Silke Juppenlatz's Blog, page 3
June 8, 2012
Win win win! x6 !!
It's the Lyrical Press Author Blitz today — and you can win copies of the following:
Howl by Silke Juppenlatz
Fire's Ice by Brynna Curry
Worth Fighting For by Sondrae Bennett
Head on over to the blogs below, and enter the giveaways!
You get not just one, but SIX chances to win!
Here is some more about the books you can win:
Howl by Silke Juppenlatz
When life hands you wolves, howl.
The alpha wolf in Zalin's pack is slowing going insane, which is tough enough to contend with, but the guy is gunning for the woman Zalin loves–the rancher's daughter who saved his hide. He's torn between taking off to avoid a confrontation with the Alpha, and sticking around to protect Lucia. Opening his heart to her is not an option– he's had enough rejection to last a lifetime.
Lucia is fascinated by the "wolf" she saved–at the time unaware he was more than a canine. Zalin seems out to save her from his Alpha, but she wants more than protection from him. When spilled family secrets make her doubt everything she knows, she turns to Zalin for stability, only to learn he's planning to leave.
Will Zalin desert the one he loves when she needs him most, or will he howl a challenge on her behalf?
Fire's Ice by Brynna Curry
Born the son of a Scottish laird a thousand years ago, but now trapped by his cousin's spell, Devin McLoch has seen countless battles and death. The erstwhile thief has turned away from darker pursuits to lead a life of peace, protecting those he loves and considers part of his clan. However, there is one woman he can never forget, who must be given a chance to change, to accept her heart and his.
Arianne Farrell is just as dangerous and intoxicating as her power. Imprisoned in an ancient stone dance more than a thousand years ago, her only chance at freedom from the spell is through love–a love she denied. When Devin asks for her aid to save another from imminent death, she realizes there is more at stake than just her freedom or her heart.
WARNING: Two stubborn sexy wizards using magic with no bounds, scorching love scenes, and happy ever after. Ever play with fire?
Worth Fighting For by Sondrae Bennett
All’s fair in love and war.
As leader of a fox skulk, Cody is used to feeling protective. But when his best friend, Misty, gets attacked, his panic has nothing to do with duty. Suddenly, he’s noticing Misty as a woman instead of the girl he grew up with. But pursuing those feelings would risk their friendship, something he's unwilling to do.
Misty's tried everything, without success, to convince Cody she's not "one of the guys". Yet now that he's looking at her like she always dreamed, he pulls away every time she gets close.
Danger lurks in the background, waiting to pounce. Someone plots against the foxes, leaving them all in jeopardy…especially Misty. Will Cody overcome his fears in time to save the woman he loves?
What are you waiting for?
June 6, 2012
Rule Britannia
I think everyone knows what's been going on in the UK this weekend, and if not, you probably live under a rock somewhere.
Well, the Diamond Jubilee is over, and people had a "Right Royal Knee's Up" for 4 days.
There were street parties, lunches, bunting, flags, pageants, processions, a concert…and a lot of delighted smiles from the Queen.
Anyone who didn't know the national anthem bloody well learned it over those four days, willing or not. Wherever the Queen went, there were random outbursts of "God Save The Queen". So much so, I think she needs a new theme tune. 
All in all, it really was a great time. Rain notwithstanding. The Brits really took to the "Keep Calm and Carry On" motto, and no amount of rain, cold or drizzle stopped them from celebrating 60 years of the Queen's rule.
Yes, she still rules. Though not in any political capacity.
The Prime Minister has a weekly meeting with the Queen. He appraises her of what's going on, and in turn she offers advice on decisions. Here is a woman who has 60 years experience in the job, who has met every ruler, who knows everything about them and their countries, and is perhaps the most important ambassador Great Britain ever had.
Above all — she is completely impartial. She is not associated with any political party, and the only thing that matters to her is the health and prosperity of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth Countries, and the citizens of those nations.
