Words and writing ideas I recently got a copy of Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge’s Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words, and after just a couple of chapters, my imagination was on fire. I’m always looking for new ways to inspire writing ideas, and lately I’ve been thinking that we should talk more about a writer’s most basic building blocks: words. So, using words as a way to come up with writing ideas sounded ideal to me. In Poemcrazy, Wooldridge talks about collecting words. She captures words, stores them, and then stashes them in all kinds of interesting places where…
Writing
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Most Topular Stories
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How to Transform Words Into Writing Ideas
Writing Forward24 May 2013 | 1:18 am -
Give the Audience Moments They Can Remember
Advice to Writers23 May 2013 | 9:01 pmI believe it was the late Rosalind Russell who gave this wisdom to a young actor: “Do you know what makes a movie work? Moments. Give the audience half a dozen moments they can remember, and they’ll leave the theater happy.” I think she was right. And if you’re lucky enough to write a movie with half a dozen moments, make damn sure they belong to the star. WILLIAM GOLDMAN -
What to Do About Marketing (Or, Feeling at Home in Two Worlds)
Charlotte Rains Dixon23 May 2013 | 12:01 amI'm in Louisville this week at the Spalding MFA residency and one of the things I've heard over and over again is writers bemoaning the fact they don't have enough time to write. We've got jobs, and families, and bills to pay and carpools to drive and a million other things to do. And added on top of all that is marketing. I've been thinking about marketing a lot lately, because, for one thing, I had a novel come out in February and I had to learn how to market it. And, for another, because this week I've been immersed in the world of literature and writing,… -
Banish writer’s block with this tip from poet William Stafford
onewildword22 May 2013 | 6:00 am“There is no such thing as writer’s block for writers whose standards are low enough.” –American poet William Stafford Poet William Stafford wrote every day, rising early in the mornings before the rest of his family. This discipline resulted in about 20,000 completed or attempted poems over his lifetime—of which only 6,000 or so have been published. Occasionally accused of being “too prolific,” Stafford would say, “if you get stuck, lower your standards and keep going.” I needed this advice this week. Stuck on the same chapter for two weeks now, I realized that something… -
Meet Writer.ly!
APE Blog27 Mar 2013 | 8:54 amI hope that you can join us on March 27th at 4 pm PST/7 pm EST (or catch the replay on YouTube) to learn about Writer.ly. Co-founders Kelsye Nelson and Abigail Carter met at a writer’s group, began discussing the challenges of being a writer and Writer.ly was born. Writer.ly has been described as the “Elance for publishing” by GeekWire. Guy Kawasaki met the brains behind Writer.ly at the San Francisco Writer’s Conference and loved their idea so much that he joined their Advisory Board, putting them in the company of other fantastic start-ups getting Guy’s Golden…
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APE Blog
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Author interview with Bryant McGill
19 May 2013 | 3:29 pmWho is Bryant? Bryant McGill is a best-selling author, speaker and activist in the fields of self-development, personal freedom and human rights. In this interview, we talked about Bryant’s twenty year plan of action, how he transformed his life by losing one hundred pounds and many things that will help APE authors with their own journey. I really enjoyed this discussion with Bryant and I know that you will too. Bryant McGill is a best-selling author, speaker and activist in the fields of self-development, personal freedom and human rights. He is an iconic personality and cultural… -
Pinterest for authors and bloggers
18 Apr 2013 | 1:15 pmI had the pleasure of being the guest on #PinChat to talk Pinterest for authors and bloggers with Kelly Lieberman, the online expert on Pinterest. I have a section in APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur — How to Publish a Book, called How to Pin your Way to Success — An Author’s Guide to Pinterest in which I discuss how and why authors can use Pinterest. When you’re working on the Entrepreneur part of your book process or just trying to get the word out about your blog, Pinterest is a great way to connect with readers. Pinterest takes less time than the other high traffic… -
New Google+ Hangout Series! Author Srinivas Rao joins Guy Kawasaki
10 Apr 2013 | 4:43 pmThis week the APE team, Guy Kawasaki, Shawn Welch and Peg Fitzpatrick, will be flipping the microphone on BlogCastFM host Srinivas Rao who has interviewed over 300 people for his show. Here’s Srini’s interview of Guy: Guy Kawasaki on Writing, Publishing and Entrepreneurship Srini’s story on Copyblogger by Beth Hayden: Case Study: How to Build a Vast Audience by Mastering the Art of the Interview. “Srinivas Rao graduated from business school in 2009, straight into one of the worst U.S. job markets we’ve faced since the Great Depression. But, instead of getting… -
Author Interview on Google+ HOA with Hugh Howey on May 1
5 Apr 2013 | 6:35 amHugh Howey is our second guest for the APE author interview series. Are we excited? Umm yes! We’ll be hosting the Google+ Hangout on Air on May 1, 2013 at 4 pm PT, 7 pm ET. RSVP to the Google+ event here! If you’ve been living under a rock, Hugh Howey is a self-published author turned New York Times bestselling, publishing mega-star. More on his about page. From Wired “Hugh Howey is a self-described “bum,” who for the past twenty years has bounced from job to job — computer repair, roofing, yacht captain, bookstore clerk. In his spare time he wrote science fiction,… -
Meet Writer.ly!
27 Mar 2013 | 8:54 amI hope that you can join us on March 27th at 4 pm PST/7 pm EST (or catch the replay on YouTube) to learn about Writer.ly. Co-founders Kelsye Nelson and Abigail Carter met at a writer’s group, began discussing the challenges of being a writer and Writer.ly was born. Writer.ly has been described as the “Elance for publishing” by GeekWire. Guy Kawasaki met the brains behind Writer.ly at the San Francisco Writer’s Conference and loved their idea so much that he joined their Advisory Board, putting them in the company of other fantastic start-ups getting Guy’s Golden…
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Advice to Writers
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Give the Audience Moments They Can Remember
23 May 2013 | 9:01 pmI believe it was the late Rosalind Russell who gave this wisdom to a young actor: “Do you know what makes a movie work? Moments. Give the audience half a dozen moments they can remember, and they’ll leave the theater happy.” I think she was right. And if you’re lucky enough to write a movie with half a dozen moments, make damn sure they belong to the star. WILLIAM GOLDMAN -
Be A Sublime Fool
22 May 2013 | 9:02 pmTo sum it all up, if you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling. You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. I wish for you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and… -
Do What Works
21 May 2013 | 9:01 pmThere are so many different kinds of writing and so many ways to work that the only rule is this: do what works. Almost everything has been tried and found to succeed for somebody. The methods, even the ideas, of successful writers contradict each other in a most heartening way, and the only element I find common to all successful writers is persistence—an overwhelming determination to succeed. SOPHY BURNHAM -
Never Tell Your Reader What Your Story is About
20 May 2013 | 9:03 pmNever tell your reader what your story is about. Reading is a participatory sport. People do it because they are intelligent and enjoy figuring things out for themselves. GEORGE V. HIGGINS -
Spend Some Time Living Before You Start Writing
19 May 2013 | 9:04 pmSpend some time living before you start writing. What I find to be very bad advice is the snappy little sentence, “Write what you know.” It is the most tiresome and stupid advice that could possibly be given. If we write simply about what we know we never grow. We don't develop any facility for languages, or an interest in others, or a desire to travel and explore and face experience head-on. We just coil tighter and tighter into our boring little selves. What one should write about is what interests one. ANNIE PROULX
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Daily Writing Tips
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A Parenthetical Puzzle
24 May 2013 | 12:06 amWriters sometimes trip themselves up when they try to introduce a parenthetical element in a sentence without ensuring that the main clause of the sentence remains grammatically coherent. Here’s a troublesome example of this type of error, with a discussion of possible revisions. In the sentence “Smith was one of, if not the first, female members of the organization,” the writer is attempting to communicate two related ideas too early in the syntactical structure: Smith was one of the first female members of the organization, and she may have been the first female member of the… -
10 Points About Possessives
22 May 2013 | 11:33 pmWriters are often challenged by the details of producing singular and possessive forms, but dealing with less common possessive variations can be downright vexing. Here are guidelines about additional possessive constructions. 1. Absolute Possessives His, hers, its, theirs, ours, mine, and yours, which are termed absolute possessives because, unlike their simple possessive versions (for example, their and my), they require no subsequent noun, should never be followed by an apostrophe. (Note that his and its, which can precede a noun or noun phrase or can stand alone, do not change form… -
Shift Syntax to Strengthen Sentences
22 May 2013 | 1:05 amEnglish syntax is flexible, enabling writers to shape a given sentence in various ways, and we should take advantage of this lack of rigidity to enhance the impact of our statements. Here are several sentences that benefit from rearrangement. 1. “Complex adaptive systems can respond more quickly the more complex they are.” This sentence is clear and straightforward, but it would be stronger with a shift in emphasis. What’s the key point? Speed increases as complex adaptive systems become more complex. This revision begins with the key point, but it’s often more effective to withhold… -
The Rationale for the Serial Comma
20 May 2013 | 9:20 pmDo you employ a serial comma — the final comma in a sentence such as “I bought one apple, two bananas, and three oranges”? If your work for or with a business or organization involves publishing content in print or online, that decision has (or should have been) made for you in a style guide, a manual to be followed in production of all the content published by that business or organization. If you determine a business or organization’s style, or you self-publish in print or online, the decision is up to you. In most journalistic print and online publications and in much other… -
What Is a Clause?
19 May 2013 | 8:07 pmA clause is a statement or a question that generally consists of a subject and a verb phrase and constitutes a complete thought. Sentences can consist of a single clause, but they often include two: a main, or independent, clause and a subordinate, or dependent, clause. A main clause can form a complete sentence. (The preceding statement is both a clause and a sentence.) A subordinate clause, by contrast, depends on a main clause to provide the primary proposition of the sentence, which is why it’s also called a dependent clause. “Which is why it’s also called a dependent clause” is…
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Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
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368 GG Hyphens
23 May 2013 | 9:48 pmHow to Use Hyphens. -
367 GG The Old Editor Says
16 May 2013 | 9:48 pmJohn E. McIntyre, a veteran editor at The Baltimore Sun, shares pithy editing maxims from his new book. -
366 GG Slash
9 May 2013 | 9:48 pmHow Texting Is Changing English -
285 GG "Moot" Versus "Mute"
2 May 2013 | 9:48 pmMoot isn't moot, but it can mean something different in Britain and the U.S. -
365 GG The Language of Crime
25 Apr 2013 | 9:48 pmThe Language of Crime
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Copyblogger
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Here’s How Austin Kleon Writes
24 May 2013 | 5:00 amSteve Jobs famously misquoted Picasso when he said, “Good artists copy; great artists steal.” What Picasso really said was, “Art is theft.” T.S. Eliot said something far closer, “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.” I learned all of this from Austin Kleon, bestselling author of Steal Like an Artist, a guide I recommend to all writers seeking insights for tapping into your endless reserves of creativity and innovation. As a noted speaker, and prolific blogger, Mr. Kleon offers timeless wisdom on the secrets of borrowing inspiration from your heroes… -
30 Quick Editing Tips Every Content Creator Needs to Know
23 May 2013 | 4:00 amInbox 0: in a bad way. Has your brilliant content still not scored you that dream writing position, lucrative business partnership, or sweet recognition among your peers and target audience? If you think your articles are top-notch, but there’s a lonely tumbleweed blowing through your barren website, it may be because you’re just a writer. You heard me, Gloria. If everybody wants you, why isn’t anybody calling? Once you create a blog or email newsletter, you need to also actively take part in its evolution. While keeping diligent focus on your content production, you must also review… -
How to Nail the Opening of Your Blog Post
22 May 2013 | 5:00 amThe opening four notes to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony are the most popular notes in Western music. Dun dun dun dum … They are stormy. Heroic. Disorienting. Short enough to be remembered. Portentous enough to be memorable. Today you’ll find those notes everywhere. In movies, commercials, and songs when the dramatic and foreboding are needed … And we hardly bat an eye. We recognize them, we know them, and we love those first four notes. Not so for Beethoven’s opening night at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien in 1808. One contemporary composer of Beethoven —… -
5 Things Every Copywriter Needs to Know About Their Prospects
21 May 2013 | 4:00 amWhat do you really know about your prospect? Their age range perhaps? Where they live? What they do for a living? Useful definitely, but not enough to create copy that rouses emotion and compels action. For that we need to take a journey much deeper into the dark recesses of our customers’ minds … Want to join me? Today’s article is inspired by someone who understood that in writing, how well you knew your ‘characters’ made the difference between captivating an audience, or boring them. In 1946 The Art of Dramatic Writing, (now regarded as one of the best works… -
14 Free Ebooks and an Updated 20-Part Internet Marketing Course
20 May 2013 | 5:00 amCan’t see the video? Click here. Free Registration About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and CEO of Copyblogger Media. Get more from Brian on Google+. Related StoriesWhy We Still Need to Write, Even When We’re Scared5 Ways to Bond with Your Blog’s Audience11 Compound Word Errors that Might Make You Look like a Numbskull
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onewildword
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Write a scene in 30 minutes
24 May 2013 | 6:00 amIn a recent interview by Joel Chafetz, author Jack Remick, talked about how learning Natalie Goldberg’s timed writing technique totally changed his writing. Remick who is a poet and author of the novel Blood, among other works, said he learned to use timed writing to craft his scenes. He breaks it down as follows for a 30-minute timed writing session: 5 minutes on setting, place, time, season, temperature 5 minutes on character description and problem 5 minutes on action and dialogue 5 minutes on Intruder 5 minutes on Climax and Resolution 5 minutes on Hook to the next scene down the line… -
What’s your writing call to arms?
23 May 2013 | 6:00 amWhat is your writing watchword — the guiding principle that drives your writing life? Writing has always been a central focus of my life. As a writer and reader, I love words and the power they have to move people and create change. So I was intrigued to see what entrepreneur Gianni Vega does to create art out of words and inspire people to commit to their passion and goals. Vega, who calls himself a “Thot Provoker,” named his business Knots Thots. His artistic products are boards with quotes meant to spur people to, “live a life with no regret, no exceptions.” Customers pick a… -
Banish writer’s block with this tip from poet William Stafford
22 May 2013 | 6:00 am“There is no such thing as writer’s block for writers whose standards are low enough.” –American poet William Stafford Poet William Stafford wrote every day, rising early in the mornings before the rest of his family. This discipline resulted in about 20,000 completed or attempted poems over his lifetime—of which only 6,000 or so have been published. Occasionally accused of being “too prolific,” Stafford would say, “if you get stuck, lower your standards and keep going.” I needed this advice this week. Stuck on the same chapter for two weeks now, I realized that something… -
Create order out of writing chaos
21 May 2013 | 6:00 amWriting is a messy business. Maybe you have a certain degree of chaos on your desk, with notebooks, bits and piece of paper, Post its with scrawled notes, and index cards from your hipster PDA. Not to mention the paper cuts. It’s just part of the process. When I write nonfiction features I have a system I usually follow that adds order and helps me stay focused. I create an outline but not in the sense of those outlines with the Roman numerals we learned about in grade school. This is more of a skeleton with the main sections of the story noted: Lede, elements of the story that go in the… -
British writers weigh in with tips to defeat writer’s block
20 May 2013 | 6:00 amDespite our best efforts to stay in the flow of our writing and showcase our brilliance in every word and idea that flashes through our mind and onto our white space, we still have times when the words get stuck. Currently experiencing one of these frustrating moments myself, I thought I’d explore the idea of writer’s block this week and see what other writers have to say about it. In this seven-minute video, “Getting Through Writer’s Block,” BBC writers share their tips on getting yourself unstuck, including: Try to write something—improving nothing is impossible, improving…
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Writing Forums
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teh art of spelling......
22 May 2013 | 6:11 amSo come on how many people re read their MS to find that the word 'the' has been replaced with 'teh'...or am i the only one. -
Creating words when they don't exist (in general and in more formal writing)
21 May 2013 | 9:27 pmRecently, while writing, I came across a situation that I wanted to share. I felt compelled to create my own word to convey a specific meaning - there didn't seem to be an existing word that came close to what I needed to convey in the length I needed to present it. Now, I know within fiction-writing the writer has a lot of freedom to break traditional rules. However, in my situation, this was an argumentative essay. Obviously, doing something like this in an essay would be untraditional, at best, and would cause a destruction of credibility, at worst. This is within an essay discussing the… -
Mindlessly??
20 May 2013 | 9:09 pm"A woman, alone and seemingly lost in her own little world, walked north along the desolate remains of a highway; mindlessly staring into the distance." First off, does this sentence seem redundant? Second, at the end, is "mindlessly" the correct word you would want to use in a situation where someone is walking along just kind of staring off into the distance, not really caring about or paying attention to anything other than the thoughts and fantasies going on their head? -
Can't think of the right word
20 May 2013 | 1:34 pmI'm so annoyed by this and I'm so desperate that I'm going to ask it here. Not so long ago i read the perfect word to describe the face of a person who he lost quite some weight and didn't look very healthy... but now I cannot recall it any more and I have been trying to find it in the book again but with no success. The only word I can think of is hollow... though it's not what I am looking for! Can someone help me? I'll send you virtual cookies and hugs! -
Avoiding ambiguity: the tree trunks grew thicker
19 May 2013 | 10:32 pmI wrote the sentence below today and I realised that it was ambiguous and probably grammatically incorrect. I don't want the reader to think the trees are visibly growing as the MC walks; rather, I would like to convey that the tree trunks are very large, and increasingly so, relative to those at the edge of the forest. I could say so explicitly, as I have done just then, but that seems unwieldy and wordy. Do you have any tips for eliminating ambiguity? [Not sure if this is a valid discussion or a problem due to the first day back writing in a while.] Quote: As he walked further into the…
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The Purdue OWL News
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Purdue Writing Lab Summer Workshops for April 30, 2013
30 Apr 2013 | 2:54 pmPurdue Writing Lab Summer WorkshopsBy Joshua M. PaizThe Purdue Writing Lab is pleased to announce our summer workshop schedule. These workshops are open to students currently enrolled at the Purdue University West Lafayette Campus. All workshops will take place in the Writing Lab, 226 Heavilon Hall. F.. -
Purdue OWL Outage for April 29, 2013
29 Apr 2013 | 3:50 amPurdue OWL Outage By Joshua M. PaizOn Sunday, April 28, 2013 at approximately 8:30am, Purdue OWL staff became aware of a back-end issue that severely limited Purdue OWL functionality. Purdue OWL staff partnered with Purdue University's IT department to correct the error. As of 6:30am .. -
Purdue OWL ESL Writing Resources: Key Words and Concepts for Writing in North American Colleges for April 25, 2013
25 Apr 2013 | 4:12 pmPurdue OWL ESL Writing Resources: Key Words and Concepts for Writing in North American CollegesBy Joshua M. PaizThe Purdue OWL is pleased to announce the expansion of our ESL writing resources. The expansion includes resources designed to help ESL writers with the sometimes difficult meta-language regarding writing in North American colleges and universities. .. -
Purdue OWL SURF Workshop Resources: Designing Scientific Research Posters for April 22, 2013
22 Apr 2013 | 12:37 pmPurdue OWL SURF Workshop Resources: Designing Scientific Research PostersBy Joshua M. PaizThe Purdue OWL is pleased to announce the expansion of our SURF workshop resources. The expansion includes resources on designing scientific research posters. The expanded material can be accessed by clicking here. Thanks to content .. -
Purdue OWL Undergraduate Application Resources Expansion for April 8, 2013
8 Apr 2013 | 6:54 amPurdue OWL Undergraduate Application Resources ExpansionBy Joshua M. PaizThe Purdue OWL is pleased to announce the expansion of our Undergraduate Application resources. The expansion includes resources on a wide range of topics, from writing the application essay, to handling the application process. The expanded material..
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Academia-Research blog everything about how to write a good paper.
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Basic Differences Between British and American English
7 May 2013 | 4:30 amBasic Differences Between British and American English British and American English Differences Though, in general, the differences between British and American English are small, Academia-Research.com wants every writer, who works for us, to be aware of them and stick to them. The matter is that we happen to run orders from students all over the world and for them it is vital to get paper written in the standard of English they’ve chosen. Thus, to avoid any kind of misunderstandings with your projects we strongly recommend you to get acquainted with some basic differences represented… -
The Issue of Plagiarism
24 Apr 2013 | 4:33 amThe Issue of Plagiarism in academic consultancy business The importance of plagiarism-free writing in modern world goes without saying. Every day you hear someone talking about an intellectual property theft. Work originality in writing business has become as important as in academia. Naturally a writing service has to keep up with the times. Some individuals though do not understand the gravity of the issue and do not take all the necessary precautions to prevent a plagiarism suspect. One of the most important parts of free-lance work in general is self-awareness and educating oneself… -
Freelance writing career
21 Jan 2013 | 4:27 amSeeking for a great job at home? We have one for you! Making decisions about your career can often be one of the most elusive and difficult things to do! The human mind is hasty and quite fidgety, and we often have a hard time making a firm resolution on what career suits us best. The time-tested wisdom, to make a career out of doing what you love to do has always proved to be true. And the same holds true when it comes to people who love to write. Are you one of those people who have been writing your personal diary since childhood? Or keep writing on many different things here and there on… -
Freelance writers needed
21 Dec 2012 | 4:23 amWant a valuable job at home? You came to the right place! As we all know that, this world is always on a look out for the person who has great writing skills and can use the magic of words to change the meaning of life. In the crowd of many and few in this field, there is a group of people who call themselves as freelancers. There are many institutions and individuals who have a constant need of such professionals. And you can always find the freelance writers needed phrase on their website and advertisements. So if you are interested, just take a look into this and see how you can make way… -
GED Essay Topics
25 Nov 2012 | 3:39 amStart to Perform Good GED Essay Topics We all want to receive the highest standards of education experience. This is our main passport to get that dream jobs that we have been waiting for so that a good future can be achieved too. However, even before you can set foot to college education, you still need to undergo a GED evaluation procedure to tell whether you have experienced the true standards of high school education. A part of the requirements to pass the GED evaluation method is by writing some GED essays. Now, what are the possible GED essay topics that I should be writing about? First…
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Charlotte Rains Dixon
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What to Do About Marketing (Or, Feeling at Home in Two Worlds)
23 May 2013 | 12:01 amI'm in Louisville this week at the Spalding MFA residency and one of the things I've heard over and over again is writers bemoaning the fact they don't have enough time to write. We've got jobs, and families, and bills to pay and carpools to drive and a million other things to do. And added on top of all that is marketing. I've been thinking about marketing a lot lately, because, for one thing, I had a novel come out in February and I had to learn how to market it. And, for another, because this week I've been immersed in the world of literature and writing,… -
A Writer Travels
13 May 2013 | 4:18 pmOne of the missions of this blog is to write about the writer's life, all of it, and for this writer (moi), travel for work is an integral part of it. My writing-related traveling began when I was accepted into the brief residency MFA program at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky, and fell into the flow of flying back there twice a year, in May and October. It continued when I was hired as a mentor, lo those many years ago, at the Loft Certificate in Writing program in Nashville (well, really, Murfreesboro, but close enough). For that gig, I traveled in September and January,… -
A Couple of Fun Reviews
10 May 2013 | 3:10 pmIt's Friday afternoon and it is hot here in Portland. I'm feeling pleased with myself because I got a long-overdue pedicure and eyebrow waxing and I'm sitting here wondering why self care is so hard for me. Which leads me to ponder why it is also sometimes difficult for me to receive...as in receiving love, receiving gifts (I'm always embarrassed to open them in front of people), receiving praise. And, um, that last part, praise, is what this post is really all about. You see, I had two great reviews get published this week and I wanted to share them with you. What… -
10 Ways to Welcome May and Energize Your Writing
9 May 2013 | 1:04 amWhat the veggies from my raised beds will soon look like May is one of my favorite months ever, and here in Portland it is starting out as a glorious month! As new life bursts forth all around us, so, too does our creativity. It is time to welcome the return of good weather in all its glory. Sometimes in order to do this, we need to clear out the dregs of the old in order to make room for all the new. You'll notice that many of my suggestions have very little to do with writing. That's because sometimes the best thing you can do for your creativity is to engage in an… -
How Words Get on the Page
5 May 2013 | 4:18 pmIt's Sunday afternoon, and it's hot here in Portland. My nephew is visiting on his way from an internship in Washington D.C., back to law school in California. And he, my husband, and my son, are all at my daughter's learning how to make beer on this glorious afternoon. And where am I? Writing this at my computer, obviously. But the bigger question would be why I'm working on this beautiful afternoon. Um, that would be because I procrastinated just the wee-est bit on a ghostwriting project and found myself up against a deadline. I really needed to get my client a…
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What Kate Did Next
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America
19 May 2013 | 12:47 amHow are you all? I have some wonderful news to share - 'The Perfume Garden' is going to be published in the US by Thomas Dunne/St Martin's in 2014. I am over the moon. When the news came in, the pilot was in Bangkok, so I took the children to Johnny Rocket's diner to celebrate - it is about as close to a real US diner as you can get here, with jukeboxes on the table and the thick shakes they love that give you brain freeze. The culture here is at least a cosmopolitan one - being able to do your grocery shopping at Dean & Deluca's, or take the children for apple pie a la mode is a saving… -
Thank you ...
16 May 2013 | 6:44 amIf you feel like escaping to Spain this weekend, I have a small 'thank you' for you all. 'The Last Rose of Summer' is a prequel to 'The Perfume Garden' that my German editor suggested writing. It's coming out as a German ebook next month, but I thought it would be a good way to say thanks to you all for your support if it came out in English too. The short story is free, here for a couple of days: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Last-Rose-Summer-ebook/dp/B00CSH8X48/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1368709819&sr=8-5&keywords=kate+lord+brown It's also up on Amazon.com:… -
Location, Location
13 May 2013 | 12:52 amPhoto: Valencia, Piers Garnham. Spain's 'third' city - this plaza is at the heart of 'The Perfume Garden'. Wouldn't you like to be sharing tapas, or enjoying a celebratory glass of Cava here? I would ... How many books do you think you read each year? We've run out of bookcases, again. Even with Kindle, books seem to multiply in this house. Three years ago I arrived with a handful of paperbacks for the MA, wondering if even these would make it through the censorship department. There are no real or second-hand bookstores here - just a handful of blockbuster books in Virgin, a… -
The Great Escape
7 May 2013 | 1:20 amHow was your weekend? I found these beautiful orchids on my desk when I sat down to work today - a gorgeous surprise from Bangkok. Here, the sun's out, the garden is blooming after the freak storms (including hail), and our resident pair of mynah birds are chattering and nesting. I loved hearing from the UK that the Bank Holiday was bright and sunny, and seeing people's photos of familiar parks and bluebell woods blazing with colour. It was a 'normal' weekend here - pilot in Thailand, two visits from the tooth fairy, a sick child finally back at school today. And work. I love the truth in… -
Save Nothing
1 May 2013 | 10:59 pmThank you, pilot It feels like Christmas. Hot off the plane from Washington, I have the new James Salter sitting on my desk beside me as I write, bathed in sunlight. Have you read it yet? Forget #amwriting, #amreading for the weekend. It was top of my wishlist, (it's a bit like receiving aid parcels when the pilot gets home from the US - his flight bag explodes with all the things you can't get here - books, magazines, favourite sweets for the kids - and last night, bicycle inner tyres and a dog bed). Thank you, pilot. It was genuinely more thrilling than if he had clicked open his flight bag…
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WritersDigest.com
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WD Poetic Form Challenge: Senryu
23 May 2013 | 11:42 amIt’s been two months since our last poetic form challenge and the April PAD Challenge is over, so let’s get another one started.This time around, the challenge is to write senryu, which is a variation of the haiku. As with haiku, senryu are most often 3-line poems containing 17 (or fewer) syllables–often in a 5-7-5 pattern. Senryu does not include a cutting or seasonal word, and it’s usually about human issues (not nature, as is the case with haiku).In fact, many people write poems that they call haiku that are really senryu. So in a way, it’s a form of poetry… -
Literary Agent Interview: Linda Epstein of Jennifer De Chiara Literary
22 May 2013 | 9:05 pm“Agent Advice” (this installment featuring agent Linda Epstein of Jennifer De Chiara Literary) is a series of quick interviews with literary agents and script agents who talk with Guide to Literary Agents about their thoughts on writing, publishing, and just about anything else. This series has more than 170 interviews so far with reps from great literary agencies. This collection of interviews is a great place to start if you are just starting your research on literary agents.This installment is with Linda Epstein of the Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency in NYC. Before joining the… -
Agent Katharine Sands Teaches “From Pitch to Page One: How to Get an Agent from the Get-Go” – New May 23 Webinar With Query Critique
22 May 2013 | 9:04 pmGetting a literary agent is no easy feat. It requires crafting a query and pitch to get their attention — without making any “querial killer” mistakes that will get your submission rejected. Cutting through the slush is hard work. That’s why we’re lucky to have agent Katharine Sands (Sarah Jane Freymann Literary) to teach “From Pitch to Page One: How to Get an Agent from the Get-Go,” a new webinar on Thursday, May 23, 2013. The webinar starts at 1 p.m., EST, and lasts 90 minutes. Katharine is one of the most in-demand agents at writers conferences… -
Your Story 51: Submit Now!
22 May 2013 | 1:51 pmPrompt: Write a short story, of 750 words or fewer, that begins with the following line of dialogue: “Heads, we get married; tails, we break up.”Use the submission form below OR email your submission directly to yourstorycontest@fwmedia.com.IMPORTANT: If you experience trouble with the submission form, please email your submission directly to yourstorycontest@fwmedia.com within the body of your email (no attachments please).Unfortunately, we cannot respond to every entry we receive, due to volume. No confirmation emails will be sent out to confirm receipt of submission. But be assured all… -
Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 220
22 May 2013 | 12:31 pmSorry for the late prompt today. Was finishing up some edits on Writer’s Market all morning.For this week’s prompt, write a late poem. I know, I know–how original! But seriously, write a poem in which someone or something is late. Yeah, there are a LOT of directions to take this prompt, whether you take it there on time or not.Here’s my late poem:“meeting”he slides in under the door and floats silently beneath the conference table and up into his seat (previously empty and making only the slightest squeak) so that no one realizes he was never even…
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life-story-writing at Yahoo! Groups
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Key to success as a writer...
20 May 2013 | 10:21 amThought for today! " The key to success as a writer, is to write so much that it's not an effort to write any more" Robert Ben Garant Kathee and I call those -
Seafood
16 May 2013 | 8:09 amI don't know how many of you out there are seafood and' or fish eaters. My favorite is Catfish on a regular basis with different forms of seafood from time to -
Fwd: Getting younger
13 May 2013 | 5:07 pm... From: Bill Hyatt Date: Mon, May 13, 2013 at 7:06 PM Subject: Getting younger To: Sandy Hyatt , Banjo White -
Update on my lifestory
21 Apr 2013 | 4:24 pmIt has been some time since I have contributed to Lifestory so thought I might send a short update of my life story. As most old timers remember I lost my -
This is an important re-run!Bill Gleason, Retired Sheriff - About t
21 Apr 2013 | 11:11 amThis is an important re-run... To All Life Story Writer's In my book "About Life Story Writing" (http://www.lifestorywriting.net/aboutbok.htm) I mention way up
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The Break Room
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TBR 167 - Hot Dog Farm - Voicemail (469) 665-9827
16 May 2013 | 9:08 pmTravis the Viking joins us to talk anarchy and leaving society and then we rip apart STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS and go in depth into Trek nerdery, plus our questions of the week! Traveling Bear's Indie GoGo for ROSCO THE FLYING RHINO can be found here. Leave us a voicemail at (469) 665-9827 or shoot us an email at breakroomshow at gmail.com. Support the show! If you like the song at the end of the show, support the artists and pick up Quakers' - "Fitta Happier" on iTunes or Amazon. -
TBR 166 - Zed Butter - Voicemail (469) 665-9827
9 May 2013 | 3:03 pmZed and Javi return to The Break Room to help us destroy Rolling Stone's New Immortals list, plus we reactivate our furious thumbs for IRON MAN 3. Traveling Bear's Indie GoGo for ROSCO THE FLYING RHINO can be found here. Leave us a voicemail at (469) 665-9827 or shoot us an email at breakroomshow at gmail.com. Support the show! If you like the song at the end of the show, support the artists and pick up Born Ruffians' - "Needle" on iTunes or Amazon. -
TBR 165 - Moist - Voicemail (469) 665-9827
2 May 2013 | 8:58 pmIt's time for Zed to return and deliver unto us some summer jams. Plus, our question of the week and so much more. Traveling Bear's Indie GoGo for ROSCO THE FLYING RHINO can be found here. Leave us a voicemail at (469) 665-9827 or shoot us an email at breakroomshow at gmail.com. Support the show! If you like the song at the end of the show, support the artists and pick up M83's - "Midnight City" on iTunes or Amazon. -
TBR 164 - Epic Summer 2013 Movie Preview - Voicemail (469) 665-9827
25 Apr 2013 | 9:36 pmIt's time for our EPIC Summer 2013 Summer movie preview, guest-starring @JaviFuentes and @angjonesy from @WDYMS and @EndlessPat. Plus, we discuss and debate the Zach Braff / Rob Thomas Kickstarter embrolio. Traveling Bear's Indie GoGo for ROSCO THE FLYING RHINO can be found here. Leave us a voicemail at (469) 665-9827 or shoot us an email at breakroomshow at gmail.com. Support the show! If you like the song at the end of the show, support the artists and pick up Will Smith's' - "Summertime" on iTunes or Amazon. If you're shopping on… -
TBR 163 - Falsetto - Voicemail (469) 665-9827
18 Apr 2013 | 8:43 pmWe tackle the tough topics of the Boston Marathon Bombing, the West, Texas Disaster and other horrible April events, and then Marc and Thomas detail their trip to the local roller derby, plus three questions of the week. Traveling Bear's Indie GoGo for ROSCO THE FLYING RHINO can be found here. Leave us a voicemail at (469) 665-9827 or shoot us an email at breakroomshow at gmail.com. Support the show! If you like the song at the end of the show, support the artists and pick up New Politics' - "Harlem" on iTunes or Amazon. If you're shopping on Amazon, help us…
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The Heart and Craft of Life Writing
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How Do I Start Writing My Lifestory?
24 May 2013 | 10:41 am“I want to tell my grandchildren about my life, but when I sit down to write, my hand freezes and no words come out. I don’t know where to start or how to do it. What can I do?” “Do you use email?” “Yes.” “Try this: Open a new email message and write a long email to your grandchildren. Start at the beginning. Tell them when and where you were born and who your parents were. Then start telling them about things you remember from early in your life. Tell them what things looked like and what you thought and felt about them, why they mattered. Write about friends you had… -
Memoir: Process or Product?
17 May 2013 | 12:06 pmWith any form of expressive writing, from spontaneous journaling to polished, published memoir, the writing process produces 90% of the benefit, at least as far as the writer is concerned. To be clear, this 90% figure is an intuitive assessment, but not a wild guess. I extensively studied the healing value of expressive writing and wrote about it in a series of blog posts, Writing for the Health of It. I also base it on a stream of student comments that stories they wrote for class shed new light on past events, changing their perspective. This may be especially good news if privacy concerns… -
Merging Life with Fiction
13 May 2013 | 1:00 amToday we have another international visitor, and a topic with an unusual twist. Mary Hamer explains how writing a historical novel, Kipling & Trix, gave her the opportunity to creatively showcase some personal experience in a setting that may be a more effective than memoir. Read on to learn how this is relevant for memoir writers. It’s a challenge, writing memoir, to make all the other characters interesting, not just darling moi. One that’s especially hard when we’re writing about experience that’s been difficult or painful. How to give a rounded account, how to keep a balance? -
Don’t Call Me Mother
10 May 2013 | 2:00 amLinda Joy Myers’ memoir, Don’t Call Me Mother, is a rich read for many reasons, and one you won’t want to miss. Aside from the gripping storyline and heart-warming ending, her brilliant description makes the story blazingly real and compelling. Her technique is worth studying. For starters,she uses evocative phrases like “The silent air between them heats up like a hot wire” and “I fall asleep wrapped in cottony dreams, breathing in the scent of my mother.” She uses emotions and perceptions to convey a powerful sense of her inner life, for example, They all stand around as if… -
Story Around the World
6 May 2013 | 12:00 amToday it is my privilege to feature an interview with Tanya Preminger, a resident of Israel, who created and manages Life-Memo.com, a website jam-packed with slices of life from the four corners of the earth. Tanya recently contacted me about the possibility of trading web-links. When I visited her site, I was profoundly moved. Wanting to forge a stronger bond with her work, I invited her to tell you more about her site. I have spent hours reading selected stories there. Each is profoundly touching. Although some are light-hearted, many are heart-breaking, filled with darkness, despair…
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Ghostwriting Uncovered » Blog
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DoNanza Another Choice For Freelance Writing Jobs?
