Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 155
February 3, 2013
Beautiful Time-Lapse Photography--Must Watch
This is just incredibly awesome. Totally worth a few minutes of your time to see.
January 31, 2013
How To Drive a Writer Crazy
The past couple of weeks have been supremely frustrating for me. And yes, insanity inducing. You see, the hero and heroine I'm supposed to be writing are staying mum. I can't hear a peep out of them, not even a stray comment.
It's not that I'm not hearing voices because I am.
My hero who surfs, he's been talking a lot which really doesn't help me since he meets his heroine at the wedding of another h/h who I haven't written yet. I think I have the opening for his book now, though. Maybe. I'm only right about where a story opens about 50% of the time.
Zach is talking, too. This would be Z Man from my Jarved Nine world. He's not real happy with me right now because he's less than excited about the job he's been assigned, but he'll get over it. His heroine, however, hasn't said a word and I'm pretty sure the strong internal conflict is going to be hers because Z is pretty grounded and solid.
I also have an alien heroine who's on Earth who's talking to me, but there's no real plot to her story and so there's really nothing to write here.
But the h/h I need to be talking to me? You can hear crickets chirp.
This is why I torture my characters. Seriously. They're making me insane, so they totally deserve everything I throw at them.
It's not that I'm not hearing voices because I am.
My hero who surfs, he's been talking a lot which really doesn't help me since he meets his heroine at the wedding of another h/h who I haven't written yet. I think I have the opening for his book now, though. Maybe. I'm only right about where a story opens about 50% of the time.
Zach is talking, too. This would be Z Man from my Jarved Nine world. He's not real happy with me right now because he's less than excited about the job he's been assigned, but he'll get over it. His heroine, however, hasn't said a word and I'm pretty sure the strong internal conflict is going to be hers because Z is pretty grounded and solid.
I also have an alien heroine who's on Earth who's talking to me, but there's no real plot to her story and so there's really nothing to write here.
But the h/h I need to be talking to me? You can hear crickets chirp.
This is why I torture my characters. Seriously. They're making me insane, so they totally deserve everything I throw at them.
January 29, 2013
Adventures In Email
Every now and then I'd get an email from someone with only a link to a website in the body. I knew they hadn't sent it and that their email had been hacked.
I'd also read an article online last summer about a tech reporter who not only had been hacked, he'd had his entire online life taken over. Including having his iPhone erased. One of the suggestions he made was to turn on two-step verification on Gmail, so I did.
Or at least I thought I had.
Last week, someone hacked into my Gmail account. They sent out spam to everyone in my address book, a link to some site that no doubt had malware on it. This was hugely embarrassing and included coworkers, editors, and my agent among others.
I caught it almost immediately. I kept hearing the ping of email arriving and I checked right away, and when I saw all the bounced notes, I knew I'd been hacked. When this happens, the first thing to do is change your password, and I did. The mass emailing was stopped, but not quickly enough to prevent pretty much everyone from getting at least one email.
Why had I gotten hacked? Well, I'd had a tough password on Gmail, but I continually forgot it, so I went with something I could remember and paid the price.
A little further investigation told me that two-step Gmail verification had not been turned on even though I thought I had done it. I rectified that immediately.
Two-step verification sends a code via text to a cell phone. That code is required whenever I sign in from a new location, so in the future, if someone hacks my password, they still won't get in because they won't have verification code.
I also signed up for a password service. It can remember all the passwords for me and I only have to remember one to get into the service. The thing that sold me on this is that it generates secure passwords for me. As soon as I got it, I jumped onto Gmail--all my accounts--and changed all my passwords.
I guess I learned a lesson--never compromise safety--but I just wish these computer geeks would use their powers for good and not evil.
I'd also read an article online last summer about a tech reporter who not only had been hacked, he'd had his entire online life taken over. Including having his iPhone erased. One of the suggestions he made was to turn on two-step verification on Gmail, so I did.
Or at least I thought I had.
