Jennifer Bray-Weber's Blog, page 37
July 27, 2016
Hump Day Kick Start – The Map Edition
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.
Today’s prompt seems appropriate given that summertime often is travel time.
Who is pointing at the map? Warrior? Victim? Apocalyptic survivor? Assassin? Embattled teacher? Are they pointing to where they are going or where they have come from? Is this person fleeing? Strategizing their next move? Showing the location of prisoners to be freed? The next area to be hit by zombies/time travelling bandits/natural disaster? Could this be the place we will all move after November’s election?
You tell me. What’s the story or caption the pic.
July 26, 2016
Link Of The Week- Excellent Writing Teacher
I’ve had the chance to take a few of her classes, an all day workshop, read through two of her online lecture packets, and taken a VERY intensive Immersion class that lasted 4-5 days… I’m going back for more. Yes. She’s that good.
Margie teaches writers how to use her psychologically-based editing systems and deep editing techniques to create page turners. She has presented over ninety full day master classes for writers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and on cruises in the Caribbean.
Writers credit her innovative deep editing approaches for their writing success: publication, awards, and bestseller lists.
July 22, 2016
Friday Fun Facts-Dogs
We love our puppies. They are our best companions. But, do you know everything about our fine furry friends?
Dogs are capable of understanding up to 250 words and gestures, count up to fie and perform simple math- making them on par with a two year old.
A study has been done in Russia that followed a group of stray dogs. They discovered that the dogs figured out how to use the subway system to get to more populated areas for more food. They would hop on and off almost like commuters at their favorite spots.
Two stray dogs saved 50 US soldiers in Afghanistan. A Facebook group raised $21,000 and brought them back to the US to reunite with the soldiers and now live a very nice life!
A service dog named Nesbit earned over 1 million miles on Delta and even has his own frequent flier card!
One of Michael Vick’s former fighting dogs went on to be a therapy dog for dying children. (This makes me cry for all those poor dogs.)
Tiger Woods used to stutter as a child and would talk to his dog every night until he fell asleep to try and get rid of it. Well, something worked and I’ll bet the doggie convos helped!
In ancient China, an emperor’s last line of defense was a small Pekingese dog that was literally hidden up his sleeve.
Whoa- check this out! When Lord Byron was to go to Cambridge, they wouldn’t let him bring his dog. He retaliated and brought a BEAR!
The wetness of a dog’s nose is necessary so they can tell the direction a smell came from.
Hyenas aren’t actually in the dog family. They’re more closely related to cats. Who knew?
The Newfoundland breed of dog actually has a water resistant coat and webbed feet. They were bred to help haul net for fishermen and to help people drowning.
Puppies have 28 teeth and adults have 42.
It’s an urban legend that dogs only see in black and white. It’s believed that they actually see mostly in tones of blue, greenish yellow, yellow and shades of gray. Don’t ask me how they figured that out, I don’t know!
July 20, 2016
2016 RWA San Diego in Pictures
We’re baaaack!
The Romance Writer’s of America conference in San Diego was A-Mazing! First off, the city is beautiful and everyone there was so friendly. San Diego is California at it’s finest! The conference, itself, was great—workshops, networking, education, opportunities, seeing old friends, making new friends and fun, fun, fun! Just as I’ve done every year since 2009, I’m going to share the conference in pictures.
The first selfie of the trip—Stacey, Melissa Ohnoutka (our roomie), and yours truly.
Amazingly, we didn’t get lost.
It didn’t take us long to find Seaport Village.
Stacey’s first signing!
Stacey’s first RWA Literacy Signing. Squeeee! Classy and Sassy!
Posing with Lizzie Shane, aka Vivi Andrews, dancing buddy and double Rita finalist!
Melissa with funny lady, best-selling author, uber-fun, Rita finalist C.C Hunter, aka Christie Craig.
The Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood in da house!
Love Between the Covers documentary director and producer Laurie Kahn with Damon Suede.
We were all helping set up LBTC and, more importantly, tweeting about it.
Umm…and Stacey, well, she was more enthusiastic than others.
Taking pics and tweeting them and then taking pics of them being tweeted. Hours of fun.
Enjoying the wildlife.
Being the wildlife.
Switching gears and being a professional. Pimping with The Killion Group. (Shameless plug – we do more than just book covers. Check out all our services, including editing, formatting, and PR!)
Smoozing with the delightful, gorgeous TJ Mackay of InDtale Magazine.
Hosting a cover shoot workshop. *grin*
Why, yes, he is dropping his pants to change into a kilt. I may or may not have peeked.
Just me and Julian. Don’t be hatin’.
Stacey and Ruth (who is a regular contributor to MuseTracks’ Hump Day Kick Start) playing hooky again.
