eReaders

I first heard about the Amazon Kindle when I was reading through posts from PASIC (Published Authors Special Interest Chapter). They were discussing the revision process and one author said that she liked to upload her manuscript on to her Kindle for a read-through, looking for mistakes. I’m not sure how she could correct the mistakes she found, or if she could mark the mistakes and then download the manuscript with the tagged errors back onto her computer — but I will research that out.

Anyway, I looked for the Kindle and found the description of it with a nice little video of the mechanism where it tells all of the features. It sounds fabulous. You don’t need wifi, where you have to be within range to the service to access it, or where you have to have a password. Instead, you can download anything anywhere you are through the same cyberspace waves that your cellphones use. Pretty neat, huh. It only weights about 9 ounces. It has paperback-looking pages that aren’t hard on the eyes. It holds 200 books. The downside to all this is that the gadget costs $400, (they quote $399 just to make it sound cheaper, but it is essentially $400).

Last year I was salivating over the new Sony Reader. I had to look it up to compare. I think when I first saw it, the thing was about $400, also. Now it is $300, (or $299). Sony Readers have paperback-looking pages. It is about an ounce lighter than the Kindle. It only holds 160 books, but can hold more if you get a memory chip. Looking at the specifications, it sounds like you can upload your manuscript to the device as long as you have Microsoft Word. The description mentions a usb port, so it sounds as if the Sony Reader doesn’t use the cellphone waves to download like the Kindle does, which might be slightly inconvenient if you travel a lot.

I would like one of these gadgets. But I just got a new Toshiba laptop for Christmas from my dh. I guess I’m behind on my technical gadgets. I am really hoping that in another year the price of these items will go down! Surely they will. The Kindle sounds pretty convenient. Maybe I will get one next year for my Christmas present.

Something to look forward to. Do any of you own either a Kindle or a Sony Reader? If so, do you like it? Which one do you like better?

Oh, another thing. What I would really like to see is school textbook publishers to issue books in ebook format. My son has a huge backpack loaded down with heavy textbooks that he has to lug back and forth from home to school every day. It must weigh at least 120 pounds. One school I visited tried to help students by ordering classroom copies so the kids didn’t have to take their home editions back and forth. But really. I don’t understand why the publishers are so backward. They could charge just as much for each download and I’m sure lots of parents would buy that format for their children. Of course, the problem would be the exorbitant prices of eReaders . . . .

News!

From Tabitha Shay

Hi Everyone
I’m so proud and honored to announce that I am one of the finalists for the PNR PEARL AWARD for Witch’s Brew for best paranormal romance debut author.If you don’t already have a favorite, please cast your final ballot for me….Wish me luck and thank you for your vote….Connie/Tabitha

NEW AUTHOR of 2007:
C. L. Wilson
Jeaniene Frost
Vicki Pettersson
Kimberly Adkins
Rachel Vincent
Tabitha Shay
http://paranormalro mance.org/ reviews.
I think this is the link that will take you to vote.Thank you for your vote…Tabitha

Remember:
* Only listers of the PNR Groups can vote for PEARL.
* Listers may vote only once.
* No ballot will be accepted without a valid email address. All
emails are verified with an active subscription to one of the five
PNR lists or if you’re registered on
* Voting ends at the end of February 15th, 2008 (poll closes at
Midnight Eastern Time). Ballots are hand tallied so don’t wait until
the last minute.
* Results will be announced live at a PNR Chat on Monday, February
18th at 8 PM eastern. More info to come.

Runaway Freight Train

Over the past couple years, I’ve wished for my writing to take off, to sell.  To earn money.  I’ve worked at it sporadically but never with any real persistence. 

Until now.

I’ve been working on one project off and on since June.  I did a presentation on it in September.  (I’ll be doing yet another presentation on it in February, but I’m getting a little ahead of myself now.)

I’ve been getting little pokes/hits with what I call a “clue stick.”  You know how it is, when God gives you little signs that you’re going the right direction.  Yeah.  I’d been getting them and working a little bit on it, but here lately?

Forget the clue stick.  I’ve been being beaten with the whole dang clue tree.

