S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 148

Tell Me What to Write Ten

As I promised last week, I'm going to let you guys decide what sort of novel I should write for NaNoWriMo 2012. When I first thought of doing this I imagined simply opening up comments to let everyone give me any idea on what they wanted to see me turn into story, but not everyone who stops in here does so because they like me, and we'd probably end up with some unlikely/unworkable/unsavory suggestions and/or some mischief with the ballot box.

This idea also has to be something I genuinely want to write, especially if I'm to generate enough enthusiasm and energy to get it done in a month, for which I don't think I have to apologize. There is nothing drearier than writing a story that you don't want to tell. I don't want to play it safe, but I definitely want to win NaNoWriMo 2012, so starting out with an idea that thrills me and will help make that happen is important.

In the end I decided to make a list of ideas I already have on file that I'd really like to turn into novels, and let you all vote for which one appeals to you the most. This includes ideas with established characters and/or universes as well as some new ideas, so it should be a good range.  And here's the list of:

Ten Things I Can Write for NaNoWriMo 2012

A.  A story set in the new series I've just sold (details of which must remain mysterious until the contract is signed [shortly] and the sale announced [in early November.]  All I can tell you at the moment is that it's a new genre for me.) 

B.  Dark fantasy haunted-house tale set in the Darkyn universe (all-new characters.)

C.  Dark fantasy Kyndred story featuring Valori, Ethan and Nathan from Frostfire.

D.  Dark fantasy story featuring Cristophe Noir from the Lords of the Darkyn trilogy.

E. Paranormal historical romance that takes place in one of Jane Austen's settings.

F. Paranormal modern-day mystery about a psychic ghost writer.

G. Sci-fantasy in a near-future world overtaken and transformed by the vengeful spirits of ancient gods and monsters.

H.  Science fiction novel set in the StarDoc universe featuring Keasa Delaney and Sev Andar from my short story Arcanum.

I. Surprise story (aka make it my choice.)

J. Tales of the Lost Ledger #2, a YA story, featuring Kari Carson and Connor Devlin from Dark of Heart.

If you'd like to see me write one of these stories, vote for it by letter in comments. To keep it fair please vote only once. The idea that collects the most votes by midnight EST on Saturday, October 13, 2012 will be the novel I write for NaNoWriMo; to be announced on Sunday, October 14th.

Stats & Students

Among the many annoyances delivered by Blogger's new interface or whatever it is, there are these numbers that keep showing up by my posts. I thought they were comments at first, but I finally figured out tonight that they are page view counts. Here's a screen shot of my PBW posts dashboard, which shows my Flea Market Ten post (and you can click on the image to see a larger version):



Now, according to Blogger the post has had 197 page views. The odd thing is that my Flickr account, which hosts the little slideshow I put in the post, also tracks how many times it's been viewed, which as of this moment is 2,112 times.

Whenever I post images on Flickr but don't link or embed them anywhere else I get zero traffic, so I feel certain that the 2,112 views had to come from visitors to the blog. Perhaps they used one of those feed things people employ to read blogs that maybe Blogger can't track, but I'm really not sure. Anyway, I thought I'd mention this for those of you on Blogger who are taking those page view stats as accurate -- I don't think they are.

One more recent development I should probably mention: certain writing-related posts here at PBW are now being assigned to university students for reference and study (Darlene, stop laughing.) Since we already have plenty of visitors who are students this shouldn't be a problem, but I thought my regulars should know in the event they start asking a lot of questions in comments (which I will handle, but you all are welcome to join in with any help you want to offer.)

Mr. Ray Persists

Every writer is influenced by others; the late Ray Bradbury definitely worked some magic on me.  This is a somewhat grainy but otherwise excellent video of him, talking about why we should write persistently:

NaNoWriMo 2012

The folks at NaNoWriMo have posted the web badges for 2012, and here they are:

Generic
   

 


Participant
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I've uploaded these to my Photobucket account so everyone is welcome to use them; hover your cursor over the one you want to get the image link.

As we have less than a month to prepare, from now until November 1st I'll be putting up posts on NaNoWriMo-related topics a couple times per week.  I will also be officially joining in this year as a participant.  As I work on my NaNo novel I'm planning to post what I finish online daily over on the stories blog for anyone wants to follow along and see how I write and edit a book day by day.

Next week I will be asking my visitors to vote for the sort of story they'd like me to do for NaNoWriMo -- yes, you all are going to be the ones to decide what I write -- so if you're interested in voting, think about it and stayed tuned.