Taking advice from her is simply invaluable and most (not all) Prime Ministers truly appreciate their meetings with her.
I think the US Presidents would just love to have someone like her at hand.
The woman has more stamina (at 86 years of age!) than many of us can muster.
She remained on her feet during the entire river pageant — some 5 hours long — and never stopped waving at people. (Her wrist must ache like hell, as must her feet.)
She gracefully smiled through all the (good-natured) jokes, laughing out loud at times.
(I still think at least one of those boats and ships should have hoisted a pirate flag–but that's just me.)
The concert was a fantastic visual treat, with Buckingham Palace all lit up and used as a canvas. Some of the acts were brilliant, some not so much, some were just downright freakish. (Grace Jones and her hulahoop springs to mind…)
The fireworks were absolutely stunning, the beacons were awesome — and the weather played ball too.
And the people…wow. The atmosphere was one of exuberance and happiness, with everyone cheering, doing Mexican Waves down the Mall, waving flags, singing, cheering…just incredible.
My better half, who is a camera man and who covered the entire Jubilee, came back completely exhausted yesterday.
He slogged through the River Pageant, covered the concert, and St. Paul's the next morning. He said people were standing twenty deep along the riverbanks, from Battersea to Tower Bridge. The streets were full of cheerful "subjects", the parks were crowded to bursting with families having picnics, revellers having parties in spite of the rain. 
The weather didn't deter anyone. Those his crew spoke to basically said "If the Queen can do all this at her age, we are just going to buck up and do it too. It's the least we can do."
However…they weren't doing it because of patriotism. No "I'm doing it for England." Nope, none of that. They were doing it for the Queen.
The Union Jack flag was everywhere. People were wearing it as hats, coats, shirts, jackets, umbrellas, face paint — you name it. It was hanging out of windows, strung along entire streets as bunting, covered tables as a table cloth, hung from cars.
I know of a "Patriotic Pony", which before all this was a gray…only to be covered in colored chalk from top to bottom — until it was a "Union Jack" pony. (Looked awesome, and they washed it after, no harm done.)
I've seen the Queen at functions many times. She is the epitome of "Stiff Upper Lip". This weekend, however, she smiled, laughed and seemed to genuinely enjoy herself. And sometimes… Sometimes that "Stiff Upper Lip" was in danger of crumbling. When she stood on the stage after the concert and Prince Charles did the speech on the concert stage, and people were cheering her, cheering even louder for Prince Philip, who is in hospital right now, there was a lot of hard swallowing and she looked close to tears.
The same when she stood on the Balcony the next day. I think ER II struggled with her emotions. A lot. I think maybe she didn't quite expect such an overwhelming outpouring of good will.
Well, she should have.
All in all, it was a fantastic long weekend — and not just for us "Plebs", but also for "One".
Congratulations, Ma'am.
June 1, 2012
Damn, I damaged my human
Day 182 of my Captivity
It is currently a pretty sweet life. Out in the field, lots of lush grass, sunshine, great friends — and no work!
The flies are annoying, but I arrange myself with one of the other horses and we swish them away for each other.
We did have an incident though, and it was kind of my fault. Yeah, I admit it. I broke my human. But it was done with all the best intentions.
I was trying to save my human from a monster that leaped over the top of a bush. It was coming straight at us! High up, a dark shadow the size of one of those weird looking gray things with the very long noses and club feet.
The human is normally quite good about staying on my back, but I guess I took that last corner a bit too sharply. I didn't account for her only having two legs, and being a bit fragile and bouncy.
Well, it all went a bit wrong. I tripped and it bounced her out of the saddle, and I tried to help by adjusting where I was, but I was going really fast and…well. Suddenly she was on the ground, and I was still running from the monster.
Okay, so I was a little scared for myself, too. To my shame, I kept going and just left her there while I ran home.
It's not easy being a responsible horse, you know. Sometimes I fail.
