Friday Finds!
Today I have some randomly weird stuff:
The Octopus Who Loves his Mr Potato Head
Book Porn Very funny, only slightly dirty...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Showing posts with label Friday Finds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friday Finds. Show all posts
Friday, January 1, 2010
Friday, December 4, 2009
Friday Finds!
Friday Finds!
Today, I'm all about free reads. There's been a lot of them floating around, and here's some of the best I've seen.
Free ebooks from Harlequin - Celebrating 60 Years
Similar stuff from Mills & Boon
Night Owl Romance has quite a lot of free offerings
Today, I'm all about free reads. There's been a lot of them floating around, and here's some of the best I've seen.
Free ebooks from Harlequin - Celebrating 60 Years
Similar stuff from Mills & Boon
Night Owl Romance has quite a lot of free offerings
Friday, October 30, 2009
Friday Finds!
Friday Finds!
I have all kinds of interesting stuff for you today!
First off is the link that revolutionized MY LIFE. Seriously.
Read It Later
This is a spiffy little system that lets you save websites and blog posts to your Reading List for later use - which is nifty enough on its own if you're like me and usually have forty-two tabs open with things you want to read but haven't had time to yet. The Reading List compiles them all in one place and you don't lose them when your browser crashes. (Under the weight of forty-two tabs).
What makes it revolutionary is that there is an iPhone/iTouch app that allows me to download those webpages and blog posts to my iPod (Jeeves) and read them later OFFLINE. This is the big beautiful kicker. OFFLINE.
I have been struggling with all sorts of ways to convert the text of blog posts so I can read them even if I'm not in range of an open wireless source. Not only does Read It Later save these as they appear on my computer, but saving them in the first place is far easier than my usual cut-n-paste or save as, convert, load, blah blah blah. Now, I just click a link in my favorites list, and TA-DA! the page is on my Reading List. At the end of the day, I sync my iPod to my reading list and I'm good to go!
I didn't look too hard, but I understand they have ways for other smart phones to access your reading list, and they apparently have a killer FireFox extension.
Sasha White has an interesting post on Tracking Your Work over at Genreality. There are several good suggestions for websites and downloads that allow you to track works in progress and submissions you're waiting on.
Some I'm planning to look at:
Writer's Database
Downloadable Writer's Database
Sonar 3
Smart Bitches has an interesting post on publishing your work as an APP for smart phones and ipods. Apps for Authors
And finally Carol Burge at Romance Writer Woes has compiled a list of Writing Contests that are currently open.
I have all kinds of interesting stuff for you today!
First off is the link that revolutionized MY LIFE. Seriously.
Read It Later
This is a spiffy little system that lets you save websites and blog posts to your Reading List for later use - which is nifty enough on its own if you're like me and usually have forty-two tabs open with things you want to read but haven't had time to yet. The Reading List compiles them all in one place and you don't lose them when your browser crashes. (Under the weight of forty-two tabs).
What makes it revolutionary is that there is an iPhone/iTouch app that allows me to download those webpages and blog posts to my iPod (Jeeves) and read them later OFFLINE. This is the big beautiful kicker. OFFLINE.
I have been struggling with all sorts of ways to convert the text of blog posts so I can read them even if I'm not in range of an open wireless source. Not only does Read It Later save these as they appear on my computer, but saving them in the first place is far easier than my usual cut-n-paste or save as, convert, load, blah blah blah. Now, I just click a link in my favorites list, and TA-DA! the page is on my Reading List. At the end of the day, I sync my iPod to my reading list and I'm good to go!
I didn't look too hard, but I understand they have ways for other smart phones to access your reading list, and they apparently have a killer FireFox extension.
Sasha White has an interesting post on Tracking Your Work over at Genreality. There are several good suggestions for websites and downloads that allow you to track works in progress and submissions you're waiting on.
Some I'm planning to look at:
Writer's Database
Downloadable Writer's Database
Sonar 3
Smart Bitches has an interesting post on publishing your work as an APP for smart phones and ipods. Apps for Authors
And finally Carol Burge at Romance Writer Woes has compiled a list of Writing Contests that are currently open.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Friday Finds!
Friday finds is back!
