April Brown Writes

This is another subject where everyone is sure they know exactly what a word means, and the nasty things I have seen people called for using it another way are disheartening.

We could look at the dictionary first.

Let's don't.

Where did you learn the definitions of words?
First - parents, siblings, caretakers.
Second - friends, teachers.
Third - books.

Sorry, you couldn't look up the definition of words before you could read. To understand the meaning of the word "novel" we have to look back before most people could read well enough to find a word they didn't know in a dictionary.

Having been through twelve separate school systems (through no fault of my own) before graduating high school, I can say there is a multi school, multi state definition of the word "novel."

"Novel" has two meanings to teachers - one is "newness." The other is length. Yes, length. In elementary school - any book, other than a dictionary or encyclopedia, over 70 pages is a novel. Yes, a biography of Abraham Lincoln is called a novel by elementary teachers. By junior high, the length of a novel increases to 150-170 pages. With the same inclusions and exclusions.

"Okay," some well meaning writer is bound to say. "Why don't you look it up and prove them wrong."

Go ahead. It won't matter to the teacher. They have to teach that way. It's what they were taught. Try reading "Lies My Teacher Told Me," to get a better idea of how often teachers are actually unaware of the "truth" of what they are teaching.

"Okay," some well meaning writer is bound to say. "Why don't you look it up and remember it."

"Well, the writer could. I suppose after high school (so you don't snigger at your teacher's mistakes) you could take a year and memorize the dictionary to get all the correct meanings."

"That's not what I mean," well meaning writer says haughtily. "You aren't listening."

"Actually, I am. Let me ask you this: Did you look up the meaning of the word house? Of cow? Of dog? Of sustainability? Why would you. You know what they mean. Just as the person graduating 13 years of "education" knows that "novel" means length.

Well meaning writer has closed there ears and stalked off.

So don't laugh, make fun, or act obnoxious to someone for writing the phrase: fiction novel. You see them as having written: "fiction fiction". They see themselves as having "fiction full length book".

So what does novel mean? To the person educated in the public school system: length.

To the Dictionary: "a fictitious prose narrative of considerable length and complexity, portraying characters and usually presenting a sequential organization of action and scenes. "

Just remember you once had to follow the rules of the public school system too (unless you were home schooled). Don't blame people for what they learned. Help them learn the correct meaning without making yourself look mean.

Honestly though, writers do use the word "novel" to determine the length of a piece of writing. Just look at any fiction word count guidelines. You will see they graduate through flash, short story, novella, to novel (some have a few other terms thrown in).

So is it any surprise writers new to writing queries aren't aware that they should not use the term "novel" to mean length?

Novel means what?

Website Design and Marketing Links

2012-02-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Website Design and Marketing Links

Since my browser is not letting me organize my over 3,000 bookmarks anymore, I'll organize them here!

Marketing:

Google Alerts
Google Analytics
Webmaster Tools

Klout

Website Marketing:

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Tips:
15 Must-Know Facts on How People View Websites | DreamGrow Social Media
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 101 for Authors | Savvy Self-Publishing
Building Your Web Presence for Authors: SEO Blogging Tips for Fun and Profit | Curiosity Quills
Building Your Web Presence for Authors: Getting the Most out of Your Facebook Fanpage Picture | Curiosity Quills
When to Modify Your Name Due to SEO Concerns | Jane Friedman
What You Need to Know About SEO | Nathan Bransford, Author
5 Ways to Use Google+ to Improve Your Search Engine Optimization | Social Media Examiner
2011: The Year Google & Bing Took Away From SEOs & Publishers
Google Now Reporting Anchor Text Phrases (Explains Anchor Text, and why you want to use it.)

Website Building, Design, and Tools:
Search, reserve, register domain names from checkdomain.com
Basic web design principles that will make or break any site | Graphic Design Blender
Web Color Chart - Decimal - by VisiBone
W3Schools Online Web Tutorials (Learn CSS, HTML, AJAX, and more free!)
PC Pitstop (Use to Check Internet Explorer slowdowns)
Verify Link Checker (Verify which links are broken on your site, in just a few clicks!)
Validate Your Site (CSS, HTML, and More) - Each page must be done individually
10 Point Website Check Up

Website Content:
How to Build an Audience for a Fiction Writer’s Website
7 Reasons No One Shares Your Blog Content
Is Your Website Hurting Your Writing? (The Creative Penn)

Social Media and Marketing:
120 Social Media Marketing Terms Explained
How to Find Your Site Mentions on Social Networks
Five Social Media Mistakes Your Startup Must Avoid | Entrepreneur.com
How to Optimize 7 Popular Social Media Profiles for SEO
Five Tips for Squeezing Social Media Into Your Workday | Social Media Today
How Much Time Should Writers Devote to Social Media?
Starving Novelist: Why Social Networks are Important for Writers

Website Design and Marketing Links

Agents Query Help Blogs

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

Agent Query Blogs

Most important thing to remember when querying: What is most important to cover in one genre may not matter in another in your query letter. Verify with the agent or publisher's site first to see what they think is most important, and follow their guidelines (and hopefully a sample). The guidelines for poetry, nonfiction, romance, fiction, and children's are dramatically different.

Before we list agent and publisher blogs - I want to cover one series of questions.

Do agents reject on query letter alone? Frequently, yes. If they don't like the query letter, or get distracted while reading it (especially with a phone call), it will often be rejected without being fully read.

Do all editors reject on query letter alone? No. There is no blanket statement available for editors. Why? Each is different. Sure, some will reject on query letter. How do I know this? I went to a writer's convention last year, with a five editor panel, all well known in their specific niches. The first question from the audience was about query letters. The response from all five editors was a resounding response that agents will vehemently disagree with. These editors said, "No. We don't even read the query letters until after we read the manuscripts. Query letters are marketing. That is a different skill set than writing, and is rarely effectively done by a writer. Only after reading the manuscript do we look at the query letter."

Now, this is one small sample of editors who publish poetry and short stories. However, the lists of publishers who accept work and do not read query letters is growing. If any agent, publisher, or writer says "all editors reject on query alone," or a similar statement, they are wrong, as they don't know every publisher.

Again, study your potential agent or publisher. Some accept and reject on the actual manuscript. Others on your marketing ability. Some consider both.

A query letter is marketing. What do agents want?
To find a specific agents style - use your favorite search engine - type in some combination of the agents name, agency, query, query guidelines, query sample. You may find other words that work well too.

Agents:

Query Shark (Janet Reid)
What you need before you query (Janet Reid)
What's NOT a query letter (Janet Reid)
FORMULA FOR A QUERY LETTER (Jill Corcoran)
Queries and Synopis: How to Get an Agent Salivating to Read Your Manuscript (An interview of Jill Corcoran)
Too Short (Agent Kristin Pub Rants)
Query help (Lynn Price Behler Blog)
The One Right Way to Write a Query (Mary Kole at Andrea Brown Agency)

Writing A Simple, Compelling Query (Mary Kole at Andrea Brown Agency)
Query Samples (Nelson Literary Agency)
Write a Great Query Letter (Noah Lukeman)
The Top Ten Query Mistakes (Rachelle Gardner)
You Lost Me At Hello - Why most queries don't make struggle (Scott Eagan Greyhaus)

Publishers Query Advice Blogs:

Writer's Resource Query Letter Blogs (Tend to be vague, and not genre or agent specific):
How to Write a Query (Agent Query)
Basics of a Solid 3-Paragraph Query (Writer's Digest)
10 Query Letter No-Nos (Writer's Digest)
Voice - It's not just for manuscripts anymore (actually, it never was) From the Write Angle)

Writer's on Queries:

Querying 101 (Becca Rogers)
What Agents *Really* Want in a Query Letter (Jami Gold, Paranormal Author)
The Other Side of the Story: Query Me This: How to Write a Query (Janice Hardy)
(W)ords and (W)ardances - Query project(Jodi Meadows)
How To Write A Query Letter, In Three Steps (John Adamus)
The Best Query Letters Do...What? (JM Tohline)
The Biggest Mistakes Writers Make When Querying Literary Agents (JM Tohline)
Writer's Conference: Queries & First Two Pages (Margo Kelly)
The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment (Matthew MacNish)
How (And Whether) to List Your Publishing Credits (Nathan Bransford)
Query Letter Mad Lib(Nathan Bransford)

Advice From My Agent (On Querying Her) (Randy Susan Meyers)
Lessons from Queryfest (Roni Loren)
The Single Best Piece of Query Writing Advice I've Ever Heard (Roni Loren)
How I Got My Agent (Part 1: The Parts of a Good Query) (Susan Dennard)
How to Write Your Bio for a Byline or Query (Suzannah Windsor Freeman)
25 Reasons Your Query Letter Sucks (Suzannah Windsor Freeman)

Other Query Blogs:
Query Wars (Brace Yourself for the Honesty) Confessions
Successful Kid Lit Query Letter Examples (Links to more query sites)
The Query Goblin (Reviews queries, kinda like Query Shark by an unknown person)
The Public Query Slushpile (Great List of Resources)

Agent Query Blogs

Finding an Agent

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

Find an Agent

This page will change and be updated from time to time. 01/10/2012
Writing the query letter will be addressed on another page.

Before you look for an agent, or publisher - be sure your manuscript is complete, polished, and ready to send. Don't procrastinate though. Someone can always find a word to change somewhere.

Where do you start?
Most say to start at Preditors and Editors. However, I prefer to end up there. Many of their links are out of date, closed, or otherwise need an email from the searcher stating how many broken links they've found. It's not also as easy to search as other databases. So, I prefer to search the other databases first, and then, compare my results to Preditors and Editors to verify they have a great rating. Use this site to find many things - agents, publishers, forums, contests, magazines, jobs, submission help, workshops, and warnings.

Where do I start?

** Remember, Databases are a starting place. Some databases may be created by a site owner, and the agents may not be aware their name is on it. Also, they do not update the databases they do know about regularly. They are more likely to update their website, blog, Twitter, or Facebook page. Use the database as a first line of information - and verify everything - agency, genre, email address, website address, submission guidelines, closing times, and other facts on their website or blog. Agents may change emails, agencies, genres, and submission guidelines at anytime. Their website or blog is most likely to be the most up to date place to get relevant information.

Association of Authors' Representatives (A good searchable database, you can narrow results by genre, address, email or snail mail, and many other categories. Also, you can read the "canon" or ethics rules AAR, and other agents, are expected to abide by. )
Duotrope's Digest (Primarily Publishers, easy to search, includes links to most publisher sites.)
Publishers Marketplace Research Agents and Publishers (Searchable, list of names, genres, click for site link. This is the home of "Publishers Lunch", something agents talk about frequently.)
AgentQuery (Find Agents and Publishers. Not as intuitive to find the places to search specific sub genres, email, or snail mail, AAR, and actively seeking new clients. Does have a link for genre descriptions.)
Query Tracker Database of Literary Agents (Parts of this site are free, and parts are paid. Basic genre and name search is free. Some aspects (viewing specific agent information) require login, without payment.)
Association of American Publishers (A list of links that link directly to publishers websites.)
ACQ Web Book Publishers (List of publishers, and publishing related links. Some are out of date.)
IBPA, the Independent Book Publishers Association (Lists - charges fee)
Directory of NAIPR Member Groups (The National Association of Independent Publishers Representatives - Not helpful in finding an agent or publisher, maybe in marketing afterwards.)
1000 Literary Agents (Searchable database, does include UK, Canada, Australia, and Ireland Agents in a second tab, includes query tracker software.)
E Publish a Book (Rates and links to ebook publishers. Many romance publishers listed.)

What now?
Pick a few agents, or publishers to write a query letter to. That will be covered on another page.
Before you start the query, create a database with all the pertinent information about each agent or publisher.

For example, I use Excel, and have fields for:

Agency (Publisher name)
Agent (Editor)
Responses time (If they have a "No Response Means No" policy, a mark goes here.)
Date Submitted
Accept Date
Reject Date
Waiting
Reading Time (Here - use your calendar to specify the date when they should have responded to your query.
Mailing Address (May not be available for e-presses. Get one before you sign anything).
Phone Number (May not be available)
Email Addresses
Website Addresses
Twitter
Facebook or Google Plus
Genres
Submission Guidelines (Things like proposals, font size or type, Word or PDF)
Query Method (Email, Snail mail, Form)
Query Attachments
Notes (Anything important - maybe the agent didn't have power a week, give them an extra week or more to read your query. Maybe they closed to queries an hour after you submitted.)

What do you look for in an agent?
Type 1: Lots of industry news on blog, website, and Twitter feed. May, or may not, represent you genre. These can be a good link to agents who do represent your genre.

Type 2: Agents you hope to query. (Same goes for editors and publishers)
1. Do they represent your genre? (Can you see book titles (on their website) that they have represented? - Very important).
2. AAR members? (Association of Authors' Representatives) Not a deal breaker - just be sure the agent, editor, publisher follows the AAR canon of ethics.
3. Clarity - Do they clearly state guidelines -
        1. Query Attachments (What to attach, how much, in the body, or as an attachment, Word, PDF, anything else, and have ready should the agent request)
        2. Clear Submission Guidelines - Email, form, snail mail, font type and size, document type.
        3. Typical Reading Time (May list typical closing dates such as December)
        4. Typical Response Time and Method
                A. Respond to all queries? Yes, query. (Read and follow all guidelines)
                B. Have an auto responder that they receive queries? Maybe, yes if below facts are covered.
                        What should an auto responder contain (if not on the website)?
                            1. Acknowledgement
                            2. Typical reading time
                            3. Directions if no response from agent ("no means no", or re-query, respect holidays and closing times, personal, or family illness, as well as power outages, they may need extra time, check their Twitter status for updates.)
                        Optional:
                            1. Typical closing times (Examples: December, August)
                            2. Genres represented
                            3. Twitter, or blog link to check query stats
                            4. Helpful links for writers (especially choosing a genre, or finding an agent)
                C. Do have directions for the author if a response has not been received after a specified period of time. Yes, query.
                D. They do post on Website, Blog, or Twitter, updated query read links, while using auto responder? Yes, query.
                E. They do post on Website, Blog, or Twitter, updated query read links, without using auto responder? No, do not query. You have no way to know if the agent received your query.
                F. Unclear if they respond to all queries? Maybe, query don't expect a reply. Don't expect a response if they do not use an auto responder, and post on Website, Blog, or Twitter where they are caught up to on queries.
                G. "No Response Means No." No, do not query. You might as well attach your query to a hot air balloon and set it free to the winds. My response here will make agents who do this practice angry. That's fine. They have forgotten where they have been, and where they will be again some day. An auto responder with clear concise directions to the writer can take care of o1, or 300,000, queries per year. Five minutes to set up.
                        Other points I have frequently noticed about "No Response Means No" agents.
                               1. Finding the agent's preferences to personalize the query letter is generally extremely difficult, and not on their website.
                                2. Often, they do not list book titles they have represented.
                                3. Their genre lists are extremely vague.
                                4. They actually have very little information for an author to go on to determine if they are the correct agent to query.
                                5. They often state they receive too many queries to reply to.
                       Honestly, as often as email gets misdirected, tired people accidentally hit delete instead of read, and accounts get hacked, I can't imagine having this policy for any business. Some form of alternative communication, or stated time to re-contact is a must in a mutually respectful professional business relationship.
                       As a writer, you deserve to be treated with the same respect that the agent expects from publishers. If they don't respect you enough to reply, with even an auto responder, can you trust them later on, if you do accept them as an agent? Do you really want to spend every moment of your writing career wondering if your agent will suddenly stop responding to your emails? Is it worth it for a few moments of an agent agreeing to read one submission?
                    H. Connect-ability
                            1. Website - A must have, clear and organized (Okay, yes, like a house, during updates they make look sloppy and have broken links. See I below.)
                            2. Blog - Helpful, especially if searchable, and they offer query examples that hooked them, and ones that they did not understand. In fact, you can learn more from the ones they did not understand, especially, if you understood it. Nothing against them, just they don't think the same as you, and that's fine, just not someone you can work with, communicate well with, and keep your sanity.
                            3. Twitter - Extremely helpful - Especially if website, blog, or email are hacked (or even updates on power outages, or illness keeping the agent from work).
                            4. Facebook or Google Plus Page - Good.
                    I. Response to Non-Query Questions (This is not a license to make something up.)
                            Clarify guidelines, or report a broken link - Agent replies - Excellent. Thank you.

