Cate Russell-Cole's Blog, page 48

Take the Stress Off

This time of the year is too stressful, so have a laugh at our Aussie humour. (Yes, that was spelt in Australian too.) I found this for Andra Watkins, but it’s too good not to share.

If you are wondering what a rusty Holden ute is, here is the style of one I grew up with.

Filed under: Personal Post Tagged: Christmas in Australia, holiday stress, humor, humour

12 Writing Treasures for Christmas

I don’t know why it never occurred to me before, but the basis of the word ‘encourage’ is courage. When you encourage someone, that is what you give them: the courage to continue working to achieve their goals.

So for Christmas this year, I want to give you twelve writing treasures which will increase your courage and be great tools for you in 2013.

These are my favourite sites that I catch up with and often pass on, on a daily basis. Merry Christmas.

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/blog/ Joanna Penn: Helping write, publish and market your book. Joanna’s blog posts hold great inspiration.




http://www.writing.com Online Community for Writers




http://www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au Sydney Writer’s Centre passes on great resources and courses which you don’t have to be in Australia to participate in.




http://www.advicetowriters.com The address is somewhat self explanatory…




http://www.writersdigest.com : Write Better, Get Published




http://www.bookcovercafe.com Help and advice, especially for Indie authors.




http://southernwritersmagazine.blogspot.com.au The blog is free and has great content from other writers. It’s by no means a stuffy magazine.




http://writeitsideways.com Regular doses of common sense and brilliance.




http://charactertherapist.com I love this idea! Writing triggers and plenty of food for thought on characterisation here.



http://wanaintl.com The home of the #mywana support community for writers.



http://authorkristenlamb.com Help with dealing effectively with social media.




http://www.namw.org National Association of Memoir Writers.

With the exception of the graphics in this post, whose original source is unknown to me, t his blog post by Cate Russell-Cole is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You are free to share and adapt the text.

 

Filed under: Writing Tagged: author, blogging, characterisation, creativity, encouragement, fiction, ideas, Indie publishing, inspiration, plot, resource, support, writer, writing

How Can We Brag Without it KILLING Our On-Line Credibility?

Reblogged from Kristen Lamb's Blog:

I taught Batman all he knows…

Nobody likes a braggart, but all of us want to brag…at least a little. As we writers move into the Digital Age publishing paradigm, we often find ourselves in the position of having to market. Ah, but here’s the pickle. If we toot our horns too much, we can risk turning others off.

I’ve been coaching writers for social media success for quite some time, and I tend to see two distinct camps on the social media front—

Read more… 2,444 more words

My apologies for being away all this week. It's been insane and getting even crazier! My Big Red Button blog post explains it all. In the meantime, if you ever need common sense advice or support, you can't go past Kristen and the MyWANA tribe! This is a great post Kristen has just blogged. I lean too much towards the Susan type. Where do you fit? Cheers everyone and thank you so much for the many messages of support.

Written Acts of Kindness Award: Kait Nolan

Being in the deep south of the planet and working from home, I often feel somewhat isolated. The most valuable writing initiative I have had the joy to discover is “A Round of Words in 80 Days,” which has been put together by author, Kait Nolan. If you are a regular to this blog, you’ve heard me mention ROW80 numerous times.

I love the philosophy of ROW80 and I have been given a welcome boost of confidence and support from other ROWers. I owe everyone who has supported me through ROW80 an award!

Kait, I just wanted to say a special thank you to you, for the amount of work you’ve put into this initiative. I know projects such as these take a great deal of time behind the scenes. I’ve also been impressed with how far through the 80 days the momentum continues without a huge participant drop off. As an online writing teacher, I know is a really tough call to achieve, but the atmosphere you’ve created enables its success. It’s been a pleasure to be a sponsor and participant. I will be here to support you for as long as I am able.

Thank you!

Kait’s web site is here and ROW80 is here.

