Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Links of Interest


KEEPING YOUR WRITING MATERIAL ORGANIZED WHILE WORKING ON A BOOK:  
A WRITING LESSON FROM “COWBOYS AND ALIENS.”  WHY IT WAS INSTANTLY FORGETTABLE:
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLAGIARISM AND COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT:
TWITTER TIPS FOR THE NEWBIE:
TWITTER TIPS FOR THE MORE EXPERIENCED:
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE WRITER:
USING HUMOR TO HIDE CLUES:
DESCRIBING CHARACTERS FROM THEIR VIEWPOINT:
PROMOTION:  THE 12 ESSENTIALS FOR AN AUTHOR’S WEBSITE:
AVOIDING NARRATIVE DISTANCE:
BUILDING SUSPENSE:
GETTING POV RIGHT:
RAMPING UP THE CONFLICT:
HOSTAGE NEGOTIATION FROM THE PRO’S POINT OF VIEW:
WHAT THE HECK IS A BURN PHONE AND HOW DO CRIMINALS USE THEM?
HOW TO IMPROVE THE MIDDLE OF YOUR NOVEL:
WHEN YOU DO AND DON’T NEED BACKSTORY:
CREATING A LIKABLE HERO USING “CAPTAIN AMERICA” AS AN EXAMPLE:
TEN WAYS JK ROWLING CAN MAKE YOU A BETTER WRITER:
FLASHBACKS:
PROMOTION, BLOG TOURS:
CYBER SAFETY FOR YOU AND YOUR CHARACTERS:
WHAT WOULD YOUR CHARACTER DIE FOR?  GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS:
HOW TO KEEP PEOPLE READING YOUR SERIES:
HOW READING ALOUD HELPS YOUR WRITING:

SUCCESSFUL CHARACTER TRAITS FOR CHARACTERS:
PROMOTION, DOUBLE YOUR WEBSITE SALES:

Monday, August 29, 2011

What Irene and Other Disasters Should Teach You


Here in the Piedmont of North Carolina, Hurricane Irene had no real impact--just a sprinkle of rain and winds high enough to knock over some tall plants, but some of my family living in the direct path of the hurricane didn’t fare as well.  
Old oak trees that survived Hugo and Floyd as well as numerous other hurricanes went down, power and communications were knocked out, and water flooded many areas.  Fortunately, my family’s houses were spared except for a few leaks, but the clean up will be major and they won’t see any power for days.  
Even though I put up this article in May, I decided now was a good time to repeat it since so many people who thought they were immune to such a major natural disaster learned better because of Irene and the earthquake that rocked the East Coast will heed my advice this time.
A bit of advice I want to emphasis here is that, even if you aren’t in the path of a storm or other disaster, your Internet provider or the company which hosts your website, blog, or whatever may be, and your content may be lost forever if you don’t back up.  
Most blog sites, etc., offer a means of backup in their control sections so make use of that service NOW.
Marilynn
Are you, as a writer, ready for bad weather or emergencies?
Preparing for bad weather can be as simple as having a storm alert radio that will cut on, if dangerous weather approaches, so you can shut down that computer before lightning fries it. The storm alert radio also doesn't interfere with writing like a regular radio for those of us who like to work in quiet. 
Is your computer plugged into an alternate power source (APS) so it won't be damaged or your current work lost if the power goes out?   (If you are still not sure what an APS is, go here: http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/911559/APC-Back-UPS-ES-550-Battery/?cm_cat=2000000371
Most alternate power source makers claim an APS with a surge protector will protect your computer and peripherals from lightning, but nothing will protect electronics from a close lightning hit. A good friend lost everything when lightning hit a transformer over a block away, and he had high-end surge protectors and an APS system. 
The safest thing to do is unplug everything, including the APS. 
Also remember to unplug your modem from the electricity and your computer. Dial-up modems are particularly prone to lightning. A cable modem is supposed to be much safer, but I err on the side of paranoia and unplug mine.
If you have a laptop as well as a desktop, you need to keep it charged to use during bad weather so keep it plugged in, but remember to unplug it, as well, when a storm comes. 
If you want to keep working through bad weather, remember to save a copy of your work to a flash disk, CD, or whatever to move your work to your laptop so you can continue to work. 
Weather preparation isn't just for a short summer or winter storm. It's for major disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and wild fires. Always have a back-up copy of all your works in another location, or, better yet, several locations.
In the days before I wrote by computer, I had paper copies of my books at my home, my mom's beach house, and my brother's home near Charlotte. Despite being in different parts of the state, all three homes were damaged by Hurricane Hugo, but the manuscripts stayed safe. That experience has reaffirmed my determination to keep copies of my manuscripts and important papers elsewhere.
These days, I also keep a flash disk copy of my books in my safety deposit box at the bank so I can keep my updates recent. A flash disk or drive, if you're not familiar with the term, is one of those tiny storage units you plug directly into your USB or Firewire connection on your computer or iPod.  (If you still aren't certain what a flash drive is, go here:  http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/357507/Action-Sport-Drives-Burton-Fix-SnowDrive/ )
You can also store your works and your computer contents online at storage sites, but as recent outages and disasters have proven, online or “in the cloud” shouldn’t be your only storage solution.  I have my own personal paranoia about how hacker-proof these sites are, as well, so I’ve avoided using online as a storage solution.
It's always a good idea to have an emergency bag or briefcase for your writing partially packed and ready to go in case you need to get out fast because of an approaching hurricane or wild fire. 
Things to keep in this bag include a power plug for your laptop and an updated flash drive. Also include copies of current book contracts as well as notes, etc., of what you are working with at the time.   A paper list of all  your passwords is another must.
It would also be prudent to have a recent complete copy of your computer drive in case  your home computer is destroyed.
If you use an external hard drive as a backup, you can pack this up very carefully.  (Motion can damage desktop innards.)
This bag is also a good place to store a copy of your house and car insurance, pictures of your valuables, etc., in case disaster strikes. Also include a CD with copies of your favorite family pictures, etc., in case the worst happens, and there's no home to return to.
Make a list of the last minute things you will need to pack and stick that in the front of the bag. When emergencies happen, we tend to forget the most basic things so that list will be well worth the time.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Links of Interest