One point I have found to be true: When a writer queries agents who respond to all queries, they send only a few at a time, clearly personalized. When a writer queries "No Reply" agents, they randomly send dozens, or a hundred, without being able to personalize. So agents are welcome to respond: Do agents who answer all queries receive fewer queries? They should as their queries are more specific.

Another point: Often, agents complain that queries don't match their submission guidelines. I once asked a former agent a clarifying question based on the website of their former agency. The former agent had never looked at it. So writers - don't feel bad if you followed the guidelines on the site, and the agent said you didn't follow their guidelines. Their actual guidelines may not be on the site at all. (You can blame the webdesigner if you like.) All the more reason for an auto responder in which the agent can clarify all submission requirements and guidelines.

What to do if the agent I just queried, just closed to submissions?
It depends on the agent.
If you opened the site, they were open, and you completed your query, and emailed within two hours, you can hope they will read it.
If you hadn't looked at the site in 24 hours, don't expect to hear back, go query someone else.
You may be able to re-query this agent with the same letter when they reopen.

Find an Agent

Use a Question in Your Query?

2012-01-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

Using a Question in A Query

Of course: know your agent and publisher. They may like thought provoking questions.

An interesting point: Questions in queries are considered rhetorical. Not sure why.

According to Dictionary.com: a rhetorical question is

"a question asked solely to produce an effect or to make an assertion and not to elicit a reply."

This is the the opposite of what a question in a query is supposed to do.

A query is supposed to encourage the reader, an agent, intern, or publisher, want to read the novel.

Let's explore the problem with questions. First, a look at questions in human history.

As children, we ask questions all the time. They excite us, and motivate us to find answers to problems and thoughts of everyday life.

Once children reach school, they often suffer from teachers relying on schoolbook questions at the end of the chapter. These questions are often expected to be answered with simple regurgitation of facts. If, the student actually thinks about it, and writes a trough answer, they get marked wrong.

What is the problem with this? It leads to people not caring when they see a question. They want to avoid it.

On one discussion board, I don't remember the topic or "rhetorical" question used. I remember the response. "I don't care." This from a former editor.

What does the writer expect the so called "rhetorical" question to do? Excite the reader. Encourage them to ask questions themselves, and want to read.

Let's try an example. We will choose "The Hobbit."

Based on a query covering the first 30 to 40 pages, this makes it more difficult. After all, the most exciting part is at the end, as it should be. My query question for the whole book would be: How will a hermit hobbit pacify a sleeping dragon and rescue the golden horde for his thirteen dwarf friends? (Just a note, I wrote this question in my own words. However, it sounds vaguely familiar, something similar may have been used in an example elsewhere.)

An agent or publisher might say: "I'm bored," and throw it down.

As for me? It's exciting! I want to know: What is a hobbit? Why is he a hermit? Tell me more about dwarfs! What does he do to pacify the dragon?

Of course the above example is actually the climax. Your query is the opening, not the climax, so it's 1000% times more difficult. You need to find the first mini climax to cover. So what would that be in "The Hobbit?"

How about: Will the hermit hobbit join his unexpected thirteen dwarf guests on an adventure to rescue their stolen fortune?

An editor or agent might be bored.

As for me: I'd answer it with more questions, and be excited to read the novel to find the answers.

So. If you need to write the question, go ahead. Then, turn it into a dull statement to excite the agents and publishers.

As in the above turn it into: A hermit hobbit join his unexpected thirteen dwarf quests on an adventure to rescue their stolen fortune. Dull, clear, and doesn't elicit the excitement of a question. It doesn't make you think. It makes a statement.

Of course: know your agent and publisher. They may like thought provoking questions.

An aside. An agent shared a website with both the UK and US cover copy for one book. Read them, and draw your own conclusions.

Do they discuss the same characters?
Which one seems more character based?
Which one seems more plot based?
Which one seems more author based?

Sometimes, finding the agent, publisher match is difficult. Good luck!

Using a Question in a Query

Query Letter Business Letter or Not?

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

Query Letter Business Letter or Not?

Honestly, I don't want to do this page. However, all writers are expected to share their knowledge. I am hoping writing about my experience will help me get a query letter accepted. Maybe this will provide some insight, or breakthrough on how it works. I imagine there is more query letter advice on writer sites than accepted queries per year. I'll add a few links to agent query blogs, especially Query Shark at the end.

What do you first need to know about query letters?

Let's look at that another way. What do you first need to know about anything you read?
One time you read it - it's perfectly clear. Another time - the same piece of writing is total nonsense.
Why? State of mind, body, and background noise.

What does this mean for the writer trying to hook an agent?
A large percentage are read by agents at the end of the day, when they are tired and want to clear their inboxes.

Is this a good time to read?
Nope.

What can you do to increase your chances of being coherently read?
Pay attention to your potential agent's Twitter blog. Try not to send when they are discussing things like taxes, headaches, and other blocks. Also pay attention to the tv shows they talk about.

I won't give much real query advice on this page, as I haven't had an accepted query. I will say this. I watch history, science, and animal shows from start to finish. A totally different world from what most agents talk about. They talk about sitcoms a lot. As I will show in the following examples, in some ways a query letter is like a sitcom. You turn on the tv to find a commercial break (Your query intro). It's a quarter past the hour, so the show is in mid-stream. You don't know the setting or characters (The body of the query). You decide if you have enough info to keep watching, or change channels to the next show by the next commercial break (closing).

First, let's examine a traditional professional business letter, the style professionals in all professions have been using for 100 years or more (until the last ten years).

Traditional Business Letter:

___________________________________________________________________
(A) Date

(B) Sender's Name
Sender's Address

(C) Receiver's Name
Receiver's Address

(D) Re: Novel Name Representation

(E) Dear Specific Agent,

     (F) (Introduction to why you are writing them) I am writing to you, hoping you will represent Novel at xxx words...

     (G) The body contains some specifics about the novel plot.

     (H) Call to action paragraph: Please contact me at the address or phone listed to help represent my novel for publication with publishers.

Sincerely,

(I) A novelist

____________________________________________________________________

What do we see here? Oh my. Not at all what agents say they want these days, and yet, one agent site actually lists a similar letter as their example query letter. So, how do you know what they really want? Hopefully, they inform you on their website. Let's look at the pieces of this letter.

(A) Date - This was very important in the days of snail mail. Today, agents rely on email to stamp a date on your letter. It takes up valuable space. In a snail mailed letter? You can probably keep.

(B) You name and address - Should this be at the top? On snail mail letters perhaps. After all, people used to read the letter, and then glance back at the name of the person who sent it for further verification. However, since the advent of email queries, most agents who post on the web think it's a waste of space, after all, this is not visible when they finish an equery.

(C) Agent's name and address - In the days of snail mail, this was vital. Agents didn't want to waste time reading a query aimed at the agency across the hall, or upstairs that was mis-delivered. Today, agents think it is a waste of space. After all, you mention their name first.

(D) Re: Novel Name Representation - Very important distinction here. Office people always put a Re: on the first correspondence page. The "Re" was a shortcut for regarding, in recognition of, remembering, or a few other "re" words. I imagine most secretaries these days think modern writers who use email are lapsing on the etiquette by not making clear what a letter is regarding.

However, in emails, most agents make clear that this subject line - in the subject line or the email now, uses less space this way - should never come to them with a single "Re" (unless forwarded by another agent). To them, "Re" only means "reply" and they think it is a trick to try to get them to read the letter. So, don't use it, even though it's ingrained in proper business etiquette.

What should you use in place of "Re:"? Simply use: Query Book Title, Genre, and any other specifics the agent requests. They will "Re" you if they are interested.

Can you use the word regarding? Sure. if you are following up on a query and use the whole word in front of the original title.

(E) Dear Specific Agent - And yes, make it a specific agent's actual name. You can't guess gender by name, or even picture sometimes. Some men have women's names, and some women have men's names. If you follow them on Twitter, see what they call themselves. Also, for women, it can be difficult.

Call them Ms. Mrs. or Miss? Some get angered by any, or all of these, and will stop reading your query. Most will hopefully ignore it, except on migraine day. (Hopefully then, they close and don't delete.) Best thing is to see if the agent has any query examples to see what they prefer to be called, or just call them by their full name. Some people are insulted if you use a title, and some are insulted if you don't use a title. You want to work with someone you don't have to constantly worry about upsetting.

(F) Introduction to why you are writing - Helps ease the reader into the correspondence, and tells them what to expect. Agents nowadays, say don't waste your time. I know why you are writing to me. Don't waste space. (Sorry this seems a bit condescending to me. Don't they receive emails from editors (as responses to queries), family, friends, and other agents at this same address?)

So what is your first paragraph? Some say it is the connect to the agent paragraph. Works well with some agents. Others say leap into the body of the query and address the agent later.

(G) Body of the query - This is the meat of the query. It should only be a few paragraphs. I'll list sites at the bottom of this page for query samples, and blogs.

(H) Call to action paragraph - This paragraph was once vital. It expressed your desire to be published, and contained more explicit contact info than the above address. The agent wanted to know if you were just informing them about a book you had written and published, or you wanted them to help you publish it now. Should it be used today? Not really. Agents know why you wrote, and will contact you if they want to. They think it's a waste of time and space.

What is this paragraph used for today? Two things: 1. Connecting with the agent. 2. Your bio. This should either be one, or two, very short paragraphs.

(I) A novelist - Your signature. Very short in the original professional business letter style.

Wait! If I don't include contact information at the top, or the non-existent call to action paragraph, where do I put it?

It goes here. Since you don't want to take up a lot of space (and look desperate), limit it to a few lines.
Address
Phone (Home, Cell)
Email (okay to use two, no more)
Website (Okay to use a blog, or Twitter, especially, if you have communicated with them there. Don't mention Google Plus, or Facebook, unless you have communicated there.)

Since emails get lost so easy, websites get hacked, people move regularly, and I can't check everything, don't I want as many contacts as possible?
Yes, in a way. You don't want to look desperate. That's why you use a phone (sure power can go out), a non ISP email such as Gmail (less likely to lose it if you ISP changes), and a common social network such as Twitter, or even a writer's association where they can send you a direct message if everything else is down.

So, since a traditional professional business letter is no longer correct what is the current email format?

It varies a bit. Here is a tiny sample of most recently accessed query letters.

____________________________________________________________________________
(A) Query: Novel Title, Genre

(B) Dear Specific Agent,

(C) Either Connect to the Agent Paragraph, or Jump into the Query Body

(D) Query Body (Remember sitcom references above)

(E) Connect to the Agent Paragraph, if not above, and Author's Bio.

Sincerely,

(F) Author's Name

Address
Phone
Email
Webpage or other social network

_____________________________________________________________________

(A) Query: Novel Title, Genre - remember this does not actually go in the query, it goes in the subject line. Also, be sure you follow any agents guidelines for anything else that goes here.

(B) Dear Specific Agent - As above, be sure you use the actual agent's name. Even if submittable forms, you sometimes know the agent's name you are querying.

(C) Either Connect to the Agent Paragraph, or Jump into the Query Body - Your connect tot he agent may, or may not include information such as books they have represented, or liked that are similar to yours. This can backfire, either way. Use with caution. Always mention if you have chatted with the agent, either at a conference, or even via Twitter.

(D) Query Body (Remember sitcom references above) - Honestly, I don't feel comfortable telling others how to write the body of the query. Even once I have one accepted, I won't. Having worked scoring written compositions, I know how subjective the process is. What looks glowing and stellar one day, will look dull as coal the next. What is perfectly clear to one person is nonsense to another. Query letters are difficult. You are trying to guess what, in a few words will excite a person who reads queries and manuscripts all day long, everyday. This is 1000's of times more difficult than hooking a reader who reads two or three books a week. What excites them will bore an agent.

One thing many writers recommend is making query letters look like back cover copy. Should you? Well, most agents advise against using questions in your query. Most back cover copy uses questions to grab a readers attention.

The publishing business is full of contradictions.

(E) Connect to the Agent Paragraph, if not above, and Author's Bio - Author's bio should be short and only include relevant publishing information. You may include membership in certain major writing organizations. Except in very specific situations, usually nonfiction, your job and personal history being on your website "about me" page, not here.If it is relevant - you are a neuroscientist writing a story about being bi-polar, perhaps it's okay to include in you bio (unless you fear it may make you look like you will use words the average reader won't recognize.

(F) Author's Name - Your signature. Here is where you provide all contact information you are sharing at this time. A link to your "About Me" page is a good touch - if it is well designed. In fact, you can have even more contact information on your "About Me" page - so that if all the phone numbers and emails turn up invalid for some reason, the agent can find another way to contact you - Google Plus, Facebook Page, GoodReads, and the like.

*Important Note: When you type your query letter (From Dear Agent, to your last link) in Word, or other program, it should not exceed one page at 12 point font with 1 inch margins. Though, many successful queries seem to be longer.

** Always follow agent guidelines for length, font size, font type, and attachments (usually none).

Janet Reid at Query Shark
Absolute Write - the latest on queries, including critiques. Also, research agents and publishers here.

There are hundreds of other query guidelines on the internet. Not all are good. Not all are written by people who have had successful queries. Some, are years out of date, pertain only to certain genres, or are for snail mail letters instead of equeries. Use caution when searching for examples. make sure they apply to you, your genre, your writing style, and your agent of choice.

In fact, if you search for the specific agent and the word query, you may find more specific query letters that have worked for them. Even though your body of the query may stay the same, you may spend two hours or more for that one to two line personalization that grabs their attention.

Good luck!

Agents who have commented on the Professional Letter or not:
Vickie Motter - Not a business letter
Ebook Crossroads - A business Letter

Business Letter or Not?

The Writer and Taxes

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Taxes for Writers

Caveat: I am not a licensed tax professional. I will not attempt to give specific advice for specific individuals.

Before Tax Time:
1. Is your business legally considered a hobby? (Below a certain income. A $6.00 sale to a fantasy magazine doesn't get you out of hobby status in the eyes of the tax determiners).
2. What were your businesses expenses?
3. What was your income, and from where?
4. Do you have your latest free credit reports?

Keep records in a logical way. Attach copies to your calendar when you get checks if needed. Know the tax laws for when you can predict your income will be high enough to pay taxes quarterly. An agent or editor can give you a rough idea.

Federal Tax Forms and Searchable Database:
IRS Forms and Publications
Link to State Tax Forms
H&R Block | Taxes, Online Tax Preparation, Tax Software, Filing Advice, Help & Tax Return Information
Jackson Hewitt Taxes
AARP

Annual Credit Reports:
Annual Credit Report
Experian
Equifax
TransUnion

Other Useful Sites:
Consumer Fraud Reporting - Free Consumer Protection Information About Scams
State Government Offices, Local US Government, City Government and Federal Government
State Government- GovSpot.com

Some Agents and Authors have posted blogs specifically for authors at this time of year.

In general, if you have no income from writing, you don't want to use writing deductions. There are some odd rules about taxes, deductions, and if your business doesn't turn a profit in a certain amount of years. Check those rules out before declaring writing deductions. Ask an accountant, or a tax lawyer about your options if you want to use deductions and have no income.

Blogs that address writers and taxes: (As with all things, check validity of what the blogger is saying when compared to the IRS and state site. Always call them, or your trusted accountant or tax lawyer for clarification. I am in no way endorsing the following sites or writers.

Absolute Write - A bit dated.
Bookends Agency
Riley & Associates, P.C. Has useful checklists.
Steve Laube Agency - Explains, and links IRS on the hobby/income issue.
The Writer's Edge - Well done overview.

