"You Got the News" - Twitter Lists

I live on Hootsuite. The Twitter management system allows you to schedule tweets and view your home feed, mentions, retweets and direct messages on one screen. You can also see your Twitter lists. Naturally, I recently decided to use Twitter lists to keep tabs on Prince news. Here's a peek at my Twitter lists:

This one includes some sources from my post on key Prince influencers on Twitter

Potential sources to interview for the book

This one is in progress, obviously

I'm keeping them private for now.

Who should make the lists?



Follow me on Twitter: @miss_ethompson

"Where's the Real Drummer?" - Bobby Z Spreecast & other Transcriptions

I'm back! I had to take some personal time to rest, but I'm here, and...
I'm moving my new blog posts to Tuesdays! #TeamPrinceTuesday

I still made time to work on the book, and I've been doing a lot of recording and transcribing. Dr. Funkenberry and Seth Everett's Wednesday spreecasts are not only great resources for Prince news, but their special guests provide awesome quotes for my book.

Two weeks ago, "Bobby Z." Rivkin, the original drummer from Prince's band, The Revolution, stopped by the spreecast. He shared some great memories from his time playing with Prince.

Last week, Shelby J., a singer in Prince's NPG band, visited the spreecast. I was delighted to hear Shelby and a viewer touch on spirituality a bit.

I also transcribed a great Tyka Nelson interview over the weekend.

Finally, I went WAY back on my to-do list and transcribed all Prince-related segments of Sheila E.'s "Unsung" episode.

Sometimes, interviews that others have done with sources are the next best thing, and a lot of great interviews with Prince's family, friends and associates  have been done since his other major biographies were published.

In the meantime, I would be crazy not to take advantage of talking to the special guests on these spreecasts, so I need to get my behind to Best Buy to get a webcam. I literally have to schedule the time to do it because  I rarely have free time these days. With all the Prince stuff happening--new website, new music, Billboard article, Grammy Awards appearance--I could use a few extra hours! It's getting crazy!!

Be sure to check back next Tuesday for a new blog post!

"Even the Soliders Need a Break Sometimes" - Be Back Soon

Under the weather; I'll be back soon! :)

"I Like it When You Dance for Me" - Prince and the Joffrey Ballet

My blog posts during the next few weeks will probably be short and sweet as I finish the first section of the book.

Whenever my friends, families and associates hear anything about Prince, they always come to me. :) Several days ago, my co-worker told me that she'd heard that Prince had been involved in a ballet. I was familiar with Prince's professional relationship with ballet dancer Misty Copeland, but I didn't know he'd allowed the Joffrey Ballet to use his music in their "Billboards" production in the early '90s. As I write this book, I'm learning new things everyday (I don't remember reading about this in the previous Prince bios--maybe I forgot about it). Find out more here.

Amazon.com

Would you watch "Billboards?" 

"Take a Picture, Sweetie!" - Odds and Ends From the Past Week

Because I'm in my rewriting stage, I don't have any exciting interviews to discuss. So, I thought I'd just share some Prince-related images of my activities during the past week.

Well, as most Prince fans know, the "3rd Eye Girl" drama that I mentioned last Monday continued throughout the whole week. I had a BLAST at Dr. Funkenberry and Seth Everett's spreecast last Wednesday:

We talked about the possibility of Prince creating a new website. Also, Prince is thinking about inviting fans to concerts at his Paisley Park Studios. I would definitely go if I had enough notice, and I think he should charge standard ticket prices.

I went ahead and tweeted 3rd Eye Girl and sent "her" some messages about my book. No, I haven't heard back, but I had to try, right?

For the first section of the book, I've consulted newspaper and magazine articles, interviews I've done, primary documents, and books and statistics on Minneapolis. I've also listened to music that might provide insight into Prince's life. For example:

Amazon.com

I just listened closely to the song "Papa" from the "Come" album for the first time tonight. It really affected me--even though it's short and somewhat vague, it made me emotionally uncomfortable. I don't think I can listen to it multiple times (on a more upbeat note, my favorite song from this album is "Letitgo").

Ok, I'll admit it; I've had this poster on my wall longer than a week, but I wanted to share it. One of my best friends gave it to me. I love it!

What are your thoughts on 3rd Eye Girl, "Papa," or my awesome poster?

"3rd Eye, 3rd Eye, 3rd Eye" -- What's Ahead for 2013

What a great day for Prince fans! Less than 24 hours ago, a mysterious person, known only as "3rd Eye Girl," popped up on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube:

She provided an extended version of Prince's song "Laydown" from the "20Ten" album, a rockin' rehearsal video of Prince performing "Bambi" (I'm surprised he still plays that song), a remix of "RNR Affair," which Prince released last year, and a brand new tune, "Same Page, Different Book" (I'm definitely feelin' it).

She also proved to be quite funny:

So, who is she? Well, Prince's people have to be behind her actions. Her posts are certainly backing up Prince's message that "2013 is going to be BIG." Additionally, Dr. Funkenberry, the music blogger with apparent ties to Prince, will be sharing his predictions for Prince's 2013 activities in two days.

So, what will I be doing in 2013? Well, in a perfect world, I'd finish the whole darn book, but we'll see. I know I will get a lot of writing done. I'm almost finished rewriting chapter one. Last weekend, I purchased Spin's amazing 2009 digital tribute issue to Prince. It's going to come in handy as a source:

I'm feeling encouraged! A few posts back, I mentioned that Prince may find out about me. I'm not sure if the person I talked to has caught up with him yet, but I need to try as many avenues as possible. For example, now that I know who represents him, I need to write a letter to them. 

Also, I think I'll send 3rd Eye Girl a tweet or two. You never know...

Are you excited about 2013?

"Feel Better, Feel Good, Feel Wonderful" - Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays, purple hippies!

I will return with a new blog post on Monday, January 7. Do not worry; I am hard at work rewriting, and I will have updates.

See you in the new year!