22 May 2013 | 4:32 amI received a review about a new marketplace for freelance writers in my inbox last week and decided to check it out. The review sounded very promising and stated that DoNanza was a marketplace that connected writers with clients. The sign up process was very easy and your profile can be taken from a choice of your social networking accounts. I chose LinkedIn which was very straight forward and then I added links to my other social networking accounts. This only too a couple of minutes to complete. There is a section for uploading a resume and adding samples too if you wish. I left this… -
The Web Content Writer’s Bible – Book Review
10 May 2013 | 8:24 amI always love reading new releases that relate to freelance writing so when I was asked to review The Web Content Writer’s Bible, I was very excited. The name suggests that this book is going to be something that freelance writers will refer to often and I was expecting a lot. I received the kindle version of this book and began reading. It took a couple of hours for me to get through the book, and I have to admit, there were parts that I did just skim through. Overall, I was impressed with the layout and the structure of the book. It was easy to understand and seemed to cover… -
Freelance Writing Jobs – Where Do You Get Yours?
29 Apr 2013 | 8:14 amAs freelance writers, the one thing that really matters is the clients we secure. There has been so much written about freelance writing jobs in the past number of years and I really don’t want to rehash all of this. My focus on this blog post is that no matter where you get your work or clients from, they have to be right for you. You have probably read over and over again about low paying jobs, how to get high paying jobs and how much you should be charging. I am here to cause a little bit of controversy today by saying that no freelance writing job is wrong. What do I mean? Well,… -
Freelance Writing – 5 Mistakes To Avoid
22 Apr 2013 | 3:57 amWhen we begin our freelance writing career there is always an air of excitement and optimism. We are full of the joys having discovered that we can actually get paid for doing what we love. Yes, this is the way we all start and the key to success if keeping it this way. In this article I want to look at seven mistakes that all new freelance writers should do their best to avoid. Mistake #1: No Marketing Knowledge: When you decide to become a freelance writer, your goal is to get and keep clients. If you know how to successfully market your services this is something that will… -
Why Every Freelance Writer Needs A Blog
21 Jan 2013 | 9:46 amIn today’s freelance writing world, marketing is important and we all have to be pro-active in our marketing initiative. Our marketing is what will get us noticed and with this comes the clients that we want to work with. A crucial part of any writer’s marketing plan should be a blog. A blog is where writers showcase their talents and this is also where potential clients will get a feel for their writing voice and style. If you are one of the many freelance writers who are happy to work for content mills or bid on writing jobs then this post probably doesn’t apply to you.
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Published and Profitable Writers Tips Blog
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APE: Guy Kawasaki’s One-stop Introduction to Self-Publishing
23 May 2013 | 4:44 amThere are lots of self-published books about self-publishing, but only Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch’s APE: How to Publish a Book is based on decades of trade publishing bestselling success. It’s an important distinction. Lots of people enter the self-publishing realm as first-time published authors, taking advantage of a growing market and emerging technology, but sometimes light on the pragmatics of creating bestselling books. Few write from as broad and experienced an entrepreneurial and technological perspective as Guy Kawasaki, whose previous books include such timely books… -
Are You Using Mindjet for Creating Graphics for Social Media?
9 May 2013 | 4:34 amMindjet mind maps make it easy to create personally branded graphics for your social media marketing. Mind maps created with Mindjet are capable of far more than planning books, content marketing editorial calendars, and tracking ideas. For example, I created the mind map, at left, to accompany yesterday’s Personal Branding Blog post, Using Six Hat Thinking to Build Your Personal Brand. Using Mindjet, I created the graphic in less than 15 minutes, less time than it often takes to locate and download a stock image! Benefits of branded social media graphics There are numerous advantages… -
140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Compelling Content Marketing
7 May 2013 | 4:31 am#Content Marketing Tweet offers 140 bite-sized ideas to help you create and market compelling content to promote your book, brand, or business! #Content Marketing Tweet is the perfect introduction to content marketing for busy authors, small business owners, or self-employed professionals looking for concise, actionable advice that can be read at traffic lights, between meetings, or while traveling. You’ll be amazed at how much information can be shared in 140 characters, or less! You’ll gain fresh perspectives on creating and promoting your marketing content without feeling like… -
Are You a WordPress Blogger? Show Your Appreciation!
30 Apr 2013 | 4:42 amIf your marketing platform is based on a WordPress blog, show your appreciation by wearing a WordPress 10th Anniversary t-shirt. WordPress is going to celebrate its 10th anniversary on May 27, 2013! Between now and May 27th, WordPress is offering a special 10th Anniversary t-shirt for just $10! The t-shirts are available for men and women in black and silvery gray in a variety of sizes. (The silvery gray makes sense since the appropriate because the traditional gift for 10th anniversaries is tin or aluminum.) We tend to take WordPress for granted WordPress is such a familiar part of so many… -
Graphic Tips | How to Show a 7-step Content Marketing Strategy
29 Apr 2013 | 4:47 amTips for using graphics to show process, like the 7 steps needed to create a content marketing strategy. Visit the Content Marketing Institute’s article, Build a Successful Content Marketing Strategy in 7 Steps and download the white paper. Why you need graphics in your blogs and white papers Words, alone, cannot do what graphics, like the above, can do. Here are some of the things you can learn from the Content Marketing Institute’s graphic: Introduction. At a glance, the graphic introduces you to the 7 building blocks, or steps, in the Content Marketing Institute’s…
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Writing Forward
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How to Transform Words Into Writing Ideas
24 May 2013 | 1:18 amWords and writing ideas I recently got a copy of Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge’s Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words, and after just a couple of chapters, my imagination was on fire. I’m always looking for new ways to inspire writing ideas, and lately I’ve been thinking that we should talk more about a writer’s most basic building blocks: words. So, using words as a way to come up with writing ideas sounded ideal to me. In Poemcrazy, Wooldridge talks about collecting words. She captures words, stores them, and then stashes them in all kinds of interesting places where… -
Writing Around the Web and the Next Adventures in Writing Book
22 May 2013 | 1:00 amAdventures in writing: around the web. Last year, I published 101 Creative Writing Exercises, a book packed with exercises that impart useful writing techniques while providing inspiration for projects and regular writing practice. It was the first book in my Adventures in Writing Series. Now I’m putting the final touches on the follow-up book in the series, which is tentatively titled Core Practices for Better Writing. As you can guess from the title, the book explores core practices that writers can adopt for consistently improving their writing. This book is ideal for beginning to… -
Quotes on Writing: Stephen King Says Read and Write!
20 May 2013 | 1:00 am“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” – Stephen King Writers Must Read and Write a Lot Stephen King’s statement is one of my favorite quotes on writing. It should be repeated often and expressed in as many ways as possible. Writing begins with reading. It is through reading that we learn how to tell stories, how to choose words and craft sentences. The books we read will inform and inspire the books we’ll write, and there’s a lot we can learn from the authors who have gone before us. How can we… -
From 101 Creative Writing Exercises: Your Gang
17 May 2013 | 1:00 amFrom 101 Creative Writing Exercises: Your Gang. Today’s writing exercise comes from my book, 101 Creative Writing Exercises. This book takes you on an adventure through the world of writing. You’ll explore different forms and genres while learning practical writing techniques. You’ll also get plenty of writing experience and ideas for publishable projects. Each chapter focuses on a different form or writing concept: freewriting, journaling, memoirs, fiction, storytelling, form poetry, free verse, characters, dialogue, creativity, and writing articles and blogs are all… -
A Poet’s Perspective on Proofreading
15 May 2013 | 1:00 amAccomplished poet, Taylor Mali, on proofreading and editing He’s one of the most successful poets in the world. In fact, Taylor Mali has accomplished what most people believe to be impossible – he’s a full-time poet. Mali gained a following through his involvement with the poetry slam movement and catapulted himself into a successful career writing and performing poetry. He also spent nine years working as a teacher. His experience in the classroom often provides subject matter for his poems: “Mali is a vocal advocate of teachers and the nobility of teaching… He…
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We Are Change
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Sponsor Lounge: Struggling Journalists on the Streets of New York
22 May 2013 | 8:15 pmWe Are ChangePlease Login to view this Content. (Not a member? Join Today!)The post Sponsor Lounge: Struggling Journalists on the Streets of New York appeared first on We Are Change. -
D.L. Hughley: No Discernible Difference Between Bush & Obama Admins
21 May 2013 | 11:29 amWe Are ChangeClick here to view the embedded video. At the 2013 Peabody Awards, Luke Rudkowski talks to D.L. Hughley about his recent documentary and how he feels as an Obama supporter of some of Obama’s policies such as his kill list. Hughley talks about his discontent for these policies and that we haven’t seen any real differences from the Bush administration to Obama’s administration. Follow Luke @ http://www.twitter.com/LukeWeAreChange Support us by subscribing here http://bit.ly/P05Kqb http://www.facebook.com/wearechange.org Check out our merchandise:… -
Keystone XL Protester Faces 1 year in Jail For Speaking
21 May 2013 | 11:29 amWe Are ChangeClick here to view the embedded video. Jak of JNL media describes his arrest while filming the Keystone XL pipeline and the aftermath that prevents him from speaking out against the pipeline. Under this legal injunction Jak faces 1 year in jail or 3 years supervised probation if decides to speak out against the pipeline. To find out more about Jack and his case check out https://twitter.com/JNLRM or http://jnlradikalmedia.wordpress.com/ Video Editor and Producer: Robert Strype Check out his channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/blazedroots Follow Robert:… -
How To Protect Yourself From Govt Spying
16 May 2013 | 2:51 pmWe Are ChangeClick here to view the embedded video. In this video Luke Rudkowski sits down with fellow journalist and tech expert Tim Pool to find out if you can still protect your sources as a journalist. The two go into great detail about encrypting messages and basic security measures journalists can take to protect their data. To find out more about Tim Pool check out http://www.timcast.com/ Support us by subscribing here http://bit.ly/P05Kqb http://www.facebook.com/wearechange.org Check out our merchandise: http://wearechange.org/store/ Become a member of The Sponsor Lounge and get… -
Guantanamo Lawyer Speaks Out
13 May 2013 | 10:19 amWe Are ChangeClick here to view the embedded video. David H. Remes is an American lawyer who has served as a pro bono attorney for several of the prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay prison. He was involved in litigation surrounding the Detainees Treatment Act of 2005, which denied prisoners the ability to submit habeas corpus petitions. In this interview with WeAreChange, Remes gives us a look at the current situation at Guantanamo, the start of the hunger strike and some of the personal stories of the detainees he represented. Follow Luke @ http://www.twitter.com/LukeWeAreChange Support us by…
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Scribble Pad
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Decompressing with Painting
5 May 2013 | 7:18 pmWith my professional life having become so busy lately, writing was just not the decompressing activity it once was (hence the major drop in any blogging or publishing efforts). And while watching movies and streaming shows is nice, I missed actually creating something. So one day I just decided to buy canvases, an easel, and paint and go to town. It's only been a couple of weeks and I've no training beyond the art classes I took half a life-time ago in junior high and high school, so set your expectations accordingly. Still, I'm having so much fun and it's really been a great way to let… -
Fortunate Kitchen Accident
17 Dec 2012 | 1:35 pmI love it when kitchen accidents turn out well! My turmeric spill made awesome chicken. Now I just wish I had written down what I put in and how much. -
NaNoWriMo 2012
1 Dec 2012 | 1:02 pm -
The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers
28 Nov 2012 | 12:02 amIt's time for a life makeover! Not sure what that means yet, but I'm ready. Tons of amazing projects have found there way to my mighty list. I love major shifts. Big changes are exciting and a great opportunity to get rid of the clutter. And I don't just mean the boxes of unused stuff we still hang onto; I mean naysayer clutter, too. We've done a good job of surrounding ourselves with good, kind, and inspiring people who are true friends always. Still, there's always an Eeyore around. Sigh, I say. And as I admit to my own inner Eeyore (he's small, but there), the weight of someone else's… -
The Not-As-Short-As-Planned Run
29 Oct 2012 | 7:31 pmI ran today. That's a small scale miracle, by the way. Ever since I graduated high school, I've adopted an only-when-chased policy. But lately I've been kind of curious. Maybe I am a runner. Got knows I need some sort of physical activity beyond a few sun salutations a week. So, to make sure I didn't back out, first chance I got, I went by the store, got a pair of running shoes, and made my way home. To properly trap myself in this new scheme, I called my hubby on the way home and invited him to run with me for about 15 to 20 minutes—yes, I fully realize how very little that is. I…
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Work-in-Progress
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Registration Open for My 6/18 Prompt Class
16 May 2013 | 7:03 amI'll be teaching another session of my prompt writing class in June at Politics & Prose. I'd love to see you there! I promise low-stress and lots of fun!Tuesday, June 18, 1-3:30 p.m.Right Brain Writing: Guided PromptsPolitics & Prose Bookstore, Washington, DCExplore your creative side at this afternoon of guided writing exercises designed to get your subconscious flowing. No writing experience necessary! This is a great class for beginners and also for those fiction writers and/or memoirists with more experience who might be stuck in their current projects, looking… -
Nebraska Update #3 and Wrap-Up
8 May 2013 | 8:32 amSo much to report on…so much food, so many words, never enough books, always train whistles cutting through the night, and lord knows how many church bells ringing from all corners of town! (Oh, and I finished my book, too...but more on that later.)Let’s start with some food of note. First, potato salad. I know that potato salad is highly personal, so I won’t be offended if you think I’m crazy, but one strain of the potato salad family that I love is the “very creamy Midwestern potato salad,” usually made with Miracle Whip (which is called “salad dressing” out… -
What Willa Cather Thinks about Facebook, Nebraska as Setting, and Writing Novels
3 May 2013 | 8:53 amI went to the Nebraska City Public Library yesterday (the original building was built in 1896 and has been beautifully updated while maintaining the historical senseto keep the historic feeling intact). While they didn’t have the book I was looking for, in a room full of books, I found books I didn’t know I was looking for (always part of the joy of any library), including On Writing by Willa Cather, published in 1949. Being in Nebraska at the moment, and loving Willa Cather’s work (My Antonia is firmly on my favorite books bookshelf), of course I have to share a few tidbits:This is… -
Thomas Wolfe's Beautiful Deathbed Letter to Maxwell Perkins
29 Apr 2013 | 7:55 pmThis has to be one of the most moving letters ever written, the letter Thomas Wolfe wrote to Maxwell Perkins on his deathbed, by hand, against doctor’s orders, after Wolfe had had a falling out with Perkins and Scribners and had moved to another publisher, though Perkins remained loyal to Wolfe and was the literary executor of his estate:August 12, 1938Dear Max:I’m sneaking this against orders—but “I’ve got a hunch”—and I wanted to write these words to you.I’ve made a long voyage and been to a strange country, and I’ve seen the dark man very close; and I don’t think I was… -
"Seeing, Hearing, and Reading": Maxwell Perkins on How to Write
27 Apr 2013 | 5:35 pmHere’s some excellent writing advice via Maxwell Perkins, gleaned from Editor to Author: The Letters of Maxwell E. Perkins, selected and edited by John Hall Wheelock:The editor notes that this letter was written to a “writer of distinction” who had to stop working for a while and take a rest for health reasons.March 11, 1941Dear ---:…And turning things over in your mind, and reflecting upon them and all, is something that a writer ought to have to do in quiet circumstances once in a while. That is one of the troubles with writers today, that they cannot get a chance, or cannot endure…
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Buzz, Balls & Hype
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Hand Yelling The Age of Desire
19 May 2013 | 11:13 amI read this evoacative, atomospheric and compelling book - a novel about a novelist - last week while on my own book tour which was an M.C. Escherish experience. I really enjoyed this intimate exploration of Edith Warton's sexual awaking even though at times I wasn't overly fond of Edith herself, or the choices she made. Which does make this an odd endorsement I suppose.But the book is fascinating for fans of Warton - since the author based so much of the story on actual letters - it was fascinating for me to learn the story of Warton's loveless marriage and the man this… -
Hand Yelling The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro
14 May 2013 | 3:13 amI picked up this book with trepidation. I've been writing books about perfume for the last four years and am seeped in it. I expected to be either disappointed or jealous. I wasn't disappointed and I can't be jealous because the of hours of pleasure I got reading The Perfume Collector. Even though I guessed "the secret" almost right away - it didn't matter - the characters were so engaging and the writing so lovely. Perfume, Paris, passion, style, elegance, a certain "je ne sais quois", charm and good old fashioned storytelling along with a lump in my… -
WHAT TO DO BEFORE YOUR BOOK LAUNCH? In person! 8 Events
13 May 2013 | 8:36 am -
Hand Yelling Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell
7 May 2013 | 3:23 amI've been reading David Morrell for years. Amazed most I think by how masterful every book is. How intelligent but at the same time fast paces. How smart he is but how he never makes you stop to notice it. And how he keeps reinventing himself as an author - taking on every kind of suspense novel - and doing it as well as anyone ever has. Now he's taken on historical suspense and you will swear that he must have used a time travel machine to write Murder As a Fine Art. You will be in gaslit London... you will smell the filth.. you will walk the dark streets... you will be scared… -
Writing By Hand
5 May 2013 | 6:20 amWhen Seduction comes out on Tuesday, readers who buy the hardcover and open it will find, what I hope, will be a surprise. The endpapers (see below) show my hand written manuscript of the book along with the pen and the ink I wrote it with. Why did I write 122,833 words in ink? I love challenges, but to tell the story of Victor Hugo’s experiments with séances in his own voice? What kind of crazy idea had I come up with? Surely it was lunacy to even attempt it. I don’t have literary illusions. I had just fallen in love with Hugo’s story and wanted to tell it. What fascinated me was…
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RSSMix.com Mix ID 50439
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Freelance Writing Jobs for May 24, 2013
24 May 2013 | 4:00 amHi, everyone! Here are some freelance writing gigs before you take off for the weekend. Freelance Writing Jobs Content Writing Jobs Web Content Writers – French/English (Montreal) Web Content Writers (AZ) Wikipedia Writer (LA) Freelance Writer for Entertainment Website (Santa Monica/Telecommute) Web Content Writer (Telecommute) Blogging Jobs Experienced Guest Bloggers (Online) Sneaker Blogger (NYC) Part-time Writer for Corporate Blog (LA) Copywriting Jobs Copywriter for eCommerce (Telecommute) Part-time/Temporary Marketing Copywriter (Rhinebeck, NY) Junior Copywriter – Project… -
Freelance Writing Jobs for May 24, 2013
24 May 2013 | 4:00 amHi, everyone! Here are some freelance writing gigs before you take off for the weekend. Freelance Writing Jobs Content Writing Jobs Web Content Writers – French/English (Montreal) Web Content Writers (AZ) Wikipedia Writer (LA) Freelance Writer for Entertainment Website (Santa Monica/Telecommute) Web Content Writer (Telecommute) Blogging Jobs Experienced Guest Bloggers (Online) Sneaker Blogger (NYC) Part-time Writer for Corporate Blog (LA) Copywriting Jobs Copywriter for eCommerce (Telecommute) Part-time/Temporary Marketing Copywriter (Rhinebeck, NY) Junior Copywriter – Project… -
Freelance Writing Jobs for May 24, 2013
24 May 2013 | 4:00 amHi, everyone! Here are some freelance writing gigs before you take off for the weekend. Freelance Writing Jobs Content Writing Jobs Web Content Writers – French/English (Montreal) Web Content Writers (AZ) Wikipedia Writer (LA) Freelance Writer for Entertainment Website (Santa Monica/Telecommute) Web Content Writer (Telecommute) Blogging Jobs Experienced Guest Bloggers (Online) Sneaker Blogger (NYC) Part-time Writer for Corporate Blog (LA) Copywriting Jobs Copywriter for eCommerce (Telecommute) Part-time/Temporary Marketing Copywriter (Rhinebeck, NY) Junior Copywriter – Project… -
Freelance Writing Jobs for May 24, 2013
24 May 2013 | 4:00 amHi, everyone! Here are some freelance writing gigs before you take off for the weekend. Freelance Writing Jobs Content Writing Jobs Web Content Writers – French/English (Montreal) Web Content Writers (AZ) Wikipedia Writer (LA) Freelance Writer for Entertainment Website (Santa Monica/Telecommute) Web Content Writer (Telecommute) Blogging Jobs Experienced Guest Bloggers (Online) Sneaker Blogger (NYC) Part-time Writer for Corporate Blog (LA) Copywriting Jobs Copywriter for eCommerce (Telecommute) Part-time/Temporary Marketing Copywriter (Rhinebeck, NY) Junior Copywriter – Project… -
Freelance Writing Jobs for May 23, 2013
23 May 2013 | 4:00 amGood morning, everyone! How do you turn around things for the better when your morning starts off on the wrong foot? I hope these jobs will contribute to a good day! Freelance Writing Jobs Content Writing Jobs Web Content/Product Writer (DC) Vintage Fashion Web Content Writer (SOMA/South Beach) Wikipedia Writer (SF) Part-time Legal Writer (Telecommute) Content Writer for Construction Company (Brooklyn) Blogging Jobs Established Bloggers with 2K+ followers on Google + (Virtual) Freelance Tech Blogger – UK Audience (Online) MySQL Blogger (Online) Copywriting Jobs Part-time Freelance…
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Quips and Tips for Successful Writers
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For Doubtful Women Writers – 3 Tips for Increasing Your Confidence
11 May 2013 | 8:21 amAs a woman writer, do you struggle with self-doubt? If you do, you’re in good company. Female writers are almost always paralyzed by self-doubt, self-criticism, and fear – even the most successful published, most well-read authors. I don’t think male writers struggle with the same self-doubts. Here’s what Lisa Bloom writes in Think: Straight Talk [...] The post For Doubtful Women Writers – 3 Tips for Increasing Your Confidence appeared first on Quips and Tips for Successful Writers. To read the full article - or answer the question! - click the blue title (this is to stop… -
Writing Tips and Quips From the Great Fitzgeralds
1 May 2013 | 9:52 amNeed inspiration and courage to keep writing? Heed the great authors of the days of yore. These writing tips and quips are from Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald (he wrote the classic The Great Gatsby). This month on Quips and Tips, I’m featuring quips from mothers who weren’t well-behaved and (as always) practical tips for [...] The post Writing Tips and Quips From the Great Fitzgeralds appeared first on Quips and Tips for Successful Writers. To read the full article - or answer the question! - click the blue title (this is to stop "scrapers" from publishing my articles without permission). -
4 Most Popular Ways to Attract Readers to Your Blog
24 Apr 2013 | 5:40 amYou don’t need 20 or even 10 ways to use social media to attract blog readers – you just need a few “best practices.” Here, Honor Clement-Hayes describes how to get people to read what you’ve written. “How are you expecting people to find you?” she asks. “If you don’t have at least a blog, [...] The post 4 Most Popular Ways to Attract Readers to Your Blog appeared first on Quips and Tips for Successful Writers. To read the full article - or answer the question! - click the blue title (this is to stop "scrapers" from publishing my articles… -
How to Hire a Social Media Marketer
17 Apr 2013 | 7:29 amYour hands are full doing what you love (writing, creating products, running your business) – you have no time to market your books and brand online! It’s time to hire a social media marketer. Here’s what an author says: “I’ve read a million ‘how to’s’ about social media, and have spent a ton of time [...] The post How to Hire a Social Media Marketer appeared first on Quips and Tips for Successful Writers. To read the full article - or answer the question! - click the blue title (this is to stop "scrapers" from publishing my articles without permission). -
How to Get Your Book Published – Advice From Publishing Pros
11 Apr 2013 | 7:09 amThese tips for getting published are from a panel of writers, literary agents, and editors who answered questions from a roomful of eager writers at the Surrey International Writers’ Conference (phew – how’s that for a run-on sentence!). Before the tips, a quip: “If the doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I [...] The post How to Get Your Book Published – Advice From Publishing Pros appeared first on Quips and Tips for Successful Writers. To read the full article - or answer the question! - click the blue title (this is to stop "scrapers" from…
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About Freelance Writing
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Standing Up To Write – One Writer’s Office
21 May 2013 | 11:31 amYesterday I spent most of the day rearranging my office so I could again stand while I write. The impetus is at least two-fold: The more I read the more I realize and experience that sitting for... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
How Do You Get Centered Before You Start Writing? Ask Anne
14 May 2013 | 8:41 amHi Anne, I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you don’t mind. I was interested to find out how you center yourself and clear your head before writing. I’ve had a difficult time clearing my... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Getting Started In Freelance Writing – A Video
9 May 2013 | 10:10 amAlthough I did this video awhile ago, everything holds true. Got questions about this or something else to do with freelance writing? Contact me and I’ll do my best to answer your question here. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Of Writing Plans, Schedules, Changes & Interruptions
7 May 2013 | 11:37 amListen to me over time and you’ll probably end up thinking I’m pretty highly organized. After all, I tell writers how to find time to write, and how to establish a writing routine, all... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Stay Open & Alert For Surprise Freelance Writing Opportunities
2 May 2013 | 12:31 pmSometimes finding new, well paid writing work is simply a matter of listening for opportunities and speaking up. Here’s what I mean: When I got my first computer, an Apple II+, I was hysterical... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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How Not To Write
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WriteChain: Thank You * 280000
20 May 2013 | 5:27 pmClosing in on 28,000 downloads… Back in 2009, I wanted a simple word count tracking app on my shiny new iPhone. There wasn’t one, so I wrote it myself. From what I recall, creating WriteChain was a really fun process. I look at the app now and I still smile when I see the interface and think about how much things have changed since those “early days” of iPhone development. So, tonight, I was checking in on the little guy and I wondered just how many people had tried it out. I haven’t looked at these numbers in a long time and I was surprised to see that about… -
The Bother of Writing is Totally Worth It
22 Apr 2013 | 1:16 pmI’ve been playing at being a writer for nearly thirty years, which seems like a very long time. But whenever I begin to wonder if I will ever get tired of the bother of being a writer, I find myself writing once more and falling in love all over again. It’s a bother to be a writer, but it’s totally worth it. The Bother of Writing A.A. Milne knew more than a little about the bother of being a writer. He was the creator of Christopher Robin, the Hundred Acre Wood, and Winnie the Pooh. This is what we remember of his work, but he wrote for nearly fifty years in total. Twenty-five… -
What It’s Like to be Rejected by Charles Dickens
3 Mar 2013 | 6:21 pmWhile looking through the collected letters of Charles Dickens, I came across a rejection letter Mr. Dickens wrote to an anonymous author. The letter came as a result of this author’s submission to “All the Year Round”, a weekly published by Mr. Dickens for a great many years until he handed over the enterprise to his son (Charles Jr.). During it’s publication run, the magazine distributed the works of a great many authors in serial form. No doubt this anonymous scrivener sought to join their storied ranks by sending along his three-part manuscript. I really wish the… -
I Dare You Not to Imagine a Story
10 Dec 2012 | 5:06 amNo matter where I go, my imagination bristles and bucks at any attempt to quell the flood of visions and story. It’s really quite impossible. Just yesterday, I went for a walk in the woods. It was a dreary and gray sort of day filled with mist and the threat of rain. The sort of day where every light twinkles and midday feels like a constant dusk. In other words, it was wonderful. Do you doubt me? Then here is a challenge… Buried deep in this article is an except from a letter written in 1919. I dare you to read this clip and not think of a story. A Story Just Watiing for Your… -
A Writer Must Feel
6 Jul 2012 | 6:46 amI know it is July because the sun rises in the alley. It is possible to write anywhere but it is easier in the places you’ve worn smooth, where you know most intimately the colors of buildings, the procession of faces, the shapes of conversations. It is easier to write where you know the smells. Last night it finally rained, so the air smells a little fresh, but here are the cafe nothing ever smells completely fresh. I smell the aftershave of the men walking into the cafe and the cigarettes they’ve recently smoked. I catch the scent of the barber’s cigar two doors down. The exhaust of a…
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Bad Language
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The ultimate brainstorming tool? Review of Scapple
24 May 2013 | 2:55 amScapple at work with my mind. Scapple. Sounds fun so that’s a good start. This is a tool that is brought to you from Literature and Latte, the makers of Scrivener (and of course Scrivener for Windows.) It’s a way of getting all those notes and sideways scribbles that you used to shove on a notepad onto the computer where you can edit them and move them around. Having a big (and I mean BIG) new project with lots of moving parts to tackle it seemed only right to have a go. First brilliant point: it is a 30 day active-use trial, meaning if you download it, go wild for 4 days then… -
Can a 1,000-word vocabulary make your writing clearer?
23 May 2013 | 6:50 amAvoiding hype, jargon and unnecessarily long words has been a constant plea on Bad Language. Using overly long words makes you sound less trustworthy and more stupid. Hyped-up marketing waffle means nothing at all. Just 1,000 words The Up-Goer Five, built by Theo Sanderson, takes this thinking to another level. It is programmed to recognise the 1000 most common words in the English language and it challenges you to explain a complex idea using just those words. Every time you use a word that is not in that list, it flags it up as not allowed. It is a lot harder than it sounds. I… -
Why you should be a punctuation minimalist
22 May 2013 | 9:39 amAt Articulate, we believe that needless punctuation is a speed bump for readers. We’re punctuation minimalists and you should be too. How people read People don’t read text continuously. Instead, their eyes jump forward a few words at a time, every quarter of a second or so. But about 15 percent of the time, their eyes jump back, often when they don’t understand something or if they trip over some page furniture like unnecessary punctuation. How people read online It’s even worse when people go online. Now their eyes are hopping about the page like a barefoot child on hot sand, as you… -
How to manage Basecamp to-do tasks better
21 May 2013 | 7:06 amWe’re huge fans of Basecamp. At Articulate, we’ve been using it intensively for the last six months or so to manage more than a hundred different client projects. My colleague Clare reviewed Basecamp for our Turbine blog and shared some of our Basecamp productivity tips. All my Basecamp tasks in one list But one thing has been bothering me all along. It’s very hard to get a single view of all your tasks that shows priority and urgency at the same time. In other words, it’s hard to get Basecamp to tell you what to do next. Other task tracking tools take a different approach and I’ve… -
Papelote: for the love of stationery
21 May 2013 | 7:00 amDigital wizardry is wonderful, but if you are anything like me, nothing can replace the pleasure of truly lovely stationery. Clipping to Evernote and brainstorming on Scapple is great for work, but emotionally and aesthetically it simply doesn’t compare to sitting in the sun with a steaming cup of strong coffee, the touch of your newest and most favourite notebook and a good, solid pen. If that sounds familiar, then there is now more fuel for your paper-fetish fire, in the form of Papelote. A Czech stationary company that blends the practical with crafted and meticulously designed…
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Word Grrls
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Creative Quote to Inspire Decluttering
21 May 2013 | 9:02 pm“Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it” – Dee Hock {Words of Me Project}: Free Art Journaling Course. The post Creative Quote to Inspire Decluttering appeared first on Word Grrls. -
My Seven Links
21 May 2013 | 1:59 pmMyTripBase started the My 7 Links project. It’s a blog meme but you can just pick your seven links and pass the idea along, or not. On Twitter, search for the #My7Links hashtag. THE GOAL To unite bloggers (from all sectors)… The post My Seven Links appeared first on Word Grrls. -
Offalings Not Accepted Here
17 May 2013 | 5:27 amGuest posting is not worth the time it takes to moderate, edit and argue about it. Why do all that for a post which isn’t paying you anything? I accept the odd paying post or text links, if they pay.… Readers who viewed this page, also viewed:ContactPowered by Where did they go from here?The post Offalings Not Accepted Here appeared first on Word Grrls. -
How to Write Your Own Advice Column
16 May 2013 | 3:30 amWriting an advice column sounds fun and easy. Until you think about being responsible for the thoughts and actions of the person who takes your advice. Then it gets a little scary. None of us are omnipotent, all knowing. After… The post How to Write Your Own Advice Column appeared first on Word Grrls. -
What to do with your Old Books
15 May 2013 | 3:18 amIt’s very hard to part with an old book, or a book you mean to read, someday. But, there comes a time for every book lover when the amount of books is a bit overwhelming and we need to narrow… The post What to do with your Old Books appeared first on Word Grrls.
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Get Paid to Write Online
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How To Read This Blog When Google Reader Goes
21 May 2013 | 12:06 pmGoogle Reader is shutting down on July 1st – that’s bad news if that’s how you’re reading this blog. I won’t speculate on Google’s reasons for shutting down a service that many people love (there’s plenty of that online already), but I will tell you how you can keep reading this blog if you’re a Google Reader user. 1. Use Feedly I’ve been using Feedly myself for a few years, pretty much since it launched, as a nicer way of accessing my Google Reader feeds. Since the developers already have a seamless transition plan in place, that’s… -
Edit and Proofread Your Way to Blogging Success
9 May 2013 | 5:13 amEditing and proofreading your blog will help you get your message out clearly. Blogs have become popular outlets for getting ideas and thoughts into the public sector. Blogs are used for instruction, advice, marketing, and creative endeavors. There are a number of easy ways to create a blog, but no matter what type of blog you are writing, one thing remains the same—quality is key. Readers don’t expect perfection, but they do expect accuracy and good writing. Proofreading and editing are paramount for garnering the sort of traffic you want. Follow the five guidelines below, and make your… -
Overcoming Self-Doubt As A Freelance Writer
3 May 2013 | 5:57 amby Daley J. Francis Rejection becomes a freelance writer’s best friend after a while, such is the number of knock-backs and rejections a writer will face in their career. It becomes second nature and the quicker you can learn to deal with it the better. Unfortunately, rejection is only one of the many distractions a writer will face in their career. A common enemy to a freelancer is self-doubt, and it has to be conquered if you are going to have a long-term career as a solo artist. You are the Master of Your Own Destiny Keep repeating the above line to yourself, because as Russell Crowe in… -
Five Fatal Flaws that are Killing Your Writing Business
23 Apr 2013 | 9:01 pmWhat stops your writing business from being successful? Start a discussion with any group of writers and the same topics come up over and over again. That’s why this month’s Word Carnival is so timely, inviting me to Vanquish that Nemesis – identify the things that get in the way of small business success and figure out how to beat them. Here’s my list of five fatal flaws that can kill your writing business along with tips on how to solve them. 1. Small Biz Dyscalculia You’ve heard of dyscalculia, right? A few people close to me have this syndrome and they tend… -
So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye!
17 Apr 2013 | 7:00 amI’ve had a fantastic time here at GetPaidToWriteOnline.com, but sadly, it’s time for me to move on. Nearly three years after I first started writing for GetPaidToWriteOnline.com, I’ve recently decided to stop, for a whole array of different reasons. Before I explain why I’m leaving, I firstly want to say it wasn’t an easy decision to make. I’ve actually been toying with the idea of taking a step back for several months now. The reason I’m leaving all comes back to the one thing that in many ways, I’ve been trying to achieve since I started…
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Founders' Blog
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The Funding Game
21 May 2013 | 9:56 amThe path of a startup entrepreneur will require at least one round of funding (unless you have an “Aunt Winfrey or Uncle Gates” in your back pocket). This quest is often stressful, and many nights will be spent in deep meditation, while you debate how much of your baby you are willing to give up for adoption. Whether you are a budding entrepreneur, or are ready to embark into IPO territory, the proverbial debate over how to “break up the pie” and how to "come out ahead” is always up for discussion. A very cool infographic by San… -
Going Going Gone – Technology Relics
14 May 2013 | 8:41 amI was actually galvanized to write this article a few months back, after cringing at the annual site of the Yellow Pages shrinked wrapped and delivered in front of the entrance to my office. I kept looking around for the culprit, expecting to see a deliveryman navigating the business district with horse-and-buggy, and a crazed treehugger running behind him with red paint on their hands yelling "tree killer"! It has been at least 8 to 10 years since I used a big yellow book to locate a service, but I get that many Baby Boomers still make good use of the relics. I… -
Insight & Perspective
29 Mar 2013 | 10:51 amJust a reminder there's no reason to be complacent or bored. Move forward entrepreneurs, allowing your creativity and passion to lead the way. -
MYO – Gesture Control Armband
27 Feb 2013 | 10:01 amFrequent readers of this blog know I am a big proponent of where Natural User Interface (NUI) can and will take technology. So you can imagine how excited I was to come across MYO – a gesture control armband. MYO measures the electrical activities in your forearm and uses the data to interface with computers. Snapping, hand wave, hand stop, up, down – are all new sign languages to replace point and click mouse interfacing. Even better, the MYO developers know the uses of this type of NUI are endless, so they are releasing an API kit. … -
Flexible Display Technology
4 Feb 2013 | 6:04 pmWe first saw this technology in action at the SID (Society of Information Display) Conference in Los Angeles back in 2008. At the time e-readers were just becoming a part of the mainstream. I remember one particular e-reader company (which never made it to market) had a device that essentially acted like an electronic scroll. Retracted, the device was about 3" x 4" and when pulled apart at the ends like a scroll, a larger viewing area was unveiled. This video, reveals a different use for the flexible digital display – where each flexible display is capable of…
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BenCrowder.net
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Sine circle test animation
22 May 2013 | 2:24 amAs I’ve been tinkering around with graphics coding, I wanted to figure out how to map a sine wave onto a circle. Here’s how it went down. (Disclaimer: this is all unoptimized code that is almost certainly not the best way to do this. Also, I’m a beginner, so yes, this is very basic stuff.) First off, I started a new Processing sketch and drew a circle: The relevant code from the draw() function: float x = width / 2; float y = height / 2; float radius = height / 3; float angle = 0; float angleStep = 0.005; float twopi = PI * 2; float dx, dy; while (angle <= twopi) { dx = x… -
The Accidental Jaywalker: Mormon Lit Blitz 2013
17 May 2013 | 2:16 amMy poem “The Accidental Jaywalker” is now up on the Mormon Lit Blitz site. There’s also a discussion page. Have fun. (I’ll give liner notes after the voting is over. I’ll also post the poem here.) I originally planned to blog about each finalist each day, but entropy won out and now I’m thinking more just a single recap post at the end. If you want to see the entries as they come out, watch the Lit Blitz blog. -
More Mandelbulber pieces
15 May 2013 | 3:06 pmI’m finding that Mandelbulber is really addictive. First off, two Mandelbulb explorations: I wised up and started doing a 1px field blur in Photoshop on the rendered images, which helps a lot in getting rid of sharp artifacts. On the first image I also painted in some dots and ran lens blur. Next, a Mandelbox (Tglad’s variant): I cheated a bit and used the liquify and oil paint filters in Photoshop to get a more surreal, painted look (hopefully giving it a little more humanity, making it less sterile). Finally, a Menger sponge: Going for a folk art look here. I will try very hard… -
Artist
15 May 2013 | 1:54 amThe other day I was talking with a guy at the bus stop, and the conversation turned to art supplies. More particularly, how I can’t stop buying them. “Oh, are you an artist?” Uh-oh. “No, I just dabble.” But I was wrong, at least about the “no” part. Artists make art. I make art. Therefore, I am an artist. Even if it’s not my day job, even if I’m riddled with insecurities about the quality of my art and constantly feel like a poser. Those things don’t make me a non-artist — they just make me an artist with insecurities. So from… -
Lit Blitz 2013 day 1, Jonathon Penny
15 May 2013 | 1:36 amAs mentioned, the 2013 Mormon Lit Blitz has begun. I’ll be blogging my layman reader response to each piece. The first finalist: “Actionable Intelligence,” a poem by my friend Jonathon Penny. It’s a lovely set of proverbs with a nice blend of thoughtful advice and wit. A sampling: Peace is a decision, not a consequence. And: We want the same things, unless what you want is sinister or twisted, in which case we do not want the same things. It’s good. Go read it. And if you want to chime in, head on over to the discussion page for the poem.
