Jennifer Bray-Weber's Blog, page 38
June 28, 2016
Link of the Week – Victorian Slang
Admit it. We all love BuzzFeed, whether for the addicting quizzes that suck our time away or the quirky LOL blogs. Here’s a post that is a couple of years old, but just like the post’s topic suggests, it is fun to revive it.
21 Victorian Slang Terms It’s High Time We Revived
https://www.buzzfeed.com/lukelewis/surprising-victorian-slang-terms?utm_term=.eaNPdpZ4P#.ssydYqeNd
June 24, 2016
Friday Fun Facts- Farting!
Now that’s a mouth full! So much alliteration in one line, it makes my head spin. Everybody does it. Some silent. Some will blow the house down. Some will curl its odoriferous tendrils around your unsuspecting nose until you are surrounded and helpless. Let’s learn some more about this gaseous expletive.
Farting helps reduce blood pressure and is good for your health. (Unless you’re forced to smell other people’s farts!)
A person will fart enough everyday to fill a balloon. Now that’s a lot of hot air.
Farts burst forth from the body just under 7 miles per hour. (10 ft. per second)
Most folks fart about 14 times a day on average.
Flatulence. (Sounds better than farting) It is caused by the trillions of bacteria that break down food during digestion. It manufactures a mix of nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and sometimes methane.
It’s the hydrogen sulfide that makes the stinky “rotten egg” smell.
Guys may get more of a thrill and a chuckle out of farting, but female toots are way more lethal given a fart to fart ration. (Never in my wildest did I think I’d ever write that last sentence!!) Apparently, females have more of the stinky hydrogen sulfide in them.
” Roman Emperor Claudius declared that “all Roman citizens should be allowed to pass gas whenever necessary,” which is an ancient variant of the modern maxim, “Wherever you be, let the wind blow free.” The ancient Japanese were said to have held “farting contests” to see who could break wind the loudest and longest. The Greek physician Hippocrates decreed that “Passing gas is necessary to well-being.” (I couldn’t bring myself to re-word this one so I pulled it directly off The Thunder Down Under‘s site.)
Hitler had terrible gas.
Old English= feortan, Today= fart
Believe it or not- farting is a fetish. Yes, you read that right. Farting is a fetish. The correct term for this is eproctophilia.( Hmmmm,…………… I got nothin’)
Don’t try to hold in your farts too much. Why? It can cause a multitude of symptoms ranging from headaches to hemorrhoids.
Remember I don’t make this stuff up! Sniffing farts can be healthy because it’s been found that sniffing small amounts of hydrogen sulfide can reverse mitochondrial damage and help avert strokes, dementia, heart attacks, and cancer. I want to know who did this research and how!!!!
Dead people are busy farting and sometimes burping for up to 3 hours after they die, before rigor mortis sets in.
Some people in China can make up to $50,000 a year smelling people’s farts and diagnosing digestive issues based on the smell.
The Yanomami tribe in South America greet one another with loud friendly bursts.
June 22, 2016
Hump Day Kick Start – The Key Edition
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.
Straying off the usual path. Hey, it can’t all be sexy all the time. There’s got to be some intrigue, too, now and again.
A key, a note. Who was it intended for? What does the note mean? Is it blackmail? An order to eliminate a threat? Steal something of value? Where does the key fit? A closet of skeletons? A steamer trunk filled with treasure/intel/secrets hidden away in a corner in the attic? An old, abandoned house used for hiding another body? Is it a key to someone’s heart? Or a door to the past with instructions that will change the future?
What is your take? Tell a tale or caption the pic.
June 21, 2016
Link of the Week – The Digital Reader – Amazon Pruning
Is Amazon at it again? Would you, the author, be surprised? Amazon has cut ties with ebook newsletter services that have affiliate accounts with the giant. Bye-bye Fussy Librian, Pixel of Ink and eReaderIQ. Sure, we all want the reader experience to improve. But at what cost to the writers? Read about it at The Digital Reader.
Amazon Lowers the Boom on Discount eBook Sites
http://the-digital-reader.com/2016/06/15/amazon-brings-the-hammer-down-on-discount-ebook-sites/
Read this article posted back in May.