Last week, someone hacked into my Gmail account. They sent out spam to everyone in my address book, a link to some site that no doubt had malware on it. This was hugely embarrassing and included coworkers, editors, and my agent among others.
I caught it almost immediately. I kept hearing the ping of email arriving and I checked right away, and when I saw all the bounced notes, I knew I'd been hacked. When this happens, the first thing to do is change your password, and I did. The mass emailing was stopped, but not quickly enough to prevent pretty much everyone from getting at least one email.
Why had I gotten hacked? Well, I'd had a tough password on Gmail, but I continually forgot it, so I went with something I could remember and paid the price.
A little further investigation told me that two-step Gmail verification had not been turned on even though I thought I had done it. I rectified that immediately.
Two-step verification sends a code via text to a cell phone. That code is required whenever I sign in from a new location, so in the future, if someone hacks my password, they still won't get in because they won't have verification code.
I also signed up for a password service. It can remember all the passwords for me and I only have to remember one to get into the service. The thing that sold me on this is that it generates secure passwords for me. As soon as I got it, I jumped onto Gmail--all my accounts--and changed all my passwords.
I guess I learned a lesson--never compromise safety--but I just wish these computer geeks would use their powers for good and not evil.
January 27, 2013
Have a Coke
This is an awful lot of work to get something to drink, but pretty cool.
January 24, 2013
Education Never Stops
On Tuesday I talked about learning Spanish and it made me think of learning in general. One of my very favorite parts of being a writer is having the opportunity to learn something different with every book. There are things my heroes and heroines do or know that I don't know anything about.
Like my hero and heroine who speak fluent Spanish. :-)
I complain about some of the things I need to research--some of my h/h are into some stuff that doesn't interest me at all--but in the end, I'm always glad I learned it.
Among the things I need to research for ideas I have have percolating now are: geology, South America, surfing, also professional surfing, Hawaii, Post Concussion Syndrome, archaeology, reverse engineering of technology, espionage, computer viruses, and jungle survival. Just to name a few. Some of these topics are in the same story, BTW. It isn't one topic per book.
I'll confess to having zero interest in surfing, but that hasn't stopped me from pinning a bunch of surfing pictures on Pinterest.
If you remember Tuesday's post, I mentioned that I pick up my characters' interests. Believe me, that hugely helps me research the things I'm not personally interested in. It's a blessing...until I start buying things because of this interest. Still, it's better than having to research a topic I find really dry (geology, engineering) with nothing to alleviate the pain.
Like my hero and heroine who speak fluent Spanish. :-)
I complain about some of the things I need to research--some of my h/h are into some stuff that doesn't interest me at all--but in the end, I'm always glad I learned it.
Among the things I need to research for ideas I have have percolating now are: geology, South America, surfing, also professional surfing, Hawaii, Post Concussion Syndrome, archaeology, reverse engineering of technology, espionage, computer viruses, and jungle survival. Just to name a few. Some of these topics are in the same story, BTW. It isn't one topic per book.
I'll confess to having zero interest in surfing, but that hasn't stopped me from pinning a bunch of surfing pictures on Pinterest.
If you remember Tuesday's post, I mentioned that I pick up my characters' interests. Believe me, that hugely helps me research the things I'm not personally interested in. It's a blessing...until I start buying things because of this interest. Still, it's better than having to research a topic I find really dry (geology, engineering) with nothing to alleviate the pain.
Hacked
Last night, my gmail account was hacked. If you're one of the people who received an email from me, delete it and don't click any links.
Because I'd set up this blog so that I could post via email, one of the spam links made it up here as a post. I deleted it as soon as I realized it had posted, but if you clicked on that link, please run a virus check on your computer. I'm turning the post via email feature off and it shouldn't happen again.
I'm sorry about this.
Because I'd set up this blog so that I could post via email, one of the spam links made it up here as a post. I deleted it as soon as I realized it had posted, but if you clicked on that link, please run a virus check on your computer. I'm turning the post via email feature off and it shouldn't happen again.
I'm sorry about this.