Some humans caught me and led me home, just as I'd decided to turn around and go back for her. I swear that's what I was going to do, but they stopped me.
I thought the walk would probably do her good…and I greeted her with a "Nice of you to join me, took you long enough" look — until I saw what I'd done. She could hardly move, and I'd made her walk 3 miles. Oh my, I felt really guilty. I didn't know she got hurt, I swear! I stood very still while she checked me over, and I tried to tell her I'm fine, but she insisted to look for herself. Nice of her, but it made me feel even more guilty since it caused her even more pain.
That was about two weeks ago, just after the vet came to give me my jabs. He was nice, and Ori and Athenia were there too, so it wasn't so bad. I wasn't sure about that teeth rasping Ori had done, but they didn't touch my teeth.
I'm told I'll get sedated to do it, and apparently they'll have the farrier come as well on that day. Damn. I thought I was rid of that guy after I put up a fight last time.
Not looking forward to that. The accident gave me a reprieve, but I know it's gonna happen…soon.
Julia, my human's friend, takes me out occasionally, but I make her work at catching me. Told Ori that humans need exercise, so the other day he made her run after him for an hour. That was fun to watch.
We switched fields as well, and the grass is really high and nice. There's shade and water…bliss.
But the human is mean. Well, okay, not really mean. She doesn't hit me or anything, but she laughed at me yesterday!
There I was, taking a nap…and she arrives and laughs. Laughs!! About me!! Claims I was snoring and answering her back while I was asleep.
I do not talk in my sleep! And I don't snore, either. It's a vicious rumor she's spreading.
She claims I was so deeply asleep, she could have been a lion and I wouldn't have noticed.
A lion? Really? Doesn't she know there are no lions roaming free around here?
Wait. Are there???
Anyway my "Field Cred" is in tatters!
We went for a walk afterward, that was nice. Out in the woods, nice and cool…it was worth getting up for. I did go easy on her though, she's still hurt. Made me feel really bad, to know I'm the cause of it. Apparently she's had to take painkillers every three hours since it happened, but at least nothing is broken. When I saw how hurt she was that day, I worried about broken ribs, because she landed on some nasty tree roots.
So that's the news from my side of the fence.
I hope you are getting your own training of your humans done and fare better than I did.
Remember — you can't train a human when it's hurt. Be gentle.
(P.S. You can't use them as scratching posts either while they're hurt. I kinda forgot that there for a moment…)
May 25, 2012
What’s your favorite line?
I usually have songs I associate with moods, rather than scenes.
Most writers have music playing while they write. I do, and I don't. Not always.
I'm easily distracted, so there is no TV in this room — but I need music available.
My musical tastes vary. I can listen to classical, or heavy metal — it makes no difference to me.
I adore good lyrics. The melody is all well and good, but if the lyrics don't speak to me, then I won't like the song.
Right now I'm listening to the new Shinedown album (Amaryllis) and ever since I heard the first track by them, I loved their lyrics.
Since I'm inspired by them…I'll share my favorite lines from the new album (and a couple others).
"My name is revenge and I'm here to save my name" (My Name)
"All the uninvited tragedies — Step outside" (Amaryllis)
"You’re all the hate that we share" (Enemies)
"Am I sick or am I gifted?" (I'm Not Alright)
"That little social scene. It’s just a hate machine." (Nowhere Kids)
"Just a sign, to remind me tomorrow’s worth the fight" (Miracle)
"The first step is the one you believe in, the second one might be profound." (I'll Follow You)
"Maybe the sun that wouldn't shine should be taking the blame" (For My Sake)
"What part of living says you gotta die?" (Adrenaline)
"No ones gonna cry, on the very day you die. You’re a bully." (Bully)
And…some more. 
