Scrivener- A writing software program

Scrivener is a tool I learned about just a few months ago. In the past I used a scriptwriting tool that I wished was available for fiction writing. It allowed you to keep character information and I put location information used for my books under location information meant for films. Having to modify the program was a let down but I made it work. Recently I was made aware of a software that did all of this for writers of all kinds. Scrivener has a fiction, none fiction, and screenwriting format. You can even write short stories and poems. Heck I use it for all my word processing needs since I just purchased a new computer and it came with noting useful already installed.   
     This program comes with a free 30 day trial download, but do not panic yet, it is 30 day actual use, not calendar days from download. I love this because I was unable to use the program for about two weeks after I downloaded it because I had to work at my real job. I did not lose two weeks-my 30 day trial was still there for me.
     Scrivener is easy as pie once you get used to it. There is a hands on tutorial but I recommend that you do the video sections first. The hands on tutorial takes about an hour or more, but it is time well spent, but it can be daunting. Watch the videos first and get quick easy help in getting started on the program. Play with it and then tackle the hands on tutorial once you are a little more familiar with the basics. It goes into great detail and explains how to use all of the great features Scrivener has to offer. It can overwhelm you if you just jump right in.
     While downloading the trial version I did not even look at the price. I wanted to compare it to Celtx that I had used for years, but was only for screenwriting. Scrivener had all and more of what I wanted. I got caught up in the bells and whistles and slipped right past the price. When I was sold on the program and hit the buy now button I almost choked. It could not be possible. The program was just $40. Say what? After all I had learned that the program had to offer I expected to pay $150 to $250 and it was only $40. That made me even happier.
     There is a cork board or outline section for notes that turns into a Syllabus! You can keep track of information for each chapter of your book or section of your short story. You can split the pages to view two or more chapters and edit each one at the same time. There is a section that allows you to store your research, even links to online info so you don't have to worry about forgetting where you got that juicy tidbit you plan to use in your book. Then there is the compile tool. This will compile your book into a word document, epub, mobi or pdf with headers, page numbers and title pages. It does the hard work for you, just tell it what you want.
     There is so much more the program does that I have barely scratched the surface. I look forward to learning more about how to make this program work for me. If you are looking for a writing software program I highly recommend this one. I encourage you to get the 30 day free trial and see for yourself:
http://www.literatureandlatte.com/trial.php

My Enneagram Type

This is my Enneagram Type...
Type Five
The Investigator
The perceptive, cerebral type. Fives are alert, insightful, and curious. They are able to concentrate and focus on developing complex ideas and skills. Independent, innovative, and inventive, they can also become preoccupied with their thoughts and imaginary constructs. They become detached, yet high-strung and intense. They typically have problems with eccentricity, nihilism, and isolation. At their Best: visionary pioneers, often ahead of their time, and able to see the world in an entirely new way.



free enneagram test

To find your type go here: http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/Tests_Battery.asp#FreeShortTests

Come back and let me know what type you are!  

Growing up in Haunted Houses

My childhood was spent moving from house to house as my parents struggled to find a home they could afford. This meant changing schools often and friends as well. But the one thing most of these houses had in common were the ghosts and the fact that most of them scared the crap out of me. 

Every house had its own unique ghost. Once we lived on a race track grounds. Our introduction to the ghost of this house was when we moved in. One we were settled all the kids went into my oldest brothers’ room to throw darts. My brother had hung the dart board on a door in his room. Little did the rest of us know that the door let to the attic. As we took turn throwing the darts, the darts in turn flew backwards out of the dart board and toward us. Being kids, we thought this was the coolest thing until we discovered why this might be happening. Apparently a man had hung himself on the stairway of the attic just behind that door. Night after night this lost soul clomped up and down the stairs sending chills up my spine while fear paralyzed me. I would draw my body close, tightening all my muscles and was unable to move. Could I have moved I would have crawled under my bed to hide from this ghost I was sure was going to stop walking up and down the stairs all night and instead turn into my room and get me. Instead I stayed in my bed, eyes the size of dinner plates and my ears working overtime trying to hear if his walking pattern might have changed and he was indeed coming for me. 

I will fill you in on other stories a little at a time as there are so many. For right now I am thrilled that my current house doesn't have stairs and my current ghost does not make me crap my pants. Perhaps it is because I am much older now, had so many experiences or maybe this one is just not that scary. *Happy dance*

What is the Limit of Your Attention Span?

I noticed lately I have less and less interest in longer posts whether it is a blog, facebook or e-mail. It seems that I want to get-in and get-out quickly; less truly is more for me right now. I have no tolerance for lengthy verbiage.

Yet I can sit for hours on fb reading hundreds of  little posts from anyone. But let one of those posts break into a sermon and I am gone. The information they want to share could be something I might want, or need to know, but I have a hard time clicking that "continue" button.

