Went to Saints and Sinners Conference and had a blast! New Orleans is such a magical place. We went to the bayou to refresh my memory since my new series, More Than an Echo takes place there. What a beautiful and mysterious place the bayou is. Our guide was amazing.
On out way there, we went by the 9th ward.
I cried.
My tears surprised me. After all, I have seen ground zero, and while that was a sad moment, something about the ghostliness of the 9th ward tore me apart. I couldn't stop feeling such overwhelming sadness. We need to do more. Much more.
Aside from that, we met some wonderful people, my panels were fun and laughter-filled, and our time together just what we needed. It was wonderful.
Bella and Spinsters is getting a major overhaul next month! Yay!
I have been working hard to get my latest series out there, but the industry is changing so much that it's hard to keep up. Finally, we will be putting our books into eBooks. The best thing about this is I have the chance to bring Delta Stevens back to life in the Storm series. I miss her and I am a bit amazed by how many women who used to read her have not yet picked up Across Time. I wish readers would understand that if they don't keep supporting publishers like Bella, that soon, like the independent bookstores, our literature will be gone. We won't find ourselves on the bookstore shelves any more. We NEED to continue to buy books from the writers in our community.
Maybe I am preaching to the choir, so if I am, I apologize.
Women like Katherine Forest and Rita Mae Brown opened doors that will only stay open if the financial machine is the doorstop. We fought a long time for so much and if we aren't careful, those things will slowly vanish, like indie bookstores, leaving us with only the BIG names on the bookshelves.
So if you haven't bought a book this month from me or Spinsters, do us all a favor and keep the flow going. If we don't support the community, it won't be there to support us.
And thank you to those of you who have.
I love writing.
I want to keep on writing.
I can't if I don't sell books.
Happy Spring!
Okay...I admit it. I'm a geek.
I knew that when I was awashed in a sea if like-minded geeks on my way to the Wonder Con, the sister of the highly acclaimed Comic Con held every year.
And....well...I was in heaven.
Why?
Because I was surrounded by people who didn't give a shit what ANYONE else thought. People dressed up like Captain American, Wonder Woman, trolls, werewolves, even, yes, SpongeBob! These were people who know how to have a good time regardless of the opinions of others.
I love that.
I loved seeing young girls dressed as Poison Ivy and young men dressed as the Mad Hatter.
I loved it because these wonderful people were being true to themselves. They were enjoying the company of those who don't judge them for wearing a wolf costume or who look like Chewbacca from Star Wars.
I loved it because there was a sense of community, an unspoken rule that said no one would laugh or throw stones.
How could we?
We live in glass houses.
And those houses are where communities are born.
Writers NEED communities.
We need communities of all kinds if our work is going to expand and we are to grow.
Writing, for most of us, is a solitary endeavor. We sit alone amidst the company of characters no one else can see or hear yet.
Yet.
Until others can see them and embrace them as we do, we need to remember that we, too, need community. We need people who will not judge us if we choose to leave the house looking like Sponge Bob. We all need a group of people we can sit with and let our Xena hair down with, put our Superman boots on the coffee table and belch like Batman.
We need community.
If you haven't joined one, try www.meetup.com and find a group near you.
I am convinced that all those people who say they don't want or NEED an iPhone say that because they
a. can't afford one
b. think the replicas are just as good (they're soo not)
c. are afraid of change
d. none of the above but some other lame excuse
Why lame?
Because as a writer, I can't tell you how many cool apps there are to help us with our work.
No, not just spell checkers and thesauri.
No, not just free Kindle readers.
The iPhone is the perfect accessory every writer should splurge for. Here are just a few of the apps I have on my phone:
1) Jott for iPhone will not only record your notes but also transcribe them. The process involves your recording your notes and transmitting them to a server at Jott , where they’re transcribed and sent back to your iPhone. The process takes a few minutes. You also can get your notes from the Jott site if you want to cut and paste them into an app on your desktop. It’s not flawless but worth a try. Free.
2) Want to strengthen your vocabulary muscles? Give VocabDaily a try. Free with ads; $2.99 without ads.
3) IdeaGenerator: Developed by The Directors Bureau Special Projects, IdeaGenerator is basically a slot machine for ideas. At a mere 99 cents why wouldn't you add this fun and productive app to your phone? By stroking or shaking the screen, three random words appear, taken from lengthy word lists. These random words are designed to spark creative connections in your brain thereby leading to story ideas.
4) WordTwiddle: Designed by Double Dog Studios, Word Twiddle is another three-slot word generator but the words in this app are more customizable. By choosing your own word lists (Emotions, Lyrics, Puke, Greek Characters, Advertising, Perceptions, to name just a fraction of them), WordTwiddle helps create brain connections that help with all aspects of creative life including blogging, marketing,
plot formation for storytelling, problem solving, children's games, etc. At 99 cents, this app is a steal.
5) EverNote: This application designed by Evernote is marketed as "turning your iPhone into an extension of your brain." For a writer, inspiration may strike at any moment. Now with EverNote, it is super easy to catalogue that moment with everything from images,
audio notes and the geography that may go along with it. All notes are searchable and this free application is used by over a million people.
Those are just a few of the cool apps for writers. There are so many more!
Waiting in line at the comic convention, I had an idea for a plot.
I whipped open my iPhone, spoke my plot in less than 20 seconds, and carried on with my day. No need to worry about remembering it (at my age that happens with more and more frequency!)
Help yourself out.
Get one.
Well worth it.
