Jo Michaels's Blog, page 5

AI and Writing - A Series of Looks Inside: Part One

Oh my goshness! Hello, good people of the blogosphere. I'm going to discuss something that's been discussed to death: AI and writers using AI. We're specifically talking generative AI here, but there are a ton of writing helpers that have been using one form of AI or another for a long time. We'll get into those as we go along, but today, I'll try to do some explaining on how LLMs work. If you already know, feel free to skip to the next post (if it's up). If it's not, wait two days, and I'll have moved on to examining the tools.

When AI first hit the market, I was as flummoxed as everyone else. I had trepidation, but I stood back and watched rather than freak out, and I learned as much as humanly possible about the way it works. I watched videos, did shallow dives, and did deep dives, which I emerged from in a much more confused state than when I went in.

I know, right? UGH. BUT THEN!

I was on the phone with one of my children (one that happens to be a computer genius, and I don't use that word lightly) when I lamented my lack of understanding. She proceeded to explain it to me. Only, she was using computer terminology.

Me: "Okay. You're adorable, but I can't understand a single word coming out of your mouth."Her: "Hmmm... Well, how would you understand it?"Me: "Pretend I'm a small child with only a basic understanding of the English language and know nothing about computers."Her: *thinks for a minute then laughs like a loon* "I think I know how to help you understand."Me: "Hit me with it."

And that's how I came to understand how a Large Language Model (LLM) works. Let me see if I can explain it the same way. If you're confused when I'm done, please drop me a comment below, and I'll do my level best to get you articles that might help.

Imagine you're a small child learning how to speak. You tune in to your parents, the TV, books, and every other thing that'll talk to you. As time goes on and you consume more information, you learn how to construct a basic sentence.

Example:Mom always asks if you want more food.
Eventually, you understand to say, "I want more food." You understand this by hearing Dad say those same words in the same order. Mom rewards him with more food. However, the possessive I is something you learn from listening to TV and being corrected. Most babies would say, "Me want more food." Right? It's only through repetition of hearing it in the correct order when you begin to understand it's not me; it's I. Make sense?

Now, imagine you have a vast network of text to learn from because you can't hear (not speaking about the hearing impaired, they learn in other ways). You learn word B comes after word A in a typical sentence because after examining literally thousands of sentences, that word is the one that comes next most often. Word C comes after word B most often, so that's the one you use next. Then, you use word D, putting it all together to convey your idea.

I want more food.

On a much larger scale, this is how LLMs work. They're not smart, and they're not aware; they just have a vast amount of text that tells them what word most commonly follows the first in any conversation. Some of them pull from websites and give you a summary using the exact same method, but they're not regurgitating lines word for word, nor do they steal your words and give them to someone else.

It's highly unlikely you're constructing sentences in the exact way hundreds of other people are, so the likelihood your exact structure and prose would be used by an LLM is about a billion to one.

I can hear you being skeptical. Let's go for one more example.

I create a small language model using text from Bob, Lia, Dot, and Steve. Here's what they give me when I ask, "How do you get ready in the morning?"Bob: I start by getting out of bed, having coffee, and taking a shower. Then, I brush my teeth and get dressed for the day.Lia: My mornings start with me having coffee and watching TV. I tend to rush around feeding the animals and sit down to play a game or two after about half an hour. Once I'm relaxed, I get dressed and start to sort out what's for dinner.Dot: I get up, shower, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, and get dressed.Steve: I roll out of bed and fall into some clothes before rushing out the door and driving an hour to the office.From those few responses, my language model would "probably" return something along the lines of: I get out of bed, brush my teeth, and get dressed.

Because those are the most common denominators in the text. Hell, it might not even be able to answer the question based on those limited responses and it not having enough reference material to use.

See how it's not the same but contains the general elements of the other items?

That is how an LLM works, folks. It's not smart enough to pull sentences out of thin air. So now, when you see people freaking out about their words being used to train an LLM, you can just smile and move on.

So, for this series! We'll be looking at the following apps/helpers, and I'll do my best to ask them all the same things/insert the same prompts to see how each one responds.