I have a nonfiction book proposal in the works about it.  I have one article under consideration at a magazine.  I’ve received e-mails about this project.  SOme of them come through my blog.  Others come from I-don’t-know where.

It’s picking up speed to the point it’s starting to feel like a runaway freight train.

Oh, the project?  It’s not a secret.  It’s The Idea Pocket.

What am I supposed to do?  Sometimes it’s overwhelming.  Sometimes it’s exciting.  I’ve even been called a creativity expert a couple times.

I’m doing the only thing I can do.  I’m working on it.  And in the meantime, pardon me if I buckle my seatbelt a little tighter.  It’s going to be a wild ride.

Comp Me

By Joan Rhine

 

I don’t know about you, but I always have so much more energy to do the things I know I’m good at–and I flounder when I have to do something I feel unsure about or feel I’m lacking the necessary expertise. Unfortunately, I often don’t give myself credit for things I’m actually good at because I think of how others can do it more naturally. Once that momentum is lost, I have such a hard time getting it back, and end up having to just push through. While that is hard–like swimming upstream–I tell myself the task won’t magically get done unless I do it, or unless I give up said task. And, for me, giving up is worse because I have all of those negative “you failed” feelings instead of relief that the job is out of my life. All of this is leading up to the fact that I often forget to use tools that are proven ways to make me do my writing job better. Let me explain–

 

My daughter is finally taking Freshmen Composition I this year. She’s in her third year of college, and should have taken it sooner, but there are several reasons why she didn’t: 1) she’s a very good writer, but she hates to write; 2) as a good writer who hates to write, she’s had no difficulty coming up with appropriate answer for essay questions and research papers in higher level classes, and argues that she shouldn’t have to take the course; and 3) because she just didn’t want to do it. So, she’s kept putting off taking the course, thinking it would magically become a non-issue and just go away. That hasn’t happened, of course, and since her mother is a writer the issue arises with the necessity of signing up for each new semester of classes. But the reason she finally took the class, the thing that beat out procrastination, the “I don’t want to’s,” and everything else she could argue with, is that she can’t take Comp II without taking the prerequisite, and she’s finally realized she really has to complete ALL of the general requirements if she expects to graduate. Tough lesson to learn, but we all have to get there sometime. That’s her story.

 

My story, on the other hand, is how even when we fulfill the general requirements in life, and absorb the knowledge necessary to graduate, we stupid humans forget to use our collective knowledge as the years go by. Since my daughter is taking an Internet course, and thus has no classmate sitting beside her for immediate feedback, it’s my job to help her get some excitement about the class. Without our conversations she only has the discussion boards, and while the technological idea is sound, there’s no real chance for immediate feedback.

 

Consequently, we’ve discussed all the pre-writing things that I hadn’t really fully thought about in—well, let’s just say a good number of years. She’s really enjoying the mapping and brainstorming ideas–she draws connected circles constantly now!–and talking to her has awakened options in me I hadn’t thought of using for decades (okay, there, I admit it’s been a long time since my Comp I class). I’ve periodically used freewriting when I’ve been stuck, but now I use it for practically every project. Just pushing myself for 10 minutes–to write on the topic, but not having to follow any rules–has helped me in the last couple of weeks. For example, her book reminds that it’s better to write the Introduction after the essay is completed, and the title last. It’s no wonder I find it so difficult to do each of these things when I write articles, since they’ve always been the *first* things I spent time working. If I’d realized all of this sooner, I would have hit a college bookstore and bought a used copy of a Comp I book long ago. It amazes me sometimes at the things I know and have forgotten. Going back over the prewriting rules, re-examining Exemplification with more mature eyes, and helping her understand why outlining will really help the writing come easier has been—well—fun. Honest.

 

I’m not saying I want to take the course again, and all of her pleading and puppy dog expressions will not keep me from saying “you have to learn these writing rules–now do your homework.” No, I’ve had my turn; I’ll just hold onto those memories, thank you. However, it does make me wonder what else I know that would make my life easier—but can’t remember to use.

