Got a real chuckle. Long live the creative artist!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Ink Versus Pencil?
Ink Versus Pencil?
“If you write your manuscripts, do you use pen or pencil? Do you use a journal to take notes about ideas and characters? Or do you type everything on the computer in a completely different fashion?”
Hello Blog Hoppers.
The question posed this week begs an answer whether you are a newbie writer or one who was around banging away on a Royal typewriter using carbon paper and white out.
My answer is an unequivocal “yes!” Depending on where I find myself dictates the method of committing words to paper/digital. During transit I have been known to use petrol receipts, backs of torn envelopes and serviettes when an idea strikes. Erotica jotted on a clipboard whilst sitting in the queue of cars waiting to pick up school children often lifted the corner of my mouth in guilty wry concession to my habit. Little did anyone know…
The beauty of an e-reader is lack of book cover. “I like those wonderfully designed works of art,” you say? Try to get a man to read a romance with some broad-chested Fabio-alike strutting his stuff, ruffled shirt open to his lunch. Not gonna happen—ever. Picture yourself sitting in the multi purpose room waiting for the next speaker at the parents meeting—latest spicy romance cracked open, specs perched on the end of your nose. What look might you receive from your daughter’s headmaster as he spies the cover—sweat slick headless torsos wrapped about each other in a pose a contortionist would admire?
Ooops..tangent. We were speaking of writing in the rough draft stage. Those black and white speckled composition books you used in school come in mighty handy when caught in the dentist’s office at half three when your appointment was scheduled for 2:45. Pencils are so much more forgiving of our mistakes than pen. It is rather gratifying to cross out a mistake with a vigorous slash of blue ink. But if you fancy any chance of actually being able to transcribe your genius when you return home to your laptop, perhaps legibility might be taken into account.
Nothing as great as watching those words fill a screen that was blank and white just minutes before. The beauty of it is in the edits. White Out --what’s that? Thesaurus and dictionary dot com—saviour! That and cut&paste.
At the end of the day it doesn’t much matter the method, just as long as you get that butt in seat, that crayon on primary paper (chunks of wood floating through it aside), that magic marker on McDonald’s napkin or French manicured nails on MacBook Pro—write on!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Duke It Out!!
MARCH 7 - 11, 2011
Come and join us for a week of fun when Muse characters jump out of the pages and duke it out with other characters, each striving to win the MUSE DUKE-OFF CHAMPION award. Vote for your favorite during the week in our character poll.
One lucky reader who leaves a comment will win the Champion's ebook.
One lucky reader who leaves a comment will win the Champion's ebook.
Some of the key character players so far:
Jordan Blake from Stranger on the Shore by Roseanne Dowell
James White, vampire, from Subspecies by Mike Arsuaga
Comte Cohen Ashton from Guilty Kisses by Killarney Sheffield
Lee Alvarez from Murder is a Family Business by Heather Haven
Carolyn Masters from Dark Side of the Moon by Terri Main
Jericho, dragon, from Kellan's Dragons by Antonia Tiranth
Kyle Matthews from Shadows Steal the Light by Christine London
Lee Alvarez from Murder is a Family Business by Heather Haven
Carolyn Masters from Dark Side of the Moon by Terri Main
Jericho, dragon, from Kellan's Dragons by Antonia Tiranth
Kyle Matthews from Shadows Steal the Light by Christine London
Nora Roberts Speaks Out
You gotta love this woman. There is a bill in the Senate now to combat piracy of electronic books. Well..Nora says it best...
February 13, 2011
Dear Chairman Leahy and Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
I strongly support Bill 3804.
Piracy eats away not only at the income of writers, but at the fabric of intellectual property. This blatant disregard for copyright not only devalues us, the creators, but the work we labor to create.
In discussions with people who feel piracy is simply the cost of doing business, or worse, that it's their right as a consumer, I've been told I should be flattered so many people want to read my work--for free--that they probably wouldn't have bought the book anyway, so it's not really a lost sale, that there's nothing I can do about it, so why fight it. They tell me they can't afford to actually buy the book, but they want to read it. When I suggest the library as an alternative, I'm told the library's too far away or the wait for the book from a library too long.
I'm told not to call it stealing or those who engage in the practice thieves because it annoys them.
It annoys them.
I say, respectfully, it annoys me when what we, as writers, have created out of our individual minds, hearts, guts is taken without compensation. When it's taken without our consent. We do not consent to piracy. We do not consent to being devalued out of existence.