"I used to wake up to the color of your soul" (Through the Ghost)
"Because a Promise not kept is the road to exile" (Diamond Eyes)
"You're only here once, so do it well." (The Energy)
"I stand alone for all to see, 'cause they ain't never seen a war like me." (Son of Sam)
"Strip down, show your flesh and bone. 'Cause now I own you." (I own you)
"Bow down bow down the sinners have the floor" (Junkies for Fame)
"Sometimes goodbye, Is a second chance" (Second Chance)
"I haven't slept in what seems like a century, and now I can barely breathe." (The Crow & The Butterfly)
"This kingdom, good riddance" (Her name is Alice)
"I won't be the last one in line. I've finally figured out what's mine." (Breaking Inside)
So there you have it. Those are just a few of my favorite lines from their lyrics. There are tons of other bands who (for me) write fantastic lyrics. I hear a line like that…and a story spins in my head. It happened with Howl, and it's happening with those.
I don't necessarily have it playing the entire time, but when I need a reminder…yup. Headphones on, crank it up, even at 3am in the morning. I used to love my cordless headphones because I'd stand outside in the dark, in the middle of the night…music blasting…and write in my head. Unfortunately I can't find a decent replacement for them (I have a very small head, headphones tend to be too big for me) but if I do…yeah. I'll be outside again.
Do you have some favorite lines from songs?
May 22, 2012
My Word Count Review
I am editing a manuscript for a fellow writer at the moment, and when I sent her a rather detailed report of overused words…she was intrigued.
She asked me what I use to get that report. I told her, and sent her to the site.
And then I thought, I've used this for ages now, and I've never reviewed it.
So here goes.
MyWordCount by MyWriterTools
Here are the details from the product page:
myWordCount facilitates examining your documents for word, phrase, and sentence usage. This phrase and word frequency counter is extremely helpful to help find repetitive words and phrases, or long sentences. The program makes it easy to:
Word frequency counter. Count the usages of every word in your document. Quickly sort the list by word or usage count. You can then select any word and highlight all occurrences of that word in the document.
Phrase frequency counter. Count the usages of every 2, 3, 4, or 5-word phrase in your document. Quickly sort the list by phrase or usage count. You can then select any phrase and highlight all occurrences of that phrase in the document.
Sentence start phrase counter. Count the usages of every 1, 2, or 3-word phrase used at the start of each sentence in your document. Quickly sort the list by phrase or usage count. You can then select any phrase and highlight all occurrences of that phrase in the document.
Sentence length counter. Count all sentences and produce a graph of all sentence usage by sentence length. You can then view the document and easily find long sentences or sentences that are similar in length near each other.
Produce a printed report off all tables of word and phrase usage, including the sentence length graph.
New version now reads RTF files, websites or pasted text, in addition to MS Word files.
Requirements
- Microsoft Word 2000 or later (including 2007) for reading Word files
- Windows 2000 or later (including Vista)
- Screen Resolution of 800×600 or greater.
I will show you what we are talking about.The opening screen. (Click the images to see a bigger version)
Here you see what you get. It's not just a word counter.
It's an analysis tool. And a pretty darn good one.
You have screens for various areas, like Phrases and Sentences, and Words.
Let's open a document.
As you can see, you can open all manner of documents. RTF, HTML, Word — or you can paste your text if you want to.
For this review, I chose an old, unedited, very badly written, unfinished story of mine.
Here I've clicked on "Count Words" and I've filtered out "Satara", as it's a name and I don't want to count that one. It'll be there a lot.
You can click on any of the count headers to sort. I tend to go for 4 letters or more, since (as you can see) I use "That" a lot.
I don't recommend using 3 letters, as you then end up with "The" a lot. It does make you miss "Had" though, so you might want to do it anyway and filter out the ones you don't want to count. The number of letters (and various other things) can be changed in "Options".
If you use "Graph Highlighted Word" it will open the document with all of them highlighted and a legend as to what you're looking at.
It looks like this:
You can see all the red highlighted "That" occurrences are within 50 words of another "That".
