Read More“Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.”
~Jane Yolen
With my book coming out soon, I can’t help but be paranoid about people talking about me. But this isn’t junior high–I want them to talk about me. Book sales are all about generating buzz. However, Google Alerts haven’t worked in years.
Lo and behold, I was keenly interested in an SFWA blog on Finding Replacements for Google Alerts by Caren Gussoff. She listed two replacement options, and I decided to give one a try: Mention.
I’ve been using Mention for a week now and I am very pleased. Every day it’s sending me links–a few are old, but most are new. I’ve found out about a number of book blogs spreading the word about two upcoming anthologies I’m in, FAE and A is for Apocalypse, and there’ve also been some positive mentions of The Clockwork Dagger on Absolute Write, Twitter, and major fan sites.
If you want to monitor key words online, you might want to give Mention a try.
[Now I’m curious if Mention will alert Caren Gussoff that I mentioned her name. I hope so. I want to tell her thanks!]
Read More‘Tis the season. The season when I am keenly aware that air conditioning is the greatest invention in the last century.
This also means I’ll be pulling out a lot of non-bake sweet recipes, because 1) the oven makes the house hot, 2) I have a gazillion other things to do than stand in the kitchen for an hour, 3) fudge is awesome.
Some purists say this isn’t kind of fudge isn’t fudge because it’s not made on a stovetop, with a candy thermometer, with the proper animal sacrifices. I say they’re rather silly. All fudge is good and worthy.
This recipe is so easy to throw together. It’s great for potlucks because it makes a ton of fudge. It also keeps well in the fridge.
This is a good time to point out a similar recipe I posted a few years ago–Oreo Bars, featuring three ingredients. Oreos. Marshmallows. Butter. It’s like Rice Krispie Treats, but uses Oreos. Also non-bake, and makes a smaller amount.
Just in case, you know, you’re wanting to make something without chocolate and, uh, healthier.
Tweaked from Shugary Sweets.
Read More“There is even a touch of decent reluctance about privacy but writers and detectives cannot permit the luxury of privacy. In this book I have opened lots of people and some of them are going to be a little bit angry.”
~John Steinbeck, Journal of a Novel