Kelly McClymer's Blog, page 6

Remember the “Love is…” meme from a long time ago?

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Some Memes Never Die

I was browsing the Getty Images that are embeddable now, and this one stood out. It tells an interesting story, don’t you think?

Here are the questions it raised for me:

1. Did the photographer catch this au naturel? or was it posed?

2. If it was au naturel, why does the girl have those roses in her pocket? do they have thorns?

3. If it was posed, where did the brilliant inspiration to stick those roses in the pocket come from?

I remembered, too, the “Love is…” me...

Getty Images Gets Generous to Bloggers

Send to KindleThank you, Getty Images, from A Humble Blogger

I’ve been blogging for a long time now. Not consistently, because…I’m like that. Ask my family.

One of the hardest things to do is find a picture to go with a blog. I am not a photographer. Ask my family.

I’ve used Bigstock and Dreamstime, but sometimes I wonder if it makes sense to buy random photos for blogs. For book covers, ads, sure. But just to accompany my blog?

Now, I don’t have to, thanks to GettyImages.

If you want to find the...

Kobo special 50% off deal for Boxing Day

Send to KindleHoliday Greetings!

Very nice Christmas morning, but it will be even better in two days, when I get to see my grandson again, for a whole week. Granny can’t wait to hug that boy and see what he’s been up to since the last time she saw him two months ago. Two months is a long time in a baby’s first year.

Hope everyone is enjoying this end of the year down time in whatever way works best for you — but especially with family and friends.

Don’t Forget to Take Time to Read

If you have bee...

Like audiobooks? Get a chance to win one for Christmas!

Send to Kindle Making Videos is Addictive

I have audiobooks to give away in Wendy Lindstrom’s Sleigh Bells Ring! Contest. But Wendy is giving away MP3 players, and audiobooks by many authors every day from December 14th through December 28th. I urge everyone who loves audiobooks to enter. Free audiobooks are a great bargain this time of year, when many of us are traveling for long stretches, or just looking to escape the hectic world for a more controlled fictional one.

Join in, and win one of t...

How To Make A YouTube Video in Under an Hour

Send to KindleYouTube, the Intimidating Frontier

I have wanted to do a YouTube video for a long time. But I was intimidated by the idea. Would I need to wear makeup? I rarely do makeup. Could I be clever enough? Brief enough? Visual enough?

I have discarded ideas for YouTube videos as diverse as book trailers, cooking demos, and writing instruction (exactly how do you break a scene down and see how it works well…or doesn’t?). I have half-written scripts. I even did a video for a Kickstarter of...

Great Ideas Come from the Heart

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Ten authors. Thirty plus audiobooks. One week. One contest.

Good Ideas, vs Great Ideas

I often think I have great ideas. Ask anyone who has known me longer than a few hours. They can tell you that I frequently start a sentence with, “I just had a great idea!”

Not that the ideas are always that great, of course. But I do love that burst of excitement that comes with an idea that seems a real winner.Having had a few great ideas that panned out in my life, I can definitely say they ar...

An End is Just One Step to a New Beginning

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What I saw when I got off the plane in Myrtle Beach!

Sometimes It’s a Book That Ends, Sometimes It’s a Conference

The 2013 NINC (Novelists Inc) conference ended October 27th. I left the beach on the 28th. That’s two weeks ago and I’m just now ready to blog about it.

First, I was co-chair, so this conference has eaten up my thoughts, dreams, nightmares, time and energy for a year. And now it is over. No more planning, dreaming, worrying, scrambling to handle emergencies.

At least, no...

An Audiobook Narrator Talks Accents and Character Voices

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Recently, I had a conversation with the narrator of twoOnce Upon a Wedding audiobooks (The Impetuous Bride and The Next Best Bride). She’d begun with The Next Best Bride, which has a female British narrator and all British characters. I really liked her narration (as do readers, judging by the brisk sales). However, The Impetuous Bride offered much more of a challenge, because the very British Rosaline Fenster has her romantic adventure along the wagon trail to California accomp...

I Never Thought I’d See You Again is available for preorder

Send to Kindle My Newest Story is Soon to Be Released!

I am very excited to announce that a new short story of mine, “Solomon’s Paradox” is about to see the world in the newest anthology from Novelists Inc. I Never Thought I’d See You Again.

Here’s the blurb:

I never thought I’d see you again.

What comes to your mind when you see that phrase? A reunion with a former lover? A shocking encounter with a dark face from your past? A dearly held memory come to life . . . or one you’ve tried desperately...

Writing a Picture Book Is Fun

Send to KindlePlaying with Word and Pictures

Caleb the Sleepy (his due date was the 29th of April, so he was entitled to a few more lazy days).

Okay. The whole Boston thing has me bummed. I’m turning off the news and turning to something fun: writing Caleb’s book.

I’ve been struggling with the way to start. Going from a novel that allows you 250 words to a page (and lots of pages) to a baby book, where Imust rely on pictures and very few words to carry the story is a challenge. But I’m enjoying...