Cerebral Reviews is offering a free download of their editor's advice writing manual: Sharpening the Quill
(Shout out to Obsidian Bookshelf where I originally found the link - Thanks!)
Dame Jackie of Deadline Dames talks about Making Time to write. (A subject very dear to me right now)
And an interesting follow up: Gina Badalaty explains Five Minute Editing at Mama Writers
Cerebral Reviews is offering a free download of their editor's advice writing manual: Sharpening the Quill
(Shout out to Obsidian Bookshelf where I originally found the link - Thanks!)
Dame Jackie of Deadline Dames talks about Making Time to write. (A subject very dear to me right now)
And an interesting follow up: Gina Badalaty explains Five Minute Editing at Mama Writers
Friday, October 2, 2009
Friday Finds!
Friday Finds!
This week Wave posted the results of the Readers’ Favourite Gay Books project at Reviews by Jessewave, and it's just marvelous.
I'm deeply honored to be on that list for Like Coffee and Doughnuts. Right alongside Victor J. Banis, no less! (Okay, that's because it's alphabetical by title, but STILL...)
Here's an excellent post on internet marketing that goes beyond the usual ones: Pimp My Monkey (Guest Blogger: Chris Eldin)
Referenced in that post is another one I've had open in my tabs for a couple weeks now: The Ten Commandments of Blogging
And since we're talking about blogging (and cleaning out my tabs as well), here's another I've been sitting on for a bit: How to Build Traffic on Your Blog, Part 2 by Jennifer Fulwiler!
This week Wave posted the results of the Readers’ Favourite Gay Books project at Reviews by Jessewave, and it's just marvelous.
I'm deeply honored to be on that list for Like Coffee and Doughnuts. Right alongside Victor J. Banis, no less! (Okay, that's because it's alphabetical by title, but STILL...)
Here's an excellent post on internet marketing that goes beyond the usual ones: Pimp My Monkey (Guest Blogger: Chris Eldin)
Referenced in that post is another one I've had open in my tabs for a couple weeks now: The Ten Commandments of Blogging
And since we're talking about blogging (and cleaning out my tabs as well), here's another I've been sitting on for a bit: How to Build Traffic on Your Blog, Part 2 by Jennifer Fulwiler!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Friday Finds!
I have a few things today that aren't really new. In fact, a lot of people have probably seen them before, but they bear linking.
I've known about yWriter for a few years now, and even downloaded and tried it. I couldn't figure it out. The layout and the functions just didn't make sense to me, so I abandoned it and went back to Word.
Now, I have discovered Page Four, which is a similar program, but looks more straightforward and simple. So, I'm going to give that a try.
ADDITION: I have actually tried it now, and I can say that it's a good program, but I'm not sure it's for me. For one thing, an unlimited version costs $39.95 - a perfectly reasonable amount of money, but still a tad higher than I am willing to pay if I can do the same thing elsewhere with software I've already purchased.
It has a very nice system of Notebooks and Pages, and is very nice for organizing the parts of a novel. It also has a few writerly bells and whistles, such as the ability to scan for repetitive words, etc.
However, in the limited version (which is free to use for all time and does not expire) you can only have three notebooks and 20 pages (I'm not sure if that's 20 total or 20 per notebook). I managed to just about fill that to capacity just importing the two novels I'm working on now. I also just felt a little....uncomfortable about working on anything in there, simply because I'm not used to it and what if I lose or destroy my novel?
On the other hand - I think it might serve me very well as a tool to organize research, editing notes, and things like chapter lists.
Author Storm Grant found this useful tool for writers: Wordcounter.com which will tell you the frequency of any word in a body of text.
Sarah Simas posted over at Mama Writers with a Show and Tell style run-down of her organizational tricks when working on a novel.
I've known about yWriter for a few years now, and even downloaded and tried it. I couldn't figure it out. The layout and the functions just didn't make sense to me, so I abandoned it and went back to Word.
Now, I have discovered Page Four, which is a similar program, but looks more straightforward and simple. So, I'm going to give that a try.
ADDITION: I have actually tried it now, and I can say that it's a good program, but I'm not sure it's for me. For one thing, an unlimited version costs $39.95 - a perfectly reasonable amount of money, but still a tad higher than I am willing to pay if I can do the same thing elsewhere with software I've already purchased.
