Elsewhere Steampunking Anne Stuart

Today I'm over at Disenchanted & Co. so we can steampunk author Anne Stuart. Stop by if you get a chance and enter the giveaway to win all this stuff:



(Girl, markers and furnishings not included.)

Recycle X 5: Note Pads

A couple of months back I preordered some art books for my kid, and last week they finally arrived. I try to recycle all the boxes and packing materials I receive via my own shipping, but this package came with a strange mound of five folded cardboard filler pieces:



Generally I toss pieces like this in my paper recycling box to use for mailing photos I don't want bent or as frame backing, but these pieces are all brand-new, and the way they're folded and preforated intrigued me. I decided to make them my next recycle/upcycle project, and challenge myself to find five different ways to make them into something else.

The first idea I had involved the most banged-up, creased piece:



I carefully separated it down the middle along the preforartions:



I then got some old manuscript pages from my paper recycling box and cut them in half:



Using one side of my three-hole punch, I punched two centered holes in the top of the carboard pieces and the short end of my trimmed papers:



To put them together, I thought about using binder rings, ribbons or even some twist ties. Then I remembered I had some of the larger size of Tim Holtz's Idea-ology brads leftover from another project, and grabbed those:



Together the brads, paper and cardboard pieces make two nice refillable note pads (of which I can never have enough):



Making your own notepads saves money, recycles used paper and even junk mail; all you need is something with a blank side. You can also customize this easy project with your own touches by covering the cardboard with pretty fabric or paper and/or using different-colored paper and bindings for the note part.

Stayed tuned in the weeks ahead for more ideas on how to recycle cardboard into writer stuff as I use up the other pieces.

Sub Ops Ten

Ten Things About Submission Opportunities

Dark Oak Media has an open call for their upcoming Big Bad 2 – An Anthology of Evil Volume 2: "The immediate success of The Big Bad has been mind-blowing, and Dark Oak has signed us on to do it all over again! Emily Lavin Leverett and I are back to create another anthology of the greatest bad guy stories we can find. This is a mixed anthology, which means that there have been some folks invited to participate, and we will accept some stories through open calls. The invitations have gone out, and we have ten open slots, so we expect the competition to be fierce. Send us your best short story (3,000 – 9,000 words, if it has to be longer contact me first) that features a bad guy or evil character as the protagonist. It can be fantasy, urban fantasy, superhero, sci-fi, horror, whatever. Just send us your best bad guy story. We’re taking ten. That’s right, there are only ten slots available in this anthology." Payment: "This is a royalty-based anthology, with exclusive rights for one year. This is not a “for the love” antho – Dark Oak is a real publisher that sends out real royalty checks. I should know, I’ve already received one for Big Bad 1. After the first year we retain rights to publish electronically in the anthology only, and in print in this anthology only, but you can take it and sell it somewhere else, or sell it yourself as a standalone." See open call post here for more details. Deadline: November 1st, 2013.

DreamSpinner Press has an open call for their upcoming Feelgood antho: "Dreamspinner Press is seeking romantic short stories with medicine/physical health themes. Examples: A Band-Aid, a kiss, and a lollipop make kids’ boo-boos all better, so Mason decides to try that when his boyfriend bangs his knee on the coffee table; Two doctors in separate departments of the same hospital keep running into each other in unlikely places; A physical therapist struggles against falling in love with his patient; Don’t forget dentists, optometrists, and the dermatologists who do laser tattoo removals; Two researchers collaborating on a medical advance start talking about more personal matters. Editor’s Note: Because of the packaged nature of the anthology, all stories need to stand alone." Length: 3.5 - 12K; also noted: "Manuscripts shorter or longer will be considered but will have to be extraordinary." Payment: Unspecified, but I found this note: "Short stories and novellas for single-book anthologies are purchased for a flat amount based on the length of the work." Also no mention on reprints I could find so you might query on them; electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: October 1st, 2013

Good Mourning Publishing has an open call for their upcoming super hero-themed romance antho: "This is an open call for an anthology of short romantic fiction which takes place in a super hero universe; at least one of the love interests has to be a superhero or villain. Any story containing copyrighted characters is not permitted (Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Psylocke, etc.) but fanfiction which has been edited to be a stand-alone story with original characters is acceptable [PBW notes: this bit concerns me for a number of reasons, so I recommend sending in only your original fiction for your submission]. All gender pairings, sub-genre, and content rating are accepted for this book, but the main theme has to be romance." Length: up to 15K; Payment: "$30.00 USD for accepted works" + "a free paperback copy of the book upon publication." Editor notes that authors will retain all rights. Electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: December 31st, 2013.

Hazardous Press has an open call for their upcoming antho: "We are now open to submissions for Tales of the Black Arts, a swords & sorcery anthology, for POD paperback and eBook publication. We are looking for dark fantastic tales in the tradition of Moorcock’s Elric stories, Wagner’s Kane tales, or the Morlock Ambrosius stories by James Enge. As you might expect from the title, magic must play a central role in the story, not just be in the background. Length: "Word Count: 2,000 to 15,000 words." Payment: "$25, plus one paperback contributor’s copy." No reprints, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: October 31st, 2013.

Inaccurate Realities has an open call for submissions for their January time travel-themed issue: "Prompt: Play with the wibbly wobbly structure that is time and space. Finally all those hours watching Doctor Who will come in handy. Is there a time or place you’ve always wanted to visit? Ever wondered how a certain historical event really happened? Does your character need to deliver a warning to the future? Example: Doctor Who, Tempest by Julie Cross, Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier, Once Every Never by Lesley Livingston, Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone." Length: 2-5K; Payment: Pay: $15-$25 based on length; query on reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: November 15th, 2013.

The Pedestal is open to poetry submissions for their December 2013 issue: "For Issue 73, we will be accepting submissions of poetry (only) from September 1-November 30. There is no need to query prior to submitting poetry. There are no restrictions on length, theme, style, or genre. Submit up to six (6) poems via the provided link. Please submit all poems in one (1) file." Payment: "$40 per accepted poem"; no reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Reading period: September 1st - November 30th, 2013.

Supernatural Tales is open for submissions: "I must insist that a story submitted to Supernatural Tales might - however tenuously - be described as a tale of the supernatural. Awfully restrictive, I know, but there it is. That said, a conventional and predictable ghost story of the kind we've all seen, heard and read a thousand times should not be submitted to ST. Come to think of it, such stories should not be written in the first place. Horror is all very well, but there are plenty of horror magazines out there. Try them first if you're into writing about people's viscera exploding all over the tea things. You will impress me by showing subtlety and wit, as opposed to gore-porn and OTT prose." [PBW notes: I think I'm in love with this guy now.] On length: "It's hard to spell out what I'm looking for in a short story, but I think the word 'short' is awfully useful. The shorter a story - and I mean this in a blindingly obvious sense - the easier it is to fit into a little magazine. So while I set a quite arbitrary upper limit of 8,000 words on a submission, in practice anything that long had better be superb. I have a soft spot for very short stories in the 1,500 word range. But, as with the long 'uns, the short-shorts have to be pretty damn good to stand out." Payment: Story that receives the most reader votes earns £25; other contributors receive two free copies of the magazine. Electronic submission only; see guidelines on reprints and for more details.

Third Flatiron has an open call for their upcoming Mars-themed antho, and want to see "short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something illuminating to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, mild horror, and wry humor are all welcome" (some other details on the sort of stories they like to see can be found in this interview.) Length: 1.5-3K; Payment: "3 cents per word (U.S.), in return for the digital rights to the story. All other rights will remain with the author. We no longer offer royalties, as we're now into our second year. If your story is selected as the lead story, we will pay a flat rate of 5 cents per word, in return for the permission to podcast or give the story away as a free sample portion of the anthology." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: September 30th, 2013.

