The human animal is arguably better at spotting a good idea than coming up with one. I mean, innovation is hard, but when you spot a person doing something that's just plain smart? You recognize that almost instantly.
Several millenia ago in internet-time, I spotted someone doing something I thought was brilliant. It was Claudia Cunningham, and she had a blog about practical vampire-slaying.
What she meant by "vampire", however, was all those people who sap the life and energy out of you--that neighbour who constantly asks for favours, the friend who belittles you regularly, or the co-worker who schleps part of their workload onto you whenever they can get away with it.
And Claudia had things to say about how to deal with these people that were just plain smart. She had eye-opening analogies and respectful-yet-firm tactics for dealing with these "vampires" such as concrete advice on how to say no and ways to prevent someone from using your politeness against you.
So I was delighted to hear Claudia had gotten a book deal! An idea this good needs to become a book.
Today is the release day for Biting Back: A No-Nonsense, No-Garlic Guide to Facing the Personal Vampires in Your Life. (By the way, you can pre-read a bit of the book at that link.) I recommend you check it out!
The book's available from many venders, including Barnes and Noble, Llewellyn the publisher, and of course Amazon.
Congratulations, Claudia, and I hope Biting Back is a stake-wielding success!
7 comments:
This sounds interesting. I recently came to be aware of some situations (and people) sapping my energy and thinking about how to balance things better for myself. This sounds like it is in the same mindset. I'll take a look!
This is SO kind...I hardly know what to say... Thank you so much. You write so beautifully!
this sounds like a really brilliant book... and useful!
Sylvia: I hope it's useful to you!
Claudia: Back at ya, babe. That online snippet makes it clear your book is an understandable, incisive, and enjoyable gem.
Aspiring X: Hey, read the online snippet--it's really good!
Very fun looking book. But what happens if someone reads it and finds out they're one of these social vampires?
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Twitter @JRVogt
Josh: A vampire cannot survive in the light! (As Claudia has said.) In other words, once you realize it, you're very likely to stop doing it.
And what's more, a vampire can't see its own reflection in the mirror...so why in the world, if you're a vampire, would you be interested in self-reflection and self-knowledge? Not to worry, Josh. But it's so nice to see how many readers seem interested in knowing if THEY'RE vampires...shows you how much good there is in the world, you know?
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