Archive for April, 2010
Writing Spaces
Posted by JM in Writing Spaces on April 30, 2010
This whole moving thing… Well, this whole ‘unpacking’ thing is taking a lot longer than I expected. It would help if my other would do his side of the unpacking, but I can’t say anything until I’m fully unpacked.
The good news is that my writing space is starting to emerge from all the chaos.
I have a lot to sort out (like getting a chair) in my new writing space, but I’m already getting excited about it. It’ll technically be a writing and craft space, but it’s all good – and it’s all mine.
The door you see on the left is one of two sliding doors that can close off the lounge. The bookshelves on the right divide the writing space from the lounge space (recliners, television, etc). The picture doesn’t do the space justice; the table is as tall or a bit taller than I am (five foot, six inches). It also has an extra middle piece underneath to make it even longer.
I’ll take another picture when it’s ready to go, but I’m wondering: what is your writing space like? Do you have one?
If you want to send pictures, let me know. I’d love to feature other writer’s spaces (along with links to your site).
Writing Groups
I’m still unpacking, but I’m happy to say that I’m heaps closer to having my writing space all sorted out.
At the moment, the space is sorted, but the table is still covered with heaps of books, papers and other boxes. I need a lamp and a chair for the space, but shopping is half the fun, isn’t it? Well, when it comes to office supplies, that is.
I’ll have some pictures for you soon.
On another note…
Every now and then, I get it in my head that I absolutely must join a writer’s group – either online or off – for my writing to flourish. However, it always ends the same way: I get busy/distracted and end up not joining anything. Either I’m a bit shy about joining a new forum or I can’t find anything in my area.
So, I throw it open to you. Any suggestions? Melbourne area or online (preferable). No NING groups or Yahoo groups, please. I hate the setup of those groups. Anything else would be good. I make no promises to join anything, but I would like to open myself up to places I wouldn’t usually find.
Chicken Soup for the Soul Submissions Call: Grandmothers
Posted by JM in Publication Opportunities on April 26, 2010
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Pet Peeve 4 – Thinking…
Posted by JM in Pet Peeves on April 23, 2010
Another short and sweet pet peeve for you, ladies and gentlemen. It concerns the subject of your characters thinking.
One of the first things I learned when I started studying the technical side of writing was this big no-no:
I like chocolate pie, he thought to himself.
To put it simply, unless you’re telepathic, you’ll always think to yourself.
But telepathy is cool, so go for that angle.
Catching Up
(For my non-Oz friends: ) In Australia, when someone says you’ve been gasbagging, you’re most likely a woman who has been talking a lot with another woman. This post? This is going to be a gasbagging post – at least on my part.
Firstly, I didn’t expect to have no internet connection at the new place for as long as I was. We got a severe runaround from our ISP, but we eventually got our connection up and running. Of course, I had to get my desk built and my desktop hooked up after that.
All boring details that are taken care of now.
The new place is lovely. We’re not completely unpacked, but we’re already heaps more relaxed than we were in the old place. No police cars, no screaming matches and no being paranoid about leaving the place for fear of windows being broken into.
Just to add to the chaos, we’ve added a new member to our family:
This is Asimov, our eight week old male kitten of no particular breed. He’s very playful and loves cuddles. He’d always rather sleep in someone’s arms rather than in his comfy bed. Unlike all cats I’ve known in the past, he is very vocal. He’ll let you know how he’s feeling – especially when he’s wanting some attention.
Asimov is the first pet who is truly mine and is the Bloke’s and my first pet as a couple. The Bloke isn’t a cat guy, but Asimov has even made a place in his heart.
I have found the scale and stepped on it, but I’m not going to utter the numbers. Besides, I’ve somehow acquired a stomach virus that will certainly influence my weight anyway. Until the unpacking is done and we’re truly settled in, I’m going to just look after my health and deal with the other stuff later.
Having moved AND gotten a kitten, the Bloke and I are feeling good about going through with the things we say we are going to do. The next steps will be things like planting some veggies and herbs, exercising consistently and going out less.
Things are looking good…
Inkyblots Blog Carnival – April ’10 Edition
Posted by JM in Blog Carnival on April 19, 2010
Welcome to the April 5, 2010 edition of Inkyblots. I apologize for how long it took me to put this up. I’ll explain in a future post. Without further ado, enjoy!
Jane Eisenhart presents Disambiguation posted at Hometown Grotesque, saying, “This blog explores the allure and the faults of certain well-known fiction titles. Thank you for considering it for InkyBlots.”
Christ presents 4. Inspiration – And Christ Said posted at And Christ Said, saying, “Had submitted an article a few days ago but never got an email confirmation from blog carnival; attempting to re-submit..”
Ava Jones presents 10 Famously Reclusive Authors & Artists posted at Online University Lowdown, saying, “No matter their motivations or preferences, these artists and writers only become more fascinating with the decision to live their lives shunning the overrated trappings of fame, fortune, and glory.”
Competitions and Contests
Tiffany Colter presents Upcoming writing events and contests posted at Writing Career Coach, saying, “This article is a list of upcoming writing events and contests.”
