Sunday Surfing

7 Things I’ve Learned So Far, by K.M. Ruiz

8 Tips for Naming Characters

9 Top Twitter Tips You Should Start Using Today!

More Links To Help Or Distract You
 

Awesome People

Over time, a blog takes on a personality.  That personality is usually an aspect or extension of the blogger's personality.  The personality may not be easily pegged or defined, but it's there none-the-less, just as unique as its author.

And because each blog is unique it offers its readers something no other blog can offer: a glimpse into the heart, mind and soul of its author.  And what I've found is that behind every awesome blog is an even more awesome individual.

So I've set myself on a mission.

I'm huntin' awesome people! 

But some of you awesome people like hiding, being elusive and playing hard to find.  You want me to work, dig, crawl, climb and wedge myself into the various nooks and crannies of cyberspace in order to catch you.

But catch you I will.

I'll catch you because your awesomeness demands that you be caught.  It begs to be paraded for all to see.  And I intend to put it on display next month.

I'm planning an Awesome August by introducing awesome people to other awesome people.  I've already caught some of you, but not all.  And if I don't catch you, it won't be for a lack of my upper middle-aged legs trying.

So, be vewy, vewy quiet.  I'm huntin' awesome people!

Sunday Surfing

How to Write from all Five Senses to Awake Your Fiction

7 Steps to Overcoming a Bad Book Review  (This one I enjoyed as much for the presentation as for the content.)

3 Tips for Writing Heavy Emotional Scenes  (I actually did a little of this in my first book without realizing it.)

Are you Left-Brained or Right-Brained  (The illusion is quite fun.  This one hurt my brain after a bit.  I can apparently switch at will though.)

5 Ways to Promote Your Book Right Now

Cracking the Kindle Code with WiDo Publishing

Sustenance for the Road

Revenge of the Neglected Muse  (I can so relate.)

9 Step Blog Checklist to Make Sure Your Posts Get Maximum Exposure  (Maybe I should try some of these.)

Akinator  (Guesses who you're thinking of, famous person or fictional character.  So accurate it's spooky.  A must try!)

Beautiful Blogger Award

Morgan Prince from Shaking Away the Cobwebs gave me the Beautiful Blogger Award, citing her appreciation of my "Sunday Surfing" posts.

Morgan awarded me this all the way back on the 18th of June.  I apologize for getting the post together so late, but the past several weeks have been brutal on the time front.

The 'rules' for the award are:
1) Pass the award on to seven beautiful bloggers, and
2) List seven random facts about myself.

I do realize that all these random facts I've revealed about myself over the past couple months is reaching the point of Too-Much-Information, but rules are rules and they should be upheld--except, of course, when they shouldn't be.  (Kinda like writing rules, you see.)


So here they are:

1. All facts about me are speculative fiction.

2. I'm a procrastinator.  I've been wanting to improve, but keep putting it off.

3. I'm lazy.  I've been trying to do better, but can't muster the energy to do so.

4. I'm indecisive.  I want to make firm, solid choices, but can't decide which ones.

5. I'm easily entertained.  I laugh at all my jokes.

6. I know I'm getting old.  My bifocals tell me so.

7. I know I'm getting old.  People tell me I sometimes repeat myself.

I do apologize for putting off completing this post (#2) for so long.  Blame my lazy (#3) nature, not to mention the smudges on the specs (#6) making it difficult to see the tiny little letters on the monitor.  Please don't speculate (#1) that my procrastinating had anything to do with the fact that my blogging is more beautiful than that of others (#5) either.

Just know that I'm deciding (#4) to award the Beautiful Blogger Award to *ALL* my followers because you're *ALL* beautiful and I think you're beautiful (#7) too!

I just can't shake the feeling that I'm forgetting something...

The Love Muscle

In my story, Alpha Among Dragons, the dragons refer to the heart as the life muscle.  In this post, I'm referring to the heart as the love muscle.

Perhaps I'm still dealing with the grief from the loss of my mother-in-law, but I can't help thinking about the grief and losses to come in the future.  I've been married for 28 years, well over half my life, and I can't really fathom--let alone prepare myself for--the heartaches ahead.

I still have the fortune of having a happy, healthy mother in my life.  She's 70 now.  She may have decades ahead, but I know--barring my death coming first--that it's coming.  And so is the devastation such loss brings.

