Winner

The winner of the Make Happy the Winged Wench giveaway is:

Peggy, who wrote I have on the top of the TBR pile MORTAL HEART, by Robin LaFevers. I really liked the first two books of this trilogy ("His Fair Assassin"), and I'm hoping the third doesn't disappoint.

Peggy, when you have a chance please send the title and author of your BookWish along with your ship-to info so I can get that sent out to you. My thanks to everyone for joining in.

Another NaNo Ten

Ten Things You Can Have for Free

(The NaNoWriMo edition)

Freeware caution: always scan free downloads of anything for bugs and other threats before dumping the programs into your hard drive.

Need an online story organizer with storage? Hiveword is all that plus 100% free.

Language is a Virus is an amazing site filled with tons of free writing games, prompts, generators, and everything else a scribe might need to inspire some new ideas (or simply blow off some steam.) My favorite time waster is their electronic poetry hub (like a virtual version of Magnetic Poetry.)

To get first and last names for your characters without slogging through a phone book, try this quickie character name generator.

If you need to put together a novel notebook for NaNo, try a virtual freeware version like AM-Notebook or Keynote, or a test dive into a printable guide full of templates and examples with my own Novel Notebook.

Plot a scene out before you write it with my Scene On-Call Worksheet (and for more on how it works, here's the post I wrote about it.)

Scribe is "a free cross-platform note-taking program designed especially with historians in mind. Think of it as the next step in the evolution of traditional 3x5 note cards. Scribe allows you to manage your research notes, quotes, thoughts, contacts, published and archival sources, digital images, outlines, timelines, and glossary entries. You can create, organize, index, search, link, and cross-reference your note and source cards. You can assemble, print, and export bibliographies, copy formatted references to clipboard, and import sources from online catalogs. You can store entire articles, add extended comments on each card in a separate field, and find and highlight a particular word within a note or article. Scribe's uses range from an undergraduate history research seminar to a major archival research project." (OS: Windows, Mac OS X)

If you want a novel plot worksheet that is fast, simple, and only takes 1 page, try my Ten Point Plot Template (and following the template is one I filled out so you can see how it works.)

The End -- Now What? is a free 105 page writing/publishing advice e-book for NaNoWriMo participants from Book Baby, one of the sponsors of NaNoWriMo; download your copy here.

A trick to finding great titles for free: Feed a keyword from your story into the Verse search engine at Bartleby.com, then look through the results to see how poets used your keyword in their work. Often you'll find amazing ideas in the lines of e.e. cummings, Emily Dickinson, John Keats and other passionate versesmiths.

Way of the Cheetah, my how-to writing book, is free for anyone to read, download, print out and share until December 1st.

Make Happy the Winged Wench

Last night the Publishing Fairy dropped by to give me grief about how I've been too busy writing to pay any attention to her. I explained that this month I'm ghost-writing and NaNo'ing at the same time, but she thought those were lousy excuses. One day I'd like to see her try. Anyway, to appease her (and prevent her from cursing my WIPs) I'm giving her today's post and the chance to grant a BookWish* for one of my readers.

If you'd like to be the one for whom the wand waves, in comments to this post name a book you've just read that you really enjoyed (or if you haven't read anything enjoyable recently, just toss your name in the hat) by midnight EST Monday, November 10th, 2014. I'll choose one name at random from everyone who participates and grant the winner a BookWish. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet EXCEPT Keita (involves NaNoWriMo blackmail, ha), even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

*A BookWish is any book of the winner's choice available for order online and that costs up to a maximum of $30.00 U.S. dollars (I'll cover any additional shipping costs involved.)

Sub Op

SF/F e-zine Diabolical Plots is looking for fiction submissions: "Genres: science fiction, fantasy, horror (everything must have speculative element, even horror) . . . Speculative fiction. Everything should have a speculative element–that includes horror. Feel free to mix in other genres at will–a fantasy mystery or a science fiction romance. Things that we tend to really like: Weird ideas or combinations of ideas we haven’t seen before; Sense of wonder; Strong character and plot arcs; Relatable protagonists (not necessarily likeable, not necessarily reliable); Strong worldbuilding, hinting at more to see around the edges of the story; Philosophical food-for-thought; Straightforward, easily readable style." Also: "We want to see stories from any and all demographics of people and about any and all demographics of people. Women or men or transgender or genderqueer, people of color or Caucasian, straight or gay or bisexual or asexual, disabled or abled or superabled, aliens or robots or fey or talking animals (maybe even humans!). We’re sure there are some we’ve neglected to mention, but that was not meant as a slight if it’s the case. The world is made of all kinds of people, and we want to hear from all of them." Length: "2000 words or less"; Payment: "6 cents per word". No reprints, electronic submissions only -- and an important note here: "We read submissions blind, with no author name. Be sure to remove all mentions of your name from the manuscript before submitting." Reading period for fiction submissions: December 1-December 31st, 2014