Timeless Tales has an open call for short stories for their upcoming Puss and Boots-themed issue. I can't copy any of the guidelines for reposting here, but basically the fiction they're looking for should be a retelling of the theme fairy tale, so you'll want to send in any spin on Puss and Boots. Length: up to 2K (1.5K preferred); Payment: $15.00; reprints okay, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: Midnight PST November 1st, 2013.

World Weaver Press has an open call for Fae, their upcoming fairy-themed antho: "Have you ever noticed that, despite the name, there is often a conspicuous absence of fairies in fairy tales? Historically speaking fairies have been mischievous or malignant. They’ve dwelt in forests, collected teeth or crafted shoes. In Fae, we want stories that honor that rich history but explore new and interesting takes on fairies as well. We want urban fairies and arctic fairies, steampunk fairies, time-traveling and digital fairies. We want stories that bridge traditional and modern styles and while we’re at it, we want stories about fairy-like creatures too. Bring us your sprites, your pixies, your seelies and unseelies, silkies, goblins or gnomes, brownies and imps. We want them all. We’re looking for lush settings, beautiful prose and complex characters." Length: under 7.5K; Payment: $10 and paperback copy of the anthology; no reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: November 30th, 2013

Many of the above sub ops were found over among the marvelous market listings at Ralan.com.

Comments Catchup Day

See you in comments.

Unplugging

I'm bailing on you all today so I can get some writing done. So that your visit here was not entirely wasted, here's an interactive generator from Nova that allows you to write your name in runes (click on Launch Interactive to get to the generator.)

PBW in runes:



(Generator link swiped from Gerard at The Presurfer)

For Laughs

For no other reason than a really good laugh today, the genius of Monty Python and John Cleese (comedic sketch with talking and audience sounds, for those of you at work):

November Nag

From the way the work & family schedules are filling up it looks like this year I'll have to be content with staying on the sidelines for National Novel Writing Month. Being in the cheering section, however will give me time to do some pep talks, natter on in motivational posts and provide links to whatever free resources I can find for the participants, aka serving as an unofficial NaNoWriMo nag (which is almost as much fun as joining in.)

If you're still on the fence about whether or not to participate, here are

Ten Reasons to Decide Today to Write Your Novel This November

1. As soon as you do, you can begin the important preliminary work of endlessly agonizing over the title.

2. Every waffling writer who hasn't decided will openly envy you.

3. Good friends will worry about you until November. Concerned friends will try to talk you out of it before November. Real friends will offer to babysit for you during November.

4. It gives you a legit reason to stockpile notebooks, pens, Post-Its and all the other office supplies you love, plus real motivation to fix that lock on the spare room door.

5. "Someday" can now have a date: November 1st.

6. Thanksgiving dinner can be at the parents/in-laws/sibling's home this year. You'll also have a built-in excuse as to why you had to bring a store-bought pie.

7. The announcement will offend that dimwit you know who has been writing the same novel since high school (and will stop said dimwit from asking you to read the latest rewrite.)

8. Three words: Love Scene Research.

9. When the ex asks you what you'll be writing the book about, you can simply smile mysteriously (and repeat this torture for six more weeks.)

10. You'll have an utterly luxurious forty-nine days to prepare, versus the usual one hour of absolute panic on October 31st.

Building with Books

I've been gradually becoming a rabid fan of Flea Market Style magazine, and with every new issue I read I find more and more new ideas on how to upcycle and turn inexpensive yard sale, flea market and rummage sale finds into neat things for the home and office. While some of the ideas are of the DIY craft variety, many articles simply tell you how to take an alternative approach to decor by arrangement, or how you can use your antiques or unusual items in a different way (i.e. if you collect old large medicine bottles, why not clean them out and put them to work as wine decanters?)

The magazine's blog, which I've just tracked down, is an ongoing online photo album of fabulous finds. At present they don't have a subsciption option, although you can purchase individual issues by mail (I get my copies at the local grocery store.) There is also not a digital version at present, although I expect that is in the works.

FMS's Winter 2013 issue is so good I've been buying extra copies and handing it out to pals. as it's chock full of some neat ideas on how to show off your thrifty finds and junklove collections (including a really neat way to display some unusual objects as wreaths, which would be cool for the winter holiday season ahead.) One of my favorite articles in the issue involves how to turn unlikely objects into side and end tables, which includes old/unwanted hardcover books (far right side of the pic):



I think the stacking of the books could be more attractively done, and I wouldn't paint it white. Still, the magazine includes instructions on how to make the table of books, and it doesn't require much in the way of supplies. For this project you also don't have to drill through the books, so ideally with a few adjustments to the project you could preserve them in their original condition while having them serve another purpose. If you collect a certain author and turn the books so that the spine titling faces out, it could make a really interesting homage piece, too.

Free Reads from XOXO After Dark

XOXO After Dark, one of my Disenchanted & Co. publisher's community web sites, is now featuring a very cool page of free reads each month:

Here you’ll find XOXO After Dark’s Free Reads—complete e-books that you can read, for free, in your browser, tablet or smartphone. A new free ebook is added each week and each book is available to read for 30 days. Just be sure to check the expiration dates listed below. And don’t worry if you don’t have time to read it all in one sitting (who does?)—our e-reader will remember your place and take you right to the page you were on the last time you closed the book.

Keep checking to find free novels in all sorts of genres—romance, urban fantasy, women’s fiction, suspense and more. And if you like what you read, we hope you’ll be encouraged to try more by these authors, whom you can find in our shop. In order to take advantage of these free books, you’ll need to register with our site the first time you use the e-reader and login every time you return. Once you’ve done that, our bookshelf is your bookshelf—enjoy!

If you want to test drive an author, there's no better way than reading one of their full-length novels, so this could help you discover some great new writers and series for the price of registering.

Anti-Slump Ten

Ten Things to Help Defeat Writing Slumps

Alter Your Lighting: The wrong lighting can make a writing space feel more like a dentist's office or hospital room than a place of creativity. Combat this by inviting natural light into your space (open the curtains or blinds over windows during the day) or by changing out your light bulbs to softer varieties (some energy-efficient bulbs are now available with coatings that make them seem more like incandescent light). You can also create a background for your monitor (and cover up wall paint that is reflecting too much light into your face) by hanging a warm-colored length of fabric or a shawl, quilt or coverlet you like on the wall behind your computer. Don't forget that a glare screen for your monitor (or changing the display settings) can also help if the light from it bothers you.

Challenge Yourself for a Reward: Writer's don't get a regular paycheck like everyone else, so it's important to set up something in lieu of that. One reason I never stop writing is because I have a system of regular rewards for meeting my weekly goals. Last week it was having lunch out with my kid; this week it will be a visit to Barnes & Noble in the city. Having something you really love or want dangling as a carrot at the end of a writing session or work week can be a nice payoff as well as motivation to work.

Change Your Space: A writing space needs to be an oasis of creativity for you, and if yours isn't working that way it may be time for some changes. Some ideas: try moving your work station and/or furnishings to alter the arrangement of your space; remove some clutter to give yourself clean surfaces; or add an atmospheric enhancer (scented candles, a stereo to play music, or hang some new pictures within your visual field).

Do Something You Hate More First: I really hate doing laundry, and when I really want to feel good about my writing session I'll do the wash first. By the time I'm finished being able to write feels like a reward, and I've also knocked out a chore I despise.