ChatGPTSudowriteJasper AIGrammarlySquiblerHyperwriteRytrCopy.aiType.aiProWritingAidClaudeShortly AIAnywordQuillbot

I'll pepper in some posts about other things as we go to break up the monotony of a series, and those programs that don't have a free test feature won't be studied. This is just what I could find when I did a quick search. These will be updated with links to the individual posts.

Anyone who uses AI to 100% write a book and does no editing is an ID10T because of the very thing I explained above. However, they can sometimes pull someone out of a funk or help with a sticky spot in a plot (which is how most authors I've interacted, who use AI, use it). 

What AI can't do is generate large amounts of text and it be original. It'll sound dull and robotic (because it is). You can't just plug in a plot and get a good book. Period. So, let's see what these programs can do. If you don't want or need to use any of these, that's fine. Please just move along. :)

One of my biggest challenges will be with the prompts. Authors I know who use AI at all spend literal hours on their prompts then edit the hell out of the text. It's a helper, and IF you're going to use it, that's how it should be used.

I hope you're all looking forward to this. I'm interested to try them! Maybe I'll be disappointed. Maybe you'll find a tool that does exactly what you're looking for (which isn't writing an entire novel for you). We'll see!

Fingers crossed you all enjoyed this post and are stoked about trying stuff.

That's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Bluesky Social

Good morning, and happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, we're talking about Bluesky, the Twitter replacement. This little app that could has over twenty-one million users as of now, probably due to the mass exodus of X (the app formerly known as Twitter). We'll dive into all the ways it's similar to the Twitter of old, and I'll show you a few things you might not have known about. Ready? Get cozy, grab a cup of coffee, and let's get going!

So, Bluesky. What is it? Where did it come from? How can you use it? What are the awesome features it has that you may not know about? How can you sign up? These are the questions we'll answer today. If you happen to have other questions, feel free to drop them in the comments, and I'll do my level best to find out for you.

What is Bluesky?

Well, it's a mobile and web app that's rather like the Twitter of old. You can post short, to-the-point sentences and use hashtags or media to enhance said post. You can create specific feeds, follow and block, and even send DMs.

Where the heck did Bluesky come from?

According to Britannica, it's actually been around a long time (since 2019), but it's only recently (2023) become available to the public. It's biggest growth happened last year when Twitter changed its name to X and the CEO changed the company's direction. X is being changed to an "everything" platform, while Bluesky will continue to be more like Twitter (but with differences). Add to that, Bluesky is open source, meaning you can tweak it. More on that later...

Is anyone else bored with these answers? I am. Let's get into the fun stuff.

Sign up by clicking here. It's super easy and only takes a few minutes. You can also download the app for iPhone or Android, so you can use it on your phone. Once you do that, you'll be able to navigate to settings:

As you can see, you have options to change quite a few things:

Add another accountAccount
Privacy and securityModerationContent and mediaAppearanceAccessibilityLanguages

You also have the ever-needed Help and About sections.

Add another account - This allows you to have another handle (username) with a different email address.Account - If you click this one, you can change your password, birthday, etc.Privacy and security - You can enable two-factor authentication (recommended), and prevent users of the app from seeing you when they're logged out. Because it's an open-source platform, other apps may still be able to see your profile. Just click it and do some reading/exploring.Moderation - This option is rather vast, so I suggest checking it out and getting into the nitty gritty, but on a basic level, you can hide nudity (artistic--other nudity isn't allowed), block, or select keywords to unsee.Content and media - Manage saved feeds (more in a minute), allow auto-play for other apps, and get down in the nuts and bolts of your follow feed. This app lets you create your own experience, so learning how to use all these things can only help you.Appearance - Choose your color mode, size of the text (yay!), theme (dark/light), and font here.Accessibility - Alt texts requirements. This is for folks who use a reading app for sites. It tells them what the image is as a descriptor.Languages - You can choose from a bajillion languages for your feed, the app, and your content.

When you click your profile from the menu on the left:

 You'll see these options:

That partially hidden one is Lists.