January 22, 2013
Dos Cervezas Or Something
A year ago--or maybe longer than that now--I'd mentioned I wanted to learn to speak Spanish. I did some research on the computer programs available and picked the one I thought would do best for me, but I didn't buy it.
You see, I was working on this story with two characters who both spoke Spanish fluently and I was afraid it was one of those things I'd picked up from them. I can't even tell you how many weird interests I've developed because my characters have them. Then, when I'm done with that hero and heroine, the new interest wanes. Rapidly. Since the Spanish software wasn't cheap, I thought I'd let this one stew for a while. Just in case.
I was successful at letting it rest for a while, but I had the software on my wish list and I kept checking the price. Regularly.
Keep in mind that the price per disk to buy Spanish 1-5 was considerably cheaper than buying just Spanish 1 or even Spanish 1-2. The difference was huge enough that I knew I'd be buying the 5 disk set. This also meant that if I didn't follow through and use it, I'd feel like 5 times as guilty.
I managed to resist the urge to buy the software, and the price was a big deterrent. Then, at Thanksgiving, it went on sale. It was marked down $80. I tweeted about it, but the enablers on Twitter encouraged me to buy it.
Despite this, I couldn't quite pull the trigger. Even with the sale, it was still a lot of money. I hemmed and hawed enough that it went back to regular price without my buying it. And for the next week, I regretted this so much that I knew the next time it went on sale, I'd have to buy it.
Not only did the strong remorse help make up my mind, but it had also been more than a year since I'd written anything with my Spanish speaking hero and heroine. Definitely long enough for their interests to leave.
But this was the first time the software had been on sale and I resigned myself to waiting until Thanksgiving 2013.
And then I came home from Christmas in Minnesota and breezed through my wish list. The Spanish software was on sale again for the same price I'd passed up in November. This time I bought it with only a small hesitation.
So far I'm on my third lesson. The first two went relatively easy and I'd hoped my language learning abilities had improved since high school and college when I struggled through German. Lesson three convinced me it wasn't going to be that easy.
It doesn't matter. I'm going to learn Spanish. I have five levels I bought and I'm getting through all of them.
You see, I was working on this story with two characters who both spoke Spanish fluently and I was afraid it was one of those things I'd picked up from them. I can't even tell you how many weird interests I've developed because my characters have them. Then, when I'm done with that hero and heroine, the new interest wanes. Rapidly. Since the Spanish software wasn't cheap, I thought I'd let this one stew for a while. Just in case.
I was successful at letting it rest for a while, but I had the software on my wish list and I kept checking the price. Regularly.
Keep in mind that the price per disk to buy Spanish 1-5 was considerably cheaper than buying just Spanish 1 or even Spanish 1-2. The difference was huge enough that I knew I'd be buying the 5 disk set. This also meant that if I didn't follow through and use it, I'd feel like 5 times as guilty.
I managed to resist the urge to buy the software, and the price was a big deterrent. Then, at Thanksgiving, it went on sale. It was marked down $80. I tweeted about it, but the enablers on Twitter encouraged me to buy it.
Despite this, I couldn't quite pull the trigger. Even with the sale, it was still a lot of money. I hemmed and hawed enough that it went back to regular price without my buying it. And for the next week, I regretted this so much that I knew the next time it went on sale, I'd have to buy it.
Not only did the strong remorse help make up my mind, but it had also been more than a year since I'd written anything with my Spanish speaking hero and heroine. Definitely long enough for their interests to leave.
But this was the first time the software had been on sale and I resigned myself to waiting until Thanksgiving 2013.
And then I came home from Christmas in Minnesota and breezed through my wish list. The Spanish software was on sale again for the same price I'd passed up in November. This time I bought it with only a small hesitation.
So far I'm on my third lesson. The first two went relatively easy and I'd hoped my language learning abilities had improved since high school and college when I struggled through German. Lesson three convinced me it wasn't going to be that easy.
It doesn't matter. I'm going to learn Spanish. I have five levels I bought and I'm getting through all of them.
January 20, 2013
Les Misérables Wedding Flash Mob
What a cool surprise for the bride and groom!
