S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 194
May 18, 2011
While Waiting for Blogger
During the days when Blogger was tossing my previously posts into their scheduled maintenance black hole, some bad weather also rolled in, making it necessary to unplug everything and instead work on projects that wouldn't be demolished by a lightning strike.
Our current big project has been our second bathroom renovation of the year; my guy and I decided to update the long, narrow bath that our daughter uses. Originally it had a colorful fish theme, which Kat picked out herself. It was cute when she was nine, but now that she's a teenager she wanted something a little more mature.
My daughter and I collaborated on this one, and at first I didn't think it was going to work. The kid wanted less obvious colors -- white and silver -- and picked out bathroom accessories and towels in a stark geometric style that probably would have been more at home on a Greek space station. I could see this bathroom turning into one big futuristic igloo, so I convinced her to go with a frosty blue instead of white paint for the walls, and guided her toward some subtle, nature-themed art. That softened the edginess into more of a winter look, which we both liked:
My favorite fountain pen quit working a year ago, and I miss it terribly, so I tackled fixing it. I'd read an article that suggested taking it apart and soaking it overnight in lukewarm water to loosen and dissolve any dried ink that might be blocking the nib. That was a bit messy, but it worked:
Btw, if you try this method, be sure the materials used to make your pen can withstand being immersed (if your pen barrel is made of wood, for example, it might swell from absorbing water.)
During one of the calmer afternoons we went to one of our favorite lakes to have lunch and stroll along the boardwalk, where I photographed this handsome guy to add to my bird pic collection:
That day we also saw a strange little blackbird with bright red shoulders, but she was too quick for my camera.
Finally I worked up my nerve to walk over and meet one of the new neighbors:
They're not especially friendly, and at night they tend to bellow at each other, but I like them better than the chickens who used to fly over the fence and tempt my dogs into opening their own private KFC franchise.
So what did you guys get up to during the Great Blogger Fail? Let us know in comments.
Our current big project has been our second bathroom renovation of the year; my guy and I decided to update the long, narrow bath that our daughter uses. Originally it had a colorful fish theme, which Kat picked out herself. It was cute when she was nine, but now that she's a teenager she wanted something a little more mature.
My daughter and I collaborated on this one, and at first I didn't think it was going to work. The kid wanted less obvious colors -- white and silver -- and picked out bathroom accessories and towels in a stark geometric style that probably would have been more at home on a Greek space station. I could see this bathroom turning into one big futuristic igloo, so I convinced her to go with a frosty blue instead of white paint for the walls, and guided her toward some subtle, nature-themed art. That softened the edginess into more of a winter look, which we both liked:
My favorite fountain pen quit working a year ago, and I miss it terribly, so I tackled fixing it. I'd read an article that suggested taking it apart and soaking it overnight in lukewarm water to loosen and dissolve any dried ink that might be blocking the nib. That was a bit messy, but it worked:
Btw, if you try this method, be sure the materials used to make your pen can withstand being immersed (if your pen barrel is made of wood, for example, it might swell from absorbing water.)
During one of the calmer afternoons we went to one of our favorite lakes to have lunch and stroll along the boardwalk, where I photographed this handsome guy to add to my bird pic collection:
That day we also saw a strange little blackbird with bright red shoulders, but she was too quick for my camera.
Finally I worked up my nerve to walk over and meet one of the new neighbors:
They're not especially friendly, and at night they tend to bellow at each other, but I like them better than the chickens who used to fly over the fence and tempt my dogs into opening their own private KFC franchise.
So what did you guys get up to during the Great Blogger Fail? Let us know in comments.
May 17, 2011
YA to Read
(This was one of the posts that may or may not have appeared last week. If you commented on the original, your entry was permanently erased by the Great Blogger Fail, so please try again.)
I tend to avoid reading for pleasure in a genre that I'm actively writing in, but now that I'm finished book two of the Youngbloods trilogy (title to be announced once I get the green light from my publisher) and I've outlined book three I feel like I'm in the right place to start reading more YA. I've already invested in Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampire series, which looks quite promising, and I'm going to make myself read the final Twilight book so I know how that series ends.