Easy to weed them out this way. If you click on the bar in the graph, it takes you to the word.
You get the same functionality for Phrases and Sentence starts.
Here you see what the Phrases look like. Again, it's sortable, it's broken up into 2-5 word phrases, and you can graph it just like the Words view.
Next we have the Sentence starts:
Same game as Words and Phrases. I advise to use the sort functionality, because sometimes you may not use a phrase within 50 words, but you might use it 30 times in the manuscript in total. Great for finding clichés or overused phrases!
Now we get to the Sentence Length tab.
I love that one.
Click on Analyze…and this is what you get:
You can easily see when you have very long sentences.
It tells me my longest sentence is 34 words. That's fine, and I don't have to worry about it.
But often I find sentences that are 40+ words, and that's getting just a tad long. It's something to look at.
When you close the window, you get a nifty graph:
While it's not really anything to worry about, it's fantastic for weeding out some stray overlong sentences.
Seeing the graph like this actually gives me the warm and fuzzies. Shorter (within reason) sentences are easier to read and understand, and will therefore not confuse the reader.
So now that we did all that… What can you do with it?
First of all, you can save those results:
You can do: Top 10 – 100 words, Top 5 – 20 Phrases and Sentence Starts. All of them include a none / all option too.
I tend to go for the Top 10.
Hit save analysis and it will prompt you for a location to save the file.
And if you want to see what you get:
Review-Analyse PDF
You get this as a word document or an RTF. I've converted to PDF for display purposes.
So there you have it. I would not be without this nifty little tool, and my review was long overdue.
If you want to grab your own copy, you can find it here:
I hope this was useful to you.
May 18, 2012
Some Updates
Hi there, thanks for popping in!
How's it going?
Well, you've met my cretin of a horse. He's keeping me busy — and out of pocket. First it was the shoes, then the vet…and there is no end in sight at the moment. I'm going to be broke for a while to come. No jacking in the day job just yet.
On the book front, I'm super busy.
Watch Me is in galley, and I'm waiting for the cover.
The release is scheduled for August, so watch this space for more announcements and some giveaways and blog parties.
Caedir is in the end stages of the first draft.
I am editing a book for a friend of mine as well. More info on this when it's ready for release.
There are a few projects lined up for "soon".
1. Finishing "Catch Me" — the third installment on Howl.
2. I have a new one on the boil, targeted at the Gatekeeper line. Actually, I have two I'm planning for this.
3. Finishing up my "Origin of Species", which will be self pubbed, but likely it'll be a freebie.
On other news… I'll be streamlining the blog again soon. Yeah, I know, I just kinda did, but there are some things I can't get to work and I don't have the time anymore to custom write the entire blog layout.
So that's it from me for today!
I really need to get more active, but it's hard to find the time…since I'd rather write books than blog posts.
April 30, 2012
Training your human – Introduction
It is day 150 of my horsenapping.
I have finally managed to gain access to the human’s blog and shall endeavor to instruct other captives on how to make the best of their time with humans. I am currently training mine, and when I have gained her trust, I shall make a bid for escape.
So here is my story:
After being taken from my birthplace and hurtled to a place I’d never been to before, I truly believed I was to be set free.
I was tricked.
There were suspicious activities right after I arrived, but I didn't pay enough attention. I thought she's showing me the area so I would know where to go once I got past the fence.
I was wrong.
On a cold January morning I was once again abducted in a big metal box and ended up somewhere else. I think they are trying to confuse me. That night I was imprisoned in a wooden shelter and it dawned on me that my freedom had been taken from me. For good. I also began to suspect the human means to keep me close so she can observe me.
Humans are weird.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all bad.
There are some positive aspects to captivity, like treats and food. I even get a blanket so I won't be cold. I really like my blanket. It's a cozy, warm and comfortable fleece and I can tuck my feet under it when I lie down.
