If you want to see what I’m doing over there visit Word Grrls. It’s about web writing with a lot of writing prompts and writing exercises. I’ve been writing on the web since 1998.

This blog, through Lockergnome, is one I began awhile ago and then lost to the mothballs for awhile. I’ve been thinking that I should get back to writing for an online network again. I used to write for BackWash but that is gone now. I wrote for Suite101 but the rules seem to change so often there and I’m just not that organized to keep track. Long before that I wrote for HerPlanet.com and BellaOnline and WZard.com too. (If you know HerPlanet and Dottie or any of the other women who were in that network leave me a note – I’d really like to hear from you!).

Anyway, here I am back at Lockergnome. I will stick to a weekly or bi-weekly update. Not sure which at this moment. I update Word Grrls daily and it can be a gruelling schedule to stick to. So this will be a bit lighter while I decide where I’m going with it. Not that I have no plan at all. I wouldn’t have started typing this if I didn’t have some ideas and some goals.

Stay tuned for more!

I have the web writing blog on it's own domain now: WordGrrls.com.

I do like maps, strongly, not quite enough to love them. Love being such a big word in small letters. I use a map when I explore rural ruins. I use it to find the locations when others tell me they have found an abandoned farmhouse in my area. I have a backroad map which (so far) has been very reliable, even when I've taken some pretty far fetched turns.

For his birthday, I gave my nephew two full poster-sized maps. One of Canada and the other of the World. We put them up in his bedroom. Is it only a co-incidence that geography is the subject he seems to be having the most trouble with this year? I hope so. I may not be ready to tell him everything he needs to know about geography but I would like to see him learn about rocks, maps and navigation. One of the most important things in life is knowing how to navigate your way.

I remember the last time I looked at a really old map. I liked seeing the terrors written on there like monsters and the edge of the world. Thanks to cartographers and world explorers and ancient navigators we know the world does not end with a sudden drop. Modern explorers and those into geocaching use a GPS to find their way around. But even then, the old fashioned map is at the root of every exploration.

• The International Map Collector's Society
• Map History.info
• Road Map Collectors Association
• Flickr: Maps and Charts
• Flickr: Cartography
• Flickr: Pictures of Maps
• Mapperz: The mapping news blog.
• The Map Room: A weblog about maps.
• Strange Maps
• Cartographer's Guild
• CartoTalk: A forum for cartography and design.
• Cartophilia: Maps and map memorabilia.
• Cartography Online
• The Canadian Cartographic Association

Old/ Vintage Maps

• Map the Universe: Antique Map Collecting
• Flickr: Vintage Road Maps
• Flickr: Old Maps
• Flickr: Maps on Postcards
• Show Off Your Maps
• Pauus Swaen Auction: Tips for Map Collectors
• International Antiquarian Map Sellers Association
• MapHist: An email discussion about the history of cartography.

Hand Drawn Maps

• Flickr: Handmade Cartography
• Flickr: Creative Cartography
• Flickr: Illustration Maps
• Flickr: Altered Maps
• Making Maps: DIY Cartography
• Hand Drawn Map Association
• The Maps Project

Keeping a journal of your magickal road trip though Paganism.

The Book of Shadows is a creative and practical way to journal your adventures as you explore Wicca, Witchcraft and Paganism.

A Book of Shadows or a Grimoire is your journal/ scrapbook about your explorations into Wiccan and Pagan ways. The Grimoire is a bit more of a recipe book, like a technical manual. You may decide to keep a Book of Shadows with all your experiences, thoughts and technical details or you may have both a Grimoire and Book of Shadows to separate the technical side.

Don't make it a pressure cooker, something holier than thou you can only write in with perfect results. It is there for you to use, to keep track of little things and big things, great things and great mistakes. It's a guide to where you have been and would like to go.

Don't be intimidated by your journal, enjoy it and feel free to be creative. It's not perfect, it's not a symbol of your commitment to being Wiccan. You could even decide Wicca isn't for you and look at other belief systems and continue to use the Book of Shadows, but call it something else to suit you.

The book itself needs to be something adaptable to grow and change along with you. A binder with removable pages is good. That way you can move them around and sort them into subjects or dates as you choose. In some cases you may have physical elements to add such as photos, clipped out articles, some sand you used in a ritual, a feather you found on the way home, a napkin you doodled an idea on... don't feel limited to just what you have written on standard paper. If something doesn't easily fit into the book format adapt it, take a photo or draw it.

Use your Book of Shadows to collect phrases and quotes that appeal to you. These will be great when it comes to writing your own rituals. Not that you want to copy someone else but everything that inspires you should be saved. A special turn of phrase, one that feels right or opens your mind and emotions is a great way to jump start your own words for your own ritual. Your Book of Shadows is documenting your adventures.

Don't cheat yourself by taking short cuts like printing something from the Internet and leaving that as a whole package when it's only something you have read and not something you have really felt or experienced. Do print something from the Internet and make notes right on it or on another page which you attach it to.

It's a very personal book, this collection of your deepest thoughts and treasured moments, be careful about sharing it. If you are part of a group you might pick a topic and each person gives thoughts and experiences they have written in their Book of Shadows. But you aren't likely to photocopy a page and hand it over. It's not about keeping information to yourself as much as it's about having a safe place where you can continue to be very honest and open with yourself about the things you are experiencing and thinking as you take the Wiccan path.

Once upon a time I was writing for Suite101. It was actually the start of the second round I had signed up with them. But, I didn't see much point in staying. Basically just too little results for the amount of energy I had to put in. Yesterday I went back to check my account and I'm signed up as a writer but not allowed to post anything. I guess my login as a writer timed out as that was 2007. Anyway, here is the article which I had written for them. Deleted because it was written in first person, something that was not a problem when I wrote it but changed afterwards I guess.

I'm Laura. ASCII artist, stick figure cartoonist, urban and rural explorer of abandoned places - these are a few of the things I am doing when I'm not writing. I began as a web writer in 1998 but I started online in 1996, an IRC diva. I think I am a great fit for Lifehacker because I have experience, stamina (I was an editor at Dmoz over ten years), creativity, originality and inspiration. I've also been a copy editor and forum moderator so I can write and self edit my work quite well. I love finding new things online: new gadgets, new sites, new ways to use what we already have. I'm not the most organized person so I look for anything to help me with that. Some things work and some don't but I try them. Once a year I reformat my hard drive to make sure I'm not left with any nasty critters from my experimentation. I'm teaching my Mother to use the computer. It takes patience, a lot of simple words, straight forward answers and I'm usually repeating the same things over a few times before she actually listens but we are making progress. I'm Sagittarius, I just feel the need to teach the world.

WordGrrls (http://wordgrrls.com) is my site for web writers. Originally I used it to stash content I had written for BackWash, WZard.com, HerPlanet, LockerGnome, BellaOnline and Suite101. On WordGrrls I post (daily) creative writing prompts, writing inspiration, web publishing ideas and generally my point of view about anything to do with keeping a space for yourself on the web. There is a flood of information for SEO and marketing your blog but the writing itself is being put on the backburner. I bring the writing back into the lime light. I love writing and even making lists of topics to write about. A bit crazy. Currently I am working through a mild addiction to WordPress plugins. I have found several I like for odds and ends but I've yet to find just what I want for displaying a featured past post.

I'm located in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Not the US but I was once married to an American and spent a few years living in Illinois, does that count?

Right now I am not employed, trying the work from home plan but still mostly just unemployed. I have a lot of availability. Usually I am online in the evening when it is quiet and dark and I can pretend I'm far more mysterious than I really am.