This is your stuff. Your posts, replies, media, etc. HOWEVER, this is where you can have some fun! If you click on Feeds, you'll see only posts from the feeds (#) you've chosen. If you'd like to add Feeds to this section, click Feeds in the menu on the left and make some choices. Just click the + icon at the left of the feed to add it to your list. Very cool, right?

Let's go a little deeper.

If I click on the Artists: Trending feed, this is the first post:

and if I click on that, I get this:

It tells you exactly how to join and participate in that feed. There's a TON more information on that page, so scroll down and read!

Now, let's go into how you start your own kind of community. If you click on Starter Pack, it allows you to either have one begun for you or for you to create one yourself. You name it, add stuff, and invite people.

Last, but certainly not least, you can make yourself Lists. This is a throwback from Twitter, and I had a ton of lists there so I could only see the people I wanted to see. To add someone to a list, first create a new list by clicking Lists on the menu on the left, then click the three dots on the person's profile page who you'd like to add, select add to Lists, and then choose which list you'd like them on.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

There are a ton of things you can do with Bluesky as a developer, but most people I know just want to see what they want to see, so this quicky walked you through that. You can add apps on the platform to do other things, and if you're into that, by all means... This is just what I could reasonably fit into a single blog post. :)

I hope this post helps you get the most out of your Bluesky experience and that you enjoyed the read! :D

Also, if you'd like to connect on Bluesky, I'm here.

That's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Look! I'm back again.

Hello, good people of the blogosphere! Welcome. I'm back, it's a Friday, and the weekend is looming. Today, I'm just gonna talk about whatever, and next week, I'm gonna work on a schedule for all the writerly advice. There are so many new things out there to get in on, and so much that's gone away, I really need to do a bit of a deep dive before I start talking out my azz.

As I said on Wednesday, I'm trying to get back in the habit of sitting down and writing, so showing up twice this week is my idea of a start. :)

Did any of you know I started a YouTube channel? I may or may not have posted about it here, but I don't "think" I did? I'll have to go look...

I did! Link: http://jomichaels.blogspot.com/2020/08/baking-cooking-and-recipe-submissions.html

Anyway, I plan to start making videos again once I get myself moved. All that should be happening in May-ish. I already have a video schedule I can follow, and on the plus side, y'all will get to see a lot more of my grandchildren! I did a video when my eldest granddaughter was still very young (we made turkey cupcakes), and I just know she'll be down to do some more. I have a lot to teach her. :)

My new kitchen is just as fabulous as the one I have now, with the addition of a butcher block countertop, so bread making should be a lot easier. Granite is kind of a PITA when it comes to bread and pasta because of the cooler temperature of the surface... Blah, blah, blah.

Would you believe the spammers have already started again in the comments section? That's so annoying. I need them to stop. OH! And on the topic of commenters...

That last post I wrote here forever ago saying I was giving up because someone was being an azz? I don't even remember the comment the troll made, so it's not bothering me any longer. Yay. Hopefully, they stay away.

I know I'm all over the place right now, but look, I haven't been here for a while, and I'm not really sure what my focus is today except being here. Period. I'm literally just writing.

Anyway, I'll see you all next week, and I promise I'll have direction! No more rambling.

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Uh... Wow. What's Going on With this Blog?

Long freaking time no see, eh? I'm thinking of doing a little revival here because I need the habit of writing to come back and sit with me again. After 2020, things got a bit crazy for me. If you read my post from that year, you'll know a lot happened, but the blows just kept coming.

My second-eldest son died.My mother died.My hubby changed jobs.I changed jobs.My art exploded (if there's one positive thing about grief...).We decided to move this year (after renovations--Lort help us all).I got five new pets, and I've lost four of them--the one hitting the hardest was the first one I got. She was the goodest girly and was very special to me.I haven't been able to write novels.

All that being said (typed?), I'm trying my darndest to come back. I have my last author conference this coming April (Authors Rock Roanoke), and after that, we move. I'm hoping to get back to some semblance of a routine once the dust settles.

