S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 77

Speedy Links

I noticed when I was over on the NaNoWriMo forums this one post with a megalist of helpful writing articles. Things like this are definitely worth checking out when you have time, but they're not exactly time-savers. Since I know a bunch of sites where you can get a direct answer to a writing-related problem very quickly, I thought I'd put together my own list of speedier links:

Acronymer -- you've got an acronym, now you need to figure out what words the letters stand for. Feed your 2-6 letter acronym to this one and it will instantly generate some suggestions (as in LYNN = Linear Y-value Network Node)


Character Feelings Table -- Julia West put this together as a reference for character emotions. Can be a great prompt source when you're not sure how your character is feeling at the moment, or you need a word to express the intensity of your character emotions.

Complete Friday 20 Index -- a quick source for answers to a bunch of writing-related questions posted here on the blog during the old Friday 20 sessions, indexed by subject and listed by question with links to my answers.

Index of Freeware & Online Tools for Writers -- I need to update this (badly) but many of the links are still viable, and may be of help when you need a free program or specific tool.

Invent-a-Word -- when you need to coin a new word but can't think of one, this prefix/suffix words overlapper generator can be a huge help.

Job Title Generator -- some are silly, but others are pretty interesting. Even if you just need a place holder/easily-searched-and-replaced type title until you can think up a better one, quite helpful.

OneLook Reverse Dictionary -- for when you have a definition or concept for which you need a word. Describe it in the search box, click and get a related words list.

Pseudo-Elizabethan Place Name Generator -- for those times in the story when you immediately need 100 Dickensian/UK-flavored place names. Seriously, I love this one; much of the names generated are consistently inspiring.

Seventh Sanctum -- Aka generator heaven. An index and links to the specific writing-related generators can be found on this page.

Tip of My Tongue -- an actual search engine for that one word you can almost remember. Enter letters, partial word fragments, what it sounds like, what it means and get back a list of possible solutions.

Word Navigator -- a wordsmith's mini-toolkit; enter a prefix, suffix or word and this generator will find words that start, end or contain it, new words made from the letters, words found within it and much more.

Wordle -- create word clouds from any text; extremely helpful in creating titles, story ideas and more (I love to feed it parts of stories, poems or songs and see what comes up in the cloud; I get a ton of title ideas that way.)

Writer's Knowledge Base -- Elizabeth S. Craig's search engine can find the writing-related online help you need very fast.

NaNoisms Ten

Ten Things Writers Say, and What They Really Mean

(The NaNoWriMo edition)

Come and be my NaNo writing buddy?

Don't make me go through this insanity alone. Please. I'm begging here.

Finally, a chance to do some real writing!

Finally, a chance to lock myself in the spare bedroom, turn down my computer speakers and play Candy Crush for three hours.

I don't yet have a title for my NaNo novel.

I'm not telling you the title of my NaNo novel because it's so good you'll steal it and tell everyone you thought it up and get published and then I'll have to one-star review and face in all your novels at the bookstore for the rest of my life.

I join in NaNoWriMo every year because I love it.

I hate this. Why did I do this to myself again? Because I'm crazy. Seriously. Calling the therapist as soon as I get my 1667 words for the day done. I swear.

I love all my friends cheering me on and encouraging me to write.

I'm Tuckerizing and then brutally slaughtering the next ass who asks me if I'm done yet.

My wordcount? I don't know, somewhere in the high five digits.

If you use two decimal places.

Once I finish NaNoWriMo I'm going to edit my novel and submit it to a publisher.

Once I finish NaNoWriMo I'm going to take this stack of crap into the backyard and burn it. Unless you read it for me, and love it to pieces, and tell me I'm the greatest writer who ever lived. Because I am. Look, just promise read it and lie to me, okay?

This is all I wanted to do in November.

This will get me out of all the lame holiday stuff my parents want me to do in November.

Writing a novel in 30 days is the most fun you can have as a writer.

Actually, no. It's gloating over the remainder titles at the Dollar Store, putting in fifteen requests under fake names for your own book at the local library, then sitting and pretending to write in the cafe where that really cute barista can watch you battle your non-existant literary demons. And there should be M&Ms in there somewhere. Like a pound of M&Ms.

You're not joining in? But you'll miss out!

Talk me out of this, please. Hurry.

Spec-Fic Contest

The Friends of the Merrill Collection are holding a Spec-Fic short story contest: " All entries submitted to the Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest must have a speculative fiction element (see the FAQ page for our definition). As we are no longer posting the winning stories on the website, there are no restrictions on content or subject matter. All entries must be previously unpublished." Length: up to 6K; Prizes: "First Place: $500.00 (CDN); Honourable Mentions (2): $50.00 (CDN) each." There is an entry fee for this one: "All stories submitted to the Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest must be accompanied by a $5.00 (CDN) entry fee. This fee is used to fund the winners’ purse and all funds raised in excess of that amount are used by the Friends of the Merril Collection to support the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation, and Fantasy at the Toronto Public Library." No reprints, electronic submission only, see contest page for more details. Submissions period opens November 14th, 2014 (do not submit before); Deadline February 15th, 2015.

I generally avoid posting contests or sub ops with entry fees, but reading this in their guidelines persuaded me to make an exception: "We know that for many writers the idea of entry fee based contests is a touchy subject, both because of the fraudulent practices that choke the field like the risen dead clawing their way free from rotting loam, and because of the idea of the fees themselves. We, the Friends of the Merril Collection, would like to make very clear the fact that we are not charging “reading fees”. We are running a contest to raise funds to aid the Merril Collection, and to raise awareness of the Collection. We hope you will visit the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation, and Fantasy website, or better still, join us at The Lillian H. Smith Branch of the Toronto Public Library for readings, exhibits, discussions and other special events! Your entry fees and donations will help the Friends continue to offer great programming throughout the year."