The Writer and Taxes

Reactions of Others to a Gluten Free Life

2011-11-11T07:57:00.001-05:00

Living gluten free shouldn't be difficult should it? After all, everyone eats meat and vegetables, right?

Well, yes, and no.

People should be glad you are no longer ingesting something that your body has determined is a poison. In other words, you are no longer suicidal. A great thing, right?

* Friends will refuse to return calls or emails when they realize you are living gluten free.

* People will become angry (truly at themselves) and may hit you for daring to believe there is life after bread.

* Friends will offer you a gluten filled cinnamon roll when your blood sugar drops.

* Friends will offer you a sandwich when you say you need to go home to eat.

* Friends will say, "Just a little won't hurt will it?" (A crumb may not show noticeable symptoms in some people, but why take the chance? You may have already been exposed to a crumb and not have known it.)

* When helping a friend, they will ask you to fix a sandwich for them to eat.

* Friends come over, and you offer them something to eat, and everything they suggest is a gluten filled item you don't have.

* Family and co-workers don't understand why you don't join in potlucks.

* Employees don't understand why you have to watch everything you do. You can't lick envelopes, you have to wash your hands after wearing gloves.

* People with jobs don't understand why you can't go work at the local fast food restaurant or grocery store. You just can't be satisfied, they think.

* Restaurants, well, most waitresses have no idea what you are talking about, and fast food, forget it. They don't know how to fix a hot dog, or hamburger without bread (and they may contain wheat in their ingredients anyway.)

* Family and friends often don't know what to look for when trying to find gluten free foods.

* Those who try, may not know how to cook food that doesn't come in a box.

* Often, you feel alone, and isolated, because you eat meat and vegetables, the staples of life, and not bread.

Check out my website for desserts and breads updates!

https://sites.google.com/site/aprilbrownwrites/cooking/cooking-gluten-free

Gluten Free Meals

2011-11-05T06:40:00.001-04:00

Gluten free meals and drinks are being posted on my website this month!

Check it out for your favorites:

Hot Apple Cider
Hot Tea
Hot Jello, Flavored Water, Sugar Water

Tacos
Red Chili
Meatloaf

Brownies

And many more to come! Check out each day this month for gluten and lactose free cooking.

What other favorites would you like to see featured?

In a few weeks, I will prepare the recipes for a gluten free Thanksgiving for all!

Hot Apple Cider on the Website!

2011-11-01T06:34:00.003-04:00

Some days, we all need hot Apple Cider! Especially as Winter takes hold. Enjoy!

Website

Copied first of four recipes:

"Just Want Something Different"

Time: 3 minutes.

Ingredients:
1 cup apple juice
Cinnamon, or your favorite sweet spice (nutmeg, pumpkin)

1. Add a dash of Cinnamon to your cup.
2. Pour in the apple juice.
3. Microwave for 2 minutes (Time can vary based on machine - juice should almost boil to mix well).
4. Let cool to a drinkable temperature.

A month of Gluten Free!

2011-10-31T07:23:00.001-04:00

Good morning!

My hope is to create a group of pages on my website for gluten free cooking. I intend to blog about every meal I make this month.

Fact 1: I usually cook enough to have many leftovers. I don't cook every day.

Fact 2: I am sometimes unable to work on my computer. I don't post every single day.

You may wish to check back at the beginning of December to see all of my posts.

Visit: Webpage - Cooking throughout the next month or two to find delicious, easy gluten free meals!

Point in fact: I don't tell people to buy all kinds of exotic flours you can't pronounce to cook with. In fact, it's probably better not to.
First, they are expensive.

Second, they are often bitter. Our bodies are designed to tell us not to eat bitter foods for a reason.

Third, you can buy very tasty mixes now. Some that are less tasty, just a dab of sugar will make them better. If sugar don't help, you probably shouldn't eat it.

What's up today: Brownies (and if the in-laws think they are gluten filled, they have to be good!)

Updates to Website - Social Media

2011-10-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

The Social Media Page has been updated.

The LinkedIn Page has been improved, and moved out of a Word Document.

The Klout page has been created.

Other pages coming soon: LibraryThing, GoodReads, and Shelfari.

2011-10-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome Darke Conteur to April Brown Writes! Enjoy discovering a fun short multi - part paranormal novel.

Story Blurb:

His first day of work wasn't what Martin Cunningham expected. Asultry boss, a classy receptionist, the drama-queen foreigner, and a painfullyshy techie who prefers hiding to human interaction, wasthe oddest group of characters he'd ever met. When an assassination attempt ismade against his new boss, Martin comes face to face with the stuff ofnightmares.

Now he and his new co-workers must race to prevent another attack,but where do they start? There's very little to go on, and the only solid pieceof evidence escaped through the u-bend in the toilet. By the end of the day,Martin becomes one of the privileged few who really understands what lies inthe shadows, and what it means to work in THE WATCHTOWER.

Martin Cunningham Interview Pt One - April Brown

Thanks for the intro April!

Welcome Humans to The Paranormal Pit Stop. Your one-stop E-zine onthe Ethereal-net for everything in the paranormal world. This week, we areproud to bring you part one of a two-part interview with the only human crazyenough to actually want to work at Terin Global—Martin Cunningham.

Paranormal Pit-Stop: Welcome Martin, glad you could join us!

Martin: Thanks, nice to be here.

P.P.S.: Why don't you tell us a little about yourself.

Martin: Well, I'm not sure what you want to know but I graduated fromCarlton University with a bachelor in business. I decided to stick around thecity instead of moving back home, but after my room-mate pulled a 'midnightmove' on me, I was seriously thinking I'd have to live with my parents again.

P.P.S.: What brought you to Terin Global?

Martin: To be honest, they were the only ones who gave me a chance. All theother places I sent a resume to, didn't call back. Terin Global was my lastshot at freedom, and so far, it seems pretty cool.

P.P.S.: What do you think of your new co-workers?

Martin: They're pretty cool. Barb's nice. She's really friendly andDaniel's okay, I guess. Doesn't talk much, though.

P.P.S.: No, no he doesn't. What do you think about Aslin and your new boss?

Martin: You know, the first time I saw Aslin shoot flames from his fingers,I thought I was seeing things!

P.P.S.: The Ethereal Fire spell? Yeah, pretty weird isn't it?

Martin: Actually, I thought it was kinda cool. And Jezryall? Sure she's allsmoke and mysterious, but I think she really cares what happens to people.

P.P.S.: Do you have a girlfriend?

Martin: No, not now. I did in university, but we broke up just after grad.I didn't want to move out west and she didn't want to stick around here. We'restill friends though.

P.P.S.: Speaking of friends, have you told any of yours about your new workplace?

Martin: No, they wouldn't believe me if I did, and where the hell would Istart? It's like Artimes said, people don't want to know what's going on aroundthem, and I don't think I'd want to be the person who tells them. I think it'sbetter for people to go about their lives and not know. There's enough crap todeal with as it is, let alone have to worry about things that lurk in theshadows.

P.P.S.: What about your parents? You must have told them?

Martin: Yeah, right. The truth? Hardly. My Dad wasn't impressed when I toldhim I had an interview at Terin Global. He watches the news and saw some of thestuff they were involved with. You know, the stuff that actually went on thenews. He freaked! Said if I started working there, I'd better not turn into amoney-hungry, corporate drone. With that attitude, you really think I'm goingto tell him what's lurking on the twenty-seventh floor?

P.P.S.: Okay, what's lurking on the twenty-seventh floor?

Martin: Go ask Daniel. It's his pet.

P.P.S.: Everyone on Jezryall's team has a special ability. It's the reasonthey're with her. So what's yours?

Martin: Sorry pal, I don't have one. I'm as normal as any other personwalking down the street. Wish I did though. I feel kinda weird sometimes whenthey're using theirs, and I'm standing there looking like a dork with my handsin my pockets.

[Becareful what you wish for, Martin.—Darke]

Well, that's all the time we have for this week's interview. Wewould like to thank our host April Brown for allowing us to post this interviewon the human internet. It's always nice to have new friends.

If you'd like to learn more about Jezryall and her staff, you canfind more information at the links provided below.

Additional Character Interviews:

http://darkeconteur.wordpress.com/paranormal-pit-stop-blog-tour/

Novel:

http://darkeconteur.wordpress.com/novels/

Join us next time when we visit ChristyMarie Kent and bring you part two of our in-depth interview with Aslin. This isThe Paranormal Pit-Stop saying; just because it's dead, doesn't mean it's notalive!

Bio:

Darke Conteur is an author at the mercy of her muse. Writing in severalgenres, she prefers to write in paranormal and science fiction, and has storiespublished in Brave Blue Mice, Bewildering Stories, and The Absent WillowReview. When not busy writing, she looks after one wannabe rock-star, one husband,two cats, and one ghost dog.

Darke Conteur and The Watchtower

2011-10-19T06:54:00.000-04:00

Darke Conteur will visit the blog on Friday, October 21. Her short novel, "The Watchtower" is a fun evening read. It moves fast, and keeps you focused on the story.

Be sure and visit Friday morning for her blog post. They add and enrich the story beyond your imagination.

Open your eyes for just a moment, and see the spirits around you as you read "The Watchtower."

An Authors "How To" to LinkedIn

2011-10-06T18:55:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the updated April Brown Writes!

Tonight, I am uploading a document on my primary website for authors who use LinkedIn.

Once, LinkedIn didn't offer much for authors.
Now, it offers a lot!

You can now add new sections in your profile:

Certifications

Courses

Honors and Awards

Languages

Organizations:

Projects

Patents

Publications (Here is where we can add our published booksand articles)

Skills

TestScores

Volunteer Experience & Causes

Applications:

Blog Link

Box.netFiles

Creative Portfolio Display

E-Bookshelf

Events

Google Presentation

HuddleWorkshops

LawyerRatings

LegalUpdates

MyTravel

Polls

Projectsand Teamspaces

Reading List by Amazon

RealEstate Pro

SAPCommunity Bio

SlideSharePresentations

Tweets

WordPress

Directions on how to create a LinkedIn account, and add these areas are available on the primary website at: https://https.sites.google.com/site/aprilbrownwrites/thought-on-writing/social-media-for-writers-and-artists/linkedin

Thank you for checking out the new blog and website!

Have a great day, and come back often!

Life With Limits

2011-09-17T04:30:00.001-04:00

Can you imagine a life without limits?

It must be nice to have health, wealth, and free time to do anything you so desire.

Of course, I think any normal person would quickly become board if every option was available to them.

Life without health limits. Wow! Can you imagine being able to go to any restaurant and eat anything on the menu (Forget price for a minute, it doesn't matter.) Someone on a blog post chose to deride a friend for not trying certain types of food. The poster claimed their friend was using excuses to not try new foods.

Did the poster stop and ask? While there is a fine line between excuses and valid reasons, did the poster even bother to ask?

Apparently the possibility that she could bleed to death internally is just an excuse. Apparently the very real possibility that she could swell up and die from asphyxiation is just an excuse to not try new foods.

Now, not knowing the friend, I cannot say. However, I can say that my friends do not understand my food allergies and it is common for me to just say, I can't have it. Perhaps the poster's friend needs to speak up and say, "Yes I could have it, if I want to die tonight." Would that make the poster feel better?

Can you imagine the wealth to do anything you want? If you were independently wealthy, sure you could keep doing the same old things, knowing they didn't work, and not caring.

Yet, if you know you can do one part of a job, and not the other, do you keep trying to do the part you have no talent for? Not unless you are wealthy and don't care.

Or don't recognize your strengths and weaknesses.

I'm willing to admit my weaknesses. I'm a writer, I write for people to enjoy reading. I am not a salesperson.    However, some people can't see the difference. It's just an excuse.

No. It's not an excuse. I have tried to write sales copy. I was laughed at. My cat can do a better job. Sales copy is one of my weaknesses, and not my strength.

So, does it not make sense to recognize and accept my strengths and weaknesses? Does it not make sense to allow people who have sales copy as a strength to have a job? They wouldn't try to write book. Except to make fun of writers who can't write sales copy!

Imagine life with all the free time in the world. You have time to read every book and watch every movie ever made. It would get boring quickly.

Life without limits means you could read books that would leave you screaming and crying for weeks after reading it. After all, you have nothing better to do with life.

Really? Does being depressed sound like something we should do with our lives? Why? Life with limits says we know what we enjoy, and we do what we enjoy within the limits of our lives.

Even though a life without limits sounds like fun, it wouldn't be. While I can wish my life wasn't so limiting in the food department, I know if I want to live, I have to limit my food to items that won't kill me.   Many people will never understand that.

Not being suicidal is just an excuse to them.

I am sorry for them.

They don't know their own strengths and weaknesses. They have all the health, wealth, and time in the world. Someday, though, karma will visit them.

They will have to face their strengths and weaknesses. They will have to learn to say 'no' to people who can't understand why they have to say 'no.' They will have to face the friend who thinks they just make excuses.   Will they cry themselves to sleep at night, all alone with no one to know, or care, because now they understand?

Writing Update for September 9, 2011

2011-09-09T05:45:00.001-04:00

Writing update for today.
"Trails Through the Garbage Mines" is at 78,500 words - almost complete rough draft!

Am going to, once again, start working on getting a proposal together for "Relating to Memory Loss – A Guide for Individuals, Family, Friends, and Employers."

"The Stork Mis-Delivered – Twice" is still out there awaiting hopeful acceptance. If not, I am beginning to work with one person on improving the query letter process. Those are always difficult. Especially on as complex a stroyline as "The Stork Mis-Delivered – Twice."

I am definitely looking for help with query letters. Thanks to one agent, I have discovered that what I find enticing in a query letter confuses some people, while what they find enticing, makes me go huh? How is that connected to the story? So, onward to find an agent who thinks like me.

I have recently had difficulty with my email program. Or the connection between mine and one or two other people. What does this mean to me in the query and agent hunt? Well, if the agent follows the "no response is no" policy that can be a serious problem. First, I have no idea idea if they received my query. Second, I have no idea if they sent a response. If they sent a request, and it got lost in cyberspace, I would never know, as an author is not supposed to attempt to contact an agent who has a "no response is no" policy.

Thankfully one agent recognizes this problem, and recently wrote a blog post in which she admitted to sending an acceptance to three authors email addresses, none of which the author received. Luckily, she finally reached the author.

Am I likely to query an "no response is no" policy agent? No. They could request my manuscript, and I would never never know it. And just imagine how they would rant, especially on Twitter, against the author who never sent the manuscript they requested.

As for my blog, I wish to try a new approach. I want to keep the main blog page for writing updates. However, I am beginning page sections which will have subpages for cooking, sewing, and gardening. Others may occur in the future. A page and subpages for Fibro and healthcare links is likely. I do plan to focus mainly on my writing, with maybe twice a week, blog page updates.

Be on the lookout for new fun on my website!

Blog or Website?

2011-09-01T03:00:00.001-04:00

Is it more important to have a blog, or a website type setup? My blog is more of a website at the moment.

How do you manage to get Twitter to be more than just a billboard service? How do you manage to know what is going on? I rarely see replies to anything there. I use Hootsuite to separate it into streams, and that helps some. However, since you can't use page down, and have to scroll, it is easy to lose where you are. I have used Tweetdeck in the past, though it gives me a headache since I can't see the microscopic fonts.

On one writer's board, we discussed genre and my writing. Personally, I feel I write adventure stories. Afterall, I like to read adventures, and they are hard to find. One person said basically that adventure is not a genre, and I need to decide what genre they are. Maybe that's why I have so much trouble finding books I enjoy. One adventure I recently read was hidden in Westerns. I wouldn't have looked in Westerns for an adventure. Others are just hidden in plain fiction (which in our library is almost all romance).

So in the future of writing and publishing, do you see a place for adventure stories for adults? Stories that are not primarily in romance, westerns, history, or science fiction? Stories that could have happened ten years ago, or ten years in the fututre that are more about the adventure than the science, or the history, or the technology, or the romance?

