I love my Kindle. Love. Love. Here’s a little snipbit of what I’ve been reading the past few weeks, and my thoughts on them… Reference/NonFiction – The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman I’ve had this on my to-read list for years. Every author sings is praises, and I’m quick to agree. It is a great book about the nuts and bolts of a solid novel. This helped me during a bout of writer’s block and helped spur some important changes and edits for my work in progress. All authors – read! From Dust and Ashes by Tricia Goyer Another one I’ve had on my list forever. I loved this...
Best Blog Advice
Lately, I’ve been trying to focus my blog, improve the look, increase traffic. You know – what every blogger/writer strives for. So, I’ve taken a scientific approach, of sorts, and studied the blogs that WORK. (Note – this is a very incomplete list!) Pioneer Woman – I always end up in a spiral vortex of time and come out several hours later whenever I look at her site. She offers blogging advice here. Michael Hyatt – A leader and CEO of Thomas Nelson – enough said. He posts here about common mistakes that will lead readers to stop following your blog. Rachelle Gardner – The essential blog for writers –...
What a character
Ask any writer, and they’re bound to have at least a dozen stories of people they met who later influenced or reappeared as one of their characters (maybe in an unpublished manuscript at least.) For me, I not only have people who stick with me, but animals. To the left is my horse, Grunnion. Yes, he’s named after a tiny fish – don’t bother to ask why. Grunnion is one of the most lovable horses I’ve ever met. He was abandoned by his mother and bottle-fed by humans as a baby. I happened to be working at the barn when he was born and was able to know him ever...
Book Review: Lady in Waiting
“Love is a choice you make every day.” Those words on the back cover intrigued me the most. Susan Meissner’s Lady in Waiting is a beautiful novel with two tales woven together by a single ring and an inscription. Back cover: Content in her comfortable marriage of twenty-two years, Jane Lindsay had never expected to watch her husband, rad, pack his belongings and walk out the door of their Manhattan home. But when it happens, she feels powerless to stop him and the course of events that follow Brad’s departure… In the sixteenth-century, Lucy Day becomes the dressmaker to Lady Jane Grey, an innocent young woman whose fate seems to be...
I need to rant
I have to say something—I simply can’t hold it in any longer. I cannot STAND it when people use horrible grammar and spelling in Facebook or Twitter posts. Yes, yes, I understand trying to keep things short and using a “L8R” here and there. That’s not what I’m talking about. Misspelling words—simple words you’ve known since grade school—just shows a laziness and lack of care for things you do. It’s unprofessional. Facebook is a social site, yes, but what if your employer reads this? Don’t think for a second that employers don’t screen the facebook profiles of potential employees. Heck, as a pageant judge I’ve used it to “pre-screen” the...