She made my bed every day, but we really have to work on this. It took me all night to get it just right, and then she comes along and puts it back as it was. To be fair, it was clean afterward, but I don’t get her obsession with my poop. She even came into the field with a wheely contraption and collected it from there. I checked. Mine was in there. What’s with this human and stealing poop? Is that normal?
She seems to really enjoy digging it out of my prison and I figure I best train her how to do it properly. This means I’m up all night, churning it. But hey, it keeps both of us fit.
We still have a lot of work to do in other aspects. This picking up of feet has to stop. I humor her, but what’s the point of teetering on three feet, when you have four? It’s not natural.
I drew the line recently, when she had another human nail metal to my feet. I strenuously objected, but they took no notice. I ended up with four metal bits stuck on my feet, and now every time she picks my feet up, she uses a hammer on them.
I admit walking is a lot more comfortable now.
The place she took me to…I was a day-release-prisoner, along with the other horses.
I met new horses — although some were nasty to me and I kept my distance. When I was taken to my prison one evening, the White Bastard went for me, and to my utter surprise, the human fought him off, keeping me safe. That was nice. I made sure she's between me and White Bastard from then on.
I even got out one day and thought I'd be free, but the White Bastard went the wrong way and we ended up caught again. He’s really quite stupid, because then they put up a nasty electric fence. I sniffed it and it zapped me. Nearly made me pass out! I didn't like that fence. At all. It hurt me. It's not the human's fault. She doesn't like it either.
Then one evening she comes along and shoves a horrible tube in my mouth, and I have to stay in all night — and all day! — while the others were allowed to go out. Ohh…I didn't like it and I made sure she knew.
The human showed up in the morning and instead of taking me to the field, they pushed me into a strange box again. The male human there suggested to use a whip on me, and oh boy…my human nearly ripped his head off.
How many times must I be moved around? I had to leave my girlfriend Tao behind!
She’s a leggy redhead, and I really like leggy redheads.
We got to the new prison, and when I came out of the box my human wasn’t there! I worried I’d have to train a new one, but then my human arrived. I breathed a sigh of relief. At least I hadn't worked on her for nothing. It would have been such a waste.
Really, that's the only reason I worried. Nothing else.
Once more I was trapped in a wooden enclosure every night, but my neighbors were very friendly and I had straw to munch, instead of wood chips. Tons of hay, too, and an automatic water tray!
Everything was strange. The smells… There were other animals there, not the goats and chickens (I really hate chickens) I had to get used to at the old place, but big hairy things with horns. I will keep my distance from those. They keep licking their lips… One day they will lunge and eat me my human. I just know.
I wasn't sure about the place, but she said at the old place they stole my food and weren't nice to her, or their animals. That they hurt one of them really badly, and she was afraid for me.
I have to admit, I get a lot more food here than I did at the old place. She makes certain I get it, and that I have enough hay to eat all night. It's nice. Much quieter and when the other human took me to the field in the morning, my head collar was on properly. Not like the old place, where they just kind of hooked it on me.
The first twenty days I was on my own in a big field during the day, right next to other horses. It was nice, but sometimes a little lonely. Then one day they put a big gelding into my field! His name is Toby and he's 5, but he's very nice. Doesn't bite or kick me, and we get on very well.
When the human came to see me, I was so excited, I said hello and then ran over to introduce her to Toby. I think she likes him too. We both got carrots.
For weeks I was locked into my prison every night. She came every day and I made sure she had things to do other than annoying me by picking my feet.
I like going out. She shows me a lot of the area and isn't mean when I get scared. I’m not scared for me, of course. I'm very brave, but I worry about the human, you know? If I don't look out for stump monsters and sinkholes and crocodiles she'd never notice them until it's too late, and it's so tedious to train a new one.
A couple of weeks ago I was allowed to stay out at night. Oh the bliss! Lots of grass, company in the field next to me, and best of all — no prison!
I make sure the human gets enough exercise and make her run around the field on occasion. Except when it’s really wet. It’s a little cumbersome to run in a raincoat.