Current Manuscript

2011-08-17T03:26:00.001-04:00

Current manuscript at 56,270 words. Longest so far, without a break to go back and edit to determine next set of plot points. Am thinking, I might ought to anyway. I have lost track of some minor characters that show up in odd places. I thought I made notes which name, which character, yet missed a few.

Perhaps, this afternoon, a quick cast recall might be in order.

Definitely, after hubby's vacation, I will start with the re-work from chapter 1, regardless of how much more I have written. I already know a few chapters that need to at least double in size. Yes, a few quick notes have been scribbled.

I need to look up a few good resources for writing physical conflict. I tend to skim it while reading, and for some reason, it is vital in this story.

Writing Update

2011-06-14T04:02:00.001-04:00

Today's writing update will include several comments.

Two new stories begun.

While working with social networking, I found that by linking my blog to HootSuite, I can now update my blog from there, just as easily as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. That will allow me to add updates more often, and more easily. WordPress is confusing when it wants to be. Just way too much stuff on it to be simple and easy to use.

Most of my updates will be on the individual page for that story. I plan to start updating those pages of stories I have worked on at least once a month, on, or about the 15th. Easy to remember.

Today's Novel News

2011-04-26T05:24:00.001-04:00

Today's novel news is good.

Although I spent a month too sick to write, in four months, I have reached 50,000 words on "Into the Volcano."

The prequel to the prequel is now over 2/3 done! Am working on the prequel outline generally as I go along.

Personally, health is improving with joining a gym (just have to remember not to overdo!)

Writing and Publishing Decision

2011-01-25T05:12:00.001-05:00

Writing and publishing decisions are never easy to make.

However, after attempting to write a query letter for two months, and the direct conflicting recommendations, as well as very little helpful information on what I could do to improve it, I realize that there is no way I can write a query letter that will attract an agent's attention.

I am a storyteller. I am not a salesperson.

I have two options: find someone to do the sales for me (agents despise this process if they find out about it), or publish as e-books.

My novella would make a good e-book. My latest novel would make a good e-book.

"Relating to Memory Loss - A Guide for Individuals, Family, Friends, and Employers" would make an excellent e-book as it would be easy to update. However, useful resources, references, and links are listed, it cannot be an e-book without a traditional publisher. The fact of the matter is, as carefully as I verified that authors and websites want to be recognized and visited by others, it would be easy for one to change and list theirs as a "no contact, sorry we don't exist, please do not use, acknowledge, refer to, or read materials on this site". Therefore, this will not be available if I choose to go the e-book publishing route.

When the decision is made to create e-books, I will post updates with links to where to buy them, for a reasonable fee. I am thinking $3.00 for the novella, and $5.00 for the novel. About max I pay for books.

Quick Writing Update

2011-01-08T03:13:00.001-05:00

I have been very busy with my writing.

I have completed "The Tribal New Beginning" on June 10, 2010. As a novella, it is not eligible for traditional publication until other novels are published. It was in production for about two years.

"Relating to Memory Loss - A Guide for Individuals, Family, Friends, and Employers" was completed on October 20, 2010. This Nonfiction was the shortest writing time of any long item so far, only ten months from start to finish.

"The Stork Mis-Delivered - Twice - is an 81,000 word women's fiction set in the 1980's and early 1990's. It was completed on December 10, 2010. It has also been in production for a few years, although in October 2010, it was only 20,000, and much of that was re-vamped.

Currently, I have begun a more fun project, one that will be the prelude to "Garbage Miners." I look forward to the science and history involved in the young adult novel "Into the Volcano."

Change of Purpose

2010-09-04T03:52:00.001-04:00

Hello friends,

This blog is going to take a change of purpose. In order to spend time writing, I do not have time, or energy, to create new posts. Instead, I find myself repeating Writing updates, with relatively little new material.

Honestly, as an unpublished writer, I cannot truly give writing tips, so all I can do is chronicle my questions, confusions, and difficulties for others to follow. There are millions of such blogs.

I can write about me, and my boring life, though other than me, who would be interested?

So, instead, I am going to spend some time going through posts, and keeping only those which are valuable. There are pages for each of my story ideas, and updates can be added directly to that page to show my progress.

In a sense, my blog will become more of a website with occasional blog posts.

I like that idea.

I have my RSS feed set to pull from about fifty blogs a day. I have over 400 useful blog posts to save to my disk. Useful to the writer. Yet, I find my favorite blogs to read are the ones which only update occasionally, when they have something important to say. Sure, the agents blogs should be updated regularly, and theirs are the ones I try to save information off of. So many writers are trying to follow all the blogs, and sometimes, the only way to stand out is to only stand out occasionally.

Thank you for your support and understanding.

April Brown

Social Media

2010-07-23T03:00:00.001-04:00

I am still learning all this social media stuff.

Yes, as a writer I used the word "stuff." It best fits the odd hidden tidbits that cannot be easily figured out about social media.

I just spent more than a day adding writers and publishers to my Twitter feed. Twitter is a challenge. I kept wondering why I never received any replies, yet I could go to another persons page, and see that my replies to them did not show up either. Finally, I found the place to see if people had replied to me - totally unlabeled. I honestly believe they moved it off the profile page while I was working for those three months!

The worst thing about working with my Twitter page was finding out that a particular agent had blocked me from following her. I have no idea why. I did send a simple query to her several months ago. So, the question is did she knowingly block my account, or hit the wrong button by accident? I will never know, and suspect that even though I can still read her blog, I should not bother to query her again.

I also decided to do a Facebook/Twitter/Bookmark project. 320 people in my Twitter account to sort through, check their websites, determine if they had Facebook pages, and if I was going to save the websites as links. Then, cleaning up my Bookmarks, with the 100 or so added - splitting agents into Fiction and NonFiction, Fiction Only, or NonFiction only, plus a folder just for Agent Blogs. I also made folders for Markerters, Publishers, and Scriptwriters. Then, I sorted my Authors sites and Blogs as well. In the process, I found a few really good gems, lots of info for another Fiction book partially written.

Now that I had most of the dirty work done, it was time to catch up on another dreaded project - blog feeds. I actually read very few blogs while I was working for three months. I had over 320 of them to sort through and decide if I want to keep those links handy for my writing. Part of this process was started a week or so ago, when I began to sort the links I already had.

I still don't have this Social Media figured out for promoting and marketing. I guess it's just too, "what worked an hour ago has changed, do it a different way now," kinda place.

While lots of work, mostly in one day, and a few evenings, it will be an enormous help when I get ready to search for agent, query, proposal information, as well as resources for my next fiction project.

Writing Update on Nonfiction

2010-07-22T03:00:00.001-04:00

My Nonfiction is streaming along well.

Research has been good, though exhausting (it would help if websites were in a reasonable size and shade of font). The study of memory, while exhausting, and sometimes painful, is useful to everyone.

My goal is to begin choosing a few agents to prepare proposals for in about two weeks, once the next two sections are in better shape.

Hopefully, by the time agents reopen to queries and proposals in September, mine will be ready!

Maintaining Social Connections

2010-07-21T03:00:00.001-04:00

Maintaining social connections in any place is complicated these days.

Everyone rushes from thing to thing, place to place, as if life were a race, and only the busiest will win.

What will they win though?

Will anyone remember those who raced through life?

Then, there are those of us, who have slowed down, and focused on living. We watch those race by us, as if they don't even see us. They can't even slow enough to wave, once we step out of that fast and furious stream. I suppose the ever rushing stream doesn't give them time to think and maintain friendships.

How can we, those who have stepped out, to read, to write, to contemplate, how can we maintain friends, in real life, not just on the Internet? It isn't easy, when writers tend to live far apart, and few live near others who write. Or so it seems, trying to reach out to other local writers and artists is much more difficult than reaching out on the Internet, as being reclusive is common.

I have tried to maintain friendships with my neighbors, and that's great, they are good people. It's just writing and reading are something they can't imagine doing. Sure, a few will forward an email, or even type out a sentence or two of their own, it just isn't possible to carry on a conversation about books, writing, or publishing with them.

Trying to connect to others, just to have someone to bounce ideas off of would be wonderful. Locally, there are no writing groups. On the Internet, it seems so like any other place, where everyone says a writer should join a group, even an online group, yet finding one that is accepting members hasn't happened yet.

While I really don't mind being alone, yet I know I need to reach out if I ever want to be published. Finding a few good readers or people to chat with occasionally with would be a start. If you know any writing groups that are accepting members, please comment below.

When did Acid Reflux Become a Problem?

2010-07-20T03:00:00.001-04:00

When did acid reflux become a problem?

Has it really always been a problem or is it new?

One things for sure, You don't read about people more than 20 or 30 years ago having to sleep in recliners (especially before they existed), or raise the head of their bed to supposedly augment it.

In fact, there is really no known legitimate medical reason for acid reflux. When you research it, what responses there are seem conflicting.

"Eating too much too late" is one common excuse given. In fact, one site suggested you not eat six hours before bedtime. Well, I don't eat four hours before bedtime, and the amount I eat is probably too small, meaning I didn't eat enough to wash the acid out of my stomach.

"Too much acid" is another excuse given. I rarely eat or drink acidic food. In fact, I have no idea why they would add citric acid to food or drinks, especially soda.

"Too much soda" is another excuse given. If that were the case - my two sodas yesterday would have given me reflux last night, not tonight, when my only soda was drank early this morning.

So again, no one really knows why acid reflux occurs. We know the home remedy is baking soda, slat, and hot water. Beyond this, what did those before us do? They didn't have recliners to sleep in, and I don't get quality or quantity sleep sitting up. I can't imagine it is safe to raise the head of the bed either, it would be too easy to roll out. Also when the head is raised, it is difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Writing Update for Mid July

2010-07-16T03:46:00.001-04:00

My non fiction is advancing very quickly. My hope is to have the next 20,000 words fly out as easily as the last five thousand have in the last week. About 2,000 per segment, and two days, including research for each segment.

I have started collecting orphaned scenes as well. They are kinda like short stories, except they may only be 700 to 800 words of a nice scene that seems to go nowhere. I figure I better save them, especially the ones that have a page or more of world building, who knows when the rest of the story will appear!

Nonfiction is so much easier to write, it is just facts that have to be expanded and have real world application applied to them.

Fiction can be a challenge. I can stare at the page and have no idea what to type. Even random typing leads nowhere.

I have two novella/novel items to finish at some point, after my nonfiction is done.

I am also considering an article on what to do when you realize your life/health have changed to the point that caring for your four legged friends is no longer feasible.

Considering a Series

2010-07-07T03:00:00.001-04:00

I am considering a series of blog posts about what our ancestors knew that many have forgotten, and yet how much we are similar to them today in ways we may not recognize.

It may be next week before they appear, as it will take some time to write.

In the mean time, good luck with your writing endeavors.

Writing Update

2010-07-06T03:35:00.001-04:00

Where is my writing today? After a frantic and expensive weekend (new car battery, sick cat, and new office chair), I am back to writing.

Well I have started back on my workbook. First, I re-read the first section already nigh 10,000 words. Then, I slowly re-read each segment again, changing a few words, and comparing to references when necessary. I still find a few transition sections I am not sure are the best, in fact, though one is a great beginning for that section, it makes it appear to come after a section more than mid-way through the book instead of at the beginning. I have a few more pages of the section part of the first section to go through, and so far have only added maybe 200 words.

However, the next segment is so far only an outline, and should increase by 6,000 words easily.

Then, I have two more short segments, one at 1,146 words which can be expanded a bit. The second at 2,131 words will likely be broken into several sub sections - each about 600 to 1,000 words.

Then, in the second section of the book, I still have a few segments barely begun. So, another 2,000 to 3,000 words there for sure. Then, I will still need to find a way to add 10,000 more words, which hopefully as I expand sections they will come easily, and I can reach the 80,000 goal (or at least be near 79,990).

While I am passionate about the subject, it is sometimes too easy to write clear and concise, leaving the reader who wants more to look up only those sections for which they want or need more information from a source they specifically trust.

Do I Really Want to Read That?!

2010-07-02T03:00:00.001-04:00

I am off of my part time job for now. I can't really talk about exactly what we do, so I have a nice analogy.

Actually, in some ways, my job is something like an agent's job, in that we read short items written by others all day.

To expand the analogy we have Agent S who loves spiders and everything to do with spiders. Even if the book isn't one she can sell, she will follow up and see if it sold.

Then we have Agent N whose fear of spiders, snakes, and scorpions is to the point that she runs screaming from the room at the mere mention of the word. (Let's hope she put this on her "does not read" list.)

Now, Agent S can sit and read about spiders all day. So no matter how many queries she gets about spiders, snakes, and scorpions, she will enjoy them all, even if they are not so well written.

However, Agent N doesn't expect to see spider, snake, or scorpion queries. So if the average agent receives 200 queries a day, what would happen if Agent N received 100 of those about spiders, snakes or scorpions? What if this went on for two weeks, and likely was going to go one another two weeks due to some crazy spider fad in the news at the moment?

While I personally may not care about spiders, I am fascinating reading about them, and I do know the importance of the job they do.

However, I do have certain reading "phobias." Not really phobias in the normal sense; let's just say, I have no interest in reading about these subjects, they are simply too real. Reading one short item a month, may or may not bother me, but 50% a day will certainly do so!

This job has certainly affected my writing life in so many ways, from giving me ideas, a better understanding some audiences, as well as an even better understanding of agents and what they go through on a daily basis.

Temporary Closure

2010-04-28T03:00:00.001-04:00

This blog is temporarily closed.

Book Review - "M.Y.T.H. Inc. In Action"

2010-04-27T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - "M.Y.T.H. Inc. In Action" by Robert Asprin

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? - Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? - Twelve and up. While ten to twelve might enjoy it, there are many ideas they will not understand. Though, they will certainly get many of the jokes.

Length? - Most of a day's read.

Characters? - Memorable, several characters.

Setting? - Fantasy, alternate dimensions.

Written approximately? - 1990.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? - Ready to read more.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.

Short storyline: Aahz, frustrated with the loss of Skeeve's emotions has skipped town to return home. Skeeve finally sees the error of his ways, and feels he must go and try to make amends with his long time friend and partner. In the meantime, a serious assignment has come up, that he leaves for the rest of the crew. They must return to Possiltum, the kingdom Skeeve originally worked in, to stop the impending war. Problem is, this goes against his contract with the mob (though he likely never thought about it), and everything the team does seems to backfire, and make the army more efficient instead of less so. (This story is actually resolved in the next volume, which I do not currently have.)

Notes for the reader: In this story, this author takes the emotions of his characters seriously. The characters don't just race through the story full of action without emotion. The author realized the importance of the reader connecting to the characters by giving us the emotions, and even the reasons behind those sometimes odd emotions for the situation. While the first few times, it is a shock to the system to actually read of a character having an emotion, soon, it just becomes an enhancement to the story. In fact, when the lack of emotions by the main character becomes apparent in a later story, even that is noted by all the characters, until it is resolved.

Book Review - "M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link"

2010-04-26T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - "M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link" by Robert Asprin

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? - Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? - Twelve and up. While ten to twelve might enjoy it, there are many ideas they will not understand. Though, they will certainly get many of the jokes.

Length? - Most of a day's read.

Characters? - Memorable, several characters.

Setting? - Fantasy, alternate dimensions.

Written approximately? - 1986.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? - Ready to read more.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.

Short storyline: Skeeve seems to have lost his emotions and attachment to his job. Sure, he okays everything, and goes over everything with an eagle eye, he just isn't in on each project he sends his team into. One tale involves one of his mob bodyguards working in a Deveel factory creating cheap magic toys. While there, they manage to find where the Deveel isn't really losing money (actually his brother-in-law is cooking the books and gets a promotion), while the body guard manages to start a labor union so the employees could leave work with a few dollars in their pockets each week. Meanwhile, two other assistants (including a vampire from "Mything Persons") are creating a Casino Hotel for a customer. Towards the end is an interesting tale from Gleep, a dragon's eye view of the team, and how some people tend to have trouble spotting what is right in front of their noses.