Fiction
Terry Haferkamp presents The Late Maggie Beth – horror / science fiction – clones, demons, ghost and truckdrivers short stories posted at Shadow Dwellers, saying, “Maggie Beth is late for her curfew, “He’s going to kill me,” she frets. But her Dad is loving and understanding when he arrives to take her home. This story has a good twist you won’t want to miss.”
Genre-centic
Madeleine Begun Kane presents A Miss-Misunderstanding posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.
Robert Terrell presents every night freight trains posted at the existential poet, saying, “The Existential Poet blog contains original haiku of poet Robert Terrell. I write about many subjects – seasonal, inner states and moon haiku, with an existential attitude.”
C. Bosco presents Lovely Things posted at Hammers of Flight, saying, “A poem about things inside and out.”
How-To
Tiffany Colter presents Considering other venues for your writing posted at Writing Career Coach, saying, “This article is about the reality of writing and what writers can do about it.”
Tiffany Colter presents Benefits of writing for other venues posted at Writing Career Coach, saying, “This article is about how writing for other venues benefits you.”
Joel Friedlander presents Author Platform: What Are You Waiting For? posted at TheBookDesigner.com, saying, “Information and lots of resources to help authors build their Author Platform”
Tiffany Colter presents Writing 101: How to market your writing posted at The Writing Examiner, saying, “This article gives writers ideas on how to market their writing.”
Tiffany Colter presents An example to illustrate… posted at The Writing Examiner, saying, “This article shows how editing helps you in the writing process.”
Tiffany Colter presents Writing business owners need? posted at Writing Career Coach, saying, “This article gives advice on what to tools writing business owners need.”
Amy Waterman presents 3 Best Writing Books Ever posted at Waterman Words, saying, “Every writer has a handful of books that have helped him or her along the tough journey to becoming a writer. These are the three that changed my life.”
Tiffany Colter presents Writing for the newspaper is still an opportunity. posted at Writing Career Coach, saying, “This article talks about how writing for the newspaper is still an opportunity.”
Publishing and Agents
Florine Church presents 101 Habits of Highly Effective Writers posted at Online Degrees.net Blog.
Rowena Hebert presents 100 Twitter Feeds That Will Improve Your Writing posted at Online Degree Programs.org: Top Online Degrees.
Florine Church presents 100 Best Poetry Blogs posted at AccreditedOnlineColleges.org.
Elaine Murphy presents 50 Famous Authors and Their All-Time Favorite Books posted at Online Degrees.net Blog.
Rowena Hebert presents 50 Famous Author Interviews That Shouldn’t Be Missed | Online College Tips – Online Colleges posted at Online Colleges.org.
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of inkyblots using our carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our title="Blog Carnival index for “inkyblots”" href="http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_8077.html">blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags:
inkyblots, blog carnival.
Calling All Authors – Promotion Opportunity
Posted by JM in Announcements on April 17, 2010
I’m used to posting the calls for submissions, not putting out my own call. 
Anywho, I have a fun promotional opportunity for the new year. I’m working on a new blog called “Life in the First Draft” that focuses on – yep, you guessed it – anything and everything to do with the first draft. Be it making time to write, those funky little writer habits you have or just the fun things you have on your desk, I’m looking to create a comfortable hub for any and all aspiring writers. (And for established writers as well! We have to go back and face that first draft again and again…)
So, let’s get to the nitty gritty. What I’m looking for:
*One (to three) guest post/s in the range of 250 – 500 words – with a title, please
*Any pictures that correspond to your post (for example, if you decide to write a ‘my desk/my writing space’ guest post – take a picture of it!) .jpgs please
*A brief biography with a link to your website and/or blog
*A picture of you or your book cover
Easy peasy.
If you’d like to participate but are feeling a bit stuck for a topic(s)…
*Introduce us to your writing space (with pictures, hehe)
*How do you make yourself write when you don’t want to?
*Do you have a daily word count goal or do you go by some other measurement?
*How do you balance your ‘regular’ life with your writing life?
*Finding inspiration
*Anything on character, plot, setting, research, etc
*What has been going on in your mind before you sit down to write the first words of that first draft?
*Are you a ‘planner’ or a ‘pantser’ (outline or no outline)?
*Finally typing ‘The End’ on your first draft…
Please send all guest posts to jmfictionscribe (at) gmail (dot) com.
Dates will be scheduled in the order they come in, so it’s sort of a first come, first serve. When you email me, I will email you back with the ebook and the date you will appear at Life in the First Draft.
Cheers.
PS. The URL is: http://lifeinthefirstdraft.blogspot.com/
Pet Peeve 3 – Filler Words
Posted by JM in Pet Peeves on April 16, 2010
Be it the ‘of’ in off of, ‘just’ or ‘that’, writers have plenty of words to choose from that are unnecessary. Some writers give a big ‘screw you’ to any writing rules, but I think getting rid of filler words is one rule I’m keen on keeping.
I used to be guilty of so many filler words and still am. They are like a drug, and I switch to something new the moment I quash the habit of another.
Even so, that’s no excuse. Filler words are useless and can even make you look like an idiot on occasion.
Just get rid of them.
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