I thought I had blogged on this before but Blogger is being difficult, and I can’t find the post. So I’m posting (reposting?) for reference, as there are some bloggers out there that still need to learn this lesson. For all examples in this explanation, we are going to use [ and ] but when…
I used to be a podcaster. That’s like public speaking except in private and with a record that people can reference years later. For that reason, there are certain words one needs to eliminate from one’s vocabulary to improve at public speaking. The biggest culprit is “ummmm” and “uhhhh” which we tend to default to…
It’s hard to keep track of topics when you’re on a variety of soap boxes. I’ve written in two different live journals, hosted a podcast, and now how this blog/journal. Sometimes you think you’ve written about a topic when you haven’t. Or, you think you’ve written about it in one place when really it was…
It’s Memorial Day here in the US, a time to honor those that have served in uniform. We have parades. We grill. We post on Facebook that we honor their memory. What I’m finding, however, is that people don’t know how to properly refer to America’s armed forces. I see a lot of “in memory…
So there’s a lot of chatter on Twitter lately about blog designs and website builds and etc etc. If you have not been to my website, this is the minimum level of quality I expect for a user-created website. Blogger and like services are expanding their styles to blend the boundaries between blogs and websites,…
I do not write mystery/thriller, so I have no idea if what I’m about to say applies to the written word. That kind of question is better served by Jennifer Hillier. But it was the procedural drama that ended my 5-year hiatus from television1. Now the best procedurals on television today (or at least over…
I’m working on a new wip and I think I’ve made a few mistakes in the opening chapters. Specifically, I’ve introduced the romantic interest a little early maybe? Or maybe I did not. I’m not quite sure yet. And you know what? It doesn’t matter. Well, it matters a little based on where I go…
We’ve all seen the blog posts and Tweets by agents of the horrible responses some queriers send them a rejection. It can be fun to rubberneck such responses, watching the car wreck that is that person’s nonsexistent career and wonder What were you thinking? That’s a no brainer, though. I assume none of you would…
I wrote today. By itself this is not a big deal. I write a minimum of five days a week. Near the end of JH, I was writing seven days a week1. But I had a powerful flu that caused me to do not much of anything but sit on the couch under a blanket…