An excellent way to use the funds, I think, so bravo, Friends of the Merrill.

Here We Go

Today begins National Novel Writing Month, and for the next thirty days I'll be writing my way toward the 50K finish line. I've posted my wordcount widget and unofficial NaNo badges here, and as I have in years past I'll be posting updates, detailed notes on my progress and possibly some peeks at the story over on the stories blog.

Whenever I join in NaNoWriMo I like to set up in advance a reward for reaching the 50K finish line. Just as I was mulling over what that should be for 2014, our mail carrier stopped in with a package from B&N for me:



I forgot I had these on backorder, and it seemed like the universe was giving me a nudge, so the book and CD will wait until I finish NaNo (and if I don't reach 50K, I'll give them away to someone else, which will really hurt.)

If you're likewise diving into the madness, let us know in comments.

And we're off -- everyone, break a keyboard!

Wishing You

More Waverley!

I've finally received some gotta-preorder SPAM from B&N.com that made me very happy, and since I've bullied encouraged some of you to read this author, I thought I'd pass along the news:



Since Garden Spells remains my #1 favorite novel by Sarah Addison Allen, obviously I cannot wait to read this one.

What new releases are you looking forward to this Fall and Winter? Share the love in comments.

My NaNo Novel Plan

As you've probably noticed I've posted on the blog my word count widget and unofficial badges for NaNoWriMo 2014. This week I'll be putting together my novel notebook and doing the last bit of prepwork I need so I can begin writing straightaway on November 1st. I'm also available as a writing buddy on the NaNoWriMo web site; if you want to send a buddy request my user name is Lynn Viehl.

The idea I've decided to go with for my November novel is the first book in a historical romance trilogy that I've always wanted to write. The primary setting for the entire trilogy is Netherfield, one of the great estates from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (you might remember it as Bingley's home.) I've always thought Netherfield had great potential as a magical place for romance, mystery and adventures, and I want to tell some new stories about it with new characters and conflicts of my own creation.

Here's the cover art I worked up and the beginning of the synopsis:

The Novels of Netherfield
Book One Working Title: Lord of Midnight (Yeah, I know, uber generic, which is why it's a working title)

Rumors sweep through the village of Meryton as Netherfield Park is let at last to Colonel Julian Greville, a retired soldier recently returned from India. No one knows any real details about the colonel except that he is rich, reclusive and never seems to sleep. His residence soon causes much displeasure among Meryton's finer families, particularly those with unmarried daughters. Local legend maintains that anyone who spends a night at Netherfield will fall in love -- but the colonel refuses to accept calls from anyone.

A carriage mishap strands Miss Anne Maycott at Netherfield, where she is obliged to spend the night. Colonel Greville is kind and attentive, but he also puzzles her, for he takes no pride in his heroic past. Greville is exqually perplexed by Anne, who seems too good-humored and is far too lovely to be on the verge of becoming a spinster. He's also disturbed by the accidents that have regularly plagued Anne's life; far too many to be mere coincidence or, as she believes, bad luck . . .

So what are you planning to write for NaNoWriMo 2014? Let us know in comments.

LT Job Op (and Ribbet)

Library Thing is looking for a programmer:

LibraryThing, the company behind LibraryThing.com and LibraryThing for Libraries, is looking to hire a top-notch developer/programmer.

We like to think we make “products that don’t suck,” as opposed to much of what’s developed for libraries. We’ve got new ideas and not enough developers to make them. That’s where you come in.

Technical Skills required:

LibraryThing is mostly non-OO PHP. You need to be a solid PHP programmer or show us you can become one quickly. You should be experienced in HTML, JavaScript, CSS and SQL. We welcome experience with design and UX, Python, Solr, and mobile development.

There's a link to an online quiz in the job post that you should take to see if you're technically qualified, or send in your resume, whichever works best for you. See the job listing on Library Thing for more details. Also, if you apply and do get the job, mention I referred you, and I'll win a bunch of books. :)

Now, if you were a Muppet, exactly which one would you be? Take the quiz here and find out.

My results:



I don't know if I'm any of that description, but all the same I'm happy to be Kermit (okay, I was secretly hoping to be Mr. Snuffleupagus. No one but Big Bird ever saw him. Which would make Shiloh Walker Big Bird.)

So which Muppet are you? Let us know in comments.

(Test link swiped from Gerard at The Presurfer)

Boo Ten

Ten Things to Help with Halloween

Cooking Light magazine has some fun recipes here for your Halloween festivities.

DKTK has an entire page of Halloween Crafts and Activities for Kids here.

Food Network has a cool page here with ideas on how to turn your carved pumpkins into "snack-o-lanterns".

Good Housekeeping has 11 Enchanting Halloween Decorating Ideas here.

My favorite and most popular Halloween recipe is this delicious spinach dip, which I serve in a hollowed-out pumperknickel bread bowl surrounded with bread chunks, crackers and raw veggie bites.

For spooky reading material, one of the scariest stories I've ever read is an oldie -- The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.

Halloween parties can be torture for those of us who can't have sugar, unless you get inventive with your snacks. Look for fun recipes that don't involve sweets, like these witch brooms made from pretzels and string cheese.

Going trick or treating but have nothing to wear? Real Simple magazine has 10 last-Minute Halloween costume ideas here.

Martha Stewart always has some interesting Halloween recipes on her site; this year I might make her Rice Krispie treats that are colored and shaped like candy-corn.

Need helping carving your pumpkin? Wikihow has instructions with steo-by-step photos here.

In the Leaves

I've uploaded the final edited edition of In the Leaves as a .pdf file on Google Docs, and the story can be read online, downloaded, printed out and shared for free by anyone. To go to the e-book, click on the cover art: