Adan Ramie's Blog, page 18

Learning from Our Mistakes and Triumphs: This Day in the Past

Originally published 11-17-2013

Can it be done?

When I decided to doNational Novel Writing Monthagain this year, I was hesitant, if not downright terrified. I had participated several times (at least a baker’s half-dozen) before, and failed miserably every time. Each time I took part, I quit halfway through (or sooner), and my biggest word count to date was something like 25K. Needless to say, I wasn’t sure that I would make it through the whole month, let alone to the goal of 50,000 words in...

REVIEW: Marketing Your Book on Amazon by Shelley Hitz

Shelley Hitz is one of those eternally optimistic people who can bring a little sunshine into your day even if she’s across the world from you. Whether reading her books, listening to her podcast, and subscribing to her newsletter, it’s hard to not feel better about yourself, your path, and life in general. She has a light than radiates out joy.

So it was a no-brainer when I came across her book on my Kindle.

Book Description

Attention Authors:

Are you selling as many books as you’d like?

I...

Gun-to-the-head writing advice in Write Good or Die by Scott Nicholson

Can you say anything bad about this title?

It’s funny, it’s provocative, and it’s grammatically incorrect on purpose. That’s a lot to fit into four little words. Needless to say, when I saw this, I knew I had to pick it up.

Description

Survival tips for 21st century writers, from best-selling authors Kevin J. Anderson, M.J. Rose, Heather Graham, J.A. Konrath, Gayle Lynds, Alexandra Sokoloff, Jonathan Maberry, and more. How to develop your craft, improve your writing, get an agent, promote y...

Instagram has all the cute animals. Follow them. Give in to the purrito life.

Love cute animals? Kittens give you the flutters? Puppies turn you into Jell-O? Baby bats make you melt?

In honor of my work-in-progress, Rescued, here are my top five favorite cute animal Instagram accounts.

Daily Paw Meow

2. Cute Pet Club

3. Turtle

4. Pacific Alpacas

5. Dooks & Meows

If you’re not following any of these accounts, I don’t know what you’re doing with your IG life!

Want to read about cute animals in an out of a shelter while their saviors fall in love?

Preorder your...

9-1-1

It’s been fifteen years since the attack on the World Trade Center in New York, and when I started writing this post, I didn’t know what the Twin Towers looked like. The image in my head was vague, and the pictures I found weren’t any better.

I had forgotten.

On September 11, 2001, I was a junior in high school. Within a week, almost every young man I knew had signed up for one branch of the military or another, and were excitedly waiting to serve their country in a war that had not yet begu...

One woman will live forever through a part of her stolen by doctors in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Before I read this book, I had never heard of Henrietta Lacks. Have you?

From what I understand, it’s a mixed bag. Some people have heard of her, and some people haven’t, but there isn’t a clear distinction as to why her name isn’t on more peoples’ lips. Is it a lack of interest in science? History? Rights?

For those of you who don’t know, Henrietta Lacks was an African American tobacco farmer whose cells were taken without her knowledge by a doctor while undergoing cancer treatment at Johns...

Earth love and gender equality with Reverend Judith Laxer

It’s no secret that I’m not a religious person. It could even be said that I’m opposed to most religions based on common beliefs that I find distressing or even repugnant.That being said, I’m always open to learning something new. I research religions and use elements of them often to bring a new level of understanding to my fiction.

So interviewing a pagan priestess? Right up my alley.

Ladies, gentlemen, and whoever else might be reading this blog, it is my pleasure to present to you Reveren...

One part Misery, one part Sharp Objects, CK Vile’s Flypaper is sure to please

I bought this book several months ago primarily because I loved the cover and title. The description was interesting, too, and reminded me of one of my favorite Stephen King books. Horror fans will know these characters, because we all have certain things in common that other people don’t understand.

I started reading Flypaper not expecting much. I had tried to read and given up on several books from my Kindle carousel before I stumbled on this one and decided it was finally time to give it a...

A man collects girls and makes them into butterflies in The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to say about this book.

To say it was amazing doesn’t do it justice. To say it was horrifying is an understatement.

This book is full of dark, twisted subject matter that, in the wrong hands, could have been a very traumatic read. But the way the author, Dot Hutchison, handles the description is almost beautiful. She takes something ghastly and shines a light on the “beauty” which can only be seen by a monster.

Description

Near an isolated mans...

Happy International Lefties Day!

Southpaw, kidal, clicky, mancino, spuddy-handed, gitcho, caggy, chapool, port-sider…

There are a lot of terms for left-handers all over the world, and mixed feelings about the connotations of the words, as some are derogatory, while others are celebratory.

On this day, however, left-handers the world over can celebrate. It’s International Lefties Day!

Filed under: Holiday, Life Tagged: holidays, left-handed, lefties, southpaw