S.K. Nicholls's Blog, page 78
October 10, 2013
Upon Reflection
I have decided that I am going to use a couple of KDP free days over this weekend. Saturday and Sunday, the 12th and 13th, I will be offering both of my e-books for free on Amazon.
Obviously it's not enough lead time to do a huge promotion, or get listed on any of the big Free Kindle Book lists. I've picked up some new social media followers, though, and I figure that I give people who read my blog but haven't picked up my books a chance to get them for free.
Catskinner's Book AND Cannibal Hearts BOTH FREE in the same weekend! You can't beat that deal. Prepare to meet Author, Misha Barnett.
Book Review: Weed Therapy by Mark Paxon
My husband and I both read this book and talked about it for days. We have already recommended it to a friend who is in a bad relationship. With a “Part Two” added to this book, it has the potential to be a masterpiece in the self-help genre on relationships and I will tell you why:
I loved the craftsmanship in the way this book was written and the author’s writing style. The word pictures created were superb. The beauty of the well written story was magical. The novel really moved me in a deep and spiritual way. Mark Paxon’s insights and intuitions were well woven into this account of a man’s quest for understanding his own unhappiness. It reminded me that men, whom we often regard as the stronger, less emotional sex, really do have feelings, hopes, and desires.
The characters, both primary and ancillary are truly tangible. Kelvin, his family, and the people of Santa Cielo are very real people to me now. You can see the characters, hear them speak, and feel their pains. Father Santos is a humble man. Santa Cielo is a most inspiring place that I visited with Kelvin, and his home is not unlike so many in America. The settings are vivid and clear, and come alive with the people, sights, sounds, smells, and flavors of the distinctively different cultures. At times, I thought Kelvin most selfish, and as I read on, I realized that he was truly selfless, compassionate, and wanting the happiness of all, himself, the people of Santa Cielo, and his family. Kelvin, however, is not a humble man.
The author is very talented, and I would have loved to have seen him expound on how Kelvin was able to achieve happiness, the changes that were necessary in both his thinking and behavior, in order to attract the sort of happiness of his desire. I did not feel that Kelvin ever thoroughly and effectively cleaned up the weeds on his side of the garden. I wanted the book to be longer. It felt somewhat incomplete. What it was like, and what he intended to do different were there, but what it is like now was not. There needed to be a conclusion chapter, at least, for a more satisfying ending. I felt this was an awesome and inspiring book wherein the author does not preach his ideas, but relates to people and their issues in a way that is genuine and not forced. All good books leave you wanting more. If you have ever been in a relationship, are in a relationship, or plan to be in a relationship, you really should read this book. I would love to read a sequel by this author. I would definitely buy it, read it, and most certainly find it interesting. I love books that get me to think, and not simply entertain. This book did both!
When reading this book, it is important to keep in mind that the POV is exclusively Kelvin Rockwell’s, and Kelvin has some work to do. We all need to be mindful of tending our gardens.
Filed under: Book Reviews and Books Tagged: book review, Father Santos, Kelvin Rockwell, Mark Paxon, relationships, Santa Cielo, Weed Therapy
Poetry: Mixed, not Blended
Reblogged from Glitter Writer's Book Blog:
We live in sprawling mansions on the hill
People beneath us living across the tracks
Oh yes, we get along quite well
But we really know the facts
---
We live in a mixed community
Right outside of New York City
Embracing all of our differences
Blatant segregation is such a pity
---
Of course our friends aren't only white…
A poem on culture and community: by Glitterwriter
October 9, 2013
My DRUGS: Do They Even Know?
Insurance companies are the mafia with a license, truly they are. My dad, in the business for 47 years at the age of 75, told me this a long time ago, and it’s gotten worse.
We just received our Revised Aetna Policy Exclusions (R.A.P.E.) today. They have increased our deductible to $1000.00. My non-formulary brand name med is now going to cost me 50% of $400.00 per month. ($200.00). But my formulary generic brand meds, three of those, will only cost me a total of $37.00 per month, EXCEPT, I must have my meds, all of them, filled through the mail order 90 days script service to get that price on long term meds. Which means; I will no longer be able to readily pick up my Ativan at Walgreen’s if I happen to run out. Trust me; you don’t want to see me without my Ativan, please!