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Write to Done
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Scene Stealers: Think out of The Box
23 May 2013 | 2:35 amThink out of The Box! Welcome to Scene Stealers, our series of writing prompts designed to flex your creative muscles. We’re thrilled that so many of you are participating in our writing prompt series. (Read the other Scene Stealers here and add one of your own.) In case you’re not familiar with Scene Stealers, here’s how it works: We set the scene You steal it, make it your own, and Share your creation in the comments section of this post Of course, it’s perfectly fine if you don’t want to share your work, but we hope you’ll do the exercise anyway. The ground… -
The Non-Google Research Tool That Makes Writing Easier
20 May 2013 | 6:46 amWould You Like to Use A Research Tool that Makes Writing Easier? “‘Google’ is not a synonym for ‘research’,” says novelist Dan Brown. If you want to be a serious writer (and don’t we all?), sooner or later you’re guaranteed to hit a brick wall. To get beyond the brick wall, you are forced to do some … (sound of ominous music) research. I think novelist Allan Leverone (Parallax View) spoke for most writers when he said: “I hate research. … When I’m writing, I would much rather be writing than researching. I want to learn… -
How Ian Fleming Turned James Bond Into A Bestseller
16 May 2013 | 1:32 amWould You Like To Turn Your Novel Into A Bestseller? What makes the work of a novelist sell well? Genius, good connections in the publishing world – or just old-fashioned, hard editing? Some clues come from Casino Royale, the first James Bond novel. Ian Fleming’s original draft was put on show earlier this year to mark the 60th anniversary of the novel’s publication. It did not spring immaculate from his typewriter. Nor did Fleming have any publishing connections or prior experience in novel writing. He succeeded – the novel went into three print runs in its first year alone… -
How Your Local Bookstore Can Help You Consistently Create Content For Your Newsletter
13 May 2013 | 7:04 amWould You Like Get Ideas For Great Content From Your Bookstore? Every time you sit down to write an article, it’s the same story. You sit there and you can’t really think of what to put in your newsletter. You really want to say something, but nothing comes out. The longer you sit there, the longer the minutes will tick away. And before you know it, the phone will be ringing, the distractions will be piling up and you’ll find yourself mindlessly wandering through Facebook or emails. That’s why you need to leave your office. Go down to your local… -
How Fear Helps You To Write Better
9 May 2013 | 1:28 amWould You Like To Use Fear To Write Better? Being a writer means living in terror. I don’t mean the terror of a zombie apocalypse or of circus clowns. I mean the incessant nagging of self-doubt. Do you ever ask yourself any of the following: Do I really have what it takes? What if they reject my proposal? What if no one takes my ideas seriously? What if I’m just not meant to be a writer? When will they discover I’m a fraud? Who am I kidding anyway? Self-doubt can be completely debilitating. But if you listen to it closely, this type of fear can become a potent tool for…
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恋のブログ
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個人情報が漏洩するケースもありますから警戒してください
23 May 2013 | 5:03 pmま、雰囲気のあるデートを楽しみたいと思っているカップルはほかにもたくさんいるかと思っています。 しかも退会出来ないという事まで言われて本当に困っています。チャットを楽しみながらお互いの間の距離を縮めていくのも出会い系サイトでの出会いのための一つの戦法になるのではないでしょうか。 ポイント無しなら、「サクラは居て当たり前」です！、 ユーザー数だって日々増えていますし、神待ち系というのは、… -
誰でもやや怯む部分ではあります
23 May 2013 | 2:46 pm間もなく会おうという話になりました。だったら着替えやメイクセットは必要必需品だと思います。困ったことはありませんか？ この問いに関する答えとして多いのが、プロフィールをしっかり書くということです。さて、本人も久しぶりに聴きたくなったと言って、出会い系サイトの楽しみ方は人それぞれでしょうが、プロフィールに 書いたら男に興味を持ってもらえるやすいものを選択して書いています。サクラを使った方法です。… -
自分のHPから知り合って結婚
23 May 2013 | 2:18 pmこちらからメールアドレスをさらしたら、無料の出会い系サイトをうまく使う方法を紹介したいと思います。プロフィールなどの基本的な機能もあるので、ですから、やはり人気なのは完全無料サイトでしょう。盛り上げていくことができます。たまに後で社員から指示を受けてそういった男性にもう一度メールをすることもありました。 1、もしかしたら 男性の登録者が少ない穴場だったのかもしれません。 まさに、 ほとんどの場合、… -
二人の距離はどんどん縮まるのです
23 May 2013 | 2:04 pm相手の知らない部分もまだまだありますので、 しかもよく見ると悪徳で有名な出会い系サイトがサイトの名前を変えて架空請求をしているようです。こまめに更新しているだけで 相手にアプローチをしていることになります。やはりクリスマスははずせないでしょう。ユーザーは大変迷惑です。転職の話題を取り上げても… -
一目でサクラだとわかります
23 May 2013 | 1:42 pmもしくは悪徳業者のどちらかでしょう。若い学生を堪能できるならばと喜んで答えてあげた。デメリットもあります。実際に会うという事は、、 私たちが２０代で結婚していったので、女性と知り合うチャンスはありませんでした。交際が長くなるにつれてあまり意識しなくなったということでした。 女性にとっては何ともおいしい話ですが、ポイントが消費されればされるほど、かき集めたデータをもとに相手の好きそう…
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Will Write For Food
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10 Ways to Write Clear Recipes, and 2 New Events
21 May 2013 | 7:25 pmNo matter what you want readers to make, instructions must be clear and concise. That sounds obvious, I know. Writing is rewriting, as the saying goes, and that applies to recipe writing too. When I’m editing recipes for clients, whether individuals or publishers, part of my job is to line edit. That means rewriting to make the instructions clearer. Line editing requires constant vigilance. I tighten, choose the most specific word, clarify, and strive for elegance. There’s a fine line between spelling everything out and not being too obvious. Sometimes I vote for the reader and… -
Who Won 2013 Beard Journalism Awards and Why
14 May 2013 | 3:00 pmWhen the James Beard Foundation awards unfurled recently, I watched the live Twitter stream from home on the other coast in California, just to be part of the excitement. It’s fun to see who won, who lost, and read about the drama (mostly about chefs, because apparently writers aren’t that exciting). Then I read most of the pieces that won, because I always like to read what judges think is the best writing out there (or at least, the best of what was submitted.) If you have time, I suggest you do the same. In the old days, we’d have to buy many magazines. Now we can read… -
A New Cookbook Author Scores a Google Talk
7 May 2013 | 9:07 pmFood writer and cookbook author Jody Eddy, before her talk at Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA. It’s not every day that a new cookbook author joins the ranks of dignitaries such as Al Gore and Tina Fey. But Jody Eddy did, by speaking at Google headquarters. The co-author of Come In, We’re Closed: An Invitation to Staff Meals at the World’s Best Restaurants, Jody’s oddessey to the Googleplex began when publicist friend Carrie Bachman made a request. Cliff Redeker, who books speakers for the Google talks, wanted travel information about Iceland for a future… -
Secrets of Writing Recipes for Big Food Magazines
30 Apr 2013 | 12:01 pmKristine Kidd, former food editor at Bon Appetit magazine, ran the test kitchen for 20 years. Guest Post by Kristine Kidd When Kristine Kidd was food editor of Bon Appetit magazine, her staff tested recipes from writers and recipe developers, and she decided which ones would run. A 20-year veteran of the magazine, Kidd is now self-employed and the author of several cookbooks, most recently Weeknight Gluten Free. Here are 14 insider tips. — DJ At Bon Appetit, we tested hundreds of recipes every month. The ones we published were the ones that worked best in the test kitchen. We… -
Write What Readers Want, or Whatever You Like?
23 Apr 2013 | 3:20 pmAnthony Bourdain says he never tried to write for readers. While paging through my copy of Kitchen Confidential recently, a quote from Anthony Bourdain struck me. Here it is, in an interview at the back of the book: “I don’t get it. When I wrote Kitchen Confidential, my busines model was, ‘I Don’t Give a Shit,’ and I’m trying very hard to keep that as my operating business model. I never, ever think, what will they like, what do they expect, what should I do next.” Now, I adore Bourdain’s writing. I could argue that he did give readers what they…
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Fiction Notes
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Only 7% of Children’s Books are Authored by Persons of Color
22 May 2013 | 3:59 am2013 GradeReading.NET Summer Reading Lists Keep your students reading all summer! The lists for 2nd, 3rd and 4th, include 10 recommended fiction titles and 10 recommended nonfiction titles. Printed double-sided, these one-page flyers are perfect to hand out to students, teachers, or parents. Great for PTA meetings, have on hand in the library, or to send home with students for the summer. FREE Pdf or infographic jpeg. See the Summer Lists Now! Children’s Picture Book Award: New Voices Award While the population of the United States is skewing toward more and more “persons of… -
Poland: A Writer’s Vacation
20 May 2013 | 3:09 am2013 GradeReading.NET Summer Reading Lists Keep your students reading all summer! The lists for 2nd, 3rd and 4th, include 10 recommended fiction titles and 10 recommended nonfiction titles. Printed double-sided, these one-page flyers are perfect to hand out to students, teachers, or parents. Great for PTA meetings, have on hand in the library, or to send home with students for the summer. FREE Pdf or infographic jpeg. See the Summer Lists Now! I just got home from ten days in Europe and I am ready to write. Why? Because getting out of my writing cave makes me bump up against people, against… -
Saying, “NO!” to an Editor
13 May 2013 | 3:10 am2013 GradeReading.NET Summer Reading Lists Keep your students reading all summer! The lists for 2nd, 3rd and 4th, include 10 recommended fiction titles and 10 recommended nonfiction titles. Printed double-sided, these one-page flyers are perfect to hand out to students, teachers, or parents. Great for PTA meetings, have on hand in the library, or to send home with students for the summer. FREE Pdf or infographic jpeg. See the Summer Lists Now! Hurrah! You have a revision letter from an editor and you are going to make every single, solitary, revision the editor asks for. Right? Maybe. When… -
International Sales: Could Your Book Be Popular Worldwide?
8 May 2013 | 12:28 pm2013 GradeReading.NET Summer Reading Lists Keep your students reading all summer! The lists for 2nd, 3rd and 4th, include 10 recommended fiction titles and 10 recommended nonfiction titles. Printed double-sided, these one-page flyers are perfect to hand out to students, teachers, or parents. Great for PTA meetings, have on hand in the library, or to send home with students for the summer. FREE Pdf or infographic jpeg. See the Summer Lists Now! My bio officially reads like this: Author, blogger, and writing teacher Darcy Pattison (www.darcypattison.com) has been published in eight languages. -
Top 20 Picture Book Agents: 171 Sales
6 May 2013 | 3:35 am2013 GradeReading.NET Summer Reading Lists Keep your students reading all summer! The lists for 2nd, 3rd and 4th, include 10 recommended fiction titles and 10 recommended nonfiction titles. Printed double-sided, these one-page flyers are perfect to hand out to students, teachers, or parents. Great for PTA meetings, have on hand in the library, or to send home with students for the summer. FREE Pdf or infographic jpeg. See the Summer Lists Now! The Publisher’s Marketplace tracks sales of manuscripts in different categories–one of the many advantages of their paid services. These…
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WritersDigest.com » There Are No Rules Blog by the Editors of Writer’s Digest
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Agent Katharine Sands Teaches “From Pitch to Page One: How to Get an Agent from the Get-Go” – New May 23 Webinar With Query Critique
22 May 2013 | 9:04 pmGetting a literary agent is no easy feat. It requires crafting a query and pitch to get their attention — without making any “querial killer” mistakes that will get your submission rejected. Cutting through the slush is hard work. That’s why we’re lucky to have agent Katharine Sands (Sarah Jane Freymann Literary) to teach “From Pitch to Page One: How to Get an Agent from the Get-Go,” a new webinar on Thursday, May 23, 2013. The webinar starts at 1 p.m., EST, and lasts 90 minutes. Katharine is one of the most in-demand agents at writers conferences… -
If You’re Feeling Down and Out About a Rejection Letter …
17 May 2013 | 6:58 amConsider James Lee Burke.Sure, his novels are everywhere these days. Bookstores. Airports. Bestseller lists. But here’s how they got there.As Lindsey O’Connor detailed in our profile of the author, Burke published his first story when he was 19. It did not earn him instant fame.He worked the oil fields. He drove trucks. He taught.He’d sold a couple of books, but they never really broke out.And then he hit a mind-bending snag. He’d written a novel called The Lost Get-Back Boogie.He submitted it. He got rejected.… 111 times, over the course of nine years.He battled alcoholism.He… -
Agent John Cusick Teaches How to Create Great Characters — New May 16 Webinar (With Query Critique!)
15 May 2013 | 9:03 pmEvery novel is driven by character. We fall in love with heroines, cheer for heroes, and loathe our villains. Characters draw us in, and through them we experience our favorite stories. Without a compelling cast, even the most engrossing tale can fall flat. What makes some protagonists iconic, while others go up in smoke? How can we create rich motivations without burdensome back-story, or nuanced supporting characters without stealing focus from our protagonists? How can we populate our novels with an unforgettable ensemble our readers will love? The answer involves giving your characters a… -
4 Truths That Will Revolutionize Your Revision Process
14 May 2013 | 5:00 amPerhaps because I’m in the process of revising a novel manuscript myself, the advice in the May/June 2013 Writer’s Digest Guide to Pain-Free Revision really resonated with me as I pieced it all together behind the scenes. In fact, I’d go so far to say that some of the insights from the talented contributors we had the privilege of featuring in this issue have changed the way I think about revision.Here are a few of my personal light-bulb moments from its pages:1. The proof of your prose lies with the reader.This tip comes from the incomparable novelist and writing instructor David… -
Zest + Small Things = Great Writing (Guest Blog by Elizabeth Sims)
13 May 2013 | 7:23 amRecently I was asked to talk to a group of ‘beginning writers’. Mind you, these people were adults; it’s not like they were in the first grade just learning how to spell c-a-t. I talked to them about the same things I discuss with experienced writers: how to be free and pour it out. I’m coming to feel that aside from small children, there really is no such thing as a beginning writer. Practically everybody has some writing experience! Making the transition from ‘beginner’ to ‘writer’ is simply a matter of finishing a writing project, whether a…
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The Truth About Lies
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The Silence of Gethsemane
19 May 2013 | 4:00 am…ecce homo… – John 19:5 (Latin Vulgate) Basically there are three kinds of novels: novels where everything is made up (e.g. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz), historical novels where the author aims to be as accurate as possible and often goes to great lengths to research the topic under discussion (e.g. Wolf Hall) and then there are the novels that are based on an historical event but play fast and loose with the facts (e.g. Stephen King’s 11/22/63). I mention this because on the cover of The Silence of Gethsemane is says, “A Novel” and I’m not sure what kind of novel it is. -
Niches
12 May 2013 | 4:00 amI think that there are empty ecological niches in the literary landscape crying to be filled and when a book more or less fills a niche it's seized on, even when it's a far from perfect fit – Edmund White When I think of niches I think of porn. As a kid growing up like most kids it was where I learned much about sex and the female anatomy along with words I couldn’t pronounce because I’d never heard them spoken aloud—honestly it was cun-i-ling-you-is for years. Not so much about males but we are talking Scotland in the sixties and seventies; I’d seen enough willies down the baths or… -
The Humans
5 May 2013 | 5:00 amMark Shermin: "Have people from your world been here before?" Starman: "Before. Yes, we are interested in your species." Mark Shermin: "You mean you're some kind of anthropologist? Is that what you're doing here? Just checking us out?" Starman: "You are a strange species, not like any other... and you'd be surprised how many there are. Shall I tell you what I find beautiful about you?" Starman There’s nothing new under the sun. If you’re a writer and you really want to depress yourself spend an hour or so (as I’ve just done) clicking through the links on TVtropes.org. There… -
A Tale for the Time Being
28 Apr 2013 | 3:30 amInspiration is a happy convergence of random factors, which if you are lucky, you notice and then can use. And it helps if you have a husband who sends you interesting links! – Ruth Ozeki This is a book about time and being, about cats—both real and figurative—and crows—both literal and mythological— about Japan and Canada and America too a little; it’s about life and death; about war and peace; about Buddhism, philosophy and quantum mechanics; about superheroes and living ghosts; about coming of age and dying with dignity; it’s about the interchangeable roles of readers… -
Me and You
21 Apr 2013 | 3:30 amA sibling may be the keeper of one's identity, the only person with the keys to one's unfettered, more fundamental self. - Marian Sandmaier I have mixed feelings about this book. When people say stuff like that I usually assume that what they mean is, “I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it as much as I might have.” That’s not really the case here. What I mean is that the book made me feel a lot of different things at the same time. It’s like one of those blended fruit drinks—5 Alive jumps to mind—that have too many flavours and confuse people like me with unrefined palettes…
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Flogging the Quill
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Flogometer for Elizabeth: would you turn the first page?
24 May 2013 | 7:15 amSubmissions invited: If you’d like a fresh look at your opening chapter or prologue, please email your submission to me re the directions at the bottom of this post. The Flogometer challenge: can you craft a first page that compels me to turn to the next page? Caveat: Please keep in mind that this is entirely subjective. Note: all the Flogometer posts are here. What's a first page in publishingland? In a properly formatted novel manuscript (double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12-point type, etc.) there should be about 16 or 17 lines on the first page (first pages of chapters/prologues start… -
Flogometer for Rebecca: would you turn the first page?
22 May 2013 | 6:45 amSubmissions invited: If you’d like a fresh look at your opening chapter or prologue, please email your submission to me re the directions at the bottom of this post. The Flogometer challenge: can you craft a first page that compels me to turn to the next page? Caveat: Please keep in mind that this is entirely subjective. Note: all the Flogometer posts are here. What's a first page in publishingland? In a properly formatted novel manuscript (double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12-point type, etc.) there should be about 16 or 17 lines on the first page (first pages of chapters/prologues start… -
Book cover design
20 May 2013 | 7:16 amIn addition to editing and writing, I do book design, too, both covers and interiors. I've worked for a small publishing company for a couple of years, and the occasional independent author comes along. Here are the latest of the latter. Hookernomics is a title suggested by an FTQ reader (whose name I've lost) is non-fiction, ebook-only cover. It's about the business of sex, and I thought the art of a red light worked pretty well for catching attention and lending subtext. Collected Works is a private book, not available for sale, and at the far end of the spectrum from the first… -
Flogometer for Laura: would you turn the first page?
17 May 2013 | 7:15 amI'm off to do my Killer First Page workshop at Write on the River in Wenatchee this weekend. It should be an interesting session--34 people submitted first pages. Even though the workshop is a little over 2 hours long, we'll have to go through them at a rate of about every 4 minutes. It'll be a true immersion. I'm looking forward to it. Submissions invited: If you’d like a fresh look at your opening chapter or prologue, please email your submission to me re the directions at the bottom of this post. The Flogometer challenge: can you craft a first page that compels me to turn… -
Flogometer for Shannon: would you turn the first page?
15 May 2013 | 8:19 amSubmissions invited: If you’d like a fresh look at your opening chapter or prologue, please email your submission to me re the directions at the bottom of this post. The Flogometer challenge: can you craft a first page that compels me to turn to the next page? Caveat: Please keep in mind that this is entirely subjective. Note: all the Flogometer posts are here. What's a first page in publishingland? In a properly formatted novel manuscript (double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12-point type, etc.) there should be about 16 or 17 lines on the first page (first pages of chapters/prologues start…
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Founders' Blog
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The Funding Game
21 May 2013 | 9:56 amThe path of a startup entrepreneur will require at least one round of funding (unless you have an “Aunt Winfrey or Uncle Gates” in your back pocket). This quest is often stressful, and many nights will be spent in deep meditation, while you debate how much of your baby you are willing to give up for adoption. Whether you are a budding entrepreneur, or are ready to embark into IPO territory, the proverbial debate over how to “break up the pie” and how to "come out ahead” is always up for discussion. A very cool infographic by San… -
Going Going Gone – Technology Relics
14 May 2013 | 8:41 amI was actually galvanized to write this article a few months back, after cringing at the annual site of the Yellow Pages shrinked wrapped and delivered in front of the entrance to my office. I kept looking around for the culprit, expecting to see a deliveryman navigating the business district with horse-and-buggy, and a crazed treehugger running behind him with red paint on their hands yelling "tree killer"! It has been at least 8 to 10 years since I used a big yellow book to locate a service, but I get that many Baby Boomers still make good use of the relics. I… -
Insight & Perspective
29 Mar 2013 | 10:51 amJust a reminder there's no reason to be complacent or bored. Move forward entrepreneurs, allowing your creativity and passion to lead the way. -
MYO – Gesture Control Armband
27 Feb 2013 | 10:01 amFrequent readers of this blog know I am a big proponent of where Natural User Interface (NUI) can and will take technology. So you can imagine how excited I was to come across MYO – a gesture control armband. MYO measures the electrical activities in your forearm and uses the data to interface with computers. Snapping, hand wave, hand stop, up, down – are all new sign languages to replace point and click mouse interfacing. Even better, the MYO developers know the uses of this type of NUI are endless, so they are releasing an API kit. … -
Flexible Display Technology
4 Feb 2013 | 6:04 pmWe first saw this technology in action at the SID (Society of Information Display) Conference in Los Angeles back in 2008. At the time e-readers were just becoming a part of the mainstream. I remember one particular e-reader company (which never made it to market) had a device that essentially acted like an electronic scroll. Retracted, the device was about 3" x 4" and when pulled apart at the ends like a scroll, a larger viewing area was unveiled. This video, reveals a different use for the flexible digital display – where each flexible display is capable of…
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Fritinancy
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In the Wild: House Whip
24 May 2013 | 6:50 amSometimes I’ll spot a name in the wild and it’ll make me smile all day. Trader Joe’s House Whip is one of those names. “Whippee!” “Whip-itty-doo-dah!” Makes me feel like dancing. -
Operation Fortitude
23 May 2013 | 7:01 amDuring the lead-up to D-Day—June 6, 1944—the Allied nations undertook an elaborate deception strategy designed to mislead the Germans about the real date and location of the Normandy invasion. The overall plan was called Operation Bodyguard; one of its more bizarre elements—the creation of a decoy army, complete with inflatable tanks and fake artillery—had the code name Operation Fortitude. Why Fortitude? As Ben Macintyre writes in Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies, his 2012 history of the plan: The choice of code name for this particular operation—the crux of… -
Vote for Fritinancy!
22 May 2013 | 7:56 amI’m pleased to announce that, for the fifth consecutive year, this blog has been honored with a nomination in the Lexiophiles Top Language Blogs competition, “Language Professional” division. Support a professional! Click the badge to cast your vote for Fritinancy! Make that two nominations. I’ve also been nominated for Top Language Twitter Account: Click the badge to vote for my Twitter account! What’s in it for you? Just the deep (and cheap) satisfaction of supporting a blog and Twitter account dedicated to the profound, puzzling, quirky, mysterious, enlightening world of names,… -
Eat at [Verb]
21 May 2013 | 7:26 amThese Bay Area restaurants don’t just take orders: If their names are any indication, they give them, too. Melt!(San Francisco) The exclamation point is part of the name, and melting is the raison d’être, of this fondue café in San Francisco’s North Beach. Build (Berkeley) One Yelper called it “the Subway of pizzas. You enter a line and the employees make the pizza as you like.” The slogan is “Find Your Inner Pizza,” which does not sound appetizing at all. Toss (Berkeley, just a few doors away from Build) I love the wordmark, but every time I see the name I want to finish the… -
Word of the Week: Shmeat
20 May 2013 | 7:07 amShmeat: Meat grown in a laboratory from animal cells; the objectives include reducing animal cruelty and increasing the global supply of affordable protein. “Shmeat” is a portmanteau of “sheet” and “meat.” An undated article on a website called Shmeat.com (apparently operated by SavingAdvice.com) explains the process: Cells are harvested from a live animal, such as a chicken, pig or cow. The cells are then placed in a special solution of nutrients which mimics the qualities of blood. This nutrient solution will help the cells to multiply where they can then be secured to a spongy…
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Inkygirl: An Illustrated Guide For Writers
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Interview with Literary Agent Emily Keyes of L. Perkins Agency (and my 25,000th follower!)
24 May 2013 | 7:23 amThanks so much to Emily Keyes, the 25,000th person to follow me on Twitter. Emily is a literary agent at L. Perkins Agency, and kindly agreed to answer a few questions for Inkygirl readers about her work and what she's looking for. Q. How did you come to work at L. Perkins Agency? Lori Perkins, the founder of the agency, used to teach at the NYU and I was a student at the NYU Publishing Program. She was looking for interns and I worked for her briefly, going through slush, but she kept in touch with me when I was working other places. So when my job at Simon & Schuster ended, she said I… -
Book-Buying Poll Results: Content is king, whether a book is self-published or not
23 May 2013 | 3:24 amI had originally intended for this to be a quickie poll in my series of Informal Surveys/Polls About Writing, Reading and Publishing but realized that for a topic like this, there is no such thing as a quickie poll. The topic is clearly a pretty sensitive subject, and some people automatically assumed that I was out to discredit books that had been self-published. Yikes. For the record, I have bought self-published books. Some were very good (like Cheryl Rainfield's YA novel, Parallel Visions, and Galleycat recently listed some top children's books by indie authors) and some were not so good. -
Interview with Celia Lee, Assistant Editor At Cartwheel Books (Scholastic), open to unagented submissions from Inkygirl readers for limited time
20 May 2013 | 11:57 amCelia Lee is an assistant editor at Cartwheel Books, Scholastic’s 0-5 imprint. When she’s not reading, she’s talking about reading. And when she’s not talking about reading, she’s thinking about reading. You can follow her on Twitter @VitellusD. How did you come to work at Scholastic? So I had been going to grad school (for Publishing) and doing various editorial internships for a few publishers in the city for about a year, when a wonderful, kind, generous classmate of mine told me she was leaving her current Scholastic Book Clubs job for a new position in the… -
Comic: Bibliophile Bus Stop
17 May 2013 | 6:56 pm -
MicroBookTweet: DOLL BONES by Holly Black, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler
17 May 2013 | 6:38 amDOLL BONES Written by Holly Black Illustrated by Eliza Wheeler Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books / Simon & Schuster Children's (May/2013) Finished/savored DOLL BONES. Could eat @hollyblack's prose with a spoon. Also love @wheelerstudio's creepylicious pics. — Debbie Ridpath Ohi (@inkyelbows) May 17, 2013 Also see my other MicroBookTweets and my interview with Eliza Wheeler.
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PubletariatPubletariat
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Publetariat’s Back, But It’s A Work In Progress
1 May 2013 | 7:25 pmThanks to the pro-bono efforts of the very generous Shawn E. Bell, Publetariat is back online and all of the original site posts were preserved. However, while the “bones” of the site and its content are here, most of the recovered content has yet to be properly categorized into the various Departments (e.g., Sell, Write, Design, [...] -
Why, And How, Publetariat Was Hacked
1 May 2013 | 7:10 pmMany people have asked me why Publetariat has been repeatedly targeted by hackers, if this could be some kind of publishing establishment attack on indie authors in general, or if I feel I am being personally attacked. Let me reassure everyone: I have no reason to believe the recent problems were any kind of attack [...] -
Authors of the Digital Age–What It Takes to Be a Real Author CEO
15 Apr 2013 | 11:00 amThis post, by Kristen Lamb, originally appeared on Kristen Lamb's blog on 4/12/13. I do a lot of reading of other blogs, particularly blogs that aren’t about writing. I think this keeps my information fresh. As many of you might know, financial blogger Steve Tobak is one of my favorites, and he regularly inspires my writing. -
How Self-Publishing Has Changed the Industry
15 Apr 2013 | 11:00 amThis post, by Clare Langley-Hawthorne, originally appeared on the Kill Zone blog on 4/15/13. I read a recent blog post on The Guardian book blog about the 10 ways self-publishing has changed the book world and, after Jim's post yesterday, it got me thinking about how I would explain the current state of the book world to friends and family who are neither authors, nor wanna-be writers, but who, as book readers, are nonetheless intrigued by all the changes going on in publishing. -
BookBinding: Making A Travel Notebook
14 Apr 2013 | 6:00 pmIncreasingly, we work and play in a digital world. I read, write, publish, market and often interact with friends online, which I absolutely love and value highly. But recently, I’ve been craving some physical creation, so last week I went along to the London Centre for Book Arts and joined one of their awesome workshops. Because I write in so many Moleskine journals, I decided to make a Travel Notebook, complete with concertina folded envelope in the back. I’d like to eventually make my own paper, print my own work on it and bind limited editions myself – but that’s a while away! (I…
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Self-Publishing Review
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Review: Una’ria – The Vanguard Echoes by Daniel Cruz
21 May 2013 | 12:31 pmIn this massive sci-fi adventure, Daniel Cruz takes readers to a thoroughly imagined world, far from Earth and three million years in the future, in an epoch known as Una’ria. Humans as we know them no longer exist. They have evolved into a new species known as Rytelios, a much more subtle creature with a sixth sense and an unusual relationship with small, winged creatures called Famixa. Each Rytelios is pair-bonded with a Faxima. This relationship is deep and intriguing, and becomes even more complex and fascinating as the novel progresses and we get to know the characters better.The… -
Review: Random Rationality – Second Edition by Fourat Janabi
17 May 2013 | 3:11 pmWhen I reviewed the first edition of this book here on SPR, I wrote,” Unassuming, universally written with sharp wit and charm, the first pages catch and you want to read on. Although Janabi never professes to be an expert… ”In this, the special extended version of his book, I want to take that back. Janabi is something of an expert.In this reworked version of “Random Rationality”, the book has more meat, more substance, more catch – this second edition elevates what was an interesting and entertaining read to greatness – I cannot put my finger on what I… -
Review: Don’t Look Back by Rita D’Orazio
13 May 2013 | 12:45 pm“Don’t Look Back”, the debut novel from Rita D’Orazio tells the story of Katerina Balducci, the youngest sibling of three children in an Italian-American Catholic family, and chronicles the ups and downs of family life during her childhood with a moody mother, slighting Katerina for her unplanned birth and throwing abusive diatribes at her which shape her as a person at such a young age, as well as recounting the challenging events that require her to grow up fast.Culturally intricate with lots of Italian heritage and detail, D’Orazio often gives the reader a feast of words,… -
Review: Tales Of Fantasy And Reality by Chinwe D. John, Illustrations by James Brown
2 May 2013 | 12:28 pmThis small book of narrative poems offers a mix of subject matter, from tales based on or inspired by traditional folktales, such as the River King from African folklore, to tales that provide modern social commentary. Some of the poems are disturbing: traditional tales of murder and revenge, and modern ones that deal with Internet predators, sexual tourism, necklacing (a form of vigilante execution in which a tire is filled with gasoline, placed around the torso of the victim, trapping hands and arms, and then set alight), and formal justice gone bad. But not all of the pieces are heavy. -
Review: Andy Smithson: Blast of the Dragon’s Fury by L. R. W. Lee
30 Apr 2013 | 12:36 pmAndy Smithson has never heard of the Land of Oomaldee and he has never met Imogenia. However, he’s soon to begin an adventure of a lifetime that involves both. Ten-year-old Andy has parents who are always harping about being respectful and responsible. Andy hates the lectures. It seems that’s all his parents do is lecture him when they aren’t too busy running their own companies. Fred and Emily Smithson are CEOs of multimillion dollar companies. His sister is Miss Perfect. Poor Andy is ignored most of the time by all of them, except when he’s in trouble. Andy’s father is…
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The Write News
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Literary Science Magazine Called Nautilus Launches
7 May 2013 | 4:40 pmA new literary science magazine has launched called Nautilus. The magazine will be available in print, electronic newsstands and online at www.nautil.us. The magazine covers a different topic each month. A new chapter on the topic is published each Thursday. The topic of the inaugural issue is "What Makes You So Special." The staff of Nautilus includes a group of editors and producers from NBC, Nature, Discover, Psychology Today and Palgrave Macmillan. A New York Times story says publisher John Steele's vision for the magazine is "a New Yorker version of Scientific American." Steele said in a… -
New York Magazine's Sandy Cover Named Cover of the Year
1 May 2013 | 8:00 pmNew York magazine's cover, "The City and the Storm," was named the Cover of the Year by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME). The amazing cover shows a half dark New York City following the power outage after the superstorm. The story that went with the cover can be found here. The cover photo was taken by photographer Iwan Baan. Finalists for Cover of the Year included Harper's Bazaar's "Gwyneth Revealed" cover and Time's, "Are You Man Enough?" cover. You can view the "best cover" winners and finalists in the all the categories here. Photo: Iwan Baan/New York magazine Permalink |… -
The Weather Channel to Launch New Web Series
30 Apr 2013 | 1:44 pmThe Weather Channel has announced plans to launch original online web series. This will begin with three new series that will appear on weather.com, cable, mobile phone and tablets. Each series will feature six 2 to 4 minute episodes. All six episodes of a series will launch online on the same date. Neil Katz, vice president and editor-in-chief, digital, for The Weather Company, said in a statement, "Our goal this year is to blow people out of their seats. We think Weather Films is going to take people there no matter which screen they're watching on." The first series, "I Am Unstoppable,"… -
Boston Magazine's Moving Boston Marathon Tribute Cover
29 Apr 2013 | 7:40 pmBoston Magazine published an amazing cover to honor victims of the recent Boston Marathon bombings. The cover features a colorful heart created from shoes of the marathon runners. The cover photo was shot by photographer Mitchell Feinberg. The cover says, "We Will Finish The Race." Boston Magazine has an article about the moving cover. The editors used Facebook and Twitter to ask runners to submit their shoes. The site has a special overflow sections - for extra shoe photos and stores - at bostonmagazine.com/shoes/. Liz Noftle, deputy design director for Boston Magazine, explains her cover… -
Conan O' Brien's Monologue at the White House Correspondents Dinner
28 Apr 2013 | 2:35 pmConan O'Brien gave a very funny monologue at the 2013 White House Correspondents Dinner last night at the Hilton in Washington, D.C. He poked fun at the president and the media. Here are some of his best quips: -On job creation since reelection: "The President is hard at work creating jobs. Since he was first elected, the number of popes has doubled, and the number of Tonight Show hosts has tripled." -On the unusual guests invited to the dinner: "Duck Dynasty are here! Which can only mean one thing: The guys from Storage Wars said 'No.'" -On how the dinner works: "If the President laughs,…
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WritersWeekly.com - Freelance Writing Ezine
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BookLocker - Your Book Deserves the Best
22 May 2013 | 10:00 amAccording to attorney Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print, BookLocker is one of the top-rated POD publishers in the industry. -
Paying Markets And Jobs For May 22nd
22 May 2013 | 10:00 amNew markets and freelance writing jobs. -
Whispers And Warnings For May 22nd
22 May 2013 | 10:00 amLinks to stories below are here: http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9288 Authors Sue Self-Publishing Service Author Solutions (a.k.a. AuthorHouse, Xlibris, iUniverse, Trafford, WordClay, et. al.) "Three authors have filed suit against self-publishing service provider Author Solutions, and its parent company Penguin, airing a laundry list of complaints and alleging the company is engaged in deceitful, dubious business practices." The suit seeks class actions status. Facebook and ad agency sued for (alleged) copyright infringement of song Stems from a commercial that aired on… -
I Owe My Success To My Writing Group - Pauline Clark
22 May 2013 | 10:00 amI've been a writer for most of my life. It's a solitary profession sometimes. It certainly had been for me. Growing up in a small town meant there weren't a lot of us "writer-types" around. People would nod and just smile when I told them what I wanted to do. Eventually, I quit saying it out loud. Instead, I devoured writing magazines and dreamed of the day when my writing would make me rich and famous. That day still hasn't come but my writing life has become much less solitary - and more successful - since some writers came to town... -
Why Isn't That Editor Responding to Me?