Notes for the reader: In this story, this author takes the emotions of his characters seriously. The characters don't just race through the story full of action without emotion. The author realized the importance of the reader connecting to the characters by giving us the emotions, and even the reasons behind those sometimes odd emotions for the situation. While the first few times, it is a shock to the system to actually read of a character having an emotion, soon, it just becomes an enhancement to the story. In fact, when the lack of emotions by the main character becomes apparent in a later story, even that is noted by all the characters, until it is resolved.

Book Review - "Myth-ing Persons"

2010-04-23T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - "Myth-ing Persons" by Robert Asprin

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? - Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? - Twelve and up. While ten to twelve might enjoy it, there are many ideas they will not understand. Though, they will certainly get many of the jokes.

Length? - Most of a day's read.

Characters? - Memorable, several characters.

Setting? - Fantasy, alternate dimensions.

Written approximately? - 1984.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? - Ready to read more.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.

Short storyline: Skeeve, Aahz, and associates are just getting started with their new business on Deva. When three thieves escape through a hidden door behind a tapestry in the waiting room, Aahz has to go after them, or risk the whole group being banned from Deva permanently. This door leads to an interesting magic-less dimension where vampires are the norm, and humans are not. It takes all of their brain, brawn, and skill to rescue Aahz, capture the three thieves, and return them to the Deva authorities.

Notes for the reader: In this story, this author takes the emotions of his characters seriously. The characters don't just race through the story full of action without emotion. The author realized the importance of the reader connecting to the characters by giving us the emotions, and even the reasons behind those sometimes odd emotions for the situation. While the first few times, it is a shock to the system to actually read of a character having an emotion, soon, it just becomes an enhancement to the story. In fact, when the lack of emotions by the main character becomes apparent in a later story, even that is noted by all the characters, until it is resolved.

Book Review - "Hit or Myth"

2010-04-22T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - "Hit or Myth" by Robert Asprin

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? - Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? - Twelve and up. While ten to twelve might enjoy it, there are many ideas they will not understand. Though, they will certainly get many of the jokes.

Length? - Most of a day's read.

Characters? - Memorable, several characters.

Setting? - Fantasy, alternate dimensions.

Written approximately? - 1983.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? - Ready to read more.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.

Short storyline: Everyone is obviously ready for a vacation. Aahz is kidnapped by his nephew, leaving Skeeve alone. The king wants a days vacation, and calls on Skeeve's disguise spell, to replace him for a day (which turns out to be a lot longer than a day.) Skeeve is left to figure out how to get the king home for his marriage to a queen he doesn't want, protect the kingdom (and retired mob warriors from "Myth Conceptions") from the mob, as well as get himself fired so he can get a vacation himself.

Notes for the reader: In this story, this author takes the emotions of his characters seriously. The characters don't just race through the story full of action without emotion. The author realized the importance of the reader connecting to the characters by giving us the emotions, and even the reasons behind those sometimes odd emotions for the situation. While the first few times, it is a shock to the system to actually read of a character having an emotion, soon, it just becomes an enhancement to the story. In fact, when the lack of emotions by the main character becomes apparent in a later story, even that is noted by all the characters, until it is resolved.

Book Review - "Myth-Ion Improbable"

2010-04-21T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - "Myth-Ion Improbable" by Robert Asprin

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? - Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? - Twelve and up. While ten to twelve might enjoy it, there are many ideas they will not understand. Though, they will certainly get many of the jokes.

Length? - Most of a day's read.

Characters? - Memorable, several characters.

Setting? - Fantasy, alternate dimensions.

Written approximately? - 2001.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? - Ready to read more.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.

Short storyline: While this was the 11th book Robert Asprin wrote, it belongs at this place in the series timeline. In this book, Skeeve, Aahz, and Tanda declension hop to follow a treasure map to a golden cow. This unique dimension holds many mysteries, including the locals fear of night, vegetarianism, and those strange cows, which Skeeve has not only never heard of, but never seen. Adding to the fun, is the hints of the "round up" from the town's characters, the magical map that changes from place to place, the odd traveling companion they meet up with, and the actual identification of the the "golden cow."

Notes for the reader: In this story, this author takes the emotions of his characters seriously. The characters don't just race through the story full of action without emotion. The author realized the importance of the reader connecting to the characters by giving us the emotions, and even the reasons behind those sometimes odd emotions for the situation. While the first few times, it is a shock to the system to actually read of a character having an emotion, soon, it just becomes an enhancement to the story. In fact, when the lack of emotions by the main character becomes apparent in a later story, even that is noted by all the characters, until it is resolved.

Book Review - "Myth Directions"

2010-04-20T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - "Myth Directions" by Robert Asprin

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? - Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? - Twelve and up. While ten to twelve might enjoy it, there are many ideas they will not understand. Though, they will certainly get many of the jokes.

Length? - Reasonable for an afternoon.

Characters? - Memorable, several characters.

Setting? - Fantasy, alternate dimensions.

Written approximately? - 1982.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? - Ready to read more.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.

Short storyline: Skeeve and Tanda search for the ultimate birthday gift for Aahz. While dimension hopping, Sheeve perfects his disguise spell. At last, Tanda picks the perfect gift, and in the process of procuring it, she gets caught, and Skeeve has to return home to get Aahz, and eventually the rest of his previous recruits (including Gleep) to play a deadly game to retrieve both Tanda, and the birthday gift.

Notes for the reader: In this story, this author takes the emotions of his characters seriously. The characters don't just race through the story full of action without emotion. The author realized the importance of the reader connecting to the characters by giving us the emotions, and even the reasons behind those sometimes odd emotions for the situation. While the first few times, it is a shock to the system to actually read of a character having an emotion, soon, it just becomes an enhancement to the story. In fact, when the lack of emotions by the main character becomes apparent in a later story, even that is noted by all the characters, until it is resolved.

Book Review - "Myth Conceptions"

2010-04-19T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - "Myth Conceptions" by Robert Asprin

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? - Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? - Twelve and up. While ten to twelve might enjoy it, there are many ideas they will not understand. Though, they will certainly get many of the jokes.

Length? - Reasonable for an afternoon.

Characters? - Memorable, several characters.

Setting? - Fantasy, alternate dimensions.

Written approximately? - 1980.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? - Ready to read more.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.

Short storyline: Skeeve and Aahz leave their hideout to work for a kingdom, not realizing the likelihood of death that decision involves. They must visit another dimension in order to recruit help to save the kingdom and themselves. Skeeve's dragon, Gleep plays an active role as well.

Notes for the reader: In this story, this author takes the emotions of his characters seriously. The characters don't just race through the story full of action without emotion. The author realized the importance of the reader connecting to the characters by giving us the emotions, and even the reasons behind those sometimes odd emotions for the situation. While the first few times, it is a shock to the system to actually read of a character having an emotion, soon, it just becomes an enhancement to the story. In fact, when the lack of emotions by the main character becomes apparent in a later story, even that is noted by all the characters, until it is resolved.

Book Review - "Weather The Forces of Nature that Shape our World"

2010-04-15T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - ""Weather The Forces of Nature that Shape our World" by Julie Lloyd

What ages would I recommend it too? - Young Adult and up.

Length? - 315 pages, plenty of pictures and descriptions.

Written approximately? - 2007.

Does the book leave questions in the readers mind? - Yes! There are several places with obvious typos, and sentence fragments. Not sure whether or not the issues are author or publisher generated. Sadly, this leaves the reader to question the validity of the sections with the typos.

Style of writing - Informative. Can be a bit dry at times, some sections could use a few more real life examples to make the text more clear. Honestly, I see my writing looks a lot like this at times, though hopefully without the typos.

Book Review - "King of the Wind"

2010-04-14T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - King of the Wind" by Marguerite Henry

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? - Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? - All ages. Children will enjoy the single storyline; while adults enjoy an easy afternoon read (especially while waiting on a bus, show, doctor, or other appointments).

Length? - Reasonable for an afternoon.

Characters? - Memorable, several characters.

Setting? - Real world, Historical times.

Written approximately? - 1948.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? - Yes! The reader really begins to feel for Agba. How was he received when he returned home?

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? None.

Book Review - "Brighty of the Grand Canyon"

2010-04-13T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - "Brighty of the Grand Canyon" by Marguerite Henry

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? - Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? - All ages. Children will enjoy the single storyline; while adults enjoy an easy afternoon read (especially while waiting on a bus, show, doctor, or other appointments).

Length? - Reasonable for an afternoon.

Characters? - Memorable, several characters, though a bit confusing in the beginning.

Setting? - Real world, Recent times (Theodore Roosevelt and the naming of the Grand Canyon as a national park).

Written approximately? - 1953.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? - Yes! What was the final sentence for the murderer?

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? None.

Book Review - "Stormy Misty's Foal"

2010-04-12T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - "Stormy Misty's Foal" by Marguerite Henry

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? - Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? - All ages. Children will enjoy the single storyline; while adults enjoy an easy afternoon read (especially while waiting on a bus, show, doctor, or other appointments).

Length? - Reasonable for an afternoon.

Characters? - Memorable, several characters, though a bit confusing in the beginning.

Setting? - Real world, Recent times (1940's or 1950's).

Written approximately? - 1963.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? - Yes! In this book - Stormy is portrayed as Misty's first baby, yet she was really her third.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.

Book Review - "Justin Morgan Had A Horse"

2010-04-09T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - "Justin Morgan Had A Horse" - by Marguerite Henry

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? - Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? - All ages. Children will enjoy the single storyline; while adults enjoy an easy afternoon read (especially while waiting on a bus, show, doctor, or other appointments).

Length? - Reasonable for an afternoon.

Characters? - Memorable, and few enough that you won't forget who is who.

Setting? - Real world, even includes President James Monroe.

Written approximately? - 1954.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? - Yes! By the end Joel is an adult, yet he still seems to be written about as a kid with no family relationships. Did he marry? Did he speak to either of his parents again? Is this to keep characters down? What really happened to this very real character? What happens to the horse after his return. How long did the horse live?

Any issues the author (or more recent publisher) should cover? - Yes. At one point Joel attempts to buy his horse back with $5.00. How much would that $5.00 be today? What about the $25.00 he does eventually buy the horse back for, how much is that worth today? (I can just imagine a kid reading this and asking their parent to go buy them a horse for $5.00.)

Book Review - "Sea Star Orphan of Chincoteague"

2010-04-08T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - "Sea Star Orphan of Chincoteague" by Marguerite Henry

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? - Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? - All ages. Children will enjoy the single storyline; while adults enjoy an easy afternoon read (especially while waiting on a bus, show, doctor, or other appointments).

Length? - Reasonable for an afternoon.

Characters? - Memorable, several characters, though a bit confusing in the beginning.

Setting? - Real world, Recent times (1940's).

Written approximately? - 1949.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? - Yes! At the end, Sea Star had just been dropped off too weak to walk only hours before, it seems that at least 24 hours should have not passed, not less than five hours.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? This one again has a money issue. It would help if there was a tiny prologue showing some of the money amounts listed in the book in more up to date terms. We can understand why the Fire Department let them buy the baby for $10.00, though that is extremely low. However, the idea of college tuition being $250.00 needs some reconciliation with current figures. Also, some readers would like to know what happened to the real Paul and Maureen, even a good Internet search did not easily find anything.

Book Review - "Misty's Twilight"

2010-04-07T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - "Misty's Twilight" by Marguerite Henry

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? - Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? - All ages. Children will enjoy the single storyline; while adults enjoy an easy afternoon read (especially while waiting on a bus, show, doctor, or other appointments).

Length? - Reasonable for an afternoon.

Characters? - Memorable, several characters, though a bit confusing in the beginning.

Setting? - Real world, Recent times (1970's and 1980's).

Written approximately? - 1992.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? - Yes! At the beginning, it moves extremely slowly as it retells the original "Misty of Chincoteague" story. The "As you know, Bob" style of writing. The fist third of the book could have been made into a one page prologue for those who either had not read, or not recently read "Misty of Chincoteague." Seemed dull at first. Finally, once it got to the story, it jumped around a bit, and leaves the reader wondering where the twelve years disappeared to. Also, what happened to Chris?

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? - Not at present.

Book Review - "Misty of Chincoteague"

2010-04-06T03:00:00.001-04:00

Book Review - "Misty of Chincoteague" by Marguerite Henry

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? - Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? - All ages. Children will enjoy the single storyline; while adults enjoy an easy afternoon read (especially while waiting on a bus, show, doctor, or other appointments).

Length? - Reasonable for an afternoon.

Characters? - Memorable, several characters, though a bit confusing in the beginning.

Setting? - Real world, Recent times (1940's).

Written approximately? - 1947.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? - Yes! Did they ever see the Phantom again?

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? This one again has a money issue. It would help if there was a tiny prologue showing some of the money amounts listed in the book in more up to date terms. Also, some readers would like to know what happened to the real Paul and Maureen, even a good Internet search did not easily find anything.

Planned Reading List

2010-04-05T03:00:00.001-04:00

Amongst my other goals for the next few months is a massive reading list. I hope to blog a few times a week, though only a few the next few months. During these blogs, I may write about books I am reading, their good points, bad points, and how they influence my writing.

Here is my current unread books list:

Unread Book List

Robert Asprin - Myth Conceptions
Robert Asprin - Myth Directions
Robert Asprin - Hit or Myth
Robert Asprin - Mything Persons
Robert Asprin - Myth Inc Link
Robert Asprin - Myth Ink in Action

Marguerite Henry - Justin Morgan Had A Horse
Marguerite Henry - Misty's Twilight
Marguerite Henry - Sea Star - Orphan of Chincoteague

Almanac of American History
Weather
Ian Lawton - Genesis Unveiled
Stearns - Documents in World History
Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs
Nightwatch
Smithsonian Animals
Universe
Rocks Fossils
Rocks Minerals

Jane Austen - Sense and Sensibility
Audrey Niff - The Time Travelers Wife

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Mark Twain - The Complete Short Stories

Paul Bunyon and His Great Blue Ox

Piers Anthony - Muse of Art
Piers Anthony - Chaos Mode
Authur C Clark - Sunstorm
Orson Scott Card - Lost Boys
Orson Scott Card - The Worthing Saga
C.S. Lewis - Prelandra
C.S. Lewis - That Hideous Strength
Isaac Asimov - Fantastic Voyage

Erma Bombeck - The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank
William Zinsser - On Writing Well
Orson Scott Card - Characters Viewpoints

Update for Non-Fiction

2010-04-02T03:00:00.001-04:00

My current update is for 53,538 words in the main document. The majority of the primary rough draft is written with lots of notes as to where to expand. Basically, it will be occasional weekends only for writing for a while. Sorry, with all my other obligations I do not have the vision, or the physical stamina to write during the week for a while.

Time and Chronic Illness

2010-04-01T03:00:00.001-04:00

Back to how we spend our time.

We have already discussed this week how important our hectic lives affect our health, wealth, and family life. Now, adding another bone to the pot, we will add chronic illness. There are many types of chronic illness, and some affect people, their lives, and families more than others. Normally, with short term illness, such as a cold, or the flu, it just runs it course, and we leap back into the hyperactive mode as soon as we can.

However, what if it won't go away? What if the doctor says you have to take medication for the rest of your life? What if one medication conflicts with another, and it seems your life revolves around figuring out when you can at amidst medications that require no food, little food, and ones that require lots of food?

I often complain about my regimen, and if I followed it like I should it would be far worse. I do know many people take far more medications than I do, and they mix ones together that should never be mixed because they don't want to wait and watch the clock to know when it is safe to take the next one. They still want to live, not just pop a pill every hour on the hour.

Mine is pretty simple-

get up - first medication. Must sit, no bending, caffeine, calcium, vitamins, or food for at least one hour.

One hour later - my caffeine - one cup of coffee. Without it - I would be on several other medications.