Kait, please take this badge below and use it as you wish. The rules for passing this Award on are very simple:

You are welcome to give it out as many times as you like, but it is only to be given to a maximum of one person per blog post. If you wish to give multiple rewards, please space the blog posts by at least a week so the sincerity is maintained.
Introduce the person; say how they encourage, help or inspire you; then link to their work and/or social media profiles. There may be a specific post you wish to link to which helped you. It’s up to you.
Please publicise your award post to Twitter or Google Plus using the hashtag #writtenkindness so that others can find and follow the award winners. You are also welcome to add your Award recipient/s to the Hall of Fame which is on this link.

Get the Button and Code

Filed under: Awards Tagged: Written Acts of Kindness Award

The Big Red Button. Stopping the Nonsense!

I love the science fiction / fantasy genre. One of my goals for next year is to write a book on various plot and character aspects pertaining to fantasy, such as prophecy, enlightenment, the warrior instinct etc. I have strong Celtic roots so I have ordered DVDs on Celtic history and yesterday the first one landed on my desk: Celtic Warriors. It was one of those quirks of timing that are utterly priceless.

I like to keep my personal life out of my work life. Those of you who have read my bio know I am not a hobby blogger, I am an experienced, qualified writing coach and this is work… work I love! So few of you realise that I am a paraplegic: thus the migraines which you have read about. I am very independent. I have my own home, I drive, I teach three hour classes locally and I’ve been lucky enough to be able to move through life with as little assistance as possible. The biggest need I have is wheelchair accessible housing, which I am now in. That housing is now in jeopardy.

As my husband came out of retirement in January this year to go back to work to pay our increasing medical bills (you should see how much my pain killers cost); we are now over the income limit for assisted housing. That’s been fine as I have a disability and the Government authorities recognise I can’t just rent anywhere as I need a special bathroom, kitchen, wider doors etc. However, last Wednesday we received a letter telling us to move out by March 22nd. Why? Because a computer did a database sweep based solely on numbers. No human saw that letter. No one checked my file and said, “oh yes, Cate has an exemption on disability grounds” and saved us the stress of having to lodge appeals; prove I have a disability and sit on tender hooks wondering if the recent Government change has led to policy changes that will see us evicted.

To make me even madder, it has just taken us the best part of a year to get known drug dealers evicted from one of the units in the block we live in. They were offered assistance, social workers interviews and everything was done to keep the roof over their heads: even though we had police running around our premises several times with guns drawn, and small children in the area. We got a letter. No assistance. I rang the Department. They want me to fill in paperwork. They will not tell me what current disability policy is. They will not send an advocate to help. They were downright rude.

Thank God I am a social worker and I am trained how to fight these things. This has happened before and the solution was a letter with proof of disability. It’s already sent. Our local Member of Parliament has already been on the Landlord’s back. That helped. A full letter of complaint has been sent to the Minister of Housing, that will help. Chances are, we can stay. But unless they change their policy and ensure that all letters asking tenants to leave premises: no matter what the cause, are given proper reviews by people, this will happen to us again next year and the next until my husband ceases work. You know what? This would also happen to elderly people who have lived in their places for years and who have had a change of circumstances. They too would get letters like this and be thrown out with no assistance, regardless of health etc., and they may not have the ability to fight back. We want this policy changed, so we’re going to the Human Rights Commission and we’re going to raise hell.

This all takes time; plus the stress has sent my migraine pain sky high. I have been in bed all weekend on very heavy painkillers and I am exhausted. So I am taking the next two weeks off. I am pressing the big red stop button to save my energy for the fight. An Award will come out tomorrow and three posts are scheduled for next week, but I won’t be able to moderate comments and won’t be on any social media unless I feel like it. I want to work on my website and do a few things, but I need space, quiet and not to be on a schedule. I am stressed out of my tree. A special apology to my Triberr tribe, When I can, I will log in and pass on your posts, but I can’t make promises. I have just slept 18 hours and need to go back to bed!

If you feel a little cross about the fact that computers can be allowed to evict people automatically, please feel free to tell my Landlord just how you feel. Here is their email address: ICCHousingEnquiries@smartservice.qld.gov.au and here is their website: http://www.communities.qld.gov.au/housing/housing-services I would appreciate the support a great deal.

