Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 134
July 8, 2014
Does Series Order Matter?
I've been thinking lately about books in a series and their order. Can an author skip around in a series timeline? Or does that really bother readers?
Like in my Jarved Nine series, I wrote Ravyn's Flight and Eternal Nights in proper order, but then I skipped ahead to Troll's story in The Troll Bridge. I did it because I was invited to write a story for a collection, but I still had six other books that needed to come first.
Books that I hope to write some day. :-/ (I'd also like to go back and write the full-length version of Troll and Lia's story. It came flooding in while I was writing the short story, but I had to force it aside.)
But what if I skipped around more than that? What if the next story I wrote was say 20 years after Troll's book and then I came back and wrote the stories that happened immediately after Eternal Nights? Would that be annoying beyond words?
This is all hypothetical and I'm working in a completely different world in a completely different sub-genre, so I probably shouldn't even be asking the question now. But I'm curious. Would skipping around in a series timeline be a deal breaker?
Like in my Jarved Nine series, I wrote Ravyn's Flight and Eternal Nights in proper order, but then I skipped ahead to Troll's story in The Troll Bridge. I did it because I was invited to write a story for a collection, but I still had six other books that needed to come first.
Books that I hope to write some day. :-/ (I'd also like to go back and write the full-length version of Troll and Lia's story. It came flooding in while I was writing the short story, but I had to force it aside.)
But what if I skipped around more than that? What if the next story I wrote was say 20 years after Troll's book and then I came back and wrote the stories that happened immediately after Eternal Nights? Would that be annoying beyond words?
This is all hypothetical and I'm working in a completely different world in a completely different sub-genre, so I probably shouldn't even be asking the question now. But I'm curious. Would skipping around in a series timeline be a deal breaker?
July 6, 2014
Where Is America?
This video has some facts about America that maybe you don't know. Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Micronesia were news to me.
July 3, 2014
Happy Fourth of July!
One day early, but enjoy the holiday, America!
July 1, 2014
Lists and Planners
I admit to having organizational issues. I like being organized and on top of things, but that's not a natural state for me. I end up forgetting to do things or becoming stressed because everything seems to hit at once. Usually because I'm poor at time management.
For a while now, I've been collecting links to organization blogs/websites and one of these involved a planner. The blogger showed the one she uses and a little on how she used it. It looked cool.
However, apparently this planner is only available through the company who makes it. At least I couldn't find it online anywhere else and I did some searches for it. I'm sure the company is a fine one since it has been around for quite some time, but I'd prefer to buy it somewhere online that I already shop.
After thinking about it for a while, I decided to check out what other planners were available. Maybe I could find something I really liked that was at an online store I regularly buy from.
My search on that site for planners turned up a really interesting link. I clicked through and it appeared to have the exact kind of planner I wanted. Not just weekly appointments or goals, but long term goals. Steps to take to reach the goal. And not just business, but everything.
This, I decided, looked like something I needed to try. I'm just waiting for the July 2014 - June 2015 version to come out, and then I'm ordering! I hope it turns out to be as helpful as it looks once I actually try to use it.
I'll blog about this again once I have a chance to form an opinion.
For a while now, I've been collecting links to organization blogs/websites and one of these involved a planner. The blogger showed the one she uses and a little on how she used it. It looked cool.
However, apparently this planner is only available through the company who makes it. At least I couldn't find it online anywhere else and I did some searches for it. I'm sure the company is a fine one since it has been around for quite some time, but I'd prefer to buy it somewhere online that I already shop.
After thinking about it for a while, I decided to check out what other planners were available. Maybe I could find something I really liked that was at an online store I regularly buy from.
My search on that site for planners turned up a really interesting link. I clicked through and it appeared to have the exact kind of planner I wanted. Not just weekly appointments or goals, but long term goals. Steps to take to reach the goal. And not just business, but everything.
This, I decided, looked like something I needed to try. I'm just waiting for the July 2014 - June 2015 version to come out, and then I'm ordering! I hope it turns out to be as helpful as it looks once I actually try to use it.
I'll blog about this again once I have a chance to form an opinion.
June 29, 2014
Why Mosquitoes Suck
Warning: This video has pictures of mosquitoes, many of them close-ups.
June 26, 2014
There Were Rules?
Over the weekend, I saw a pin on Pinterest that was basically issuing a rule. If you repin too many pictures, you'll be blocked. Board raiding, where someone pins hundreds of pins without following the pinner, are evil deeds and must be stopped. She went on to say in her note-picture that on her board, ten repins on the limit and then you're blocked.