Sorry for such a short list, but the pickings were lean because of vacations, family disasters, and the unwillingness of the Internet or my provider to load pages in under an hour.


BUYING THE SERVICES TO PUBLISH AND EBOOK VERSUS SHARING ROYALTIES:
RIGOR MORTIS:
SPOTTING COUNTERFEIT MONEY:
THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY ADDS NEW WORKS:
DIALOGUE AS WEAPON:

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

SCHEDULE NOTICE

I'm having Internet problems so today's "Links of Interest" will be posted on Thursday.

Marilynn

Monday, August 22, 2011

From Result Back To Causes


Often, when you are worldbuilding, or creating a character, a supernatural race, or whatever, you know what you want or need for the story or the world to work, but these elements must be an organic part of the whole, not just something stuck in.  
For these elements to make sense to the reader, you have to work backwards to find the causes that fit your results.
I’ve used this method many times to discover what happened in a character’s past that makes a character like he is, to build back plot, or to world build.
When I started writing STAR-CROSSED, my science fiction romance, I had a few ideas about my alien world that were dictated by plot necessity.  Its gravity would be slightly heavier than Earth’s.  It would be fairly close to Earth in living conditions and weather.  The wildlife would make it almost impossible for a human to survive on his own in the wilderness.  
Beyond that, I really didn’t think out the specifics of the planet’s wildlife.  
In the first scene with my heroine Mara, I decided to give her an alien pet to make the scene more otherworldly, and I decided on an animal similar to a cat but with long rabbit-style ears.  I chose a kind-of-a cat because I wanted the pet to be relatable to non-science fiction readers.  
Floppy, the rab-cat, hopped up onto Mara’s lap and promptly told me he was as intelligent as a human, he would take care of Mara--no human male needed, and he was in the story until the end.  
Being well-trained by my pets to be obedient, I agreed with his assessment of the situation, and I realized I needed to work backwards from Floppy to make sense of rab-cats in relation to the other parameters I’d set up for myself for the world.  
I ended up writing an interview with Floppy which details my choices, and since it is more entertaining than a bland recital, here it is.  
Floppy, the sentient alien kitty, from STAR-CROSSED was kind enough to let me interview him.  His interpreters were busy, but, fortunately, he is quite proficient at writing human Basic so he typed his answers on my laptop.
Floppy is a bit larger than the average Earth cat, and has a solid black, smooth coat, emerald green eyes that dance with intelligence and mischief, and elegant long ears that resemble a rabbit's.  Those ears move with grace as he speaks in his own silent language.
"Thank you for letting me interview you."
I am always happy to talk to my biographer.
"Biographer?  STAR-CROSSED is Mara's story."
No, it isn't.  It's the story of how I helped her find happiness with a true mate and children of her own.
"I guess it is.  My error."
She deserves every happiness, and I could not find my own happiness until I knew she was happy.  I kept her safe through our adventures.
"I thought Tristan did that."
He helped as did others.
"Very gracious of you.  I'll start with some questions others have asked me about you.  Here goes.  What's with the bunny ears?  Cats don't have bunny ears."
Humans call my race rab-cats, but we are not Earth cats, and we're not rabbits.  We're the sentient cat race on the planet Arden.  
"Cats from another planet?  That's ridiculous."
The cat is the perfect predator.  Why shouldn't it evolve on more than one planet?  Many planets have a vermin similar to a mouse so many have some form of cat to keep it in check.
