Terry Odell's Blog, page 327
November 13, 2009
What's in a Number?
Are you Triskaidekaphobic? Or just Paraskevidekatriaphobic?The first refers to a fear of the number 13. It's common enough, which is why hotels often don't have a 13th floor (but of course they do, it's simply labeled 14), and some airlines don't have a 13th row. This isn't a universal fear, however.In Italy, 17 is supposed to be an unlucky number. Tetraphobia, fear of the number 4 — (
November 12, 2009
Landscape that Manuscript
Our contract with our current Realtor expires in about 10 days, and it's time to move on. Thus, we've been interviewing Realtors. A tedious chore. Given the state of the market, they're all eager to have our listing, which means we have to weed the hype out of their presentations and figure out which one will work best for us.A while back, I compared selling a house to selling a manuscript. With
November 11, 2009
Recognition
What I'm reading: A Knight's Temptation, by Catherine KeanMany thanks to Elizabeth Spann Craig and her suggestions for using Twitter. And to all the people who popped in from her blog. I was checking the site statistics for the referral URLs and found a good number of visitors came from her place. I also discovered a significant number of people referred by Stumbledupon. That was a new one. Now
November 10, 2009
To Tweet or Not to Tweet
I promised another look at an aspect of social networking. People love it, hate it, and everything in between. To tweet or not to tweet? How useful is Twitter for writers? Today's guest, cozy mystery author Elizabeth Spann Craig, weighs in. I'm anticipating some lively conversation in the comment thread./s1600-h/Craig3.png">It used to be that I could say "sign up for Twitter only if you want to."
November 9, 2009
It's a Wrap.
I met my goal, and as of Thursday night, Draft 1 of my mystery is complete. It came in at close to 96K, which is long. But it's done, and I am very pleased with the storyboard tracking method I used.I ended up with 32 chapters, which just so happens to be the number of squares on my board. I didn't really plan it that way; that's just how I'd originally set up the board based on space available.
November 6, 2009
"The End" Doesn't Mean You're Done
What I'm reading: Kindred in Death, by J.D. RobbI'll be one of about 20 authors signing books on Saturday. I know the majority of you aren't local, but this is our RWA chapter's annual event to raise money for the Adult Literacy League in Orlando. Twenty percent of the proceeds will be donated to the organization, thanks to Barnes & Noble. Literacy is near and dear to me, and I've been a
November 5, 2009
Veggies or Dessert?
What I'm reading: The Professional, by Robert B. ParkerLike countless other children, I was encouraged—with the fear that children all over the world might starve otherwise—to finish whatever my mother put on my plate. Most of the time, I liked her fare, but like countless other children, there were some things I found less palatable than others. Veggies often fell into this category. Still, we
November 4, 2009
Wednesday Wanderings
What I'm reading: Suite 606 by J.D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan & Mary Kay McComas.Thanks to Darlyn for being my guest yesterday. Judging from the comments, her post hit home with so many of us. We need to step back and re-evaluate our priorities once in a while. If you haven't read it, you should. You know the drill. Scroll down. And, I'm also at Jeff Markowitz's blog today. You might
November 3, 2009
The Scribbler Speaks
Today I'm pleased to have Darlyn Finch as my guest at Terry's Place. She was one of my first writing partners, when I was a member of a local group that ended up being called the Pregnant Pigs. She's an amazing writer, who once spent six months as writer in residence at the Jack Kerouac House, and was kind enough to invite me to read at her party representing the culmination of her project there.
November 2, 2009
Monday Mailbag
What I'm reading: Guardian Angel, by Lise FullerI hope everyone is recovered from a surfeit of sugar, and remembered to switch clocks (or, if you're not where you switch your own clocks, that you remember that those who do are now an hour off.) It's November. We're looking forward to having Thanksgiving dinner with one of our daughters and her husband's family. They've got a time share not far