22 May 2013 | 10:00 amYou ran a market listing in a recent issue. I emailed the editor and they haven't emailed me back. Why do you run markets from companies like that? You need to remove it!
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Writing Forward
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How to Transform Words Into Writing Ideas
24 May 2013 | 1:18 amWords and writing ideas I recently got a copy of Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge’s Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words, and after just a couple of chapters, my imagination was on fire. I’m always looking for new ways to inspire writing ideas, and lately I’ve been thinking that we should talk more about a writer’s most basic building blocks: words. So, using words as a way to come up with writing ideas sounded ideal to me. In Poemcrazy, Wooldridge talks about collecting words. She captures words, stores them, and then stashes them in all kinds of interesting places where… -
Writing Around the Web and the Next Adventures in Writing Book
22 May 2013 | 1:00 amAdventures in writing: around the web. Last year, I published 101 Creative Writing Exercises, a book packed with exercises that impart useful writing techniques while providing inspiration for projects and regular writing practice. It was the first book in my Adventures in Writing Series. Now I’m putting the final touches on the follow-up book in the series, which is tentatively titled Core Practices for Better Writing. As you can guess from the title, the book explores core practices that writers can adopt for consistently improving their writing. This book is ideal for beginning to… -
Quotes on Writing: Stephen King Says Read and Write!
20 May 2013 | 1:00 am“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” – Stephen King Writers Must Read and Write a Lot Stephen King’s statement is one of my favorite quotes on writing. It should be repeated often and expressed in as many ways as possible. Writing begins with reading. It is through reading that we learn how to tell stories, how to choose words and craft sentences. The books we read will inform and inspire the books we’ll write, and there’s a lot we can learn from the authors who have gone before us. How can we… -
From 101 Creative Writing Exercises: Your Gang
17 May 2013 | 1:00 amFrom 101 Creative Writing Exercises: Your Gang. Today’s writing exercise comes from my book, 101 Creative Writing Exercises. This book takes you on an adventure through the world of writing. You’ll explore different forms and genres while learning practical writing techniques. You’ll also get plenty of writing experience and ideas for publishable projects. Each chapter focuses on a different form or writing concept: freewriting, journaling, memoirs, fiction, storytelling, form poetry, free verse, characters, dialogue, creativity, and writing articles and blogs are all… -
A Poet’s Perspective on Proofreading
15 May 2013 | 1:00 amAccomplished poet, Taylor Mali, on proofreading and editing He’s one of the most successful poets in the world. In fact, Taylor Mali has accomplished what most people believe to be impossible – he’s a full-time poet. Mali gained a following through his involvement with the poetry slam movement and catapulted himself into a successful career writing and performing poetry. He also spent nine years working as a teacher. His experience in the classroom often provides subject matter for his poems: “Mali is a vocal advocate of teachers and the nobility of teaching… He…
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Creative Writing Ideas Blog
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May 24, In-oz-picious Pool Party
24 May 2013 | 5:12 amToday was my 13th birthday party, and I had it all planned out perfectly. For some reason, pool parties are all the rage now – even my friends were begging -
May 24, Labor Day Writing Prompts #2
24 May 2013 | 5:09 amThese Labor Day writing prompts focus on thinking about the hardest working people in the world. -
May 23, Ways I Stay Cool in the Summer
23 May 2013 | 4:32 amWays I stay cool in the summer I don't like to run the air conditioner in the summer. There are so many good things to spend my money on, why should -
May 23, Labor Day Writing Prompts
23 May 2013 | 4:28 amCheck out these Labor Day writing prompts you can use with your classroom or in your very own journal. -
May 22, Konstantinos or Gus or simply Daddy
22 May 2013 | 5:19 amToday, the 21st May is celebrated, at least in Greece, as the nameday of St Konstantine, the founder - if I am not mistaken of Konstantinople or Istable
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Write4Kids!
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Video Quickie: How to See the World Through the Eyes of a Writer
13 May 2013 | 12:40 pmJon’s here with some tips on how to view the world in a way that will make you a better and more successful writer. -
Video Quickie: The #1 Thing That Can Kill Your Writing Career
7 May 2013 | 1:24 pmJon checks in with some ideas about how to bypass a huge pothole that often engulfs writing careers. -
Video Quickie: How to Get Feedback & Handle Criticism
1 May 2013 | 12:24 pmGetting honest feedback for your writing is absolutely vital — but necessarily a whole lot of fun if you don’t have a thick skin. Jon’s here with some thoughts on how to get unbiased input, and how to deal with criticism in a positive way. -
Guest Post: Keeping it Simple — Things to Monitor When Writing for Children
30 Apr 2013 | 11:35 amby Rachel Thomas There are many things to keep in mind when writing books or content for children. Age and skill level will play a very important role when devising your content. You want it to be comprehensible, but not overly loaded with words that are beyond his or her range. Careful planning goes into creating successful reading material and a different perspective is needed during the proofreading of this material. For those who have a range of writing talents, this could be complex at times. 1. Syllables - One of the more important aspects to consider when writing for children is… -
This is Why We Write for Children
24 Apr 2013 | 4:46 pmI wanted to write about this last week, but I couldn't quite express how I felt at the time. Now, with a few days having passed, I'll give it a try. When, in the aftermath of the Boston bombings, I heard that a young child was among the victims, it hurt. When I heard a name and an age, it hurt more. But nothing could prepare me for the picture. You know the one. That beautiful child, Martin Richard, proudly holding the sign he made that now tells the entire world "No More Hurting People. Peace." It broke my heart. I'm certain you felt the…
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Writer's Living
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5 Poverty Traps of Good Writers
22 May 2013 | 12:48 pmSo you’re a good writer. That’s great. Is that earning you any money? Being able to write well and earning money from it are two entirely different things. It would be nice if fortune followed the talent or hard work, but alas. Fortune follows the smarts and execution. You can be a so-so writer who has marketing smarts and you can make a very good living. Or you can be a hugely talented writer who never can quite close the sale. Unfortunately, it happens. Make sure you’re not falling into these poverty traps and robbing yourself of the writer’s living you crave. #1… -
5 Ways to Get Better Freelance Writing Clients
9 May 2013 | 1:48 pmYou don’t have to be the best writer to make a living writing, but you do have to get paid for what you do write. Even a great writer can starve, if she doesn’t know how to land paying work. Earning more money can be as simple as changing how you go about getting work. Why Taking Control of Your Writing Career Earns You More Money There are two ways to make a living writing: You can do a lot of work for a low rate. Or you can do less work but for a better rate. The first way often involves working on projects where you accept whatever pay the client sets. This is often the route… -
4 Reasons Why You Still Need a Printed Book, Even if You Have An Ebook
25 Apr 2013 | 11:16 amI self-published my first book way back in 2002, when ebooks weren’t an option and printing on your own wasn’t cheap. I eventually landed a book deal but never left my self-publishing roots, as I decided to continue to self-publish, even with a book deal. Today, as I prepare for the release of my next nonfiction book, Connect and Conquer: Grow Your Business, Organization, and Career Through Online and Offline Relationships, I’m faced with deciding whether to go ebook only. In fact, I’m sooo tempted to go ebook only, and had decided to do just that. After all, everybody… -
How to Raise Your Rate as a Freelance Magazine or Newspaper Writer
13 Apr 2013 | 1:55 pmSometimes, hard work is no indication of how much money you’ll earn or how successful you will be. I’ve seen, unfortunately, writer friends who work very hard to churn out articles for content mills and low-paying publications. Yet other writer friends may not work quite as hard but earn way more. This can certainly be the case when writing for newspapers and magazines. I used to do some magazine and newspaper freelance work, but moved away from it when I realized I could find my own business clients and write for them for a much better rate that I set myself. And the payment… -
How to Produce Freelance Story Ideas That Make Editors Love You
9 Apr 2013 | 7:00 amIf you are a freelance newspaper or magazine writer, you are constantly in need of story ideas. As editorial budgets get squeezed and editors are making do with fewer staffers, the opportunities for freelancers are growing. After all, it’s a lot cheaper to buy a good story from a freelancer than it is to pay an already-stretched staff writer overtime to go and write one extra piece, in many instances. So how do you find the good stories to pitch to a publication? 1. Read the publication. This seems obvious, but many freelancers pitch publications without having taken the time to read…
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Mysterious Matters: Mystery Publishing Demystified
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Is Your Self-Confidence Helping Your Career?
21 May 2013 | 9:56 amOver the last few months, I have been dealing with a fair amount of "attitude" on the part of writers - mostly, but not exclusively, of the unpublished variety. First, I expressed interest in a manuscript and emailed the writer with some questions. He answered snippily, telling me that I was to take his manuscript as is, as he wasn't willing to make any changes. Because the manuscript had potential but was average at best, I simply deleted his response. Then, while attending a conference, I encouraged a writer who had a terrific idea and asked her to send me the manuscript. -
My Kingdom for a Voice
13 May 2013 | 6:18 pmSometimes I forget what I really love until I see it. Most devotees of crime fiction read for story (plot) and character. That's the baseline. If you don't have that, you don't have anything. But there are plenty of (choose one: good - likable - interesting - conflicted - complicated) characters out there, and at the end of the day, there are only so many plots. You can find lists all over the Internet of the six or seven plots, and some distill this list to two: "Someone goes on a journey" and "A stranger comes to town." So that leads us to those other… -
First, Give No Offense
8 May 2013 | 2:50 pmFor the record, I intend the title of this post ("First, Give No Offense") ironically. I think. Let me tell you what led to this train of thought, as it's easier to talk about it via a specific example before I get into the theory/philosophy behind it. I try never to give away details of manuscripts I have read or am working on, so the following story is adapted but does, I think, get at the point I am trying to make. So, I'm reading this manuscript quite happily, and there's a very difficult character. The question is: Is he just sort of a "skooch" or does… -
Mistakes You Don't Know You're Making
25 Apr 2013 | 7:45 amAs I get through another couple of weeks' worth of submissions, I think: Someone needs to tell these writers what they are doing wrong as they seek commercial publication on the road to popular success. Here's a list of the mistakes you may be making: I've been seeing them a lot lately. 1. You can't describe your book in two provocative sentences. You have limited time to grab a reader's (editor's, agent's) attention. If I can't get excited about reading your book from your brief description of it, you're sunk. Bad: The Feverel Inheritance is a… -
The Joys of 1-Star Reviews
8 Apr 2013 | 10:26 amI recently read a (published) book that I found awful. It was a book I rejected a number of years ago, and the intervening years had not improved it.Trite, poorly written, terribly plotted... and with about 100 four- and five-star reviews on Amazon. And yet, among the raves, a couple of dozen one- and two-star reviews were interspersed. These were the reviews that made me think: Ah, I am not alone. There are other astute readers who saw what I saw, felt what I felt. I think all of us who toil in this business have been enraged by one-star reviews every now and again. I advise all writers to…
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Just Effing Entertain Me
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June 15th Deadline COMING UP
24 May 2013 | 8:57 amWELCOME TO THE 2013 JUST EFFING ENTERTAIN ME SCREENWRITING COMPETITION! Every year we set ourselves apart by offering prizes that set YOU apart! Now in its 6th year, The Just Effing Entertain Me Screenwriting Competition’s grand prize winners get flown to Los Angeles, where they receive three nights free accommodation, spending money, a whirlwind of [...] -
Great Offer From the ISA!
23 May 2013 | 5:32 amThe International Screenwriters’ Association would like you to join their site, then upgrade for FREE! You can create a profile then use it as your resume to show to the industry professionals you’d like to connect to. All your material is protected so only what you choose to share will be shown. See Jeff York’s [...] -
Better Blogging
21 May 2013 | 7:04 amYour blog is your “platform”. It is your online CV. It tells the world who you are and what you write about. When you seek publication in other venues, whether online or in print, having a “platform” is EVERYTHING. A successful platform tells potential publishers that you have already established a following which is built [...] -
How To Grow Your Blog Readership
20 May 2013 | 7:44 amRecently, I worked with a writer who wanted to transform her blog from a personal journal to a more widely read blog. This inspired the latest… Notes For the Writer Who… Wants To Grow Her Blog Readership: Part One A lot of bloggers use their blogs as a journal. And it can be a good [...] -
Get Your Game On: June 15th Deadline
16 May 2013 | 8:57 amWELCOME TO THE 2013 JUST EFFING ENTERTAIN ME SCREENWRITING COMPETITION! Every year we set ourselves apart by offering prizes that set YOU apart! Now in its 6th year, The Just Effing Entertain Me Screenwriting Competition’s grand prize winners get flown to Los Angeles, where they receive three nights free accommodation, spending money, a whirlwind of [...]
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Facts & Fictions
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Bouncing Off Clouds
23 May 2013 | 6:11 pmSure, Bouncing Off Clouds is also the name of a great Tori Amos song, but when is the last time you took an hour, or even a few minutes, to gaze into the clouds yourself? Children do it and poets do it (or they should) and before the Internet or television humans had been doing it since the first lazy summer afternoon was invented sometime around 31,000 B.C.E. Staring up into the clouds is really like staring into a mirror, without the distraction of your own face. Constantly moving, constantly changing, never duplicated, amorphous, they are more like our naked selves – our selves without… -
How MLB.TV Stole My Heart’s Digital Home Plate
22 May 2013 | 9:10 pmAt this very moment, the Pittsburgh Penguins are in town, battling the Ottawa Senators in the NHL playoffs. Soon, I’ll log into Twitter and will no doubt find out who is winning or if the game is already over. I’m in no rush to find out. The Ottawa Senators are no more my home team than they are to someone living in the UK. The NHL has made that very clear. It’s a corporation. Fans are just customers to them who need to pay for the privilege of cheering.* More importantly, I’m watching the Red Sox taking on the Chicago White Sox. Live. On my iPad. For the cost of… -
5 Ways to Fish for Ideas
22 May 2013 | 4:04 pmIf you’re looking for ideas – new ideas, fresh ideas, great ideas – they all have one thing in common. They are not usually hiding very far. But like new breeds of fish spawning beneath the subconscious of your mind, they are seldom going to jump out at you. You have to find them, lure them, and then pull them out yourself. Before looking at ways to find ideas, first here are the Top 5 Ways Not to Fish for Ideas: 1. Wait for the idea to find you, while you carry on with your normal routines. 2. Create a committee. Unless you have people skilled at coming up with new ideas, a group… -
A Salute to Chris Hadfield
14 May 2013 | 2:03 pmCanadian astronaut Chris Hadfield returned to earth this week after nearly five months in orbit. It’s been an exciting and enjoyable journey for all of us. Commander Hadfield has done more while in orbit than anyone I can recall in recent memory to bring space flight home to children and to the public at large, from his video calls with students and tweets with William Shatner (ie. Captain Kirk from the original Star Trek series), he has made space exploration cool to many who may not have thought much about it. Here is his final YouTube video made while in orbit, a bittersweet but… -
Goodbye Cable (It’s not you, it’s me)
19 Mar 2013 | 12:59 pmAbout an hour ago, I finally untangled the cables behind TV and removed the cable box. Like most people I know, I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with TV, but when it came to cable there’s rarely been any love. I tried. I really tried. Years ago, we started off with the basic package and, finding nothing worth watching, upgraded to some specialty channels. Unfortunately, we were naive. For anyone doing research on the subject, you should know that the History channel doesn’t really offer anything about history, unless you count car restorations, pawn shops and aliens.
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The Sixty Second Writer
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What every town needs... a library for the good guys and the bad guys.
19 May 2013 | 12:43 pmToday we are going to add a library to our town. I found this photo and I think that this one will do nicely. Source: worldofstock.com via Stephanie on Pinterest -
The Boarding House With a Story
2 May 2013 | 9:58 amI'm really excited about this new business. There are so many stories that could be set here. They could be romantic, horror, or anything in between! If you love to plot murders, what better a place than a warm, comfortable boarding house? You usually expect a seedy boarding house for the location of a murder, but I like the idea of the warm and cozy boarding house. Oh, I just thought of another story line for a boarding house... now this could be even more fun than I first imagined! So, get your paper map out and place your boarding house! See you tomorrow when we work on the… -
The Bakery With No Name
1 May 2013 | 8:31 amYesterday we were working on the placement of our little bakery. Have you decided on what is going to make that little bakery successful?Here's what I have so far in the locations tab of Write It Now... How big is the bakery? Really tiny oneHow owns the bakery? Sandra BuckinghamWho is it's biggest customer. (haven't decided yet)Bakery... what is it famous for?? They just sell Butter Tarts...The Bakery is located right around the corner from Maggie's You can see that the bakery is slowly coming to life. Tomorrow we will decide on how Sandra lures in her customers. At a later date in the… -
They Own the Town Bakery??
30 Apr 2013 | 12:00 pmYesterday we added our bakery to our map and today we begin to consider who owns this little business. Just take a little time picturing a bakery that you might have seen and create something similar. I have already decided that my town is going to feature two bakeries... one big and one small. At least so far. ;) And be sure to add it to your writing program. It makes it so much easier to keep track of everything! I'm using Write It Now. -
Adding a New Business to Our Town
29 Apr 2013 | 1:13 pmOkay, today we add one new business. The one that I penciled onto my paper map was a bakery. Every town worth it's salt needs a bakery of some sort. If you think about it, you can use that business for a multitude of story lines. Just think of all the things that can happen in a bakery! The possibilities boggle the mind. ;) The first thing that you need to do is put it on your map. I have mine right around the corner from my restaurant, but you can put it where ever you please. Tomorrow we will consider the owners. We won't spend a lot of time right now, but we will be building a…
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Nicola Furlong » Blog
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Buyer Beware: Author Solutions Under Scrutiny
2 May 2013 | 10:22 amIf you’re considering self-publishing—and why wouldn’t you?—be forewarned. Author Solutions, one of the self-proclaimed leading indie publishers is being sued by three of its former clients. Victoria Strauss, who writes sci-fi and fantasy novels for adults and young adults, also blogs about publishing. She maintains Writer Beware, a terrific website that exposes publishing scams. Recently, she posted details about the complaint against Author Solutions. Fascinating reading. I was especially taken by the number of other independent self-publishing imprints (like iUniverse,… -
Publish Your Ebook Course, Camosun College, BC
11 Apr 2013 | 10:38 amSpring’s here and writers’ thoughts turn to electronic publishing…when they’re not plotting a new book, planting seeds or munching chocolate fudge. Convenient ’cause I’m again teaching my perennially popular course, Publish Your Ebook, on April 27th, at Camosun College, Victoria, BC. We’re back to the all-in-one Saturday format; perfect for those whose schedule precludes their coming to weeknight classes. If you can’t attend, don’t sweat. It’s based on my little ebook primer, Self-Publish Your Ebook, available for $3.99. -
The Pivotal I Ching by Hanne Quillevere
4 Mar 2013 | 4:32 pmAnother student from my Self-Publish Your Ebook in Minutes! course has done just that. The Pivotal I Ching by Hanne Quillevere Hanne Quillevere has just released The Pivotal I Ching and suggests that consulting the I CHING in depth opens up an unerring inner compass that gives us the personal insight and means needed to chart an enlightened and rewarding course for ourselves. The ebook is now available at Amazon.com and will soon be by Print on Demand. Congrats, Hanne! Sounds very cool and zen or should I say I Ching? -
Basics for New Cooks by Kerry Whelan
12 Feb 2013 | 4:15 pmThis epubbing is really catching on. I taught another session at Camosun last week and by the next Monday, one of my students had self-published her cookbook! So, congrats big time to Kerry Whelan, a gardening blogger with a green thumb in the kitchen. Basics for Cooking by Kerry Whelan Find out more about Basics for New Cooks: A Beginner’s Guide. Available for only 99c so you can buy one for all the cooking-challenged in your circle. -
Self-Publish Your Ebook Course, Camosun College, BC
2 Feb 2013 | 5:43 pmAm again teaching my perennially popular course, Publish Your Own Ebook, on February 5th and 7th, at Camosun College, Victoria, BC. After popular demand, we’re changing things up a bit, offering the course over two evenings instead of the usual one full-day session. Doesn’t really matter to the outcome though. After the second session, attendees will still be able to self-publish their own writing in minutes! If you can’t attend, don’t sweat. It’s based on my little ebook primer, Self-Publish Your Ebook in Minutes!, available for $3.99.
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Jess C Scott :: Author, Non-conformist, Artist
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Author Interview, Nathan Daniels
21 May 2013 | 8:47 amInterview #71, with writer/survivor, Nathan Daniels! Describe yourself in 5 words: Understanding, Respectful, Honest, Strong, Loving. Share a short excerpt and blurb of your work (10-100 words): EXCERPT FROM SURVIVING THE FOURTH CYCLE – CHAPTER 32: “I would fill my torso with long, dripping, lacerations by the dozens. Often, I’d do this while watching the disturbing reflection in my bathroom mirror. I remember Hailey sliding her hand up the front of my shirt one night; only to gasp… shut her eyes… and whisper: “What did you do?” On that particular occasion, I had… -
Social Media Psychology
15 May 2013 | 8:33 amBy Guest Blogger Marcela De Vivo, from Los Angeles Social Media Psychology Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net With various social media outlets constantly vying for our attention and requiring increasingly more time to maintain, our digital lives are taking over our real ones. Recent studies have shown that we now spend an average of 6.9 hours each month using social networks—double the amount of time since 2006. With smartphones, tablets and increasingly more apps and platforms through which to share your life digitally, it’s undeniable: social media is… -
Poem by Babaji, Himalayan Saint
12 May 2013 | 10:06 amI came across this poem in an astrology book by James Braha (fantastic writings — check out his books online!). I have many favorite lines from this poem. Two of my favorite lines can be inferred from this accompanying image. [© Anna Ignatieva - Demon and Angel, 2005] A Poem by Babaji, A Himalayan Saint Love and serve all mankind. Assist everyone. Be cheerful, be courteous. Be a dynamo of irrepressible happiness. See God and good in every face. There is no saint without a past. There is no sinner without a future. Praise every soul. If you cannot praise someone, let them pass out of… -
Erotica and Pornography
3 May 2013 | 5:37 pmErotica and Porn: A polite request for clearer distinctions to be made — and how you can help :) I. EROTICA = PORN…NOT! I recently came across a blog post titled Survival Tips for the Pornocalypse. The latest news is that books by (some) erotica and erotic romance writers are being filtered and excluded from Amazon’s “All Department” search feature. The post also mentions that porn is what sold Kindles. Direct quote from the post: “Porn. Face it, Jeff Bezos [founder of Amazon]. You owe the success of Kindle to me, and to every erotica writer out there… -
Introducing Screwpulp
3 May 2013 | 12:46 pmP.S. That’s a nice logo, isn’t it? :) Screwpulp is run by Richard Billings, who has this to say of his start-up publishing company: “I want to change a broken industry. It’s been broken for a while. I’m not just someone trying to start a business to make money.” I liked following the updates on Screwpulp’s Facebook page, so I decided to enroll a couple of my eBooks in their catalog. I thought my parodies were a good fit so I submitted those for consideration. Here’s a bit more information for you to get a better idea of Screwpulp. Mission…
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NeoBluePanther
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5 Ways to Avoid Repeating Your Mistakes
18 May 2013 | 1:24 amTweet “All men make mistakes, but only fools repeat them.” If this statement is true, then most of us are fools, because I am yet to come across anyone who, at some point of time or another, has not made the same mistake twice. In an ideal world, it would be possible to learn from every mistake that we make, and never repeat them. In fact, in a perfect world it would be possible to learn from the mistakes that others make. But, unfortunately, the world we live in is hardly perfect. For a variety of reasons, we are not even able to learn from our own mistakes every time. But, if we make a… -
Where do ideas come from?
4 May 2013 | 9:42 pmTweet Ideas are strange beings, and usually with a life of their own. Sometimes, an idea will take control of you completely until you are forced to act on it, and at other times an idea will flit across your mind so quickly that you won’t be able to understand what it was. I have always wondered about the origin of ideas. I also feel that no idea is original. Every idea that we have has its origin in something we have read, heard, seen or felt at sometime or the other in our life. Even the best of us cannot create anything, not even ideas, out of thin air. There has to be something to work… -
How to find your Passion?
5 Apr 2013 | 4:33 amTweet The most common advice that you can expect from any motivational speaker is this : Do what you are passionate about. If everyone knows that, it should be easy. Right? Only it isn’t. Very few are able to identify what they are passionate about – for the rest, the search for passion is a lifelong exercise. Sometimes, by the time a person knows for sure what he is passionate about, it is too late to do anything about it. Before I continue, let me tell you a story I heard as a boy. There was once a famous sage, called Narad, who used to take the name of the Lord all the time. One… -
The “How” and the “Why”
18 Mar 2013 | 4:47 amTweet Let’s say you want to start something new. Something you have never done before. What do you do? You read a few “how-to” books on the subject, you seek help from friends who are already doing it, and you visit a few websites that deal with the subject at hand. Chances are if you are serious about doing the thing, whatever it may be, you will soon be doing it well enough. But, what if you want to get better at it? You can do almost anything thing well enough if you know how to do it, but you can do it better if you know why it is done the way it is. The knowledge of the… -
Ten Great Quotes for Writers!
5 Mar 2013 | 11:39 pmTweet Quotes have always been around, but in the age of Twitter and Facebook, they have become ubiquitous. Over the past couple of years, I am sure you must have come across many great quotes too – shared by your friends on Twitter or posted by them on Facebook. Here is a list of ten great quotes about writing that I have come across over the years. I hope you like them as much as I do. Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts. – Larry L. King It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.
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About that Writing thing.
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Holy crap!
20 May 2013 | 6:13 pmSo some good stuff has happened. I got a very nice note about my story in Thuglit. I also forgot to mention before but, holy shit. A little experimental erotic flash story I made quite a while ago and had no idea what to do with won a spot in the Solarcide Sinthology. This is a biggy type first. My first contest type thing and my first placement. I’m pretty stoked about that. Next up I got a lovely (no really super nice) acceptance fro LooseLeaf Tea. You should check it out, the name is cool and it’s a quality zine. I’m super proud of that story because it addresses parts… -
Flapping my Chicken wings.
16 May 2013 | 4:27 pmSo okay. I’m in the midst of stretching my little chicken wings and trying to put together a series of articles to pitch to an online magazine for money. Have you ever watched a chicken try to fly? Some can fly, some only think they can and others run around in crooked circles flapping and squawking in increasing distress. I am in the last category. I am nervous about embarking on a small bit of real grown up freelance work if I get it. My main reasons for this are as follows: I am growing increasingly stressed out from dayjob things, financial worries (summer is always super tight… -
Drudgery of Writers work.
15 May 2013 | 1:03 amI am in the middle of the drudgery of writing. Cleaning up my rejection pile/excel sheet. Checking how long whatever pieces have been out. Sent two queries and one withdrawal. Checking some zines for updates. Pining for an answer, even a fuck off stop talking to us type answer. I seem to have a penchant for submitting to zines when they mysteriously stop updating their online presences. I’m following tumblrs, liking facebook pages. Checking out some recommended stuff. I’ve done some necessary research. Written a short poet statement. I may actually put that here if I get… -
Further notes on the care and feeding of the Writer.
9 May 2013 | 1:11 amIt has come to our attention that more notes on the care and feeding of The Author are necessary for optimal output, Author happiness and caretaker sanity. As the season changes the caretaker may notice a change in the behavior of The Author. Typically any of the following: Increased mumbling. Wriggling. Moaning that may or may not sound like mooing. Raging about pollen, trees, flowers and nature. Sniffling. Larger intake of water. Shearing of body hair. All of the above may be signs of Allergies. Author is often unable to produce when itchy from head to toe, sniffling or congested. Caretaker… -
Things I would like to be better at.
6 May 2013 | 4:14 pmBefore I get into that, guess what? You can go buy the new issue of Thuglit with a story by yours truly inside, for kindle (which you can read on your phone or your pc or your actual kindle..fuck yeah technology) for just 99 cents dudes. You can get it in print too. Go check it out here and here’s a bite from my story: Kiki the Killer was the kind of girl you saw in videos. Dark brown skin, a few scattered tattoos, long braids and a big, high, round, proud ass that she knew what to do with. The four of them were as rapt as the rest of the crowd. “Aw shit man, I’d hit that raw…
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robertbruce.com
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On Writing
17 May 2013 | 4:31 pmSitting down at his midnight desk after a long day on the job, Bill understood the true nature of his work: It was a brutal fistfight with death … one that he was destined to lose. -
The Spy Who Knew Too Much
16 May 2013 | 4:32 pmForquet, a renowned Parisian tailor, was found dead — shears in hand — at his table Friday afternoon. He was forever silenced, along with the secrets of his powerful clients, by an unexpected and “massive heart attack”. -
A Murky Past
15 May 2013 | 4:31 pmMiller, a wealthy Brooklyn accountant, came home to find a human ear displayed on his kitchen counter. One phone call and seventeen minutes later, he was escorted to a dark van and re-enrolled in the Federal Witness Protection Program. -
The Ad Man
14 May 2013 | 4:31 pmHe stared into his gin, and then briefly at the elegantly detached twenty-somethings sitting at the table to his left. He did not have the heart to tell them that he — a balding, middle-aged advertising executive — had created the totality of the reality they were currently enjoying. -
American Woman
13 May 2013 | 4:31 pmHe knew she had a S&W .38 in her bag. He did not know about the 13 men she’d drawn down on in California, Kansas, and Georgia. The lounge was about to get loud.
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Writing from the twelfth house
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Read a bus timetable? No chance ….
22 May 2013 | 9:18 amWhen I was an undergraduate a long time ago, it was the well-established habit of third and fourth year psychology students to pounce on unsuspecting innocents like myself and subject us to a battery of psychology tests, none of which we got paid for (just catch any of this happening these days!). However, the test measuring verbal versus spatial ability and scored on a percentile ranking, has been of revelatory value to me for my whole life since then. Why? Because the researcher confirmed my dawning suspicion that I was never designed to be a homing pigeon, and gave me a lifelong… -
Observer Ethical Awards nomination
13 May 2013 | 5:20 amReblogged from The Children's Wood: We are delighted to learn today that Emily Cutts of the Children's Wood and Douglas Peacock of the North Kelvin Meadow Campaign have been jointly short-listed in the Observer newspaper's Ethical Awards "unsung local hero" category. This is a shortlist of around 5 out of 300 entries nationwide. It is a very welcome recognition of all the hard work they have put in. Read more… 295 more words This is the latest development in The Children's Wood/North Kelvin meadow campaign, indicating how much momentum it has gained in the last year! Do go… -
Astrology – what Sun Sign columns CAN’T tell you….
26 Apr 2013 | 9:01 amAlways being keen to demonstrate that the great and ancient art and science of astrology has much more to offer than its popular face in the sun sign columns would suggest, I thought I’d re-publish the following article which appears on this site on the “Not the Astrology Column” page, but which a number of new readers may not have come across. It is written for members of the general public with an open-minded interest in astrology. Check it out, and let me know what you think! 11th Century Horoscope My career as an astrologer began in a launderette in Bath, England, in… -
Watch this clip – feed your soul!
21 Apr 2013 | 8:37 amA core memory from my Hebridean childhood is located in winter’s depths. Whilst dashing out to play after our evening meal, running up the garden path, breath frosty on the clear cold air, a glance at the pitch dark sky stopped me dead. A magical swirling dance of colour was washing the Northern sky with translucent radiance. I held my breath, friends forgotten, gazing for a long time at the wonderful display. Gradually, inevitably, it faded and vanished. I remained entranced for a very long time afterwards. Polar Spirits Subsequent adult reading provided a scientific explanation for… -
These rules work for hang gliding, tennis, sex – oh, and writing….
17 Apr 2013 | 10:23 amI can see you. The spray can of heavy duty industrial oven cleaner parked on the kitchen floor is a dead give away. Peel off those rubber gloves, stop pretending that your family will drop dead of food poisoning tonight if you don’t clean those charred meal residues insulating the inside of the oven right away. Follow me. Yes, just as I thought. The study door is ajar. I can see the laptop screen from here. Closer….yes, that’s it. Don’t die of embarrassment, it won’t help. A new document is open on screen. A title? “ (NB – provisional ) Of authorship and…
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Every Person Is a Philosopher
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For Memorial Day, the Different Stories We Remember
23 May 2013 | 5:00 amIn May 1865, Charleston, South Carolina had been largely abandoned by its white residents. Among the first Union troops to enter the city after its surrender were black infantry regiments. They marched in singing liberation songs. As historian David Blight put it: “Thousands of black Charlestonians, most former slaves, remained in the city and conducted [...] -
“The ocean singing along with the coqui”: On the Front Porch with “This Is What I Miss”
22 May 2013 | 5:00 amThis piece by NWA writer Edmee Cappas Velez, “This Is What I Miss,” is a litany of what’s unique to her homeland of Puerto Rico. She conveys those feelings beautifully: she appeals to each of the senses to craft a tapestry of what you might feel on a beach, and in the shade, and at [...] -
June Literary Event Roundup
21 May 2013 | 11:39 amThe Neighborhood Writing Alliance is closing out May in style with our benefit tomorrow. That also means June is right around the corner. And with it, a bunch more great literary events around Chicago. Let’s get out our calendars and take note of some of the highlights for the month of June. The annual Printer’s [...] -
A Taste of What Awaits You at Our Benefit This Wednesday!
20 May 2013 | 5:00 amOur 2013 Every Person Is a Philosopher Annual Benefit is almost upon us! It takes place this Wednesday (May 22) at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Ballroom, 112 S. Michigan Ave. We’ve been teasing the event for a while now, and we hope you’ve all gotten a ticket if you can make [...] -
Virtual Book Club: The Conclusion of Miles from Nowhere!
16 May 2013 | 5:00 amWe’re excited for the Neighborhood Writing Alliance’s 2013 Every Person Is a Philosopher Annual Benefit, taking place next Wednesday, May 22! Our featured speaker is Nami Mun, author of the bestselling novel Miles from Nowhere, in conversation with Annie Tully of One Book, One Chicago. We’ve been hosting a virtual book club of Mun’s novel, which with this post [...]
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Working Writers
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Does Site Speed Affect SEO?
18 May 2013 | 7:54 amGuest post by Annette Hazard When Google recently announced that they would be using speed of loading time on a website as a contributing factor in determining ranking, many website owners panicked. They worried that their websites were literally not up to speed, and they wondered what this meant for them in terms of maintaining those precious ranking spots. As it turns out there is no need to panic (the speed factor is a minor consideration from Google), however there may be some need to look more closely at how speed could be having an indirect impact on results. Indirect Impacts The speed… -
Three Costs You May Forget When Starting Your Website
23 Apr 2013 | 6:56 amGuest post Starting a new website is an excellent way to promote your ideas, products or services. Many people earn money through their websites, and they can be a valuable marketing tool for your business. As with any marketing tool, there are costs associated with starting a website. Every website owner should understand the three costs most people forget when starting a website. Hosting Many website owners overlook the cost of hosting when figuring in their website costs. Hosting plans are usually inexpensive, with some basic plans costing less than $10 a month. E-commerce plans, which… -
Business Networking Skills!