The Internet is an extraordinary tool, and with it, we can access information with a few keystrokes. But there is a difference, wide and deep, between information and creative property. We use words to express our imaginations, to tell stories that entertain, that bring comfort, offer amusement or solace. Melding that imagination with words to create a book takes work, time, effort, talent. The storyteller and the book that comes from her through that work, that talent, must be valued and respected. If piracy continues to devastate a writer's income, to erode the ability of the publishers to make the profit necessary to bring those books to the public, where will the next generation of storytellers come from? How can they live if their individual creativity has no value?
The novelist, the novel, the publisher as the gatekeeper can't stand against the growing assault of piracy.
Freedom is essential to us, as people, as Americans. But freedom must co-exist with the rule of law. And the law must address progress along with the benefits and complications it brings with it.
We look to you to make the laws that protect us, that protect our work, that protect and respect creative property. We look to you to stand up for us and against piracy and its growing sense of entitlement.
Without writers there will be no stories. Without stories, the world will be a smaller and much less vibrant place. Please don't let that happen.
Nora Roberts
February 13, 2011
Dear Chairman Leahy and Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
I strongly support Bill 3804.
Piracy eats away not only at the income of writers, but at the fabric of intellectual property. This blatant disregard for copyright not only devalues us, the creators, but the work we labor to create.
In discussions with people who feel piracy is simply the cost of doing business, or worse, that it's their right as a consumer, I've been told I should be flattered so many people want to read my work--for free--that they probably wouldn't have bought the book anyway, so it's not really a lost sale, that there's nothing I can do about it, so why fight it. They tell me they can't afford to actually buy the book, but they want to read it. When I suggest the library as an alternative, I'm told the library's too far away or the wait for the book from a library too long.
I'm told not to call it stealing or those who engage in the practice thieves because it annoys them.
It annoys them.
I say, respectfully, it annoys me when what we, as writers, have created out of our individual minds, hearts, guts is taken without compensation. When it's taken without our consent. We do not consent to piracy. We do not consent to being devalued out of existence.
The Internet is an extraordinary tool, and with it, we can access information with a few keystrokes. But there is a difference, wide and deep, between information and creative property. We use words to express our imaginations, to tell stories that entertain, that bring comfort, offer amusement or solace. Melding that imagination with words to create a book takes work, time, effort, talent. The storyteller and the book that comes from her through that work, that talent, must be valued and respected. If piracy continues to devastate a writer's income, to erode the ability of the publishers to make the profit necessary to bring those books to the public, where will the next generation of storytellers come from? How can they live if their individual creativity has no value?
The novelist, the novel, the publisher as the gatekeeper can't stand against the growing assault of piracy.
Freedom is essential to us, as people, as Americans. But freedom must co-exist with the rule of law. And the law must address progress along with the benefits and complications it brings with it.
We look to you to make the laws that protect us, that protect our work, that protect and respect creative property. We look to you to stand up for us and against piracy and its growing sense of entitlement.
Without writers there will be no stories. Without stories, the world will be a smaller and much less vibrant place. Please don't let that happen.
Nora Roberts
Friday, February 11, 2011
Two FUN and Fascinating Author Events this Weekend in San Francisco Bay Area
Wonder what it takes to craft a novel? To get an agent? To work with a publisher?
Your questions will be answered when you join these successful and engaging authors as they discuss the art of writing, publishing and marketing books.
TWO FREE EVENTS this weekend
Saturday February 12th
Borders Books
4575 Rosewood Drive
Pleasanton, CA 94588
Pleasanton, CA 94588
(925.227.1412)
2-4 p.m.
Moderator:
Christine London / Spicy contemporary romance with a Brit twist
Panelists:
JoAnn Smith Ainsworth / Sensual historical romance
Alon Shalev / Highlighting social injustices and offering hope for a better world
Karin Ireland / Inspiring self-help books that make life easier and more rewarding
AND
Sunday February 13th
Borders Books
McCarthy Ranch Marketplace, Milpitas, CA 95035
(408 934-1180)
2-4 p.m.
Moderator:
Christine London / Spicy contemporary romance with a Brit twist
Panelists:
JoAnn Smith Ainsworth / Lushly sensual historical romance
Jasmine Haynes / Romantic suspense, erotic romance
Carolina Montague / Angels and Miracles; Magic and Love
Hope to see many of my San Francisco Bay area friends there!
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