I'd also like to get some author and title suggestions from you guys, so as a bribe I've stocked lovely tote from Coldwater Creek with a signed copy of After Midnight, along with unsigned hardcover copies of White Cat by Holly Black and Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, and unsigned trade paperback copies of Vamped by Lucienne Diver, The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King, The Shape of Water by Anne Spollen, and Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie faria Stolarz.
If you'd like a chance to win this whole shebang, in comments to this post tell me which YA author, title and/or series you think I should read (or if you don't have a suggestion, toss your name into the magic hat) by midnight EST on Friday, May 21, 2011. I'll pick one name at random from everyone who participates and send the winner the tote with all the books. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something at PBW in the past.
I tend to avoid reading for pleasure in a genre that I'm actively writing in, but now that I'm finished book two of the Youngbloods trilogy (title to be announced once I get the green light from my publisher) and I've outlined book three I feel like I'm in the right place to start reading more YA. I've already invested in Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampire series, which looks quite promising, and I'm going to make myself read the final Twilight book so I know how that series ends.
I'd also like to get some author and title suggestions from you guys, so as a bribe I've stocked lovely tote from Coldwater Creek with a signed copy of After Midnight, along with unsigned hardcover copies of White Cat by Holly Black and Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, and unsigned trade paperback copies of Vamped by Lucienne Diver, The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King, The Shape of Water by Anne Spollen, and Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie faria Stolarz. If you'd like a chance to win this whole shebang, in comments to this post tell me which YA author, title and/or series you think I should read (or if you don't have a suggestion, toss your name into the magic hat) by midnight EST on Friday, May 21, 2011. I'll pick one name at random from everyone who participates and send the winner the tote with all the books. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something at PBW in the past.
May 16, 2011
Story Lite
Geoff Davis's Story Lite is a "free flexible text and image editor with multiple editing boxes, unique layout, 3D zoom and color effects." The web site has two excellent demo videos showing the program in action as well as more info about how to use the freeware and even a competition with two prizes for best use of the program. (OS: Windows, Mac. Designer notes that Linux version is coming soon.)
I've been looking for a program that can help me do more on-screen editing, and I was impressed by the designer's web site, so I decided to give this one a personal test drive. Downloading the Windows .exe file, which was 18.9 MB, took about ninety seconds over broadband. Installing was also a no-brainer and didn't take long, maybe a minute (I didn't write down the figure for memory requirement, but I think it requires around 81 MB disk space to install and run the program.) I went right into the program and started to play (click on any image that follows to see larger version):
This is pretty much what the start up screen looks like (I tinkered a bit with the defaults for the box borders and background color.) One thing I decided that immediately had to go was the little info map square at the top left of the work area; you can hide it by clicking on the slanty arrow right next to it.
I set up the boxes for some text I wanted to edit and what I thought I'd need to jot down as notes while editing:
For this book I'm creating a glossary and a style sheet, so I used two boxes for additions to those. I made an editing task list on the opposite side with notes for what I needed to check, rework or rewrite. I then went ahead and edited the text, but I had to scroll up and down a lot (the boxes have scroll bars, but to move around the work area you use the little black triangle arrows on the borders, which took some getting used to.) About halfway through the text the scrolling started to get annoying, so I resized the boxes to give me a full page of text and smaller, sticky-note size notes to myself on either side:
This was a more workable format for me, and being able to see the entire page of text definitely helped me edit more efficiently. I only had to check the online help page once to find out how to hide the info map. The only drawback to using it was discovering that I couldn't print out my notes, but I then found I could export them to Word (which was not really a big deal.)
I like this program a lot as an on-screen editing environment. I also think it would perform well as a mind-mapper, a virtual storyboard for plotting, and a simple, first draft-type writing area. I would love to see it direct-to-print enabled -- why, yes, I am that lazy -- and I think it would also be cool if you could import actual images as well as text into the note boxes (if there is an option to do this, I didn't find it tonight. All I see is an export option that allows you to send a screenshot to the clipboard or as a .png) Looking at an image of someone or something while I'm simultaneously writing about them would help me with little details that I might not remember. So would having the ability to put floor plans, scene choreography maps or story palettes up on the screen next to a chapter I'm editing.