Eating Frogs

The Feb. 1 deadline for the OWFI contest is rapidly approaching. My New Year’s resolution was to get the first part of my novel up to snuff enough to enter it. And yet, I’ve spent more time over the past two weeks playing video games or wasting time online rather than writing. (I’m a World of Warcraft junkie.)

I don’t consider playing video games to be wasted time (much to my mother’s chagrin, no doubt). It’s a fun hobby, one I can share with my friends, and one that has provided ample story fodder over the past 16 years.

No, what I consider to be wasted time is the time I spend watching YouTube videos, playing on MySpace, or reading pointless forum threads, celebrity gossip, and Dear Abby. It’s entertaining, yes. But it’s not something that I want or need to do. And yet, every day, I probably sink an hour or two into that pastime.

Procrastination has always been one of my biggest flaws. I constantly put things off until the last minute, an ability that was finely honed in college when I spent my last semester seeing just how close to a deadline I could start the paper and still pass. (Answer: about 7 hours total, from choice of topic and research to final edits and end notes. I got a 91.)

Now that bad habit is causing me to lose hours of valuable writing time every day. And it seems no matter what I try, I’m still badly behind where I want to be at the end of the day.

However, I may have a chance to reform. A friend of mine found a book called Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy that has to do with defeating procrastination and accomplishing goals. The title comes from the idea that if you eat a live frog every morning, that’s probably the worst thing that you’ll have to do all day. In the book, the “frog” is the biggest, most important task you have to accomplish that day. Do it first, and that way it’s done.

I haven’t gotten a chance to read the whole thing yet, but from what I’ve read so far his ideas seem applicable to every goal situation, whether you want to meet personal goals or professional ones. Who knows? Maybe I’ll finally get some concrete ideas on how to quit procrastinating and start getting my stuff done.

How about you guys? Do you eat your frog every morning, or is it currently sitting in the corner, getting bigger and uglier every time your turn around? Do you have any set strategy for accomplishing your writing goals? How do you fend off writer’s block and procrastination?

WONDERS & MAGIC

By Paula Gorgas

We call ourselves Web Writing Wonders, but I wonder if we ever stop to marvel at this amazing talent we all have. The other day, a couple of my friends were talking about writing. “I’ve always wanted to write,” one said, “but I wouldn’t even know where to begin.” The other, an avid reader, said, “How does someone put all those words together and make them into a story? It’s all magic to me.”

She thinks it’s magic! Does that make me a magician? Hardly! But it does make me appreciate the wonder of what all of us here do, sometimes easily, more often with great difficulty and angst–at least that’s the way it works for me.

And we enjoy what we do–most of the time. Okay, I admit that sometimes I enjoy having written a whole lot more than the writing process itself. But there are those rare times when inspiration hits and the words flow and the result is…magic!

Helping Other Authors

By Tabitha Shay

Hi All,
As an author, (now published) I’m frequently surprised to find myself on the receiving end of being asked for help from newer authors than even myself. I feel terrible and guilty that I don’t have the time to help as much as I’d love to. I used to wonder why I didn’t get more help when I asked for it myself. I’d think, but surely they can help me.Wrong!!

I don’t think anyone can dispute the fact that writing is a lonely job, hard work and takes determination, and although most of us are willing to help the newbie to some degree, as time allows (got those deadlines ourself now along with edits), we are so swamped ourself, we’re drowning. The best you can hope to do and have the time for is to point out the errors of their way, make some suggestions, tell them the do’s and don’ts that were taught to us and let them write their story their way.
It’s not that I don’t want to help and I think most authors feel the same and I’ll certainly give it my best shot anytime, but there’s that word….TIME….With 4 new books coming out this year and only two of them actually written and one in the final stages of editing, TIME isn’t something I find I have a lot of anymore.That’s not even including interviews, blogging, managing a website, acting as chair person and a judge for the OWFI conference this year, doing my part on launch day at my publisher’s loop and interruptions from friends and family. It’s only right you make time for hubby, children and grandchildren…and, oh,yeah, I’d love a vacation in there somewhere…just time away with no one but hubby and me…For the newbie, all I can say is, once you get there, it’s a hell of a ride and never a dull moment.So sharpen those pens, set the words down to the best of your ability, join a critique group, they can help tremendously, and never let anyone discourage you. Say to yourself and say it frequently, “I am an author.”
See you there!!!…Connie

Scribbling During the Holidays: One Writer’s Experience

I am a masochist. Really, I must be. It is the only way I can think of that I voluntarily decided to relive one of the most stressful periods of my life, and relive it in a shorter time period over the holidays, which are stressful enough without willingly dumping more on your plate.

