Terry Odell's Blog, page 329
October 22, 2009
Backup, Backup, Backup
Still working on galleys -- as hubby puts it, "Reading like this sure pulls the eyeballs out of your head."I think everyone has had those panic and despair-filled moments when we lose a file, whether it's due to a computer crash or simple user error. When you're writing a 100,000 word document, it can be frightening.Backup, backup, backup. We have a networked hard drive. I have flash drives. I
October 21, 2009
Selling a House, Selling a Manuscript - What's the Difference?
Life is almost normal again. At least the routines are settling in. I enjoyed a leisurely second cup of coffee while I did some blog-hopping, catching up on all the sites I hadn't visited while I was away. Of course, as Murphy's Law would have it, I was about to shower and get back to reading the galleys for Nowhere to Hide when I got a call from a Realtor who wanted to show the house. In an hour
October 20, 2009
Self-publish and/or Perish
Today my guest is Sheila Deeth, who's discussing some of the alternative roads to publications. We used to travel on trains, back in the age of steam, and my Gran would teach me to listen to the engine's refrain, "I think I can, I think I can…" I'd watch the slowing countryside from the window. "I hope you can." Then at the top of the hill, the engine would always speed up. "I said I could, I
October 19, 2009
And Even More Quebec and Edits
What I'm reading: 9 Dragons, by Michael ConnellyAs I write this, I'm home again. A cold front had blown through and we returned home to glorious weather. Today, it's laundry, so while the machines do their things, I thought I'd recap more trip highlights. Thursday, the weather was crisp and sunny enough to walk through the old city, although I felt the aftermath of the previous night's walk to
October 16, 2009
His Brain, Her Brain #1 revisited
Since Detective Hussey's manuscript is over, I thought I'd spend Friday's rerunning some of my more popular posts, based on what I see from my site statistics. This is from Sept 2, 2008, from workshop notes from the 2008 RWA conference, on a workshop given by Eileen Dreyer.His Brain, Her Brain, or Why it Took Moses 40 Years to Find His Way Out of the Desert.One fascinating point Dryer shared was
October 15, 2009
And More from Quebec City
The promised post on "Floating Body Parts" is below -- just thought I'd add a bit more color from Quebec City.The other night, we had dinner at a local restaurant, "blu". You might recall the pictures I posted from our trip to Nassau of the restroom signs (here).These were a little easier to figure out. As they were on opposite sides of the room, the panels showed you which direction to go......
Floating Body Parts?
First, a note about good customer service, since I complain when it's sub-standard.I had a hardware failure with my e-book reader. Given that I'm out of the country it's a bit of a bother, since I don't have access to my normal library of reading materials. I emailed their help desk, and within hours got a return message saying they would ship me a brand new unit. It won't do me a lot of good
October 14, 2009
Final Edits
I spent the better part of 2 days going through final edits. I've picked up a few more "Track Changes" skills, which sped the process. For this run-through, I didn't do another full read of the manuscript. Since any changes the editor made appeared in the margins, I trusted that what she sent back didn't have any surprises.My method for this round: I used the formatting toolbar and hopped from
October 13, 2009
The Power of Humor
Today my guest is Debra Doggett, who's going to be talking about why she wants to be a standup comic in her next life, and why a sense of humor is vital. Welcome, DebraIn my next life I plan to be a standup comic. It's got to be the toughest job in the world. You stand there on an empty stage, looking out at a roomful of people who paid too much money for the seats they occupy and who are staring
October 12, 2009
More from Quebec City
The weather here is definitely a change from Florida. And changeable in its own right. Yesterday's morning overcast turned into sunshine, but around 5 PM, as I was diligently working on edits, I glanced out the window and the air was white and moving sideways. Fog? Mist from the waterfront? Nope. Snow. And wind. Much wind. Strong wind. It was gone almost as quickly as it arrived, but one tree