Also! If any of you read Recipe for Redemption by TJ Kelly, a collab with Tia, Kelly, and myself, you'll be excited to know we've officially finished book two and are moving on to the editing stage! Yay! I think our title for book 2 is: Recipe for Redemption 2: Izzy's Story. After we get this one published, we're going on to Frankie. ;) I just have two more recipes to add to book two: Gluten-free Corn Cookies and Corn Cakes. Hey, it's set in Iowa. No shade. It will, however, have a hushpuppy recipe in it that's TO. DIE. FOR. So freaking yum.

I'm hoping to have copies at Roanoke, so if you're into RfR and would like some free recipe cards (and maybe the second book?), tickets for the event are only $5, and you can get them at the link above.

I have to say, I'm so grateful for those two ladies. We've continued our tradition of a yearly trip together after 2020, and those have given me something to look forward to while helping me hold on to the small thread of sanity I have left.

Did I say sanity? Not even sure what that means any longer, but here we are!

Moving on...

I'm still editing and formatting, and one of my clients is releasing the last in a series soon, so I'll be back with details once that happens.

Hold out hope I can keep going with the blog. If I can, it'll mean new books are coming soon. I have a number of them mostly written, so it shouldn't be long before they're done. Book three in my Guerrilla Grannies series, and book two in the Angels and Vampires series. Again, both are nearly done, but when I had things start to go south, they really took me off my path. I also have a cult book I plan to release sometime this year. It's also about two chapters from conclusion but has no definitive cover yet, BUT the handbook has a loose cover, and I'll show it below. I had a difficult time finding the motivation to finish any of these things. Seeing as I'm here now, it's a positive thing. Cross your fingers!

I have to include some of the pretty things in this post for you all to look at, so here you go!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Cover Competition - The Adventures of Tara and Pep Pep Book Four: Learning About 911

Good morning and happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I have a request coming to you all from the very sweet Wanda L. Roberts. Grab your coffee or tea and let's get going!

I'm sure you've all heard of AllAuthor by now, and I'm sure you know they do a cover of the month competition.

Wanda's children's book, The Adventures of Tara and Pep Pep Book Four: Learning About 911, was chosen for this month's contest, and she's asking you all to pop on over and give her a vote, if you don't mind. Links and such you need to complete this are next, so keep scrolling!

Click here to vote for this cute cover.

You'll need to log in, but you can do so either with your Facebook credentials or with your AllAuthor account (or create an AllAuthor account).

Here's a snapshot of the book cover you'll be voting for:

Isn't that cute?

If you'd like to buy the book, you can find it on Amazon here. 

$2.99 for Kindle and $9.99 for paperback.

Blurb: The Adventures of Tara and Pep Pep is an adorable book series that is sure to bring out international smiling faces everywhere. The fun educational activities included in each book encourage your child to learn numbers, colors, and words as well as compassion towards rescue dogs.

These beautiful stories of Toby, his dad, and Tara and Pep Pep are sure to be adored by children, and warm any mother's heart! Come along with Tara and Pep Pep while they visit the 911 emergency facilities and learn from Mid Molly Mobile how to handle a emergency!

Thank you all so much!

That's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

6 Routine and Productivity Tips

Happy Wednesday, good people of the blogosphere! I hope you're all enjoying your new year thus far. Today, I'm talking about how to stick to your routine and be productive no matter what you're doing. I won't bore you with a long introduction up here, so grab your coffee or tea, and let's dive on in!

As you all may know, when the pandemic hit, my characters ran from Covid like the bulls in the streets of Pamplona, abandoning me to the woes and worries of the world with nothing to distract me and the very real possibility of getting trampled by depression. It was touch and go there for a minute, but I managed, through the power of flour, to pull myself out of the trenches and keep forging ahead. I created my baking channel and companion cookbook.

My biggest assets have always been my ability to schedule myself for maximum productivity and form routines to keep myself focused. I changed gears so fast I'm surprised my transmission didn't fall out, but here we are, nearly a year later, and I'm still going strong. Below, I'll share a few of my most helpful tips for achieving something you wish to do.

