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    New Kindle Opinions?

     

     

    What do you think about the new Kindles?

     

    I went over to Amazon and checked them out this morning. The Kindle Fire has an amazing number of capabilities. Now you can watch movies, play music, download apps, and all this with a color touch-screen.

     

    But I’m not running out to buy one. Why? It takes away one of the greatest benefits I get from my simple Kindle, the chance to dive into another world uninterrupted by the information overload of this one. I love my Kindle because it’s a book. Well, it’s more like a portable library, but you understand what I’m saying. My Kindle just gives me stories, and that’s all I want from it.

     

    This works for me, but what about you? What do you think about the new Kindles?

     


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    Reasons It’s Hard For Me To Blog

     

    Time

    We all know this one. Time has a way of vaporizing when I try to take hold of it. I do have a very busy life, but writing (even in the blog form) needs to be a priority. I’ll just swap it for that old priority…Sleep. Speaking of time, I only have fifteen more minutes to finish this post.

    More questions than answers

    When I sit down to blog, my mind throws out question after question. I am one of the true Google junkies. Questions come to me throughout the day and I dive for my computer. I think this may be why I love research.

    Insecurity

    It may sound funny to some of you. I’ve published a couple of stories and I regularly send chapters to my critique group. I’ve even been a finalist for some major awards. Still, the thought of others reading my work makes me nervous. And honestly, my blogs posts aren’t as carefully edited as my manuscripts. That goes back to the topic of time. I feel like I should toss a major typo in write here.

    I know, as authors we’re suppose to grow thick skin, and oddly I have no problem with most upfront criticism, it’s the behind the scenes that gets me.

    Lack of tech ability

    Blogging is suppose to be easy, right? Huh! I’ve had more glitches than I care to remember. Sometimes a picture won’t load. Sometimes I type but nothing appears. Sometimes my website just disappears. I’m a writer, purely a writer. When people start to talk computer, my mind jumps into a story world.

    Spite

    Yep! Spite. I’m really working on this one. Compliance isn’t my middle name. I don’t like to be told what to do, even when it’s the right thing. My husband actually finds this amusing. I think I’ll become compliant…just for spite.

     

    What makes blogging difficult for you?

     

     

    Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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    Freelance Friday!

    I have a habit. You could easily call it an addiction. Maybe a calling…yeah, that sounds better.

    It’s novel writing. I love it and I can’t stop. Not a problem, right? Well, no, but it can be a spendy habit-addiction-calling. There are the conferences (I love them so much), the professional memberships, the books on craft, and the books just to read, the paper, and the ink.

    I’m married to an amazing man who fully supports me in my quest to follow this dream, but he’s also an accountant. He knows very well that the output does not equal the income. I’m confident this is a temporary issue. In fact I’ve got my cell phone on me right now if any editors are reading this and would like to call about a book deal. Really…Now would be fine.

    Until the phone rings, and maybe even after that, I’ve decided to implement Freelance Fridays. I’ll be committing a chunk of time each Friday to query letters, article writing, and short-story writing. Feel free to offer suggestions.

    Question of the day:

    For the rest of you novel-writing junkies, what do you do to support the habit?

     

    Image: Pixomar / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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    An Unruly Character

    Today I’m feeling very much like the mother of a stubborn teenage daughter. No, my girls aren’t teens yet and Anne isn’t really my daughter, or for that matter, a teenager. She’s my newest protagonist. I’ve worked with quite a few protagonists and not one of them has given me the trouble that Anne has.

    The last couple days I’ve been so frustrated with her. Every time I start to put her story into my computer it doesn’t ring true. Yesterday I sat her aside and worked on scenes from another character’s point of view. I’m pleased to report that Svenson is much kinder to me. My fingers often have trouble keeping up with the flow of his story.

    So I hopped into the shower this morning (a perfect place to holler at your characters where no one thinks you’re crazy) and started pondering what I should do with Anne. How could I make her comply with my will? Then the memories hit. I remember behaving much like Anne when I was a teenager. My reasoning was that I KNEW (as all teenage girls know) that my mother just didn’t understand me. Hm. Could it be possible that I need to get to know Anne? Maybe she isn’t who I’ve been making her out to be.

    The twist is that I’ve never spent so much time in the development of a character before I put her on the page as I have with Anne. I took personality tests from her point of view. I studied the characteristics of her personality. I…Well it doesn’t really matter does it? Anne isn’t the girl I thought she was. So today I go back to the page. The first thing I’ll do is delete Anne’s scenes. When her pages are again blank, I’ll write her story. From HER point of view.

     

     

    Image: Robert Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net