Meditate Before Writing Sessions: I've been harping about this method for years, I know, but clearing the cob webs out of your thoughts and finding the right focus can make all the difference. You don't have to tackle meditation by any traditional method, either. Simply take a half-hour before your next writing session to sit somewhere quiet, release any negative thoughts or emotions, and reach for inner calm.

Remove All Distractions: That phone/television/gadget you love? Turn it off and then take it out of your writing space so you won't be tempted to check it. Same goes for any other device that has nothing to do with writing. Unplug from the internet, too. Don't worry, it will all still be there when you're finished.

Skip Ahead: Often one difficult-to-write page or scene or chapter can act like a roadblock to creativity. If you can't write it now, why let it derail you altogether? Set it aside and move on to the next page, scene or chapter. This skipping provides two advantages: you can recover your momentum by moving on, and give yourself some time to let that tough part percolate in your subconscious for a while. When you are ready to try tackling it again, your mood will also likely be improved, you'll have more story finished and you'll probably feel better about the work -- all of which are excellent things to have when you make that second attempt.

Talk it Out with a Writer Friend: No one understands a writer in a slump better than another writer, and if you have someone in your writing life whom you trust, it may help to reach out to them and get some practical advice. Now, that said, I don't think you should use writer friends as constant creative crutches, as becoming dependent on them to bail you out whenever you get blocked can cripple you as much as the blocks themselves (as eventually you'll get to the point where you can't write anything without their help.) Nor should you expect a writer pal to have the answer to your problem every single time. But if you do have a big problem and someone you can trust, simply talking it out can release a lot of emotional frustration and dissolve some of the reasons for the slump.

Take a Walk: Physical activity + fresh air usually = internal change. I walk my dogs every day, and lately I've been taking extra walks to soak up the sunshine before the colder weather arrives. When it rains, as it has nearly every day this summer, I can go someplace where I can walk around inside (museums and malls are great for that.) If you're not an outdoor walker type, go work out at the gym, go window-shopping, or take a bike ride. The idea is to get your blood pumping and your muscles working (but as with all new physical activity, make sure you're healthy enough to do it and/or get the okay from your physician.) Most writers spend entirely too much time indoors, and if that describes you a daily walk might be just the thing you need to stomp over your slump.

Write Something New (and Short): We spend weeks and months and sometimes years working on the same project, and growing tired of it can contribute to a slump. To combat the long-term writing project blues, take a break to write something else -- something new, short and that won't take longer to write than a day or two. This can be a poem, short story, blog post, Twitter rant, Facebook entry or whatever you like. If the new idea seems more appealing than the big project, set it aside and use it as a carrot every week to motivate yourself to finish the original story (i.e., if you reach your weekly writing goal, give yourself one day to work on the new idea.)

Do you have any special tricks you use to get out of a writing slump? Please share them in comments.

Comments Catchup Day

See you in comments.

All You Can Read

Digital Trends has an interesting article here on Oyster, a newly-launched reader subscription service that "allows subscribers to read as many books as they want for a monthly subscription price of $9.95." At the moment they're invitation-only, but the company is accepting invitation requests from iPhone users (which you can sign up for here).

While the article claims Oyster has 100K in available titles, I'm guessing their inventory will at first be limited to licensed/in-print works, or the usual public domain freebies (I couldn't find any titles list on their site, so what they actually have in stock is a big question mark.) But if Oyster can get authors as well as publishers on board with their service, very soon they may be able to provide readers with a very cost-effective alternative to purchasing single titles.

Pinokio

Just imagine if your desk lamp had a personality (and mind) of its own (some background music and sound effects, for those of you at work):

Pinokio from adambd on Vimeo.

ReadWave Writing Challenges

Rob Tucker, the community manager over at ReadWave, got in touch with me on a new feature at his site that can help those of you who want to develop or work on your writing routine:

ReadWave has launched a new hub dedicated to weekly writing challenges. The weekly challenges are designed to inspire you with writing prompts, and to motivate you to sit down and write at least once a week.

ReadWave is a place for writers to share articles and short stories with the world, and is now home to tens of thousands of stories which are collectively read over 200,000 times each month.

The best entries will be posted up on the ReadWave homepage and showcased to the entire readwave readership, and the author will be interviewed on the ReadWave blog.

The writing challenge page is here, and currently has the following prompt:

Don't you sometimes wish you could write a letter to your 13 year old self, explaining all the things that are going to happen to you, and the things you wish you'd known. Write it now!

The core services of ReadWave (uploading, reading and sharing) are free, and stories on the site can be shared on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. If you're interested in building an online readership with free content but would rather not meddle with a web site or blog, ReadWave is an interesting alternative.

Hiveword Goes Knockout

I'm a big fan of Mike Fleming's Hiveword, the online novel organizer, so when he teamed up with author James Scott Bell to create Knockout Novel I was very interested. James writes amazing how-to books (which I've recommended via my posts For Whom the Bell Toils and Writer Wars), and the idea of having him as a virtual writing coach is pretty fabulous.

Knockout Novel works with Hiveword, which you use while you go through the instructions and prompts provided by James (which are based on his #1 bestselling how-to, Plot & Structure.) As you do, you begin building your story outline in Hiveword via your responses. You can take as long as you like with each section in Knockout, and you can use it over and over again for different stories, so it's self-paced and perpetual. All of this is done and stored online, so you don't have to download anything (or worry about losing it.) According to Mike's info, updates are also automatic and free, so as the program improves you won't have to purchase newer versions.

Let's be clear about one thing: Knockout Novel does not write your book for you, or tell you how to do it in thirty days, or any of that other online how-to hokey stuff I see too many writers buy into. What Knockout does is show you how to organize and refine your existing story ideas as well as create and develop what you haven't thought about yet. I'm a self-taught writer, so I had to learn all these things by trial and error; this program virtually eliminates all that frustration. I think it's also valuable for experienced writers because it can get you out of the rut of you've been doing and show you some different directions to take with story organization (which can also help you in whatever areas you've always been weak, and/or rejuvenate your love for the craft.) Pantsers, I know the word organization makes you break out in hives, but if you want to try plotting for a change you'll have James Scott Bell as your advisor with Knockout. The guy won't talk down to you or waste your time; when it comes to teaching the craft I think he's one of the best in the business. Since the program is designed to work with all genres it will fit any type of story, too.

Knockout Novel is currently priced at $49.00 U.S., which is comparable to or cheaper than most of the how-to online programs I've seen come and go. The prospect of having James Scott Bell personally show you how to organize a story is worth that much, and since it works within Hiveword you'll also learn how to use that. I think it's definitely worth the investment so I bought in, and will be using it this winter for a couple of different projects.

SmartEdit Update

The folks at SmartEdit, my favorite fiction editing software, has just release their latest version of the program with some new features (copied the following from the change log):

Version 3.101 (Release date: August 29th, 2013)

1. Minor release, but contains key new functionality -- free to all licensed users

2. New "Export Reports & Print Reports" toolbar

3. Export results of all checks to Excel (XLSX), CSV, Text (TXT), PDF or HTML

4. Export results of individual checks in the same formats

5. Print results of single checks or of all checks

6.10 Day Trial reset for all trial users

If you have trouble editing your work, don't know what to look for and/or want a completely impartial review, SmartEdit is the way to go. A license for the full program costs $59.95, but you can still test drive it via their free trial, so you can get a real feel for the program before you purchase. I don't often recommend paying for any software, especially with so many freeware alternatives available online. That said, after I did a thorough test drive I bought this one myself, and I use it every week for something, so I do believe it is worth the investment.