My wonderful wife has a few years on me, but with average lifespans being what they are, it's an even bet which of us will have to endure that unbearable sorrow.  My selfish half wants to pass first and avoid what will likely be the most devastating period of my lifetime.  My selfless half wishes the opposite to spare my wife from that very same thing.

And then there are my children to consider.  My greatest fear has always been having to bury my son or daughter.  No parent should have to endure that.  I know some who have and I can't help but wonder how they find the strength to carry on.

I have grandchildren now, three wonderful boys.  I hope to see them grow, graduate and have children of their own.  God willing, I'll be able to do that.

I guess the point of this post is simply to say that the time to cherish--and remember--loved ones is while they're still with us, when they can can know and return that love.  Time is short.  Love endures.  Make your time count.  Exercise your love muscle so that its love will be ever stronger.

To Woo and Shoo

Being sentient humans, we all have views.  Being individuals, the whole of our views are quite likely unique.  Being writers, we can (and should) explore those views.  But being authors, we should carefully weigh the costs of expressing our views outside of our fiction.

I not only expect a politician to spout their beliefs at every opportunity, I want them to do so.  How can I make an informed decision about which candidates best represent my views otherwise?  I want candidates to fully and plainly lay out for me what they believe and why.  I neither need nor want to know the political views of others.

I want to watch athletes run, pass, dribble, swing and score.  I want to hear musicians play.  I want to behold the artistry of dancers.  I want to appreciate the beauty painters and sculptors create.  I want to laugh with comics, cry with actors and be riveted by authors' skill.

Basically, I want to be entertained, not educated or persuaded, by entertainers.  I don't want them to woo me or shoo me.  Society is already replete with experts in religion, science, sociology, politics, philosophy, ethics, environmentalism, human rights, animal rights and pretty much anything else you can imagine. 

It's not necessarily a good thing that I know your views on things like politics, religion or philosophy--even if I agree with them.  Why?  Because if I agree with you then someone else doesn't.  And while I may be able to separate the art from the artist, there are many who can't--or won't!

Remember Sinéad O'Connor ripping that picture of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live?  Did she believe in what she was doing?  Undoubtedly.  Did she pay a heavy price for it?  Definitely.

How about the Dixie Chicks lamenting the fact that then President Bush was from Texas?  Can you say "career killer" in as few words?

What about Jane Fonda?  Till the day he died, my father remembered her only as Hanoi Jane.  And he never watched 9 to 5 because she starred in it.

I have as many viewpoints on as many topics as anyone else.  I'm quite passionate about a few of them too.  And yes, I do express them, but in the right place at the right time and in the right way.  (Or so I hope.)  I don't do it here.  This is a blog about writing, about becoming an author, and about finding success in that pursuit.

What I mean to say is that holding views--even being passionate about those views--is fine.  It's normal.  It's good!  But when your goal is to market and promote your product or yourself to the general public, do your best to separate your views from your brand.

There are already plenty of reasons people won't buy or read what you write.  Why add more to the list?

My name is Jeff.  And I approved this message.

Tell me your thoughts.  Flip side?  Can your brand be too pure?

Sunday Surfing

A quick note on these Sunday Surfing posts: People have asked where I find all these links, how I whittle them down to just a few, where I find the time to do it, etc.

Some links I find simply by following people's blogs.  (For example, Charlie Holmberg usually coughs up some good links on her Link Blitz posts every Friday at Myself as Written.)  Other links find their way into my email inbox or my Twitter feed.  I grab a link or two from group memberships (like Yahoo's Fantasy Writing group) or posts linked by inkPageant.

Of course, I stumble upon one here and there just by surfing too.  And when I encounter one that I think others will find useful or entertaining I do like Mom taught me.  I share.

Enjoy!

MEDICALERT: The Scourge of Premature Submission  (Found this link thanks to Sarah Bowers.) 

Gate Crashers - The lucky 13s: 13 authors with debut novels in 2013:
Gate Crashers at Ink & Angst pt 1
Gate Crashers at Ink & Angst pt 2
Gate Crashers at Ink & Angst pt 3

Book Blogs

1st Annual $1000 Mom Blogger Scholarship for Aspiring and Existing Bloggers

4 Tips for Overcoming Writer’s Block

Research Links  (lots of 'em all grouped into numerous categories.)

The Hottest Tip No Fiction Writer Can Afford To Ignore  (Hint: The tip is one single word.)

The Seven Deadly Short Story Sins  (at Paperback Writer)