Maia Sepp's Blog, page 7

Blog Hop!

This post is a part of bestselling author Terri Giuliano Long's "Celebrating Bloggers" blog hop that's currently underway.  Please drop by her blog and check work out her work when you get a second.

Why I love Bloggers!

Want to know what to read this weekend? Which big name writer is paying for reviews? Or maybe you're curious about which mega bestselling Alphabet series writer recently publicly dissed indies. Bloggers will tell you all about it, and – bless their hearts – they'll generally do so without sparing the snark.
I read a lot, and I'm endlessly fascinated with what's going on in the book biz and with other writers these days. Luckily for all of us, people from all parts of the industry are blogging their little hearts out.
My taste, like most readers, is pretty eclectic, and that's reflected in the blogs I read, which range from Kristine Rusch's prescient industry commentary in The Business Ruschto Dictionary.com's hard-hitting reporting on the letters of the alphabet.
One of my favourite blog sites is Insatiable Booksluts, whose posts include what books to read (right this second!) and features like Reading Rage Tuesdays (RRTs). RRTs include such diverse topics as The Most Depressing Books I've Ever Read and voting crappy characters off the island. As it happens, I have a friend who passionately hates Tuesdays and reading RRT posts dovetails nicely with his real life anti-Tuesday ranting (it's even a little therapeutic, honestly).
After I'm done cleansing my island and want to work on my word nerd status, I swing by Dictionary.com's blog to learn about the action packed history of the letter G. I also love to find new writers and what they're up to. Who knew that fashion could be murder? Or that the Apocalypse could be hilarious? Where should I go when I get a yen to curl up with a Victorian cozy?  And where can I read about an author who juggles being a bestseller and blogging about the all things literary with helping you make dessert?
I've worked in the tech sector for about a decade and a half...until now. Tomorrow is my very last day, and I'm leaving to write full time. I don't know if i would have taken the step of quitting my job and stepping into the Indie domain if I didn't have access to so much timely, in depth - and often hilarious - information about what's going on in the booksphere these days. It's a generous community, and I'm very grateful to bloggers...in an OMG-I-quit-my-job-and-I'm-probably-going-to-end-up-homeless kind of a way. (Hold me!)
What do you like about book bloggers and blogging? Have you found any great new writers because of a book blog you read? What's your favourite blog? Dish in the comments!

Terri Giuliano Long - Celebrating Bloggers

Hi everyone!

I'm going to be taking part in bestselling author Terri Giuliano Long's 'Celebrating Bloggers' Blog Hop, which is taking place Sept 10-13:


[image error] I'll be blogging on September 13th. Please swing by Terri's blog from the 10th to 13th (or before, she has lots of great content) and check out the oodles of writers and bloggers who are going to weigh in on why they blog about books or writing. It's a blog hop for book nerds, and I can't wait!

Kobo Writing Life

Hi Everyone!

Kobo recently released their awesome publishing platform - Kobo Writing Life - and I'm loving it!  I've been lucky enough to hit the Writing Life Bestseller list, along with a bunch of great indie reads.  If you have a chance, please swing by and check them out. 

O Canada!

"Irish Drinking Socks" has hit the top 25 on the "Short Stories" list in Canada.  Thanks so much to everyone who bought a copy!  If you enjoyed the story - and if you can take some time out from enjoying your summer (or for our friends Down Under, your winter) - it would be awesome if you could pop by Kobo or Goodreads and rate or review it.  Of course, if reviewing isn't your scene, then carry on with enjoying your summer/winter/whatever you're doing :).

Thanks again for reading, it's very appreciated!
Maia

PS:  Reviewers will be eligible for a free copy of the novel when it's released this fall.  I'll be following up in a little while with more details about this giveaway.

Irish Drinking Socks - in Australia

Hi everyone!

"Irish Drinking Socks" has cracked the top 50 short stories on Kobo in Australia.  Love love love Australia!  I'm going there immediately.

Many thanks to everyone who bought a copy, I hope you enjoyed it.

Irish Drinking Socks now available on Kobo

Hi everyone!

I'm a member of the Kobo Writing Life beta test group, and my short story "Irish Drinking Socks" is now available on Kobo.  Please check it out if you get a chance, and thanks very much to all the folks who have been kind enough to buy a copy, it's much appreciated.

I'll be blogging more often after summer is over, and I'm aaaaaaaaaaalmost done my novel, so I'll be updating on that soon as well.

Maia

St. Patty's Day might be over - but you can still get some Irish Drinking Socks!

...and, we're back!

Hi Everyone.