What I really liked was how easy and logical Story Lite is to use from the first time you give it a go. The limited amount of tools and commands on the task bar were a big plus for me; I find I'm more apt to experiment and try using a new program if there aren't a bazillion menus, icons and options I have to first figure out. I also think it can be used for many other writing tasks, as you can pretty much tailor it to your individual needs.
If any of the above sounds useful to you working writers, I highly recommend giving this freeware a try. I also think it's worth watching, as the designer is planning to develop it, and has created a community for registered users to provide feedback and exchange ideas.
I've been looking for a program that can help me do more on-screen editing, and I was impressed by the designer's web site, so I decided to give this one a personal test drive. Downloading the Windows .exe file, which was 18.9 MB, took about ninety seconds over broadband. Installing was also a no-brainer and didn't take long, maybe a minute (I didn't write down the figure for memory requirement, but I think it requires around 81 MB disk space to install and run the program.) I went right into the program and started to play (click on any image that follows to see larger version):
This is pretty much what the start up screen looks like (I tinkered a bit with the defaults for the box borders and background color.) One thing I decided that immediately had to go was the little info map square at the top left of the work area; you can hide it by clicking on the slanty arrow right next to it.
I set up the boxes for some text I wanted to edit and what I thought I'd need to jot down as notes while editing:
For this book I'm creating a glossary and a style sheet, so I used two boxes for additions to those. I made an editing task list on the opposite side with notes for what I needed to check, rework or rewrite. I then went ahead and edited the text, but I had to scroll up and down a lot (the boxes have scroll bars, but to move around the work area you use the little black triangle arrows on the borders, which took some getting used to.) About halfway through the text the scrolling started to get annoying, so I resized the boxes to give me a full page of text and smaller, sticky-note size notes to myself on either side:
This was a more workable format for me, and being able to see the entire page of text definitely helped me edit more efficiently. I only had to check the online help page once to find out how to hide the info map. The only drawback to using it was discovering that I couldn't print out my notes, but I then found I could export them to Word (which was not really a big deal.)
I like this program a lot as an on-screen editing environment. I also think it would perform well as a mind-mapper, a virtual storyboard for plotting, and a simple, first draft-type writing area. I would love to see it direct-to-print enabled -- why, yes, I am that lazy -- and I think it would also be cool if you could import actual images as well as text into the note boxes (if there is an option to do this, I didn't find it tonight. All I see is an export option that allows you to send a screenshot to the clipboard or as a .png) Looking at an image of someone or something while I'm simultaneously writing about them would help me with little details that I might not remember. So would having the ability to put floor plans, scene choreography maps or story palettes up on the screen next to a chapter I'm editing.
What I really liked was how easy and logical Story Lite is to use from the first time you give it a go. The limited amount of tools and commands on the task bar were a big plus for me; I find I'm more apt to experiment and try using a new program if there aren't a bazillion menus, icons and options I have to first figure out. I also think it can be used for many other writing tasks, as you can pretty much tailor it to your individual needs.
If any of the above sounds useful to you working writers, I highly recommend giving this freeware a try. I also think it's worth watching, as the designer is planning to develop it, and has created a community for registered users to provide feedback and exchange ideas.
Promo No-No Ten
Ten Things You Shouldn't Do to Promote Your Self-Published e-Book
(The PBW Edition)
Ask me to review it: The answer is no. This does not mean I hate you, or that I'm a print-published snot, or I'm part of a legacy publishing conspiracy to squelch your genius and/or kill the sales you were stealing from us before you cause our antiquated system to collapse into some tar pit where we'll bellow pathetically as we slowly drown. The answer is no because I'm a writer, not a reviewer.
Bribe me: Unless it's five million tax-free dollars, don't even bother.
Convince my mother to get me to read/endorse/promote/blurb it: It never works. My mother is a nice lady who will say yes, take your CD, and put it in a safe place at home. After that it will stay there for all eternity, because in a day or two she will forget you, what she agreed to do, your e-book and where the safe place is.
Describe your personal problems and explain how my purchase is going to solve them: Call me a pessimist, but I honestly don't think my three bucks will get you through that nasty divorce, stop the foreclosure on your house, pay for that gastric bypass surgery or get you back into rehab.
Disguise your promo with unsolicited advice on how much money I could be making by self-publishing: Yeah, that's totally going to dupe me.