January 17, 2013
Blank Image
Last week I talked about my creative burst. I've kind of been doing some pre-book work on the stories, but I've run into something unusual--I don't know what one of my heroines looks like.
This usually doesn't happen to me. I might not know exactly what a character looks like at first, but I always have a general sense. Just not this time.
I know her career. I know her name. I know her age. I have a general idea of the storyline she and her hero will share. But I have no clue what her ethnicity is. I don't even know what color her hair is and really, this has never happened before. As soon as a character starts talking to me, I usually have some basic detail.
On Pinterest, someone posted a picture of a model that I thought might maybe sort of work, but when I checked her out, she didn't really click. The woman had blonde hair, so I thought maybe that was my heroine's hair color, but I'm not convinced this is true.
The two blonde models that caught my attention both had freckles. I thought about that for a while and decided yes, freckles, but the hair color is still in question.
I Googled for freckled women and none of the hair colors--and all of them were represented--screamed this color!
Things like this shouldn't bother me, especially on a story that's so far out in the future. They do, though. I like things settled and at least partially complete. The fact that this heroine is the only one I don't/can't see out of the 12 characters just makes it extra frustrating.
This usually doesn't happen to me. I might not know exactly what a character looks like at first, but I always have a general sense. Just not this time.
I know her career. I know her name. I know her age. I have a general idea of the storyline she and her hero will share. But I have no clue what her ethnicity is. I don't even know what color her hair is and really, this has never happened before. As soon as a character starts talking to me, I usually have some basic detail.
On Pinterest, someone posted a picture of a model that I thought might maybe sort of work, but when I checked her out, she didn't really click. The woman had blonde hair, so I thought maybe that was my heroine's hair color, but I'm not convinced this is true.
The two blonde models that caught my attention both had freckles. I thought about that for a while and decided yes, freckles, but the hair color is still in question.
I Googled for freckled women and none of the hair colors--and all of them were represented--screamed this color!
Things like this shouldn't bother me, especially on a story that's so far out in the future. They do, though. I like things settled and at least partially complete. The fact that this heroine is the only one I don't/can't see out of the 12 characters just makes it extra frustrating.
January 15, 2013
Can't Look Back
One of the things my dad can't understand is why I have zero interest in going to my high school reunion. He went to many of his and enjoyed them tremendously. I'm completely meh on the whole thing.
My lack of interest goes beyond the fact that social situations just aren't a lot of fun for me. I'm very introverted and being surrounded by strangers--which is what these people are now--is enough to give me anxiety attacks. It's rooted firmly in the fact that I don't care.
I think much of my indifference is rooted in the fact that I don't believe in living in the past. Chapter is closed; let's move on. Maybe if I'd been one of the cool kids in school, I'd feel differently, but I'm a geek and a dreamer--and I always have been--so I most definitely didn't fit in with the cheerleaders and the jocks.
My graduating class has a group going on Facebook, and because I did have some mild curiosity, I checked it out.
Graduating class: 400
Members of the FB Group: 175
Names I recognized: 3 or 4
Seeing how few people I remembered pretty much reinforced my apathy about reunions. And in all fairness, I doubt many of those people remember me, either. More reason to go meh.
My lack of interest goes beyond the fact that social situations just aren't a lot of fun for me. I'm very introverted and being surrounded by strangers--which is what these people are now--is enough to give me anxiety attacks. It's rooted firmly in the fact that I don't care.
I think much of my indifference is rooted in the fact that I don't believe in living in the past. Chapter is closed; let's move on. Maybe if I'd been one of the cool kids in school, I'd feel differently, but I'm a geek and a dreamer--and I always have been--so I most definitely didn't fit in with the cheerleaders and the jocks.
My graduating class has a group going on Facebook, and because I did have some mild curiosity, I checked it out.
Graduating class: 400
Members of the FB Group: 175
Names I recognized: 3 or 4
Seeing how few people I remembered pretty much reinforced my apathy about reunions. And in all fairness, I doubt many of those people remember me, either. More reason to go meh.