9 Apr 2013 | 7:50 amGuest post by Debra Fine Learn how to make the most of meetings, interviews, and networking events or of entertaining clients at conventions, trade shows, and other work-related functions. Do you dread receptions, banquets, and other business-related social events? Does attending another open house make you want to run inside your own and lock the door? You’re not alone. Many of us are apprehensive about these situations, because most of us either hate entering rooms where we don’t know anyone or hate spending time with people we don’t know well. Keeping a conversation going during such… -
Interview: Ruzielle Ganuelas
18 Mar 2013 | 1:22 pmRuzielle Ganuelas was born and raised in the Philippines which is where she started writing. She was about 13 and somehow discovered she could pull together all the stories and poems floating inside my head and put it down on paper. Now, she lives in Seattle and is back in college to finish her senior year. She’s also been blogging since the Friendster days, and recently started blogging again when she went back to school to balance the academic writing with the creative, memoir-type writing which tends to mesh around her head. Enjoy this interview. Let’s talk blogging: how often… -
A Day in the Life of an Advertising Copywriter
18 Mar 2013 | 1:08 pmGuest post by Trish Little Most people have no clue who writes both the witty and the rotten advertising they’re exposed to on a daily basis. Many people are under the impression that the owner of the product comes up with these sometime entertaining little ditties. Actually, the person responsible is the advertising copywriter, often working for an outside ad agency. Now this isn’t to say that what’s communicated in your average TV commercial or print ad is entirely the purview of the copywriter alone. There are many cooks in the kitchen but the guiding voice behind most advertising…
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Sara Dobie Bauer's Blog
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Star Trek: Into Darkness – Couldn’t Be Any Better
21 May 2013 | 9:42 amThe newly revamped Star Trek movies scare me; I’m not embarrassed to admit it. I saw Star Trek: Into Darkness last weekend, and here’s my short review: I was in fetal position the whole time. I love the Star Trek franchise. Love. When I want to relax and be entertained, I watch the original episodes (you remember: when William Shatner was hot). The original films are hilarious, due to the time period in which they’re made and the crew’s overwhelming affinity for getting fat and old. The TV show and original films are different animals, but I love them both. Same can be said for the… -
Rough Hands: A Different Perspective
14 May 2013 | 9:38 amMany of you called for MORE after reading my recent short story, “Rough Hands.” (See HERE.) This is just a tease, but hey, why not get a glance into the mind of our human character, Damian Keller? Enjoy this tiny addendum. Rough Hands: A Different Perspective Standing so close to her in the elevator, he smelled her perfume—spicy, like cinnamon and autumn in London. Her dark eyes shook as she looked up at him. She didn’t want to be kissed; he kissed her anyway. He felt her hesitation—her lips limp like cold, raw meat. Then, her lips tightened, willing him to pull away, leave her be. -
Saying No to Grad School
8 May 2013 | 9:00 amFor the past few weeks, I’ve met with several of my amazing professors at Glendale Community College to discuss the prospect of me pursuing a Master’s degree at Arizona State. Although they’ve all been very helpful, they’ve been holding out on me; yesterday, I got the real deal, and I left campus, halfway between total panic, disillusionment, and tears. The fact is I’ve been looking for some challenge in my life. I love writing novels and short stories; you know that. However, I usually feel as though I’m not doing “enough.” I’m not working toward the greater good. I like to… -
Why Gatsby Used to Suck
6 May 2013 | 9:07 amI first read Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby in high school, and I hated it. I found it to be boring, pretentious, and pointless. With the upcoming release of Baz Luhrmann’s film version, my curiosity was peaked, and I decided to give Gatsby another try. I was stunned, because now, at the age of thirty, I love The Great Gatsby. I want to shake my high school self and shout, “What the hell was the matter with you?” But then, I came to a realization: it’s no wonder my high school self hated Gatsby; there was no way my high school self understood the book at all. The Great Gatsby is… -
An H and Five Ws with Amy Donohue, Comedian and Kidney Donor
30 Apr 2013 | 12:46 pm“The Fabulous One.” It took a while for me to really meet Amy Donohue. I knew her because she was famous … to me, at least. She is a recurring speaker at Ignite Phoenix and Ignite Phoenix After Hours. She has classic, bad-girl movie star style, and she’s a hot chick. When I finally met her face-to-face, we realized we “knew” each other via Twitter and I realized I had to know more about her. Amy is about to embark on an amazing road trip, so I caught her just in time for an interview. In April of 2011, she donated her right kidney to a friend’s mom. She met the…
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Mystery Writing is Murder
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Three Types of Good Story Repetition
24 May 2013 | 1:00 amToday I'm over at K.M. Weiland's Blog, WordPlay (a fantastic writing craft blog, if you haven't visited), talking about three types of good repetition for our stories. Hope you'll pop over. -
How Convenient--Plot Contrivance
21 May 2013 | 9:01 pmby Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig Morgue File--o0o0xmods0o0o Sometimes when we’re drafting a book or writing an outline, we’ll run into something that needs to happen in the plot, but is clumsy, or seems convenient or contrived. I’m working on something now and ran into this problem. As a matter of fact, I’ve run into this same exact problem in a different manuscript. I need to have my sleuth’s home broken into. How can I get away with that? She has nosy neighbors. She’s alert. She’s, as a matter of fact, an insomniac. The villains in my… -
How James Patterson Made 94 Million Dollars Last Year
19 May 2013 | 9:01 pmby Gretchen Archer, @Gretchen_Archer I don’t have a clue. He probably doesn’t either. I’m sure there are forensic accountants, Schedule Cs, and colorful pie charts with the secret formula for how this man, in today’s publishing climate, earned so much money by simply putting pencil to paper (they say he writes-outlines-edits long hand on legal pads), but I bet there’s no one-sentence explanation. “Mr. Patterson, it was the Alex Cross fleece booties that shot you from Forbes Stinking Rich to Forbes Obscenely Loaded.” The only logical answer? James Patterson supplies a high-demand… -
Twitterific
18 May 2013 | 9:01 pmby Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig Twitterific is a compilation of all the writing links I shared the previous week. The links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 19,000 free articles on writing-related topics. It's the search engine for writers. Sign up for our free newsletter for monthly writing tips and interviews with top contributors to the WKB or like us on Facebook Mike Fleming and author and writing coach James Scott Bell are offering an online, interactive, writing program to help… -
The Process, or Lack Thereof
16 May 2013 | 9:01 pmGuest Post by Mitzi Kelly, @mitzi_kelly I’d like to thank Elizabeth for giving me a platform to discuss one of my favorite subjects: the writing process. (Not!) I have to admit, I doubt if many authors approach a writing project with the same helter-skelter methods I use, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity to analyze my lack of a strategy. Or, I should say, my lack of an organized strategy. It really is quite frustrating. From the way I start a new manuscript, to the way it eventually ends up, are at such different ends of the writing spectrum, it’s a mystery to me…
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WinePress Publishing
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The Power of Vocabulary – Part Two
7 May 2013 | 12:17 pmLast week we were discussing how many words are in our everyday vocabulary. How do we end up with our working assortment of words? “Researchers have actually found that infants are able to distinguish between speech sounds from all languages, not just the native language spoken in their homes. However, this ability disappears around the age of 10 months and children begin to only recognize the speech sounds of their native language. By the time a child reaches age three, he or she will have a vocabulary of approximately 3,000 words.” From three to nine months, babies start to “coo”… -
Writing the Anecdote
3 May 2013 | 6:00 am(Image credit: Fashion is a Party) One good way to get the creative juices flowing is to write a short story (defined as an anecdote) about something you are familiar with. It can be a vignette about a person you work with, a family member, your most unforgettable character or even a pet. The dictionary says that an anecdote is “A short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an interesting or amusing nature.” Let Me Demonstrate… Our cat Tillie is a member of our family and communicates with each of us quite well. We have learned to interpret her meows as to when… -
Choosing a Home or Small Office Printer
2 May 2013 | 6:00 amThe digital age has largely replaced the pencil and paper with the keyboard and monitor. But while home and office workplaces have turned “paperless,” from time to time you still need to print out a document. Printers are usually an add-on with your computer purchase, often thrown in at a cheap price from a salesperson or online shopping cart advertisement. But the printer is affordable for a reason: the real money is in ink and toner. Research shows that the printer cartridge replacement market (inkjet and laser toner) is worth more than the printer hardware market. This means… -
Fundraising, Part 2: Planning Steps
1 May 2013 | 6:00 am(Image credit: Mashable) If you need fundraising ideas for your book publishing project, what’s the best way to start? You may be surprised to learn there is a long list of fundraising options available to you. However, planning is a must before you choose any fundraising idea. We started this series with a post on how to launch a kickstarter.com or gofundme.com campaign. These types of crowd funding website are a great tool to collect money from those you know, and even those you don’t know. Beyond crowd funding, one or more fundraiser events/campaigns can help you reach your financial… -
The Power of Vocabulary – Part One
30 Apr 2013 | 6:00 amWhat is one of the best tools a writer can use? Their vocabulary. According to my research on the web, the average person uses 2,000 to 3,000 words, while a college graduate might use twice that amount. But the English language has 1,019,729.6 words. This is according to the Global Language Monitor for January 1, 2012. Do you think we could use some improvement? One excellent way to gain a larger vocabulary is to read. If you’re a writer, it’s safe to assume you’re a reader also. When you find a title from a past literary era, such as Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen I guarantee you…
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Polon - Notebook
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And another thing: you can start a sentence with a conjunction
7 May 2013 | 6:06 amHave you ever been told it’s wrong to start a sentence with ‘and’ or ‘but’? Well, that’s a myth: starting a sentence with a conjunction is not ungrammatical. In fact, it can be rather useful. The Oxford English Dictionary points out that ‘many respected writers use conjunctions at the start of a sentence to create a dramatic or forceful effect’. That is, of course, what we are doing with the title of this post. This isn’t something new, either, as respected linguist David Crystal highlights on his blog. There are sentences… -
Yes, you can end a sentence with a preposition
11 Mar 2013 | 9:40 amLet’s bust one of the big myths about the right way to write: that you shouldn’t end a sentence with a word like ‘after’, ‘in’, ‘to’, ‘on’, or ‘with’. Prepositions describe the relationship between the noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence. For example: His coat was over the chair. Now some people were taught (or seem to remember being taught) that you should never end a sentence with a preposition. But this is a myth. In fact, the rather excellent Grammar Girl considers it number one in her top ten grammar myths. -
Web design: words matter
6 Mar 2013 | 1:49 amYou can’t separate copywriting from the design process. If you want to produce a website that works, you have to think about the copy at every stage. As designers 37Signals wrote in Getting Real, their book on building web apps: “If you think every pixel, every icon, every typeface matters, then you also need to believe every letter matters. When you’re writing your interface, always put yourself in the shoes of the person who’s reading your interface. What do they need to know? How you can explain it succinctly and clearly? Do you label a button ‘submit’… -
Stories with a dramatic arc ‘change the way our brains work’
11 Jan 2013 | 7:02 amSome amazing research shows why you should give careful consideration to the structure of your story. In this short film, Paul Zak, director of the Center for Neuroeconomic Studies in California, explains how he found that stories can trigger the release of neurochemicals in your brain. He also found that they only do this if they follow the classic dramatic arc outlined by the German playwright Gustav Freytag. Freytag’s story structure is: exposition -> rising action -> climax -> falling action -> dénouement. It’s found in everything from Shakespeare’s… -
Hoe, hoe, hoe
13 Dec 2012 | 9:11 amIf you’ve worked with us this year then hoe-pfully you’ve now received our Christmas card, complete with a pun we just couldn’t resist. This card (from the talented Polar) went to people we’ve worked with this year. But we’d like to take this chance to thank all the people we’ve written for, and collaborated with, down the years. We hope you all have a lovely Christmas. We’re taking some time off over Christmas. Our last day at work is 21 December and we’ll be back on 7 January.
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expresswriterteam
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What to Look for in Today’s Web Writing Services
20 May 2013 | 8:22 amWith more and more people taking to the Internet to expand the reach of their businesses, it’s no surprise that the popularity of web writing services is escalating to an amazing degree. Outsourcing some or all of your writing oriented work comes alongside many benefits. For a very reasonable investment, you get to enjoy the services of some of the best professional writing experts in the business. Not only does this free you up to handle other aspects of managing your business, but it allows you to pick the brains of some very talented people and take your website and business to the next… -
3 Ways to Find an Expert Web Copy Writer
13 May 2013 | 8:06 amIf you’re a business owner who depends on the internet for help with your marketing and customer outreach campaigns, then you don’t need to be told how important solid copywriting is. After all, the quality and overall flow of your advertising copy and marketing material can literally make or break the way a potential customer views your product or service. However, not every business mogul is a crack shot web copy writer themselves. In fact, writing effective copy is a skill that can take quite awhile to master. It takes study, practice, and an instinctual understanding of how people… -
Why You Need Exceptional Web Content
29 Apr 2013 | 6:16 amWhen it comes to success in business, you’re always hearing all about how quality is everything. However, this is actually far from the truth. The fact of the matter is, you can have the most groundbreaking product, the best service, or the most interesting blog in the world… but you’ll still be absolutely nowhere if no one can find it. That’s where killer web content writing comes in. Well-written web content helps build a bridge of words between you and your customer by making sure they know everything they need to know in order to make an informed decision. In fact, experts agree… -
SEO & Copywriting: 5 Trends for Spring 2013
16 Apr 2013 | 8:27 pmFrom what we have seen so far, it looks like 2013 is going to be a pivotal year for content marketing. Google’s major Panda and Penguin updates last year have changed the face of copywriting forever. As an effect of Google’s newest algorithm updates, low quality websites crammed with keywords have fallen in the cracks and those that provide original and valuable content have continued to grow. If you’re involved in copywriting and search engine optimization, the below trends are definitely the ones you should be following. #1 Quality SEO copywriting with Google Authorship Google’s… -
Top 5 SEO Website Content Strategies for 2013
6 Feb 2013 | 4:43 pmThe playing field for SEO website content has spectacularly changed over the past 12 months. Google’s search engine ranking factors now depend on a number of things, all of which focus on one thing: QUALITY. From diversity and originality of writing to word counts and blogs complete with an Author profile, we’ve lined up the top best 5 SEO website content strategies for your reading benefit. #1: Diversify, diversify, diversify. SEOMoz’s panel of experts talked about diversifying links, content and strategy in their 2013 post on SEO. Posting the same content, or spun content that…
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Litopia
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Of Leprechauns & Lawyers
14 May 2013 | 3:12 pmMore news and debate from the confluence of writing, publishing and the law. Presented by leading lawyer Donna Ballman with literary agent Peter Cox. Don't forget - you can post topics for Donna to discuss in the Comments section, below. Links from this show: No Country For Wallflowers - The Perks of Being a Wallflower Is Banned Should Anne Frank Be Banned Too? Call For Atticus Finch - Harper Lee Goes To Law Call For G.I. Joe - Writers Sue Paramount,& MGM Over 'Stolen' Sequel ) http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/gi-joe-writers-sue-paramount-496444 … Ukraine… -
The Singing Dentist
10 May 2013 | 3:27 amWhat are you going to do about a bad - really bad - online review? This week's show features one dentist's (you read that right, folks) creative response - she owns the copyright in your review! Plus tons of other timely topics that writers need to know about, including: Authors Sue Penguin’s Self-Publishing Platform Author Says Muslim Group's $30m Libel Suit Will Expose Terror Ties Court Expands 'Fair Use' For Artists Using Copyrighted Works Fox Censors Cory Doctorow’s “Homeland” Novel From Google Amazon Accused Of 'Corporate Censorship,' Again Presented by leading lawyer… -
The Listener in the Shadows
7 May 2013 | 4:47 amIt's not often we have a real-life spy as our special guest on LAD - but tonight, stepping out of the shadows and into our spotlight is special guest Major David Thorp - a man who has spent his entire life in signals intelligence (SIGINT)... from the Cold War to the Falklands, and everything in-between. SIGINT is one of the least-known but most important aspects of battlefield and peacetime intelligence gathering. David's book, The Silent Listener - Falklands 1982: The Inside Story of British Electronic Surveillance and Intel Controversies, ignited a firestorm of controversy when it was… -
Being English
23 Apr 2013 | 2:22 amOn this Saint George's Day, Garry welcomes Robin Tilbrook, chairman of The English Democrats, and poses the question - what exactly does it mean to be English? And just how close is patriotism to nationalism - to racism? It's a minefield out there! As always, Garry dispenses with the niceties of Political Correctness in the pursuit of truth. And justice. And the English way. A great, thought-provoking show - pass the link on! And in the meantime, join in the discussion on the website. Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes Be a wonderful human being and… -
Get Up, Stand Up: Stand Up For Your Rights!
19 Apr 2013 | 1:30 pmHere's whats important to writers, right now: Trade figures launch Read Petite digital venture Ebooks make up 23 percent of US publisher sales Slow Death of the American Author Blow to Rights of Broadcasters Under the Copyright Act Most censored books of 2012 Apple Goes on Censorship Spree Teacher tells fourth-graders to give up constitutional rights National Press Photographers Assoc Joins Copyright Suit Against Google Chicago Public Schools’ Ban of ‘Persepolis’ Continues HarperCollins, Open Road E-Book Suit Producers settle Spider-Man lawsuit Presented by leading lawyer Donna Ballman…
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HEMRAJ SINGH
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CBI or CBCC?
10 May 2013 | 1:18 pmWhen the CBI top man, Ranjit Sinha, revealed – not much of revelation though no matter how desperately we hoped it wasn’t true – that the CBI had to ‘consult’ the government on certain issues, I began wondering if I really understood what CBI really was and what it was supposed to do. What did he think he was doing showing an investigation report to the government in a case in which the government officials were the chicken on the roast? If it was an investigation agency, it didn’t make sense for it to ‘consult’, much less take instructions, from those… -
The Final Argument
10 May 2013 | 11:42 amAs a 14-year-old it was beyond me as to why my father wanted my presence when Kailash — a drunkard rickshaw-puller employed for small chores at the hotel owned and run by my father for better part of his life — requested my father to talk his daughter into abandoning her abusive husband for good. Even today I can only speculate, for I never asked and he never told his reasons. But, if he wanted to educate me in the strange ways of the world, well, he did succeed I suppose. Her husband lived in a nearby village and kept her with him only so long as her money lasted, after which… -
Gujarat 2002: The Unforgettable
3 May 2013 | 1:09 pmLet me start off by admitting that no matter how hard I try I just can’t forget Gujarat 2002. No, I was not personally affected by the pogrom; not even remotely. And, no, I am not a Muslim behind a Hindu pseudonym, in case you are wondering. I am a normal Indian. An average Indian who believes in simple things, and has simple – almost naive – ideas about justice and righteousness. And someone who would not like to believe that we live in a world that runs on heartless pursuit of selfish goals and we live for no ideals greater or higher or better than individual ‘pursuit of… -
Eve-teasing and the Law: The ‘Cute’ Cancer
18 Dec 2012 | 10:11 pmStatement 1: “Main aapko bike pe ghumaunga. Hum badi aish karenge…Ice cream bhi khilaunga.” (“I’ll take you around on bike. We’ll have lots of fun. Will also get ice cream for you.”) – A 4-year-old boy to a distant female relative of 24 (twenty four). Statement 2: “Didi, aap bahut sundar ho. Main bada hokar aapse hi shaadi karoonga.” (“Sister, you are very pretty. When I grow up, I’ll only marry you.”) — A 5-year-old boy to a 22-year-old cousin sister. Statement 3: “Jab main badi ho jaungi na to **** Bhaiya… -
Agneepath: The Hritik Puppet Show
18 Apr 2012 | 10:27 amGreek gods don’t walk the path of fire; it takes an angry, never-old man, sore and coarse from a long, rocky life of raw deals. And muscles might look ‘pretty’ and ‘sexy’ — whatever that means — and ‘pretty sexy’, but they don’t necessarily look menacing or dangerous, particularly when all ‘chocolate boys and men’ of Bollywood now wear muscles like there was a dress code demanding it. So, when Hritik Roshan is introduced biceps-first, the regular Bollywood melodrama instantly kicks in sending the bare-knuckle realism of…
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Nitpickers' Nook
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‘Wheelbarrow’ words avoid ambiguity
24 May 2013 | 9:42 amThis is a guest post by Norman Wei. Misunderstanding through miscommunication is one of the most pervasive problems in business. It can happen between buyers and sellers, stores and customers, bosses and subordinates. Fortunately, there are specific ways you can minimize miscommunication. In business, you want to strive for high-quality information. In general, if a word can be interpreted differently by different people, it is of low quality. It is a fuzzy word. Communication problems arise when people assume incorrectly that other people view those fuzzy words the same way they do. For… -
Draft reader-friendly summaries
20 May 2013 | 10:04 amWrite executive summaries to provide readers with the crux of your report’s message without requiring them to read the entire document. Limit a summary no more than 10% of the report’s entire length. Include the following sections: Statement of Purpose. Succinctly declare why you wrote the report. Aim for one sentence. Statement of Scope. Clearly state the boundaries of your report by pointing out its focus and limitations. Findings and Conclusions. Summarize the main sections of your report without using graphs and illustrations. Include references to section headings so… -
Just say ‘No’ to workplace jerks
15 May 2013 | 9:00 amThey may be the most difficult people you will ever face working with: those “jerks at work” who oppress, humiliate or belittle subordinates or co-workers. Their dirty tactics include personal insults, threats, sarcasm, the silent treatment and outright attacks. Their very presence is a powerful negative force, and you should not ignore them. Use these strategies to counter their negative influence: Expose them. Draw attention to unacceptable behavior. In front of everyone involved, say: “That behavior violates our workplace code. Please do not do that again.” Educate them. Meet with… -
Learning opportunity: Create PowerPoints that don’t suck!
13 May 2013 | 9:00 amPowerPoint Power Tips: How to Make Sure Your Presentations Don’t Suck May 16 1:30-3:00 p.m. (EST) Let’s face it—most PowerPoint presentations stink! How can you make your point faster, better, and more convincingly with just a few simple tweaks to your PowerPoint presentation? Join professional speaker and trainer Norman Wei, as he teaches you how to achieve your goals without putting your audience to sleep. Give a better presentation—get better results. Sign up today to find out how! Learning Objectives: Why are the first 5 slides the most important? How to structure your… -
3 things employees wish they could say
8 May 2013 | 7:49 amHere are three bits of feedback your employees would love to share with you but likely never will: “You have no idea what I do each day.” Many employees believe that their supervisors don’t grasp the requirements of their jobs and the amount of work they do. Action itemCounter that belief by finding out. Shadow employees, sit down with them to complete workload assessments or, better yet, do their jobs for one day. “I hate your meetings.” Most meetings are a waste of time and your employees resent you for it. Action item: Before you schedule another meeting, decide if it is…
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Memoir Writing Blog
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Writing About Characters: Even Movies Don’t Always Get it Right
23 May 2013 | 12:01 amMatilda Butler discussed character development and memoir writing. -
Does Your Past Hold a Key to a Great Story? Five Elements of Experience Essential for Building a Story
19 May 2013 | 12:01 amPamela Jane Bell returns from her past with a new look at writing memoir. Full of valuable information, be sure to check this out. -
Memoir Book Review: Alison Buckholtz’s Standing By, Reviewed by Lanie Tankard
15 May 2013 | 1:41 amLanie Tankard shares a memoir book review that explores the challenges of military families when a parent is deployed. The book is Alison Buckholtz's Standing By: The Making of an American Military Family in a Time of War. -
Mother’s Day and Memoir Writing: Interview with Linda Joy Myers
12 May 2013 | 12:01 amJoin Matilda Butler and Linda Joy Myers as they talk about truth in memoir and what to do when the deeper truth finally reveals itself. -
In Honor of Mothers…Stories and Gifts for You
11 May 2013 | 2:25 pmIn honor of Mother's Day and all our mothers, Matilda and Kendra are giving away free, unlimited access to The [Essential] Women's Memoir Writing Workshop. Find out how you can get all 21 lessons (a $109 value) free. This offer goes away at midnight Tuesday.
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How To Write A Book | Joel Trains Authors
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Try out a new note-taking system
19 May 2013 | 10:53 amMy friend Kevin Dietz has created a note-taking system: LotsOfJots.com. “Jots” are notes of any length. They live on “Pages.” There are “Topic Pages” and “Journal Pages.” It is a simple and wonderful way to keep track of anything at all. The pre-release version is ready to be tried out. It’s bare-bones, in a sense, but already supports text notes and drawing notes, as well as attachments. Soon will come bit-map graphics, audio, and video. English: Wooden File Cabinet with drawer open. Taken by me. (Photo credit: Wikipedia Here’s an… -
Jon Morrow offers some great advice for enlivening your writing
6 Feb 2013 | 8:48 amHow to Fix Your Writing When It’s Lifeless, Tedious, or Even Downright Stupid FEB 05, 13 Happens to the best of us, you know. We’ve all been told to let the words flow loose and easy and free, but instead, we stiffen up like a British banker before his annual rectal exam. It feels horrible too. Instead of enjoying writing like we’re supposed to, we end up gritting our teeth through the entire experience, knowing something just ain’t right but feeling so uncomfortable that we can’t help sounding like a robot. The good news is that deliverance is at hand. Like any good friend,… -
Come to my half-day workshop!
6 Jan 2013 | 2:55 pmIt’s Sunday, January 27, at 9 am, at my house. You will learn how to write and publish your book. Any questions? Click here now! Hope to see you there! -
Check out Bill Belew’s membership site for authors
28 Dec 2012 | 2:55 pmAs an author–or as an aspiring author–you already know that success in today’s democratized publishing world is all about marketing. You probably also know that the least expensive, highest-return marketing you can undertake is a blog. But–how will people find your blog and learn about your book and your other services? Somehow, you have to let them know. How do you do that? And can you do it without spending a ton of money on advertising? The answers to these and other questions you might have are available on Bill Belew’s Pro Blogger Membership site. Members… -
Help my brave friend Randy!
25 Dec 2012 | 11:02 amRandy Peyser My fellow book coach and friend Randy Peyser has been coping with fast-moving breast cancer–without health insurance. She is fighting hard. Friends have put together a benefit concert and silent auction for her on January 6 at the Corralitos Cultural Center, 127 Hames Road in Watsonville, www.corralitoscultural.org. For info or reservations: Call 831-588-9354 or email michael@michaelgaither.comIf you can’t attend, you can make a donation by either contacting Randy at (831) 726-3153 or mailing your donation to P.O. Box 151, Aromas, CA 95004 Warmly, Joel PS Happy…
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The Write One Blog
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Choosing A Book Editor – 3 Tips For Finding A Book Editor
5 May 2013 | 5:20 pmChoosing a book editor is arguably one of the most important decisions you’ll make with regards to your manuscript. An editor’s job is to maintain a writer’s voice while providing improvements for your manuscript. Editors who understand your voice as a writer can greatly improve your book’s chances of becoming a success. As such, the [...]Related Posts:How To Plan A Budget For Your Book – Creating A…How To Handle Manuscript Critiques – Choosing A Beta…10 Random Facts – The Life Of A WriterNaming Your Characters – 4 Tips For Naming… -
The Life Of A Writer – The making of a book
28 Apr 2013 | 7:24 pmHave you ever had a really good week? Nothing quote on quote phenomenal happened but you were just inspired. Last week, I had some time to regroup and breathe. You just don’t know how good that feels after working really hard. So I’ve had time to write. I am steadily working on my upcoming novel [...]Related Posts:The making of a book – Step one “the…Writing deadlines – Is time of the essence?The Life of a Writer – The reason I writeWhen your inspiration for writing has gone…A writer’s creative process… -
When your blog goes silent
28 Apr 2013 | 7:24 pmI have a bookmark for all of my favorite blogs. These are blogs that I frequently visit because the content is interesting and a refreshing take on my favorite subjects. These blogs span the gamut from nutrition, hair care, writing, fitness, finance, spirituality…blah blah blah. You name it I have a blog bookmarked for it. [...]Related Posts:How blog comments can help sell books or products!How do I make money as a writer? Make money blogging! Part 3Should writers blog?Losing momentum with your target audienceThe #1 reason why your book isn’t selling! -
Book publicity, an author’s secret weapon!
28 Apr 2013 | 7:24 pmDid you catch my post a few weeks ago Why book publicity rocks? Last Wednesday, I received a wonderful piece of publicity in a market that I have done little to no marketing. Jasper County News in Mississippi did a feature on my company and can I just say how estactic I am for this write-up. [...]Related Posts:Why book publicity rocks!Are you a writer? Well here’s why you’re a…Book review for Marketing and Publicity for the authorBook marketing and responding to your audienceThe Life Of A Writer – Book Marketing advice from a… -
The Life Of A Writer [Trailer]
28 Apr 2013 | 7:24 pmThe Life Of A Writer channel is a vlog that follows author Stefanie Newell’s life. Videos are posted every Monday and will include: - Tips for writers/entrepreneurs - Personal vlogs - Cooking videos - Motivational videos and more! Want to hear how I work through writer’s block, find the inspiration to write, all while being [...]Related Posts:10 Random Facts – The Life Of A Writer5 Things Writers Should Know – What You Should Know AsNaming Your Characters – 4 Tips For Naming Characters…How To Handle Manuscript Critiques – Choosing A…
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Blogito Ergo Sum
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The Dramatization Of A "Great" Classic
14 May 2013 | 2:46 pm-This is one time I can write about a movie without having to worry about giving away plot points. It's safe to say that anyone who's been through an American high school has been exposed to F. Scott Fitzgerald's condemnation of the conspicuous consumption of the 1920's upper class, The Great Gatsby.As in Fitzgerald's 1925 novel, Nicholas "Nick" Carraway (Toby Maguire), a newly arrived resident of the fictional West Egg, New York, narrates the exploits of Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the cast of sponging ne' er-do-wells who attend his lavish parties during the summer of… -
All The News I Can Use - Really?
13 Apr 2013 | 10:58 am-"In the infancy of mass communications, the Columbus and Magellan of broadcast journalism, William Paley and David Sarnoff, went down to Washington to cut a deal with Congress. Congress would allow the fledgling networks free use of taxpayer-owned airwaves in exchange for one public service. That public service would be one hour of air time set aside every night for informational broadcasting, or what we now call the evening news. Congress, unable to anticipate the enormous capacity television would have to deliver consumers to advertisers, failed to include in its deal the one requirement… -
A Free Verse Tribute To An Abbey
21 Mar 2013 | 5:37 pm-Like a ship in Her Majesty's Royal Fleet,The abbey rests midst a sea of crisp green grass,Perfectly kept.Everything has its function,Everyone has their place.As each servant has their assigned duties,So too does each spoon have its assigned dish.For the housekeeper to stock the wine cellar,Or to eat from bouillon cup with a soup spoon,Would be equally unthinkable faux pas. Men in ties and tails,Ladies in gowns and gloves,Are nightly sights over filet of sole,And the proper wine.As Lords, Ladies, and senior staff,Devoutly dedicate themselves to age-old customs,The new generation seeks to… -
The Truth Is Out There, But Not THAT FAR Out There
28 Jan 2013 | 9:01 pm-On December 14, 2012 Adam Lanza, of Newtown, Connecticut, shot and killed his mother, then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School where he killed twenty children and six staff members, before killing himself.Americans, watching the horrific aftermath on the national news, cried along with forlorn parents who had dropped their children at school only hours earlier, and now would never enjoy their company again. Although most of us had never heard of Newtown, we wept as a nation at this latest tragic link in the recent chain of mass shootings, which had gripped the… -
Les Misérables' Film Soundtrack Strikes Me As Annoyingly Incomplete
11 Jan 2013 | 4:43 pm-Those of you who receive my newsletter may recall that I said this blog would be a look back at 2012. I'd fully intended to post just such an entry, but as I began writing it I found myself regurgitating tired clichés about having survived the end of the Mayan calendar, the Summer Olympics, and welcoming back Obama. I sighed as I realized these topics have already been written into ground, and I had nothing intelligent to add to them. Once I removed these topics from the piece, I was left with an incomplete rant on the recent string of mass shootings in…
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Stories To Tell Books
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When Should You Write a Memoir?
22 May 2013 | 12:17 amWhen should you write a memoir? You have just been through unique or dramatic events, overcome apparently overwhelming obstacles, or traveled to exotic places. These are all experiences which might be the stuff of a compelling memoir. Or, maybe friends tell you that you’ve had such an interesting life that others will be fascinated to read about it. All you need to do is get an account of your life into a book and you’ll have a best seller. Before you start your first draft it might be a good idea to think about a recent comment made by British novelist Hilary Mantel, winner of… -
5 Tips on Writing Great Scenes
18 May 2013 | 5:08 pmEvery author wants her book to be a page turner. How can you make sure yours is? The short answer is write great scenes. Courtesy of the Search Engine People Blog under Creative Commons Think about why readers read. They are looking for a powerful emotional experience. A romance reader gets the vicarious opportunity to fall in love. The mystery reader shares the detective’s sense of urgency; if he doesn’t succeed, someone will die. The sci-fi reader is literally out of this world. And it’s not only fiction readers who are drawn in by the emotional pull of the world you… -
Smashwords, Mark Coker On How to Sell More e-Books
15 May 2013 | 5:09 pmMark Coker, founder of the Smashwords indie e-book self-publishing platform, speaking at the RT Booklovers Convention in Kansas City earlier this month, offered some valuable advice for authors who want to increase e-book sales. Coker summarized his remarks, which are based on an analysis of indie e-book sales data, on the Smashwords website in a post titled New Smashwords Survey Helps Authors Sell More e-Books . Coker advises authors to “…imagine dozens of levers and dials attached to your book that you can twist, turn and tweak. When you get everything just right, your… -
Pros and Cons of Template-Based Book Publishing
13 May 2013 | 1:58 pmThe time-honored way of writing a book is to…write it. That is, to plan what you want to communicate, to put your materials in order, and then write it out. Most writers use Microsoft Word, or Pages, for Mac. Then they turn to an editor and a designer to get their book done and published. Is there a way around this? Can you skip the effort and cost of making a professional book? That is where templates come in. Do templates help? Do they make this process easier? Is the outcome better? We will explore the pros and cons of the three types of template-based publishing that we’ve… -
Good Reads: New Sources at the NGS Conference
10 May 2013 | 6:22 pmGenealogists and family historians might well agree to paraphrase political pundit James Carville, “It’s the sources.” Finding the right sources is the key to unlocking ancestor stories. It’s day three today at the National Genealogical Society Conference in Las Vegas. We’ve been on the lookout for tips on new sources. Ed Zapletal and Rick Cree of Family Chronicle Books showed us two newly released additions to their Tracing Ancestors series. Tracing Your Colonial American Ancestors, by David A. Nash, explores a spectrum of sources beginning with more…
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Scribophile
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Announcing the Winners of the Character-Driven Tale Contest
16 May 2013 | 4:05 pmAnnouncing the Winners of the Character-Driven Tale Contest It’s been a marathon few weeks for our intrepid contest judge, David Corbett. This has been one of our biggest contests yet, and as a result, he’s had more than a novel’s worth of writing to read! But he didn’t just read the entries; in the true Scribophile spirit he also took time to give each mention some great feedback on how to improve the next draft. And without further ado, on to David’s picks and remarks. Remember to check out David’s new book, The Art of Character, and join me in… -
Author David Corbett Answers Your Questions
19 Feb 2013 | 8:19 amLast week author David Corbett graciously offered to answer the top writing and publishing questions the Scribophile community had for him. We’ve got his responses ready for you—there’s tons of great insight here. David is the author of four critically acclaimed novels, all published by Ballantine, a Random House imprint. He has taught writing at the UCLA extension’s writing program among other venues, and his new book, The Art Of Character, was just released by Penguin. Enjoy! Elizabeth Carlton: When do you know it is time to let go of the creating/revising cycle and… -
An interview with author Genevieve Graham
22 Jan 2013 | 6:02 amJoining us today for an author interview is long-time Scribophile member Genevieve Graham. Genevieve is a three-time published author with Penguin US. Her novels Under the Same Sky and Sound of the Heart have met with rave reviews. She also runs a successful editing business, Writing Wildly Editing Services. Today Genevieve sits down with Scribophile Social Liaison Cassidy Swackhammer to talk about her success and the life of a published writer. Genevieve Graham: Thanks so much for inviting me to do this interview, Cassie and Alex! Before I came over to Scribophile I was working with a… -
How to beat 85% of the other freelance writing job applicants
27 Nov 2012 | 6:18 amThis week I’ve been looking for new writers to contribute to our blog. This process always fills me with dread, because every time I do it, I get–without exaggeration–hundreds of applicants in my inbox. I have to give everyone a fair shake, so I end up spending a week sorting those messages, reading through people’s writing samples, and trying to rank them in some useful way. I have a few rules and tricks to try to help cope with the flood of people. I want to share them with you here in case any of you decide to apply for a freelance writing job in the future. Any… -
Hibernating for the winter
25 Nov 2012 | 5:03 amHi folks! With Nina’s recent departure, Laura’s hand injury (get better soon!), and Justin’s personal leave, we have exactly zero writers contributing to the blog right now. With that in mind, I think this is a great opportunity to rethink the direction and themes we want to explore in the blog. Its original mission was to provide writing how-to’s, tips and tricks, and other pieces related to the writing craft. But our new Writing Academy overlaps those themes a little bit. It doesn’t make sense to have two separate areas for educational content. So while I…
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The GrammarPhile Blog
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Let's get these straight, please.