Related PBW Links:

Virtual Free Editor

More on Smart Edit

Freely Ten

Ten Things You Can Have for Free

Amibook is a "Free Personal Information Manager . You get a personal information manager to make your life easier, not harder. So why use a day planner that takes a course in school to learn to use? Most of us want to be able to keep our address book, keep track of the appointments and tasks we have scheduled, and send an email without worrying about spreading a virus. Amibook lets you do all that. Features: Remember what you have planned for today; Don’t miss appointments. Amibook lets you schedule appointments for any day, any week, any year. You can set alarms, so you are reminded if you do forget; Keep the contact information for friends and colleagues at the tip of your fingers; Don’t let email viruses use your computer to spread themselves. Amibook isn’t vulnerable to them. You can use Amibook’s address book to automatically start an email to send to someone at the touch of a button, or to everyone in an address book. You can access the websites in your address book or dial phone calls with a single click; Print envelopes for anyone to everyone in your address book; Have full printing capabilities. You can print out address books for the people you select, so you can put them in your paper planner. You can also print daily, weekly, or monthly calendars of your tasks and appointments. Amibook supports full print preview so you know exactly what you’ll be printing, and by using custom page sizes you can print on paper sized to your planner; Are you using another personal organizer now? Amibook will both import and export from delimited text files, which most other programs support. It also imports other Amibook databases and the Window? Address Book; Get updates when you want them. You can access our updates page from within the program at any time to see if there is an update available. If there is, just download it and install it where you currently have Amibook installed. All your settings and data are saved; Protect your privacy. With Amibook, you have the option of encrypting your database, so only those with the password can see the contents of your sensitive personal information" (OS: Windows 2000 or higher.)

The free trial version of Budget uses an interesting envelope system for money management: "Use Budget to manage your real world checking, savings, or even credit card accounts at the same time as you're managing your expense envelopes. You Balance your account, print checks, and view your checkbook register. When you get paid you will manually distribute the income to your envelopes" [PBW notes: the free trial for this program has no expiration -- certain features are disabled and documents print with watermarks until you purchase the full version, so you can use it as long as you like to see if it will work for you] (OS: Mac OS X, Windows)

DesktopModify is a "program that cheers up your desktop making it cute and unique by arranging your icons into different shapes and styles. With it you can arrange your desktop icons into 77 different shapes and styles like circles, stars, hearts and other cool shapes which truly makes your desktop original and funny to work with" (OS: Windows)

DSpeech is a "TTS (Text To Speech) program with functionality of ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) integrated. It is able to to read aloud the written text and choose the sentences to be pronounced based upon the vocal answers of the user. It is specifically designed to quickly and directly provide the functions and improved practical usefulness that are requested by this kind of program. In the meantime, the invasiveness and resource consumption is minimal" (OS: Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/7)

Lightened Dream is "a journal designed for dreamers in search of lucidity. Follow its directions and you will be bending the laws of reality while getting a good night´s rest" [PBW notes that while I seriously doubt this program could even ding the laws of reality, dream journalists might find it an interesting resource/experiment] (OS: Windows XP/Vista/7)

Task Coach is a "simple open source todo manager to keep track of personal tasks and todo lists. It is designed for composite tasks, and also offers effort tracking, categories, notes and more" [PBW notes: This program is free for desktop, but there's a small charge for iOS versions] (OS: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, BSD, iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch)

Todo Plus is "a free to-do list program for Windows. Features: Easy to use — TodoPlus is designed with productivity and simplicity in mind. It is both fast and easy to manage many tasks;; Sub-tasks — You can have many levels of sub-tasks, that can be opened and closed like folders. This is a great way to break down large projects into smaller projects; Filters — Focus on your most important tasks using filters. Hide the unimportant tasks and finished tasks; Password protection — You can add a password to each file. Files are encrypted and backed up; Accessibility — Keyboard shortcuts for anything! Fast access to tools. Resizable fonts. You can use your mouse, but you don´t have to; Multiple lines per task — Tasks titles can have multiple lines of text, so you can keep everything within the task list. If you need more space, just add sub-tasks; Search for keywords — Search through large files for text/TAG´s, like : ´buy´, ´email´, ´call´, ´urgent´ or just ´*´. This way you are able to finish a group of related tasks faster; Continue your where you left off — TodoPlus remembers all your settings including window size and position, font type and size, filter settings, file history, the last opened file and edit positions; Import/Export tasks — You can import text files. You can also import/insert many tasks at the same time in TodoPlus if you want to copy a checklist from a website, a text edition or an email etc. Use HTML-Previews to be able to transferred your to-do list to other software like text editors, email software, calendars and website editors" (OS: Designer notes: "Cross-platform — TodoPlus is released for both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, and you can share the same files between the two")

Ultimate Calendar is a "free, easy to use calendar with rich features and settings. Features: Calendar for any year from 1 to 9999-th in table and list; Common and personal dates differing by sets and groups; Movable, cyclical, periodical, particular dates; Internal editor for easy work with dates sets; Two view modes: Whole year and Monthly; Popup window which contains the list of nearest events and displayed when the mouse hovers over the tray icon; Tracking change of day; Options «Autostart on system startup», «Hide to tray on minimize», *new* «Run only one copy», *new* «Always on top»; Plugins support. Distribution includes the following plugins: ◦Sun and Moon. Displays, in accordance with the selected geographic location, the time of rise and set of Sun and Moon, the duration of the solar and lunar day, the current phase of the Moon ◦Julian dates. Displays the date on the Julian calendar (old style), Julian Day and Modified Julian Day; Displaying schemes support; Export to Microsoft Excel and formats BMP, RTF, TXT; Multilingual interface and Unicode support; Contains predefined dates sets with holidays and events for Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, USA" (OS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7)

Viva Start Menu's designer notes: "In Windows 8, Microsoft has replaced the Start Menu with a new Start Screen filled with flashy "Live Tiles." The new interface is cool and has a wow-factor, but not everyone is ready to get rid of the start menu. Viva Start Menu gives you the power to restore the start menu on Windows 8. We also include a shortcut to the Live Tiles modern desktop and lots of options to customize your start menu experience" (OS: Windows 8)

X Sticky Notes is a "simple, effective, useful and user-friendly sticky notes & reminder for windows. It expands the meaning of sticky note with many features: You can let notes stay on top always, or pin notes to desktop, notes always show even pressed Win+D; You can hide your note by dragging it to any edge of your screen, When the cursor touches the hiding note´s border, it will show again; You can stick note to window or program, for e.g. document or web page; You can copy & paste anything into note; You can drag & drop files(documents, programs, pictures), folders as note´s attachments. The attachment can place anywhere in your texts, double-click to open it; You can set reminder by day, week, month, etc.; and you can save and backup all your important notes" (OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8 [32-Bit/64-Bit])

Comments Catchup Day

See you in comments.

SPAMmed Again

E-mail to the friends/family/reader account, posted without permission (you SPAM me, you take your chances):

Subject: 1st Page On Google!!!
Date: 8/28/2013 3:32:04 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From: [kindness duct tape]
Reply To:
To: Send IM to: LynnViehlLynnViehl@aol.com

Hi, LynnViehl@aol.com

Hi, Clueless@WhereTheHeckIsThat.com.

I am [kindness duct tape], Online SEO Consultant.

Uh-huh. Do you know that your given name is pretty close to a very rude English word for booty, and I'm not talking about the pirate variety?

As per the trends in your industry – over 80% of people search for your products/services online and buy the same.