Save 33,000ish seconds

Whether you're a fan of LEGOs or The Hobbit, you will probably love this (contains narration and sound effects, for those of you at work):



(Video link nicked from Gerard at The Presurfer)

NaNo the First Week

Thoughts from the trenches:

Night Before: Why did I pick this idea? I'm not ready to write this. I should lie to everyone and say my eye infection came back and I can't see my computer monitor. No one will expect me to write half-blind. Only then I'll burn in Hell. Okay, using this idea for NaNoWriMo, or burning in Hell, which is worse . . . .

Day One: So silly to be scared of this. Crashed rig, first thing this morning! Wonderful scene to write. Feel so much better about the idea. Oh, and must remember this is a straight historical romance, and somehow resist the urge to turn 18th-century England into alternate universe populated by six-foot-tall sentient bunnies.

Day Two: Enter the Colonel. A bit tight-lipped but very dashing and manly; I love him already. I think his steward could work in a secondary romance with the vicar's wife. Might have to kill off the vicar and see. Obviously love the steward too much. Rabbits still trying to get in the story.

Day Three: My family forgot I'm a writer. I guess it was all those months I spent recovering from the eye surgery. But still, really, popping in to ask a dumb question Every. Five. Minutes? Okay, so now I have to get serious. The next person who interrupts me while I'm writing is going to be abducted by six-foot-tall sentient bunnies who have inexplicably acquired a taste for human flesh and are presently starving. Kidding. Hmmmm. Wouldn't a story with rampaging giant zombie bunnies be cool, though?

Day Four: I don't have to kill off the vicar, hooray! I'm writing in a visiting, bitterly unhappy widowed sister who makes everyone miserable, especially the vicar's sweetheart of a wife. She'll be a great foil for my female protag, plus I can redeem her. Maybe. Not sure, as she's seriously miserable. Then there's the village doctor, who I might keep in London for a few more chapters. Doctors are always waaaay too interesting as characters for me. Also rabbits persisted in showing up all over the main house at Netherfield, so I surrendered and wrote them into the setting. Should keep them from turning into zombies.

Day Five: Why do these people keep asking me to cook for them? Don't they know that NaNoWriMo is the real reason God created takeout?

Day Six: (technically, it's 12:09 am) Cooked for my family anyway. Was good for me; I've been getting so sucked into both projects I needed to come up for air. Editor happy. Writing buddies are inspiring me. NaNo is great. All I have to do is something with all these blasted rabbits . . . .

So how has your first week gone so far, my fellow NaNoers? Let us know in comments.

Image Credit: pavila1 ~ DepositPhotos.com

Fake Covers, Real Inspiration

If you want to make up a cover for your NaNoWriMo novel (or any other story) but aren't feeling particularly inspired by anything, trying playing with this Fake French novel cover art generator.

Three of my results:



I really love the broken window and the open-book pages designs, and armed with my own camera I know I can come up with something very similar (or even better.) I'm not a huge fan of using museum art for book covers, but #3 might work for a more literary writer.

If you don't have a camera or aren't interested in photography, you can always look for similar images on stock photo sites like Dreamstime.com, BigStockPhoto.com or DepositPhotos.com (I found the cover image for my NaNo novel Lord of Midnight there.) Prices vary, but it's possible to find something (like mine) that works for around $1.00. Dreamstime.com offers free images, too, so if you're cash-strapped you might check there.

Speedy Links

I noticed when I was over on the NaNoWriMo forums this one post with a megalist of helpful writing articles. Things like this are definitely worth checking out when you have time, but they're not exactly time-savers. Since I know a bunch of sites where you can get a direct answer to a writing-related problem very quickly, I thought I'd put together my own list of speedier links:

Acronymer -- you've got an acronym, now you need to figure out what words the letters stand for. Feed your 2-6 letter acronym to this one and it will instantly generate some suggestions (as in LYNN = Linear Y-value Network Node)

Chaotic Shiny's Place Name Generator -- need a geographic landmark name fast? Use this generator.

Character Feelings Table -- Julia West put this together as a reference for character emotions. Can be a great prompt source when you're not sure how your character is feeling at the moment, or you need a word to express the intensity of your character emotions.

Complete Friday 20 Index -- a quick source for answers to a bunch of writing-related questions posted here on the blog during the old Friday 20 sessions, indexed by subject and listed by question with links to my answers.