Wait three hours - take my Calcium and Vitamin D (Cannot be taken within two hours of caffeine of bone building medications)

Wait four hours - take Calcium and Vitamin D

Wait four hours - take Calcium and Vitamin D

Oh, and throughout the day try to eat, can't feel comfortable eating out due to a gluten and lactose free diet, as well as avoiding deadly allergens to foods such as coconut and green peppers.

Oh and some days - if the caffeine didn't do it's job, I have to take acid reflux pills two hours after dinner, and at least one hour before bedtime. Can't take it earlier, or my body will not digest my dinner, it will just pass through my body taking up space, and no nutirents or energy will be passed into my body.

Try squeezing this regime (remembering to wash hands before and after taking all pills) into a work environment of any type. Yeah, right.

What is Constructive Criticism?

2010-03-31T03:00:00.001-04:00

What is constructive criticism?

Sometimes, before we can define what something is, we have to define what it is not. Constructive criticism is not cursing at the writer, it does not include the word "hell," it does not involve berating their ability to write.

In fact, when most people are looking for constructive criticism, they are writing something they are uncomfortable with, and know they have difficulty writing, so they need an honest opinion and helpful advice.

What is constructive criticism?

Constructive criticism is offered by someone with experience in that arena, who can offer guidelines to help the writer find the missing key they can't see in the mound of keys.

If you haven't had a successful query letter acceptance, then likely you won't be able to offer valid advice (other than grammar). Even if you have, if they are applying to a different agent, your advice, while perfect for your agent, may be the opposite of what that agent likes. A Twitter agent made a comment last week about how a common two word phrase was a turn off for her automatically, then another agent showed her it could be positive.

If you are trying to offer constructive criticism on a genre, and you haven't written, published, or read that genre, please be upfront with the author about this. Some information works across genres, some only across fiction genres, and some not at all. For instance, longer, more complex sentences are expected in nonfiction, where the mind is supposed to linger over the information in order to remember it. Even repeating it in different subtle ways is expected so that it will be more likely remembered. Whereas, in most fiction, it is supposed to be a mad dash from the start to the finish without a pause for breath.

Within poetry, the situation is multiplied, as there are so many types of poetry, if you don't know which type the author is writing, you may try to criticize it according to the rules of another type. Or they may be writing the no rules type of poetry.

Again you ask what is constructive criticism? Constructive criticism helps the writer re-construct their writing so that it will sell. Constructive criticism does not just tear down the walls of the writing, it also helps build them back up in a new way.

The Cost of Working

2010-03-30T03:00:00.000-04:00

Most people only think about a job as to how much money it will bring them. However, they often forget the costs involved with working.

Personally, there are costs - time lost to family friends, creativity, growing your own food, home repairs, and the aspects of life that matter most.

Sadly, the government is no longer content with people just living their lives on their own land, and they don't accept a box of fresh vegetables as payment for taxes.

Many people start out, and often end up in the money trapped society. They have to work to pay someone else for a roof over their heads, utilities, taxes, food, and everything they don't have time to do for themselves because they are working.

Making money breeds the necessity to make more money, as time is spent away from the things we should be doing for ourselves.

So, how does working a job affect us financially?

First, let's be honest about your paycheck. If you work 40 hours a week at $10.00 per hour, you should get $400.00 right? Your employer tells you that you are paid $10.00 and hour, but your paycheck will never equal $400.00. Since the government takes there share first, it was never your money to begin with. You need to know your tax rates so you can figure out the actual amount you get paid per hour.

So, if you work 40 hours per week and your employer claims they are paying you $10.00 per hours, you can determine using percentages your actual income of approximately $8.00 per hour. Your rates will vary depending on deductions and local taxes. You should be able to figure it out, so that no matter how many or few hours you have you can be within pennies of your actual paycheck.

As employers have moved further from residential areas, the cost of working has also risen. Now, walking to work is not feasible (most employers will not hire you if they know you intend to walk, they see it as unreliable.) A semi-reliable car is not good enough for reliable long distance travel, so a more expensive car is required.

So far, we have the cost of the government taxes, and now a monthly car payment, car insurance, car tags, and car taxes added to the cost. Recently, a friend and her cost accountant hubby discussed with me how much it cost me to drive to work each day. Based on an average of $0.50 per mile (includes insurance and depreciation), it was costing me over $12.50 per day just for my vehicle to drive to and from work (not including gas and car payment). This is the amount my employer claims I make per hour, so we know, that I have to work 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours just to pay for my gas and cost of using my car to get to and from work each day. I drive 12.5 miles each way, so if I drove 25 miles each way, I would have to double this, and work four hours each day, just for the privilege of working before any profit is made to pay for rent, utilities, food, or clothes.

If you remember the last post, you realize you don't have enough hours in the day when you work to grow a garden. So we add the cost of more expensive food that someone else had to grow for you. That $6.00 lunch suddenly doesn't look so good, when you realize you had to work almost a full hour to pay for it.

Last, yet certainly not least, is the high cost of work outfits and shoes. While I want shoes that will last a long time, I am not willing to pay a full days wages just for a pair of shoes. I have too many other things that are required, including utilities and a roof over my head. I am sure many of you can relate.

So how does your work day get spent?

2 hours - Car

1 hour - Lunch

1 hour - Dinner

4.375 hours - Roof over your head

0.50 hours - utilities

0.25 - phone

Ut oh, we are already at 9.25 hours needed to be worked, and we haven't reached groceries, health insurance, cable, Internet, Satellite, laundry, or anything for fun.

Just think, 100 years ago, other than a roof over your head, none of these extra expenses existed. There were no utilities or phone, and people primarily grew their own food, or bought and cooked for the entire day, not eating meals out except for rare occasions.

Working is an expensive proposition.

How We Spend Our Time

2010-03-29T03:00:00.001-04:00

Dealing with chronic illness for years, I have many friends in similar situations who complain that their doctors don't want to help them because they can't follow directions. From a doctor's standpoint, I understand the frustrations (though I doubt many follow their own advice, they can't they work too many hours!)

For just a moment, let's forget society, and it's work demands.

First - there are 24 hours only in a day. Most people need at least 8 hours of sleep per day.

24 (hours in the day)

-8 (required sleep hours)

___

16

That leaves us with 16 hours per day to live.

If we eat properly, fresh healthy food, we need to spend about 1 1/4 hours to prepare and eat three meals, plus small snacks every two to three hours.

1.25 (time to cook and eat per meal)

* 3 (3 meals)

_____

3.75

+ 1 (Four 15 minute snacks per day)

____

4.75 (Hours spent eating or working on food per day)

So, how many hours are left in the day at this point?

16 (Waking hours)

-4.75 (Eating hours)

_____

11.25 (Hours to be active)

Don't forget the recent research that an afternoon nap for 30 minutes is extremely beneficial to mental functioning.

11.25 (Hours to be active)

-0.50 (Nap time at Mid day)

______

10.75

During this 10.75 hours, we need to exercise and do the housecleaning, daily work, and spend time with family, not to mention baths, pets, or whatever other activities we need to do. If we lived real live, exercise would be built into everything we do, and not a separate activity.

Now is the time to talk about the work world. Once upon a time, people worked at home, or near home. They either worked what hours they could, or in businesses, they would work up to ten hours daylight permitting. Of course, they walked home afterwards. Once cars became not only popular, but required to survive and work in society, employers started demanding the employees work further from home. Once 8 hour day, 40 hour weeks became the law (though frequently bending the law to meet an employers demands is common), employers demanded even further travel time.

We are left with 10.75 hours to work, bathe, and spend time with family. How do they fit into societies demands?

10.75- (hours in the day to work, etc...)

- 8 (expected work shift)

____

2.75 (time for travel, family, baths, pets, etc)

We forgot a few things though. Work lunch time is taken at work, so that hour is lost there. Plus, with the distances everyone travels to work, what should be a simple short drive can take an hour or more each way.

2.75 (Time for travel, shopping, family, pets)

- 1 (lunch hour at work if you are lucky)

____

1.75 (Time left for travel, pets, family, grocery shopping)

Now, we have to subtract travel time to and from work - generally and hour each way due to traffic, stoplights, and weather, even if it's "only" 20 miles (20 miles used to be considered a full days travel).

1.75 (time for travel, family, pets, grocery shopping)

-2 (travel time to and from work)

____

-0.25 (already in the negatives for time for family, pets, and grocery shopping)

As you can see, we are already in the negative. Even if you are lucky, and can shave off half an hour from your travel time, you would be left at zero. Where would you squeeze in the recommended hour or more of exercise programs?

Is it any wonder our broken society complains of no time for family, friends, reading, writing, or anything? Is it any wonder we know our co-workers better than our spouses, siblings, and children? Is it any wonder our children raise themselves, and rely on other people, including peers for their knowledge of the world? Is it any wonder our pets get lonely and destructive?

Sure, some people would say, you should have 32 hours on the weekend for family and friends. But do you really? How many hours of laundry do you have? How many hours does it take to clean up the messes you dropped from exhaustion as you fell into the door each night? How many hours does it take to get the dishes done? What about mowing the yard? Maybe by Sunday night, you might have an hour, if you are lucky.

Of course, most jobs are non-traditional these days. You may have to work odd hours, and even work ten days straight without a day off. Yes, they have found ways to bend the overtime laws, simply start a persons work week on Tuesday, and they can work ten days straight without a moment of overtime paid, though their bodies breaks down and will likely become disabled in a few years if they continue that pace for very long.

Scientists have studied lots of animals, their life speed, and length of lives. Most humans are living field mice lives in "civilized" countries. Never enough food or sleep, super fast, without stopping to take a breath. What the scientists know is that moderation is the key. Animals that live moderate lives, and sleep longer periods live longer, healthier lives.

Why Website Design is so Important

2010-03-26T03:00:00.001-04:00

No time or place for rants today. Simply facts, just the facts. When you publish a website or blog, it seems it should all be fun. After all, what are all those colors and designs and options for? As long as you only design for a few select people, that's okay. However, if you ever want to use your site to sell your work, listen up, there are Internet rules to follow - guidelines now, and laws that can get a site owner in trouble under certain situations (most writers won't get there for a while.

I used to enjoy designing sites. I did several professional style sites and made sure I followed the rules. After all, I don't have the millions to pay in fines for not not following them that some of the giant retailers had to pay a few years ago, then they were required to make their websites accessible to all people who have Internet access. Though enjoy them, I don't design flash because it is distracting from the sites, and painful to watch.

So, where do you begin to make your site accessible?

Lets start with a little fun - color - http://html-color-codes.com/rgb.html . This site gives you color codes for HTML. Lots of fun. One thing to remember about color - simple is best. If your words are only a shade or two different than your background, many people with visual difficulties will have trouble seeing it. Also, remember, many people are color blind, primarily males, and your color choices need to be able to be seen by them as well. Also, keep your fonts at a large enough size to be readable.

So what are the rules, where do we learn them, and how do we know if we are following them? Anything you want to know about website design, begin here: http://www.w3schools.com/. Next, I recommend their validation tools - as they are the quickest and easiest way to pinpoint problems you already have so you can fix them. http://www.w3schools.com/site/site_validate.asp .

I will pick a random site and run it through the validation program to mention a few issues and how to fix them. I will not tell you which site, doesn't matter. The site I chose has script errors and open tags in the document. Easy fixes in XHTML.

Whether you are an agent, a writer, or just have a blog for the fun or it, you truly want your site accessible to as many people as possible. People do not want want to have to change their computer's settings every time they view your site. Chances are, they won't. They will quit coming, and so may their friends and family.

Admittedly, this is one reason I read blogs in RSS feed. Besides the speed factor, they are all processed into easy to read fonts with no distracting movement or colors.

While I don't believe everything needs to be watered down for equal access, I do believe a sites' front page should be calm, comfortable, and professional. Leave the action and artistic look to linked pages, preferably with a notice on the link button.

When you complete you site, go back, and look at it. Try to read it yourself. Ask a stranger to evaluate the color scheme (Twitter is good for this). Ask for a colorblind person to view it. Then decide if it is okay. Most important is to keep it professional and viewable to as many people as possible.

Words We Aren't Allowed to Use

2010-03-25T03:00:00.001-04:00

Reviewing several of the recent blog posts on words we aren't allowed to use made me feel a little rebellious. Seriously, if you aren't allowed to write them, don't say them either. Yes, some people abuse them and misuse them, yet, they exist for a reason. Just for fun (and based on real situations that have happened):

May walks to her friends house, enjoying the fall colors on the leaves. On the sun porch there is Seriously Lies, sitting in her favorite chair, that hard wooden one, moving dirt form flowerpot to flowerpot.

May sits down across from her on the only padded chair available. Seriously never looks up.

May wrings her hands, "Seriously, seriously, my brother wants to know how you got your name?"

Seriously looks up, trowel in hand and sees May wringing her hands, a look of worry creasing her eyebrows.

Seriously lets out a little laugh. "My parents live in a country where Lies means something quite different, positive actually. And Seriously they just thought rolled off of their tongues. They never thought I would move here and find my name was a laughing stock as well as a badge of dishonesty. Even I didn't know when I came here."

May looks up at her friend, not sure whether or not to believe her. She wants to, she really does, after all, her brother can't marry a liar.

Later that night Seriously calls May. "May, may I come over for a bit," Seriously said.

"Sure Seriously, I'll be in the kitchen."

When Seriously arrived, she seemed flustered, as she sat down. "After our chat today, I decided it's time for me to go back home. Then, your brother came over. He said if I wanted to marry him, I would have to change my whole name. I laughed. I asked him if he wanted you to change your name. After he left, I am sure going home is the right thing to do."

"What did he say about me?" May asked.

"He never answered. He stammered. I've seen the men make fun of your name too, far worse than they do mine. Mine they respect, out of fear. Your's they treat with disdain. I want neither. So home I will go. You are welcome to come with me."

Seriously walked out of the house leaving May to think.

Should Two Stories be Knit Together?

2010-03-24T03:00:00.001-04:00

Should Two Stories be Knit Together?

I had wondered about this with a pair of mine. Since my fiction writing is so sparse, these two would blend well together, and perhaps together would make a 100,000 page novel. I could even take the first chapter of the second out, and make it a short story in it's own right.

However, I feel they should not be combined. I dreamed about the stories, and see them as becoming quite different, it will just take a lot of work and time. I need to really work hard to create very different lead characters, not just different story lines.

At one point, it looked as if my three fiction stories would be like "the Three Faces of Eve" in a sense. Parallel universe stories of what could happen to a person with the same general personality who took different paths along the road to adulthood. All different to some extent, yet the same basic character who begins and ends in different settings while their paths never cross.

I know the ending to "Tribal." I know the ending to "The Stork Mis-Delivered - Twice." I also know the ending to "The UnderGround RailRoad - Bending the Bars." While the last two could be combined, with the second seen as the second part of the first, I think it is better to try to find more ways to make both worlds, and stories, larger, longer, and stronger.

Sensory Overload in Daily Lives

2010-03-23T03:00:00.001-04:00

With all of our talk about the five senses and overloading our senses, this is a good time to discuss a normal amount of sensory perception in the human daily life.

Honestly, very few humans live in places where sensory intake is at a truly acceptable rate, We all tend to be in hyperdrive most of the time. Really living requires resting, relaxing, and taking the time to truly pay attention to what our senses and bodies are telling us about the world around us.

It starts when five and six year olds head off to school, if not younger in daycares. Instead of calm, safe surroundings, they are are packed into tiny rooms with hundreds of other hyper, terrified children, as well as a few adults who cannot be still either. The constant noise and commotion makes them irritable and sleepy as their brains cannot possibly filter and evaluate all the stimulus coming at them at once.

Even as adults, the hyper activity we are expected to endure never ends. People are shocked when they hear someone say "Twenty miles is too far to drive." They will try to tease them into doing things beyond a comfortable sensory level. If that doesn't work they try the old, "Well everyone else does it, you must be too lazy."