Is Amazon Purging eBook Promotion Letters? http://the-digital-reader.com/2016/05/10/is-amazon-purging-ebook-promotion-newsletters/
And in case you hadn’t heard that Goodreads (owned by Amazon) is getting into the ebook discount business (Whaaat? Have you been living under a rock?) Move Over BookBub, Fussy Librarian – Goodreads is Getting into eBook Discounts http://the-digital-reader.com/2016/05/17/move-over-bookbub-fussy-librarian-goodreads-is-getting-into-ebook-discounts/
From Goodreads’ Blog: https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/648-new-great-deals-on-ebooks-personalized-just-for-you-u-s-members
Discuss this amongst yourselves.[image error]
Link Of The Week- HeadTalker!
HeadTalker allows you to share a message with unlimited people at once for free.
1. Connect with your account
Join HeadTalker for FREE with social media.
2. Create a HeadTalker
Easily create a HeadTalker to share your message.
3. Gather Supporters
Share your HeadTalker link to gather support!
4. Go viral!
Hit your goal and get the message shared!
Crowdspeaking
June 15, 2016
Hump Day Kick Start – Library Lip Lock
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.
What girl doesn’t want to be kissed like this?
Tell me about today’s prompt. Who are they? It’s pretty obvious what they’re doing, but look deeper. What’s really going on? Rival researchers giving in to attraction? The bad boy about to make the studious good girl’s fantasy come true? Could he be a science tutor showing her what’s down the Chemistry aisle? Was she trying to introduce him to the Dewey decimal system but he got bored?
Make it fun. Tell me a tale or caption the pic.
June 13, 2016
Editor Shopping Day – Entangled Publishing
Welcome, Entangled Publishing! Thanks so much for taking the time to visit us and read pitches. MuseTracks hopes you find something you like. Happy shopping!
Without further ado, we give you the correctly submitted pitches.
#1
Title: George & Gracie -The Beginning
Genre/Subgenre: Mature Adult/Romantic Suspense
Word count of manuscript: 65,000
George and Gracie is a romantic suspense about a very southern Houston Socialite, Gracie and by the book retired homicide detective George. Their meeting is a crashing experience when she runs over him with her bicycle.
Gracie finds him irresistible. He regards her as a stalker and her bicycle as a lethal weapon that should be avoided at all cost.
Things go downhill as Gracie involves George in a wild car chase to rescue a kidnapping victim, a fraudulent business scheme, and find proof to clear her best friend of murder charges.
Is retirement around Gracie more dangerous than working homicide with murderers and drug dealers?
#2
Title: Dark Knight
Genre/Subgenre: Science Fiction/Romance/Crossover
Word count of manuscript: 76,109
When Gabriella Woods is abducted by 5th generation vampire Eric Bloodbane, her world is turned upside down. Everything she knows about life comes into question as she realizes that things that go bump in the night aren’t just in children’s fantasy stories. What Gabriella doesn’t know is that she comes from a long bloodline of relatives that have been watched and protected for centuries.
Ethan St. John is handsome, strong and he is the knight in shining armor Gabriella needs. Working for a secret sector of the U.S. Government that not only helps protect the world, but also seeks to study The Shadowlands, the world these high tech, scientifically advanced creatures come from, Ethan knows Bloodbane all too well and it’s his job to ensure Gabriella’s safety.
An unlikely match, Ethan and Gabriella will set off on a dangerous and mind-blowing mission to teach Gabriella a crash course in warding off creatures like Bloodbane and introducing her to a parallel world: The Shadowlands.
Gabriella and Ethan can fight off Bloodbane, but can they fight the feelings they have for each other? Both strong and passionate in different ways, each can love, but can they trust each other? Time will tell.
#3
Title: Burned Angels
Genre/Subgenre: Dark Gay Romantic Suspense
Word count of manuscript: 88,000
Gabriel Gabe Rios’ struggle to keep his shattered family, broken by gang aggression, safe, always leads him to make the wrong choices. He’s almost pathological in his rejection of anything he sees as charity. LAPD officer Javier Cerveras wants to be there for him, but Gabe rejects Javier’s help and his love. When Gabe’s house is firebombed, instead of taking Javier up on the offer to stay at his place, he takes the only surviving member of his family, his sister to a homeless shelter where she is brutally raped and impregnated. While the city of drought-plagued Los Angeles burns, Gabe seeks vengeance in a final deadly confrontation that none of them may survive.
#4
Title: A War Like Ours
Genre/Subgenre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Word Count of Manuscript: 97,000
Three weeks ago, James Maxwell’s wife died in a car accident, but he hasn’t been able to tell his daughter the truth. Instead he packs them up and leaves for a summer resort in upstate New York to spend a few peaceful weeks and gradually break the news. But someone has figured out his secret.