"That still doesn't explain the ears."
The most feared predator on my world is the tyrlin.  Tristan compares it to the Bengal tiger on Earth.  It kills and eats every creature which crosses its path, and if it is not hungry, it kills for the pleasure of it.  It hunts more by sound than scent or sight.
"So its prey evolved into absolute silence."
Yes.  No cries or songs, and stealth in its movement.
Rab-cats also hunt prey so we had to evolve with excellent hearing as well as sight and smell.
"So the big ears help you hear quiet mice?"
Exactly.  We also developed intelligence, and we created a silent language by using our ears.
"Clever kitties.  What do you think of Earth cats?"
Mara is owned by a cat.  Sheba was very kind to me when I first came to Mara's house from the vet hospital.  She licked my face, purred, and slept curled around me to comfort me. 
"You were nearly killed by a tyrlin when you were a kitten."
Yes.  It killed my mother and was trying to kill me when Mara lured it away and blasted it.  She took me to human doctors then brought me to her home to live.
"I'm sorry about your mother.  Why were you two alone in that meadow with tyrlins about?"
An earthquake destroyed our home and killed my father, my brothers and sisters.  There was nowhere safe to live or seek refuge.  The earth would not stop shaking so no den was safe.  
Our only choice was to cross that meadow and reach the rab-cats who lived in the hills beyond.  My mother hoped the tyrlin would be busy looking for the dead of the quake.
"How horrible!  I'm so sorry."
It was a long time ago, and my heart mother healed me and loved me after my fur mother died.
"Heart mother?"
Her heart chose me although she is not rab-cat.
"Back to Sheba and Earth cats.  Do cats talk?  And what do they say?"
They are not as evolved as we are.  They talk, but they have little to say to others.  Feed me.  Hold me.  Leave me alone.  That is all they feel they need to say to humans.  They speak with their voices and with their bodies.  A slight twitch of the whiskers and a flick of the eyes in a certain direction can say volumes.
"I know.  Pan, the cat who owns me, will twitch his ear to beckon me toward him, then glance down at himself then up to me when he wants me to pick him up and hold him.  He's only vocal when he's starving to death after being away from his food bowl an hour or so.  If he's silent, I know he just wants to be held."
He doesn't need to be vocal for most of his needs because you read his body's language.  Some humans only understand a loud meow, and others don't even understand that.
"Some humans are pretty blind."
Yes.  You did not know I was sentient when you began my story.
"No, I didn't.  I thought you were an alien pet, there to make Mara's first scene obviously not on Earth.  But you set me straight when you jumped up on Mara's lap and took over the plot."
I do my humble best to set humans on the right path to happiness.
"One thing I don't understand.  After I realized you were sentient, I wanted to change your name to something more dignified than Floppy.  Why wouldn't you let me?"
Floppy is a perfectly dignified name.  In fact, in my native language, my kitten name meant almost the same thing.  My ears were quite long, and I hadn't quite developed the strength to control them completely.  
My parents never lived long enough to give me another name so Floppy I will stay to remember them.  
"I can understand that.  It's amazing that Mara chose a name for you so close to your real name."
Mara sees with her heart so she sees truly.  I forgot that for a time when Tristan entered our lives.
"She is an extraordinary person.  Thank you for this interview."
NOTE:  The blog “The Character Therapist” will help you go backwards to understand what made your character what he is.  Go here and sign up for an appointment for your character.