Really? 80% of people search for and want to buy my books? Wow, I'd better call my editor; we're going to need a bigger first print run.

These rankings also influence other channels of sales as well.

Sure. Just think of what all my sales will do for the bookmark and booklight industries. Not to mention the papercut-size bandaid people.

It would be recommended if you go for search engine optimization (SEO)

Oh, so that's what SEO means. I was thinking you were a trip planner for South Korea but you were tired and didn't want to type out Seoul. So search engines, yeah. I am on the first page on Google for a lot of writing-related stuff, you know: novel outlininging, freeware for writers, that sort of thing. Would love to be on the first Google page for things like Authors with Normal Hair and Writers Who Can River Dance. But then I'd have to get a hair cut and take Irish stepdancing lessons from Michael Flatley, and then we'd probably have all kinds of creative differences over whether or not I should wear a skirt that covers my knee brace . . . no, on second thought, let's just stick with the writing stuff.

for your site which would increase your web visibility and generate better prospects traffic to your website.

I'm already more visible on the web than I ever wanted to be, and . . . hey, are you insulting my visitors?

There is a simple equation that is applicable to the online world.

Don't change the subject, dude. My visitors may not exactly be rolling in cash, but they're great prospects -- the best prospects, in fact. Not one of them would ever get published, go platinum and pretend they don't know me and/or badmouth my books. Just you watch.

Ethical SEO -> Better Traffic -> Higher Sales -> Higher Revenue

Maybe I don't want higher sales. Maybe what I really want is some cheesecake. You know, the really dense delicious New York kind of cheesecake? With strawberries and a big hot steaming cup of Chai, in front of a roaring fireplace with my guy to feed it to me, while he's weaing that really old pair of old jeans with the rip across the right thigh, and that white button-down shirt . . . sigh. Uh, the higher sales? Not so much.

Just wondering, if you would be interested improving the position of your website for the key terms your clients would be using to search your services.

Services here are provided for free, friend. If they want free, they'll find me.

In case you require any additional information, it shall be our pleasure to furnish the same. No obligations. Do let me know if you are interested and I would be happy to give you details about our services, price list and offers.

Yeah, yeah, same here.

I look forward of your reply.

And you might want to check for space in that English 102 class. Just saying.

Driven to Write

Everyone who over the years has stated that you can't write while you're driving may now apologize:

iQ font - When driving becomes writing / Full making of from Tom Galle on Vimeo.

Recycling Books (in 1892)

One of my latest research acquisitions is an American lady's scrapbook dated 1892. If the price is right I'll buy something like this sight unseen, which was the case this time. This is also why I didn't know the lady had recycled a hardcover to serve as her scrapbook base:



A hundred and twenty-one years ago Florence Champlain decided to recycle a copy of Lockwood's Directory from 1887-1888, and began storing interesting bits in it. She did this (probably with flour paste) with about 100 newspaper articles, each one very precisely cut and fitted to each side of the directory's pages:



To keep the book from becoming overstuffed Florence cut out about half the pages, leaving behind just enough of the page to keep the binding intact.



Some of the pages in the very back were left uncovered, and contain some very cool 19th century advertising:



It appears that the scrapbook was preserved (and possibly added to) by at least two more family members; I haven't yet had time to date all the articles saved in it. The majority appear to be from the turn of the century, however, so I think Florence deserves most of the credit. There are at least a dozen obituaries of important folks including great writers (Victor Hugo), composers (Gounod) and poets (Tennyson), an interview with Tolstoy's widow and intimate profiles on the lives of men like George Washington, Edgar Allen Poe and James Fenimore Cooper. One article wrestles with the debate over divorce in America; another insists most "great" women never marry because no woman can sustain a career, a home and a family (ha.)

Along with newspaper articles Florence saved bits of poetry and humor, scholarly pieces on things like the study of heraldry and what sort of weapons were used in warfare before the invention of gunpowder. A friendly look at the life of the Czar of Russia, his wife and family takes up five pages, and there's a wonderful piece on the house in which Shakespeare was born. About half the articles in the scrapbook focus on writers, poets or books, reminding me of how well-read most people were in the 19th century (no radio, TV or movies for these folks.)

What Florence created with the scrapbook was not only a collection of articles she thought interesting or important, she opened a lovely little window into late 19th century America, and through it I can see exactly what she and her contemporaries were reading in the papers. As way-back machines go, this one is pretty fantastic.

To find antique scrapbooks like this one, check listings on eBay or Etsy, or do a search for rare booksellers online.

Create Once, Publish Everywhere

I have to bail on you guys today to deal with some work offline. I know, I'm all work and no play lately, but there you go.

So that your stop here was not a complete waste, I direct you to Publishing app set to make headlines, an article by Brisbane reporter/blogger Katherine Feeney, about a new direction in digital publishing by Australian company Liquid State. Their soon-to-launch app will convert "print-ready content to mobile and tablet layouts with just five clicks." If that works, we may be saying good-bye to the long and laborious porcess of converting text to all the various formats for digital self-publishing -- evidently this app will do all that for you.

German Edition Cover Art

This one is for the German edition of Dreamveil, my second Kyndred novel, which will be coming out next Spring. I've never had an orange and green cover before this, and since I grew up in the tropics those two are one of my favorite color combinations, so I'm quite pleased.

Sub Ops Ten

Ten Things About Submission Opportunities

Birkensnake doesn't want poetry, but they are looking for "stories that sustain themselves over more than one or two pages. We hope for strong inhuman voices. We are weary of stories that present luminous dialogues between men and women. We hope for less luminous dialogue. More biology. More necrology. Holes that are really tunnels. Healthy mutants." Length: up to 20K. Payment: "at least 1¢/word" according to Ralan. Query on reprints, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details.

Australian publisher Cohesion Press has an open call for Snafu, an anthology of military horror: "SNAFU will be an anthology of original military horror novellas and short stories. Bioweapons unleashed, mutations, ancient species unearthed in lost caverns deep within the earth… and the soldiers who fight them. You get the drift? There will be approximately 60,000 words taken up with novellas by the solicited authors, so we are looking for three or four original short stories via the submission process to fill the rest of the wordcount up to about 80,000." Length: 3-7K; Payment: 3¢/word, no reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Submission period: September 1, 2013 until December 1, 2013.

Cohesion Press is also open to book-length submissions, and their current reading period is open until October 2nd, 2013; see regular submission guidelines here.

Clarkesworld magazine has an open call out for submissions for Upgraded, an "original science fiction anthology of cyborg stories edited by a cyborg." [I'd probably query on exactly what that means, folks.] What they want to see: "Obvious Requirement: Cyborgs or cyborg-related issues must play a role in the story. Feel free to explore this theme as widely as you like. Have fun with it and keep in mind that not all cyborgs need to be human." Length: 1-8K; Payment: "Seven cents per word", no reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Tentative deadline: September 15th, 2013.

Garden State Speculative Fiction Writers is holding their annual short story contest; this one requires a $7.50 entry fee which doesn't make me happy but it's not as bad as some others. Their theme this year is "Storm of the Century", and their contest guidelines are available by .pdf here. Also, entry deadline is August 31st, so if you're interested, hop to it.