I've been toiling on my Great Canadian Novel for the past few years.  Happily (and finally) I'm going to be publishing my novel "The Sock Wars" (yes, you heard me, socks!) this summer, but I've also published a short story excerpt of the novel over on Kindle called "Irish Drinking Socks" (yup, even more socks!).  For less than a cup of coffee, you can read a short story that has aliens, international intrigue, and gratuitous sex!

Okay, it's actually about a twenty nine year old financial planner, Lucy Tuttle, whose only relative dies unexpectedly, leaving her a rundown house on the wrong side of town.  Lucy has to decide if she's going to keep it and move in with her better half, an eco-obsessed hippie with a penchant for sock thievery - but trying to live happily ever after in a house that's about to be condemned isn't so easy after all.

You can read an excerpt on my website here: http://www.maiasepp.com/, under "chapter excerpt":  http://www.maiasepp.com/chapter_excerpt.html.  If you can't wait to read the story, but don't have an ereader, never fear, you can download the free Kindle app for PC here:  http://tinyurl.com/yja443f and read it on your computer.  Then, you can buy my short story here:  http://tinyurl.com/caljapp.  If you like it, please do the only liking that really matters - Facebook Liking!  A review would also be much appreciated.

Also, if you like it (and even if you hate it - I'm not picky) please tell a friend (or two or three).

I'm going to be back blogging here at: http://maiasepp.blogspot.ca/ every once in a while, so please stop by and say hi when you get a chance.

Please let me know what you think of the story, and thanks in advance for your support.  I hope you like it!

Maia.

Why I love C.S. Richardson, and Goodbye...For Now

As those of you who read the blog know, I've been struggling with starting my second book for the last several months. I haven't actually been writing, but I've been in a strange phase where I'm constantly thinking about what I want to write. I sat down with BHJ earlier this week and tried to explain the strange, fuzzy, in-between phase of thinking - but not actually producing - a book. And the reason why I'm not yet writing is that I'm just not ready. I spend a lot of time thinking about my writing, and even more time not actually writing. With the last book, I wrote the first draft in 3 months and then spent the next 3 years rewriting. But at least I had a whole book to work with. This time, of course, I have nothing.

I was watching Fine Print on Thursday - which is an excellent show, btw - featuring Canadian writer C.S. Richardson talking about his first book - The End of the Alphabet. Richardson is an award-winning Canadian book designer who decided to try his hand at writing. During an interview he was asked a question along the line of; how did you come up with the idea for this book?

He said, "Well, I was kind of thinking, people always wonder; 'what would happen if you won a million dollars. But then I was thinking, what would happen if you got some very bad news, like you had a month to live?'

I sat back on our couch and breathed that in for a minute...what would happen if? It was perfect. What would happen if, is the best way to start a book that I've ever heard. And it's so simple. I have all of my characters rolling around my head and a loose idea of the plot - all I have to do is ask is; What Would Happen If?

Richardson went on to write a book about a man who finds out that he has only a month to live. What would happen if...you had a month to live? Me being me, I made one of my a semi-weekly trips to the bookstore today and picked up a copy of his new book, "The End of the Alpaphabet." It's beautifully designed and looks like a great read. And for giving me some clarity, he certainly deserves the buck he's going to get from the sale.

Then I came home, had a nap, had dinner, and started my next book; ten pages. So, thanks, C.S. Richardson.

In other news, I've come to the point where I'm ready to take a hiatus from the blog. I've been doing it for a year now, and while I've really enjoyed it, it's time for me to focus on the next phase of my writing, my next book.

I wanted to thank everyone who's come by and read and made comments, and especially those who have sent me nice emails about what I've written. It's been VERY much appreciated.

If you want to see how I'm doing, drop by my web page and sign up for my mailing list. When I sell my first book, you'll be the first to know. And you can check back here every once in a while, I'll probably be able to cough up a few semi-witty remarks every now and then.

Cheers,
Maia

Scrotum!

'The word “scrotum” does not often appear in polite conversation. Or children’s literature, for that matter.

Yet there it is on the first page of “The Higher Power of Lucky,” by Susan Patron, this year’s winner of the Newbery Medal, the most prestigious award in children’s literature. The book’s heroine, a scrappy 10-year-old orphan named Lucky Trimble, hears the word through a hole in a wall when another character says he saw a rattlesnake bite his dog, Roy, on the scrotum.

“Scrotum sounded to Lucky like something green that comes up when you have the flu and cough too much,” the book continues. “It sounded medical and secret, but also important.”

The inclusion of the word has shocked some school librarians, who have pledged to ban the book from elementary schools, and reopened the debate over what constitutes acceptable content in children’s books. The controversy was first reported by Publishers Weekly, a trade magazine.' (NYT)

Now they're banning books about scrotums! What's next, penguins?

Oh, wait....