I'm reading this going WTF? There are rules? I've never pinned hundreds of pins from one user in a day before, but people have done it to me and--guess what?--I don't care. Pin all you want.
It never ceases to amaze me how arbitrary rules get created. How are people supposed to know these made-up rules? This was the first I'd heard of them and only because someone had herself a little rant about a group board that I'm somehow following.
There used to be a game I played on Facebook that I really liked called Fairyland. It involved planting flowers and watering other people's gardens to find animals at the feeding plates. I've stopped playing the game now for two reasons. The first is not enough time, but the second made it easier for not to try and carve time out of my schedule. People started making up rules.
Seriously anal rules like you can only sprinkle so many times or don't water all the flowers when you visit. No swooping (where someone takes a critter away from others who've been patiently watering, waiting for its appearance). It seemed as if there were as many rules as there were gardens.
It became stressful to play. I mentioned lack of time to play the game. Because of this, I would return sprinkles to people who watered my garden as fast as I could. I frequently didn't see warnings not to water until after I'd already done so. These arbitrary rules took all the fun out of the game.
In my experience (and I could be wrong), but it seems to me that it's women who make up these ridiculous rules, changing what should be stress-free and fun into some kind of minefield of unknown etiquette.
At least on Fairyland, there were places to post the rules for any particular garden. That wasn't what was supposed to go in that text box, but it gave the visitor a chance to figure out what not to do. Pinterest doesn't have anything on the individual pins to let a person know they're about to make a grave faux pas by liking too many pictures enough to pin them.
My message to those who are making up rules: Stop. Just have fun and let everyone else have fun, too. There are enough rules in life without creating more.
I'm reading this going WTF? There are rules? I've never pinned hundreds of pins from one user in a day before, but people have done it to me and--guess what?--I don't care. Pin all you want.
It never ceases to amaze me how arbitrary rules get created. How are people supposed to know these made-up rules? This was the first I'd heard of them and only because someone had herself a little rant about a group board that I'm somehow following.
There used to be a game I played on Facebook that I really liked called Fairyland. It involved planting flowers and watering other people's gardens to find animals at the feeding plates. I've stopped playing the game now for two reasons. The first is not enough time, but the second made it easier for not to try and carve time out of my schedule. People started making up rules.
Seriously anal rules like you can only sprinkle so many times or don't water all the flowers when you visit. No swooping (where someone takes a critter away from others who've been patiently watering, waiting for its appearance). It seemed as if there were as many rules as there were gardens.
It became stressful to play. I mentioned lack of time to play the game. Because of this, I would return sprinkles to people who watered my garden as fast as I could. I frequently didn't see warnings not to water until after I'd already done so. These arbitrary rules took all the fun out of the game.
In my experience (and I could be wrong), but it seems to me that it's women who make up these ridiculous rules, changing what should be stress-free and fun into some kind of minefield of unknown etiquette.
At least on Fairyland, there were places to post the rules for any particular garden. That wasn't what was supposed to go in that text box, but it gave the visitor a chance to figure out what not to do. Pinterest doesn't have anything on the individual pins to let a person know they're about to make a grave faux pas by liking too many pictures enough to pin them.
My message to those who are making up rules: Stop. Just have fun and let everyone else have fun, too. There are enough rules in life without creating more.
June 24, 2014
Interview!
I know, two posts in one day! But I did an interview at Night Owl Reviews and I wanted to share it with you. Please swing by and check it out.
Night Owl Reviews Interview
Night Owl Reviews Interview
Adventures With Pillows
I've heard over and over about dust mites in pillows and that they need to be regularly washed, so I found some video instructions, ordered tennis balls (for the dryer), and set forth to clean my pillows.
The instructions said in a front loader, it's possible to do just one pillow, but I decided to do two because of the balance issue. I wasn't wrong about an uneven load being an issue, but I didn't realize just how right I was about it. Even with two pillows, I got an error message. I cleared the error and tried to get through the remaining 3 minutes of the spin cycle.
Another error.
And another, and another, and another.
Maybe if I took out one of the pillows and just put one through spin? I decided to try that. Nope. Now it started throwing the error at the 9 minute mark.
Hmm. Okay. The pillow that I'd taken out earlier doesn't feel too wet. I'm going to throw that in the dryer while I figure out what to do about the pillow that's sodden. I'd put it in there with the cover on and that seemed to be holding water in, what if I unzipped it?