E-mail me an unsolicited free copy: Oddly enough, this is not going to tempt me into reading or reviewing it. This is going to make me delete your e-mail and divert any future e-mail that comes from you right to the SPAM folder.
Offer reciprocal pimping: I don't sell my self-pubbed stuff, sorry. It's insane, I know.
Patronize me: While I acknowledge the weighty depth of publishing experience bestowed on you during that unbelievably stressful fifteen minutes you spent uploading your first novel to Amazon.com, you just might want to rethink this strategy, grasshopper.
Send me a discount coupon code: Use some logic here. If I wouldn't take a free copy, why would you think offering me a dollar off the cover price would be the temptation I could not resist?
Warn me that I'm missing out on the best book of the year: Sorry, I've already read that one. Alas, you didn't write it.
(The PBW Edition)
Ask me to review it: The answer is no. This does not mean I hate you, or that I'm a print-published snot, or I'm part of a legacy publishing conspiracy to squelch your genius and/or kill the sales you were stealing from us before you cause our antiquated system to collapse into some tar pit where we'll bellow pathetically as we slowly drown. The answer is no because I'm a writer, not a reviewer.
Bribe me: Unless it's five million tax-free dollars, don't even bother.
Convince my mother to get me to read/endorse/promote/blurb it: It never works. My mother is a nice lady who will say yes, take your CD, and put it in a safe place at home. After that it will stay there for all eternity, because in a day or two she will forget you, what she agreed to do, your e-book and where the safe place is.
Describe your personal problems and explain how my purchase is going to solve them: Call me a pessimist, but I honestly don't think my three bucks will get you through that nasty divorce, stop the foreclosure on your house, pay for that gastric bypass surgery or get you back into rehab.
Disguise your promo with unsolicited advice on how much money I could be making by self-publishing: Yeah, that's totally going to dupe me.
E-mail me an unsolicited free copy: Oddly enough, this is not going to tempt me into reading or reviewing it. This is going to make me delete your e-mail and divert any future e-mail that comes from you right to the SPAM folder.
Offer reciprocal pimping: I don't sell my self-pubbed stuff, sorry. It's insane, I know.
Patronize me: While I acknowledge the weighty depth of publishing experience bestowed on you during that unbelievably stressful fifteen minutes you spent uploading your first novel to Amazon.com, you just might want to rethink this strategy, grasshopper.
Send me a discount coupon code: Use some logic here. If I wouldn't take a free copy, why would you think offering me a dollar off the cover price would be the temptation I could not resist?
Warn me that I'm missing out on the best book of the year: Sorry, I've already read that one. Alas, you didn't write it.
May 13, 2011
Self-Pub Ten
Writer Excuses for the Digital Self-Publishing Age
(Or, I can't write because . . .)
Amazon.com paired my book with the diary of a dominatrix who uses the exact same pen name, and now all I get are IMs from guys in diapers who want me to cyberspank them.
I'm too busy promoting my novel on Twitter and Facebook to finish writing it.
Mommy says I can't publish my book until I eat all my vegetables and put away my toys.
My artist says the cover I want is anatomically possible only if she depicts all my characters as squid.
My formatting software got corrupted and now whenever I try to upload a manuscript to Smashwords my disk drive rewrites itself.
My freelance editor refuses to believe that English is my native language.
Pubit! claims the book I wrote about my ex is illegal, libelous, infringing, offensive, harmful, threatening, harassing, legally obscene, defamatory, and intentionally hateful.
Someone posted a 3-star review that utterly ruined my perfect 5-star rating. Was probably my ex, the bastard.
The rights for my next novel haven't reverted back to me yet.
Whenever I enter the ISBN I made up for my last self-pubbed book to check my sales ranking, NORAD automatically goes to Defcon 2.
(Or, I can't write because . . .)
Amazon.com paired my book with the diary of a dominatrix who uses the exact same pen name, and now all I get are IMs from guys in diapers who want me to cyberspank them.
I'm too busy promoting my novel on Twitter and Facebook to finish writing it.
Mommy says I can't publish my book until I eat all my vegetables and put away my toys.
My artist says the cover I want is anatomically possible only if she depicts all my characters as squid.
