers — and yesterday, my kids took turns reading it out loud in funny voices.

At this point, I’m immune to the pain — so you can read it out loud in a funny voice, too.

Go ahead. I know you want to.

Tarot for Writers
Corrine Kenner
$19.95 QP, 9780738714578
Llewellyn Publications, www.llewllyn.com

“I didn’t invent most of the techniques and ideas in the book. Instead, I’ve simply combined old ideas in a new way,” writers Corrine Kenner. She understates her case. Her knowledge of tarot is extensive, and she communicates what she knows in clear, simple terminology. Choosing fiction writers as her target audience not only produces a unique context for Kenner’s vast tarot wisdom, but also engages readers who are not authors in an active dialogue with the cards, creating a sense of fun as she introduces the tarot. She provides a broad range of information without overwhelming the reader with an academic tone.

Kenner offers specific techniques writers can use to inspire their creativity and use the archetypal imagery on the cards to enhance their work. (As an example, Kenner draws parallels between the major arcana and the characters in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.) The book includes an adaptation of Arthur Edward Waite’s Celtic cross spread to help lay out a storyline (the book is illustrated with cards from Lo Scarabeo’s Universal Tarot, a modern version of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck), games for writers, and other exercises to spark creativity.

Non-writers also can apply these techniques to journal writing and Jungian-based meditations, and the card-by-card analysis in the third part of the book will appeal to tarot enthusiasts at all levels of expertise.

Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, NY

Last Year’s News

I woke up ridiculously early to pull an April Fool’s Day prank on my neighbors this morning. I don’t think they read my blog, so I can reveal it here.

First, I’ll tell you about my neighbors. Helge is a native Norwegian who fought with the resistance during World War II, and then immigrated to the U.S. He became a builder, and at one point he owned quite a bit of the countryside that grew into a popular Twin Cities suburb. Eunice is a business manager who’s been running a manufacturing company for years. She started working there as a teenager, so she knows her industry inside-out.

I know they both follow the news closely, which is why I decided to trick them this morning — with last year’s newspaper.

Yes, I saved the Minneapolis Star-Tribune from April 1, 2008. For the last year, it’s been hermetically sealed in the cabinet above my stove. I was careful with it, and this morning, it still looked new.

Well, new enough.

I started watching for the newspaper delivery guy at 4 a.m. When he came by at 5 a.m., I raced out into the darkness like a thief in the night. I was a thief in the night! I stole my neighbors’ newspaper, and replaced it with last year’s edition.

There wasn’t much in the headlines to give the year away. There was a story about the Twins’ upcoming season, and a report about the high price of diesel fuel. I’m not even sure they’ll notice the switch — at least, not right away.

If I know Helge, though, he’ll check the stock markets. Won’t he be happy to see the Dow back up at 12,000?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Update: I called Helge and Eunice after work today, and asked what they thought of today’s news. Eunice just kind of laughed and said, “We’re a year behind!”

“Helge’s so mad,” she said. “He wanted me to call the Star Tribune and complain.”

I started laughing, and she said, “Corrine … Do you have our paper?”

They were both laughing by the time I got to their door. Helge said he had tried to sit down with the paper at 7 this morning,  “But it didn’t add up! There was an article about Bush being in Europe, but Obama’s in Europe today. I looked at the TV listings, but they were all messed up. That didn’t add up. I looked at the weather report, and it was written by Paul Douglas.” (Paul Douglas is a local weatherman who left last year.) “That was strange. I thought, ‘Is Paul Douglas doing the weather again?’”

“Didn’t you look at the date?” I asked.

“I did,” Helge said. “It said April 1!”

“I looked at the obituaries,” Eunice said, “and there was one for the man who designed the Guthrie. I read it and thought, ‘Didn’t he die a long time ago?’”

Until I called, neither one had any clue that I had switched the paper. They both thought it was hysterical that I got up in the night to watch for the delivery man.

“You just don’t seem the type,” Helge said, “but now you’ve got something coming your way, too.”