I’d like to use a counter widget as a gage (not to be confused with a gauge) to keep myself honest in my attempt to write a new novel. Does anyone out there know of a good one? When I participate in NaNoWriMo, I rely heavily on the counter they provide.
Would you like to join in to “Tuesday Use It In A Sentence”? Of course you would! Visit A Word Adventure this week to find out how!
Is that really the time? I’ve been trying to sit down at the computer all day. But with the kids going away for two weeks to their dad’s – yes, two whole weeks kidless – I’ve been running around like a headless horseman… where did that come from?… trying to take care of everyone. No, that doesn’t mean I’ve packed a damned thing. But Alex wanted to spend time with my mother and Chris needed his chicken McNuggets and Alex wanted to play Life (dad doesn’t have Life… the game that is. He has a life) and do a puzzle and later we have to build Lego… Maybe I can convince him to help me pack.
Packing isn’t a big deal for me. I regularly pack the night before I go on a plane trip, to stay somewhere for a couple of weeks. If I’m gone for a weekend I pack a few minutes before I walk out the door. I remember making long long lists once upon a time. Especially when I went camping. Ah, I used to love camping. Now I don’t think my body could take it.
Speaking of my body, I have a mosquito bite on the bottom of my foot. On the ball of my foot. Feels great just to stand up. My shoulder is almost back to normal, and with only one visit to the physiotherapist. He gave me a bunch of exercises to do, but it seems like it was going to get better no matter what. I think the steroid injection did most of the work.
Speaking of work, I think I’m just about finished my edits on my novel. I need a few people to read the first couple of chapters though, to tell me if it makes any sense. I’m too involved in it to tell. I read it and I think it’s okay, but I’m not sure if it sounds pretentious. I dunno. Any volunteers?
So now I’m trying to decide what the title of this post alludes to. SoCS is good for some things, like getting everything out of the mind that’s been sitting there for a while. Like clearing the cobwebs away from the back of the china cabinet that no one has moved in six years because they don’t want to take all the china out.
SoCS is bad for keeping on track on a subject. So let’s see… SoCS is…
Here: https://lindaghill.com/2015/07/03/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-415/ Click on the link to join in!
Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions
P.S. Happy 4th of July to all my American friends!!
It took me a long while to decide to use my real name on my blog, and a little while more before I really felt comfortable with it. To start with, this blog was about me “coming out” as a writer. You may think it silly to equate it to announcing one’s gender preference (granted its nowhere near as traumatic as all that) but in a way it was the same. I’d seen, after all, the way people looked at me when I told them I was writing a novel. The word “flake” might as well have been stamped on my cheek for all the lack of praise the confession got me. It seems if they can’t see the finished product, the product will in their mind never be finished.
So it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I signed up with WordPress using my own name. I was tentative – worried people I know would see my efforts and laugh. I still worry about that. But, having said that, I have gained a certain amount of confidence in myself. I started a Facebook page recently with the title “Linda G. Hill, Author” (you can find me here: https://www.facebook.com/lindaghill.fiction?ref=hl Like me!!) and that felt weird particularly when it asked me if the person I was making the page for approved. I think I actually yelled at the screen, “It’s ME!”
I still think about blogging under a pseudonym, even now that I’ve been blogging consistently here with my real name for a year and nine months. There’s a freedom in not using your name; what stops me is not being able to see the point. I’m quite happy here this way. I feel relatively secure in that I don’t disclose my precise whereabouts; I post pictures of my children knowing that they can’t be identified by their surname. (It isn’t “Hill.”) I find it easier than trying to keep up a facade. I don’t need to be careful not to give myself away… and I’m so close to being ready to get published that I’m no longer shy about calling myself a novelist. You’ll get your proof, damnit!
I would say the majority of blogs I follow here are anonymous. I realise there are many reasons for wanting to remain that way. For those who don’t use their real names, have you ever been tempted? And for those who do, was it a difficult hurdle to get over? Please share your story.
It’s promotion time! Pick up Steve Vernon’s latest giveaway today and see why you need to buy everything he has to offer!
Okay – so as some of you folks know I’ve been working hard on trying to unlock the secrets of creating a successful Kindle freebie release.
I’ve wrote a bit about it HERE and HERE and – if you scroll down through my blog entries you’ll doubtless find a few more examples. I have been doing my darnedest to figure out what mystical techniques you must use to create a successful Kindle freebie release.
I’ve met with some success – but today I thought I would set up a test case to see how NOT to promote a Kindle freebie release.
I’ve set my Northern Ontario set, redneck noir novella – HAMMURABI ROAD – on for FREE today.
Go ahead and click this picture if you want to upload this book as a freebie from Amazon.com
I didn’t do ANYTHING to promote this freebie beyond popping out a couple of…
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With all this recent talk about doing research, I’ve decided to do some of my own. Actually, I decided a week ago, but I’m jumping on the bandwagon with those who have blogged about it.
Hochelaga Inn, Kingston Ontario
When I first decided to set my novel in Kingston, Ontario, I looked around the internet for historic houses there and found this one. As luck would have it, it’s a Bed and Breakfast. So next week, guess where I’m going to stay…? Yep, I’ll be right up in the tower room, which is complete with a ladder to the roof from the inside. I have described, using only my imagination, every nook and cranny of this glorious mansion. But now, I’ll be able to do so from the inside. 🙂
In the three days I’ll be spending there I plan also to both drive and walk around town, getting a real feel for the atmosphere. And who knows, maybe I’ll even meet my main character while I’m there. He’s sure to be in residence, after all. 😉
lindaghill.com 