Take care of yourselves everyone. I hope to be back with really good news.

Filed under: Personal Post

Steampunk Inspiration and How-To for Writers

~ What is Steampunk? ~

“Steampunk simply embodies a time and a place. The time… the late 19th century. The place… a steam powered world, where air travel by fantastical dirigibles is as common as traveling by train or boat (or submarine). A place where national interests are vastly different than our own version of history. A place where the elegant and refined are as likely to get pulled into a grand adventure, as the workers, ruffians, and lower classes. A place where the idea of space travel is not so far fetched. A place where lost civilizations are found and lost again. A place where anything is possible, and science can be twisted to meet ones own ends. That to me is the essence of Steampunk. It can have political overtones and commentary, or it can be straight escapist fiction. Either way, if it meets these criteria. It is Steampunk.” Joshua A. Pfeiffer a.k.a. Vernian Process

~ How to Write Steampunk ~

Blog posts on writing from Steampunk.com : http://www.steampunk.com/c/writing/

The Steampunk Writers and Artists Guild: http://steampunkwriters.ning.com

The Steamed blog has plenty of articles on writing Steampunk: http://ageofsteam.wordpress.com/writing-steampunk/

So You Want to Write a Steampunk Story: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SoYouWantTo/WriteASteampunkStory

Guidelines for Writing Steampunk Fiction: http://www.romanceandmystery.com/STEAMPUNK.html

8 Tips and Tricks Every Steampunk Writer Should Know: http://steampunk.wonderhowto.com/inspiration/8-tips-and-tricks-every-steampunk-writer-should-know-0139158/

The Themes, Settings and Devices of the Steampunk Genre: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1249132-SteamPunk-A-List-of-Themes

The Aether Guild of Writers on the Steampunk Empire: http://www.thesteampunkempire.com/group/theaetherguildofwriters “A place for writers of the steampunk, gaslight and neo-victorian genres to discuss and share ideas, techniques and writings.”

I have a board on Pinterest which has pins of genuine Victorian inventions, Steampunk clothes, technology which has been given the Steampunk treatment and many other ideas along the theme’s lines. http://pinterest.com/cateartios/steampunk-inspiration-for-writers/ There is a treasure trove of resources on Pinterest, just search for “Steampunk.” For example, the magical book machine below. The original source is unknown to me.

~ Inspiration Sources ~

http://www.steampunkmagazine.com

Inspiration on clothes, gadgets and all things Steampunk. http://steampunkworkshop.com

List of Steampunk works in literature, film, games, theatre, music etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_steampunk_works

Steampunk Genre on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/genres/steampunk

Visual Inspiration: Flickr Steampunk Group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/steampunk/   http://steampunk-pics.com plus http://steampunkgirls.tumblr.com

A Steampunk Magazine that looks amazing: http://strangeandfascinating.com and also http://www.steampunktales.com

The Steampunk Tribune: http://www.steampunktribune.com

The Steampunk stream on Deviantart is so rich in ideas and fantasy inspiration, I’ve made my own screensaver out of some of the works. http://steampunk.deviantart.com There are gadgets, book design, artworks, weaponry, comics… everything!

More clothing inspiration: http://www.steampunkthreads.com and http://www.steampunkemporium.com/steam.php

The Steampunk Wiki: http://steampunk.wikia.com/wiki/Steampunk_Wiki

If you are putting together a Steampunk Writers Website, look at this one for inspiration. I love the name “The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences.” http://www.ministryofpeculiaroccurrences.com As it is a WordPress blog, their options for Steampunking the layout more are limited, but it will give you ideas to dream about…

Follow the tweets: https://twitter.com/search?q=%23steampunk

Mad Scientists, Airships and Class: The Politics of Steampunk. A controversial article by people who just don’t get the concept of fantasy: http://overland.org.au/blogs/against-reality/2012/06/mad-scientists-airships-and-class-the-politics-of-steampunk/

If you are in Australia, Steam events can be found at The Antipodean League of Temporal Voyagers http://antipodeanleague.org/blog/

With the exception of the graphics in this post, t his blog post by Cate Russell-Cole is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You are free to share and adapt only the text.