My formatting software got corrupted and now whenever I try to upload a manuscript to Smashwords my disk drive rewrites itself.
My freelance editor refuses to believe that English is my native language.
Pubit! claims the book I wrote about my ex is illegal, libelous, infringing, offensive, harmful, threatening, harassing, legally obscene, defamatory, and intentionally hateful.
Someone posted a 3-star review that utterly ruined my perfect 5-star rating. Was probably my ex, the bastard.
The rights for my next novel haven't reverted back to me yet.
Whenever I enter the ISBN I made up for my last self-pubbed book to check my sales ranking, NORAD automatically goes to Defcon 2.
Blogger Up & Down
Blogger is having some problems and has lost or erased some of my posts (since it's Friday the 13th, I guess that's to be expected.) While I'm waiting to recover what's missing, here's a look at some new German edition cover art (click on image to see larger version):
Be back once my host works out the bugs.
Be back once my host works out the bugs.
May 11, 2011
My Political Moment
Dear Representative Matt Dean,
From what I've read you sound like a very confused gentleman; so much so that even someone who despises politics as much as I do feels compelled to offer you some assistance. While your intended victim has already politely addressed all of your erroneous accusations against him (a year before you made them, in fact) I feel you still need some help with certain definitions.
To provide that, I've created the following visual aid for you:
Please feel free to print this out and hang it in your office to prevent any future confusion.
Sincerely,
PBW
Critter Photo credit: © Andrea Poole | Dreamstime.com
From what I've read you sound like a very confused gentleman; so much so that even someone who despises politics as much as I do feels compelled to offer you some assistance. While your intended victim has already politely addressed all of your erroneous accusations against him (a year before you made them, in fact) I feel you still need some help with certain definitions.
To provide that, I've created the following visual aid for you:
Please feel free to print this out and hang it in your office to prevent any future confusion.
Sincerely,
PBW
Critter Photo credit: © Andrea Poole | Dreamstime.com
May 10, 2011
Reinventing the Bookmark
One unusual step I took with promotion for After Midnight was to hire a student artist in high school to create the artwork for my bookmarks (click on the image to see a larger version.) It was a great time-saver for me and I'm quite pleased with the results, and I think going through the commission process gives young artists a chance to experience what it's like to work as a pro and create on demand. As a reader and a writer I've been casually collecting bookmarks for years. I have every kind of paper bookmark there is, along with cloth, metal, ceramic and glass specimens. Some of my bookmarks double as magnifiers, calculators, book lights, to-do lists and even mini-calendars. I've also designed, printed and even sewn my own, but I've never really found the ultimate/ideal/perfect bookmark.
My latest acquisition is the Booksling, an elastic bungie-type bookmark that also has end slots that hold two pens (handy when you're reading Larissa Ione's newest bestseller, need to make notes for a blog post about it, and your kids keep swiping your pen.) I like the Booksling, although it's a bit awkward to use with paperbacks. While the $4.99 price tag is a bit high, it's made of well constructed, sturdy materials and will probably outlast me.I don't really know what I'd consider the perfect bookmark. I like the artiness of those bead-and-string book thongs, but they tend to slither out of the pages too easily. Bungie or clip-on type bookmarks stay in place better, but sometimes leave tears in the pages. Bookmarks that perform extra/electronic functions have the gadgetry appeal, but usually require those tiny little watch batteries that I can never seem to replace without consulting NASA. Laminated bookmarks inevitably part at the edges, paper bookmarks get scratched, torn, wrinkled, etc. (I did find some metal bookmarks from WellspringGift.com that I thought would be indestructible, but discovered they're also prone to scratch and bend.)
For right now I'm sticking to traditional card stock bookmarks, although I'm experimenting with printing them on different types of photopaper. As for the perfect bookmark, I might as well try designing one myself. Cloth is my thing, and in the past I've dabbled in making beaded/quilted bookmarks, so I think I'll start there. I have a vague notion of somehow combining a paperback book cover with a bookmark that might be interesting. If nothing else I'll have fun with it.
What's your favorite type of bookmark? What would you consider the perfect design to mark your reading places? Let us know in comments.