Index of Freeware & Online Tools for Writers -- I need to update this (badly) but many of the links are still viable, and may be of help when you need a free program or specific tool.

Invent-a-Word -- when you need to coin a new word but can't think of one, this prefix/suffix words overlapper generator can be a huge help.

Job Title Generator -- some are silly, but others are pretty interesting. Even if you just need a place holder/easily-searched-and-replaced type title until you can think up a better one, quite helpful.

OneLook Reverse Dictionary -- for when you have a definition or concept for which you need a word. Describe it in the search box, click and get a related words list.

Pseudo-Elizabethan Place Name Generator -- for those times in the story when you immediately need 100 Dickensian/UK-flavored place names. Seriously, I love this one; much of the names generated are consistently inspiring.

Seventh Sanctum -- Aka generator heaven. An index and links to the specific writing-related generators can be found on this page.

Tip of My Tongue -- an actual search engine for that one word you can almost remember. Enter letters, partial word fragments, what it sounds like, what it means and get back a list of possible solutions.

Word Navigator -- a wordsmith's mini-toolkit; enter a prefix, suffix or word and this generator will find words that start, end or contain it, new words made from the letters, words found within it and much more.

Wordle -- create word clouds from any text; extremely helpful in creating titles, story ideas and more (I love to feed it parts of stories, poems or songs and see what comes up in the cloud; I get a ton of title ideas that way.)

Writer's Knowledge Base -- Elizabeth S. Craig's search engine can find the writing-related online help you need very fast.

NaNoisms Ten

Ten Things Writers Say, and What They Really Mean

(The NaNoWriMo edition)

Come and be my NaNo writing buddy?

Don't make me go through this insanity alone. Please. I'm begging here.

Finally, a chance to do some real writing!

Finally, a chance to lock myself in the spare bedroom, turn down my computer speakers and play Candy Crush for three hours.

I don't yet have a title for my NaNo novel.

I'm not telling you the title of my NaNo novel because it's so good you'll steal it and tell everyone you thought it up and get published and then I'll have to one-star review and face in all your novels at the bookstore for the rest of my life.

I join in NaNoWriMo every year because I love it.

I hate this. Why did I do this to myself again? Because I'm crazy. Seriously. Calling the therapist as soon as I get my 1667 words for the day done. I swear.

I love all my friends cheering me on and encouraging me to write.

I'm Tuckerizing and then brutally slaughtering the next ass who asks me if I'm done yet.

My wordcount? I don't know, somewhere in the high five digits.

If you use two decimal places.

Once I finish NaNoWriMo I'm going to edit my novel and submit it to a publisher.

Once I finish NaNoWriMo I'm going to take this stack of crap into the backyard and burn it. Unless you read it for me, and love it to pieces, and tell me I'm the greatest writer who ever lived. Because I am. Look, just promise read it and lie to me, okay?

This is all I wanted to do in November.

This will get me out of all the lame holiday stuff my parents want me to do in November.

Writing a novel in 30 days is the most fun you can have as a writer.

Actually, no. It's gloating over the remainder titles at the Dollar Store, putting in fifteen requests under fake names for your own book at the local library, then sitting and pretending to write in the cafe where that really cute barista can watch you battle your non-existant literary demons. And there should be M&Ms in there somewhere. Like a pound of M&Ms.

You're not joining in? But you'll miss out!

Talk me out of this, please. Hurry.

Spec-Fic Contest

The Friends of the Merrill Collection are holding a Spec-Fic short story contest: " All entries submitted to the Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest must have a speculative fiction element (see the FAQ page for our definition). As we are no longer posting the winning stories on the website, there are no restrictions on content or subject matter. All entries must be previously unpublished." Length: up to 6K; Prizes: "First Place: $500.00 (CDN); Honourable Mentions (2): $50.00 (CDN) each." There is an entry fee for this one: "All stories submitted to the Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest must be accompanied by a $5.00 (CDN) entry fee. This fee is used to fund the winners’ purse and all funds raised in excess of that amount are used by the Friends of the Merril Collection to support the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation, and Fantasy at the Toronto Public Library." No reprints, electronic submission only, see contest page for more details. Submissions period opens November 14th, 2014 (do not submit before); Deadline February 15th, 2015.