Actually, that is truly beyond sad. Most people live on so much sensory overload already that they have no idea how to live without it. Those who are just as happy, if not happier without overload are ridiculed and treated as if they have no right to live, simply because they cannot live in an over stimulated world.

Even in your writing, you have to be aware of overstimulating your characters. Or, of overstimulating your readers. Neon lights are not fun, they hurt the eyes. Too much action can make people dizzy and lose the train of the story.

Some people think what they read should keep up with the hypersensitivity of the world around, because that is all they know. Some people know reading should be an escape, a place to rest from all the hyperactivity, with just enough to let the brain relax and enjoy itself.

Of course, you can never please everyone.

Sensory Overload

2010-03-22T03:00:00.001-04:00

Last week, we discussed the importance of including sensory details in your writing.

So, how much is too much?

You could ask 100 readers, and they would all say something different. One might say any is too much, while some can never get enough of the senses in writing, and yet others may be happy with certain sense but fear others.

However, there is definitely a limit to how much should be included, and it varies depending on the scene as well as the genre. While some scenes require all five sense (and even the sixth sense), some will get along fine with one or none.

So, what to do if you aren't sure? Write, or think of, one description for each sense, and decide which one best fits the scene and moves the story along.

Remember it is all about evoking the emotions you want the reader to feel. You want the reader to recognize the emotions, without feeling too bogged down.

Of course, if you come up with some really great lines you don't want to part with, save them off in their own document to be used later in the manuscript, or another.

Touch in Novels

2010-03-19T03:00:00.001-04:00

Touch is even more taboo than taste in novels, understandably so. However, touch isn't just about touching people. It is about feeling the world around us.

What does that tree bark feel like? It matters if the change of tree bark signifies something important in the novel. Maybe it just means they found the forest through the fog. Maybe they verified a species of tree they thought was extinct by the bark. Or it's the right tree for making arrows.

What about the chair they sit in? Is it warm and cozy? Is it stark and bare? Is it cold and metallic, like their frozen heart? What can it tell us about the character and their world?

Are there things they avoid touching? (Remember the old "Step on crack, break you mother's back?")

How do they touch? Do they reach out boldly to shake hands? Do their hands shake as they reach for the doorknob? If it's hot, do they jerk back in fear, or turn it anyway?

If you lost your sense of touch, how would you perceive the world?

Would you feel the slime tail of the slug bug, or the slippery cotton feel of corduroy? The slick tile floor, or solid hardwood?

What do these things tell us about your world and your characters? Do these feels come as comforting, or shocking in a new experience? Do they fear that new sensation, or look forward to it?

(Other senses this week, and sensory overload next week.)

Taste in Novels

2010-03-18T03:00:00.001-04:00

Taste and smell are intertwined in the real world. Are they in your novel? When you have a sinus infection, or a cold you can no longer taste because the smell and taste receptors on your tongue require both senses to work properly.

Taste is often one of the most ignored senses in writing, unless it is a cookbook or romance. However, we taste everyday, in everything we do. In fact, most smells leave a taste in your mouth - some sweet, some sour, some metallic. Do you remember getting sand and gravels thrown in your mouth as a kid? That taste is one you will never forget. How does smell after your taste?

How do you characters taste the world around them? Do they taste the snowflakes falling down? Do they taste the water, or just drink it? Is the taste of the water relevant to the story? It most likely is, whether or not you realize it. What society chooses to put in the drinking water affects the health of those drinking it. It can also be poisonous. Do you realize how many legal and illegal drugs are in your drinking water? What if you are severely allergic to a particular drug, don't know the tap water is laced with it, and drink that water?

Yes, some people would say to leave taste out completely and let the reader guess. However, if you leave out to much, the reader is reading to fast to realize the significance and may never connect the dots, therefore losing an important connection to the story.

When used in combination, taste and smell go together to make your novel a more involved, more personal story.

(Other senses this week, and sensory overload next week.)

What do you Smell in Your Writing?

2010-03-17T03:00:00.001-04:00

What does your writing smell like? How does it smell? What smells would help in your novel? What are overboard? Again, some are cliche, yet they can also quickly set the mood. Sometimes you can write a cliche in your rough draft, quickly highlight it to come back later, and personalize it. After all, you can think of a better way to write "The waves of heat rose off the desert with the smell of fresh baked bread?"

How often is scent important in your daily life? Does it alert you to when dinner is done, or the cat box needs cleaning? Does a burning candle relax you? Do certain scents cheer you, while others bring terror to your soul? What does a fresh spring rain smell like to you? Is it different in the country, versus in the city?

How would your characters smell the world if they lost there sense of smell? What smells are important to your characters? What smells terrify them? How long before they would notice a loss of smell?

(Other senses this week, and sensory overload next week.)

Sound Cues in Writing

2010-03-16T03:00:00.001-04:00

Sound cues in writing - people either love them, or despise them. Some people think sound has no place in writing, after all, you read writing, not listen to it. Others feel that sounds and words cannot be separated, after all, if you are truly speaking to the person, sound is part of speaking.

Sound cues can be as simple as a pencil falling in novel to a horn blaring in an action story. Just like in real life, they can be gentle reminders of the world around us, or they can jar us away from what we are focusing on.

Much of the way we view sound in writing is often related to either repetition, or mis-use by some authors. If we don't want to jar our reader from the text, or bore them to tears with the same sounds repeated, we need many different types of sounds to choose from. While some are cliche, they are useful because they set the scene quickly without forcing the reader to stop and try to guess what that sound sounds like.

How would your characters "hear" the world if they were deaf?

When thinking of using sound words, think of the differing types of deafness. They may only hear high pitched sounds, like screaming children. Or, they may only hear low pitched sounds like most male voices. Some may only be able to hear sounds in the dog whistle category of high notes. Some may seem to not hear at all, though they feel the vibrations of the world around them.

Researching sound words is always useful. A nice long list can come in handy when looking for that "right" word in re-writes.

(Other senses this week, and sensory overload next week.)

Using Visual Cues in Writing

2010-03-15T03:00:00.001-04:00

Visual cues in writing give a sense of place, comfort, and recognition. Some writers and editors think they are often overused. In actuality, if you are looking for them, yes they will stand out. Some authors do have a tendency to pick two or three different words to be their only visual cues in their writing. They need the visual cues thesaurus, not to find big words no one will recognize, just to find other terms and ways to use the words they, and others, do know. Visual cues are more an issue of word choice, rather than overuse. If you are relaxing and enjoying the read, they will be as invisible as "said."

How would your characters "see" if they were blind?

Would most of the visual cues you recognize have any meaning to them?

Set your mind - relax and close your eyes. Try to imagine "see" a picture of something that matters to you. Try explaining it to someone who cannot see it. Remember - they cannot see colors, outlines, or shapes.

It's a tough exercise. Visual cues are vital for communicating ideas, and most people cannot imagine trying to explain anything to people without using multiple visual cues.

Using caution with visual cues is still necessary in writing, as you can use the same words too many times, and not use the most clear words for what you are trying to describe at other times.

(Other senses this week, and sensory overload next week.)

Building a House is Like Writing

2010-03-11T03:00:00.001-05:00

Building a House is Like Writing

One of my writer friends Lauri Kubuitsile, http://thoughtsfrombotswana.blogspot.com/ , wrote an article a while back that grabbed my attention. She was raised in the US, and used to having all kinds of specialists do all of her work for her. She simply didn't try to learn the jargon, or how to do things, since that was the way she grew up expecting it to be.

So, when she moved to Botswana, and her husband decided it was time to build their own house, she was flabbergasted, not knowing where to begin. She felt there was no way an average person could just build a house. You had to have one person lay the foundation, and talk in foundation only terms. You had another who put up the walls, and only knew wall jargon. You have another person put on the roof, and only knows how to talk about shingles and nails, plus the electrician, plumber, sheetrock installers painters, and flooring installers who would never dream of speaking to each other.

What she learned was that if you strip away all of the jargon, yes anyone can build a house with a little brawn and brains. Strip the jargon away, and anyone can understand what needs to be done.

How does this relate to writing?

Writing is one of the few places left where the writer is expected to be an active participant in all aspects of building their novel's home. The writer must begin laying the foundation themselves, usually with no direction from anyone (unless as a second or later novel at a publisher's request). They must put up the walls, lay the plumbing, wire, insulate, and sheetrock the walls themselves, with only a little input from friends and a writer's board. They install the roof, the climax of the novel, and then prepare to choose the paint, floor covering, and accessories. This is where they finally contact an agent, who may, or may not, take on the project and provide the final accessory directions for the sell of the novel to the publisher. If the publisher takes on the book, the writer is not done. They must them landscape the novel by working every way they can to advertise and sell their novel. Often, this landscaping has to be dug out and replaced at the last second, as the final inspector finds a problem, some change that occurred at 12:01 am the morning of the sale.

While some writers can be great at all aspects of the process, not all are. Many people recognize the difference in the skill set between writing a short story and writing a novel. Most writers know the difference between writing the novel and writing the query letter. Those who write non-fiction might be better at writing query letters, simply because a query letter is more of a sales spot, or short, sweet, and to the point, not at all like a novel.

I've read many agents say that the author needs to write the query letter themselves, though they may have it previewed on a local writer's board. Yet, when I think about this, I think, would you want your electrician installing your sewer line? Some people can be be a "jack of all trades," while other people are merely specialist, and cannot cover so much ground. While I wouldn't ask a brain surgeon to do a pap smear, I would ask a general practitioner to do a pap smear, but not brain surgery.

I will do my best to advertise my writing when the time comes, but I know I am not a salesperson. I have tried, just cannot succeed. Better to have a salesman, a specialist, on my behalf.

Cognitive Function Workbook

2010-03-10T03:00:00.001-05:00

Time for a short update on my workbook. I am at 41,626 words, plus 2,175 in the workbook, and 3,000 in the unwritten story section. Most days I write (not researching) I manage 2,000 words. I am still hoping for 80,000 words. I know it's going to take lots of expansion to get there. The majority of the rough draft part is complete, and I am almost halfway there.

Oddly enough, I completed the rough draft of the last section first, the legal part. I have since decided that I need to go back in and split one section of the last part into four and each part needs to be gotten up to five pages from between one and two.

I finally completed most of part 3, The section on Living with Memory Loss. I have not written the travel section yet, and need to work on the reading and writing section as well as the short story section to be included. I have lots of notes and resources for expansion, for all except Travel.

Part 2, the Health Care section is mostly complete as a rough draft. However, for better flow, I may rearrange some sections slightly.

Part 1, is totally incomplete. Relationships has been the hardest, yet the most vital section, and what people will look for first. I do have a twelve page section for employers, but the employee section has yet to begin. Lots left to do, notes taken.

Within the Introduction section, it may need to be broken into a first section of it's own, allowing less fluff later on. There is plenty of room to expand here, as it includes a discussion of the types and aspects of memory, as well as causes of memory loss.

In several spots, I have highlighted difficult spots, or spots that need work. Sometimes a word just isn't the "right" word but makes a good placeholder.

Now to the questions for today? This book doesn't quite follow the rules. Its not really broken into chapters, more of sections and subsections (more like a history or science textbook). When in Workplace, I refer the reader to review information in the Health Care and Legal sections, those sections should be capitalized, correct?

The Study of Word Origins

2010-03-09T03:00:00.001-05:00

At one point during my hiatus from writing, I took up the study of word origins. The study is fascinating. Learning where the words we use today came from, as well as the ways their meanings (spellings and pronunciation) have changed have affected my writing in ways I don't yet fully recognize.

While I tend to not use the archaic meanings of words, I am aware of them in some cases, and they do sometimes make one word a better choice than another. This is especially true with character names. I do my best to keep character names simple, easy to remember, pronounceable, and easy to relate to the character's personality. sometimes, one choice, or spelling of that name is the better choice for that particular story.

The study of word origins also helps us to realize just how much of English is truly borrowed from hundreds of languages, many no longer living, except in a few words in our, or another language. Sometimes in this study, it is difficult to decide which language the word was borrowed from, or if it came from more than one at a time.

As we watch how fast our language is evolving, I am reminded of the many discussions I have read on the early great vowel shifts. While no one is truly sure what caused them, they all see that they occurred for some reason. It seems today, due to technology, we are headed to another great vowel shift - this time to a written language without vowels. have we come full circle, so that in a generation or two, we will be able to read the ancient languages that do not contain vowels, because our children and grandchildren, never experiencing them, will better understand the coded messages?

What about the picture only languages? It often seems these days that many technological equipment expects people to interpret pictures as they once would words. Will we again become a language of pictures without words? That would be a sad loss of stories.

It seems English has always been a melting pot, and some studies show other languages do the same, but often not to the extent English has. Even though it is a melting pot of languages, finding the "right" word amongst hundreds with near identical meanings can be a challenge.

Not to mention all the jargon and local dialects out there. These are what truly keep English from being a full melting pot - that need to have a special secret language for just one group of people. Even as a melting pot, people feel that need to be different, to stick out and feel safe while a part of a smaller crowd.

"Why I Write" Contest

2010-03-08T03:00:00.001-05:00

The "Why I Write" Contest is officially over. I think it was a good contest, and everyone who entered, or even thought about entering won in one way or another. Being writers, it is really important we stop and think about why we write from time to time. As long as we continue to enjoy it, all is good.

I was extremely happy to rank 35 in both the popular vote, and the final tally out of 160 participants. So yes, my story will be published in the anthology online.

Hopefully, I will re-visit "Why I Write" every few years,and those reasons will remain positive.

Importance of Adjectives

2010-03-05T03:00:00.001-05:00

Importance of Adjectives - Many writers would disagree.

First, let me ask you, if you say no to all adjectives in writing, do you use adjectives when speaking?

A few days ago, I wrote a Thank You note on a writing board. I intended it to be fully sincere. However, I forget I tend to write skeletal, and did not include any adjectives to explain how thankful I really am. Someone said they thought I was leaving the board because my post was so sparse.

Actually, I was seriously wanting to thank my friends there, not sound like I was upset with them. I was upset about thinking about my part time job, about to restart soon. It has been a miserable winter. I simply don't want to continue to dress for winter for the next three months. I seriously think the cold there was part of my health problems all of last fall. Those health problems prevented my from working on my writing as I intended, sometimes for weeks at a time.

What did I learn about this experience? If we don't use a few properly placed adjectives, we can sound angry, rather than excited, happy, and thankful. Writing is tough, as emotions are not easy to show with words. When a simple, short, sincere thank you note sounds sarcastic, unreal, dead, angry, etc, we know it's not enough.

Adjectives exist in our language for a reason. Don't be afraid to use them in writing, as you would in speaking. Adjectives add color to words on the page. They make it easy to see what is going on. Sure, I can talk about tables all day, but it may make a difference if that table is blood red, or green, or purple.

Of course, we don't want to use adjectives the way we were taught in school, at least three for every noun. Though, it can be a useful exercise to think of, and even write three adjectives, then pick the best one to stay. Lets choose green: is it grass green? Is it pastel green? Is it puke green? Maybe it's forest green. If the shade matters, don't be afraid to use it. Maybe it has to be forest green to blend in, or to stand out. Just don't use shades (or words) people have to stop reading to look up and figure out what they mean.

While every noun doesn't need an adjective, writing without description would be short and dry. Often too short and dry. So, next time I say "thank you" online, I want people to know I truly mean "thank you!" I'll know to use some adjectives and description to show how and why I am happy.

What is the Query Process like for the Writer?

2010-03-04T03:00:00.001-05:00

What is the query process like for the writer?

Some would compare it to a first date. After all, you research, try to find the best match and send your hopes and dreams in just a few words to this person you hope will accept you.

Some would compare it to a blind date. Well, all you know about the person (or agency) is word of mouth, and what they have posted on their website. You hope it's current, and nothing has changed. (Imagine, picking a perfect match, spending days personalizing and critiquing the query, then sending it in, only to double check and see that query submissions were suspended moments before you hit send.)