22 May 2013 | 2:30 amOn, upon, up on. Do you know someone who is bookish? You might be considered bookish if you misuse upon when you could simply use on instead. Apart from a few set phrases in which upon comes automatically to lips or pen -- e.g., Depend upon it! and, for Britons perhaps, Upon my word! -- this form of the preposition should be reserved for: idioms (put upon); the avoidance of ambiguity, as when on would link a nearer word and upon correctly links the farther one (the effect of the short brisk word on [upon] style); and very occasional effects of emphasis, rhythm, or archaic tone. In this rapid… -
Video: "Underway" or "Under Way"
15 May 2013 | 2:30 amOne word or two? Not sure? Watch this brief GrammarTip video for the answer. -
It's me or It's I?
1 May 2013 | 3:30 amYou're trying to make the right impression as you knock on the door of your blind date's apartment, or on the door of the personnel manager who has your job application. "Who's there?" you're asked. What's your reply? If you've ever been unsure, read on. Pronouns as subject complements. A subject complement is a word or phrase that follows a linking verb such as is or seems; it's the that in This is that, and it's the gray in All cats seem gray. A subject complement isn't the object of a verb but something linked to the subject by the verb. The rule for subject complements is very simple:… -
Happy (belated) Earth Day!
23 Apr 2013 | 2:35 amWill there ever be a Mars Day on Mars? What would they do? Rake red dirt all day? Just something to ponder as you consider today's list of earthy words. 1. meliorism: (a) marked by or showing concern for the environment; (b) advocacy of the preservation, restoration, or improvement of the natural environment; (c) the belief that the world tends to improve and that humans can aid its betterment; (d) active demand by two or more organisms or kinds of organisms for some environmental resource in short supply. 2. eurytopic: (a) a biological agent or condition that is a hazard to humans or the… -
Prayers
17 Apr 2013 | 2:30 amNo grammar posts today - just a word of reflection regarding the events in nearby Boston. Our prayers and thoughts are with the families of the lost and injured, and may those who were so mercilessly cut down find peace and eternal rest.
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Shack's Comings and Goings
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Journal word games: The power of three
21 May 2013 | 11:30 pmThis week’s game, 'The power of three,' is both a word game and an awareness exercise. It revolves around a natural rhythm within a sentence that is pleasurable to the human mind. This rhythm, when practiced and recognised, is a useful tool for adding power and punch to your written prose. The power of three is simply three words or sounds that punctuate a sentence or a phrase. It is such an ubiquitous part of the English language that most people are rarely aware of it being used around them. -
Titles, project plans and outlines
18 May 2013 | 11:02 pmThis week’s journaling for creativity post is the first post in the section: Types of journal entry. It is being started with the project plan, or outline entry, because it is probably the most important entry in a writer’s creative journal. This is the entry that provides the statement and focus for which everything else that you do or journal about eventually feeds towards. -
Mind training games: All about a stranger
14 May 2013 | 6:35 pmThis week’s game is a fun game that exercises your imagination in an amusing and useful way. It can be played as a quick diversion whilst waiting for something or you could set out to play it as a relaxing and entertaining journaling date. The game entails selecting one person in a crowd and building an imaginary life for him or her in your creative journal. -
The 24 types of journal entry when Journaling for Creativity
11 May 2013 | 3:10 pmSo far on the blog we have discussed what journaling for creativity is, and have listed the things that you may scribble, snap, click, type or place an entry into or on to. In the next section, we will be working our way through the different types of entry that may become part of your creative journal and today’s post summarises the areas we will be covering in the weeks to come. -
Journaling word game: Forming recurrence in sentences
7 May 2013 | 3:08 pm“Recurrence” is a quick game of creating sentences that contain some form of recurring sound, structure or emotion; a game that is best played in your creative journal when you have five minutes to spare. Recurrence is often used as a blunt instrument in speeches to impart strong emotions, and this is where we are most likely to recognise it. However, it can also be used with far more delicacy and doing so can transform prose.
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Self-Publishing Experts
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Costs to Self-Publish
23 May 2013 | 11:23 pmNot knowing how much your book will cost to produce can be an intimidating factor in getting your book wrapped up. But don’t let lack of funds stop you from bringing your book to print. Here is a basic list of the costs associated with book production for self-publishing. Another point I want you to consider, like with all things, you have a choice in your level of services. You can always choose the “cream of the crop” service providers, the “cheapest,” or the happy medium. Depending on your personal style and needs, this could vary from person to person and influence the total… -
Top Eleven Reasons to Self-Publish an E-Book
20 May 2013 | 11:02 pmE-Books are the fastest growing segment of book sales in the market today. Self-published authors are poised to help 2013 become the year that more books are read on screens than on paper for the first time. Here are some of the top reasons to consider self-publishing your own e-book. E-Books are: 1. Quick to publish 2. Easy to update 3. Inexpensive to distribute 4. Quick to download 5. Easy to search 6. Portable 7. Eco-friendly 8. Authors own rights 9. Generous with royalty percentages 10. Available world-wide 11. E-Books promote reading! As a freelance graphic designer and illustrator since… -
Who Needs Traditional Publishing Anymore?
16 May 2013 | 11:29 pmWhy spend years of frustration and rejections to get your book published and out into the world? For the unknown writer, the traditional route of high profile publishing houses can be slow. It is hard to keep your confidence and spirits high with multiple rejections. You will still need to do most of your own marketing and have a marketing plan with traditional publishing establishments, so why not avoid years of submitting your book repetitively or searching for an agent, which can also be costly and time consuming? There are many books that have sold well beginning in the self-publishing or… -
Kindle, ePub, and/or PDF – What is the Difference?
13 May 2013 | 5:00 pmReading a book today can mean anything from reading printed ink on paper, to listening to an audio file, to looking at a digital image on a screen. Everyone has their favorite way to read a good book. As a self-published author, you may benefit from having your book available in as many formats as possible to connect with your readers. E-books have two distinct versions: the e-reader-style for Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc. and the PDF for Adobe Reader. E-Pub and Kindle e-books are the types of files that are formatted specifically for e-reader devices and e-book software. The text is a flowing and…
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James Shelley
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Internet and Inequality
24 May 2013 | 8:50 amKevin Drum wrote an article last year in Mother Jones wherein he argued that …the internet makes dumb people dumber and smart people smarter. If you don’t know how to use it, or don’t have the background to ask the right questions, you’ll end up with a head full of nonsense. (Drum, 2012) On the flip side, Ryan Avent suggests that the Internet may be an equalizer of cognitive fortitude: The more I rely on the same cloud brain that’s available to anyone else, the less the strengths or weaknesses of my meat brain may matter. (Avent, 2012) As we make the Internet, to… -
Reflecting and Broadcasting
14 May 2013 | 10:25 pmSometimes I wonder how our present digital landscape influences personal reflection. The ability to instantaneously broadcast a thought can quickly shift an internal dialogue from, "What does this situation really mean?" to "How am I going to fit this into a tweet?" Does the act of contemplation and musing fundamentally change when the space between a guarded thought and a global announcement is so small? -
To Code is Human
14 May 2013 | 8:30 amYesterday I learned how to do a media query in CSS. When I learn bits of code I am always taken aback by how the complexity of computer languages is only surpassed by its creativity. Coding, even if it appears like gibberish, is 100% human. We made this stuff up. And, like verbal language, digital script gives us the capacity to imagine ideas that were impossible to conceive before we wrote the platform to dream on. -
Cooperation
12 May 2013 | 6:00 amThought experiment: let’s imagine that you are in charge of creating a new animal species. Ground rules: you must play by the basic laws of life, remembering that about four-fifths of your own genetic makeup is the same as mice. (Church, et. al, 2009) In other words, you can be imaginative, but not too imaginative! Your experimental creature must be a plausible inhabitant on Earth, so it needs to follow the same processes that apply to all living things we know. Three-part DNA nucleotide codes must signify the same amino acid proteins — just as they do in you, me, goldfish,… -
The Circle of Biogeochemical Life
8 May 2013 | 11:15 amI tried singing Elton John’s Circle of Life (from The Lion King) and replacing the first line of the chorus with, ‘It’s the biogeochemical circle of life’. Clearly this adds far too many extra syllables. (Note to self: do not try as a karaoke trick.) This is unfortunate, really, because there is a clearly a rather strong empirical foundation underlying the basic premise of the song.
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drmstream[writing]
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Lipstick
15 May 2013 | 4:33 pmWe look into a luncheonette, somewhere in a big city. The door from the street is stage left, flanked by large glass windows. An opening to the back is stage left. The counter runs across the stage, with four tattered chrome stools bolted to the floor. Pastry displays clutter the diner top; glass refrigeration cases are behind. Upstage there are three two-top tables, with chrome diner chairs on either side. PADDY: (Enters the diner from the street and sits at the counter. HE wears a clown suit and carries a red wig in his hand. He wears no makeup. His earlobes are stretched out to the size of… -
Working a farm
20 Feb 2013 | 7:10 amThis field has lay fallow but the crops are thriving on other parts of our land. That’s how I imagine a farmer would explain the barrenness here on drmstream. I didn’t grow up on a farm. I did grow up in a place where families still worked the land. Cows would shamble into our backyard to eat fallen apples. A dairy operated at the top of the road. Woods thick enough to get lost in surrounded our houses. This morning when I drove to the train station I passed the big stone wall at the end of the reservoir and thought, I should go stand at the bottom and look at the sky. What do you want… -
The part in between
23 Dec 2012 | 1:48 pmThere is the idea of writing. There is the act of writing. Then there is everything in between. That’s where I have all the trouble. This thought came to me in the middle of a shower and lingered with me all day. The thought came with such a sharp flash and the easy glibness of a not very good thought that I didn’t expect to remember it later. But there it was, rattling around all day, while I ate a slice of pizza, shopped for clothes for my daughter, put together a bed for my son, pulled out of a tight parking space, browsed through the bookstore. The bookstore was a big reprimand. It… -
“I’ve been in that place”
18 Dec 2012 | 7:27 amBaby, I know what it’s like to be in that boy’s head. I’ve been there. Not the guns and stuff. Not killing kids. That’s fucking sick. But I’ve been in that place the kid got to. Tell you? I can’t fucking tell you. It’s too painful to remember. Can tell you what I was thinking. The whole school sitting in the dining hall, the teachers and the priests looking like fucking moppets, preening and smiling. The noise is eating my brain away. An army of rats chewing through my skull. I can’t hear a single thing though. I’m just figuring out where to cut that big beam… -
The ¼ acre: A journal entry
26 Oct 2012 | 10:10 pmThe road is empty now. School is back in session, so the buses come out early to take the children to class. This is the time when the other traffic ebbs as well. The ground is getting hard and the days shorter. The landscapers put their tools away for the winter. Every now and then you see a pickup truck with the snow plow mounted, but there is isn’t the feel of snow in the air. There won’t be for at least 6 weeks now. Ethan walks ahead. He says it’s because we shouldn’t be two across on the road during the morning rush. I know that he wants to be alone with his own thoughts. I do…
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Helping Writers be in Charge
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5 Creative Ways to Recycle A Used Headline
20 May 2013 | 3:02 pmWhat do you do when you can’t come up with a headline? It’s simple. You recycle a used headline. First, find an impressive post you’ve published on your blog. You could browse through your categories and dig out an old post. Or choose one of the most popular ones. Although you’re searching through your posts, you’ll be focusing on headlines. Are you ready? I will show you 5 creative ways to recycle a used headline. I’ll demonstrate by using one of the most read articles on my blog. After dropping my iPhone down the toilet, I wanted to share the panic that followed. So I wrote… -
You’re a Talented Writer, 5 Reasons You Might Still Fail!
18 May 2013 | 12:06 pmGuest post by Jawad The world is a funny place. The more you think about it, the more you realize how nature has given each one of us an equal opportunity to succeed in life. I know this is a controversial statement. But this is what I’ve come to conclude from seeing highly under privileged and less talented individuals succeeding purely on the basis of determination and will power, while the more gifted and talented keep complaining. Each one of us has been gifted with a unique set of abilities, talents and circumstances. It is up to us to use the resources at our disposal to achieve… -
7 Mistakes Thwarting Your Attempts to Get Clients from Your Blog
13 May 2013 | 11:04 amI’m an advocate of blogging to generate clients as freelance writers because it truly puts the writer in charge. When a client comes to you through your blog, you’re the expert. This saves time on having to prove that you deserve to be hired or having to prove that you’re capable of doing what the client wants. The client already knows that, so all you have to do is agree on your rates and close the deal. However, if I’m being really honest, 99% of those who attempt to get clients through their blogs won’t make it. The majority won’t get a single client… -
Just Got a Book Deal … Now What?! [Part 2]
8 May 2013 | 2:50 pmI hope you remember, but if you don’t, this is the second part of my short three-part series on getting a book deal. Originally, it was supposed to be a two-part series, but as it turns out, there’s a lot of things that deserve to be mentioned, so now it’s a three-part series. A while back, I was happy to announce that I got a book deal and am now a part of a well-recognized publishing company. The first post (linked to above) explains how getting a book deal usually happens, how to get noticed, how the work process itself is laid out, what’s with the presence of… -
How To Write A Persuasive Post
6 May 2013 | 3:10 pmIn order to get your readers to take the action you want them to take, you must have the ability to write persuasively. ‘How To Write a Persuasive Post’ will show you how. Persuasive writing is not just about selling to your audience, it’s also about convincing them that what you say is true, that you’re an expert (or interview experts) in your niche and that they can follow your instructions to achieve results. This ensures they will come back to your site and read your version of events rather than anyone else’s. It means that they’ll sign up to your blog and share your…
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American Writers & Artists Inc.
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B2B Copywriter and AWAI Member Keeps Moving Up
24 May 2013 | 6:16 amLearn about Lane Sennett and how she used what she learned at the B2B Intensive to get her freelance writing career moving. -
Your Summer Challenge: 7 Weeks to Residual Income...
24 May 2013 | 5:38 amNick Usborne is offering a Summer Project for anyone interested in setting up a new and unique revenue stream by building your own Money-Making Website before the end of the summer. -
New Opportunities Keep Coming for this AWAI Member
24 May 2013 | 5:13 amBecky Rider has found immense success with her Mmoney-Making Website. Read on to learn how her site is opening new opportunities! -
The Writing Tip That Changed My Career Path
24 May 2013 | 4:17 amChristina Gillick shares a classic tip that can help anyone's copywriting. -
How to Write Your Own Money-Making Websites: Successful Website Owners Revealed
23 May 2013 | 6:54 amCheck out the incredible Money-Making Websites people are creating with Nick Usborne's program.
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Florida Writers Conference Blog
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Becoming a heroine
24 May 2013 | 3:00 amThe main character in the middle-grade mystery I’m writing doesn’t know it, yet, but she’s about to become a heroine. Not right now, not exactly at the point of the story where I am, but she’ll be one when the story ends. Right now, she’s a “regular kid” having some adventures and finding herself in the middle of a mystery. So, what is a heroine, anyway? The dictionary defines a heroine as 1) A woman admired or idealized for her courage or noble qualities, and/or 2) The chief female character in a book play, or movie, who is typically identified with good qualities. -
To get the best use of social media, start with a plan
23 May 2013 | 3:00 amFacebook and LinkedIn and Twitter, oh my! It’s hard enough writing a quality book, having a real life, and–for many of us–holding down that day job. On top of that, everyone’s telling us to be on social media. And not just one site, but on quite a few. It’s enough to make you rip your hair out. And then, once you have these accounts, you actually have to use them. And that’s along with writing and all the other stuff mentioned up top. What’s a writer to do? A writer’s to be smart and have a plan, that’s what. If your time is finite, and… -
Exercise Wednesday: The Litany
22 May 2013 | 3:00 amby Peggy Miller Beyond the religious definition, a litany is a recitation using a repeated phrase, and can indeed be a poem. Write a litany whose repetition is “I believe” or ” Tonight I will” or “I am” or “It happens like…” This is not to be a poem of your religious beliefs. Rather make statements like “I believe in the skitter of my brain in every direction at once.” A litany can be poem of human nature: this is an opportunity to be especially imaginative. One thing that makes a litany pleasant to read is variation. … -
Want to be famous at the conference?
21 May 2013 | 5:50 pmEach year, the Florida Writers Conference attracts hundreds of people to the Orlando Marriott Lake Mary for three uninterrupted days of learning about their craft and business. That’s three days of a captive audience for any product or service aimed at writers, including–potentially–yours! The conference offers many options for bringing your business to the attention of hundreds of potential customers. (I know, I keep repeating that, but it’s an important number). You can take out an ad in the conference schedule of events. You can buy an exhibitor table at the… -
Short Story Tuesday: Most people just cut their fingers
21 May 2013 | 8:22 amFrom the first day I met Catherine, I wondered what she looked like with no clothes on. It wasn’t sexual. Okay, I’m a guy. Show me a lug wrench and my thoughts turn to, well, you know. But Catherine Burke is something different. There’s an air about her, an aura, something that says “I’m gonna kick your ass if I want to and when we’re done, I dare you to hate me for it.” A lot of people do. But they still listen to her, because she forces you to. Not by any coercive means, but because a presence of that size has a magnetic effect. And because she…
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Productive Writers
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How to Make the Best Use of Your Travel Time
15 May 2013 | 12:06 amMost freelance writers spend a lot of time driving in cars or using public transportation. Whatever way you travel, you need to make the best use of this time. Let’s take an example. Say you spend an average of 5 hours a week traveling. That’s 260 hours a year, the equivalent of six and half [...]Related Posts:How to Capture, Save, and Review Your Freelance Writing IdeasThe Power of a Small WebsiteHow Multitasking Hurts Your ProductivityHouse-Sitting and the Location-Independent Freelance LifestyleWhat Music Do You Listen to When You Write? -
Hey Writer, Do You Make the Best Use of Your Brain?
8 May 2013 | 12:06 amAs a freelance writer, you need to use your right brain for creativity and your left brain for productivity and task completion. But since I’m a science guy, we have to address the fact that… The Right Brain/Left Brain Dichotomy Is Not Exact The popular conception of the right brain/left brain split depicted in the [...]Related Posts:How Multitasking Hurts Your ProductivityHow the Web Changes Your Brain and Hurts Your LifeThe Well-Organized Freelance Writer’s Home OfficeSimplicity and the Successful FreelancerMy Criteria for Keeping a Print Book -
Your Ideal Freelance Writer Home Office
1 May 2013 | 12:04 amWe freelance writers spend a lot of time writing in our home offices, or whatever corner of our home we’ve dedicated for our business. Wherever you write in your home needs to be conducive to getting your writing done. Let’s look at the basics of making that space both comfy and inspiring. Furniture in Your [...]Related Posts:The Well-Organized Freelance Writer’s Home OfficeMy Criteria for Keeping a Print BookThe Best Freelance Writing LocationsWhat Music Do You Listen to When You Write?Take A Writer’s Retreat: Go Camping or Rent A Cabin -
How I Renegotiated a Freelance Writing Deadline
24 Apr 2013 | 12:02 amWhether you are a freelance writer or you work for someone else, missing a work deadline is bad. I pride myself on meeting or beating deadlines, and I use that as a prime selling point for getting freelance writing projects. But life happens. You could be late for any number of reasons: illness, family emergencies, [...]Related Posts:How Being Late Hurts Your Freelance Writing Career and Your LifeProfitable Freelance Writing for NonprofitsWhy You Are So Slow Finishing That Freelance Writing ProjectHow to Get More Freelance Writing AssignmentsWhy I Updated My Freelance Writer Resume -
How Smart Phones Can Make Us Less Connected to What Really Matters
17 Apr 2013 | 12:20 amThe Boston Marathon bombings shocked and saddened me, as they did many other people in the United States and abroad. At first I wasn’t going to post this week. But as I reflected on how life can so easily and suddenly be snuffed out, I thought about how important it is for us to be [...]Related Posts:Are Freelance Writers Introverts?Why Choosing the Right Words MattersFreelance Writers Need Vacations…What Music Do You Listen to When You Write?Why Freelance Writers Must Be On LinkedIn
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Aberration Nation
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Art News!
17 May 2013 | 10:53 amMy work has been featured in an article focused on women artist portraying women. The article is published on Artspan, a major contemporary art destination and leading provider of premium artist websites.Watch for an upcoming post with additional information regarding my interest in portraying women in my work.Shown here is a detail shot of a 6' x 6' piece, The Resilient (wounded but not broken) featured in the article. To see more of this work, visit my art site or find me on Facebook! -
The Warrior
26 Mar 2013 | 9:46 amThe Warrior (she cries and hides but never disappears)36" x 34" Acrylic, Ink & Pastel on Canvas“To the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is a bad dream.” ― Sylvia Plath, The Bell JarWell, another week, another challenge. On and on it goes. I've been reading Sylvia Plath's diaries and suddenly feel that she's my soul mate. Hopefully, I won't end up with my head in an oven like her.I'm hopeful.My life took a tailspin in July when my brother died. I've been trying to pull myself out of it for months; I'm close now. -
Some Thoughts on Figurative Work
24 Feb 2013 | 3:05 pmWho Am I in This Crowd?detail of larger workI've been thinking a lot about the value of figurative work in terms of its ability to be progressiverather than retrograde in nature (as Currin said in a 2009 interview). I also heard recently from an art dealer that figurative work is harder to sell because people don't necessarily want to hang a painting of someone they don't know in their home. I get that. The selling part of the comment didn't bother me as much as the idea that when someone looks at figurative work they might naturally feel removed from it.In his 2009 interview, Currin… -
Remind Me Who I Really Am
15 Feb 2013 | 6:04 pmJohn and Penelope Hall, 1974I have to confess. Sometimes I wish I could sit and write everything I want to say rather than say it. I wish my face were a computer screen. I wish I could sit in a separate room, all alone, and paint and communicate via commuter for the rest of my life. Somehow my thoughts, ideas, and feelings translate into the written word rather than the spoken. And I paint them. They are shapes, letters, lines. They are colors and black ink on white paper. But they are oddly not the sound of my voice.I've rarely been able to fully express my… -
Welcome to Wonderland
11 Feb 2013 | 2:05 pmA couple of years ago, out of the blue, I received a note from Mojo Perry, a singer/songwriter who was crazy about my art. He'd stumbled across it on Facebook.Mojo is a fantastic musical talent who has a large following in both the US and Europe. He views his music as art, and never gives up on his quest to create the best, most honest work he possibly can.To learn more about his thoughts on creativity, check out his 2012 Aberration Nation interview.From Mojo's site:"There is a fine line where Blues, Rock, and Pure Originality meet and on that fine line you'll find Mojo…
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Zach Everson | Writer. Editor. Consultant.
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Eater Louisville is a finalist for two Greater Louisville Journalism Awards
21 May 2013 | 10:47 amEater Louisville came in first, second, or third for two Greater Louisville Journalism Awards: Best website Best blog The Louisville Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) will... [Select the headline to view the full story.] -
Eater Louisville turned 6 months old yesterday
16 May 2013 | 12:30 pmEater Louisville launched six months ago yesterday (ok, there were two weeks of posts before the site was officially announced on Nov. 15, 2012; let’s consider those dates the gestation... [Select the headline to view the full story.] -
AOL Travel publishes two of my articles on road trippin’
9 May 2013 | 1:47 pmAOL Travel just published two of my articles “15 Reasons the Best Place in America to Start a Road Trip is Louisville, Kentucky” “Road Trip: Driving the American Horse Trail”... [Select the headline to view the full story.] -
Unintentional comedy at its best: Racehorse owner profiles
4 May 2013 | 7:09 pmFrom The New York Times’s “Orb Finds Joy in Mudville”: Orb is owned by Ogden Mills Phipps and Stuart Janney III, who are first cousins and prominent members of the Phipps racing... [Select the headline to view the full story.] -
USA Today quotes me about Louisville’s dining scene
1 May 2013 | 7:17 amIn last Friday’s “At Derby time, Louisville’s hospitality hits its stride,” USA Today‘s Laura Bly quoted me about Louisville’s culinary scene and linked to my... [Select the headline to view the full story.]
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Whispered Writings
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Making the Case in Your Crime Fiction
20 May 2013 | 4:36 pmI love crime fiction – detectives, forensics, sociopaths, and of course, dead bodies. -
End of one Experience, Beginning of Another
16 May 2013 | 3:38 pmI completed my last project today on a contract that I’ve been working on for the Federal Government. It was my first job as a full time writer. I worked as an instructional designer and wrote online curriculum, instructor guides, participant guides, process manuals, and other job aids. The experience has been extremely valuable, although […] -
This week’s challenge: Embrace
4 May 2013 | 1:11 pmIn continuing my challenge to push myself creatively, I pulled another word out of my word box. The word seemed simple enough. It was embrace. I have discovered though, that I had a lot more difficulty with this than anticipated. There are, as it turns out, a lot of things that I don’t embrace very […] -
Betsy did it again!
28 Apr 2013 | 1:07 pmBetsy did it again! Filed under: Writing tips -
Challenge: Duck, Duck, Goose
28 Apr 2013 | 8:49 amI'm not sure why this idea popped into my mind except that in the game Duck, Duck, Goose, once you tap the "goose", you run as fast as you can to take their spot. Goose mating made into a child's game.
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Drawn To The Deep End
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All change around here now
16 May 2013 | 10:30 pmThe silence that follows seems to hang, until finally broken by a light cough from Ruth. She has produced a plain white envelope from somewhere. Through the cellophane window my name and home address are just visible in 12pt Arial, as per the FUA corporate style manual. Ruth places the letter on the table in front of her and then, carefully and with two hands, slides it across to me.These are the terms of your redundancy package, she says. Her voice is calm and flat now, wholly professional. I reach forward to pick up the envelope but she holds it in place for a moment longer.You don't need… -
Righteous anger
2 May 2013 | 11:10 pmAfter a moment of silence, there is an explosion of bluster from Alan, sounds not words – he doesn’t seem able to get started on what he wants to say. A red flush seeps over his face from the hairline down. Ruth’s jaw has dropped. Eventually, as Josh leans forward to answer, Alan manages to speak.Niece. My niece. That I was having dinner with. That he saw. Niece. Josh is oblivious to this, at least on the surface. Nothing, it seems, is going to distract or divert him. Peter, I can confirm that Alan’s recommendation and our decision were both based solely on business reasons. As you… -
Cashable efficiencies
25 Apr 2013 | 10:00 pmBack at my desk, I work in silence until 11. I say work but really I spend most of the morning reading the news on the BBC website. I can see, in my peripheral vision, that Jenny is trying to catch my eye but I resist easily, losing myself in the screen. Maybe that’s why I keep glazing over, losing concentration – it takes 20 minutes to read about a coach crash on the M6. I have to read the last paragraph, about a family of four that has been three quarters wiped out, three times before it really sinks in.Craig, ever perceptive, asks what’s up. I think about telling him to fuck off, and… -
Trip-hammering
19 Apr 2013 | 9:53 amI wake on top of the bed, fully clothed. My stomach feels hard and shrunken. After lurching across the bedroom, I stumble going downstairs, and just catch hold of the banister. Fuck fuck fuck. My head is pounding, and my neck hurts when I turn my head to look at the clock. Again, fuck fuck fuck. Running this late, I forsake a shave – it’s okay, I don’t think I have any meetings today. I have to clean my teeth though, if only to rid my mouth of the foul taste. The bathroom is at once both too bright and strangely grimy. Spots of dark mould are flowering high up on the walls, out of reach… -
Displacement follows
11 Jan 2013 | 9:59 amAfter I'm not sure exactly how long, someone comes – not a nurse but one of the blue-smocked care workers. When she asks me if I’d like to help with my mother I say nothing – that seems to be answer enough. Telling myself it’s to give some privacy, I turn a chair to face the wall and sit, focusing on a square of magnolia.There is a period during which the light in the room changes. I hear the susurration of Mother mumbling and other voices, one of which may be mine. Then quiet. And a bird-like, blue-mottled hand on my shoulder.Are you going to keep a girl waiting?I turn on the chair.
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Write It Sideways
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The Secret Way to Find a Literary Agent
20 May 2013 | 5:00 amToday’s post is written by regular contributor Dr John Yeoman. To get a novel published today you need an agent. Of course. But why? It wasn’t always thus. When I began writing books 40 years ago I sent my ms directly to publishers. Provided I’d observed the proper rituals – double spacing, one side only, return postage enclosed, etc – I could be sure of getting back a signed personal reply within three weeks. Few agents existed then and authors were advised to ignore them. Why pay 15% of your earnings to a middle man, who’d do little more than check your contract,… -
Planning Your Own Writing Retreat
13 May 2013 | 5:00 amToday’s article is written by regular contributor Christi Craig. Every once in a while, I read about a weekend retreat or a month-long writing residency, and I dream. If only I had a month to squirrel away on just writing. If only I had money to pay for just two days to slip away and write. Lament long enough to a good friend and fellow writer with a creative and determined spirit, and you discover that dreams are not impossible; they just need to be tweaked a bit to become reality. My friend Victoria and I are both working on novels, and we both have young children at home. Getting… -
‘Compose’ Journal Update—Our Blog Is Live!
9 May 2013 | 6:36 amLast year, I shared with you my vision of creating a biannual, digital literary journal which would be connected to Write It Sideways but would also stand on its own. I wanted to give readers of Write It Sideways a regular opportunity to see good writing in practice, and provide another venue for emerging writers to see their work published alongside established writers. Over the past four months, an amazing team of editors has helped me shape that vision into Compose: A Journal of Simply Good Writing. It’s beautiful, useful, completely free, and available to everyone. (In case… -
Excerpt Critique: Coffee In a Paper Cup
29 Apr 2013 | 5:00 amPlease welcome today’s anonymous aspiring author, ready for a peer critique. Take a moment to read the excerpt and leave some thoughtful feedback in the comment section below. If you are a writer whose excerpt has appeared anonymously on Write It Sideways, and now you’d like your name to appear on your piece, contact us. If you’d like to submit your own writing for critique, keep an eye out for future calls posted on the blog. Coffee In a Paper Cup Short Story *Please note: This excerpt is taken from the beginning of the work. You’ve had worse in seatmates. Four-thirty AM in what has… -
Cynthia Morris: Why Books Can Take So Long
22 Apr 2013 | 5:00 amToday’s article is written by regular contributor Debra Eve. Cheryl Strayed’s memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail inspired Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 last year. But Cheryl took her famous hike in 1995. Wild was a bestseller fifteen years in the making. David Guterson wrote Snow Falling on Cedars over a ten-year period. Michel Faber worked on The Crimson Petal and the White for almost twenty. Helen Hooven Santmyer famously took almost six decades to complete …And Ladies of the Club. Why does the process sometimes take so long? I’m exploring my time…
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Words on a pageWords on a page
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A few links for the end of the week
24 May 2013 | 7:28 am5 tips to help you write inspired copy Develop better writing habits by journaling 50 ideas to inspire great (blogging) content 7 bogus grammar errors that you don’t need to worry about Some good thoughts on how to write -
How much detail is enough?
22 May 2013 | 7:23 amSometimes, I think asking that question is like asking how long is a piece of string? The simple answer is just enough. The actual answer is a lot more complicated than that. How much detail you should include in what you’re writing depends on: Your audience. How the detail fits in with what you’re writing. [...] -
Experiments in shorter-form blogging
20 May 2013 | 7:15 amHere, and elsewhere, I’ve been publishing a number shorter posts over the last little while. In the past, my blog posts have had an average length of between 500 and 800 words. I’ve even been known to write a few that have butted up against the 2,000 word mark. Lately, though, many of my posts [...] -
A few links for the end of the week
17 May 2013 | 7:16 am7 freelance confidence busters and how to fight them 10 fundamentals of good blog posts Proofreading tips for writers without editors Six simple tips to improve your web writing Yes, you can end a sentence with a preposition -
Thoughts about not writing
15 May 2013 | 7:22 amIn person and on the web, I continually urge anyone who writes or who wants to write to do the deed. To sit in front of a keyboard (or with pen and paper) and churn out good words. Every day. Without fail. Writing everyday, no matter how little or how much you do, gets you [...]
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Mike Salsbury's Blog
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Review: Be The Monkey by Konrath and Eisler
12 May 2013 | 8:14 pmThis book is essentially a transcript of a discussion between professional authors J.A. (Joe) Konrath and Barry Eisler. Konrath has been self-publishing for several years and has made a very good living at it. I think he would probably argue that he makes more self-publishing digital books than he would be earning through legacy publishers. Eisler is known for turning down a $500,000 advance because he believed he could earn more money by self-publishing the same book. The value of the book is in the advice and information it shares. There is some entertainment value… -
Throwing a Nickel on the Grass
5 Dec 2012 | 6:38 pmMy friend Bob died last year. Bob flew jets with the 456th Fighter Intercept Squadron in the Vietnam war, and talked about having to eject from his plane and survive alone in the jungle for days. That story stuck with me because it was the only time I’d ever seen him so somber and serious. (He was normally very friendly and happy.) After he passed away, I received an email sent to many of his friends. One of his friends told his widow that in an old fighter pilot tradition, he would toss a nickel on the grass for Bob. Having never been a pilot, or even in the… -
Nanowrimo 2012: Lessons Learned
2 Dec 2012 | 11:26 amI’ve participated in National Novel Writing Month every year now since 2009. I’ve found that each year I learned something new. This year was no exception. This year also taught me that there is a HUGE lesson that I still need to learn if I’m ever going to write something worth publishing. Past NaNoWriMo events have taught me several things: 2009: I can sit down and organically write 50,000 words of fiction if I want to. Before that I didn’t think I could. Unfortunately, writing this way results in a meandering, boring bit of prose. 2010: If I… -
Career Advice from a Successful Author
16 Aug 2012 | 9:03 pmToday I had the privilege to learn from a New York Times bestselling author, Michael A. Stackpole. His seminar “Digital Publishing and the Independent Author” at Gen Con Indy 2012 was very well-attended. Some of the take-aways from the seminar: If you’re trying to succeed as a writer, your guiding principle should be “Profitable is Good.” Actions you take should ideally contribute to your overall profit. If you spend $7 a month to host a web site, and that web site generates $10 in sales, it’s profitable. Just as important as… -
9 Ways To Get More from Your Kindle Fire
21 Jun 2012 | 11:28 pmConsider Amazon Prime Membership: The Amazon Prime membership program offers free two-day shipping for all products sold by Amazon.com (but NOT products sold through Amazon by third parties), free instant streaming of many movies and television shows, and access to the Kindle Owner Lending Library which allows you to check out one book free per month from a fairly large list.Prime membership isn’t cheap, costing $79 per year. However, if you order items regularly from Amazon, the free two-day shipping on purchases (of any dollar amount) can add up quickly. I often find that once…
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From Meredith Allard
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Loving Husband Trilogy FAQ Part 2
15 May 2013 | 6:08 pm1. How do you come up with story ideas/characters? For the story ideas, something—a news story, something I’ve seen, something I’ve read—captures my imagination, grabs hold of my brain cells, and won’t shake loose. I have a lot of ideas that float through my brain at any and all times of the day, but the ones that become novels are the ones that latch on and won’t let go. The Loving Husband Trilogy was born from True Blood and reading vampire novels. Victory Garden was inspired by a news report that said women weren’t voting in high numbers (this was more than fifteen years… -
Loving Husband Trilogy FAQ Part 1
7 May 2013 | 7:15 pmHer Loving Husband’s Return has been on the Amazon Best-Seller List since the day after it was released. Thank you. I’ve received a number of questions about The Loving Husband Trilogy, so I decided to answer some of the most frequently asked questions here. Some of these I’ve answered in bits and pieces in various interviews. Today, Part 1. 1. Where did you come up with the idea for The Loving Husband Trilogy? Here’s my answer in this previous post. Between watching True Blood, reading Charlaine Harris, Anne Rice, Bram Stoker, and the Twilight books, believe me, I had a brain full of…
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Game On! Crafting Believable Conflict
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Casting Mayberry
24 May 2013 | 6:04 amWhen I was a child, I loved watching the Andy Griffith show. It was a sweet situation comedy about a small town sheriff keeping the peace in rural North Carolina. The setting was bucolic. The cast was full of benign well-meaning people occasionally beset by antagonists passing through or creating problems for each other.Let’s take a look at the functions of the different characters. The protagonist was the widowed Sheriff Andy Taylor. He had a shrewd mind hidden behind a good-old-boy smile. That was his secret weapon. The antagonists always underestimated him. His role was that of… -
The Hot Tub in the Fast Lane
17 May 2013 | 6:38 amWhen my daughter began driving, we had multiple conversations about driving defensively, being aware of what is happening around you, and looking ahead to see not only what the cars in front of you but the cars in front of them are up to. She brushed me off with, “Mom, I know!” in that infuriating teenage whine that means, “I’m not listening so shut up.”One day we were in a fast lane on a highway with my cruise control set at (unspecified) speed. There was a car in front of me and a truck in front of it. The car in front of me switched lanes to the right and the truck hit his… -
Ch-Ch-Ch Changes
10 May 2013 | 8:13 amOne cannot truly change other people. They have to want to change and be willing to take the appropriate steps and endure the excruciating growing pains all by themselves. Nothing annoys me more than the trope that you can love people into being emotionally healthy. You can love them while they become emotionally healthy, but that isn't the same thing.That said, when one character changes — as your protagonist should — it naturally has an impact on the characters around him. He does not exist in a vacuum. Those closest to him react to this change either positively or… -
The Breakup Letter
3 May 2013 | 9:11 amDear Network Television:This letter has been a long time coming. It's time to discuss the future of our relationship. It isn’t working. You no longer meet my needs or my expectations.I fell in love with you the moment we met. You swept me off of my feet. You were dazzling and thrilling. Our time together was filled with singing, dancing, laughter, and sharing stories from the heart. For years you were everything I needed you to be and more. I couldn’t wait to come home to you at the end of the day. I lived for those weekends curled up in bed together.As the years passed, I… -
Opening and Closing Lines
26 Apr 2013 | 7:20 amOpening lines are difficult to craft well. That’s why they should usually be left until the revision layers. Why, you ask? Because you could spend a year of Sundays trying to craft the perfect sentence instead of writing the rest of the manuscript.Opening sentences are crucial in Chapter One. They give your reader a taste of what is to come. They are worthwhile in the rest of your chapters if you are willing to invest the time. A good opening sentence raises a question or poses a challenge the reader can’t walk away from.Closing sentences are equally important. They are what keep…
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StoryBlog
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Top Ten Life Story and Family History Films
19 May 2013 | 3:00 amI love that Sarah Polley's Stories We Tell and Christopher Guest's Family Tree are getting such good press. It's nice to see more public awareness around genealogy and personal history. I'm always looking for films that focus on life stories and family histories. And I don't mean celebrity life stories and family histories—I'm talking about films that showcase the lives of unknowns and everyday people like you and me. There aren't many comprehensive lists for this type of film—at least, I didn't come across many. To remedy the situation, I started my own Pinterest board: Films about… -
Writing in Small Bites
13 May 2013 | 3:00 amI've spent much of my career developing exhibits and writing text for museums around the world. One of the most important things I've learned is that audiences have very short attention spans. Visitors typically spend about 10 minutes in a 3,000 square foot exhibit—that means they might take about one minute to pause and read some text every 300 feet. That's not much time to capture their attention and share something meaningful! My rules for museum writing are clarity and brevity. Keep it simple. Keep it clear. Keep it short. Those rules have served me well. When I started helping people… -
Writing Stories from Your Life
7 May 2013 | 3:30 amI've always found the idea of writing one's life story to be overwhelming. That's why I encourage my students to write stories from your life instead of writing your whole life story. Writing your life story implies a chronological retelling from your birth to now. Writing stories from your life lets all the pressure off—it's more like storytelling than autobiography. The whole process seems lighter and more fun. The weighty idea of autobiography disappears, replaced by the easy feeling of recounting stories around the kitchen table. It pleases me to no end to find that Agatha… -
Alex Haley Says...