After a violent incident, Madison Smith has turned aimless and bitter towards men. She works a dead end job at the local resort and lives with her convenient girlfriend who keeps her from completely falling apart. James’s lies stoke her anger and prove to her that men can’t be trusted.
Madison uses every chance to provoke James, threatening to expose him. Her taunts not only test his patience but invoke a visceral desire in him that feels like a betrayal to his wife. In a moment when tempers flare, a brutal kiss triggers an undeniable addiction. It blurs the lines between hate and desire, and every heated touch tries to bring them closer.
But Madison is untrusting and will crumble without her girlfriend’s love, while James is drowning in guilt and memories. For them, love is a war and surrendering is not an option.
#5
Title: Bitten
Genre/Subgenre: New Adult/Paranormal Romance
Word Count of Manuscript: Projected 70,000
Iris is a young woman entering her first summer out of high school. She is living with her father and intent on going to school to be a vet tech but things go haywire when she is bitten by a stray dog she is trying to rescue. The bite spurs a chain of events that will upend her life. Her best friend is a cranky vampire and her father might be dating the most horrible candidate for stepmother ever but her worries get even more real when a neighbor goes missing.
Dealing with her new hairy problem is one thing but as more animals and girls go missing from her home town she heads off on her own to investigate. What she finds will change everything and blur the lines of fiction and reality. Vampires? Check. Werewolves? Apparently she’s becoming one. The small dog she rescued in her investigation? He’s a moody Hellhound with a mouth and that’s just the beginning. Add a sexy as hell guy that has familiar eyes -She might just have a bite mark that belongs to him along with her heart.
#6
Title: A Mule, A Mob Hit and A Mountain of Trouble
Genre/Subgenre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Word Count of Manuscript: Projected 85,500
Miranda Whitley’s inconspicuous life involving plant care in commercial buildings implodes when she witnesses a horrific crime. The victim is a respected judge and her friend, who alerts her crooked cops are involved. Learning she’s next on a hit-list forces her to search out an FBI agent she’s had one awkward encounter with. Warned by the judge to disappear from Seattle, she impulsively chooses to disrupt Agent Grant Morley’s vacation in Emma Springs, Montana and seek his help.
The dude ranch she’s booked into near Emma Springs advertises a trail ride up the nearby mountain, perfect for her plans to find Grant, until a gunshot rips through her side. The mule she’s ridden grows into her most trusted ally while Grant receives threads of conflicting evidence, weaving Miranda into a hapless victim, or a cold-blooded accomplice.
Miranda and Grant fight their uninvited attraction while defending themselves against criminals willing to do anything to prevent Miranda’s testimony. Bureau blood courses through Grant’s veins, but Miranda carries guilt from the shootout death of her family and can’t tolerate guns or the thought of losing Grant to violence. Fortunately for both of them, there’s always room for love, if it’s properly tended.
#7
Title: Intercepted
Genre/Subgenre: Romance
Word Count of Manuscript: 99,000
One half of the NFL’s golden couple, Marlee is living a life that everyone around her envies. What they don’t see, however, are the secrets and lies hidden behind her perfect smile.
Desperate for reprieve, Marlee runs across country to her best friend. While she expected a week of dancing, drinking, and the occasional cupcake, she didn’t imagine the blue-eyed man who would come crashing into her world.
Gavin Pope sees straight through the plastic smile Marlee has perfected and helps her remember who she used to be. He reminds her that she deserves more than public adoration and personal shame.
Before she knows what—or who—hits her, her marriage goes from bad to catastrophic and the stakes rise from cheating to bruises. Marlee knows she has to leave and much to her shock, the only person left on her side is a virtual stranger that somehow knows her better than anyone ever has.
Although Gavin says the right things, Marlee can’t fight the urge to run. She knows it is only a matter of time before the secrets she has hidden for years are discovered and the future she has dreamed of disappears.
#8
Title: Once Upon A Masquerade
Genre/Subgenre: Historical Romance/Regency
Word Count on Manuscript: 114,544
Cordelia Clarke waited two long years, in vain for her brother’s best friend to view her as more than a sisterly acquaintance. The night of his family’s masquerade, she produces a false identity and wears a costume in colors she knows he adores. She proceeds to show him she is a desirably lady and not as he had called her numerous times, a dear girl. Her wildest dreams come true when he kisses her upon the balcony. Alas, she leaves him quivering and wanting more.
