More importantly, are you a writer or a reader?
To read my writing blog, just click the writing button on the menu above. To read all the other nonsense I’ve written over the years–scroll down, baby.
It amazes me how supportive nanoers are to one another. When I tried this a few years ago, I felt so alone and couldn’t see my way through it. But interacting on twitter, though it can be distracting, has shown me how supportive other writers and NaNo participants are. I’ve received more than one reply to my tweets of frustration or success. If you’re NaNoing, definitely follow the #nanowrimo hash tag there.
I feel kind of dirty, but my hosts changed the terms. I wrote them a rather rude report ticket, but they tell me they can change them at any time. Even if the package you bought involves the word “lifetime” and five years is nowhere near a human lifetime.
Anyway, they’re there. The Amazon links are there, but that’s mostly because they make it so easy to see the book.
I gave in to “the man.”
I got rid of the ads. They were taking up space and, between you and me, I wasn’t comfortable with the companies promoting on my site. So, I settled for a widget from Amazon highlighting books I’ve loved. I’m happy, you’re happy. I guess you’re happy.
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!
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.
That’s right. This month is still all about the zombies. I’ve gotten some serious random hit mileage out of that insane zombie research. So… thanks, Mr. Smith?.
WE know what the GMC is. But what is this person looking for? Did Debra Dixon design a theme? Oh, wait. Google reveals all. They mean GMC the car company. Well, welcome to Ink Diva Diaries, car enthusiasts!
I know what writer’s block is. This just sounds like a writer who’s been hitting the prunes. No, wait. It’s an actual website. With like two pages, discussing why writer’s get blocked. Okay. Well, you’re better off here, unblocked writer. That blog looks abandoned.
Um, say huh? I’ll go ahead and answer this for you: yes. It’s a letter. With several paragraphs. And one first paragraph. That necessitates an open sentence.
Wait, don’t go. I’m sorry. If you give me more than that search string, I’ll totally try for a real answer!
Best of all, other than a couple of people checking out teh Kevin Spacey,
That’s not me, FYI.
I had a yay! moment when I received this.
Dear Lori,
This is just a friendly email to confirm that your request for the book ‘Helter Skelter : The True Story Of The Manson Murders’ by Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry has been accepted into our system at PaperBackSwap. In the next couple of days you should receive an email stating that the book is on its way!
You know, like normal people would when someone says, “I baked you some cookies.”
I’m almost finished with this book, and I’ll probably update this post when I do, but I just wanted to jot down some observations about the book. I’m not a reviewer, and there’s a good reason for that. I’d have a hard time slamming a book even if it really deserved it (not that this one does–I usually take the ‘if you don’t have something good to say’ road) and as strange as it sounds from a writer, I don’t think I have the words. Despite my attempts to prove otherwise, you really can only say awesome so many times (I do try to limit it to one per post).
Having said all of that, I’ll tell you what I liked about this book. First, I didn’t know it was novelized non-fiction until I received it and read the flap copy. I’d watched the movie, and my general rule of thumb is if I like the movie, I’ll love the book. There’s just more to a book, and it’s usually more of what you loved about the movie in the first place (if the moviemakers did a good job). So, that was my sole basis for ordering it. I was not disappointed.
It may be because I did see the movie, and the actors done an amazing job, but the characters are all just so real and yet, at the same time, so eccentric and out there. (My fave? Chablis. The Lady Chablis, to you!) How hard can it be to make real people interesting? My guess: plenty hard. We’re boring! Think of all the hoops you have to jump through to make a fake person seem real enough and yet elicit some emotion or connection to the reader. And you get to create them made-to-order!
I also loved the setting. This is a perfect example of a setting being a character in the book. Savannah. It’s beautiful, and secluded, and dark, and crazy. A lot like most of the characters in the book, actually.
I also found this out: Kevin Spacey looks a LOT like Jim Williams. Or he did in the movie. But then I love Kevin Spacey–but that’s another blog.
What I didn’t love? The book is a bit of a slow starter. I don’t mind that, I read Stephen King, but in the world of romance writing this is one of those Rules-with-a-capital-R: start your story when the action starts. Or something to that effect. Look up the Rules, you’ll see what I mean. It’s also said that there are a lot of romance novels released (true) and you’ve got to get the reader’s attention right away.
Either way, I’d highly recommend the book.
I wrote a post ages ago about a quiz I took. I entitled that post “‘You are a saucy flirt!’ –Lake Placid.” I even attributed it to the source, like a good writer. Since then, every month, I get a hit or three based on a search for a “saucy flirt.” Seriously. Who are you, and why are you looking in a search engine for a saucy flirt? Wait. Don’t answer that.
I also always get visitors from people searching my name. I’m probably not the Lori Sizemore they’re looking for, but it’s the other Lori’s fault she didn’t have the foresight to buy the domain first. What is new, this past month, is a search for “lori zinke sizemore.” What is a zinke? And how is it related to me? (Oooh, did you know google has a Wonder Wheel to show you related searches! Nice one, Google.)
But this last search term is all new and made of win. Someone came to my site with the search “are zombies really real.” No. Lie. Apparently, I am now a zombie expert.
I had this whole post written and Firefox crashed. The hell, Firefox? This one is probably not as awesome as the first one.
Quartet Press is no more. I had high hopes for the publishing group, after reading their blogs, their proposed plans on how to do business, and the hype. Oh, the hype. All I can really say now is that they came on the scene with a bang, and left with a whimper.
Read what people are saying about it.
I want to stick around a while and get my kicks.
Yeah, that was totally unrelated. I’m nixing the schedule. I’ll still keep posting, in the same categories, maybe some new ones. I’ve got some great stuff saved up for link licker and I think I’ve almost got this long synopsis thing at least under control–and I am totally posting on that process because anyone new at it, we need the help. The structure of a schedule helped me when I started, but when something stops working for you, it’s important to know when to let it go.
What’s right is what’s left if you do everything else wrong.”
–Robin Williams
