Did you finish NaBloPoMo?

Well did ya?
If you did, then you get one of these.
You know what to do. Right click and Save as.

Miss Snark Got Dissed- Ouch.

If you've been reading Holly Lisle's diary site this week you may have noticed a little blip that led you to an ongoing debate at the site of Jenny Cruise. Apparently Miss Snark overstepped her boundries in a review and it is all the talk in blog land. Yep. Everyone seems to be weighing in on the subject. If you look at the comments you will see that most people seem to agree with Jenny.
I've never linked to Miss Snark. (you will note, I don't have a link to her site in my Resources section....I find her site a bit too much for my taste) In my humble opinion, she generalizes far too much. However, if you look at her site counter, she must be doing something writers like because she has tons of loyal repeat visitors.

Jenny had this to say," there was a definite God-I’m-amazingly-brilliant tone throughout"
Ouch! I hope I never say anything to tick her off. However, if I do...I want HER on MY SIDE.


P.S. I found the resource page I was looking for. Great stuff for writers
She has an amazing amount of programs and freeware you can download there. Check it out.
I have personally tried several items. Love 'em.

Oh, and we are in the midst of a snowy day here. We expect 10 inches. Yep...you heard me right.

Technorati Tags:Snark+ dissed, resources, snow

Plaza Lights will wait for better weather

I've been looking forward to seeing the Plaza lights for a while now. I got up this morning all excited about it. Then the sky opened up and down came the ice pellets. It rained, sleeted, thundered, and generally was a slushy, icy cold and miserable day outside.
No Plaza light visit for me.

I spent the day working on some articles, continuing to organize my computer and watching my adorable grandsons.

Oh, and I am completely frustrated! While I was blog surfing the other day I came across a great site. It had a ton of freebie s for authors. This site had shareware programs to play with photos, text pad programs, utilities, screen capture programs, dictionaries, and so much more. I can't find the blasted site now. Yes, I know about using History to find sites I visited. Well, it didn't help me. This site has a whole page of freebies. I wanna find it so bad. I need your help people. Please let me know if you know the page. It ends up with the ywriter programs as the last ones to download. All the programs are in alphabetical order.
Please lead me to the page.

Does Spam Flood Your Email?

Yikes, my computer spit tons of emails out and I almost got lost under the pile. I keep resetting the filters and yet the spam persists. What is the deal? Who keeps sending all this JUNK EMAIL?

Wading through email wastes time and keeps me from my creative process, yet is also kept me from thinking about my novel for a few hours. For that I guess I am grateful.

One a lighter note, I spent time today working on a new assignment. I am writing 20 artilces I've been commissioned to write as a ghostwriter. The pay is decent since it comes right before Christmas and my son will be coming soon and then my father.

I also got my Christmas cards out today... I will spend tomorrow getting those ready to mail.
So, all in all I am getting past the depression of ditching my novel. Thanks for the feedback folks It helps.

Technorati Tags:anti spam, novel, WIP

Writing makes me Happy.

My twenty month-old grandson has a new saying. "Playdoh makes me happy" He runs around saying this. The only problem is he likes to EAT the playdoh. EWWWW.

Now for me. I like writing, writing prompts, writing exercises and workshops, writing sites and other writer blogs. Okay... I am completely obssessed with anything having to do with writing and writers.
Yep. I'm a little nutty. What can I say?

Blog Browsing for fun

When your nose is stuffed up and you just ditched the novel you've been working on for several years, what do you do? Go Blog browsing of course! Yep. I spent the day browsing funny blogs and vegging out on the couch.
I bought something from a Yahoo auction and organized my folders. Pretty sad eh?
Perhaps I'll be back on track soon.
Look for my resource section to be beefed up soon now that I am more organized.

Technorati Tags:Blog browsing

Novel Changes may be in order.

I've been thinking of changing my novel into a novella or even a series of short stories. This is a serious decision. Reading up on characters and plot has lead me in this direction. My main character is based a little too much on ME. Everyone says NOT to do this. The realization of my mistake has brought with it a huge rush of depression and great doubts. Do all authors feel this way? I've been sick with this horrid cold for over a week and I wonder if my brain is just too muddled to make a decision right now.

Oh, and my blog went wacky on me yesterday. So life is kindy screwy right now. I think I'll just go back to bed.

Technorati Tags:psychological thriller, novel, WIP, depression

Something screwy going on with blogger

I tried to put this silly image in my blog and suddenly my blog disappeared. I found some template of an old blog and things went wacky from there. I'm not sure this post will even appear today. I'm going back to bed.

My house smells good today!

I'll give you a big hint...I'm not cooking. I will be eating a great meal though. Lucky me. My caregiver has had the turkey cooking for several hours now and it smells like we will be eating soon. She just put the rolls in the oven. Her homemade rolls are so mouthwatering I am ditching the diabetic diet today and going all out. Yep, that means pumpkin pie, pecan pie, mashed potatoes, gravy, yams and the whole mess of fixins.

It is Thanksgiving. I have earned the right to cheat on this special day. I've been so good. I've lost a bunch of weight over the past two months.
So, enjoy your holiday. If you live somewhere that it is celebrated.
Oh, I hear the baloons at the Macy's parade were a bit bothered by the wind and had to fly fairly low. Sounds dangerous to me.

Technorati Tags:thanksgiving, holidays

6 Quick Tips for Nano Writers

By now you are either well into your Nanowrimo book and feeling good...OR
you fell behind and you are beating yourself up for not meeting your goals.
Let me give you some advice.

1. Not everyone can write on command. Writing a book in under 30 days is grueling. We all have lives to live, jobs, children and commitments. If you didn't make your goal, don't let it get you down. Trying, writing words on paper is more than many "so called aspiring authors" will ever do. Give yourself credit for having tried. (Pat yourself on the back)

2. Give your protagonist a tragic past. This gives the reader something to identify with and works well to give you a lot to write about. Oh, if you don't know what a protagonist is, you are in serious trouble this late in November and you should consider browsing the Nanowrimo forums for the rest of the month and drinking soda or coffee as you find ways to waste time.

3. Check for character consistency. Does your character have blonde hair in one scene and then you accidently call her a brunette four chapters later because you were so tired when you were typing that you forgot what she looked like. Do a "find" for the word "blonde" or the word "brunette" this can be a lifesaver.

4. Dont edit until you think you are finished writing. Editing slows down the writing process and makes you go backwards. I've found myself actually erasing pages when I stop to edit pages or scenes.


5. Keep supplies handy in every room, in your purse, and anywhere you think inspiration might hit. I write down ideas at night when I dream about my characters. I keep a notebook in my purse, and I have pens and paper in every room (yep there too...) of the house.

6. Don't be afraid to write scenes out of order. Most of the experts I've heard from have said it is good to "know what your ending will be". I've written mine already. Perhaps that is why I'm stcuck in the middle. However, I like knowing the ending is already written.

Technorati Tags:nano, advice+ writer