It has a very nice system of Notebooks and Pages, and is very nice for organizing the parts of a novel. It also has a few writerly bells and whistles, such as the ability to scan for repetitive words, etc.
However, in the limited version (which is free to use for all time and does not expire) you can only have three notebooks and 20 pages (I'm not sure if that's 20 total or 20 per notebook). I managed to just about fill that to capacity just importing the two novels I'm working on now. I also just felt a little....uncomfortable about working on anything in there, simply because I'm not used to it and what if I lose or destroy my novel?
On the other hand - I think it might serve me very well as a tool to organize research, editing notes, and things like chapter lists.
Author Storm Grant found this useful tool for writers: Wordcounter.com which will tell you the frequency of any word in a body of text.
Sarah Simas posted over at Mama Writers with a Show and Tell style run-down of her organizational tricks when working on a novel.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Friday Finds!
Here's a few Friday Finds for you. I've been saving them up as I find them, and now I just have to remember where I put them all.
Here's an article on backing up your social media, with bonus links to ones on backing up Google Docs and Gmail: How to back up your social media accounts
Some extra info on Maximizing Google Alerts - with a few things I hadn't thought of.
Some Synopsis Dos and Don'ts from the RedLines and Deadlines
For Firefox users: 15 useful Firefox extensions for bloggers
Here's an article on backing up your social media, with bonus links to ones on backing up Google Docs and Gmail: How to back up your social media accounts
Some extra info on Maximizing Google Alerts - with a few things I hadn't thought of.
Some Synopsis Dos and Don'ts from the RedLines and Deadlines
For Firefox users: 15 useful Firefox extensions for bloggers
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday Finds!
I have quite a lot of nifty stuff for you this week!
13 Tips For Actually Getting Some Writing Done from Gretchen Rubin
On Writing Tension by Craig Lancaster
The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor
Fifty Things Under $50 Bucks To Promote Your Book from Penny C. Sansevieri
Via Alexis Grant - Soc Media 101 on How to Format Your Posts So People Will Read Them
The iTouch happens to be my ereader of choice, so I found this article especially good: Avid Reader on The iPhone as Ereading Device
How Long Is Too Long To Market A Book? also by Penny Sansevieri
And finally, in a sillier vein: 15 Caterpillars That Should Just Get a Freakin’ Haircut by Karl Fabricius (The Woolly Bears are my favorite!)
Have a great weekend!!
13 Tips For Actually Getting Some Writing Done from Gretchen Rubin
On Writing Tension by Craig Lancaster
The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor
Fifty Things Under $50 Bucks To Promote Your Book from Penny C. Sansevieri
Via Alexis Grant - Soc Media 101 on How to Format Your Posts So People Will Read Them
The iTouch happens to be my ereader of choice, so I found this article especially good: Avid Reader on The iPhone as Ereading Device
How Long Is Too Long To Market A Book? also by Penny Sansevieri
And finally, in a sillier vein: 15 Caterpillars That Should Just Get a Freakin’ Haircut by Karl Fabricius (The Woolly Bears are my favorite!)
Have a great weekend!!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Friday Finds!
I spent most of my free time this week finishing up and editing that short story, which paid off well. I have a little tweaking to do, and then I'll be ready to submit - well before the deadline, which is a nice feeling.
As a consequence, I didn't have much time for internet surfing, but I did find a couple good things:
Great article from Mundania Press on Promotion and Branding
Hidden benefits of blogging from Duct Tape Marketing
I've also been test driving HootSuite for Twitter - recommended by Dani of Blog Book Tours
So far, I think it's the best of the applications I've tried for keeping up with Twitter. If it had groups, I'd be in love.
I prefer a web based app, because I can use that from anywhere and it's less hassle when working on my own computer. On the other hand, I REALLY like several of the bells and whistles that Tweetdeck and Twitterfon have - namely the ability to easily click and RT, and Tweetdeck's built in url squisher. The biggest problem I have with Tweetdeck is that setting up the groups is a big hassle, and I can't tell if I have all my followers into one group or another, there's no leftovers list. ALSO - Tweetdeck is still listing people I stopped following ages ago, so it's sloppy.
