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Since my last post about awesome websites that make the Kindle even MORE awesome than it already is, I’ve paid for premium service with Kindlefeeder.com. How much? I paid $19.95 USD for one year of premium service. Why upgrade? I’ll go into all the features a premium membership brings in just a minute.  But the main reason I upgraded was because I wanted to be able to subscribe to more than 12 feeds.  I think for free, basic membership, 12 feeds is more than fair.  Well, it’s free.   Any thing more than none would be fair.  But, I love my feeds.  I have aRead More →

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I use my Kindle everyday.  This is no secret.  I’ve facebooked, tweeted, and posted my love for the Kindle. I consider myself tech-ish savvy.  I’m not a geek (a badge I’d wear with honor, mind you), but I know a few who point me in the right directions.  And, so, because I’m awesome, I’m going to point you to some very awesome Kindle sites that will make it even harder to pry the Kindle from your grip. Instapaper I use Google Reader a lot.  It’s how I get my tech fix and find all of these nifty things, it’s how I keep up with gossipRead More →

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And the birds sang, the trees swayed happily, and I was free.  Free to spend as long as I needed filling in character, backstory, synopsizing scenes, and outlining. I have this from very reliable sources.  I recently took a Write It Forward workshop from Bob Mayer (on Twitter @Bob_Mayer) on Plot and Outline.  He says: Failing to do this essential background work sabotages the story before you type your first word and becomes very apparent to readers as they progress in your work. (Truly, this workshop was chock full of empowering, on-target info.  It would be worth the money to invest in one of the WriteRead More →

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Every day, I read blogs from writers, editors, and agents telling us (writers) not to complain on our personal sites.  Don’t reveal too much about yourself, or your weaknesses, or your failures.  Too many times, I’ve happened across a forum war or, worse, an Amazon review war between an author and readers or even other authors. What you write is cached somewhere–Google or the Wayback Machine–and you’ll never escape the day you told a little too  much or complained a little too loudly or even acted like a total bitchface because someone dared to negatively review  your work. This is why I admire Lani DianeRead More →

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I’m linking to this blog post from Bob Mayer because it explains the kernel idea perfectly and since this post is pretty much what made it click for me. I thought, I can’t do this.  I’m just 2 weeks in the outlining, charactering, plotting phase, and still–it’s not going to happen.  But, as writers, we tend to be a little sentimental about our stories–we dig hard enough, we can remember the moment where we thought, “This will be an awesome story.”  And I found it.  I will update you on how much having this (kernel idea) helps me as I go through the process, butRead More →

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At least, it has for me. So convenient. Such a dream come true–any book I want to read is at my fingertips and delivered in less than a minute. I’ve probably read more books in the last month than I have in the year before that. And that’s a really satisfying thing. Anyway, you should totally have one.Read More →

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Title: Show Up Naked: Writing the Male POVInstructors: Chris Redding Date: August 2 – 27, 2010 Classroom: Mile High DESCRIPTION: This class is a fun, but informative trip through a man’s mind. Scary thought, I know, but when you finish this course you will know more about that man in your life and, more importantly, you’ll write believable male characters.The lessons will include: • Male Emotions, yes they have them • Stages men go through • Bad boys, why we love them and how they got to be that way. • Insight into why men can be so sweet one minute, and then the nextRead More →

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But online organization doesn’t have to be complicated. There are many tools for organizing all our stuff, of course, but one of the simplest is the wiki. We’re all familiar with wikis, of course — Wikipedia being the most famous example, but many other useful wikis abound on the Internet. But one of the most productive forms of wikis is the personal wiki, which you can create at any number of sites. via 15 Productive Uses for a Wiki – WebWorkerDaily (link no longer available). I love this idea so much I wanted to share it.  I can see myself creating a Story “Bible”, aRead More →

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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 →

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Emotional sex. Note that I am NOT coining the “love scene” euphemism. I do this deliberately-for now-though by the end, I’m hoping that’s exactly what sex will be, making love: sweet, hot, emotive sex that is unforgettable. And this can be done. This wonderful article (link @ the end) discusses making your sex scenes emotional (and overcoming the fear of writing the dreaded sex scene). Making sex emotional does NOT mean the characters have to be in love already. What it means is, they have to have inner conflict, tension, insecurities or physical or emotional limitations that add to the emotional wallop of the actRead More →