I generally avoid posting contests or sub ops with entry fees, but reading this in their guidelines persuaded me to make an exception: "We know that for many writers the idea of entry fee based contests is a touchy subject, both because of the fraudulent practices that choke the field like the risen dead clawing their way free from rotting loam, and because of the idea of the fees themselves. We, the Friends of the Merril Collection, would like to make very clear the fact that we are not charging “reading fees”. We are running a contest to raise funds to aid the Merril Collection, and to raise awareness of the Collection. We hope you will visit the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation, and Fantasy website, or better still, join us at The Lillian H. Smith Branch of the Toronto Public Library for readings, exhibits, discussions and other special events! Your entry fees and donations will help the Friends continue to offer great programming throughout the year."

An excellent way to use the funds, I think, so bravo, Friends of the Merrill.

Here We Go

Today begins National Novel Writing Month, and for the next thirty days I'll be writing my way toward the 50K finish line. I've posted my wordcount widget and unofficial NaNo badges here, and as I have in years past I'll be posting updates, detailed notes on my progress and possibly some peeks at the story over on the stories blog.

Whenever I join in NaNoWriMo I like to set up in advance a reward for reaching the 50K finish line. Just as I was mulling over what that should be for 2014, our mail carrier stopped in with a package from B&N for me:



I forgot I had these on backorder, and it seemed like the universe was giving me a nudge, so the book and CD will wait until I finish NaNo (and if I don't reach 50K, I'll give them away to someone else, which will really hurt.)

If you're likewise diving into the madness, let us know in comments.

And we're off -- everyone, break a keyboard!

Wishing You

More Waverley!

I've finally received some gotta-preorder SPAM from B&N.com that made me very happy, and since I've bullied encouraged some of you to read this author, I thought I'd pass along the news:



Since Garden Spells remains my #1 favorite novel by Sarah Addison Allen, obviously I cannot wait to read this one.

What new releases are you looking forward to this Fall and Winter? Share the love in comments.

My NaNo Novel Plan

As you've probably noticed I've posted on the blog my word count widget and unofficial badges for NaNoWriMo 2014. This week I'll be putting together my novel notebook and doing the last bit of prepwork I need so I can begin writing straightaway on November 1st. I'm also available as a writing buddy on the NaNoWriMo web site; if you want to send a buddy request my user name is Lynn Viehl.

The idea I've decided to go with for my November novel is the first book in a historical romance trilogy that I've always wanted to write. The primary setting for the entire trilogy is Netherfield, one of the great estates from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (you might remember it as Bingley's home.) I've always thought Netherfield had great potential as a magical place for romance, mystery and adventures, and I want to tell some new stories about it with new characters and conflicts of my own creation.

Here's the cover art I worked up and the beginning of the synopsis:

The Novels of Netherfield
Book One Working Title: Lord of Midnight (Yeah, I know, uber generic, which is why it's a working title)

Rumors sweep through the village of Meryton as Netherfield Park is let at last to Colonel Julian Greville, a retired soldier recently returned from India. No one knows any real details about the colonel except that he is rich, reclusive and never seems to sleep. His residence soon causes much displeasure among Meryton's finer families, particularly those with unmarried daughters. Local legend maintains that anyone who spends a night at Netherfield will fall in love -- but the colonel refuses to accept calls from anyone.

A carriage mishap strands Miss Anne Maycott at Netherfield, where she is obliged to spend the night. Colonel Greville is kind and attentive, but he also puzzles her, for he takes no pride in his heroic past. Greville is exqually perplexed by Anne, who seems too good-humored and is far too lovely to be on the verge of becoming a spinster. He's also disturbed by the accidents that have regularly plagued Anne's life; far too many to be mere coincidence or, as she believes, bad luck . . .

So what are you planning to write for NaNoWriMo 2014? Let us know in comments.

LT Job Op (and Ribbet)

Library Thing is looking for a programmer:

LibraryThing, the company behind LibraryThing.com and LibraryThing for Libraries, is looking to hire a top-notch developer/programmer.

We like to think we make “products that don’t suck,” as opposed to much of what’s developed for libraries. We’ve got new ideas and not enough developers to make them. That’s where you come in.

Technical Skills required:

LibraryThing is mostly non-OO PHP. You need to be a solid PHP programmer or show us you can become one quickly. You should be experienced in HTML, JavaScript, CSS and SQL. We welcome experience with design and UX, Python, Solr, and mobile development.

There's a link to an online quiz in the job post that you should take to see if you're technically qualified, or send in your resume, whichever works best for you. See the job listing on Library Thing for more details. Also, if you apply and do get the job, mention I referred you, and I'll win a bunch of books. :)

Now, if you were a Muppet, exactly which one would you be? Take the quiz here and find out.

My results:



I don't know if I'm any of that description, but all the same I'm happy to be Kermit (okay, I was secretly hoping to be Mr. Snuffleupagus. No one but Big Bird ever saw him. Which would make Shiloh Walker Big Bird.)