Take the time to learn everything you can about the thing you're trying to do. Whether that's using a video camera, editing reels, or proofing dough, find out the how and the why. You'll be better prepared when you get to the action stage of this list.Use a calendar and be realistic. Don't set yourself unobtainable goals a year in the future. Start now (or as soon as humanly possible) and start small. There's no need to go crazy. 100 words every day for a year is 36,500 words. Things add up. Pick a date and just start!
Plan ahead. Grab yourself a day planner with the hours of each day outlined (mine was $20 at Michael's). Spend an hour each Sunday planning your week. If that's not realistic, loosely outline targets you want to hit then segment and figure out how many hours you need to use to achieve them. Find those hours. For my YouTube channel, I plan a whole three months ahead, and I know exactly when I need to start taping recipes for the next quarter to get them all done in time. Then, I break that down by days then by hours (photo below). Usually, I have lunch breaks planned out, too, but I've been horribly lacking in that area lately, choosing to eat what I film instead. :)
Stick to your planned routine as though your very life depended on it. Don't let anything get in the way. If you have other obligations, schedule around them to begin with. If something pops up that you can't avoid, reschedule your action item right away. Don't put things off with the intention to "get to them" later and not making a firm plan to do so. You'll never get to them.
Tell people what you're doing, and ask them not to disturb you during that time. Turn off all your ringers if you need to, and step away from the computer if you can. If not, disable your internet while you write or film or hammer or knit, whatever you're doing. Be as protective of your time as a mama bear is with her cubs. People interrupt? Maul their asses. You now have permission. :) Aren't I generous? hahaBe a finisher. If it matters to you, you'll find a way, and if not, you'll find an excuse. Close your eyes, dive in, and give it everything you've got. Even if nothing comes of it, you gave it your all, and that makes you a winner every time. Celebrate those successes of finishing. Even if it's only forty-five minutes all to yourself (if you get this reference, you're now my bestie-haha! I'm totally kidding, Tia. You'll always be my bestie!).

Above all, don't be hard on yourself. Enjoy whatever it is you're doing, because if you don't enjoy it, what's the point? You don't have to be what everyone else considers perfect. Be your own version of greatness. Yours is the only opinion that matters.

I hope you all got something out of this and forge ahead with new energy in this year of 2021. Our future is what we make it. Let's make it great.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Life - Now and Then

Happy Thursday, y'all!

What's everyone been up to?

Today, I'm musing. Thinking about the past, the present, and the future.

It's strange to me to think that we'll eventually refer to time as before COVID and after. I'll admit, I was a bit worried there in the beginning, before the studies of people on my particular brand of medication were done. Having an immune system that acts like the Hulk on steroids is no joke. Many of the folks in the group I'm in (specifically for this medication) have gotten the 'Rona and did just fine. Seeing as I'm relatively healthy otherwise, I relaxed a little when I read those posts and the studies that came out of the first group of deaths and survivals (from actual doctors, not the news).

Yes, I still wear my mask everywhere, but I was a shut in before all this mess. Not too much has changed with that. But so many things have changed with me as a person...

Do you find that to be true? Did you experience any kind of growth during this quarantine and everything that happened because of it? I'll turn comments back on for this post so I can hear from y'all. Spammers have been out of control or I would've done it sooner. Nothing like waking up to fifty notifications about comments that are all BS. *eye roll*

I was struggling with a lot of things: loss of my alone time, loss of motivation, loss of concentration... I could go on and on. But sharing my cooking has really helped me pull myself back together. Added bonus: I GOT A NEW PLANNER with hourly slots. I can't even tell you how much these things help me. I'm back in the groove so much more now than I was before.

Of course, there are still adjustments to be made. My kiddo is home most of the time now, so I still need to plan around that. She has no issue barging in on me while I'm working. Haha. It is what it is for now, but I need to get back to writing. There's no way to explain to anyone what interruptions do to a writer's train of thought unless that person is also a writer. I need silence and a strict schedule.

Know what writers also need, I've found? A guarantee that what we're doing won't be yanked out from under us suddenly. When we commit to a book, to putting words on the page, we need to feel like it'll be complete at some point or we lose all desire to sit down and work at it.

At least, that's me. If I think that tomorrow will be the end of my writing career, I start to wonder why I'd even bother with another book or why I'd worry about finishing what I'm working on. What's the point?