1 May 2013 | 4:00 am"In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage—to know who we are and where we came from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life, there is still a vacuum, an emptiness, and the most disquieting loneliness." -
Story Spark #9: Bond with an Ancestor
25 Apr 2013 | 3:00 amWhether you're writing your family history or your own personal history, you're likely to find yourself writing about an ancestor you've never met. Maybe they influenced a parent or grandparent in some way that ended up having an influence on your own life. Or maybe you've heard stories about them that makes you feel a certain affinity towards them. Whatever the reason, it's worth taking time to get to know them better. And yes, I believe it's possible to get to know someone who's long gone. Try these exercises and see what surprises you come up with... 1) Choose a photo of an ancestor you'd…
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Raquel Byrnes
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Where'd She Go?
23 May 2013 | 11:22 amPhoto by Dan EdwardsSo I'm writing in 3rd person for this new project. I've done it before. You see, although all the books in my past two series are 1st person, the hero's point of view (POV) is always in 3rd person. So I can do it...theoretically.The problem I'm running into is that although I understand how to write in that POV, its never been the main POV of my novel. Since he is the love interest and invariable described, scrutinized, and drooled over by my 1st person heroine, you already know what he acts like, looks like, feels like when he's holding her...or rather, you -- the… -
Secrets at Crescent Point - Cover Reveal!
5 Apr 2013 | 1:32 pmI am excited to share the cover for my upcoming release! Secrets at Crescent Point is book two in my Noble Island Mystery Series and I am so loving the art work!I think it goes so well with the first book in tone and theme. Gothic romance with a twist of faith... I can't wait to share Raven and Siyah's suspenseful story with all of you! -
Great Hooks!
1 Mar 2013 | 11:43 amI love to watch and read suspense. One of the reasons is that when you come across a good one, you can't put the darned book down even when its two in the morning and you're dead tired and you KNOW you're going to regret it, but...you turn the page.Great writers understand the power of a hook. Not only at the beginning of a book; that initial pull into the story that cements you with the character's fate...I'm talking about the ones at the end of each chapter. Those last lines that make you suck in your breath and blink a few times as you decidedly ignore the clock and keep reading.Some of my… -
"The Q Manifesto" --A Christian Thriller You Don't Want to Miss!
9 Feb 2013 | 11:56 amClash of the Titles presents... The Q Manifesto by Alan Schleimer.A new Dead Sea Scroll stuns the world. Is it a forgery or the end of Christianity?Not long ago, experts announced that an ancient papyrus referred to Jesus Christ as having a wife. It caused quite a stir before being quickly discredited. But what if an even more explosive papyrus was found that showed the gospels were faked and that document passed every modern test for legitimacy? That is the premise for The Q Manifesto. The story centers on Jay Hunt, who quit a lucrative Wall Street career to become a backcountry… -
Olympia Finalists Announced
27 Jan 2013 | 1:28 pmToday brings Clash of the Titles to the end of Round Two of our first annual Olympia Award.The Olympia is a literary contest dedicated to Christian fiction and offered only to unpublished writers. In Round Two, the first 3,000 words of entrants’ manuscripts were read and scored by non-industry readers. A hearty THANK YOU to each of these women who set aside a portion of their time for this contest. Without them, the Olympia would not be.Of all our submissions, only the top three scores move on to Round Three. Those scores go to manuscripts belonging to:Bethany KaczmarekLaura…
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Grant Writing Confidential
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Health Navigator Grants: The Walking Around Money Concept Confirmed
19 May 2013 | 6:02 pmIn a recent post about the new ObamaCare Health Navigators program, I said that it looks like classic grant walking around money that should be of great interest to almost all nonprofits and many public agencies, regardless of whether or not they’ve ever done any health related activities. This particular RFP is for the 34 states that are not setting up their own Health Insurance Exchanges. The other 16 states are doing their own “thang,” to quote The Isley Brothers, with respect to ObamaCare outreach and education. In California, this effort is the wonderfully named… -
The Street Outreach Program (SOP) FOA Provides An Opportunity to Explain Seliger’s Quick Guide to Designing Outreach Components
12 May 2013 | 8:06 pmThe Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) just issued the Street Outreach Program (SOP) FY ’13 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA),* which offers an opportunity for us to describe a common funder program paradigm: outreach. Last week, faithful readers will recall that we blogged about yet another outreach program: Health Navigators. Not all of our readers are likely hip to outreach program design. In essence, all outreach programs use more or less the same design and have changed little… -
Links: LED Bulbs, Condoms, Education, News is Bad For You, Marriage, Detroit, Foundations, Congress and ObamaCare, and More!
5 May 2013 | 4:18 pm* Great news: we’re (slowly) moving toward a world where education looks at competency, not hours with ass-in-seat. This is flying under the radar of the national press but is hugely important, especially for nonprofits involved with education. * Get LED lightbulbs. I use Switch LED bulbs, which are ludicrously expensive upfront but pay for themselves within a couple months. * Possibly related to the above, Human extinction is an underrated threat. * “News is bad for you [. . .] The real news consists of dull but informative reports circulated by consultancies giving in-depth… -
Another New Federal Grant Program Emerges: PPHF – 2013 – Cooperative Agreement to Support Navigators in Federally-facilitated and State Partnership Exchanges
2 May 2013 | 12:35 pmDespite sequestration and budget worries, the Feds are churning out a new grant program every month or so; today, let’s consider this tasty if poorly named treat from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service: “PPHF – 2013 – Cooperative Agreement to Support Navigators in Federally-facilitated and State Partnership Exchanges.” The trade name for this FOA is “Health Navigators,” and it is the first of what should be a tsunami of federal and state FOAs designed to help clueless Americans understand how to access the cornucopia of subsidies and benefits… -
You Don’t Forget Your First RFP Amendment Post: DOL’s Face Forward Expands Eligibility Requirements
24 Apr 2013 | 1:37 pmI got my first federal RFP amended last week. It’s a bit like being blooded when you’re in the Mafia: the tenth time is just standard procedure, but the first time is special.* Isaac, for instance, has gotten numerous RFPs amended, which is always fun because our clients are amazed by our wizardly abilities. The original version of DOL’s Face Forward Serving Juvenile Offenders Grants SGA said this about the eligible service population: An individual may participate in a project funded under these grants if he/she: is between the ages of 16 and 24 on the date of enrollment [.
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Storyteller
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The Great Gatsby
12 May 2013 | 9:15 pmReview of The Great GatsbyAt the time of it’s original publishing in 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, “The Great Gatsby” received critical reviews and had disappointing sales.Fitzgerald once said in 1920, almost prophetically, “An Author ought to write for the youth of his generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever-afterward.”Well, he definitely did that. “The Great Gatsby” didn't become great in it’s own right until about ten to twenty years after Fitzgerald had died. When college students were reading it, later it became… -
Snow in May
2 May 2013 | 9:03 pmI am extremely competitive and love to see records broke of about any type, but for snow in May, that one I can do without. My wife looked it up and the previous record was 1.7 inches of snow in 1907. Yeah that’s right. We have the chance to break a hundred and six year old record for Snow in May, in Kansas City, Missouri.I remember feeling elated that the Ground Hog didn't see his shadow and how that was supposed to predict an early spring. Somehow a snow storm in May doesn't sound like an early spring. -
Synchronicity
1 May 2013 | 8:19 pmSynchronicity is . . .Is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance."meaningful coincidences"a causal connecting principlean apparently meaningful coincidence in time of two or more similar or identical events.Any of you who read my stuff, here or in my books, will find out sooner or later I am religious, converted later in life mostly because of my wife. I still have a problem with cussing, in that I still do it habitually out of habit even though I know it is wrong. My wife and two young boys have enlisted… -
New and Different Paths
30 Apr 2013 | 9:25 pmIn 2010 I made the decision to challenge myself and try to start and finish writing a novel. I primarily did it just to see if I could do it, and the book “Whisper” is the result of my efforts which I published in January 2011.Prior to writing a novel I had spent the last seventeen on the same path, with the same job, with the same company. I have heard about prisoners developing a fear of being able to exist outside the walls of their prison because they had gotten so comfortable with what they know. I have felt pangs of that fear recently as my life has taken what I… -
Write Down Your Ideas
29 Apr 2013 | 6:46 pmBefore I started writing full time I read everything I could about writing, especially the stuff that was written by my favorite authors.I remember reading that Piers Anthony wrote that he lost more story ideas than he ever wrote because he didn't write them down at the time he had them.I can’t count the number of wonderful ideas I have had in the morning taking a shower and how they vanished like the fog on the mirror by the time I was dressed and had reached work.I have had numerous discussions with individuals about the need for a way to take notes while taking a shower. …
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Brenda Chapman » Blog
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Staying True To Merida: Why This Fight Matters
24 May 2013 | 7:00 amI have been overwhelmed at the supportive response that A Mighty Girl’s petition on Change.org has gotten and I’m thrilled and optimistic because of it. But we’re not done. Regardless of the support the petition has received the campaign is not over. And it is still important to speak up. In response to the overwhelming [...] -
Take A Peek Inside Four Amazing Mini Libraries
5 Apr 2013 | 10:00 amOur lives are becoming increasingly mobile, so it only makes sense that libraries are becoming mobile, too. Pop-up libraries are, well, popping up across the globe, giving more people access to the magic of reading. Despite the fact that these libraries are built on a much smaller, more portable scale than traditional libraries, they’re architectural [...] -
Teaching Women and Girls Resilience
3 Apr 2013 | 7:00 amI’ve written before about charities that I respect and support—St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and Habitat for Humanity, to name a couple. But now I’ve discovered a charity that has so inspired me that I actually joined the Board of Directors to help out more than just in a financial way. I’m truly excited about [...] -
Wow: An Oscar!
26 Mar 2013 | 1:00 pmWhat am I supposed to DO with that? I’m still kind of stunned. It feels surreal. Don’t get me wrong… I’m thrilled! But… it’s not just getting the Oscar – or the other awards for Brave – that makes me feel so overwhelmed and numb. It’s all of the incredible support and good wishes that [...] -
Done Not Done: Easily Manage Your Media
22 Feb 2013 | 10:00 amIf your organizational habits are anything like ours, you create two types of to-do lists: one for school or work tasks, and the important one—you know, the list that includes all of the music you want to listen to, movies you want to watch and books you want to read. And if your “Must Watch/Read/Listen [...]
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A Blogger's Books
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How To Blog – Google’s Top Tips For Success
14 May 2013 | 10:57 amHow To Blog - Google's Tip Tips For Success, is a brief outline of the advice Google gives to Webmasters (bloggers) to help them blog better and improve their sites. I've picked out the most important points from the horse's mouth - so to speak - and created small chunks for your quick perusal below. Google's best tips for blogging success How to blog: design and content Here are Google's top tips on the design your blog should follow, and the content you should create for it. Many of these are quite straight forward, but it's always good to remind ourselves. -
Create Custom 404 Page For Blogger
7 May 2013 | 11:50 amIt's great news that Blogger users can now create and customize their own 404 page. This is the page your readers arrive at when they click on a link that no longer exists on your blog. You want them to know they're in the right place, but more importantly, you don't want them to leave and go search elsewhere. Your 404 page should be informative and enticing enough to encourage your readers to hang on and look around your site. A 404 page couldn't be easier. See this page for the total list of Blogger new, updated features to help you blog better and improve your site… -
5 Ways To Blog When You Don't Want To
16 Apr 2013 | 12:39 pmSometimes I just don’t want to blog. Face it, you don’t sit down at the computer every day and think, “Wow, I am so excited to blog today! Let’s see what I can write new about the same subject for the ninetieth bazillion time!” However, you know you have to update your blog regularly if you want to keep your traffic up. With that in mind, here are five tips to keep you blogging even when you don’t want to: A guest post by Jason Miner Just do it – Just getting started is the hardest part for me. I will sit there and stare at the screen forever before I just give up. Instead of… -
How To Add Alt Tags To Blogger Images
25 Mar 2013 | 4:13 amBlogger users would be pleased to note that Blogger has introduced some great new features in uploading pictures and adding alt tags. This article is simply to point out the new changes to you and help you utilise them fully to benefit your site. A person viewing your images knows exactly what they're about. However, even though Googlebots can read the text on your site, they can't read images. The only way Google and other search engines can know what your image is about is for you to tell them. When someone searches for the image of a white rose in the search panel, you can have… -
5 Great Ways to Hunt For a Writing Job
18 Mar 2013 | 2:08 amQuite a number of people love to write, and a decent amount of these individuals actually want to turn writing into a career. This field can be a tough one to break into, but if you consult with these resources, you absolutely have a chance! Read on to get a head start. Online Writing Jobs In the year 2013, you really need to be starting online if you want to find a writing job. So many content-driven websites exist, and they are really growing by the day. As a result, content is needed for these sites themselves, and sometimes they're looking to sell out content to other sites in turn.
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Write Edit Seek Literary Agent
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Meet the Industry: Andrew Lownie’s David Haviland
21 May 2013 | 5:43 amDavid Haviland, Andrew Lownie David is an agent at the Andrew Lownie agency, he is also a writer, editor, and ghostwriter, with a number of bestselling books to his name.The Andrew Lownie Literary Agency Ltd, founded in 1988, is now … Continue reading → -
Meet the Industry: A.M Heath’s Julia Churchill
16 May 2013 | 2:48 amJulia Churchill, A.M Heath Julia Churchill joined AM Heath in 2013 as Children’s Agent, after four years building up the UK side of the Greenhouse Literary Agency, and six years at the Darley Anderson Agency where she grew the children’s … Continue reading → -
Meet the Industry: Hodder & Stoughton’s Suzie Doore
8 May 2013 | 8:18 amSuzie Dooré, Hodder & Stoughton Suzie is Editorial director at Hodder & Stoughton. Hodder & Stoughton is a major publisher within Hachette UK, one of the UK’s biggest publishing groups. They publish a wide range of fiction and non-fiction titles … Continue reading → -
Back by popular demand: The Meet the Industry blogs
8 May 2013 | 8:06 amAfter the wonderful response to our ‘Meet the Agents’ blogs in the run up to last year’s Festival of Writing, we’ve decided to do it all again. So we’re going to be running a series of ‘Meet the Industry’ blogs … Continue reading → -
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PORN & EROTICA – JUSTIFYING WHAT AND WHY I DO IT. Anastasia Parkes
1 May 2013 | 7:42 amThere was a debate by an organisation called Intelligence Squared at the Royal Institution last Tuesday 23rd April where the motion was ‘pornography is good for us: without it we would be a far more repressed society.’ I didn’t attend … Continue reading →
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The Vandal
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David E Owen : Fire Pool
24 May 2013 | 2:00 amFire Pool The Wicca have ruled the land for hundreds of years but find themselves hideously betrayed. The world teeters on the brink of self-destruction – unless they can find a successor to rebuild all that threatens to be lost. One alone stands out, but she is a ten-year-old girl, a witch with no training. There is no time to search further, so Nesta is called to the final meeting of the Wicca. Protected by a young, failed warrior, Nesta sets out to find the Prophecy Stones with all the vile creatures of the world ranged against her. Book Links Website Twitter Facebook… -
C. Toni Graham : Crossroads And The Himalayan Crystals
23 May 2013 | 2:00 amCrossroads And The Himalayan Crystals Life will never be the same for four teenagers lost in a magical land. In author C. Toni Graham’s new magical novel, “Crossroads and the Himalayan Crystals” a group of teens must come to terms with their new surroundings before they lose everything they hold dear. In the quiet town of Middlefield, an ordinary day takes a turn for the strange and wondrous when four teenagers are whisked away to The Otherworld – a land in a different dimension. As they try to rationalize what they have stumbled onto – magic, fairies and flying horses – they… -
Christine Amsden : Cassie Scot: Normal Detective
21 May 2013 | 2:00 amCassie Scot: Normal Detective Cassie Scot is the ungifted daughter of powerful sorcerers, born between worlds but belonging to neither. At 21, all she wants is to find a place for herself, but earning a living as a private investigator in the shadow of her family’s reputation isn’t easy. When she is pulled into a paranormal investigation, and tempted by a powerful and handsome sorcerer, she will have to decide where she truly belongs. From Publisher’s Weekly: “In this entertaining series opener, Amsden (The Immortality Virus) introduces readers to the eponymous Cassie, a decidedly… -
Prince Ojong : The Miraculous Millionaire
20 May 2013 | 2:00 amThe Miraculous Millionaire Until now, no book on personal finance has systematically and completely shown the average or ordinary individual how to get rich quickly without risks. No book has been written by one of us and from our perspective. Washington or New York mass media elite do not understand the struggle to make ends meet. The Miraculous Millionaire, therefore, is here to fill a large void. Book Links Book Website Website Amazon Related posts: Robert Kerr : Completely Restored Theresa Braun : Groom and Doom: A Greek Love Story Derek Haines : For The Love Of Sam… -
Kelly Fordon : Tell Me When It Starts To Hurt
17 May 2013 | 2:00 amTell Me When It Starts To Hurt Just when you think you’ve got your bearings, Kelly Fordon’s poems tilt the floor. Across the street, a woman/ sits on the patio with her back/ to the sun. All you can see is the/ round white globe of her skull./ She is having some trouble with/ her insides. If you could speak/ you would ask her about the/ people she swallowed. – excerpt, “The Great Divide” In Fordon’s world there is no black and white, only shades of gray across the emotional and moral landscape, as in the prose poem where she addresses “The…
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Indie Author News
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New Indie Book Release: The Pact (CN Bring)
24 May 2013 | 3:29 amNew Indie Book Release: The Pact - CN Bring - Mystery / Suspense / Faith (April 2013 - 322 pages) - "I loved this book!!!! I always liked mysteries, Agatha Christie was always a favorite, but CN... -
New Indie Book Release: Growing Pains of a Teenage Werewolf (Skelton Rickerby)
22 May 2013 | 10:00 pmNew Indie Book Release: Growing Pains of a Teenage Werewolf: Michaelmas 9 - Skelton Rickerby - Teenage (Paranormal) Romance (April 2013 - 103 pages) - "I'm going to say this straight... -
Indie Author Interview: Joyce Shaughnessy
19 May 2013 | 10:00 pmAuthor Interview with Joyce Shaughnessy - Author of the Romantic Historical Fiction The Unsurrendered. Joyce Shaughnessy lives in Midland, Texas with her husband, Dennis. They have two married... -
New Indie Book Release: Identity Theft (John Abramowitz)
17 May 2013 | 10:00 pmNew Indie Book Release: Identity Theft (Hunter Gamble) - John Abramowitz - Urban Fantasy Legal Thriller (April 2013 - 187 pages) - "Identity Theft is a carefully plotted story with both... -
Featured Indie Book: Why Leadership Sucks (Miles Anthony Smith)
11 May 2013 | 4:25 amFeatured Indie Book on Indie Author News: Non-Fiction (Leadership and Small Business Management) Why Leadership Sucks: Fundamentals of Level 5 Leadership and Servant Leadership by Miles Anthony...
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Radio Litopia
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Of Leprechauns & Lawyers
14 May 2013 | 3:09 pmMore news and debate from the confluence of writing, publishing and the law. Presented by leading lawyer Donna Ballman with literary agent Peter Cox. Don’t forget – you can post topics for Donna to discuss in the Comments section, below. Links from this show: No Country For Wallflowers – The Perks of Being a Wallflower [...] -
The Singing Dentist
10 May 2013 | 3:23 amWhat are you going to do about a bad – really bad – online review? This week’s show features one dentist’s (you read that right, folks) creative response – she owns the copyright in your review! Plus tons of other timely topics that writers need to know about, including: Authors Sue Penguin’s Self-Publishing Platform Author [...] -
The Listener in the Shadows
7 May 2013 | 4:44 amIt’s not often we have a real-life spy as our special guest on LAD – but tonight, stepping out of the shadows and into our spotlight is special guest Major David Thorp – a man who has spent his entire life in signals intelligence (SIGINT)… from the Cold War to the Falklands, and everything in-between. [...] -
Being English
23 Apr 2013 | 2:17 amOn this Saint George’s Day, Garry welcomes Robin Tilbrook, chairman of The English Democrats, and poses the question – what exactly does it mean to be English? And just how close is patriotism to nationalism – to racism? It’s a minefield out there! As always, Garry dispenses with the niceties of Political Correctness in the [...] -
Get Up, Stand Up: Stand Up For Your Rights!
19 Apr 2013 | 1:23 pmHere’s whats important to writers, right now: Trade figures launch Read Petite digital venture Ebooks make up 23 percent of US publisher sales Slow Death of the American Author Blow to Rights of Broadcasters Under the Copyright Act Most censored books of 2012 Apple Goes on Censorship Spree Teacher tells fourth-graders to give up constitutional [...]
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How To Write A Book | Joel Trains Authors
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Try out a new note-taking system
19 May 2013 | 10:53 amMy friend Kevin Dietz has created a note-taking system: LotsOfJots.com. “Jots” are notes of any length. They live on “Pages.” There are “Topic Pages” and “Journal Pages.” It is a simple and wonderful way to keep track of anything at all. The pre-release version is ready to be tried out. It’s bare-bones, in a sense, but already supports text notes and drawing notes, as well as attachments. Soon will come bit-map graphics, audio, and video. English: Wooden File Cabinet with drawer open. Taken by me. (Photo credit: Wikipedia Here’s an… -
Jon Morrow offers some great advice for enlivening your writing
6 Feb 2013 | 8:48 amHow to Fix Your Writing When It’s Lifeless, Tedious, or Even Downright Stupid FEB 05, 13 Happens to the best of us, you know. We’ve all been told to let the words flow loose and easy and free, but instead, we stiffen up like a British banker before his annual rectal exam. It feels horrible too. Instead of enjoying writing like we’re supposed to, we end up gritting our teeth through the entire experience, knowing something just ain’t right but feeling so uncomfortable that we can’t help sounding like a robot. The good news is that deliverance is at hand. Like any good friend,… -
Come to my half-day workshop!
6 Jan 2013 | 2:55 pmIt’s Sunday, January 27, at 9 am, at my house. You will learn how to write and publish your book. Any questions? Click here now! Hope to see you there! -
Check out Bill Belew’s membership site for authors
28 Dec 2012 | 2:55 pmAs an author–or as an aspiring author–you already know that success in today’s democratized publishing world is all about marketing. You probably also know that the least expensive, highest-return marketing you can undertake is a blog. But–how will people find your blog and learn about your book and your other services? Somehow, you have to let them know. How do you do that? And can you do it without spending a ton of money on advertising? The answers to these and other questions you might have are available on Bill Belew’s Pro Blogger Membership site. Members… -
Help my brave friend Randy!
25 Dec 2012 | 11:02 amRandy Peyser My fellow book coach and friend Randy Peyser has been coping with fast-moving breast cancer–without health insurance. She is fighting hard. Friends have put together a benefit concert and silent auction for her on January 6 at the Corralitos Cultural Center, 127 Hames Road in Watsonville, www.corralitoscultural.org. For info or reservations: Call 831-588-9354 or email michael@michaelgaither.comIf you can’t attend, you can make a donation by either contacting Randy at (831) 726-3153 or mailing your donation to P.O. Box 151, Aromas, CA 95004 Warmly, Joel PS Happy…
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Author Alden
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I Want to Write Like... (A Guest Post by Cas Webb)
22 May 2013 | 3:00 amAs you may have noticed, there was no blog entry last week. While I'm gearing up for my trip to Odyssey Writing Workshop (and while I'm there toiling away), my schedule may be a little irregular. Posts will always go up on Wednesdays, but I may miss a week here or there. And starting today, I've decided to open up the blog to guest posts so I can devote all of my energy to Odyssey. Writer and artist Cas Webb is kicking things off with today's entry. A big thanks to Cas for stopping by. Be sure and visit her site if you enjoy her post. ~ J.W. I want to write like . . . by Cas Webb… -
Speculative Fiction Tropes: Deflector Shields
8 May 2013 | 3:00 amThis post (and many this month) will be a little shorter than my usual fare, as I'm devoting an increasing amount of time to preparation for my trip to Odyssey Writing Workshop. Speaking of which, I still have a few spots left for guest bloggers while I'm gone, so take a look at that link if you're interested. Sadly, this will likely be the last Speculative Fiction Tropes entry until I get back. Deflector shields are not only one of the oldest tropes in sci-fi, but they've become synonymous with space opera. The use of energy-based shielding can get a story around a number of… -
IWSG: Relax
1 May 2013 | 2:00 amThis post (and many this month) will be a little shorter than my usual fare, as I'm devoting an increasing amount of time to preparation for my trip to Odyssey Writing Workshop. Speaking of which, I'm still looking for guest bloggers to avoid taking a blog hiatus while I'm gone, so take a look at that link if you're interested. Meanwhile, it's the first Wednesday of May, which hails the regular arrival of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, hosted by Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. The group offers a place for writers of all kinds to support each other in those ever-present… -
Speculative Spotlight: Knights of Pen & Paper
24 Apr 2013 | 6:00 amWelcome to another installment of the Speculative Spotlight, in which I scour the multiverse for hefty chunks of speculative fiction awesomeness. This month, the spotlight falls on a charming mobile game called Knights of Pen & Paper. What Is It? Knights of Pen & Paper comes from Brazilian developer Behold Studios, and it's garnered a lot of attention for a small indie game in the crowded mobile space. Upon its release in October last year, the game found its way into the hands of the popular gaming press, earning a few prominent feature articles. From there word of mouth… -
Accepted to Odyssey Writing Workshop (and Seeking Guest Bloggers)
22 Apr 2013 | 1:00 amI'm delighted to share the news that I've been accepted to the 2013 Odyssey Writing Workshop. As you might imagine, this is a pretty big deal for me. Since I started writing seriously almost three years ago now, I've been committed to growth every step of the way, and the intensive experience that Odyssey offers is just what I need to take the next step on that journey. For six long weeks, I will be pulled out of my comfort zone and immersed in the craft, toiling with a small group of peers and learning the ropes from authors and editors that have walked the path ahead of us. I'm…
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Colors of My Soul
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My Soul’s Secret
21 May 2013 | 9:13 pmA secret that was hidden within, that was locked deep within a heart has started to break free. Time will only tell just how many more hearts this secret will burden and break. When this secret is free it will in time allow her to see who she truely is and just how she is meant to be. There is a purpose behind the secret. And this purpose will only ever be between you and me. I just hope and pray everyday that when you learn the truth you will forgive me my secret. I pray you will one day see how this secret was to protect all that you would truly be. Without it you would not feel as though… -
The Thanksgiving Week
7 May 2013 | 11:33 pmGlen Mascarenhas was unusually calm that Wednesday when he reached home from office. The regular grins on his forehead or the raised eyebrows, none of those could be seen that day. He headed straight to his bedroom and started scribbling on a notebook, without even asking Martha for a coffee. This was quite an apparent deviation from his regular routine. He chalked on the notebook for a while before going to bed. Martha was quite perplexed to see Glen behave so strangely. He didn’t even ask Martha to prepare dinner or get his bed ready. She was quite accustomed to respond to the frequent… -
To Write is To Live
19 Apr 2013 | 5:17 am“I write for the same reason I breathe-because if I didn’t, I would die.” -Isaac Asimov Ever since I was a little girl I felt the need to express myself. I was told I had a big mouth and I talked way too much. If that was the case back then, I must say that that this need has only exponentially increased after I learned to write. I found the idea of writing magical because it was communication over time and space that could be read by anybody in the future or a thousand miles away. To me to act of writing meant to inspire those who lacked motivation, motivate those who chased dreams,… -
Fiction: The Unbearable Lightness of Being
5 Apr 2013 | 3:49 amI close my eyes and want to drift off. Away from here and now; away from always and forever. Into nowhere; into nothingness. Somewhere cold and dark. I want to break out from this prison of feelings. I want to get through. I want to leave this gambit of emotions behind. I don’t want them. I don’t want these overtones of sadness. I don’t need these transient gleams of hope. I don’t deserve this comfort of solitude. I don’t want to long for happiness. I don’t want to be scared of pain. I don’t want to have a clue. Remorse. Torment. Anguish. Euphoria. Exhilaration. Bliss. I don’t… -
The Table Was Set
1 Apr 2013 | 9:12 amThe table was set… the food was warm, But the warm food would turn cold. The arguments were hot…heated and loud… Just arguments, petty, silly fights, without meaning. There was no reason for the fight, Just a stupid thread of thought… That would drag like a stuck record. Become huge as the night dragged by. The table was set… But the food was not to be eaten, For the tears would soak the cold rice, Instead of the warm curry! The vegetables cut and shred to make the dish, Would shred two hearts instead! Hearts that cared for each other, But hearts that pained…
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Kathleen H. Wheeler
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Alzheimer’s disease, it runs in the family
22 May 2013 | 4:30 pmLike mother . . . I helped collect donations last Saturday at a local Walgreen’s during the Alzheimer’s Association Forget Me Not Days, the second time I’ve pitched in for this important fundraiser. This year I was pleased that my thirteen-year-old daughter Annie agreed to come along and keep me company during my shift. Annie is old enough to know that Alzheimer’s disease runs in families, and she has started to understand the impact of that since my mother and her grandmother died of Alzheimer’s. We had a couple of hours to talk about it while we accepted… -
The Sound of Memories: Dementia Patients Respond to Music
5 May 2013 | 1:31 pmJukebox Jive by JeffHBlum Music has been a powerful influence in my life, so it comes as no surprise to me that music has been shown to soothe the beast of Alzheimer’s disease for those afflicted by this hideous monster. For that reason, I took great interest in the local newspaper’s recent story, “Music & Memory program soothes, uplifts people with dementia” by Dean Olsen. The article explains the efforts of the program Music & Memory to bring personalized music to dementia sufferers to help trigger memories from happier times and improve their quality of… -
The Police Trifecta of Memoirs
25 Feb 2013 | 3:25 amI’m a huge fan of The Police, in fact huge doesn’t begin to describe my admiration for the band. The music of The Police saved me as a teen and has had a monumental impact on my life. For that reason, I’ve collected and devoured all three memoirs by the members of the band: Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers. I’ve now completed this Police trifecta of memoirs after just finishing Andy Summers’ book One Train Later. Yes, I know I’m late to this book party since One Train Later was published some time ago. But hey, better late than never! I enjoyed… -
Happy 200th Anniversary Pride and Prejudice!
28 Jan 2013 | 3:36 amJanuary 28 marks the 200th anniversary for the publication of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen in 1813. This is not only one of the world’s most beloved novels, but also my favorite book of all time! Honestly, I never tire of reading it, and my well-worn copy holds a place of honor on a crowded bookshelf. Even two centuries later, Pride and Prejudice remains a literary masterpiece for several reasons in my mind. First and foremost, it is a beautiful love story. I admit it, I’m a total sucker for that reason alone. Calling it a love story just doesn’t do it justice… -
Detours in 2013 and New Year’s Resolutions
1 Jan 2013 | 11:58 amA good friend just shared her recent breast cancer diagnosis, confirmed by her doctor four days before the New Year. Needless to say, the shocking news has called into question all her plans for 2013 and changed her priorities drastically, all in one fell swoop. This life-altering diagnosis will change my friend’s outlook on life forever, and it’s a pretty crummy way to start the year. Weeks ago she was planning a fun vacation for 2013, and now instead she’s making decisions on how best to proceed so that she may live to see far beyond 2013. That’s quite a detour. Her health crisis…
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Zen Copy
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The Best Kept Professional Writer’s Secret
15 May 2013 | 11:26 amor The Truth about Writer’s Block Psst, hey, you. Yes, YOU. Writer Person. You’re going to have to bend in close to hear this one because I’m not supposed to tell you what I’m about to tell you. And if you tell anyone you heard it here I’m obligated to hunt you down and pour coffee on your keyboard. Ready? You know that thing you call writer’s block? Well, the real truth is that it doesn’t really exist. Maybe writer’s block is a marketing ploy designed so other professional writers can sell you things. In fact, here’s my cure for writer’s block for you – it’s free. -
We’re Born Naked and Die Naked: In Between We Should Write Naked
25 Apr 2013 | 12:08 pmThe desire to expose ourselves is a natural urge. There is not one amongst us who as a toddler did not smile at the joyful freedom that comes from be-bopping around in our birthday suit. But then we start to grow up and along with that comes the feeling that society is more comfortable if we keep our clothes on. So, we learn to cover our physical naked self with striped t-shirts and Bermuda shorts and after we’ve done this long enough we start to feel uncomfortable going without our “covers.” And about the same time we’re learning the hard truth that the people around us are not quite… -
How to Make Better Writing – and Life – Decisions
9 Apr 2013 | 5:24 pmOne of the more frequent questions I get asked is “Should I consider turning my writing into my business?” There are many variations on this question such as: “Can I quit my day job and just write?” “How can I make a living as a writer?” “I love to write but how do I take it to the next level?” “How can I be sure I can really make it as a writer?” “Should I really be spending my time writing or is being a full time writer just a pipedream?” Making decisions which involve something you are passionate about – such as writing (or your life), can feel truly challenging… -
The Truth about Writers and Self-Deception
13 Mar 2013 | 1:36 pmHave you ever felt like you were capable of so much more – like if you could just find the right path, you could get to that magical place of happy fulfillment while you’re making a big difference in the world? Have you ever wondered why, even though you’re writing and writing, you seem to make no real progress? One of the most important posts I’ve ever written on this blog was What Noble Excuse Have You Designed to Fool Your Creative Self? That post is key because one of the things I believe all human beings excel at is self- deception. Oh sure, we may talk a good game, how… -
The 3 Keys to Improving Your Personal Writing Process
27 Feb 2013 | 6:15 pmIn writing a recent post on “Why Your Writing Fails” it dawned on me that something very strange was afoot. Strange not in a woowoo (cue spooky music) kind of way, but in an isn’t-this-odd-that-we’re-all-doing-it-even-if-it’s-not-working kind of way. What is this strange thing afoot? Read on to find out. No matter what you are doing with your writing, working to improve your own personal writing process is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Blogging? Improving your personal writing process will make your writing more effective. Freelance writing? Improving your personal…
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Self Publishing Team
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5 Must-Have Apps For On-The-Go Authors
15 May 2013 | 4:00 amI have a new best friend, y’all. Her name is Siri. (Sorry Toni!) I know I’m really late to this party, but I just got an iPhone 5 last week and we are officially operating as one unit. It’s the first thing I reach for when I wake up and the last thing I check before bed. But enough about my and my obvious technological dependency issues (my therapist and I will have plenty of time to talk about that down the road, I’m sure). What I really want to share with you is how much time I’ve been able to save with my marketing efforts by using a handful of awesome (and… -
Gut Check: How Bad Do You Want It? (Publishing Success, That Is!)