It started with National Novel Writing Month 2006. I joined it on a whim at the request of a friend of mine. She didn’t want to go through it alone, and I had just come up with a new fantasy novel I’d been fleshing out the background for, so I went for it. The object of the game, although I’m sure many of you have heard of it, is to write 50,000 words during the month of November.

Now, I’d already done the “50,000 words in a set amount of time” thing once (my Writing the Novel class), and it resulted in the most stressful semester of my college career. I had sworn I’d never do it again.

Yet here I was, a year later, starting a new novel for NaNoWriMo. And although I did hit 50,000 words for that month, I still hadn’t finished the novel. So, I kept going. I ended up writing draft one of a fantasy novel (a hefty [for me, anyway] 400 pages) starting November 1, 2006 and ending January 14, 2007. More than a hundred thousand words on paper, in less than three months, and I did it all over the holidays.

Yes, I’m crazy.

While I don’t know if I’d repeat the experience, I did find a couple of tricks that made it easier for me, a chronic procrastinator, to finish a draft over the holiday season.

The best one? I didn’t even try to get my writing done at home. It was all too easy for my mom to call me into the kitchen to ask me to help her with just one little thing (which became two things, then three, then…well, you get the picture). Or, there would be any number of family members and friends there for whatever holiday preparation we had going on at the time.

Instead, the moment I got off work, I drove either 30 minutes to the closest bookstore with a cafe or 5 minutes to the only coffee shop in town. (The bookstore was usually reserved for the weekends.) When I was there, it was easy to put on headphones, listen to some music, and worry about nothing else but my writing for an hour or two. There weren’t any extra family members running around and expecting me to be social, and if Mom needed me to run an errand, she could call and leave me a voicemail.

Even when I didn’t feel like writing, I made myself go to the coffee shop. Inevitably, just being there would start the words, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, but I could usually get about 500-1000 down before my time was up.

I also never tried to get any writing done on the actual holidays. There was just too much stuff going on, and as much as I love my novel and my characters, I really wanted to spend the holidays with my family and friends.

Anyway, that was my experience with it. Has anybody else tried writing over the holidays? How did it work for you? Has anybody had to deal with an actual book deadline during the holiday season?

Just Another Year

By Tabitha Shay

When I think back how this year started and where it has ended or nearly ended, I have to admit it’s been a very unique year for me and my family. I’ll start with January, the beginning of what promised to be a year of minor accomplishments for me and a very uneventful one for my family.

Oh, boy, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

I was preparing, like most of us who are members of the OWFI, for the conference and contests taking place in May. Along with trying to get my entries ready, I was a volunteer chairperson. I was busy.

I’d also just learned I was going to be a grandmother for the seventh time.This joyous news was given to me by my daughter, who, by the way, was knocking on the door of forty. Her baby had just turned nine and I thought, ‘Wow, I wouldn’t want to become a new mom at that age.’ Of course, we were excited. This was the first grandbaby in at least nine years, so we prepared to welcome this new addition who would arrive in August. Yep, we had the entire year ahead of us to plan baby showers and doctor visits.

But I kept right on chugging along, working on my contest entries and writing.Nothing was going to slow down my writing, or so I thought.January flew by and before I knew it, May was here. Conference time. Baby is growing.

My daughter is now almost six months along and of course, she’s having a miserable pregnancy. But we won’t discuss how many times she was rushed to the hospital or how many times she came close to losing the baby. I kept telling myself, ‘Good thing this is the last grandbaby, because my nerves can’t handle a repeat or anymore excitement.’