May 9, 2011
Elsewhere X 2
Our blogpals Cid, Suzan, Alice and Linda over at Book Addicts kindly invited me to participate in their Redeeming Romance series. Thanks to Shakespeare and one of his beautiful sonnets, I've never been ashamed of reading or writing romance, and I explain why in my guest post. If you have a chance head over, check it out and leave a comment by Friday, May 13th, and you'll have a chance at winning a romance BookWish from me (or any romance novel that's available from B&N online, paperback or hardcover up to $30.00 U.S.; I'll cover whatever shipping is involved.)Adventures in Children's Publishing also asked me to do a mini-interview with them, which can be found here (scroll down and look for the writer who gave the shortest answers; that's me.) Unfortunately the novel synopsis they posted for After Midnight contains just about every spoiler possible in it, so if you haven't read the book and don't want the surprises ruined you might want to skip that. I've donated a signed copy of AM for their giveaway, too.
May 8, 2011
Cat Arrives Ten
Ten Reasons to Invest in My New Release, After Midnight
A New Venture: This is the first chance I've had to build a brand-new universe in quite some time. I really had fun with it, and I think you'll be pleased with the results.
Ad-Free PBW: I don't accept donations, advertising or any outside funding at all for PBW; everything I do here is paid for with income from my share of book sales. Thus when you buy one of my books, you provide direct support for the blog.
Cover Art: Will not lacerate your corneas, fry your retinas or otherwise cause temporary blindness (disclaimer: no guarantees if you choose to poke yourself in the eye with the book.)
Freebie Funding: If you enjoyed Dark of Heart or any of the other stories, novellas and novels that I give away for free online, buying my print novels is a great way to say thanks as well as to vote for more free stuff.
Getting Back to My Roots: Most of my early work was YA (mainly because I was a teen when I started writing novels.) Rediscovering that young voice inside me was terrific, and I'd like to do more of that.
None of the Usual Suspects: The story does not contain any alternate realities, castles, crystals, dragons, elves, magic spells, necromancers, new age ephemera, orcs, ogres, reincarnation, schools that would not qualify for state funding, secret societies, trolls, underworlds, warriors, werewolves, witches or wizards.
Print: The trade paperback edition does not require batteries, cables or downloading.
Storytelling: Writing this book was a serious challenge on multiple levels, and taught me a lot. That's the kind of thing that keeps me from becoming complacent or growing stagnant as a writer, and helps me write better books for you.
Teen-Friendly: If you've ever wanted your teenager to read something I've written, this is the book to give them.
Writing for the Future: Sales are the only job security a writer ever has. By investing in After Midnight, you insure I keep writing; it's as simple as that.
A New Venture: This is the first chance I've had to build a brand-new universe in quite some time. I really had fun with it, and I think you'll be pleased with the results.Ad-Free PBW: I don't accept donations, advertising or any outside funding at all for PBW; everything I do here is paid for with income from my share of book sales. Thus when you buy one of my books, you provide direct support for the blog.
Cover Art: Will not lacerate your corneas, fry your retinas or otherwise cause temporary blindness (disclaimer: no guarantees if you choose to poke yourself in the eye with the book.)
Freebie Funding: If you enjoyed Dark of Heart or any of the other stories, novellas and novels that I give away for free online, buying my print novels is a great way to say thanks as well as to vote for more free stuff.
Getting Back to My Roots: Most of my early work was YA (mainly because I was a teen when I started writing novels.) Rediscovering that young voice inside me was terrific, and I'd like to do more of that.
None of the Usual Suspects: The story does not contain any alternate realities, castles, crystals, dragons, elves, magic spells, necromancers, new age ephemera, orcs, ogres, reincarnation, schools that would not qualify for state funding, secret societies, trolls, underworlds, warriors, werewolves, witches or wizards.
Print: The trade paperback edition does not require batteries, cables or downloading.
Storytelling: Writing this book was a serious challenge on multiple levels, and taught me a lot. That's the kind of thing that keeps me from becoming complacent or growing stagnant as a writer, and helps me write better books for you.
Teen-Friendly: If you've ever wanted your teenager to read something I've written, this is the book to give them.
Writing for the Future: Sales are the only job security a writer ever has. By investing in After Midnight, you insure I keep writing; it's as simple as that.
S.L. Viehl's Blog
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