Hellfire Publishing is looking for "most well written fiction and non-fiction. At this time we are NOT accepting, Children’s books, no multi-author anthologies, collections or poetry. We are avidly looking for novels—in the following genres and all subgenres: Romance, Horror, Sci-fi, and Stories that are intended to be a part of a series." Length: "Between 20,000 to 100,000 words. Stories must be 60,000 words to be considered for print. No exceptions." Payment: "Ten percent (10%) for the first 10,000 print copies, (15%) fifteen percent from 10,001 to 20,000, print books sold the figure is bumped up to twenty percent (20%) after 20, 0001 print books sold and up. Multiple-Author books will split the above royalty percentages equally." No reprints, query first via electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details.

IFWG Publishing has a new fiction contest going: "Stories must be written with an emphasis on the speculative fiction genres (horror, science fiction and fantasy). Note that the judges will be looking for fresh, character-centric stories with depth of skill in theme and plot construction. Zombies, vampires, elves, hobbits, orcs, are unlikely to get past round one." Length: 1-3K; Prizes: "The winner of the Contest will receive $100US cash prize. Second place will get $50US and third place $25US." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see contest page for more details. Deadline: October 31st, 2013.

E-zine NewMyths.com publishes "speculative fiction of every stripe except graphic horror. We like each issue to have an eclectic variety of stories: funny, frightening, hard and soft sci-fi, adventure, thoughtful, etc. Every issue includes at least one nonfiction piece dealing with some aspect of science, myth, folklore, or literature as it relates to speculative fiction, usually of the well-researched essay variety rather than opinion or editorial. Speculative poetry is welcome. We tend to receive a lot of free verse and not enough "form" poetry. We also buy one piece of artwork per issue, and occasionally commission one." Length: up to 10K; Payment: $50.00 fiction or nonfiction, $20.00 flash or poetry. No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

There's an open call for Strength from Within, a charity-drive anthology: "Recovery from addiction requires strength, and through strength can come recovery. But not all strengths are the same, nor are all addictions. Strength From Within aims to examine addiction and recovery through the lens of fantasy. With fifteen stories of bravery, strength and resilience in the face of addiction and recovery, this anthology showcases established authors as well as up and coming talent." As for the charity aspects: "All profits are to go to Asbury House. The support from this project will go to give Asbury House a home in Fort Collins, CO and give dozens of women the space to learn their strengths and build on them to recover." What they want to see: "Original material, no reprints will be accepted. Do not use non-original characters and/or copyrighted characters. Romance is fine, erotica is inappropriate for the anthology. No rape, no excessive violence." Length: "2-6K, query for longer"; Payment: "$25 per story", no reprints, electronic submissions only. Deadline: "October 31st, or until filled."

World Weaver Press has changed their annual reading periods for novel and story queries; see updates for their 2014 schedule here.

All of the above were found among the marvelous market listings at Ralan.com

Comments Catchup Day

See you in comments.

NaNoWriMo 2013

Some folks have asked what I'll be doing for National Novel Writing Month this year. While my annual NaNoWriMo calendar reminder went off as scheduled on July 31st, I've been so busy with the new series launch I haven't yet decided. Also, a lot depends on how stacked my winter writing schedule will be. If I don't join in myself, I will definitely provide whatever support I can here on the blog for those of you who will be writing a novel in November.

Will you be taking part in NaNoWriMo 2013? Let us know your plans in comments.

The Doing vs. The Talking

Andy Gilmore is an interesting artist; he connects with patterns and nature in some of the same ways I do with words and story. He also is more interested in the doing than the talking about it, which struck a chord with me (narrated and with background music, for those of you at work):

Ghostly International presents Andy Gilmore from Ghostly International on Vimeo.

Off Dancing with Wolves

Today I'm unplugging so I can finish up the last buff and polish of The Clockwork Wolf, but so that your stop here was not entirely wasted, I have a photo to share:



I've been photographing spiders in the back yard for years, but this little one caught the sunlight so beautifully I was enchanted. Of course the wind was blowing, and the web and the spider were floating up and down, and the only angle I could get on it meant shooting directly into the sun. So as always, I just crossed my fingers, pointed the camera and clicked (and you can see a larger version here.)

I'm calling it Writing Light. :)

Over on the Toriana Blog

Today I'm over at Disenchanted & Co. while we steampunk author Jeff Somers. Stop in, tell us in comments the author you'd most like to spend the day with, and you could win this giveaway of Jeff's books, a brand new O'Neill backpack and other geeky fun stuff.

First Look & Winner

Before I announce the winner of the big giveaway, I have some new art to show you:



This will be the cover for The Clockwork Wolf, due out in late February 2014.

I asked my editor, Adam Wilson, to take over the magic hat this week. Since Adam made publishing my 50th novel possible I thought he should have the honors (and if it were left up to me everyone would win, which simply wasn't possible with this giveaway.)

Adam has made his choice, and the winner of the 50th Novel Giveaway is:

Raine Weaver

Raine, when you have a chance please e-mail me at LynnViehl@aol.com. My deepest thanks to everyone for helping me celebrate the release of Her Ladyship's Curse.

Fifty Things

To wrap up my 50th novel party week, I thought I'd hunt through the archives and find some interesting links. This resulted in a list of:

50 of My Favorite PBW Links

25 Reasons to Keep Writing ~ I can probably add another 25 to the list now, but the original is fun.
750 words ~ my thoughts on the daily writing motivation site.
Art vs. Life ~ a virtual workshop on keeping both of your lives in balance.
Becoming (an official) NYT bestseller ~ was it really back in 2008? Doesn't seem that long ago.
Bookmarks from Hell ~ where my joke about mixing Tylenol and wine originated.
Butterfly People ~ why can't I be more like the ladies in the art mags? This is why.
Cafe Temptation ~ more real than you would imagine.
Character Cards ~ a fun way to catalog your characters.
Chloroform + Arsenic + Hydroxide = Love ~ my kid's hilarious poem.
Character Palettes ~ how to use color to inspire your character construction.
Courage ~ on being a writer -- and valiant.
Da Winchy Code ~ the NYT doesn't mean to be funny, but . . .
Disenchanted & Co. ~ the blog I created for my new steampunk urban fantasy novel series for Pocket Star.
Domain Explained ~ who you have to talk to if you want my blog title for yourself.
Dream Called Time ~ the day I finished the StarDoc series.
Freebies ~ all my favorite free stuff on the internet.
Grill Babies ~ why you should always look inside first before you fire up the grill.
Hiveword ~ my thoughts on the online story organizer site.
Inconveniences ~ how to write, even when you can't.
Index Card Journal ~ how I turned a pack of ordinary index cards into a very different kind of journal.
John and Marcia ~ the adventures of my novel crash test dummies.
Left Behind & Loving It 2005 - 2009 ~ the online writing workshops I held every summer for four years.
Make Me a Supernovelist ~ writers on reality TV.
Mary Sue Anonymous ~ Genre vs. Literati via 12 step programs.
Mawked by Dawkness ~ brand name dropping in vampire novels.
Moon Called ~ another novel that I predicted would be a blockbuster (and then it was).
NaNoWriMo 2009 ~ this was the year I wrote the first draft of Disenchanted & Co.
Novel Outlining 101 ~ the most popular post of all time on PBW.
Past Perfection ~ the pasta sauce of writing.
PBWindow ~ my art experiment that turned into a blog (currently on hiatus, but soon to return)
Persuasion 101 ~ my daughter tries to persuade me to let her have the internet on her computer.
Pink ~ I'm over it now. Mostly.
Publishing 911 ~ the post that went so quickly viral we had to notify the CDC.
Reinventing the Bookmark ~ where my BookLoop originated.
Runaway Trains Part 1 and Part 2 ~ how to deal with those story ideas that hit you like a freight train.
Scene Focus ~ includes the luckiest photo shot I ever took in my life.
Seventh Sanctum ~ my favorite online writing generator site
Southern Fried Chicas ~ my favorite author group blog
Start to Finish ~ why I don't give up, even when I should.
Ten Things Authors Don't Want to Hear (But Frequently Do) ~ all true, sad to say.
Ten Things That May Indicate You're Writing a McNovel ~ another post that went viral on me.
Ten Things to Help Name Your Fictional Location ~ includes some of my favorite place name generators.
The Devil's Publishing Dictionary Part 1 and Part 2 ~ the second most popular pair of posts on PBW.
The Friday 20 ~ the years I spent answering questions every Friday on the blog.
The Last Samurai Agent ~ if you want to make your agent laugh, show them this.
The Paranormal Romance Novelist's Exam ~ funny because it is true.
The Presurfer ~ my favorite internet surfer's blog
The Third and the Seventh ~ my favorite video of all time.
The Year of Writing Dangerously, my resolution from 2008 which resulted in me writing Master of Shadows, for which I also designed the cover art.
Wordle ~ my favorite online word toy