My doctor habitually fills my script for two doses a day for sixty days. It is a narcotic, so he feels more would be detrimental. Yet, my appointments are routinely scheduled for three months apart. I almost always run out before my next appointment, but he won’t fill it for 90 days so I can send it through the mail order script service, which only fills scripts for 90 days. He gets ill with me when I have to call his office, (nearly every 75 days), to tell him I need more. I have to fill these at Walgreen’s because the “Express Scripts” mail order service (yes that’s their REAL name) takes more than two weeks to process and deliver. TRUST ME; I have severe anxiety disorder, you don’t want me to go more than a few days without my Ativan. After three days, I can’t sleep. Six days with no sleep and I start hallucinating. Two weeks and I am liable to be crouched in a corner, sweating profusely, breathing heavily, with heart palpitations and a knife in my hand! “Get away from me, “I don’t know who you are!” Seriously?!
I am a Fucking old lady, St. Peter is not going to say, “Oops! No, you can’t come in because you’re addicted to anti anxiety medications,” when I get to those pearly gates! He may not let me in for other reasons, but I highly doubt Ativan will be the primary one.
Insurance companies prey on our worst fears. We pay astronomical premiums, ($360.00/mo) every single month that we work, for what? Lord knows I don’t need a catastrophic illness to befall me wherein I would have to pay some royal sum of $350,000 for a heart attack or a stroke (that is, if I survived)…but preventative treatments are supposed to be covered at 100%. Wouldn’t you say my Ativan is preventative? Honestly now. Do they even want to know?
Please don’t give me any of that crap about Chamomile Tea either…been there, done that. Doesn’t work. Just give me my damned Ativan.
Filed under: Articles Tagged: anxiety disorder, Ativan, drugs, insurance, panic, predators
My Brand of Scrapple
Having finally finished a month of online classes and having all of my homework caught up, I am back to the action steps of actually writing a novel. I love learning, but I must say that I would not relish the thought of going back to school full-time. The novel that I have decided to focus on, one out of three WIPs that haven’t come close to really gelling for me, is a crime novel.
Scrapple, also known by the Pennsylvania Dutch name pon haus, is traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and wheat flour, often buckwheat flour, and spices…a gelatinous gray meat. I didn’t learn about this breakfast product until I moved to Florida from Georgia in 1997.
I read a lot of crime, murder mystery, and psycho thriller, as well as legal thriller. I like books that make me think deeply and use my head for something more than a place to put my hat. I have never written a crime novel in its entirety, only short stories. Most I wouldn’t dare share. They are horribly self-disclosing. I might be arrested should they be exposed. I can only imagine what the police would think of me if they confiscated my computer for forensic purposes tomorrow! Sheesh! I don’t know how this is going to work for me. I have this one that I was writing in the voice of a gay male. It was sort of an experiment that went wrong. I did not like the POV or the first person position of that story. It started out as more exposition than action and try as I may I could not turn it around. I have basically trashed it, using it only as a meager reference for some other scenes.
I am keeping the same general murder concept, but I have decided to make the story as much about the detective as the murder, but still trying to keep the psycho thriller aspect of the killer as intact as possible. So again, I am experimenting with MPOV and first and third person. I have seriously been making a mess of things, but it is slowly starting to come together and I really like it. Most significantly, my husband, an avid reader of two or three crime novels a week, likes it.
mind map
Scrapple
Scrivener or not, I am still a linear writer who writes by the seat of my pants and does not plot things out in an outline form at the start. My starting process to preparing to write is quite primitive. I brainstorm on paper using what some call the “cluster” technique. It is basically where you scribble everything down as you think of it and connect it all together with lines and circles and then rewrite it later into something cohesive. It is similar to mind mapping, but not quite as organized as that dendrite approach. There are all sorts of software out there for mind mapping, and Literature and Latte, the makers of Scrivener, have released a software program called Scrapple (not the North Eastern gray meat)—unlike mind mapping, it’s more like a freeform text editor that allows you to make notes anywhere on the page and to connect them using straight dotted lines or arrows. I AM IN NO WAY PREPARED TO TAKE ON ANOTHER SOFTWARE CHALLENGE AT THIS POINT!
