I'm redecorating the blog, so please look overlook any weird color schemes or giantic pictures or basically anything strange and out of the ordinary. I thought I was all set last night, but Blogger had different plans. Things have been zoomed in, or zoomed out, or wacky colors...
Hopefully I'll get it worked out by this weekend, and everything will be working perfectly. I can wish, right?
For those of you doing your own version of Nano, how are things progressing? I'm fascinated by the quantity of writing, editing and reading that gets done in November. Keep up the great work!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Happy Voting Day
You know what the best thing about today is?
No more campaign ads! Woo-hoo!
I despise political campaigns. They're often negative and smarmy and nobody actually says anything real. In the end I often don't feel like I want to vote for anybody because I'm so annoyed by everybody.
So for all legal-aged citizens of the US, let's get out there and VOTE, and make this day count. You are important to our country, so make your opinion known.
(and make sure you wear your 'I Voted' sticker so the pushy, judgmental people won't harass you the rest of the day)
P.S. - Good luck to all you NaNo'ers (the writers, revisers, and the readers). I'm rooting for ya!
No more campaign ads! Woo-hoo!
I despise political campaigns. They're often negative and smarmy and nobody actually says anything real. In the end I often don't feel like I want to vote for anybody because I'm so annoyed by everybody.
So for all legal-aged citizens of the US, let's get out there and VOTE, and make this day count. You are important to our country, so make your opinion known.
(and make sure you wear your 'I Voted' sticker so the pushy, judgmental people won't harass you the rest of the day)
P.S. - Good luck to all you NaNo'ers (the writers, revisers, and the readers). I'm rooting for ya!
Monday, November 1, 2010
One-word
Madonna. Cher. Oprah. What about the men? Elvis. Shaq. Obama.
In the world of celebrities, being known by one name equals greatness. It's the gold standard of true stardom.
Is this why there are so many YA books out with one-word titles?
Twilight.
Shiver.
Wake.
2010 alone has books like Shadowland, Possessed, Incarceron, Hourglass, Spells, Burned, Shade, Linger, Captivate, Numbers, Paranormalcy, Gone, Matched...
Most (if not all) of these books are either paranormal or fantasy, and most (if not all) are part of a series, and in most of these series all the books have a one-word title, usually related to a theme.
I'm not calling out any specific book here, but the general trend. I have nothing against one-word titles. My own work is tentatively titled Anomaly (although I've got a different, four word title in mind). And I've read many of the books listed above and really enjoyed them.
I just can't figure out why so many YA books are jumping on the single word bandwagon. Is it considered to be cool and edgy? Is one word supposed to stand out more at a bookstore and entice more readers? Or is just a major coincidence?
Why do you think so many YA Fantasy series are going with one-word titles? Do you love or hate this trend? Any other thoughts on the matter?
In the world of celebrities, being known by one name equals greatness. It's the gold standard of true stardom.
Is this why there are so many YA books out with one-word titles?
Twilight.
Shiver.
Wake.
2010 alone has books like Shadowland, Possessed, Incarceron, Hourglass, Spells, Burned, Shade, Linger, Captivate, Numbers, Paranormalcy, Gone, Matched...
Most (if not all) of these books are either paranormal or fantasy, and most (if not all) are part of a series, and in most of these series all the books have a one-word title, usually related to a theme.
I'm not calling out any specific book here, but the general trend. I have nothing against one-word titles. My own work is tentatively titled Anomaly (although I've got a different, four word title in mind). And I've read many of the books listed above and really enjoyed them.
I just can't figure out why so many YA books are jumping on the single word bandwagon. Is it considered to be cool and edgy? Is one word supposed to stand out more at a bookstore and entice more readers? Or is just a major coincidence?
Why do you think so many YA Fantasy series are going with one-word titles? Do you love or hate this trend? Any other thoughts on the matter?
Friday, October 29, 2010
Calling All Romance Writers!!
Whenever I see an interesting piece of news, I can never tell if I'm ahead of the curve (and one of the first to find out) or if I'm really far behind the curve and everybody else has already stopped talking about this topic.
Either way, I found out today that Harlequin is hosting a huge online conference next week for potential new authors and thought I'd share.
Harlequin will have podcasts with editors and authors, daily writing challenges, tips and info on publishing, and they claim to have the opporuntity for you to submit your work to Harlequin editors.
So all you romance writers, be sure to check it out. And if you get requests, offers, or contracts, be sure to keep me updated. I'm VERY curious to see how this open call fares.
Here's the link: http://harlequinblog.com/so-you-think-you-can-write/
Either way, I found out today that Harlequin is hosting a huge online conference next week for potential new authors and thought I'd share.
Harlequin will have podcasts with editors and authors, daily writing challenges, tips and info on publishing, and they claim to have the opporuntity for you to submit your work to Harlequin editors.
So all you romance writers, be sure to check it out. And if you get requests, offers, or contracts, be sure to keep me updated. I'm VERY curious to see how this open call fares.
Here's the link: http://harlequinblog.com/so-you-think-you-can-write/
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Mental Slap
Sometimes I'm amazed at my ability to stare endlessly at a blank Word document.
You know what I'm talking about, right? Tell me you've done it too.
You're supposed to be writing (or working, emailing, researching, whatever), so you open up Word. The cursor blinks over and over again while you stare at the screen. You know you should get to it. There's lots of stuff that needs to be done. But for some reason, whether its mental or physical, you just can't make your fingers move over the keyboard.
I'm ashamed to admit I've spent many hours hanging out in front of a blank document. We've painted our nails together, made phone calls and played so many rounds of Solitaire that I've lost count.
Eventually though you have to say to yourself, "Enough is enough. I need to do this, and I need to start NOW." It's kind of like a mental slap.
I can even get into a mental version of Fight Club and knock myself around in order to get on track or stay focused.
Have you ever mentally slapped yourself around? What do you say (or do) to yourself?
You know what I'm talking about, right? Tell me you've done it too.
You're supposed to be writing (or working, emailing, researching, whatever), so you open up Word. The cursor blinks over and over again while you stare at the screen. You know you should get to it. There's lots of stuff that needs to be done. But for some reason, whether its mental or physical, you just can't make your fingers move over the keyboard.
I'm ashamed to admit I've spent many hours hanging out in front of a blank document. We've painted our nails together, made phone calls and played so many rounds of Solitaire that I've lost count.
Eventually though you have to say to yourself, "Enough is enough. I need to do this, and I need to start NOW." It's kind of like a mental slap.
I can even get into a mental version of Fight Club and knock myself around in order to get on track or stay focused.
Have you ever mentally slapped yourself around? What do you say (or do) to yourself?
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