Hug Your Friendly Neighbourhood Geek - or - Why I Hate George Bush

You might have noticed that I haven't been around the blog a lot lately. Why? Well, it's all because of George Bush.

In July, 2005, the US Congress passed the Energy Policy Act, which was signed into law by George Bush on August 8th. God, do I hate the Energy Policy Act of 2005. In this ridiculous piece of legislation, Daylight Saving Time (now known as "Extended Daylight Saving") starts three weeks earlier, on March 11, 2007. (At 2 a.m., if you want to be specific. I have to know this because I'll be up at this time, glued to the clock.) Canada, claiming business reasons, has followed along with this insanity. The reason behind this law? Save energy by having more daylight at the end of the day. Of course, logically, people will be getting up an hour earlier, in darkness, and will have to....turn on the lights. God, do I hate the Energy Policy Act.

I have to instert a disclaimer here: I was the Y2K compliance officer for the company I worked at at the time. I had a year to prep, very little work to do in order to get compliant, and zero issues after the fact. So I know a little bit about massive systems changes, researching compliance issues and generalized foolishness. My better half was also on the Y2K team for his company. So between the two of us, we have a pretty good knowledge of these kinds of issues.

So, it's with this knowledge that I make this statement: Extended Daylight Saving is worse. (Well, in some very small ways. Don't start stockpiling food or anything.) And it's the reason I've been working my tail off lately.

Part of the reason that this is so bad is due to the fact that vendors are STILL working on the patches that are required for geeks like me to be able to transition our systems over to the Extended DST period. Microsoft has released tools in the last week or two when people normally need a month or two to test and roll-out. I've only been working on this a month.

So, why should you care. Running a computer? PDA? Blackberry? You need to update.

Here are some tips to make things earlier. (I have to provide a second disclaimer here, this is a suggestion only, not professional advice. When in doubt, always consult your vendor. But I'm right, so it's okay.)

Tips:

1 - Edit your calendar items *now* to reflect the correct start time of appointments between March 11 and April 1. Just click on the item and change the subject line to include the time.
2 - Print out your calendar *now*, paying special attention to any travel or critical appointments.

Then update your computer. If you're running Windows XP SP2, your patch is available here: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/dst_hu3?Submit1=Download. This patch will update your time zone configuration so that your computer will move an hour ahead at 2 am on March 11. You could, however, change the time manually, but your PC will likely move another hour ahead 3 weeks later when the old Daylight Saving Time kicks in. (Hey, I haven't tested this scenario yet, but I'll put that on my list.)

After updating XP, appoinments in Outlook Web Access or Outlook will appear one hour later in the three week delta period after March 11. You can either manually move your appointments back or run the Outlook Time Zone Update Tool, although this is *not* guaranteed to work in all cases. I say, when in doubt, do things manually. (More information on this here.)

If you're using another vendor for your mail client (Eudora, etc.) you should check with them. If you're using a web-based program, Gmail, Sympatico, etc. your vendor should be fixing the problem, so don't worry about your email. You still need to update your own computer, though. To make things even more fun, Microsoft released the XP update this week as a critical update - so if you have "automatic updates" already set up - you might have the patch already. If that's the case, double check your appointments if you're using OWA or Outlook.

If you're running a Blackberry device, you can get a device update by navigating to: www.blackberry.com/DST2007/patch/index2.shtml on your device. If you're running other Blackberry software, take a look at their site to see what you need to do. If you're running a different PDA, check your vendor's website.

I'm amazed that this is just starting to hit the news now, considering the impact could potentially be significant. Billing, banking, accounting, and travel systems? Well, I'm glad I don't run them. My problem, however, is that I work for a company who hosts email for *other* companies, so that can get sticky. Plus some of the changes on my side of the fence are a little hairy. PLUS, information is changing almost daily, meaning it's impossible to keep up with new issues/changes (in fact, when looking for some links for this blog, I found out that Microsoft has changed their DST webpage since yesterday). Excuse me while I medicate my ulcer.

Now, to be honest, I don't think it's going to be the end of the world. Most people will likely experience a few headaches and take it in stride, but if a CEO misses a flight for THE meeting that was going to make their company millions of dollars, I can be sure that I'm going to have some 'splaining to do.

So, thanks, George.

Oh, and the best thing? This is a TEST PERIOD. So we might have to undo all of this next year. If that's the case, I'm quitting the computer industry and opening a fruitstand.

So, if you have a friend who's a geek? Give them a goddamn hug. We need one.

Cheers,
Maia

Oh, and don't forget, change all your clocks, smoke dector batteries, VCRs, PVRs, your automatic furnace settings, your watches, your car's clock...and anything else that keeps time. Which is pretty much everything.