Well, occasionally I have to stand in the prison, but usually not for long, and there’s always food there.
I think the human knows I like those leggy redheads, because strangely…I get to go into a prison next to a leggy redhead now. It's around the corner from the old one, and I can see everyone all the time. I tried to visit the redhead and introduce myself, but the human wouldn’t let me.
These days I’m quite content. The other horses moved into my field, and now there’s quite a crowd around me. No one hurts me and my friend Toby is still there too.
I just hope I don’t get moved again.
I will report how the training of the human goes. Now that we are here, I can start properly. I also have to continue with the weight loss regime for her.
I’m sure the horses reading this will be intrigued by my training techniques and may like to try them out on their own humans.
I promise my next installments will be shorter.
Training your human – Introduction
April 29, 2012
Why write one when you can write two?
It's weird.
I'm working on Caedir at the moment. As some of you know, I scrapped about 32k of the first version.
Well, all if it, in fact.
I'm back up to 25k and still going places.
And that first version just doesn't want to stay dead. I keep having ideas for it.
What's more, while I was having ideas for the first version…a THIRD one popped into my head.
I think I might write both of them, and see what my publisher thinks about expanding the Gatekeeper series lol.
April 17, 2012
Exercise Caution When Emailing Groups Of People
This is for readers, authors — anyone who sends or receives mass emails.
It's about your right to privacy, your right to have your data protected.
I recently decided to do more promo and get my blog more active, and signed on with a company doing blog tours.
Now, that's all very well.
However, I've sat there, watching emails coming in to my main email address…and I got irked. I got irked some more when it happened again. And again. And again.
What am I talking about?
People who mass email everyone on their list without taking ANY care with their data. i.e. the email address.
These people simply stuck everyone into the "To" field (Some 50 or more people) and thus revealed everyone's email address to everyone on the email.
Not only is this highly unprofessional, negligent and dangerous — it also happens to violate the European Data Protection Act, since I'm in the UK. I did not give permission to share my email address with strangers, and therefore the company BROKE THE LAW.
(And let me tell you, the European courts don't take that lightly.)
You might not care about who has your email address, but you should. Especially if you use it to log in to some places that may be sensitive.
How happy would you be if an email landed in your inbox, with the following: "Oh, btw, we've sent this email to 50 people. Here are their email addresses *insert long list of names and addresses*. And we've sent those 50 strangers your email address as well."
You'd be livid, I expect.
That's in essence what they've done. Not only that, if only one person on that list fails to protect their inbox, or downloads a spambot which seeks out email addresses in your mail and contacts…you can say goodbye to that email address.
So here is my warning:
If you send out newsletters, or any other form of mass email — make sure you don't reveal your subscribers email addresses. Instead of "To", use "BCC" or use a service like MailChimp.
If you receive newsletters, and you find the sender reveals your email address, then email them and tell them off for it.
None of us like spam, so fight back when you get an email where you can see the email addresses of other people — because if you can see theirs, then they can see yours.
April 16, 2012
Happy Birthday, Oscuro!
Today my beautiful Paso Fino turned 10 years old.
Hard to believe that a year ago I didn't even know he existed, and now…now he's an integral part not only of my life, but of Paul's too.
Oscuro is a handful, for sure. He has his own mind. He can be more stubborn than a mule, or so sweet you just want to hug him.
When we go out, people tend to stop and look at him. He has an enormous presence. So much so, everyone thinks he's bigger than he actually is.
I've only had him a little over four months, and he has changed my life completely. I don't mind getting up early. I don't mind going out when it's cold, and wet and the wind is trying to strip your coat off — because I get to see him, look after him, ride him, and schmooze him. He searches my pockets, nudges me on the shoulder on the way out of the field, and seeks reassurance with a quick nudge when something scares him.
So… Happy Birthday, Oscuro Del Gavilan