I've also added the last prizes of the week to the Splendor tote:



Along with the Splendor tote, the winner will receive:

-- A signed print galley copy of His Lordship Possessed

-- A special $50.00 BookWish

-- Audio editions of all three of my Lords of the Darkyn novels

-- A pair of romantic black lace gloves from Victorian Trading (which are almost identical to the gloves Kit is wearing on the cover of Her Ladyship's Curse).

-- A signed hardcover copy of my SF standalone, Blade Dancer

-- A gorgeous red journal from Leathersmiths of London

-- A $50.00 e-gift card from Levenger

-- A lovely black and crystal "Make a Wish" pendant from Victorian Trading (very Torian in design, and looks a bit like Kit's pendant, too)

-- Signed copies of all four of my Kyndred novels

-- Signed copies of all seven of my original Darkyn series novels

-- A $50.00 gift certificate from Victorian Trading Co.

-- Signed paperback copies of all ten novels in the complete StarDoc series as well as Bio Rescue and Afterburn. Nearly all of these books are out of print now, and this is the last extra complete set of copies I have. For these reasons this will also be the last time I can sign a full set of StarDoc books for a giveaway.

-- Original steampunk anime artwork by Alaires, aka my daughter Kat, who is also my cover artist/designer for My Lord Mayhem. This is her portrait of Kit, Japanese chibi style, executed in copic marker, and it's really adorable.

-- New! A Lapgear Notebook & Tablet Stand lapdesk, to help keep your favorite device hands-free

-- New! A crystal serpent bracelet from Victorian Trading Co., very much like the one Kit borrows from Bridget in the novel.

If you'd like to win everything I'm giving away this week, all you have to do is help me spread the word about my new series. For details on how to do that, and to officially enter the giveaway, click here.

At the Steampunk Show

Recently I visited a steampunk-themed antique show, and snapped some shots of the most interesting items on display. Here's a slideshow of what I wished I could have brought home with me:

I've also added some more prizes to this week's giveaway:



Along with the Splendor tote, the winner will receive:

-- A signed print galley copy of His Lordship Possessed

-- A special $50.00 BookWish

-- Audio editions of all three of my Lords of the Darkyn novels

-- A pair of romantic black lace gloves from Victorian Trading (which are almost identical to the gloves Kit is wearing on the cover of Her Ladyship's Curse).

-- A signed hardcover copy of my SF standalone, Blade Dancer

-- A gorgeous red journal from Leathersmiths of London

-- A $50.00 e-gift card from Levenger

-- A lovely black and crystal "Make a Wish" pendant from Victorian Trading (very Torian in design, and looks a bit like Kit's pendant, too)

-- Signed copies of all four of my Kyndred novels

-- Signed copies of all seven of my original Darkyn series novels

-- A $50.00 gift certificate from Victorian Trading Co.

-- New! Signed paperback copies of all ten novels in the complete StarDoc series as well as Bio Rescue and Afterburn. Nearly all of these books are out of print now, and this is the last extra complete set of copies I have. For these reasons this will also be the last time I can sign a full set of StarDoc books for a giveaway.

-- New! Original steampunk anime artwork by Alaires, aka my daughter Kat, who is also my cover artist/designer for My Lord Mayhem. This is her portrait of Kit, Japanese chibi style, executed in copic marker, and it's really adorable.

If you'd like to win everything I'm giving away this week, all you have to do is help me spread the word about my new series. For details on how to do that, and to officially enter the giveaway, click here.

ID'ing the Dredmore Type

For all of you who might be involved with magical assassins, I have a piece over at Pocket Star's web site, XOXO After Dark, on how to tell if your guy is a deathmage.

I've also got more books and another shopping spree to add today to the Splendor tote:



Along with the Splendor tote, the winner will receive:

-- A signed print galley copy of His Lordship Possessed

-- A special $50.00 BookWish

-- Audio editions of all three of my Lords of the Darkyn novels

-- A pair of romantic black lace gloves from Victorian Trading (which are almost identical to the gloves Kit is wearing on the cover of Her Ladyship's Curse).

-- A signed hardcover copy of my SF standalone, Blade Dancer

-- A gorgeous red journal from Leathersmiths of London

-- A $50.00 e-gift card from Levenger

-- A lovely black and crystal "Make a Wish" pendant from Victorian Trading (very Torian in design, and looks a bit like Kit's pendant, too)

-- Signed copies of all four of my Kyndred novels

-- New! Signed copies of all seven of my original Darkyn series novels

-- New! A $50.00 gift certificate from Victorian Trading Co.

If you'd like to win everything I'm giving away this week, all you have to do is help me spread the word about my new series. For details on how to do that, and to officially enter the giveaway, click here.

Playing Dr. Frankenstein

I was invited by editor and colleague Maria Zannini to contribute an article to the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror (OWW) monthly newsletter for August about how I build characters, which you can read online here.

Today's additions to the Splendor Tote:



Along with the Splendor tote, the winner will receive:

-- A signed print galley copy of His Lordship Possessed

-- A special $50.00 BookWish

-- Audio editions of all three of my Lords of the Darkyn novels

-- A pair of romantic black lace gloves from Victorian Trading (which are almost identical to the gloves Kit is wearing on the cover of Her Ladyship's Curse).

-- A signed hardcover copy of my SF standalone, Blade Dancer

-- A gorgeous red journal from Leathersmiths of London

-- A $50.00 e-gift card from Levenger

-- New! A lovely black and crystal "Make a Wish" pendant from Victorian Trading (very Torian in design, and looks a bit like Kit's pendant, too)

-- New! Signed copies of all four of my Kyndred novels

If you'd like to win everything I'm giving away this week, all you have to do is help me spread the word about my new series. For details on how to do that, and to officially enter the giveaway, click here.

Free for All

Today I have something over at Disenchanted & Co. free for everyone to enjoy (and it's 192 years old, too), so stop in if you get a chance. I'm also adding more prizes to the Splendor tote:



Along with the Splendor tote, the winner will receive:

-- A signed print galley copy of His Lordship Possessed

-- A special $50.00 BookWish

-- Audio editions of all three of my Lords of the Darkyn novels

-- A pair of romantic black lace gloves from Victorian Trading (which are almost identical to the gloves Kit is wearing on the cover of Her Ladyship's Curse).

-- New! A signed hardcover copy of my SF standalone, Blade Dancer

-- New! A gorgeous red journal from Leathersmiths of London

-- New! a $50.00 e-gift card from Levenger

If you'd like to win everything I'm giving away this week, all you have to do is help me spread the word about my new series. For details on how to do that, and to officially enter the giveaway, click here.

