thesixtyone

If you've ever looked at my obscure music references on my facebook and wondered, "Where does Dawson find all these weird bands/songs/musical quirks?" then your answer is thesixtyone.

thesixtyone is a music adventure. New musicians make music, and you decide what's good by listening, giving songs "hearts," and commenting.

Here's a short list of bands I've met only because of thesixtyone:

1. State Radio
2. The Cog is Dead
3. Lemon Sun
4. Oh No Not Stereo
5. Joe Purdy
6. Fez
7. Faber Drive
8. Ideogram
9. Songs to Wear Pants To
10. Detektivbyran
11. Sigur Ros
12. Kate Earl
13. JKML

That is a very, very abbreviated list of new bands I've found. Some old acquaintances I've bumped into:

1. Mates of State
2. Free Energy
3. Glen Hansard
4. Asteroids Galaxy Tour

As you can see, this is an awesome website. Just FYI, you will become very addicted to it. But it's music--you probably already have music playing a lot anyway.

With all due respect,

Dawson "Man in the Hall" Vosburg

summer reading challenge

My local library always has a summer reading program, and one that I participate in specifically for teens. Every successful year as I log my hours of reading (this time it's online!), I set goals for myself about what I want to read and how long it'll take me to read it, with some extra pleasure reading here and there. Of course almost all my reading is for pleasure, but...you get the point.

So this year I thought it would be fun to have a bit of a contest--one where everyone who meets their goal wins. The rules? Set a fair-sized goal for yourself, usually depending on your reading level (for example, mine is to read all three volumes of the Lord of the Rings), and then read all you can to meet that goal before July 31. If you meet your goal on or before that date, send me an email (in the "press" section) and I'll send you a coupon code to get Double Life and/or Terminal Velocity for FREE from Smashwords.

So, what's your goal this summer?

operation: e-book drop

Hey everyone. I've been looking into a project that I've really found to be a great cause that can involve books, and I'd love for anyone who's written a book to get involved. It's called Operation: E-Book Drop. It was started by one of my friends and mentors in the writing business, Edward C. Patterson. It's a movement to give free e-books on Kindles to troops currently enrolled in the US military.

I'm going to be taking part in this cause because I believe that our troops are very important. I know, I know, it's cliche, but seriously, these people get killed all the time, and the only reason is to maintain your freedom.

I think those people deserve some good entertainment.

So this started as a post on my dear Kindleboards.com, and it exploded into a project involving 423 authors and over 400 books donated to troops in Iraq looking for something to do. So if you want to take part in this, check it out right here:

http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,13352.0.html

Your book will have to be available on Smashwords, so make sure you can do that in order to participate.

With all due respect,

Dawson "God Bless America" Vosburg

off the beaten path

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm big into indie music. I just love it. And increasingly, turning to the pop station or hearing the latest Billboard Top 40 tracks pumped through the speakers at the bowling alley irritates me.

So then I look at the books I read, and I think, "Why not do the same thing?"

Yes, I very much enjoy some mainstream fiction and I understand that there are major differences between the music industry and the book industry, especially concerning fan bases and what people decide to purchase. But there are plenty of parallels I can draw between my choices musically and my choices with books.

Why not go off the beaten path every once in awhile and look at a book that no one else is reading? It's a crazy thought, and I know that you just HAVE to read the next vampire romance book, but why not just pick up something different and start reading it?

I did this a couple years ago for a book report in English class. I picked up a book--it was called Leaper--and I read the whole thing in a week (which is fast for me, I'm a slow reader). I found that just picking up a random, unpopular book led me to a great place. I found something great and fun and new.

Now, of course you can still read some mainstream fiction just as I like some mainstream music. I unashamedly love "Gives You Hell" by AAR, and also I love the Harry Potter series. But the point is not to abolish the mainstream. It's just to go a bit off the beaten path, to give yourself an individuality in what you read and the way you read it.

I think you'll find yourself a better person.

With all due respect,

Dawson "Author of Those Books Over There" Vosburg

a different direction

It's been awhile.

A long while. I should really post here more.

But I've been up to doing some majorly unimportant stuff, so I'm guessing you won't mind.

I guess there's a danger in complacency for an author. I've been needing to work on so many things, but you know, it's very tempting just to be a normal 15-year-old kid. Well, as normal as a 15-year-old-kid can be. Okay, I'll admit it...it's just tempting to procrastinate your writing career away. Which is pretty much what I've been doing recently.

Yet somewhere in that worthless procrastination there have been a few nuggets of gold that I've found, and they've rekindled the writing fire again. And I'm going in a different direction.

From the time I was very young (about 5), I've always wanted to make movies. And now that I have ample material and creative flow and have learned some necessary skills for the journey, I'm able to make movies. Besides all the industry connections readily available to me through my fantastic brother David.

Also, I've decided that the next book I release will not be the concluding volume of the Josiah Jones trilogy of novels. It's also a different direction and a different series that I'm beginning, and I can't disclose anything besides the fact that it will be a fantasy novel (I've always loved reading and writing them, so now everyone will be able to read it!).

Music and design aree two other things I've been very into recently, and I'd really like to give those projects some time. Artistic endeavors are usually worth it.

So a ton of new stuff is going to be happening around here. New things that may not even be book-related might begin popping up on this blog. But my passion is still where it has always been: books and reading.

Watch for new things, because I'll be posting on a regular basis again. Glad to be back with you.


Dawson "Dyed His Hair Blonde" Vosburg