HootSuite has the one click RT, url squisher, web base, and some other nice features, including the ability to manage more than one Twitter account from the same place.
(If anyone knows an app besides Tweetdeck that does groups? I would LOVE to hear about it)
Also, in great news, I got a fabulous review from Whipped Cream Reviews
Have a great weekend everyone!
As a consequence, I didn't have much time for internet surfing, but I did find a couple good things:
Great article from Mundania Press on Promotion and Branding
Hidden benefits of blogging from Duct Tape Marketing
I've also been test driving HootSuite for Twitter - recommended by Dani of Blog Book Tours
So far, I think it's the best of the applications I've tried for keeping up with Twitter. If it had groups, I'd be in love.
I prefer a web based app, because I can use that from anywhere and it's less hassle when working on my own computer. On the other hand, I REALLY like several of the bells and whistles that Tweetdeck and Twitterfon have - namely the ability to easily click and RT, and Tweetdeck's built in url squisher. The biggest problem I have with Tweetdeck is that setting up the groups is a big hassle, and I can't tell if I have all my followers into one group or another, there's no leftovers list. ALSO - Tweetdeck is still listing people I stopped following ages ago, so it's sloppy.
HootSuite has the one click RT, url squisher, web base, and some other nice features, including the ability to manage more than one Twitter account from the same place.
(If anyone knows an app besides Tweetdeck that does groups? I would LOVE to hear about it)
Also, in great news, I got a fabulous review from Whipped Cream Reviews
Have a great weekend everyone!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Friday Finds!
Hey there! I hope you all have had a dandy week. I've had a CRAZY week! There's not been one single night that we haven't had somewhere to be, and that's going to continue right on through the weekend. Add to that, I'm trying to prepare a short story submission, do an interview, do a review AND work on my novel. *whew*
Just a couple of fun things for you today:
Why Writers Should Use Twitter by Alexis Grant
English getting its millionth word
I haven't yet had a chance to try out those gadgets I mentioned. Can anyone tell me about their experience with Windows Live Writer? I'm thinking of trying it out for blogging.
Have a great weekend!!
Just a couple of fun things for you today:
Why Writers Should Use Twitter by Alexis Grant
English getting its millionth word
I haven't yet had a chance to try out those gadgets I mentioned. Can anyone tell me about their experience with Windows Live Writer? I'm thinking of trying it out for blogging.
Have a great weekend!!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Friday Finds!
Friday Finds
I have a slew of these kinds of sites, but I'm always on the lookout for more, because sometimes you just need a little help coming up with just the right word
Mondoerotica Sex & Porn Thesaurus
and from Bren MacCarty - an online dictionary that doesn't censor "dirty" words
Hyperdictionary
Sensual Treats - a free magazine devoted to all things romantic
Lee Benoit pointed me in the direction of this new and ambitious effort - GLBT Bookshelf. I'm in the process of setting up my own page here as soon as I figure out how it all works
GLBT Bookshelf
From Elizabeth Craig via Twitter - A list of creative blogs too good not to pass along. It's arranged by category and there's something for everyone. This is a must see.
100 Creative Blogs
I'm especially thrilled with this batch, it's been a good week for link hunting! Plus I have a few gadgets I'm test driving, and if they're good, I'll be sharing them next week.
I have a slew of these kinds of sites, but I'm always on the lookout for more, because sometimes you just need a little help coming up with just the right word
Mondoerotica Sex & Porn Thesaurus
and from Bren MacCarty - an online dictionary that doesn't censor "dirty" words
Hyperdictionary
Sensual Treats - a free magazine devoted to all things romantic
Lee Benoit pointed me in the direction of this new and ambitious effort - GLBT Bookshelf. I'm in the process of setting up my own page here as soon as I figure out how it all works
GLBT Bookshelf
From Elizabeth Craig via Twitter - A list of creative blogs too good not to pass along. It's arranged by category and there's something for everyone. This is a must see.
100 Creative Blogs
I'm especially thrilled with this batch, it's been a good week for link hunting! Plus I have a few gadgets I'm test driving, and if they're good, I'll be sharing them next week.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Friday Finds!
