Blog Technology Revisted

     Took the dog out for a blog this afternoon. WHAT? I can hear you asking.  And I reply, my dog is a writer, too.  The technology is different, but it's the same functionality. You don't believe me?

When poochie and I perambulate, she stops and busily sniffs the news along the way.  Often she leaves a comment.  At least once a day, she leaves a post.

    

 The other dog bloggers read her post and her comments, drop their own comments throughout the neighborhood, and make their own postings.

     The dogs also tweet.  I refer to the howling that passes up and down the dog telegraph at night.  That's no tweet, you may cry. But consider the function.  One dog sees a potential "intruder" coming down the street. He tweets the dogs nearby.  Those dogs re-tweet the message.  Other dogs, not even in the immediate neighborhood pass the message until it circles back to indicate all the dogs have it.  Then one of the dogs comments on the extremely sassy cat he saw that day.  He is joined by tweeted chortles of appreciation.  He thanks all the re-tweeters for their earlier assistance, and that's it for the moment.  Perfect tweeting form.

     I'm telling you.  It's real.  Or maybe I have just been working too hard at learning social media.  

I Love Lamb

     The fact that I bought a book actually IS news, because I usually get them free.  I have to, or face bankruptcy, since I read 5 to 10 per week. For this one, however, I was willing to put down hard cash.  "We Are Not Alone" by Kristin Lamb has provided more help with my social media self-torture than any thing else I have read so far.  

     Like me, Lamb is a writer.  She gears her advice to writers.  Even fiction writers like me.  Yay!  She tells us our approach to social media needs to differ from IBM's and Westinghouse's, and she tells us in what way.  So I finally understand WHY I need to come out of my cave and WHAT I need to talk about.  Also HOW to do it on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter (i.e., the techie stuff).
     And you know what?  It's even an easy read. Entertaining as well as informative.
     OF COURSE she has a blog, darling.  Warrior Writers.  Don't you love the name?  And it, too, is worth reading.  I was charmed by her latest on "ambiverts" (the sweet spot between introvert and extrovert), but I especially liked an earlier one that focused on dealing with mistakes. 
     Have a quote from that one.

One of the strangest lessons I ever heard was that drivers, who are going at mind-blowing speeds around twisting, winding roads, are always in danger of hitting the wall. But, to avoid hitting the wall, they must train themselves to NEVER LOOK at the wall. Why? Because the car goes where they eyes go.

      Yes. And LIFE goes where the thoughts go. Kristin is inspirational, solidly grounded, and most informative.  Worth checking out.

Life is like Coffee Movie

Life is like Coffee Movie: Do you know people that just seem to be happier in general? Do you say to yourself, "I want to be more like them"? Often, the happiest people in the world don't have the best of everything...they just make the best of everything!

Ship My Pants - YouTube

 Go, K-Mart, go!  All my life I have sheepishly apologized for enjoying what I have been told is "potty humor suitable to 3 year olds."  Now, I am vindicated!  Kudos to the ad execs who (a) came up with this and (b) boldly said, "Yeah! Let's do it!" 

Ship My Pants - YouTube

Little Miss Muffet Revisited

Here in the tropics we have plenty of insect life.  Including spiders.  In fact, just this morning as I was hunting for something in one of my boxes (here, I keep everything in covered plastic boxes) something round and tiny scooted out from under it and ran off in a flurry of itty-bitty legs.  So when I read a blog post telling how the author thought she had swallowed a spider and that she had recently read we supposedly swallow 4 per year in our sleep, I had an Uh-Oh moment.

Don't you love Google?  I ran a search on "swallowing spiders."  Whew. Urban legend.  Read about it on Snopes.com if you need confirmation.  http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/spiders.asp

To the overly sensitive nose of the loveless woman with no room at her inn:

The “bathroom”in the US often does not contain facilities for a bath. This misnomer is intended to divert puritanical attention from the fact that it DOES contain a toilet, and that said item is the modern equivalent of a “chamber pot,” differing from early models in that it contains water and is emptied by flushing rather than by the previous custom of pouring the contents out a window. These “bathrooms” are often fragrant with the scent of human urine and human feces for some time after use, and so another huge industry of cover-up-the-smelly-stuff has arisen to help maintain the illusion that people do not “potty” in the house.

For the price of picking up a few bits of fecal matter with a tissue and tossing them into the modern chamber pot as well as “enduring” an occasional whiff of dog urine on some paper towels (which I place for her use on a special piece of plastic), it is my much appreciated privilege to live with three pounds of pure love packaged in a furry, six-inch body.  That little body must be protected by a sleepy, and therefore less attentive, owner from hawks, owls, coyotes, roving dog packs, etc.  So my beloved "potties" in the same chamber I do, although not in the stinky bowl.  She is paper trained.   

