This & That

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LATELY I'VE BEEN joking that I need to clone myself so one of me can get to the stack of books waiting for my undivided attention. I'm thinking there are lots of things I [we?] could get done if there were two of me. No more dirty floors. No more unread blogs. No weeds in the garden... Think of the satisfaction at the end of the day. All ten items crossed off the "to do" list. Done. 

But the dream is futile. Reality dictates that I prioritize and learn balance. Darn Reality. It sure can be a killjoy. 

On my last post I mentioned The Bookshelf Muse, a helpful resource for the writer. A few days later I received an email from one of the authors alerting me that I was a contest winner! The prize: in her forthcoming YA novel,  MIDNIGHT MOON, author Marilee Brothers will be naming one of her characters after me! Cool, huh? I had the choice of being a goodie or a badie. I chose a goodie because I need all the good karma I can get. 

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On another note, one of the authors of the blog, Writer Unboxed wrote a delightful post on ways authors can use Pinterest for book publicity. Although my book isn't published, I've been "pinning" photos of some of the haunts of my younger years which I've written about in my "book." If you click on the link and look at the  Hawaii and Oregon boards you'll see some of them. This is a work in progress. I'll let you know when it's finished. 

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Ricki Grady, author of the entertaining book, BEBOP GARDEN has informed me that Amazon is running a two-day promotion. Today and tomorrow, January 24 and 25, 2012, you can download BEBOP GARDEN for FREE!  Just click on the link. Also I recently discovered that you don't need an e-reader to download books. Amazon has a free app you can download onto your computer that works just like an e-reader! So, if you haven't read this awesome, book by a kindred northwest gardener, now's the time. 

As always, 

I Love The Internet

A FEW YEARS AGO when I was up to my eyeballs in manuscript work, I kept a few reference books nearby to refer to when, for instance, "walk" seemed mundane and a colorful synonym was called for. I still have those books but more and more I'm finding myself referring to Microsoft's thesaurus or sometimes the online Merriam-Webster. 

As we all know a major perk of the Internet is that it delivers truckloads of  information right to our fingertips. In my quest to familiarize myself with the literary world at large I've subscribed to many writerly blogs. Fun stuff. 

Although at this point I can't remember which link brought me to The Bookshelf Muse, I was thrilled to make its acquaintance. It appeals to my inner word-nerd with lots of cool helps for improving my writing. 

Clicking on the link will bring you to the latest blog entry, an exposition of a theme such as the character trait, "Modest." With positives and negatives, common portrayals and cliches to avoid, a writer can get a good idea how they want to craft a "modest" character. On the right sidebar is an index with an expansive Emotions Thesaurus; a Weather and Earthly Phenomena Thesaurus; a Color, Shape & Texture Thesaurus; a Character Traits Thesaurus; a Setting Thesaurus and a Symbolism Thesaurus. 

Just for fun, in the Settings Thesaurus, I clicked on the "High School Hallway" option. There were dozens of words to describe the Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste and Touch of this venue. Below that were writing examples, and a few similes and metaphors. Of course all of this is free! 

If you're a writer looking for inspiration, here is a super duper resource. 

As always, 

thanks for visiting! 

The Bumpy, Baffling Road to Publishing 4

AS I READ THE title I just typed, I can't help but think it was kind of stupid. I'm still not a published author so why am I eluding to... and I'm...wait. I am a published author. Duh. I've been honored to have one of my essays selected for an anthology called The Moment I Knew. (See sidebar.) Sometimes I forget how lucky I already am. I have made some serious headway and I'm grateful that I found an editor who believes in me. Thank you Terri. 

So I should reiterate that the baffling part is not referring to understanding the concepts of publishing, rather it's making reference to standing out and getting noticed by the powers that be. Writing a catchy query and submitting it to the correct recipients, for instance.  

But I've already written about all that and I don't want to bore you. 

For the past few months, I've been reading about self-publishing, the third option to getting your book in print. Many writers are finding self-pubbing a rewarding and profitable solution to their publishing dilemmas.  Catherine Caffeinated , The Passive Voice, A Newbie's Guide To Publishing are among the many blogs dedicated to educating authors on the whole process. I'm grateful to have such a wealth of information at my fingertips. 

For the past several days, I've been working on another essay for an anthology. The deadline is at the end of the month and, barring any computer snafus, (knock on wood) I'll have it finished on time. It's by far the most difficult writing I've done. It's about compressing seven years of a very difficult time into 3000 words of intelligible prose. But I'm up for the challenge and enjoy the process immensely. 

Okay, enough with the Baffling Road. I see a turn-off ahead and although the view beyond is a bit shrouded I think it leads somewhere cool. 

Thank you for visiting, 

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