Book Marketing Buzz has a huge list of Twitter apps and useful sites
http://bookmarketingbuzz.com/2009/05/22/the-evergrowing-list-of-twitter-tools-and-applications-to-help-streamline-your-promotions/
Dear Author gives us 10 Author Online Promotional Don'ts
http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/05/26/10-author-online-promotional-donts/
A new networking tool for romance writer's, via Renee Rocco of Lyrical Press
http://romancetweets.com/
To brand or not to brand - from Tera Kleinfelter at Samhain's blog
http://samhainpublishing.com/blog/2009/05/25/to-brand-or-not-to-brand
Have a great weekend!
http://bookmarketingbuzz.com/2009/05/22/the-evergrowing-list-of-twitter-tools-and-applications-to-help-streamline-your-promotions/
Dear Author gives us 10 Author Online Promotional Don'ts
http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/05/26/10-author-online-promotional-donts/
A new networking tool for romance writer's, via Renee Rocco of Lyrical Press
http://romancetweets.com/
To brand or not to brand - from Tera Kleinfelter at Samhain's blog
http://samhainpublishing.com/blog/2009/05/25/to-brand-or-not-to-brand
Have a great weekend!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Friday Finds!
Here's the links for this week. Just a couple since it was a busy busy week around here.
Excellent advice on using social media for authors, from Malle Vallik
http://www.romancingtheblog.com/blog/2009/05/15/how-authors-should-use-social-media/comment-page-1/#comment-31417
From Linda Suzane via Twitter - very useful little site to help you get a handle on your Twitter followers
http://friendorfollow.com/
Coming up in the next week or so, I'll have lots of fun things going on. I'm taking part in the big 3-day M/M Chat at LiteraryNymphsChat, which should be a lot of fun. AND, I'm going to be guest blogging at the Lyrical Press Blog
Have a wonderful long weekend everyone! I plan to - I'm heading to the cabin!
Excellent advice on using social media for authors, from Malle Vallik
http://www.romancingtheblog.com/blog/2009/05/15/how-authors-should-use-social-media/comment-page-1/#comment-31417
From Linda Suzane via Twitter - very useful little site to help you get a handle on your Twitter followers
http://friendorfollow.com/
Coming up in the next week or so, I'll have lots of fun things going on. I'm taking part in the big 3-day M/M Chat at LiteraryNymphsChat, which should be a lot of fun. AND, I'm going to be guest blogging at the Lyrical Press Blog
Have a wonderful long weekend everyone! I plan to - I'm heading to the cabin!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Friday Finds!
Here's the latest round of things I found interesting, useful, or worthy of passing on this week:
Phaze call for submissions
Phaze Raven - Halloween/Horror
Publisher: Phaze.com
Deadline: June 1, 2009
http://www.phaze.com/submissions.html
Good advice on submitting for anthologies from Samhain
http://samhainpublishing.com/blog/2009/05/11/getting-picked-for-an-anthology
A look at story length from Obsidian Bookshelf – are novellas the new black?
http://obsidianbookshelf.blogspot.com/2009/05/reader-perspective-novellas.html
Here’s some story fodder for you: Babies switched at birth found out 56 years later
http://eastoregonian.com/main.asp?SectionID=13&SubSectionID=48&ArticleID=92438
How to avoid the pitfalls of first person narrative – by Julie Ann Dawson
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977680081&nav=Namespace
Via Lisa J Jackson on Twitter – a PDF to editable text converter
http://www.pdftoword.com/
Phaze call for submissions
Phaze Raven - Halloween/Horror
Publisher: Phaze.com
Deadline: June 1, 2009
http://www.phaze.com/submissions.html
Good advice on submitting for anthologies from Samhain
http://samhainpublishing.com/blog/2009/05/11/getting-picked-for-an-anthology
A look at story length from Obsidian Bookshelf – are novellas the new black?
http://obsidianbookshelf.blogspot.com/2009/05/reader-perspective-novellas.html
Here’s some story fodder for you: Babies switched at birth found out 56 years later
http://eastoregonian.com/main.asp?SectionID=13&SubSectionID=48&ArticleID=92438
How to avoid the pitfalls of first person narrative – by Julie Ann Dawson
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977680081&nav=Namespace
Via Lisa J Jackson on Twitter – a PDF to editable text converter
http://www.pdftoword.com/
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