Writing is entirely too hard to not take seriously.  Like the decision to go on living, the decision to decide between life and quality of life, writing is a choice.  It’s not something we’re called to (though it may call to us, like the siren); it’s not something you do halfway, because maybe you can make it.  You commit to it, the way you commit to a career, to a marriage, to having children.  Because once it gets into your blood, there’s no quitting. Is writing fun?  All too rarely.  It can be thrilling, heartachingly frustrating, gut check time, and some of the highest elationRead More →

The Bloggess, in her usual WTF Bloggess fashion, has dominated government and prepared us all for the zombie apocalypse.  Thank heavens for her.  God bless America, y’all. UPDATED X 5: Why voter-driven awards are fundamentally flawed. — TheBloggess.com.  A.K.A. What’s up, Shorty (Awards)?!Read More →

15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee – The Oatmeal. If you love coffee like I love coffee, you will love this.  It’s educational AND inappropriately amusing. Image from I Can Has Cheezburger.Read More →

Turn your picture into a romance novel cover. Perfect for Valentine’s Day, anniversary, wedding gift or just for that special person you’ve been dating. If you’ve ever dreamed of being on the cover of a Harlequin Romance Novel, this is as close as you’re likely to get. via Use your picture to make a romance novel cover!. I haven’t used this yet, so I don’t know how the results look.  (I don’t mind my pic so much, but I’m hesitant to star my poor husband on a romance cover).  I’d love to see it, if you give it a go.Read More →

Did you ever read a book or, even more appropriately, watch a movie and leave feeling cheated?  Things weren’t resolved?  No payoff?  Not what you expected?  Then, OMG, do I have a site for you.  It’s called, believe it or not, How It Should Have Ended.  Or HISHE, for short.  (I’ve decided to pronounce it His He.) So, go there.  Blair Witch and Twilight were really good.  I’m off to see how It’s a Wonderful Life should’ve ended.Read More →

On the first day of NaNoWriMo (second day?) I want to talk about distractions.  You know.  Those things that help you release stress or avoid writing–whatever.  Books, of course.  Most of us read emails and tweet and facebook.  But more personally, what’s your avoidance crack?  Mine–The Sims 3.  It can occupy me for hours and make me forget all about my goals for the day, week, or even the month. What gets you back on track?  Music and housecleaning do it for me.  The music usually gets my creative juices going and the housecleaning is just tedious enough to make me prefer sitting down andRead More →

Love the name. I remember being a child/teen and being so absorbed in stories, so carried away by them. They were crucial to my existence. And, once or twice, I did read by flashlight. Hell, I’m still a sucker for a booklight. Every freaking time. So, there’s a site.  Flashlight Worthy Books.  And it has reading lists.  Over 300 of them.  Awesome?  I think so. Seriously, take a look at some of these. 5 of the Best Children’s Books Grownups Will Love Books for the Serious Jane Austen Fan Call Me Crazy, Call Me True: Madness We Can All Relate To The Things We DoRead More →

It’s that time of the month again where we laugh at the fact that no agents or writers or, dream of dreams, readers are visiting my site.  The only ones visiting are those crazy spambots and people making very strange search requests.  Here we go! nix nix Really?  What in the whole world do you need to know about this?  Well, hmm.  Googling revealed that, according to the Urban Dictionary: A middle aged man who plays computer games and has large man Breats. (Nix-Nix-Pix-Nix) That’s actually worse being associated with than I originally thought.  Thanks. a zombie love story, scientific study zombies, zombie love storyRead More →

How did I come upon this site?  I’m like a freaky web site magnet, that’s how.  Still, it made me think of you. Please Don’t Promise Me Forever It’s a hallmark type book from some time in the 70’s about love.  And it’s mushy.  But it’s kind of real, too, if you’ve ever been in a long-term relationship. Things My Girlfriend and I Have Fought About I read the whole freaking page.  Seriously.  And it’s not formatted well, so it’s like a vomit of hilarious text.  But note: it’s hilarious.  Plus, they’re British and German, so it’s got a Euro relationship flair we Americans don’tRead More →

It’s Wordle and it’s adorable. Here’s mine: Make your own at wordle.net. I don’t know why “th” is apparently a word I use a lot, unless I’m seriously typoing the hell out of “the”, and I know I only used ye in the post on talk like a pirate day, so I’m surprised at it’s largeness.  On the other hand, I kind of expected awesome to be about two feet tall.  So, I like it.Read More →