Elsewhere with My Secret Life

Today I'm over visiting The Good, the Bad and the Unread to talk about my secret life (not the one related to the bat cave; the other secret life.) Stop in if you get a chance and enter to win this giveaway tote filled with signed galley copies of Her Ladyship's Curse and His Lordship Possessed along with some other lovely goodies.













I'm also adding some new prizes today to my 50th Novel giveaway tote:



Along with the Splendor tote, the winner will receive:

-- A signed print galley copy of His Lordship Possessed

-- A special $50.00 BookWish

-- New! Audio editions of all three of my Lords of the Darkyn novels

-- New! A pair of romantic black lace gloves from Victorian Trading (which are almost identical to the gloves Kit is wearing on the cover of Her Ladyship's Curse).

If you'd like to win everything I'm giving away this week, all you have to do is help me spread the word about my new series. For details on how to do that, and to officially enter the giveaway, click here.

Some readers have asked for better pics of the tote, so here's a slideshow with pics of the front and back as well as more details about the work I did on it:

The tote took about 100 hours to make, and features tons of glass and stone beads, freshwater and faux pearls, Swarovski crystals, holographic threads, vintage metal pendants and antique lace and trims. I used some of my more elaborate crazy quilt embellishment designs to make it, including an emerald bead spider hanging from a golden holographic thread web. All the beading and quilting is completely hand-worked, primarily on silk patchwork, and the three vintage brooches on the blue velvet ribbon on the back of the tote are removable so the owner can wear them separately.

50th Novel Release Party

Today is the release day for Her Ladyship's Curse, the first book in my new Disenchanted & Co. steampunk urban fantasy series for Pocket Star. I never imagined I'd have the chance to publish fifty books, so reaching this point in my writing life is pretty magical for me.

My family and friends have always been there to help me along with way, as have my publishers and editors, but it's really all of you who are my steadfast, loyal readers who made this day possible. Every one of you have done something to bring me here; you've talked about my books, shared them with friends, blogged about them, recommended them to your readers and spread the word about my work in countless other ways. I would never have reached this landmark without your generosity, support and encouragement. Thank you so much.

To launch my new series and my 50th published book I've been working on a very special giveaway, all of which will be packed in my crazy quilted and beaded Splendor tote, handmade by Yours Truly and inspired by Kathy Uhrig. Kathy is the proprietor of Strange Notions on Etsy, and not only sells the most fabulous vintage goods but hand-selected most of the materials that went into this project. Each day I'll also be adding some new prizes to the tote, which will include signed books, shopping sprees, and some very special gifts inspired by Disenchanted & Co.

To start off the giveaway today I have a signed, bound print galley of His Lordship Possessed, Disenchanted & Co. Part 2, which will not be released until October. The Publishing Fairy has also added a special BookWish: $50.00 for the winner to spend on books at the online bookseller of their choice (we'll throw in whatever shipping is involved.)

If you'd like a chance to win my Splendor tote along with all the prizes I'll be heaping into it this week, all you have to do is help me spread the word about the release of Her Ladyship Curse. There is no one mandatory thing you have to do; I want you to feel free to be as creative as you like. You can put out the word online and link to this post on your web site, blog, Twitter account, Facebook or Tumblr page; or by posting about it on your favorite book discussion site. If you read the book this week and would like to write up a review of Her Ladyship's Curse, that will also qualify (and if you don't have a web site or blog, you can post it on B&N.com, Amazon.com or your favorite bookseller site, or any book review or discussion site.) If you're looking for additional content to post, over on the Toriana blog you can find excerpts, the official series trailer and my free e-book, My Lord Mayhem.

Tell me whatever you do to help spread the word about my 50th novel in comments to this post by midnight EST on Sunday, August 18th, 2013. On Monday, 8/19, my editor Adam Wilson (who very kindly agreed to man the magic hat this time around) will select one name at random from all the entries as the giveaway winner. My 50th novel giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

My Five Minutes

USA Today's Happily Ever After blog has a three-authors/three-things piece running today, and Her Ladyship's Curse and I are featured with trio of things about me that may (or may not) surprise you.

If I sound I bit terse in comparison to the other authors, it's because my publicist said "Be brief. Be very, very brief." and so I was.

Comments Catchup Day

See you in comments.

Postponement

Due to some unexpected personal troubles the host of Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Review asked me to rescheduled the appearance I had planned for today (and of course I agreed) so that giveaway and guest post will be on hold until she can sort things out. Please send her some good thoughts and prayers if you would, too.

Illuminated

Some of the world's greatest examples of architecture shine in Luke Shepard's Nightvision (contains background music, for those of you at work):

NIGHTVISION from Luke Shepard on Vimeo.

Texterize It

Gerard over at The Presurfer found the neatest word-art generator, Texter, which allows you to paint with words, ala concrete poetry (click on the image to see a larger version):



The generator's controls allow you to customize your word-painting to include whatever text you want, colors, angles and more.

Hidden

Today I'm over at Disenchanted & Co. talking about something beautiful I found hidden away in a couple of pillow covers, and how you can use personal metaphors, symbols and other secrets to help with your world-building.

Aftermath

Due to some unusual circumstances I had a chance over the weekend to take photos of the aftermath of the Blue Rhino Propane Plant explosion (and please note I took all of these shots by zoom from a very safe distance):

From the conditions the heat must have been unbelievably intense; all of the trees and shrubs immediately surrounding the plant are dead or dying. Scorched heaps of the 53,000 small propane tanks that blew lay everywhere; some had blown apart into twisted hunks of shrapnel. Even the cover on one of the very tall back lot lights had melted into a stringy mess.

While I was initially curious about what had happened, actually seeing the aftermath made me feel very uneasy and upset. The three big white tanks you see in a couple of the shots supposedly hold close to 100K pounds of propane; if they had also exploded it would have been much worse (and I take my hat off to the fire fighters who worked so hard to keep that from happening.) I know several employees at the plant were hurt in the explosion, three critically, and I'm keeping them in my prayers. I'm also pretty sure now that I'm not cut out to be a photo journalist.

Elsewhere Ten

Today I'm over at Under The Covers talking about English and how differently we speak it on either side of the pond. Drop by if you have a chance and enter to win the giveaway, which includes everything in the following slideshow (except the exploded things), aka

Ten Things in the Under the Covers Giveaway

Comments Catchup Day

See you in comments.

Elsewhere Minus the Corsets

Today I'm over at All Things Urban Fantasy to talk about world-building Toriana and why the corsets had to go. Stop in if you have a chance and enter to win this giveaway of a handmade quilted silk Victorian tote, signed galley copies of Her Ladyship's Curse and His Lordship Possessed, along with some other goodies.

Summer at the Shelter

My daughter and I recently made a trip to the local no-kill cat shelter to give the residents some of our time and love (and doing volunteer work together is a wonderful way to spend quality time with your kid, too.) While we were there I snapped some shots of our furry friends and made them into a slideshow to share:

If you are in search of a new furry friend, please consider visiting your local animal shelter to meet some new prospects. There are so many lonely kitties (and pups, too) in shelter care who are in need of a new family and a loving home.

Elsewhere with Her Ladyship

Today I'm over at That's What I'm Talking About blog to share what happened when I told my Mom about selling my new Disenchanted & Co. novel series. If you get a chance stop by, join in and enter to win the giveaway, which includes bound and signed print galley copies of Her Ladyship's Curse and His Lordship Possessed and my positively medieval handmade Toriana crazy apple tote.