I am going to be content to use my pen and paper to scribble down ideas until they become cohesive enough to group together with text that I have already prepared and then set about getting it written into Scrivener in a bit more orderly fashion than I was previously accustomed to.
Cheers! Here is looking to a new genre with a new writing tool and an old way of writing. My poor desk will probably always look something like this:
HOW DO YOU START OFF YOUR WRITING PROCESS? Are you a plotter or a panster? Do you have a brand of scrapple?
Filed under: Writing, Publishing, & Marketing Tagged: organization, planning, plotting, scrapple, tasks
Butterflies and People
Reblogged from Anacephalaeosis:
So true. When I finally realized who and what I was, I knew the deep meaning of and responsibility hidden in the statement, "Beauty is the Eye of the Beholder."
I am beauty and I am ultimate arbiter of beauty. In knowing this, I proclaim now and henceforth that everyone I see, have seen, and will see—sick and healthy, young and old, good and evil, gay and straight, black and white, Arab and Jew—is beautiful.
A brief point to ponder. Just beautiful :)
Wednesday Feature: An Interview with S.K. Nicholls
Welcome to an interview with S.K. Nicholls, author of Red Clay and Roses. Susan also has a blog at http://redclayandroses1.wordpress.com and is an editor and contributor at The Community Storyboard.
M: Susan, thank you so much for agreeing to be interviewed. I’m excited to be able to talk with you about your current book, Red Clay and Roses, as well as the novel you are currently working on.
Marie Ann Bailey, writer and aspiring author, and I had a wonderful interview at her home here in Florida recently. Red and enjoy. She asked me some things I had not thought about. It was a fun interview,
October 8, 2013
Scrivener and the Brain
I am very dual brained. The left side of my brain is the scientist in me that became a nurse and the right side of my brain is the artist that became a writer. Scrivener appeals to both sides of my brain and I will tell you how.
Over the past four weeks, I have taken a course in how to use Scrivener, a writing tool software that opens a world of creative possibilities, and will help me organize my writing process.
I have learned many practical uses for Scrivener, but the basics in how the software works are profound. Here are the highlights:
I have learned about its many features in the Binder, the Editor and the Inspector.
The binder (left) works as an organizer, keeping all of my manuscript folders, text files, online searches, research, pics, and such in one place where I can interchange and move them around without having to move the actual text. The binder moves the text around for me very easily, no copy and paste required. I can set it up for scenes or chapters. I can have subfolders. It is like having as many notebooks as I want right at my fingertips.
The editor (center) is my writing platform and editing platform, with all of the benefits of word, plus many others. I can format and type my project here. There are templates for anything I want to write or I can design my own. I can split my screen many ways to view and edit. I can also use a full screen mode, if I want to block out my Binder and Inspector and work without any distraction. I can click on any text file in my binder and go directly to the editor to type in that file.
The Inspector (right) panel is my work panel, where I do the work of organizing and writing. Here I can make index cards with synopses, devise keywords that will follow my project around keeping me cued on what is important for every scene. I can have character profiles/sketches/pics, locations/settings. Labels and status are noted in metadata. I can keep notes, annotations and footnotes. I can easily determine what is complete and what needs more work.
There are different modes to work in for different reasons, Document/Scrivenings mode, Corkboard, and Outliner.
There is a text mode for writing on one document at a time, but also in this mode is Scrivenings. In Scrivenings mode, my document is seen as a whole, with different scenes divided by broken lines. I can see how to weave these together seamlessly.