Nope. Still erring.
I started checking for answers online. A woman said she washed her pillow with a blanket to help balance the load. I decided to try that. For a while, I was hopeful that it was working, but that little error chime sounded yet again. I'm growing to hate that noise.
My next thought was to try hand squeezing the pillow out, but it's so filled with water, that I'm not sure it will be enough. I don't want to put it in the dryer dripping wet.
Just when I was about to give up hope, a miracle happened! The thump of the tennis balls in the dryer is a welcome sound.
The instructions said in a front loader, it's possible to do just one pillow, but I decided to do two because of the balance issue. I wasn't wrong about an uneven load being an issue, but I didn't realize just how right I was about it. Even with two pillows, I got an error message. I cleared the error and tried to get through the remaining 3 minutes of the spin cycle.
Another error.
And another, and another, and another.
Maybe if I took out one of the pillows and just put one through spin? I decided to try that. Nope. Now it started throwing the error at the 9 minute mark.
Hmm. Okay. The pillow that I'd taken out earlier doesn't feel too wet. I'm going to throw that in the dryer while I figure out what to do about the pillow that's sodden. I'd put it in there with the cover on and that seemed to be holding water in, what if I unzipped it?
Nope. Still erring.
I started checking for answers online. A woman said she washed her pillow with a blanket to help balance the load. I decided to try that. For a while, I was hopeful that it was working, but that little error chime sounded yet again. I'm growing to hate that noise.
My next thought was to try hand squeezing the pillow out, but it's so filled with water, that I'm not sure it will be enough. I don't want to put it in the dryer dripping wet.
Just when I was about to give up hope, a miracle happened! The thump of the tennis balls in the dryer is a welcome sound.
June 22, 2014
June 19, 2014
Champagne Taste
In my bedroom, the only overhead light I have is the one in the ceiling fan and it's pretty dim. And the fan is kind of ugly with the brown metal thing from the ceiling down to the fan. It's like the builder standard model.
I'll also confess that I don't like ceiling fans in the bedroom. I know I live in Georgia and I know even people in Minnesota have these things and run them in the summer. It's just that I have this thing about air blowing on me. I don't like it right on my head and the ceiling fans always seem to be centered right over where I sleep. Plus, and this is big, the thing vibrates so hard when it's on, that I fear for my life. ;-)
Okay, well, maybe night quite that bad, but it does shake enough that I worry it will come down, and since I don't like it anyway....
So I started looking at lights online. I thought chandelier since I've seen other master bedrooms with them. And every single chandelier that made me stop and go ooh was over $1000. Some of them were over $3000 and one was almost $5000!!!
Who pays $5000 for ONE light???
After going through pages and pages and not liking any light that wasn't knocking on a grand, I decided that perhaps a pendant light would be a better way to go. I switched my focus and discovered that all the large pendant lights that made me go ooh were also over $1000. Seriously!
Call me cheap or frugal or whatever, but I didn't pay that much for my dining room light, and if I was going to bust the bank on one light, it would be the one everyone saw the instant they walked into my house.
I've decided to put my idea about changing the light on hold for right now. I'll just have to live with the dim, somewhat-scary ceiling fan for a while.
I'll also confess that I don't like ceiling fans in the bedroom. I know I live in Georgia and I know even people in Minnesota have these things and run them in the summer. It's just that I have this thing about air blowing on me. I don't like it right on my head and the ceiling fans always seem to be centered right over where I sleep. Plus, and this is big, the thing vibrates so hard when it's on, that I fear for my life. ;-)
Okay, well, maybe night quite that bad, but it does shake enough that I worry it will come down, and since I don't like it anyway....
So I started looking at lights online. I thought chandelier since I've seen other master bedrooms with them. And every single chandelier that made me stop and go ooh was over $1000. Some of them were over $3000 and one was almost $5000!!!
Who pays $5000 for ONE light???
After going through pages and pages and not liking any light that wasn't knocking on a grand, I decided that perhaps a pendant light would be a better way to go. I switched my focus and discovered that all the large pendant lights that made me go ooh were also over $1000. Seriously!
Call me cheap or frugal or whatever, but I didn't pay that much for my dining room light, and if I was going to bust the bank on one light, it would be the one everyone saw the instant they walked into my house.
I've decided to put my idea about changing the light on hold for right now. I'll just have to live with the dim, somewhat-scary ceiling fan for a while.