More idea-ology

I made a trip to my local Jo-Ann's today for some fabric; I'm working on some tote bags to fill with books and goodies for my Nightbred promotions in November and December.  While I was there I also wandered by the aisle with Tim Holtz's idea-ology line so I could drool on the products a little more.  Now I'll have to write him a gushy fan letter, as I found two new items that went immediately into my shopping basket:



I have a thing for old pocket watch cases because they make wonderful holders for ephemera, and you can repurpose them into unique statement pieces and pendants.  The real thing tends to be expensive, though.  Even at thrift stores old pocket watches can run anywhere from twenty to fifty bucks.  On the real deal the watch crystal is almost always missing or badly scratched, and then you have to take them apart, which can get dicey.  Tim's pocket watch case looks like an antique, has a clear glass crystal, and the back pops off and snaps back on easily:



The best part is the price: idea-ology's pocket watch case regularly sells for $7.99, and I got mine on sale for $5.49.

I also love antique keys, and idea-ology is now offering a set of seven that not only look old but have inspirational words inscribed on them:



These word keys are going to make fabulous anchors for the series of steampunk BookLoops I'm working on.  $9.99 for the set regular price; I got mine on sale for $6.99, which makes them about a buck per key -- very affordable.

Poetry Ops

Poets who write short form poems often have a tough time finding paying markets for their work. They are out there; here are a couple I found while looking for haiku markets:

The Pedestal Magazine has two reading periods open for poetry, currently until October 13th, and another from October 28th to December 13th. During these periods they only want to look at poetry submissions, and have no restrictions on theme, length or style. Payment: $40.00 per poem, no reprints, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details.

"Scifaikuest publishes original scifaiku, haibun, senryu, tanka, and horrorku and other minimalist forms, and articles about these forms. We also publish original black-and-white illustrations, and original cover illustrations for the print edition and for the online door. Scifaiku is a lot like haiku. The 17 syllables or 5-7-5 syllable guideline is NOT a strict requirement, but what IS required, is that the total ku doesn't read like a sentence. The captured moment should strike the reader with a flash of realization or surprise--if you've read something, and suddenly "get it" and you subconsciously think "Ah-hah!" or “oh wow!” that's what scifaiku is supposed to do to you. As in haiku, punctuation and capitalization are not usually used in scifaiku, so no unnecessary punctuation or caps. In addition, scifaiku usually include a season, an action and a subject, whether actual or implied." Length: short form (see guidelines for specifics); Payment: ranges from $1.00 to $15.00 for featured poet. Reprints okay, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details.

There's also the "for the luv" markets, which don't offer cash but regularly pay in contributor copies, like this one:

Daily Haiku accepts submissions only during the months of February and August, and if you're selected as a contributor you will be expected to provide 28 haiku over a six-month period, so be warned. Payment: Exposure plus one contributor's copy of their annual print journal featuring your work. No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Inside & Outside the Lines

I have big plans for the rest of the year, so my writing days are starting to assume that roller-coaster quality they get when I'm trying to manage a lot of projects in a short amount of time. Before I get completely immersed, I thought I'd put on the brakes for a minute and look back at how I've done so far with 2012's theme of coloring outside the lines.

I joined a penpal initiative, and started out writing letters to twelve complete strangers. I wrote one invitation-to-write-me letter that was sent out at random to six people, and replied to six letters that were randomly sent to me. I didn't try to hide who I am behind a fake name or anything like that; I figured take me warts and all, or not. Three never bothered to answer, five were good for one letter, two managed two letters, one is still writing (sporadically) and one has been a steady correspondent who is becoming a friend. Sustaining a real correspondence through letters -- just like writing anything -- is as much work as it is joy, so I didn't have expectations. That I reached out to strangers was very not like me but I'm glad I did.

I had an art exchange with another artist in a medium I rarely show anyone -- my jewelry making. I've been getting more into metal and steampunk, and all my quilting pals do are beaded pieces now and then (which are great but they're more about the patchwork.) I've also been creating these fusion pieces with quilted, beaded and metalwork elements and I want to explore more of that. It's lovely to know someone who is working in this medium.

On the home front I threw my family in a rental car and took them to another city for a long weekend. I planned nothing in advance but the rental car, the hotel, and a very brief visit to a college. I never do this. We had an amazing time. We're definitely doing it again.

I've done more self-promotion since January than I probably have in years. At times I've asked friends and colleagues for help, something that I never do because I have a real phobia about imposing on people. I'm still wrestling with it but it gets a little easier each time. I'm wrapping up the year with much more effort to promote my work in ways I've never before tried, and so far it's been good.

Where I fell short this year:

I didn't enter the art quilt challenge I talked about in early 2012. I wanted to do it mainly to introduce a new technique I've developed, but at the last minute I chickened out. It was a combination of time constraints plus dread, but mostly it was dread. I'm going to try again when I do a few more test runs and feel a little more certain of my expertise. This is a solid solution to an age old problem all quilters have, and I don't want to screw it up.

I stopped work on my 1K Cards Project, which put me a month and a half behind on it. I've since caught up, but allowing emotional stress squash my creativity is not a way to cope. I know I handle problems best by working through them, not hiding from them, and when I'm feeling blue I need reminders of this.

I've pushed myself this year, but not hard enough. I've avoided some opportunities to step outside the lines because I was either keeping the peace or I felt inadequate. Often I just couldn't get past my need to organize everything perfectly; some things cannot be planned, mapped out or predicted. Fighting your routines and your methods in order to try new things can be exhausting, and half the time I gave into the familiar and stayed behind the lines when I should stepped out.

I think every year is a mixed bag in some fashion, but this one has been a real 50/50 for me in every category. So far 2012 has taught me that you can set goals you think are reasonable, but you discover they're a lot harder than you thought only when you're working toward them. Channeling your energy appropriately plays a big part, too. Things that seemed only a little difficult in the planning stages are much tougher when you're tired, or depressed, or spread too thin.

Are any of you still working on the goals you set for this year? How are things coming along for you? Let us know in comments.

No Cost Ten

Ten Things You Can Have for Free

Freeware caution: always scan free downloads of anything for bugs and other threats before dumping the programs into your hard drive. 

Cinta Notes is "a free, lightweight and user-friendly note taking application. CintaNotes lets you quickly save and tag any useful information that you come across or just need to jot down. Clip text from anywhere. Just select it and press the hotkey! The text-clipping "magic" works in any application that can copy text to clipboard. CintaNotes automatically saves the text and its source URL, and you don't even have to install a plug-in to integrate it with your web browser! Retrieving information is also trivial: just open CintaNotes and start typing! Only notes containing the typed phrase remain in the list. More sophisticated search criteria are supported, like searching by title or by URL the note was taken from. You can use tags for note organization, and later use tag union, intersection and subtraction filters to quickly find what you need. Live note synchronization is supported with the help of free online services such as DropBox or SugarSync. CintaNotes is a totally self-contained application, meaning that you can put it on a flash drive and run it directly from there. In this way, your notes will always be with you" (OS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7)

DeskBox is "a powerful and efficient multi-purpose utility software, integrated text management, clipboard, screen capture, reminder, music sorter and other practical and common functions, is your good work and study partner, a good assistant. DeskBox has a beautifully designed and comprehensive interface making it intuitive and convenient to use. Main Function: Clipboard: for text management, capture, collection, copy and paste, quick note, etc.; Capture: for screen capture, image management, viewing, editing, processing, slideshow, etc.; Timers: to create a variety of timing tasks, such as Reminder, Run Program, Open File, Open Web, Play Music, Shutdown, etc.; Music: to organize and play your music" (OS: (OS: Windows XP/Vista/7 [32-Bit/64-Bit])

Funny Photo Maker allows you to "enjoy photo editing. Helps you export photos in image file and gif animation. Easily turns your photos into artistic and interesting masterpieces! Features: free, easy to use, includes gorgeous frames, facefun & effects; provides with full customization settings; supports editing BMP, JPG, PNG; exports high quality BMP, JPG, PNG & GIF [note from hosting site: The setup program includes the AVG Security Toolbar which does not have to be installed to use the software] (OS: Windows XP/Vista/7)

Hornil StylePix is "a graphics editing program that allows you to draw pictures, edit photos and more. StylePix is an compound word, which contains the word "Style" and the word "Picture". As you like, "StylePix" therefore means "Style Picture". StylePix helps you to create nice pictures easily and quickly. If you don't use the image editor or think it is difficult to use try StylePix. You can also become a graphic designer with a variety of tools and an intuitive user interface" (OS: Windows XP/2003/Vista/7)

MemPad is "a plain text outliner and note taking program with a structured index. All pages are stored in a single file. User interface in English, German, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Russian, Turkish, Chinese. The program offers standard editing functions including cut, copy, paste, undo, date/time insert, drag&drop, and supports Web links as well as network and local file or folder links (full path not required) and internal page links. Environmental variables can be used in file links to run programs, for example. The index structure can be modified by buttons, context menu or hotkeys" (OS: Windows XP/Vista/7)

NoteClip allows you to "take notes, capture, copy, and paste text quickly and easily. NoteClip provides some interesting methods of creating notes. While the application is running, you may create notes just by copying text to the clipboard or using hotkeys. You can organize your notes in groups and sub-groups and edit them with NoteClip's built in editor or a third party application. Features: full drag and drop operation, comfortable and faster; not limit the number and level of grouping; by monitoring system clipboard and One-Key Capturing either way, lets you capture text easily; quickly paste text into the target application; lock function to protect the security of your data; user-friendly interface, to support a variety of beautiful skin" (OS: Windows XP/Vista/7 [32-Bit/64-Bit])

PicEdit is a "powerful, easy to operate, user-friendly image editing software, support a variety of graphic styles (such as arrow, rectangle, polygon, pencil, text, etc.) and a variety of effects processing (such as highlighting, mosaic, colorize, bokeh, blur, brightness, hue, saturation, etc.), while supporting the watermark, stamps, crop, rotate, red-eye removal, and so on. PicEdit has the ability to repeat the editing, you can make changes at any time, and automatically retained the original image, you can always restore" (OS: Windows XP/Vista/7 [32-Bit/64-Bit])

Pixia is "a painting tool and retouch software made exclusively for full color graphics. Pixia supports layers, masks and many other graphic editing functions. You can use your own customized brush tips and even use an image file as a brush tip to create unique effects. Pixia's user-friendly interface is suitable for beginners as well as experts. Pixia supports the most common editing techniques and presents a user friendly interface" (OS: Win 2000/XP/Vista/7)

Text On Trays is "is a small utility which allows you to store on its "trays" lots of texts that you often write. Afterwards, in a click, you paste any of these texts wherever you want. It is possible to store up to 150 texts" (OS: Mac OS X)

WordFun2 "contains a 118,000 word list which is more than 96% compatible with The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. The fast, noninteractive SPELL CHECKER will proof an entire book in less than a minute, writing to file unmatched words for each chapter. Spell check short text files without loading a word processor. Includes ANAGRAM and FIND for use with Scrabble, Word Jumble, or crosswords--or simply for quick word look ups. Does WORD FREQUENCY counts, the output list ranked by number or alphabetically. WORD COUNT accepts wild cards, will give total word counts for an entire book in a matter of seconds. Includes an enhanced MORE replacement. Files now have an embedded path to the WORDS.DAT dictionary, so they can be used in any directory--that is, put the tiny SPELL file in your DOS path, and spell check anywhere on your hard disk. User dictionaries, the main dictionary, and the data path may all be modified" (OS: Windows 3.1, Win 95/98/ME, Win 2000/NT)

Winners

After reading all the entries for the Jump into Journaling giveaway I needed to do a couple of things. First I prayed for a couple of my visitors who are going through tough times right now. I then counted exactly how many not-so-blank journals and notebooks I'd found during my quest. Finally I had a chat with the magic hat. The hat, who knows how I feel about journaling and my visitors, gave me the green light to pick the names this time.

So the winners of the giveaway are:

Everyone who entered the giveaway, which would be Lisa954 ~ Robin Connelly ~ Jane ~ Margaret ~ Sylvia van Bruggen ~ digillette ~ Vicki Orians ~ Elizabeth Greentree ~ Shizuka ~ petite ~ bluebamboo ~clairecherven ~ Jennifer and Jeff ~ traveler ~ Vom Marlowe ~ Diana Troldahl ~ Darlene Ryan ~ Mireya ~ Anne V. ~ Alli Johnson ~ Robin Bayne ~ Nicole ~ shawna ~ wade2121 ~ Battlekitty ~ Lanette

Winners, when you have a chance please send your full name and ship-to info to LynnViehl@aol.com so I can start shipping these packages out. My thanks to you all for joining in and sharing what you did; when you open your heart and speak with such beautiful honesty, we all win.

Rio

See the gorgeous city of Rio De Janeiro as you probably never have in two minutes (some background music, for those of you at work):



A day in Rio De Janeiro from Joe Simon Films on Vimeo.