In corkboard mode, my index cards are on display where I can work with them, move them around, change the text on them, visualize my character profiles and settings, set up my scenes, and organize into chapters. I can apply Keywords to follow my project and these are color-coded on my cards and in my Inspector. I could lay out a whole series in here, not just one article/book.
In Outliner mode, I can see at a glance how everything is coming together, the progress toward word count goals in progress bars, and again, move things around to change the order, if need be. I can track progress and project statistics.
There are many special features, like in word:
I can search and replace easily and fine tune and tweak searches for differences, say for example; Bob and Bob’s, versus the bob in bobbing for apples…if I want to just change a name in my entire project. There is also a handy random name generator.
I can also search in my index cards, do keyword searches, and search settings. I can search my whole project or just one document or scene.
I can save search collections in my binder for reference or to help with subplots and such.
I can easily create snapshots. In case I want to keep a view of what something looked like before I changed it. Or I need to share something with an editor.
All of my formatting can be done in Scrivener, setting my fonts, page specs, line spacing, margins and so on.
I can also design tables and illustrations that can be inserted into my project.
Compiling and Printing, and Exporting are all fairly easily accomplished. When I got to this section, I hit the wall, but it was temporary. I had to learn some new terms.
Compiling: All of the tweaking is done through a few windows. The whole project comes together to be prepared for printing or exporting.
Printing can include or exclude whatever I like, whether I want just the MS documents, or I want my index cards and synopses. I can choose to have footnotes and annotations printed or not. (Very helpful when I have completed the editing process and am ready to print it out again.) I can also print just my index cards or just my outline. If I choose not to print, I can save and export, then read my work on my ereader.
Exporting is actually a lot more fun than I expected it would be. It is truly amazing that I can write, edit, compile, print, save, and export from beginning to end using one software program. The export files include .Mobi, .ePub, pdf, .rtf, and a dozen other options. My manuscript can be written, compiled and then exported as an eBook ready for publishing.
Pretty amazing stuff, huh? I worried that my right brained creative, artsy, language oriented self would have difficulty with something so organized, patterned, spatial, and logical. Being a linear writer, I felt that I might have trouble with my creative juices being restricted to the confines of a plan. I am definitely a panster not a plotter, but I have been using this to set up my next WIP and I am delighted with its ease and don’t feel at all restricted or confined. It fact, it opens windows on possibilities I had not dreamed of toward developing my book into a trilogy or series. I am feeling much more prepared and organized than I did with my previous novel. It will most likely show in my work. I hope so. Click on the image to see what brain side you work with most. Which brain side is utilized most prominently by you?
I don’t feel like this software will cramp my creative style, but I do feel like it will help me get on track and stay on track with better organization and planning. It has taken a few of weeks of intensive instruction to learn this software, but the possibilities are endless. Gwen Hernandez , author of “Scrivener for Dummies”, will be teaching another course around February or March. I can still use Evernote for additional research. My brain loves Scrivener! Both the scientist and the artist are happy :)
Filed under: Writing, Publishing, & Marketing Tagged: completed crash course, features, left brain, organization, right brain, Scrivener, writing
October 7, 2013
Preliminary Read Tuesday Catalogs Coming Soon
Misha Burnett wrote a nice article about the importance and ease of gifting in relation to Read Tuesday. We'll be posting this article tomorrow. The article mentions the Read Tuesday catalog of books, so I'll be posting a preliminary catalog on the Read Tuesday catalog tomorrow.
If you'd like to get listed in the preliminary catalogs (it's free!) before I put them up, you still have a window of opportunity.
SHOUT OUT TO AUTHORS! Signing up your book to be featured is really simple. Do it now!
October 6, 2013
Women Who Think Too Much by Jeanne Marie Free Download
Reblogged from Women Who Think Too Much by Jeanne Marie:
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Why Not Everyday?
Women Who Think Too Much by Jeanne Marie
Free Download
On Smashwords.com
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/287988
Quick, inspirational, moving, and humorous are words used to describe this FREE read. I am going to give it a look. Why don't you? You can get whichever version you need from smashwords.