Oh, yeah, I attended the OWFI Conference that lovely first weekend of May and to round out what had now become an exciting beginning for the year, my entry took first place. Yea!!!Oh, wow, I was knee-deep in shock, up to my armpits in excitement, over my head with disbelief. I wanted to shout it to the world, “I won! I won!” I couldn’t speak, let alone shout my news.I brought my exciting news home, but since there are no other authors in the family, no one was terribly impressed with my accomplishment.

Okay, so I’ll just concentrate on this new baby due to make its appearance in three months.It was somewhere about this time that my son and his wife made their startling announcement. “Mom, we’re going to have a baby!”

‘Oh, but, no’, I thought. ‘You can’t do this to me, not two grandbabies in one year, only a few months apart.’ Oh, but they could. The baby was due in December.

So okay, we’ll have two new grandbabies…I can handle that, along with the news that my first novel has just been accepted for publication.Mixed blessings. Another new baby, a book contract. I’m so numb I not only can’t speak, I can’t eat, drink or be merry. I’m a real author! Yes! Yes! Yes!I’m going to be a grandma times two this year!

Then . . . the BOMBSHELL!!!

My son and daughter-in-law have just returned from her first ultrasound with pictures. Oh, how cute.

“Mom, take a look at your grandbaby.”

I’m looking.

Next picture. “Mom, take a look at your grandbaby.”

I’m looking.

Next picture. “Mom, take a look at your grand . . . babies.”

I can’t breathe. I can’t speak, swallow, drink, or be merry . . . ever again.

“Twins?”

Yep. Twins. Boys. My first grandsons, because I’ve been blessed with all granddaughters so far and now I get two little boys for the price of one. Yea!!!

Of course, this is much more exciting than learning my third book has just been accepted for publishing. Who cared about that? Hey, we’re not having just one baby in the family this year, we’re having three.So August came and went, and with its passing, my sweet baby granddaughter, Jadee, arrived right on schedule with tons of black hair, a regular little heart stealer.

September saw the release of my first book, but nothing could compare to that little bundle of joy that has a little bit of me in her looks and her mama’s temper.So now, we near the end of my woeful tale and this amazing year. Twins. These little boys will arrive on our door-step, Friday, the 30^th of Nov. Is that today?Tomorrow? I don’t know. I’m too excited to think, too tickled to speak. And we’ll all be merry when we see those darling babies for the first time, because after all, ‘Tis the season for happiness and joy and what brings more joy or happiness than a new baby? Unless it’s two new babies at once? Who could ask for a better Christmas present from God?

And to end the year right, my oldest granddaughter just informed me she’s going to have a baby. Oh, golly gee, I can barely handle being a grandmother and now, and now . . . I’m going to be a great-grandmother?!!!!

The only sweet revenge I get out of this is knowing as I become a great-grandmother for the first time, my daughter becomes a grandma, for the first time.

Oh, joy. My daughter just asked her daughter if she’d like for her to become pregnant again just so they can have babies at nearly the same time. Yes, insanity runs in my family.

I wonder what my mom will say when she finds out she’s going to be a great, great grandma?

Merry Christmas everyone and may your new year be blessed with the richness of love and joy…and dare I say it??? Babies….Tabitha Shay/AKA Connie

‘Tis the Season

For the next several days we are going to talk about the holiday season. How do we keep writing despite all the hustle and bustle? How can we budget time when there isn’t enough? How do we keep from getting too hyper with all the sweets, or how to keep the pounds off? What does Christmas mean to each of us? How do we celebrate? What is important in our lives. Do we demonstrate that importance when we reflect back on the outgoing year? What did we do wrong? Was it something we could control?

How can we tweak our lives to make them better? Because no matter how well something was done, no matter how successful we were, I always believe that it is good to keep trying to improve; to always have goals and be humble in knowing that there is room for improvement. It is healthy to reflect on different approaches and to be open minded because that is the only way we are going to grow in character. Even though we are extremely busy with all the Christmas parties, the shopping, the decorating, the elaborate breads and cookies, participating in food drives, visiting loved ones . . . this is an important time because it represents the end of the year. We need to shake off the old year, let bygones be bygones, learn from our experiences and face a bright new future. Start planning for the new year, praying for guidance in understanding what we can change, what we can’t and knowing the difference.