8 May 2013 | 5:00 amI think my husband is a little bit weird. I don’t think I’m the only partner to think this way about her significant other (am I right?), but it wasn’t until very recently that I started to figure out what makes him so (adorably) socially awkward. Back when I was in college, I spent my Tuesday nights taking advantage of Domino’s Two for Tuesday deal and watching American Idol in my dorm room. When Michael was in college, on the other hand, he spent Tuesday nights at the computer science lab, working diligently on his current coding assignment and studying his butt… -
Book Layout Made Easy with a Professionally Designed Word Template [Guest Post]
22 Apr 2013 | 5:00 amThe following is a guest post from Tracy Atkins who (along with The Book Designer, Joel Friedlander) has developed a series of book design templates just for indie authors. Read to the end for a discount code that’ll save you almost 50%! Layout is for the birds. As a self-published author, one of the hardest parts of getting my book to print was converting my manuscript into a fully formatted book. I came to find that laying out a self-published book correctly is one of those jobs that seems simple at first, but can take an incredible amount of time. Getting all of the pagination right,… -
Feeling Stuck? End Book Marketing Paralysis in Just 5 Minutes
18 Apr 2013 | 5:00 amLast night, I jumped out of bed after having one of THOSE dreams. You see, wacky dreams are kind of my thing, but they (luckily) usually keep to the neutral/non-scary end of things. Every once in awhile, though, I’ll have one like this: [Harp-y Dream Sequence Sound Effect] I’m laying in bed, watching a bit of TV before bed. The next thing I know, I’m in my bedroom closet, hiding from the Daleks, these Doctor Who villains who attack you with weapons that look like a whisk and a plunger (I know). Anywho, they’re barging into my house yelling… -
The Justin Timberlake School of Rocking Your Book Launch
10 Apr 2013 | 5:00 amIn addition to charming you with his suave style, sweet dance moves, and amazing falsetto melodies, Justin Timberlake can teach you a thing or two about how to rock your book launch. Teach us, oh master. Seriously. For those of you under-the-rock-dwellers, Mr. Timberlake recently released his third album, the 20/20 Experience, and sold 968,000 copies in the first week. That’s a lot. Even for Justin. Most of the agencies that project numbers for these sorts of things estimated Justin’s third album in seven years would move about 500,000 copies at best, given the market for music…
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The Book Deal: A Publishing Blog for Writers and Book People
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How winning a literary prize can change your life
14 May 2013 | 7:47 am“First, it got my book published,” says Kirstin Scott, whose novel Motherlunge won the 2011 Association of Writers and Writing Programs Award. “And with that, the prize gave me readers.” There’s no doubt that winning a well-respected competition can help validate your work with agents and publishers. It proves someone thinks you’re good and helps build a more credible platform. The best of these prizes include cash awards and book publication. I recently interviewed four writers each of whom has won a well-known contest. Here’s who they are and how their prizes changed their… -
Having trouble writing? Try this famous author’s technique
2 May 2013 | 10:54 pm“Sometimes in a nervous frenzy I just fling words as if I were flinging mud at a wall,” says Pulitzer Prize winner John McPhee. “Blurt out, heave out, babble out something – anything – as a first draft,” he says in an article called Draft No. 4 now in The New Yorker magazine where he’s been appearing regularly for 48 years. McPhee, the author of 32 books, says he first wrote these words of advice in a letter to his daughter Jenny years ago when she was starting out as a writer herself. “The way to do a piece of writing is three or four times over, never once,” he… -
Market sizzles for debut authors
22 Apr 2013 | 9:49 am“Editors still love a chance at debut fiction,” says Manhattan literary agent Michelle Brower. “If the book is unique and meaningful, the debut author doesn’t yet have a bad sales track record so we can look at their book with all of the rosiness of potential rather than reality” Good news That’s some of the good news for first-time authors from agents out there on the front lines. The news is backed up by recent deals with major publishers for first novels, like Mango Bride by Marivi Soliven, an immigrant tale of two women, two cultures, family secrets and the fight to find a new… -
Writing a memoir: Intersecting memory and story
11 Mar 2013 | 1:10 pmWriting a memoir is one of the most stimulating but difficult literary challenges an author can undertake. Nevertheless, it’s a hugely popular genre. Five of the top ten hardcover nonfiction books on the NY Times bestseller list this week are memoirs. Aspiring memoir writers can find help in books and by searching online, but there’s nothing like a live workshop with a master teacher. One highly recommended instructor is Tamim Ansary, the Afghan-American author of the critically acclaimed literary memoir West of Kabul, East of New York (Farrar, Straus & Giroux). This spring, Ansary… -
From spark to story: How books get started
4 Mar 2013 | 8:41 amWhere do stories come from? Are writers inspired from deep within the unconscious psyche by forces beyond their control? Or are they compelled by external cues that resonate without invitation – unexpected and accidental? As an editor, I’ve seen the muse arrive in surprising and mysterious ways. The creative spark, a blessed event to be sure, can arrive at any moment in time. Whether the source is mundane or magical, the author fans the spark into a fully realized story. From spark to finished story I asked two authors about their original impulses and how they developed into the books…
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Jane Friedman
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WRITING ON THE ETHER: The Indies are Coming! to BEA
23 May 2013 | 5:25 amTable of Contents BEA Booth 966: The Indies Are Coming! Amazon Kindle Worlds: The Fans Aren’t Fiction ‘Bootstrapped a Publishing Company’ BEA Booth 966: The Indies Are Coming! Six entrepreneurial authors with more than 8.4 million books sold and counting: Is BEA ready for indie authors to claim their own territory? In this excerpt of the BEA exhibition hall floorplan, Booth 966 — Indie Bestsellers — is circled in yellow, upper right. We’re about to find out. Not that Big Six. (Thank you, Roz Morris.) This big six, a sextet of the highest-rising stars of… -
Submission: 6 Rules of Thumb From an Editor-Turned-Writer
22 May 2013 | 2:00 amPhoto by Caro Wallis / Flickr Today’s guest post is by writer and editor Jennifer Niesslein (@jniesslein), who is based in Charlottesville, Virginia. I’m experiencing karma. For more than a decade, I co-edited a literary magazine—I was the person who wouldn’t respond regarding your writing for three months, sometimes longer. And now, for the past nine months, I’ve been writing. It truly does feel like submission. My years as an editor most definitely influence my submission process and how I interact with editors. I can’t say my tactics have gotten my work published more… -
Infographic: 5 Key Book Publishing Paths
20 May 2013 | 2:00 amOne of the biggest questions for authors today is: Should I traditionally publish or self-publish? It’s an important question—one that tends to result in heated debate—but it’s becoming an increasingly confusing and complicated question to answer because: There are now many varieties of traditional publishing and self-publishing—with evolving models and varying contracts. You won’t find a universal, agreed-upon definition of what it means to “traditionally publish” or “self-publish.” It’s not an either/or proposition. You can do both. -
Should You Self-Publish? 15 Questions
17 May 2013 | 2:00 amToday’s guest post is by Orna Ross (@OrnaRoss), director of the Alliance of Independent Authors. Self-publishing is not for every writer. In order to succeed, you need to have or develop specific traits, along with certain ways of approaching the publication of a book. Consider the following questions. 1. Are you positive and proactive? Many writers wait for permission from an agent or publisher to say they are fit for publication—or for a PR campaign to explain why somebody should buy their book. The flip side of this passivity is chronic complaint syndrome: writers moaning about the… -
WRITING ON THE ETHER: Writers in the Inferno
16 May 2013 | 5:15 amTable of Contents A Renowned Author in the Inferno Not-So Divine Writers Selling to Writers A Renowned Author in the Inferno Renowned author Dan Brown got out of his luxurious four-poster bed in his expensive $10 million house and paced the bedroom, using the feet located at the ends of his two legs to propel him forwards. He knew he shouldn’t care what a few jealous critics thought. His new book Inferno was coming out on Tuesday, and the 480-page hardback published by Doubleday with a recommended US retail price of $29.95 was sure to be a hit. Wasn’t it? Michael Deacon I declare…
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Writer Beware
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An Honor For Writer Beware Co-Founder and Chair, Ann C. Crispin
24 May 2013 | 8:41 amPosted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware I'm thrilled and extremely proud to announce that my friend and colleague, Writer Beware co-founder and Chair Ann C. Crispin, has been named the 2013 Grandmaster by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers (IAMTW). The official announcement is here. This annual honor, the highest awarded by the IAMTW, is given only to the most accomplished and successful authors in the field (previous Grandmasters include Kevin J. Anderson, Peter David, and Keith DeCandido). Ann's outstanding media tie-in achievements include best-selling novels in… -
Outrageous French Copyright Grab: ReLIRE Goes Live
16 May 2013 | 7:37 amPosted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware Just over a year ago, I wrote about a new French law that, under the guise of dealing with the pressing issue of orphan works, implements a truly massive rights transfer. The law empowers the Bibliothèque Nationale de France to create an online database of works published in France before 2001 that are currently out of print (this includes not just works by French writers, but foreign works translated into French). Once a work has been listed in the database for more than six months, the right to digitize it transfers to a collective management… -
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Author Solutions Inc.
1 May 2013 | 8:56 amPosted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware In March, I wrote about New York law firm Giskan Solotaroff Anderson & Stewart LLP, which had opened an investigation of Author Solutions Inc. (ASI). Well, now the other shoe has dropped. On April 26, Giskan Solotaroff filed a class action complaint on behalf of three plaintiffs against Author Solutions Inc. and Penguin Group USA (ASI is part of Penguin) in US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Allegations include breach of contract, unjust enrichment, various violations of the California Business and Professional Code, and… -
ASJA Annual Conference 2013, Plus Tidbits
29 Apr 2013 | 9:57 amPosted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware I was in New York this past weekend for the 2013 ASJA Annual Writers Conference. I participated in two panels with Writer Beware-er Richard White: a Writer Beware panel (of course) on schemes, scams, and pitfalls in the publishing industry; and a panel on breaking into science fiction and fantasy publishing. We had a good and engaged crowd for the Writer Beware panel. Rich and I presented on Writer Beware, what it is and does, and the kinds of schemes and scams we track and warn about. The Authors Guild's Jan Constantine spoke about poor contract… -
Tidbits
19 Apr 2013 | 7:35 amPosted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware It's spring! Here in chilly New England, climate change seems to be taking a break, and it felt as if the warm weather would never arrive. But daffodils and primroses are blooming in my garden, and it's almost--almost!--mild enough to sit outside. My family emergency situation is still ongoing, and my book deadline is only three months away--so it'll be a while before I can return to a normal schedule. However, I'm still following the news (and answering email), so I can at least share with you the publishing stories that caught my eye over the…
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Nyssa's Hobbit Hole
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Extroverts bullying introverts; also, Letting go of Richard because he could not accept me as an introvert
23 May 2013 | 12:22 amOccasionally, I’ll find a search term in my stats which interests me, and go look it up myself. (These are the terms people type into search engines, which bring them to my blog.) Tonight, such a search term led me to this page: Me: Extrovert. She: Introvert. Can this relationship survive? Should it? The title [...]Extroverts bullying introverts; also, Letting go of Richard because he could not accept me as an introvert is a post from: Nyssa's Hobbit Hole -
I Have Arrived as a Blogger! I Have Hit 10,000 Views
20 May 2013 | 5:28 amWow…. As of now, there have been 871 hits on my post “Breaking the Power of Narcissists.” Only two were from my stalkers, Richard and Tracy. This is from Google Analytics, which does not count adbots/Googlebots/MSNbots/etc., so these are actual readers. Actual numbers may vary up or down somewhat based on various factors, such as [...]I Have Arrived as a Blogger! I Have Hit 10,000 Views is a post from: Nyssa's Hobbit Hole -
Reblog: “Do Sociopaths and Narcissists Have Rules?”
19 May 2013 | 12:52 amThis blog post from A Cry for Justice is also a reblog of a post by Sister Renee Pitelli. From the post and comments by Sr. Pitelli, it is all right for me to post this list. It reminds me of dealing with Tracy–especially #24, which is what Todd and I both saw happen as [...]Reblog: “Do Sociopaths and Narcissists Have Rules?” is a post from: Nyssa's Hobbit Hole -
That Fateful First Date with Phil; Complication: A Rival; Call from Shawn!; Another Meeting with Peter–College Memoirs: Life at Roanoke: Or, How NVLD Affected My Life–December 1993, Part 2
18 May 2013 | 11:35 pm[Please note: The Tracy in these memoirs has absolutely nothing to do with the Richard and Tracy of my 2007-2013 abuse story.] That Fateful First Date with Phil, Pt. 2; Complication: A Rival Pearl told me that Phil had been seen at the movies with Tracy earlier in the year, and that he wouldn’t tell [...]That Fateful First Date with Phil; Complication: A Rival; Call from Shawn!; Another Meeting with Peter–College Memoirs: Life at Roanoke: Or, How NVLD Affected My Life–December 1993, Part 2 is a post from: Nyssa's Hobbit Hole -
So my blog stalkers are still stalking…..First Anniversary of Being “Found”
13 May 2013 | 11:33 pmThanks to toying with the HTML of the template of my former Blogspot blog (nyssashobbithole.blogspot.com) to get my updated redirection plugin to work, something happened so I can now see hits on Google Analytics for my Blogspot blog even when the visit was properly redirected to this WordPress version. This allowed me to finally know [...]So my blog stalkers are still stalking…..First Anniversary of Being “Found” is a post from: Nyssa's Hobbit Hole
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TVWriter.Com
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Not Everyone is Thrilled About COMMUNITY’s Renewal
24 May 2013 | 4:53 amOpinions. Everybody’s got ‘em. To us, they seem a lot like Sam Goldwyn’s opinion of verbal contracts: “They’re not worth the paper they’re printed on.” Wonder what Dan Harmon thinks. Anyway: Community is renewed, so why am I not flipping-out happy? by Keith McDuffee This past season of ‘Community’ was not a shining example of what I’d come to love for three seasons. Will the show’s renewal bring with it the Dan Harmon-like fun it used to have? The answer to that last question is: probably not. I know there are a lot of… -
License Fees & Mega-Deals are the Best Revenge
24 May 2013 | 4:45 amThis isn’t about writing per se, but it is about intellectual property and its use and/or misuse. Or, as some people put it, “All hail Kim Dotcom, King of the World!” Us? Yeah, well, we’re still on the fence. Kim Dotcom to Google, Twitter, Facebook: I Own Security Patent, Work With Me by Andy Kim Dotcom has announced that he is the inventor of the so-called two-step authentication system and has a patent to prove it. The Megaupload founder says the security mechanism, which has just been introduced by Twitter, is being used by U.S. companies more than a billion times… -
What? There’s a LOONEY TUNES SHOW?
24 May 2013 | 4:40 amWe didn’t know! We’ve got to see! But before we start searching, we also want to share what we just learned: The Looney Tunes Show – Cartoons for Adults by An Nicholson WB’s ‘The Looney Tunes Show’ isn’t your childhood ‘Merry Melodies.’ It’s more a grown-up version of ‘Tiny Toons’ geared to the pop-culture-oriented adult. There’s a difference between the old school Looney Tunes cartoons and Cartoon Network’sLooney Tunes Show. Although the old school WB cartoons focused on a child audience, with a secondary layer for adults, the new school Looney Tunes… -
Peer Production: LELE’S RATCHET ADVICE SHOW
24 May 2013 | 4:35 amWhoa! Home girl’s learned how to edit. Nicely done, Leesa. We’re diggin’ it. Click here to view the embedded video. -
Angelo J. Bell: Balancing LIFE in the creative world
24 May 2013 | 4:30 amby Angelo J. Bell Life in the creative world is fraught with instances of friends family and strangers telling you, “It can’t be done” or “The odds are against you.” Although I’m sure they exist, I don’t know of any artist who ever thought that the odds were in his/her favor. Instead, we, as creatives, merely acquiesce to fate/destiny and to the notion that we will never be happy doing anything else. Even trying — and failing — is better than abandoning our hopes and dreams….our love affair, with the arts. Just ask any bitter person who long ago abandoned their…
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Everyone's Blog Posts - Our Salon
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Doing Research After the Trip
24 May 2013 | 8:30 amOne of the lazy things I like to do is listen to storytellers, rather than do the research. So, I listened to the story of how Heinrich Schliemann, a rich businessman, became an archeologist (a new profession) and discovered and dug up Troy. Our guide did make clear that Heinrich Schliemann was no angel. He had promised to share the value of any riches uncovered with his crew, but the day he found some gold, he sent the crew home early (with pay) and dug up all the gold himself and never shared it. But our guide did not tell us that Heinrich Schliemann didn’t really discover Troy at all. I… -
Freelance Your Way to Poverty
24 May 2013 | 8:24 amThere is a charity in Boston that helps the homeless by publishing a newspaper to which they contribute articles and poems. The thinking is that if a panhandler has a newspaper to sell, as opposed to merely asking for a handout, people will be more likely to give him or her money. As a happy byproduct of this retail transaction, the theory goes, the downtrodden will acquire valuable skills by cranking out content for the good sports who fork over cold, hard cash for their efforts. “It was either this, or write a two-part article on the decline of social dancing in America.” What a… -
High Indeed the Price of Honor
24 May 2013 | 8:14 amIt was the Summer of 1967 and I was in the Army. I had been loading up flat bed rail cars in Texas in 1966 as my unit prepared to deploy to Vietnam. My mom died suddenly (she was 43 years old), my father was ill (he had epilepsy) and my younger brother was already in the war zone. He had been drafted. My father bitched to a local Congressman and I was given a "compassionate reassignment" near home. So here I sat that Summer (I would be out of the Army by Thanksgiving) in the "Personal Affairs"office at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, best known as the headquarters of the Chaplain School. "Personal… -
Obama orders the Department of Justice to investigate itself
24 May 2013 | 7:30 amIn a move that defies logic, President Obama has ordered Eric Holder to investigate himself. [Sadly this is not a Con Chapman blog.] Investigative journalists discovered this week that Holder had to have signed the subpoena's to order the bugging of FOX news journalists...and their parents. "By Michael IsikoffNational Investigative Correspondent, NBC News Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on a controversial search warrant that identified Fox News reporter James Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in violations of the Espionage Act and authorized seizure of his private emails, a… -
The Power of Rote — Our Salon Weekend Fiction
24 May 2013 | 5:50 amThis week’s prompt was: Write a story about a repeated mistake. The Power of Rote By Seth James Patrons of The Magic Lantern looked up when Zeke stumbled in. It wasn't that kind of place; people didn't even stumble out of The Magic Lantern, let alone into it, let alone at 12:39 on a Tuesday. Zeke nodded to the barman as he fell onto a stool. His panting and relief at simply sitting down were not that of a drunk, though; they were the expressions of an exhausted man. The patrons went back to their martinis and prime rib. Zeke ordered something the proles had never heard of.
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The Web Writer Spotlight - Shining the light for aspiring and inspiring web writers
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Are You Creating Web Content that Strikes a Chord with Your Readers?
17 May 2013 | 5:22 amHow long have you been writing and publishing content for the Web? If you have been writing regularly for some time, you know how important producing web content is when it comes to marketing and succeeding online. It can make or break your business and career online. Whether you write blog posts, articles, sales copy or press releases, it is absolutely important that you create value-rich content that strikes a chord with your readers continuously to remain relevant and profitable. Content that strikes a chord with your readers speaks directly to them and resonates with what they want. It… -
One Little Word that Will Move You Forward in Business and Life
1 May 2013 | 12:04 amphoto smlp.co.uk/Flickr One of the biggest challenges affecting many freelancers, entrepreneurs and business owners is learning how to say “no” when it matters. Yet, this one little word is one of the most powerful words you can use more to move your professional and personal life forward.. A reason why people find it difficult or fear saying no is because the default human response to most things in life is “yes.” We fear saying “no” will lock us out of opportunities, worry that saying “no” will make someone we reject angry and we want to be more agreeable. Sometimes we… -
How to Pitch Articles to Major Web Publications: 11 Tips
16 Apr 2013 | 1:47 pmScreenshot courtesy of the Washington Post A pitch, known as a query letter in book publishing, is a tentative suggestion to a print or web publication about an article, story, feature, essay or review you would like to write for the publication. It can be a letter sent to an editor to sell your idea for an article, a phone call to an editor that highlights your research and communication skills or even an e-mail to an editor that demonstrates you can organize your thoughts in a clear, logical and engaging manner. Anyone can pitch a story idea. You don’t even need major connections to… -
3 Reasons You Should Smile More if You Work from Home: Despite Marissa
20 Mar 2013 | 3:32 amYahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. Photo Adam Tinworth/Flickr "Why can't we just be good at hiring?," quipped Yahoo! chief executive Marissa Mayer when she was asked at an all-staff meeting whether her rigorous hiring policies had caused Yahoo! to "miss out on top engineering talent in Silicon Valley's hyper-competitive job market." You should know Silicon Valley is home to rival tech firms, including Google and eBay. This was reported by an employee at the executive meeting who spoke anonymously to the media. Jackie Reses, Yahoo!'s executive vice president of people and development went ahead… -
9 Things Exceptional Web Writers Habitually Do So Well
28 Feb 2013 | 7:02 amHave you ever wondered why some online writers and copywriters tend to write standout web copy specifically adapted for the Internet fluently and easily, while others strain and struggle to craft content that meets the exact needs of Internet users? If you have read the books 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The Art of Doing: How Superachievers Do What They Do, then you know highly successful people are not necessarily more talented than the majority. Highly successful writers are ordinary people with normal qualities, but who consciously and methodically create a set of values,…
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Read.Learn.Write
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Wishing Not to Write
23 May 2013 | 1:55 pmThis article was written by Noelle Sterne. At my usual Friday table in the mall Starbucks, writing supplies spread out and tall cardboard ambrosia cooling at my elbow, I look around. In the atrium café, people sit, sipped, stare at passersby, look back at me. A grandmother corrals her kidlets, two stylish females exchange gossip, a young couple prop bulging shopping bags against their knees and whisper over their whipped toppings. A man alone, munching on mixed nuts, reads a foreign newspaper, and a very senior woman rummages in her oversized handbag. Sighing and Wishing I sigh, glanced down… -
Slow-Read Sunday: Mrs. Dalloway (to End)
19 May 2013 | 5:49 amWe’ve broken up our reading of Mrs. Dalloway into three parts: (1) questions about Mrs. Dalloway to p. 275 of The Mrs. Dalloway Reader; (2) questions about Mrs. Dalloway to p. 331 of the Mrs. Dalloway Reader; (3) our final discussion follows and carries us to the end of the novel. Septimus is dead, Big Ben continues to strike with expected regularity, and Mrs. Dalloway must host her party to the satisfaction of her guests. There are more important questions to ask of the novel, though. 1. Is being bookish manly? On p. 335 the text poses the question through the character of Peter… -
Where Does An Author Get Story Ideas?
16 May 2013 | 7:41 amThis article was written by C. Hope Clark. A touring, speaking author learns what questions to expect from attendees in the room. The queries rarely run outside the norm and repeat from event to event. The most common question is one that an author loves, yet hates, to receive. “Where do you get your ideas?” You see, authors adore being unique, so they often appear mysterious in their response. Nothing makes them giddier than presenting a story to a reader and catching him off balance, exciting him with a twist, engaging him with story that the reader cannot put down until he sees THE… -
Slow-Read Sunday: Mrs. Dalloway (to p. 331 OF THE MRS. DALLOWAY READER)
12 May 2013 | 6:14 amLast week I asked some questions about Mrs. Dalloway to p. 275 of The Mrs. Dalloway Reader. This week we continue reading the Woolf novel. In this section we see the troubles of Septimus and Mrs. Dalloway set by side in this study of the two characters. We alternate between consciousnesses to see what these characters are thinking. I can’t help but think that we’re also getting a glimpse into the mind of our author, Virginia Woolf. She must have poured herself into both Septimus and Clarissa in many ways. Look for examples as you read. Are there times when the novel has a line so… -
Literary Loony: Certifiable Moms from the Wonderful World of Books
9 May 2013 | 2:10 pmThis article was written by Chris Ciolli. Most of us have our ups and downs with moms. We love-hate them, a typical reaction to anyone that is sometimes too close for comfort and armed with “I told you so’s.” While many moms keep a secret stash of psychotic to flash at severely misbehaving offspring, most are a far cry from the villainesses that seem to spring fully formed from so many writers’ minds (something to be thankful for). What is it about great books that inspires writers to create such awful matriarchs? From Greek Classics to modern-day children’s books,…
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The GrammarPhile Blog
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Let's get these straight, please.
22 May 2013 | 2:30 amOn, upon, up on. Do you know someone who is bookish? You might be considered bookish if you misuse upon when you could simply use on instead. Apart from a few set phrases in which upon comes automatically to lips or pen -- e.g., Depend upon it! and, for Britons perhaps, Upon my word! -- this form of the preposition should be reserved for: idioms (put upon); the avoidance of ambiguity, as when on would link a nearer word and upon correctly links the farther one (the effect of the short brisk word on [upon] style); and very occasional effects of emphasis, rhythm, or archaic tone. In this rapid… -
Video: "Underway" or "Under Way"
15 May 2013 | 2:30 amOne word or two? Not sure? Watch this brief GrammarTip video for the answer. -
It's me or It's I?
1 May 2013 | 3:30 amYou're trying to make the right impression as you knock on the door of your blind date's apartment, or on the door of the personnel manager who has your job application. "Who's there?" you're asked. What's your reply? If you've ever been unsure, read on. Pronouns as subject complements. A subject complement is a word or phrase that follows a linking verb such as is or seems; it's the that in This is that, and it's the gray in All cats seem gray. A subject complement isn't the object of a verb but something linked to the subject by the verb. The rule for subject complements is very simple:… -
Happy (belated) Earth Day!
23 Apr 2013 | 2:35 amWill there ever be a Mars Day on Mars? What would they do? Rake red dirt all day? Just something to ponder as you consider today's list of earthy words. 1. meliorism: (a) marked by or showing concern for the environment; (b) advocacy of the preservation, restoration, or improvement of the natural environment; (c) the belief that the world tends to improve and that humans can aid its betterment; (d) active demand by two or more organisms or kinds of organisms for some environmental resource in short supply. 2. eurytopic: (a) a biological agent or condition that is a hazard to humans or the… -
Prayers
17 Apr 2013 | 2:30 amNo grammar posts today - just a word of reflection regarding the events in nearby Boston. Our prayers and thoughts are with the families of the lost and injured, and may those who were so mercilessly cut down find peace and eternal rest.
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Positive Writer
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Simple Tips for Hiring a Book Cover Designer
19 May 2013 | 2:54 amAre you in the market for a book cover design? If you are, this post could save you time, frustration, and MONEY! My new book “Happy Every Day” (coming soon) was designed by the wonderful, easy to work with Ana at books-design.com. I love the final product, but to get it I had to pay more than the original quote. Next time I won’t make the same mistakes and I will hire Ana again… Designed by Ana @ books-design.com Book cover design makes a difference A professionally designed book cover makes a difference, and according to Amazon it makes a big difference. When… -
How to Motivate Yourself Even When You Don’t Feel Like Writing
15 May 2013 | 2:47 amFrom Bryan: This is a guest post by 13 year old writer, The Magic Violinist. She says she’s an aspiring writer, but there’s nothing aspiring about her writing. She’s a writer! Enjoy her first post here on Positive Writer and let her know what you think of it in the comments. Discover more about The Magic Violinist by reading her bio below, visiting her blog and checking out her posts on The Write Practice. I’m sure all writers have had days where they don’t feel like writing. Or reading. Or doing anything creative at all. I’ve had days like that. -
How to Rise Above the Struggle of Becoming a Creative Professional
8 May 2013 | 3:50 amYou’re an artist. You know it and I know it. You didn’t need me to affirm that you are an artist. Right? However, are you a professional? Perhaps the question would be better phrased: Do you consider yourself a professional? Your answer matters. Provided by Dreamstime If the Sun and Moon should ever doubt, they’d immediately go out. ~William Blake Artists – be it writers, painters, designers or whatever type of art you do – are notorious for their self-doubt. Too many artists wear doubt on their chest like a badge of honor without ever realizing it. Let’s be honest with… -
22 of the Best Quotes on Writing Ever
3 May 2013 | 5:00 amI love quotes about writing. I hope you do, too. If you do, I’d love to know what your favorite quote about the craft is – how about sharing it with us? With that in mind, I asked fellow bloggers for their favorite quotes, and, oh boy, what a response! Below you’ll find some of the best quotes about writing ever. 22 of the Best Quotes on Writing Ever Below each quote is the name and blog link to the blogger who provided the quote. Special thanks to everyone who provided a quote. I added click-to-tweet to most quotes, but some were too long to be tweetable. Get your… -
The Secret To Becoming Famous and Creating Something That Matters
1 May 2013 | 4:46 amDo you want to be a famous author, blogger, inventor, designer or perhaps a mega movie or rock star? It’s time for some tough-love my friends, if you want to know the secret. Creative Commons by Christian Holmér Maybe you will be famous one day, but for now you need to do something that matters today. Famous people are famous for a reason and unless you are incredibly talented and ready to win the latest hit talent show on TV, then you need to know the reason they are famous and use it to your advantage. No. I’m not going to tell you that becoming famous is work, because that…
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A Little Class
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Disruptions
15 May 2013 | 8:02 amRead full article here. I’ve been saying it for years, “It is a privilege to be in my classroom. Those who don’t want to be here, or interfere with the learning of others, are welcome to leave.” Not a very popular statement, I know. I don’t care. I have a job to do, and those who get in my way, and the way of my students, can seek their educational guidance elsewhere. Unpopular? Maybe. Honest? Definitely. Teachers are often stuck in a frustrating situation when it comes to disruptive students; remove them at the time of their disruption,… -
The Dilemma of Standardized Testing
14 May 2013 | 7:18 amRead full article here. As a teacher, I stress relentlessly about standardized testing. Did I prepare my students well enough? What are the consequences, both personal and professional, of students continually not meeting standards? When did the gap between learning and performance become so vast? Generally, when school districts adopt a standardized test, there is a certain degree of disparity between what the test measures, and what the district curriculum dictates be taught. When this happens, teachers are faced with a very difficult choice; teach the curriculum and hope that any… -
Close the Void
8 May 2013 | 8:25 amIn an educational environment riddled with assessments and standards to be met, students are often left stranded in the void that separates teaching and learning. Our job, as teachers, is to facilitate learning. How do we do that? How do we bring the outlying extremes of the void closer together? We have to start with student connections. Teachers need to make connections with their students; build relationships. I see the teacher-student relationship take on many forms, and over the years, I have created my own set of categories when looking at teachers and their interactions with… -
Interest
8 Apr 2013 | 10:11 amTwo months, really, two months? Yes, it has been two months. I’m not proud of it; I’m actually a bit embarrassed. I was on a roll, posting several days a week, working on my book, reading, learning, feeling motivated; then it just stopped. No explanations, no reasons, no excuses. Nothing. I have toyed with the idea that it could be depression or loneliness, maybe even just plain boredom, but none of those panned out for me. All I can attest my laziness to is this: disinterest. Ever have one of those days where you just don’t feel like doing anything? Now,… -
New York City Schools and Plan B Birth Control
5 Feb 2013 | 7:09 amI know that teen pregnancy is still an issue in many school districts around the country, but I’m not sure what to think about schools taking the lead when it comes to birth control. In a more perfect world, parents would be guiding their children through the pitfalls of sex and the use of contraceptives. Sadly, the fact that teens are still engaging in unprotected sex that can sometimes lead to pregnancy or disease is a strong indicator that parents are not always as involved as they need to be. Handing out condoms, referring students to physicians that can prescribe prescriptions,…
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readywritermag.com
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Interview: Fiona Veitch Smith, Author, The Peace Garden
13 May 2013 | 2:00 amReady Writer Mag interviews Fiona Veitch Smith, author, founder, Crafty Publishing, screenwriter, lecturer and all-round do-er. Hello, Fiona, and thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by RWM Hello, Abidemi. It’s an honour to be asked. Describe your childhood growing up in South Africa I moved to South Africa with my parents when I was 10. [...] -
How to Write Your Autobiography
18 Mar 2013 | 2:00 amA long time ago – okay, as far back as the 1990s – an autobiography was something someone wrote after they had reached a certain age and had accumulated some life experience and sage wisdom that they could share with their readers. As I said, that was back in the day. Nowadays, anyone – from [...] -
How I Accidentally Started A Publishing Company
5 Mar 2013 | 8:41 amI don’t know if I ever intended to start a publishing company; it just happened. Two or three years ago, I decided to adapt a series of children’s picture books I’d written to be read out during a children’s talk at my church. I had submitted three of the manuscripts to children’s publishers before, but [...] -
Interview: Tony Miles, Author, Maybe Tomorrow
12 Feb 2013 | 2:41 amReady Writer Mag interviews Revd Tony Miles, Author, Maybe Tomorrow, Media Chaplain, Methodist Central Hall, Westminster and radio presenter. In short, a man of all trades. Hello Revd Miles, or do you prefer Tony? ‘Tony’ is absolutely fine, or even ‘Anthony’, if you want to please my dad. Technically, ‘Rev Miles’ is incorrect anyway. ‘Reverend’ [...] -
Interview: Tolulope Popoola, Author, Nothing Comes Close
21 Jan 2013 | 12:00 amAn inspiring interview with Tolulope Popoola, who got tired of rejection letters from mainstream publishers and decided set up her own publishing company, Accomplish Press. She was duly rewarded by being shortlisted for the New Venture award by the prestigious Women in Publishing. She didn’t win the award, but she got a special commendation. Proof [...]
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Now Novel
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10 secrets to writing a memoir
23 May 2013 | 7:38 amMemoir writing is not just a popular commercial genre but a satisfying and sometimes even therapeutic creative endeavour. Some of the keys to memoir writing are unique to the genre while others are similar to the advice you’d hear for any other type of writing with a bit of an added twist. Know your field. As with any genre, you should be well-read in the best the memoir has to offer before embarking on your own. Look into some of the award-winning and best-selling memoirs such as those by Frank McCourt, Mary Karr and Dorothy Allison, and try to sample a variety from different times and… -
Who John Grisham was before he became popular
21 May 2013 | 7:35 amFamous and successful writers can seem like they are some species separate from the rest of us. The truth is that famous writers are just ordinary people, and once upon a time they, too, were aspiring authors. John Grisham is one of the best-selling authors of our time, and many of his books have been made into films as well including The Firm, The Client and The Pelican Brief. But he grew up in a poor family, and he first dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Baseball wasn’t in his future, however, and for a short time, that future looked grim as he spent his teenage years in a… -
How to focus on one idea
20 May 2013 | 7:24 amOne of the most common challenges we face as writers is finishing the work we’ve begun when seemingly better ideas start to crowd in. Focusing on one idea until that piece is finished is a crucial skill in the writer’s toolbox. It’s inevitable, and it happens to everyone. You’re deep in one piece of writing, and suddenly you get the most amazing idea. It’s probably the best idea that you’ve ever had. It may be the best idea that anyone has ever had. You look back at the piece you’re working on and suddenly it’s lost its lustre. We’re all tempted by the grass-is-greener… -
How to submit your work for a writing contest
16 May 2013 | 7:36 amWriting contests can offer money, prestige and even publishing contracts, but it’s important to follow some simple guidelines that ensure that you get out of the gate in the first place. Below are eight tips to help you prepare your manuscript for submission to writing contests. Choose the right contest. Is it for science fiction writers, people who have published at least one novel or people only under the age of 30? Does your work fit the criteria as outlined? Be sure it’s a legitimate contest as well. In other words, anyone can put up a webpage, announce a writing contest and sit back… -
Why 50 shades of grey is so popular
14 May 2013 | 7:33 amLove it or hate it, there’s no denying that Fifty Shade of Grey is a publishing phenomenon. The reasons for its success can be instructive for aspiring writers of every genre and persuasion. It’s a timeless winning formula. From Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre to Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca to the tales of countless heroines of gothic novels, the mysterious, brooding hero is a much-loved trope of fiction. Of course, it’s crucial that the slightly-sinister hero can be tamed by love in the end. It’s great escapism. Escapism is by no means the only formula for successful fiction, but…