Thankfully, I've still been working on the second installment of Recipe for Redemption with Tia and Kelly. This one is Izzy's story, and it's shaping up to be one helluva novel. With that will come an all new set of recipes (that I get to create) for the book.

How fun is that?

Anyway, I do wonder when, or if, things will return to some semblance of what they were before. I'm thinking things will change in ways we can't even fathom yet, but I also look forward to a future where there's not a big question mark hanging over everyone's heads.

Things that happened in my life during quarantine: EVERYTHING I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO GOT CANCELLED. A new job and total move to a different state (for me) threatened. Hubby lost his job and had to find a new one. Everyone was home all the time. Kiddo struggled with her social life from being housebound. Finances went tits up along with the old job, and we had to do some major adjusting quickly. I gained the COVID-20 around my middle. My arthritis finally hit a breaking point, and even moving started causing pain. I started a new medication for my MS that has weird side effects. SO MUCH. Ugh.

But all that aside, I've learned a lot, too. I've taken on deep introspection, and I've started to realize my emotional triggers more deeply than I did before. For that, I'm grateful. I now know why I burst into tears after a particularly intense workout and why I get so damned upset when things change without advance notice. It's taken a lot, but I'm getting there. 

How about y'all?

As you all know, I also started a cooking channel over on YouTube. Feel free to join me!

Now I just feel like I'm rambling, so I'll head on out of here. I hope everyone has an amazing week ahead.

Until next time, WRITE ON.

Jo

Baking, Cooking, and Recipe Submissions

Welcome back, everyone! I know the blog has been silent, but I've been busy learning... stuff. Since all this COVID-19 crap started, my brain has been in Dug and squirrel mode. I haven't been able to focus on anything much, so I turned to learning. That's always been my go-to fix. I believe I could've been a professional student. I love to learn. ALL THE THINGS!

Since the pandemic, I've gone through tons of bread flour. Practicing, reading, and filing information away for later use. Check out some of my bakes:

Now is later. I've launched a YouTube channel where I'll be sharing the following:

Recipes of my own.Recipes submitted by folks.Bread recipes.Recipes I find on the web.Bonus videos when something interesting is going on (like a new food hitting the market)

As far as recipes I find on the web, they'll be stuff I want to try and/or want to see how long they really take from start to finish. Yes, all the bread in the image above is coming. I'm planning one video a week on Mondays.

I WILL take requests, too. If you have a recipe you've never been able to nail, shoot it my way, and I'll give it a go. Describe the issue you're having during the making. Maybe together, we can figure it out.

I also leave in my crazy bloopers. Ha!

If you'd like to join me over there, here's the link to my channel: 

And here's my most recent video:

Next week, I'm doing basic bread, so that should be entertaining.

I hope to see you all over there. Let's relax and do some cooking and baking!

That's all for today, folks! Until next time, BAKE ON!

Jo

An Open Letter to Whomever Will Listen Concerning COVID-19

Happy Friday, y'all. I know a ton of people are going crazy because of quarantine, but hopefully, this will give you something to pass the time. Yeah, I know I'm going to go on and on here, but it's time we all started thinking about this. Grab your coffee or tea, get comfy, and let's get going.

To Whomever it May Concern (or to those folks that might listen),

It's time to stop reacting to things that are happening with the COVID-19 outbreak. Just. Stop. It. What's happened has happened. There's literally nothing you can do about it. No amount of complaining will fix it. No amount of saying it's not real will make it go away. It's very real. Those things that happened are done. Over. In the past. Untouchable.

How about you start looking to tomorrow? Or perhaps the next day? Next week, maybe? All of those?

Plan for what's coming, not what's already happened. I know you see it. You're not going into this situation blind. You have models from other countries that will tell you exactly how this virus will progress and what it will do. Think forward rather than backward. Put resources where they'll be needed tomorrow and not where they were needed yesterday. Yesterday is over. Tomorrow is coming.

We've known this was coming since December. And if someone like me, who's not as smart as so many others, saw it and planned for it, I have to wonder why you didn't. Why you didn't look at the people you govern and care like a mother does for her children? That's literally your job. It's not to make the right step or be infallible. You need to be human and care. Then take the steps to protect the ones you're supposed to protect. Admit when you screw up. We can handle that. Humility will get you everywhere. Then give us an actionable plan you've truly thought through and not some half-assed solution that addresses what happened before today.