Some would compare it to a job search - send out as many queries as you can, and hopefully one will call you. They may even follow the old school approach of "ten a day, a call on it's way."

Some would compare it to public speaking. These people know they have the information, they just are unsure how to present it in the "right" way that everyone will understand it. They also tend to be petrified they will forget one of the most important parts and lose the audience.

How do I see it? I fall into all four categories, depending on the mood I am in. I even started a query letter a week or so ago, and haven't gone beyond the main part about the story yet.

I have researched several agents and created an agent database, I just do not feel ready to start personalizing each individual query letter yet. I know agents may change their submission polices, and what they are looking for at any time, so I am waiting until my last Beta Reader is done to finish the letter, though I may post the main story part for review soon in a query letter critique section.

Literary Agent Websites and Submission Guidelines

2010-03-03T03:00:00.001-05:00

Literary Agent Websites and Submission Guidelines

All I can say is wow! This is not an attempt to sound snarky. I realize most literary agents are more swamped than is believable. Still, if you trust Query Tracker, please verify and update your information on there once in a while. I was very specific about the genres I chose to search based on. I found several listed agents who did not even list a website to view updated guidelines on.

Of those who had websites, the number of websites that hurt my eye was shocking. Everything from bright red, purple, burning yellow, and fonts almost the same shade as the websites background. What does this say to the authors checking this agency? "Well, we really don't want you to view our submission guidelines."

Some of the websites even didn't want you to find the guidelines. I think four I found only had a minimal home page, with no guidelines or links. Others, had their links to other pages in such tiny font, that even with my browser at 120%, I couldn't click the one I aimed at until three or four tries.

I also was surprised at the number of agents who do not accept email queries. Full submissions I could almost see their point, but the query letters, not really.

Needless to say, my list of not interested in agents was quite a bit longer than I expected.

However, I have to admit, I did see several well designed websites (yes, not counting where they put the apostrophe wrong on the page link line). In fact, one that was well designed said they were upgrading the website. I really liked their homepage, so hope they don't change it too much, but their super thin links could be a bit more user friendly for the half blind. Most sites were really useful and helpful.

On most sites, I was able to copy and paste what information I needed into my Excel spreadsheet. This way, when I start the query process on one novellea in a few weeks, I can tell at a glance which ones I want to choose from, then click their website link back to verify nothing has changed.

If you want to make it easier for authors, here is a list of things that if copy and pasteable will make it easier for them to find you when they prepare to query:

Agency Name (often not copyable as it is a logo),
Agent Name,
Street Address (I understand you don't want people showing up),
Phone Number (Yes, no calls, but if you want an author to answer, or return calls, at least provide area code).
Email,
Website,
Blog,
Twitter,
Genres (some of these were confusing),
Query Method,
Query Attachments,
Response Method,
Response Time Frame, and
Other Notes
This makes a nice little spreadsheet ready to use to compare potential agents. Thanks to all my friends who gave their lists of what they list for each agent.

What do agents recommend writers include on their list of information about agents?

I know agents are swamped, but if you don't want submissions, please say so in query tracker, don't just use your website color and design to discourage potential authors.

Word Count

2010-03-02T03:00:00.001-05:00

I have to admit, I am not sure whether to admire, or fear, those long winded writers. I can generally write 1,000 to 2,000 words on anything, or nothing, if necessary. (Even on Twitter, I rarely have to shorten my thoughts by more than a letter or two.) How do they write 100,000 words on any topic? I have no idea how they write 200,000 words on a topic.

I worked, off and on, on one story, for two or three years. It ended at just over 41,000 words. How can I be sure it ended? The characters are satisfied. They are no longer calling my name in my sleep. (Don't worry, they will start soon if I don't get it published soon.) There is simply nothing more. Sure, I could continue the story, but it would be more of a sequel, with no real climaxes. The story is simply told as long as it should be. A good afternoon read for a busy person.

In fact, if I added my three novellas, my short story, and my nonfiction together at the moment, I am not sure I would get much past 100,000 words. How do they do it? I haven't learned the secret. Of course, those who write the most, also have to re-write the most I am sure.

Speed in Novels

2010-03-01T03:00:00.001-05:00

I know I am the unconventional author. I, like a lot of my friends, prefer the classics to a lot of the modern literature. "Why," you ask? "They are long and dull." Some are long, some may appear dull, yet the depth of storytelling is so wonderful you discover something new every time you read it.

I've read a lot on writer's boards over several years. Some of the common advice of "trust your reader" "they know emotions, you don't need them" and other such terms fly frequently. Often, they take a simple elegant statement of fact, and turn it into pretty prose that has a totally different meaning than the original. It is meant to race the story ever onward, and not give the reader a pause for breath.

Let's take a simple example (totally out of context of course, as it has no story to go with).

'He slammed his fist on the table angrily.'

First, someone would say - "Of course he was angry - drop angry."

Um, no, we don't know he is angry. He may be excited, scared, he may have just found out he won the lottery, he may have just realized his time was up on the parking meter, maybe he killed a fly crawling across the table. Sometimes, in context, there may be clues as to a reason, though not his feelings about it, but probably not. Most stories race along today as if they were the Roadrunner from 70's cartoons.

You can read an entire book, and never have clue as to what the characters were thinking, or why they did what they did. They just race through time. It's a lot like trying to make sense of the debris flying in the tornado chasing you across the plains. You see lots of action, but have no time for emotion or character growth.

Some people like to argue that a physical action always equals a specific emotion or reason. Perhaps, specifically to them. Have you ever lived with a bi-polar person? You would then know, an action and a mood or meaning can be totally opposite, or have no relationship to each other. Not only that, but a specific action in your neighborhood likely has a totally different meaning than someone one else doing the same action in another neighborhood. One of the easiest ways to look at this is the acceptability of looking a person in the eye. In some cultures it is expected, some of only children, some it is something you would never do to someone you respect. Within any region, there are too many differences to say that any one set of actions always means "x." It actually rarely does.

While a large portion of the "normal" population from ages 18 to 25 may like tornado speed stories, many others open them, only to put them down.

Ask someone with memory loss, Autism, Asperger's or any cognitive disorder if they enjoy reading. Chances are, they will tell you "No, because I can't understand, or keep track of what is going on."

These are the reasons why most of my favorite fiction authors are no longer living. The earlier authors took their time with their stories. They invested the time to write, and expected the reader to invest the time to read them. However, they also knew their readers had lives, and couldn't be expected to read 300 pages in one day. So they let clues slip in, gentle reminders towards the end if necessary, to keep the reader up to speed without them having to go back and skim everything they had read days, or weeks before, to figure something out. Nowadays, that is seen as bad writing. Then, it was seen as respecting the reader, wanting them to finish the work of art.

Of course, nonfiction is less like that. In nonfiction, the writers work hard to keep the audience enjoying what they write. They often realize readers will jump from one section to another, and not necessarily read in a linear fashion. So modern nonfiction writers I read plenty of.

When I read, I like to relax, and get to know the character. Daily life is hectic enough. Reading should be relaxing, allowing us to escape the rat race, let our heart rates slow down and remember that there is a time and place to stop and smell the roses. In fact, living is what life is about. Throwing our lives away is what the rat race is about. Step out of the rat race for a few hours, relax, and enjoy life.

What about you? Do you like the speedy race? Or do you like to fully understand your characters and know how, and why they grow?

Getting to Know the Author Week

2010-02-26T03:00:00.001-05:00

Getting to know the author week is almost over. So, what else do you want to know? Let's see, married and raising three cats and one dog. Our house is half male, and half female. If our runaway every comes home (highly unlikely, she has been gone 15 months) we balance more on the female side. I need to do a recent post about my food allergies and update the foods replacement foods I enjoy. Enough about me. Time to get back to my writing.

Where is my writing after a week without updates?

"Tribal New Beginning" I am working on parts of the query letter, then will personalize it for the agent I choose. I do not have one picked yet.

"Molly's Second Chance" has been accepted for publication in October.

"Cognitive Function Workbook" has sped along on some days, though occasionally I need a break to work on other projects. Currently, I am on 26,151 words, plus 3,000 in the workbook. I still think of oodles that needs to be added.

Movies - My Favorites

2010-02-25T03:00:00.001-05:00

What kinds of movies do I like to watch? Primarily Documentaries, Science, and History. I have posted a page of many of my favorite movies.

Mostly, these movies give me all kinds of fodder for writing - especially the study of Geography, how it has changed, and how it will change in the future.

History - forming fun alternate histories in my mind - just think, if our country had learned the real lesson during the first Great Depression, what would our country, and the world be like today?

Studying Science - why, after a certain time, were most discoveries discovered simultaneously by three or more different groups of researchers? What does this mean to the world at large, as far as equality, teamwork, and individuals?

Studying individuals and cultures - a vast array of ideas through the ages, understanding how some things stay the same, some things repeat every one, two, or three generations, and some ideas only seem to occur once in a culture, or a group of cultures. Learning what made a culture great, and it's downfall, whether self imposed, hostile take over, or mother nature imposed. Studying the cycle of Human Lives as a whole, knowing each picture, though a snapshot, in reality only one or two pieces of that snapshot existed at the same time. Basically, we take snapshots over hundreds of years, combine them, and say that is our snapshot.

Animals - Understanding biology, evolution, and how changes affect the environment and those living on this great planet. Recognizing that although many humans forget they are part of the planet and the planet has not forgotten. This planet is loaned to use us to live on and care for, not to abuse as we choose. Humans may destroy much of the planet, and in doing so destroy themselves. However, life has survived many extinctions in the past, and will survive again. The question is, will humans survive?

Finally, I enjoy the children's animation movies - less hyper action, less violence and loud noise. Plus, the creativity is a wonderful factor. (I did attempt to watch the movie "UP", while a child would never get it, there were a few scenes in there that ruined the movie for me before the first ten minutes were done. Very depressing movie. Actually, I should be glad such topics are covered in movies, though in the silent section, I just thought it was supposed to be a happy movie, and it ruined it for me.)

Researching my Writing on the Internet

2010-02-24T03:00:00.001-05:00

Sunday, I decided to research titles of some of my unpublished writing on the Internet. Two out of three lead either directly to, or mostly to me. The third, though, lead to pages and pages of laptop computers. Oops! I guess that second choice of a name is not a good idea. Well, I think for now, I will leave it with the original name, and not try to find a new one yet until I have time to research it.

What does this mean? When you think of naming your story, try to find out how common that name is if you want it to be found!

Personal Book Want List

2010-02-23T03:00:00.001-05:00

My book Wish List is rather long as well; and in no particular order. Some I have yet to read, or own; others are replacing missing, borrowed, or wore out copies.

Phillip Pullman

Lyra's Oxford

Once Upon a Time in the North

The Book of Dust (not printed yet)

Orson Scott Card

Shadow of the Giant

Terry Brooks

Sometimes the Magic Works

A Princess of Landover

Roger Lea McBride

On the Banks of the Bayou

Bachelor Girl

Rose Wilder

Young Pioneers

Melissa Wiley

Little House in the Highlands

The Far Side of the Loch

Beyond the Heather Hills

Little House by Boston Bay

Across the Puddingston Dam

Maria D. Wilkes and Celia Wilkins

Little House in Brookfield

Little Town at the Crossroads

Across the Rolling River

A Little House of Their Own

Piers Anthony

Hope of Earth

Muse of Art

Jane Austen's Novels

Sense and Sensibility (1811)

T H White

2. The Witch in the Wood (1939) aka The Queen of Air and Darkness

3. The Ill-made Knight (1940)

4. The Once and Future King (omnibus) (1958)

Margurite Henry

Sea Star (1949)

Born to Trot (1950)

Justin Morgan Had a Horse (1954)

Black Gold (1957)

Mustang (1966)

Misty (1970)

Edward Eager

2. Knight's Castle (1956)

4. The Time Garden (1958)

6. The Well-Wishers (1960)

Cynthia Voigt

The Whole Dicey's Song Series

Trixie Belden Series

The Girls of Canby Hall Mystery Series was also good.

(Honestly, I did not enjoy Nancy Drew, she seemed too dry. Hardy Boys wasn't bad, just not as interesting as Trixie Belden.)

Below is a list of Books I found in a catalog that sound interesting. I don't have all the title information on a few.

Through Indian Eyes: The untold Story of native American Peoples - Bryce Walker

Indian Tribes of North America - Jesepha Sherman

Cherokee: People of the Written Word - Wayne Youngblood

The Native Americans: An Illustrated History 11.95

All My Patients Have tails: Favorite Stories From a Vets Practice - Jeff Wells

Captured by the Indians: 15 Firsthand Accounts - 1750-1870 Fredrick Drimmer

America's hidden History: Untold tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation - Kenneth C. Davis

Why do we say it? Origins of common words

The Writer's guide to Places: A One of a kind Reference for Making the Locales in your writing more authentic, colorful, memorable - D Prues J Heffron

The Complete Guide to Rocks Minerals - John Farndon

The History of Death: Burial Customs and Funeral Rites, from the Ancient World to modern Times - Michael Kerrigan

The Ultimate Encyclopedia of mythology - A Cotterell R Storm

Personal Library Post

2010-02-22T03:00:00.001-05:00

I decided to do something different today. I am going to post a list of my personal Library of books. It is not all I want, I have a want list I can post too, it's not as long. Actually, I may only post a bit of it here, and put the rest on a page. My husband created a Access database years ago for our booklist. What I simply did was transfer the most recent copy into Excel, take out his books (mostly Star Trek, World Wars, Dan Brown, and a few other odd series) and transfer it into Word. I hope there are few if any typos. However, if they are, they are his, as he keeps the master list (I do clean it up occasionally.)

Writing Update

2010-02-18T03:00:00.000-05:00

So far on the Cognitive Dysfunction Workbook (may be re-named Lifebook)

Words:

Manuscript - 14,648
Workbook - 2,629
Stories - 38 (needs to be re-written

Pages (in Verdana):

Manuscript - 102
Workbook - 29
Stories - 1/5

According to my calculations - I am almost 1/4 done per word count, and 1/2 done per page count. (Of course, if I double space References {they are done per section}, it will be half done now.)

So, the later point becomes do I combine them at one point, or do they need to remain separate? I won't combine until much closer to ready to consider complete.

I have worked on the Table of Contents, and marked the started sections with one symbol, and another for those that are well into the first (second or third) draft.

Today, (Wednesday) my sinuses are draining to the point I am not able to think about the book, for the first time since I started writing it about two weeks ago. Time for lots of soup, tea, and honey. If I don't post until next week, don't worry, I'll be back.

Getting a "Dumb" phone

2010-02-17T03:00:00.001-05:00

Getting a new "Dumb" phone. Sounds ironic huh?

Actually, there are more "dumb" phone choices now than two years ago when we last upgraded our contract. It is a really nice phone - I can actually manage the buttons, and don't need a toothpick to push them. I can make and receive phone calls. That is all I want a phone to do. It does have a nice feature - a magnifying glass. Wow, it even has simple instructions to make it work. Even more important - the font size is set to large (so I can read the names and phones numbers.) That isn't all, if you are on a name or or number that is too long for the screen - it scrolls. There is actually one larger size font, but I don't think enough of the names would fit on the screen. The size I have it on now is nearly three times the previous phone's size. Oh, and of course, it is hearing aid compatible - that's a must for me!

While it is a nice phone - they aren't free anymore (unless you get re-furbished ones). Also, in order to get the full rebate price, you have to tack other expenses onto your account for at least one month. Was it worth the $50 rebate to add $18 in expenses for one month? Mathematically, yes (savings of only $32.) When it comes time to take those extras off, we will see how much time, trouble, and expense it is to do so. Also, we looked at reducing our plan minutes. We never use them all. For the same price, we could get 1/4 of the minutes we now have. However, that would not be quite enough minutes, so since the price is the same, we are leaving our plan alone.

Notice I never mentioned the company. I won't only to say that I wish more of my friends had the same company, as we wouldn't spend minutes when chatting.