Colleen Collins's Blog, page 7

It's Saturday - Time for #SaturdayLibrarian!

I'm such a fangirl of #SaturdayLibrarian. I start my day reading them each Saturday, laughing and ponderingand emittingmore than a few "aw-w-w-w"s at librarians'stories.

I also added somepix of libraries taken by Carol Highsmith, a distinguished photographer who has donated all of her photos to the Library of Congress, copyright-free.

Without further ado,here's a batch of the latest and greatest...

Best of Today's #SaturdayLibrarian (So Far)

From my fave@LousyLibrarian: The sun is shining, the b...

#1000Speak Building from Bullying: Two True Stories

I learned today that tomorrow, March 20, is ablogging event for #1000Speak, an organization whose byline is"1000 Voices Speak for Compassion." Contributing bloggers are writing about looking at bullying from a positive viewpoint.My first reaction was, "Huh? How can bullyingever have a positive slant?"

I thought back to several incidences when my husband, or the two of us, dealt with bullies in our business life. After giving those experiences some thought, I realized that both ended up being...

My New Saturday Addiction: Reading #SaturdayLibrarian

I look forward to Saturday mornings because that's when I read #SaturdayLibrarian, thetweets of dozens of librarians, some of which aresnarky-hilarious. For your amusement and entertainment, below are a few choice tweets from this morning.

#SaturdayLibrarian: Read 'Em & Laugh

From@LousyLibrarian: First rule of#saturdaylibrarian: don't talk to the#saturdaylibrarian.

Another from@LousyLibrarian: "Do you have the book 'How To Kill a Mockingbird?'" "I'll look it up. I assume it's instructional. And...

Before You Copy & Paste an Image, Think Copyright!

Last month, I commissioned a graphic artist to create a logo for my writing career andpaid him for his talent and skill. To your leftis the logo he created, for which I own the copyright.

I don't think anybody would want to copy and paste this logoas my name is on it. If anyone was curious as to who owns the copyright, they could run a reverse image search via Google tosee where the image pops up -- after matching the words on the logo (Colleen Collins Books) to the website name (colleencolli...

In Honor of World Book Day: Humphrey Bogart, Movie Star & Avid Reader

Humphrey Bogart in the 1934 film trailer for Petrified Forest (public domain)

Bogie and Books

Did you know Humphrey Bogart loved to read? Although he waswasa poor student, and was eventually expelled from the prestigious Phillips Academy,he had a lifelong love of reading, and could quote Plato, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Shakespeare.

Some of his best friends were screenwriters, such as Nunnally Johnson and John Huston. I've always admired Huston for his directing, even his acting, but did you kno...

In Honor of World Book Day: Humphrey Bogart, Vivien Leigh, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable...

Bogie and Books

Did you know Humphrey Bogart loved to read? I just read the other day that although he had been a poor student in school, he had a lifelong love of reading, and could quote Plato, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Shakespeare.

Humphrey Bogart and John Huston

Some of his best friends were screenwriters, such as Nunnally Johnson and John Huston. I've always admired Huston for his directing, even his acting, but did you know he also wrote over 20 screenplays, including the adaptation of D...

#Kindle Countdown Sale March 1-6, 2015! A Lawyer's Primer for Writers: From Crimes to Courtrooms

“Put together with the user in mind, this intelligently organized handbook for practicing writers will make you sound like a practicing lawyer. Use it to transform your courtroom characters from stereotypes into engaging people. ”

— Warwick Downing, former DA in Colorado and author of The Widow of Dartmoor, a sequel to Hound of the Baskervilles

A Lawyer's Primer for Writers: From Crimes to Courtroomsis a Kindle Countdown Deal, starting March 1! The earlier you purchase it, the more mon...

#writetip Witness Interviews: Tips from a Private Investigator

Interviewing is more than asking a set of questions. It’s an art. Even with all of today’s whiz-bang technology, people’s words are still the most powerful declaration of where they stand – and what they know. Even the words a person choosesnotto speak can still speak volumes to his/her motive, who they might beprotecting, and what they'rehiding.

Interviewing People Who Don't Want to Be Interviewed

Maybe a person is angry to be dragged into somebody else's problem, orfrightened to give testimo...

What Librarians Tweet About on Saturdays...Get Ready to Laugh

How some of these librarians apparently feel...

This morning on Twitter, I discovered the hashtag #saturdaylibrarian...then spent the next few minutes laughing atlibrarians' snarks while at work on Saturday. To be fair, not all librarians were snarking, but those who did had some really good reasons for why they were.

Below is a sampling, enjoy! Oh, and give your librarian a high-five the next time you visit a library.

#Saturdaylibrarian Tweets

From@LousyLibrarian: Opened the doors and nobody...

Valentine's Day Articles: Private Eyes, Lawyers and Nick & Nora

Dorothea Lange,Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program

During the decade when my husband and I worked full time asprivate investigators, Valentine's Day, and the days surrounding it,were some of our busiest days. Girlfriends, boyfriends, wives, husbandswould call, wanting to hire us (typically for surveillance) to catch evidence of their significant other or spousecheating. Afew years agoThe Journal of Private Eyes reported that 80 percent of cheaters spent at least part o...