So which Muppet are you? Let us know in comments.

(Test link swiped from Gerard at The Presurfer)

Boo Ten

Ten Things to Help with Halloween

Cooking Light magazine has some fun recipes here for your Halloween festivities.

DKTK has an entire page of Halloween Crafts and Activities for Kids here.

Food Network has a cool page here with ideas on how to turn your carved pumpkins into "snack-o-lanterns".

Good Housekeeping has 11 Enchanting Halloween Decorating Ideas here.

My favorite and most popular Halloween recipe is this delicious spinach dip, which I serve in a hollowed-out pumperknickel bread bowl surrounded with bread chunks, crackers and raw veggie bites.

For spooky reading material, one of the scariest stories I've ever read is an oldie -- The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.

Halloween parties can be torture for those of us who can't have sugar, unless you get inventive with your snacks. Look for fun recipes that don't involve sweets, like these witch brooms made from pretzels and string cheese.

Going trick or treating but have nothing to wear? Real Simple magazine has 10 last-Minute Halloween costume ideas here.

Martha Stewart always has some interesting Halloween recipes on her site; this year I might make her Rice Krispie treats that are colored and shaped like candy-corn.

Need helping carving your pumpkin? Wikihow has instructions with steo-by-step photos here.

In the Leaves

I've uploaded the final edited edition of In the Leaves as a .pdf file on Google Docs, and the story can be read online, downloaded, printed out and shared for free by anyone. To go to the e-book, click on the cover art:

Prep Talk

In one week National Novel Writing Month begins, and I as well as thousands of writers around the globe will be spending the next thirty days writing to reach the 50,000 words finish line. This is also the time when I generally try to come up with a fun, motivational post to encourage writers who are on the fence to dive in with the rest of us.

Thing is, at the moment I'm not feeling especially inspiring. I landed a job so I'm going back to work (hooray!), only it's ghost-writing so I can't tell anyone about it (ho-hum). I'm still recovering from my surgeries, which was going well until an unexpected infection set in last week. Every time I blinked felt like someone was stabbing me in the eye with a toothpick. Which meant going back on the steroid eyedrops, which burn almost as bad. Just as that started to clear up, I got my hand caught between two grocery carts I was trying to separate at the market. Yes, I am that kind of idiot. Freeing myself resulted in bruises + a nice big gash on said hand, which given my wimpy immune system will probably not heal until NaNo is over.

Did I mention I have a new job I have to start like immediately?

I know, whine, whine, whine. No one can do it better than writers. Honestly, I am grateful for the work, and the infection is gone, and I have plenty of Band-Aids. It's just dealing with the eyedrops and sore hand and depression over being so banged up while trying to do my best for the new job, all I really want to do is give up on NaNo, unplug and hide until January.

I could, quite easily. You would understand, wouldn't you? I mean, look at my excuses. They're pretty good, aren't they?

Still, as of November 1st, come Hell, come high water, come whatever, I'm writing a novel in thirty days. Why? We already know how mule-headed I can be, yes? But it's not just stubborness. It's joy to go with the job. It's laughing at wretched eye infections. It's kicking all the stuck-together grocery carts in the world to the moon. It's a bridge across the abyss.

Why? It's writing. I'm a writer. This is what I do, and I'm doing this for me.

So those are my pom poms, and while they're not especially pretty, fun or motivational this year, I'm shaking them for me and you. I know for every trouble I have many of you have at least as many, if not more. A lot of you are swamped, dealing with your own day jobs and financial worries and health issues and family dramas, and there simply is not enough time to do anything except put out fires and hope you don't go crazy in the process. Or maybe you're just tired and not in the mood. I get it, really, I do. I absolutely believe that your excuses are as good as if not better than mine.

But you're a writer, and this is what we do. So write with me this November. Write your novel. Do it for you.

Freerunning

If like me you're a fan of the urban sport of parkour, this short film will keep you riveted (contains background music, for those of you at work):

Chasing Light - Freerunning Short Film (4K UHD) from claudiu voicu on Vimeo.

Just Write On Hiatus

I will be editing and posting the final edition of In the Leaves sometime this week along with the new cover art. However, since I'm going to participate in NaNoWriMo 2014, and I want to do some outlining and then give that my full attention, I'm going to put Just Write Thursdays on the backburner for now.

I've really had fun with this feature, and I hope to bring it back to the blog during December (or possibly January if the winter holidays are hectic.) We'll see what happens; in the meantime, thanks to everyone for your support and enthusiasm for it.