Bottom line:  we BOTH “potty in the house.”  And so do you, madam. So do you.

Confirmed: Elsevier Has Bought Mendeley For $69M-$100M To Expand Its Open, Social Education Data Efforts | TechCrunch

So, is this another uh-oh or is it good news?  What do you think?
Confirmed: Elsevier Has Bought Mendeley For $69M-$100M To Expand Its Open, Social Education Data Efforts | TechCrunch

Meet the Author: Dale Furse talks about her upcoming "Secret of Wexkia"

What is the working title of your next book?

Secret of Wexkia and, after many revisions and edits, it is at proofread stage and will be published soon. The book is the continuation of Nell’s story from Curse of Wexkia and the second in the Wexkia trilogy. In Curse of Wexkia, Nell learns of her heritage and although she is willing to live with the changes, a lot of alien beings believe she is a danger to the entire known universe. They think she is a curse – a throwback to a cruel, ancient race that not only enslaved whole worlds but committed genocide more than once. Nell proved she wasn’t the menace they claimed her to be with the exposure of the Book of Wexkia and an account of what happened to the Wexkians. But not everyone was happy with the verdict and some would do anything to stop her from becoming a true Wexkian.

What genre does your book fall under?

Young Adult Science Fiction/Fantasy. The Science Fiction tag is because Nell’s stories take her to other planets with cool aliens and space ships but it is far more fantasy inasmuch as it’s all fiction – no hard SciFi facts. But then again, who says there are no planets like the ones featured in Wexkia or beings like the ones who inhabit those planets? I think they are all real.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Although I grew up with four brothers and five sisters, I was often lonely. That’s where a lot of my stories originate. Nell’s story was just one of my daydreams but it was, and is, the one that has stayed with me the most. Like all children at some stage, I wished I could fly and as Nell, I could. I could also visit unknown planets and meet the beings inhabiting those worlds. Of course, a lot has changed – title, names, characters etc – but it is still the same story.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Ha, that’s easy, finishing it. I always find that the hardest part of writing any book because, just like when I read a good book, I never want it to end.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I like the idea of going it alone and will continue to self-publish. You can read about my writing and news on my blog at http://dalefurse.wordpress.com/

Meet the Author: Yvonne Hertzberger talks about her new book, The Dreamt Child

My current work in progress is the third volume in the “Earth’s Pendulum” trilogy “The Dreamt Child”. I call it “Old World Fantasy” because it is set in a pseudo,  early medieval period with little technology. While many fantasies have a great deal of magic or mythical beasts and such, the only paranormal in this series is a seer who has visions and a relationship with the goddess Earth. This seer also communicates with certain animals via ‘mind speak’ and sometimes this adds a little humour.

In “The Dreamt Child”, the seer, Liannis faces major changes in her world and what it means to be a seer amidst these changes. The goddess has decided one seer is not enough in a growing society. This is a story of transitions, relationships, good guys and bad guys, and a good smattering of action.

I never intended to write a trilogy. It just happened. When I attempted to write a short story all these amazing characters wormed their way into my consciousness and demanded that I tell their story. It’s been a fun and unpredictable ride.

As with the first two instalments, “The Dreamt Child” will be Indie published on Createspace, Kindle and Smashwords.  I hope to have “The Dreamt Child” available for the holiday shopping rush (Rush? Well, a girl can dream.)

Each book seems to take me roughly two years to complete. I really thought this one would take less time but I got involved in social media, promotion and marketing, and with a wonderful group of authors called Indies Unlimited.

I truly cannot say my work compares to any other writer’s work, though I would love to have Robin Hobbs or Juliet Marillier say they liked it.

While my books are labelled Fantasy because they are not historically accurate they will also appeal to those who like historical fiction and historical romance. These are traditionally considered ‘women’s genres’ but several men have read and enjoyed the first two, “Back From Chaos” and “Through Kestrel’s Eyes”, because they have enough action and there are such strong, well-developed characters – both male and female. That is what readers say they love best – my characters.

You can find me at http://yvonnehertzberger.com for a closer look, sneak peeks, and my blog.

Dinner with Og

 I knew it! All that flap about eating like our caveman ancestors - btw, did none of these diners ever notice said cavemen seldom lived past 16? Now it turns out man did not live by meat alone! 

http://www.livescience.com/24302-stone-age-diet.html