Denying there's anything to worry about will make people lift their eyebrows at you. We're smarter than that. Give us some credit, will ya? Because you're not taking it seriously, there are thousands (possibly tens of thousands--I have no idea) on the beaches in Florida, tens of thousands (more?) still going out for dinner in crowded restaurants, and who knows how many traveling everywhere.

You have to convey the seriousness of the situation to the public, even if you have to eat a little crow along the way. Make people listen to protect them. That is your job.

There are so many states refusing to shut down. Do it before it gets out of control, or you won't be able to control it. That much, I can promise you. For every ten known cases, how many do we not know about? Think about that. We're smart enough to figure it out. Why aren't you?

People are hoarding because they're terrified. They know they don't have all the information. They're not freaking stupid. They know there's something y'all aren't telling us. Humans can handle the truth when you give it, but you have to be honest. If we feel like we're being lied to, we overreact and think the worst. It's hard to have conspiracy theories if someone is being blatantly honest and presenting you with a plan.

Yeah, I know, I know. You're being honest. You don't think there's anything to worry about. *insert eye roll* If that's true, then why declare a national state of emergency? Come on. We're not idiots. Stop treating us like we are. Please.

We have a hard time getting behind something we don't understand, and we don't understand this thing. What you're saying will happen here doesn't match what we're seeing happen elsewhere. Because of that, people are either all over the beaches in Florida or holed up in their homes, afraid to leave.

Do you see what I'm getting at?

Do what you need to do to get this crap under control. We won't hold it against you. Maybe if you're honest with the information and take needed precautions (huge thanks to all those counties in GA that have already shut down--appreciate y'all for caring--not sure it'll matter in the long run because of the other guys), we might actually have a chance. If you continue to lie, we're all screwed.

How about you start ordering ventilators today instead of the day you realize you need them. You know it's coming. Tomorrow is changeable. Yesterday is not.

For all you people calling this COVID-19 a hoax or a scare-tactic from the media: Do you think the whole world is in on some conspiracy to scare you? Come on. You're all smarter than that. And for what it's worth, every time you cite those things above? You're saying those lives lost already don't matter and the ones that will be lost in the coming months don't either.

Honestly, I've lost one parent, and if one of y'all acts stupid and causes me to lose the other because you didn't listen? Shame on you. Shame. On. You.

Look past what you're being told and examine other countries. There are plenty of case studies out there for you to look at. Don't be sheep. Think for yourselves. Then get your kids, siblings, parents, and friends on board. Get those college kids off the beaches. Quarantine them at home for a month after. This is what you're gonna have to do to keep this thing from spreading.

Y'all, wash your hands. Stay home whether you feel sick or not (if you can). You know this thing is contagious way before you show symptoms. Think of others. If you hoarded toilet paper out of panic, that's okay. Give a roll to an elderly person. Just leave it on their porch. They'll be grateful.

AND STOP FIGHTING. It's not worth it. Nothing is worth that, not even the last loaf of bread at Walmart. If you need to know how to bake bread, there's a video on my FB page that walks you through it. If you need to wipe your butt, use a rag and throw it in the washer with some bleach. It's what our great-great grandparents did. They made out just fine.

Also, please thank a nurse, doctor, truck driver, or EMT today. They're the ones keeping this country moving, and they'll be the ones that have to keep going, day after day, no matter how sick they get.

I'm disgusted at the blatant disregard for human life I'm seeing, but I'm also touched by the kindness I see happening everywhere. Be the kindness.

I hope someone hears this and we all start paying attention.

Peace and Love, Fellow Humans,

Jo

An Author and Reader Guide to StoryOrigin - Part One - Signing Up with SO and Integrating Mailing Lists

Hey all! I hope you're doing well and staying out of the way of the mess hitting the fan right now. Today, I'd like to introduce you all to a platform that's been getting a lot of traction called StoryOrigin. I'm not gonna lead in with a bunch of yakkity, so just grab your coffee or tea and let's get going!