Sailing around the bay with some awesome ladies. This was one of those times of “what happens on the sailboat, stays on the sailboat”.
Sailboat, sunset, navy ship, I should win an award for this pic.
Last night in San Diego and the drinks flowed. Mmm…rum and coke.
All dolled up for the Rita/Golden Heart ceremony.
A trip isn’t complete until TSA searches your luggage.
There you have it. More than you ever wanted to see of our trip to San Diego. We’re looking forward to the 2017 RWA National Conference in Orlando, Florida!
July 19, 2016
Link Of The Week- Smart Marketing For Authors
Jennifer and I just got back from RWA’s national conference in San Diego. One of the benefits of going is to learn new information and to discover the folks who can help you navigate the publishing industry!
I met this amazing woman who does just that. This web site is a gateway to learning all things marketing! I will be signing up to take her classes just as soon as I cross the finish line and get this new book back to the editor. Check it out. I think you’ll be excited about it too!
Chris Syme is principal of the award-winning CKSyme Media Group in Bozeman, Montana, a strategic communications agency. She has 20+ years of experience in communications from marketing and media relations, to radio and newspaper, to crisis management and teaching. She is an in-demand conference speaker and a published author.
July 11, 2016
MuseTracks Off Air and Off Causing Trouble
MuseTracks will be in San Diego this week for the Romance Writers of America’s national annual conference and will not be posting. No doubt the city will never be the same after we arrive. But don’t fret. We will be back to our regularly scheduled shenanigans next week. Y’all be good. See you on the flip side!
July 6, 2016
Hump Day Kick Start – The Distance Edition
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.
The tension is high in today’s prompt.
Who are they? Could we take a step back in time for this pic? Would he be recently back from the war, trying to repair his broken marriage? What is that expression on her face? Longing? Resignation? Desire? Did they have an argument? Perhaps they had just separated from a moment of forbidden passion. Could he be about to tame the wild flame that is his woman? Or is he about to leave for good this time.
What do you think? Tell me a tale or caption the photo.
July 5, 2016
Link Of The Week- Your Club For Sprints!
This is one very cool site for writers!
Feeling blah? No energy to write? Try joining in on the fun right here, right now!
“Summary
Join a sprint, and type your words in your web browser.
Other sprinters in the same sprint can see your word count, but not your words.
If you close your browser, your words will still be here when you return.
Auto-save to Dropbox by clicking the Dropbox icon () near the big text box. It’s blue when auto-save is on.
Every 100 words you type adds a star next to your name for all to see.
What’s a word sprint?
During a word sprint, you work on your novel/screenplay/blog/etc. while other writers do the same. On myWriteClub, rather than waiting until the end to share your word counts, you can see each other’s word counts grow during the sprint.
How do word sprints work?
Sprints start every half hour and last 25 minutes.
Each sprint represents a group of people. If you move to a different sprint, the words you’ve written will follow you.
You earn stars!
= 100 words
= 1000 words
The progress bars count up to 100 and then start over for the next star.
There’s a five-minute suggested break period between sprints, but if you’re on a roll, feel free to keep writing!
Is my work auto-saved?
Yes, your work is automatically saved in your web browser as you type. If you refresh or close your browser, your work will be here waiting for you when you return. However, if your computer bursts into flames or gets thrown out a window, or if you clear your browser’s local storage, you’ll probably lose your work. That’s why you should read the next paragraph.
You can connect to your Dropbox account by clicking the Dropbox icon () near the big text box. Once you’ve done this, the icon turns blue, and your work will be saved once per minute to a new “myWriteClub” folder that will be created for you. The myWriteClub app will not be able to access any other folder in your Dropbox.
Is my work private?
Yes. Only your word count is shared. The actual words you write are never sent to myWriteClub; they are only stored on your computer and in your Dropbox, as described above.”
July 4, 2016
Happy 4th of July
MuseTracks wishes you a fun and safe holiday. And for our friends abroad, happy Monday!
June 29, 2016
Hump Day Kick Start – White dress, VW Van and Lei Edition
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.
It’s summer. Beach season. Time to frolic. And this pic is the perfect frolicsome prompt.
Tell me about the couple. Note the wedding dress, surfboards, and Sherpa boots. Is she a runaway bride from someplace cold just off the plane? Is he the ex who refused to let her get married to that jerk? Had they eloped from his or her overbearing family? Are they strangers who just met under unusual circumstances? Did they just perform a sham wedding to keep one of them from deportation? Is the back of his van where they plan to spend their honeymoon? The van is covered in leis. Could that be a foreshadow?
Your turn. Tell me a tale or caption the pic.