Andrew Daventry, Viscount Sutton does not view himself as a usual aristocrat. He is a gentleman in every sense of the word. But, on the night of his masquerade, he meets an enchantress who beguiles him, sets him aflame. After the encounter, he is completely changed. Bitter by her rejection to become acquainted with one another out of costume, he sets out to find her identity.
His search leads him to a woman he never even knew he wanted.
Their lives become complicated when another suitor vies for Cordelia’s affection. Nosy relatives, misunderstandings and secrets tear them apart.
Yet, the most powerful means to live out their happily after ever, resides in their close friendship.
Good Luck to all!
Want to pitch to an editor? Watch for the next Editor Shop coming later this summer.
June 11, 2016
Editor Shop PITCH DAY with Entangled Publishing
And… GO!!!!!!!
Today is the day. Send us your polished pitch now!
The first twenty pitches sent to us in the correct format will be posted to the blog tomorrow for Robin Haseltine at Entangled Publishing to “shop”. We wish you the best of luck.
The deets:
Remember to please check each agent/editor’s website for what types/genres they accept.
All entries must be submitted on Sunday, June 12, 2016
You will send your entry to musetracks.blog@gmail.com
NO attachments. All the required information must be in the body of the email.
Only one pitch per email. No exceptions.
The pitch must be 200 words or less. No exceptions. Word count WILL be verified before your pitch is accepted. (Contact info is not counted toward your pitch word count.)
Please put Agent/Editor Shop in the subject line.
The email should follow this format:
Title
Genre/Subgenre
Word count of manuscript
Your 200 word synopsis pitch
June 9, 2016
Editor Shop with Entangled Publishing
It’s coming! Editor Shop with Entangled Publishing!
June 13, 2016!
What is this “Agent/Editor Shop”? How will this awesome event benefit me?
This isn’t a contest… there aren’t any winners… just a chance to put your pitch in front of acquiring agent/editors(s). They’ll read the pitches and request more if your pitch grabs their attention. What they request is up to them. We do not make guarantees.
Agent/Editor Shop will only be “open” one day, per quarter, and we only take the first twenty pitches.
After the pitches go live on the blog, the agent/editor reads and decides, like shopping, if they want more. They will then contact us and we will forward on information to the author(s) who received requests. We will also post results after the agent/editor contacts us. Just the requests made—no names.
The rules are simple and easy to follow. They must be adhered to in order for you to be considered by our guest agent or editor.
**Very Important**
Please check each agent/editor’s website for what types/genres they accept.
We will post a big green GO! on the HOME page the Sunday morning of the Shop. All entries must be submitted on that day. (1 Day Only) Sunday, June 12, 2016
You will send your entry to musetracks.blog@gmail.com
NO attachments. All the required information must be in the body of the email.
Only one pitch per email. No exceptions.
The pitch must be 200 words or less. No exceptions. Word count WILL be verified before your pitch is accepted. (Contact info is not counted toward your pitch word count.)
Please put Agent/Editor Shop in the subject line.
The email should follow this format:
Title
Genre/Subgenre
Word count of manuscript
Your 200 word synopsis pitch
We will take the first 20 pitches. A big red STOP! will be posted when we have 20 viable pitches. (Please note that we will not contact you if these rules are not followed. They simply will not be used.) If your pitch was one of the first twenty to reach our inbox, you’ll see it posted the next day, on the main page of the MUSETRACKS blog, for the shopping agent/editor to peruse.
This is a great opportunity to get in front of an agent/editor, so most important of all—polish that pitch until it shines! Double check spelling and grammar. Strictly follow the rules. Breathe.
MUSETRACKS wishes you the best of luck!
The requests made will be published no later than June 20, 2016!
June 8, 2016
Hump Day kick Start – Vanity Mirror Edition
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.
Her expression could be anything—desire, resignation, boredom, serenity or sadness. And that can make today’s prompt interesting. Is he doing his damnedest to seduce her for her love, or, maybe her money? Are they married to each other, home after a romantic night together? Could they be married to someone else and have just had an illicit rendezvous? What if she is trying to find some way to tell him it’s over? Is she mentally preparing for her part in the heist they planned to pull off during a very important gala later in the evening?
You know what to do. Tell me a tale or caption the pic.
