"Now, Turn the Page" - Books (and Magazine) of the Week

Here is a look at some of my research this week...

"Minneapolis Negro Profile: A Pictorial Resume of the Black Community, It's Achievements, and It's Immediate Goals," Scott Publishing Company, 1968.

Amazon.com

"Minnesota's Black Community," Scott Publishing Company, 1976 (Amazon doesn't have it, but I do).

Amazon.com

March 1997 issue of "Minnesota Monthly," which featured Prince on the cover.

"Feels Like a Million Days" - My Content Calendar

I'm still playing catch-up and trying to get back on task with this book. It's been a rough couple of weeks. Last month, I started using a simple content calendar in Microsoft Word to determine what I wanted to complete month by month.

However, in the next few weeks, I'd like to go ahead and plan out what I want to accomplish for the rest of 2013.

Please send positive thoughts my way! I'm hoping to de-stress by next week.

Thanks!

"For You" - Prince's First Album

One of the cool things about writing this book is that I get to revisit Prince albums that I don't play very often. After I wrap up the 1958-1976 section of my book, I will be focusing on Prince's early career. That means I'll be giving his 1978 debut album, "For You," another listen.

Amazon.com

I'm ashamed to say that I only know the lyrics to one song, "Soft and Wet," which is one of my favorites. I'll keep you posted on other tracks that I grow to love during this process.

I hope to have a longer blog post next week. March has been so busy personally and professionally.

What are your favorite tracks on "For You?"

“Everybody’s Going” – Uptown Magazine, Part II

Back in December, I mentioned that I was looking for Uptown, a Prince fanzine that was published during the 1990s. Well, one of my awesome blog readers from Germany has agreed to sell me issues from his collection! I purchased my first issue last week:

I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but I am very excited! I’ll let you know what I think.

I also interviewed a significant source for an article and my book. I will reveal who it was soon!

Prince fans--what did you think of Uptown magazine?

"Now, Turn the Page" - Book of the Week

Quick post tonight. I don't really like to reveal my sources of information, but I'll make an exception. I've purchased "The Rock Musician: 15 Years of the interviews - The best of Musician Magazine,” by Tony Scherman. There is a long, informative interview with Prince from the early ‘80s in there. As most fans know, Prince rarely gives that type of interview, so it’s a good find.

Amazon.com

The “book of the week” should have been “Mama Never Taught Me How to Sing,” by Tyka Nelson. Last week, I just knew I was going to have that book in my possession, but I was outbid on eBay. I was not willing to pay $100, which I predicted to be the other bidder’s “ceiling,” because the information in the book, while interesting, is not crucial to my book. Maybe I’ll get it another way in the future…

What is your favorite Prince interview? 

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

I've decided to make this a recurring post, as I like to share pictures from time to time. Besides, it's been a crazy week, and I'm still busy writing.

Great news: I finally bought a webcam!

Bad news: my webcam seems incompatible with those terrific spreecasts by Seth Everett and Dr. Funkenberry. I've tried numerous times to get on the show, but I can't. I hope to get the issue resolved soon. If you can help, let me know!

I'm going to have to buy another "Purple Rain" DVD.

I'm not sure what happened here, but the discs will no longer play. The interviews on this 20th Anniversary set are useful to me.

Random note: I am obsessed with Prince's song "Blue Light" from the "Love Symbol" album. 

Photo courtesy of my Zune (Yes, I have a Zune, and I prefer it to the  iPod)

Shout out to my blog readers and other members of #TeamPrince! So many of you have offered to help me in some way, whether it's providing research, copies of books or magazines, or giving words of encouragement. For example, this weekend, someone helped me track down Tyka Nelson's book. I hope to have it very soon.

From Prince.org

Finally, check out my Valentine's Day flowers. My boyfriend knew to throw a little purple in the bouquet. 

"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