Author's Blog

Hottest Twitter Topics . . .

For Your Information

Gorgeous Green Christmas Tree is Made from 40,000 Recycled Plastic Bottles – By Lori Zimmer – inhabitat – http://goo.gl/jz1U2

Hottest Twitter Topics of 2011 – By E-Junkie.Info – http://goo.gl/tMeBx

Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should – By Bill Taylor – Harvard Business Review – http://goo.gl/UiHQO

Hardcover Books Reach New Heights – By Joel Friedlander – The Book Designer – http://goo.gl/85ddE

The Simple Power of Asking – By Sanjeev Mohindra – Problogger – http://goo.gl/iIJcQ

How to Network Without Networking – By Nathan Bransford – http://goo.gl/AZEKP

Tool vs Insight – By Seth Godin – http://goo.gl/pCPfZ

 

Quote(s) of the Day

“There is no great writing, only great rewriting.”- Justice Brandeis

“It is my contention that a really great novel is made with a knife and not a pen. A novelist must have the intestinal fortitude to cut out even the most brilliant passage so long as it doesn’t advance the story.” – Frank Yerby

“If you cannot gain an emotional reaction from your reader, then you have not written well enough.” – ACL


 Writing Contest

Andres Montoya Poetry Prize – Deadline Jan. 15, 2012 –  http://goo.gl/hZeQE

 

 

 

Special Tribute

Yasmin Shiraz – Someone who makes a difference – an activist and author who helps and empowers our teens –http://www.yasminshiraz.net/

Her latest book, Retaliation, a novel about a community’s response to violence, led Shiraz to partner with the Boys and Girls Clubs in creating violence prevention programs for youth . . . (excerpt from Yasmin Shiraz’s Bio)

Check out her YouTube documentary – Can She Be Saved :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3pAdF4Oog0

 

Hats off to this special woman who is making a difference in many of our youth’s lives!

 

 

 

 

Chocolate, Pretzels . . .

For Your Information

Chocolate, Pretzels, and the Power of Word of Mouth – By The Writers Alley – http://goo.gl/0w0Pw

Should Authors be Salespeople? – By Joel Friedlander – The Book Designer – http://goo.gl/k042r

Worth it? – By Seth Godin – http://goo.gl/eZAHG

Make it Easy for Your Readers to Participate – By Darren Rowse – Problogger – http://goo.gl/hk7pE

What Your Boss Needs to Know About Engagement – By Teresa Amabile and Steve Kramer – Harvard Business Review – http://goo.gl/mCbG2

Why Aren’t You Using More Public Domain Characters? – By Robert Smedley – Fuel Your Writing – http://goo.gl/0l4K9

Who filled my creative well with rocks? – By Di Mace – Word Swords – http://goo.gl/p0J8z

 

 

Quote(s) of the Day

“Many people hear voices when no-one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up on rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing.” – Unknown

 

 

Writing Contest

2011 Dorset Prize – Tupelo Press – Deadline Dec. 31, 2011 – http://goo.gl/30Gr7

 

 

Stuck? Borrow . . .

For Your Information

1. A Small Press Implodes : The Inside Story of Aspen Mountain Press – Victoria Strauss – Writer Beware – http://goo.gl/aOXue

2. Author Blogging 101: Presenting Your Content – By Joel Friedlander – The Book Designer – http://goo.gl/tcwFo

3. How to Recover Your Core Rhythm – By Tony Schwartz – Harvard Business Review – http://goo.gl/cQOjU

4. Sixty-seven Elegant, Effective and Free Website Graphics for Serious Online Publishers – By Robert Bruce – Copyblogger – http://goo.gl/qNEV1

5. On Being Mentored-Our Responsibilities – By The Writers Alley – http://goo.gl/2tCy1

6. Feeling’s good: why writers need emotion – By Al Kennedy – the guardian – http://goo.gl/yAIUn

7. 2011 Whiting Writers’ Award Winners Revealed – By Jason Boog – http://goo.gl/Rl8BB

8. Margaret Atwood knits for the birds – By Randy Boswell – The Vancouver Sun – http://goo.gl/VKcny

9. Seven Dirty Little Book Publishing Secrets that Every Writer Needs to Know – By Susan Daffron – copyblogger – http://goo.gl/oyWaf

10. RIM Offers Up A Device-Driven Look At Tomorrow – By Chris Velazco – techcrunch.com – http://goo.gl/RBqoe

11. 6 Creepy Churches Made of Bones – By Lori Zimmer – inhabitat – http://goo.gl/w3ik6

12. The Silliness of Busyness – By Courtney Carver – zenhabits – http://goo.gl/O7eXb

13. e-Book Cover File Size Specifications – By Joel Friedlander – The Book Designer – http://goo.gl/tBh7r

14. Stuck? Borrow Techniques from Popular Authors – By Jennifer – procrastinating writers – http://goo.gl/K8DXS

Quote(s) of the Day

“The writer, when he is also an artist, is someone who admits what others don’t dare reveal.” – Elia Kazan

 

“The task of a writer consists in being able to make something out of an idea.” – Thomas Mann

 

Writing Contest

David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction – Deadline – Dec. 1, 2011 – http://goo.gl/1PVGy

 

 

 

 

Creepy Skull . . .

The Latest

1. Alerts: Lobster Press and Dailey Swan Publishing – By Victoria Strauss – Writer Beware – http://goo.gl/pKVqU

2. Poet Tomas Transtromer Reacts to Winning the Nobel Prize for Literature – By Writers Blog – http://goo.gl/3bK8V

3. How to: Recycle Your E-Waste – By Daiane Pham – My Life Scoop – http://goo.gl/W5Co5

4. Creepy Skull Sculptures are Made from Grains, Herbs, and Spices – By Lori Zimmer, inhabitat – http://goo.gl/AkTyB – Creepy but imaginative and life like!

5. Should You Lend to Friends and Family? – By Maggie Wells – WiseBread – http://goo.gl/s8u65

6. Page Critique: The Importance of Staying With Your Character – By Nathan Bransford – http://goo.gl/pmajN

7. Make the Dangerous Choice to Dissent – by Umair Haque – Harvard Business Review – http://goo.gl/mIJ0q

8. 20 More Smothered Verbs Set Free – B Mark Nichol – DailyWritingTips – http://goo.gl/nlg2M – Good way to reduce word count!

9. Dina Sleiman’s Interview & Book Giveaway – By The Writers Alley – http://goo.gl/4W2RY

 

Quote of the Day

“The measure of artistic merit is the length to which a writer is willing to go in following his own compulsions.” – John Updike

 

 

Writing Contest

Writing Contest – James Hearst Poetry Prize – North American Review – Deadline Oct. 31, 2011 – http://goo.gl/DXxPs

 

 

 

Featured Book Release

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