No images on this blog may be copied, captured, or altered for your own purpose without the consent of the originating owner. The owners of the elements found in these images are:  Lauren Bavin, Meryl Bartho and Erica Belton from http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com; and Brandy Murray, Melissa Renfro and Paula Wright from http://www.scrapgirls.com All images have been paid for with a Commercial Licence and may not be used without you doing the same.

Please see the Blog Content and Image Copyright page of this blog for further information in regards to Guest Posts, other images, Cate’s checks on infringements and Liability.

Filed under: Writing Tagged: author, books, creativity, discovery, fiction, how-to, ideas, inspiration, passion, resource, Steampunk, Victorian, Victoriana, writer, writing

Written Acts of Kindness Award: Shelly Immel

Being a chronic pain sufferer (migraine) and often battling to get any work done. Sometimes I need inspiration from others who are also fulfilling their dreams despite health setbacks.

Shelly Immel, founder of The Big Life Project is a beautiful example of hope and optimism, and what you can do to change the world, regardless of your circumstances. I often share her posts on Google Plus as she is an amazing inspiration to everyone her work touches. She is a writer with a brilliant sense of humour and a very special friend.

The best person to describe her project is Shelly:

Please follow Shelly’s blog at: http://thebiglifeproject.com/about-shelly-immel/  Links to follow her on Google Plus, Facebook and Twitter are on her site.

Shelly, please take this badge below and use it as you wish. The rules for passing this Award on are very simple:

You are welcome to give it out as many times as you like, but it is only to be given to a maximum of one person per blog post. If you wish to give multiple rewards, please space the blog posts by at least a week so the sincerity is maintained.
Introduce the person; say how they encourage, help or inspire you; then link to their work and/or social media profiles. There may be a specific post you wish to link to which helped you. It’s up to you.
Please publicise your award post to Twitter or Google Plus using the hashtag #writtenkindness so that others can find and follow the award winners. You are also welcome to add your Award recipient/s to the Hall of Fame which is on this link.

Get the Button and Code

Filed under: Awards Tagged: The Big Life Project, Written Acts of Kindness Award

Clear Covers: Making Your E-book Identifiable at Thumbnail Size

Designing book covers is a challenge. If you have a print book, there are geniuses out there in the publishing houses, who can bring themes together which make you go “wow.” (Watch this presentation on TED talks to see the “wow” factor come alive. It’s incredible!) Whether you like the book topic or not, you want it for the cover! The advantage they have is, there is much more space to play with. E-book authors don’t have the same space! Covers that look great in a normal size, Photoshop, or on your blog or web site, can come across as totally unfathomable on a mobile device or online e-book catalogue. This is a problem for me when I’ve just bought the book; or forgotten I have bought it and can’t remember what it is about!

Please take these great cover examples from Amazon’s newly released list.

I can see what they are about and the title. Mood enhancing and decorative elements that would only work in print, are not on these covers so they work well as e-book thumbnails.

The worst covers I have ever seen come off DIY sites where they give you a limited selection of backgrounds and fonts. They are just image and text thrown on top. They make you look completely pathetic.

It does pay, as many say on a regular basis, to take the time to ensure your cover is professional. In short, that means:

Cover design is based on the genre of your book. If it is about a cowboy working in the big city, have him in an office wearing boots and a cowboy hat. Don’t get philosophical and put on a picture of a zombie. That will confuse the reader, even if your storyline is about how working in the city destroys you! Readers cannot quickly grasp intricate messages which are contained in the depths of your story.
Cover design is appropriate to the reader; ie. if it is a young adult book on vampires, don’t put the victim in an erotic, gothic outfit or make it too gory. You will be getting letters from parents who aren’t very happy!
Ensure your text is clear, doesn’t disappear into the background image and fits the genre. Beware curly, or antique-type lettering which may be hard to decipher on e-books, or special effects which are lost on e-book covers.
Don’t try and put too many elements or any small details on your covers. Not having a back cover makes cover design more limited. When I designed the covers for my Four Dimensional Characterisation Series, I had a lot of trouble getting that logo in. I knew that while I needed it as a series identifier, it would have to either be totally sacrificed, or I would have to allow it to be almost unreadable, thus putting the emphasis on the title. It drove me crazy trying to make it work! In the end, I shrank it smaller than I would have wanted and just had to live with the compromise. I ensure it is legible in promotion on my blog and web site, to make up for that deficit. It’s not easy!  You can’t always get what you want.
Remember, you only have a nanosecond to get the reader’s attention. Make it count by being clear.

Take your time when designing, have a good look around and collect a scrapbook of ideas and good luck! Your hard work will pay off.

P.S. If you are interested in presenting your book jacket in a 3D form for promotion, try this web site: http://www.3d-pack.com/ It’s easy to use and you can buy the software. An example is just above.

Books featured in this post:

Hidden (A Bone Secrets Novel) by Kendra Elliot

A Wanted Man (Jack Reacher) by Lee Child

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back To Health by William Davis MD

The covers are Copyright the authors of those books. I have and make no claim to them.

This article / blog post is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2012. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

No images on this blog may be copied, captured, or altered for your own purpose without the consent of the originating owner. Where images are marked as being iStockphoto.com images, they are paid for and licenced to Cate for use on this blog. If you take them, iStockphoto.com has the right to take legal action against you for Copyright Infringement.

Please see the Blog Content and Image Copyright page of this blog for further information in regards to Guest Posts, other images, Cate’s checks on infringements and Liability.

Filed under: Writing Tagged: Android, author, Barnes and Noble, books, cover, design, ebook, fiction, iBooks, ideas, Indie publishing, inspiration, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, legible, Lulu, mistakes, print, problem solving, sales, Smashwords, success, writer, writing

NaNoWriMo Next Steps: Bringing Books to Life

It is very easy to feel unloved, unwanted and downright unwelcome when the publishing houses dump piles of rejection letters on you. You probably wouldn’t be all that surprised if they set a hungry doberman on you sometimes. Yet, many editors and publishers love their work as they love you: the authors. This video is filmed from Random House. I know those of you who may feel burnt will call it a “gloss over,” but perhaps not all is as bad as it seems. I hope you find encouragement in it.

Filed under: "Dose of Inspiration" Video Tagged: author, books, creativity, encouragement, inspiration, motivation, novel, Random House, success, support, writer, writing

Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy Your New Lamp…

Click on post images for sources.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the United States. It has been one tough year for many people, but we’re still here with much to be grateful for.

In Australia in January, we celebrate Captain James Cook landing in Australia for the first time, with views for British colonisation… well, they wanted to just dump their overloaded prison inmates somewhere… anywhere… far away, but we’re past that now. That is the closest holiday we have to thanksgiving. We don’t give thanks in the same way you do, but it’s a time for family and friends to celebrate this nation’s growth. The best part is it falls in the summer, so celebrations are outside with fireworks and barbecues to enjoy this gorgeous weather the Brits ‘cursed’ us with. If that’s a curse, we’re doing really well!

If you haven’t already read it, please take the time to read the post below this one, which is a thanksgiving challenge for writers. Be an encouragement to someone who needs and/or deserves it; particularly those who are battling uphill with NaNoWriMo.

Lastly, don’t forget to assist the Red Cross with the efforts to support those affected by Hurricane Sandy. “The Red Cross responds to approximately 70,000 disasters in the United States every year, ranging from home fires that affect a single family to hurricanes that affect tens of thousands, to earthquakes that impact millions. In these events, the Red Cross provides shelter, food, health and mental health services to help families and entire communities get back on their feet. Although the Red Cross is not a government agency, it is an essential part of the response when disaster strikes. We work in partnership with other agencies and organizations that provide services to disaster victims.”

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Filed under: Personal Post Tagged: Happy Thanksgiving