*******AS ALWAYS, THERE IS NO COMPENSATION FOR ME TO DO THIS AND NO AFFILIATE LINKS ARE USED****** That being said, know that all opinions are my own, and I'm free to give them. ;)

First off: What is StoryOrigin?

StoryOrigin is a platform for authors to gain new subscribers to their newsletters through group promotions and swaps, give out ARC copies, have a universal book link page, and distribute audio codes. Newsletters are a huge part of most authors' marketing efforts, so you need to know how to make the most out of every tool available!

But there's more! I know, right? StoryOrigin is also a site for readers to find ARC copies and keep up with how they're doing on their reviews.

If you don't have a mailing list and want to use StoryOrigin for some other reason (ARCs, audio code distribution, etc...), this post isn't for you. Scroll to the bottom of this page and find the links to the next parts!

Best of all, right now, it's free, so let's get you enrolled!

There's a lot to go over, but we'll start with signing up, integrating all the mailing list types, and press forward from there. All posts will be listed and linked on all posts for easy navigation.

Start by going to the StoryOrigin homepage:

Click Login in the top right hand corner.
Click Signup! Where it asks if you're new to us. If you've already gotten this far, feel free to skip to the relevant content. :)
Enter Name and Email Stuffs. I'm making dummy accounts that will be deleted once this tutorial is done. If you have an author website, feel free to click to add it. You also need a privacy policy IF you have an email client that requires one, so go ahead and link it.
Next, you'll see a page that looks like this. We're gonna start at kinda the bottom and work our way up.
Go all the way to the bottom and click Author Profiles.
Right now, you have to have a new account to manage more than one profile, but hopefully, this functionality will be available soon. You should see your author name and website (if you added one) listed.
Let's go one higher and click on Integrations. This is where you'll connect your mailing list and a VERY important function of the site.
MAILCHIMP Click the blue button to integrate and select your provider from the list. I'm going through each one, starting with MAILCHIMP, so if your provider is different, scroll down until you find that instruction. Select Mailchimp from the dropdown and click Authenticate Mailchimp.
Sign in to your Mailchimp account and click Allow.
There you go! All done! You should be taken back to the page on StoryOrigin that shows your Integrations. Your Mailchimp account should be listed like so:
MAILERLITEOn to the next one: MailerLite Click Integrate Email Provider and choose MailerLite from the dropdown. You should see this:
Your API key is found by clicking your name in the top right hand corner on MailerLite, selecting Integrations, then clicking USE next to Developer API. Will look like this:
Copy it. Go back to StoryOrigin and paste the string of letters and numbers in. Click save. MailerLite is now on your list. You should see it back at your Mailing List Integrations page.
ACTIVECAMPAIGNNow, we'll go on to ActiveCampaign. Click Integrate Email Provider and choose ActiveCampaign from the dropdown. StoryOrigin walks you through this one:
Follow the directions (copyable text on ActiveCampaign is a little difficult to see, but it DOES copy):
and click Save. ActiveCampaign should be added to your Mailing List Integrations page.
AWEBER Now we're headed to the next one! AWeber! Click Integrate Email Provider. Choose AWeber from the dropdown.
Click Authenticate AWeber, log in to your AWeber account, click Allow Access, and it should appear on your Mailing List Integrations page (I couldn't do this one because they want a credit card up front).

CONVERTKIT But we're moving on to ConvertKit! Integrate Email Provider. Choose ConvertKit from the dropdown.
Click on the hyperlink: Click here in the text. It will bring you to the page shown below. You can also get there by logging into ConvertKit, choosing Account, then Account Info. The arrows show where the info is on the page. You have to click SHOW to get the API Secret.
Click save, and ConvertKit will be added to your Mailing List Integrations page. And that's it! Super easy to add your mailing list(s)!

Next time, we'll go over the next two tabs up: Subscribers and Posted Mailing Lists.

Links to all other posts in this series will go below this line (I'll add them as they're completed).
Part Two - Subscribers and Posted Mailing Lists

Thanks for reading, and remember to WRITE ON!

Jo