There is no doubt that I am missing out, but will I be able to force myself to have a longer attention span? I think it is necessary. (See, some readers have already clicked out of my blog- it has gone on too long) I can still read books and informational web pages so I know I can still do it. But it is a choice. I have to choose to  s l o w  down and pay more attention because I can only expect that as time goes by my attention span will wittle away to nothing- a tweet: 140 characters or less- or worse- a mini tweet (yet to be discovered by anyone but me): 70 characters or less.

Perish the thought. I will be working on increasing my attention span daily. I cannot live in a 70 character or less world. I refuse. How about you?

Read an Ebook Week!

Smashwords ebook House on Butcher HarborYippie, it is that time again. Smashwords is promoting Read an Ebook Week. My book is one of many FREE ebooks on smashwords throughout this week. Go to the link below. There will be a coupon listed under the price of the book. Please if you haven't had the chance to read my book get a copy now. Smashwords lets you download a copy in any form including PDF for reading on your computer or phone if you do not own an ereader! Please stop by and get your copy today. If you purchased the paperback book go ahead and get an ebook copy for yourself.

Please spread the link around and help me to be the most downloaded author this week. It is not a competition, but it would make me VERY happy.

Remember- Free this week:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/28921

Translation Please

I have just been contacted by Monica Ocana  who lives in Mostoles, Madrid, Spain! She wants to translate my book into Spanish. I have wanted to do this because we spent so much time in Phoenix, AZ and I feel like I am missing a market, not so much for the money as I want Spanish readers to have more choices and would love my book to be one of them. You will hear more about her in an upcoming blog interview I hope she is game for. This is a very exciting adventure. Thank you Monica.

Besides translating Monica is the personal assistant to author Rachel Carrington! Maybe I need one of those. An assistant could put her foot up my rear and make me get this second book done. Hmm. (I know someone locally and I bet she knows who I am thinking of. Wonder if she is up for it? )

Meanwhile not to take away from Monica, Welcome aboard and I hope you are ready for the ride. It will be a five ticket one for sure. ¡Muchas gracias for contacting me Monica!

Be a Provocateur!

Word of the Day
provocateur\proh-vah-kuh-TER\noun

: one who incites or stimulates another to action

I want to be a provocateur for new authors. My biggest desire in life is to *cause* someone to pick up their pen, laptop, computer, whatever means they prefer to use to write and to start writing. But it is not enough to write something as it is to own the writing. BE THE WRITER. Accept the title of AUTHOR and live that life style. 

It doesn't mean that you get to quit your day job. It just means that your day job isn't all that you are. You are a writer. You might work as a clerk or whatever to put food on the table until the writing does that for you.  This was the hardest thing I ever did was to embrace the title of Author and it never occurred to me to do so until one day I was asked "Oh so you are an author?" I stood their dumbfounded until the customer at my register who had read my unpublished work turned around to the gentleman and said "Oh yes, she is a an author!" 

From that day on I embraced that title and it changed my life. That customer was a dear friend Mary Angel and she was my provocateur. She stimulated me into action. I started to live like an author. My laptop was my tool. My words were my art. I am an author! 

If you have always wanted to be an author but let life get in the way, stop now and embrace your passion. Say it: I am an author! Live it: Be the author you have always wanted to be! Feel it: Let the word author seep through your body. Speak it: Tell people you are an author. Scream it out loud. Put it on your email and phone signature: Author.

Then go write something short and sweet. Something you can finish in one setting and post it for everyone to see. It can be one line, four lines, a paragraph or an entire story, just be sure you can finish it in one sitting. And don't forget to post it or be too embarrassed to post it. I want to read it! All kinds of people will want to read it. Take a chance. 

Then go out and be a Provocateur and inspire someone else to do the same!

 

Time for the Big Push!

The manuscript has reached the point where it is time to push. The end of the book is bearing down on me. I have figured out exactly where this book is going and how it is going to get there. Now all I have to do is write, write, write. I may have a bouncy baby novel for release on January 1, 2013! If the world doesn't come to an end on the 21st of December like the Mayan's predicted.

The Learning Curve

Okay so this whole cover thing has been a learning curve for me. I tried several programs to get the R out of the trim line. Finally I downloaded Photoscape for Windows 7 and fixed the problem in a matter of minutes. It could be just wishful thinking but I believe I've got this now. I used the CLONE bar to clone the area around the R to make it look like the clouds have rolled in and covered it up. Hope that tricks the reviewer into allowing me my cover. I want this so badly. And I think I am going to tackle the cover for Pirates Cove myself. It is a big endeavor. Wish me luck.

Cover is killing me...

Ok so I sent an e-mail to createspace saying I wanted to use the cover even though they said my live image is outside the trim line. They got back to me late last night. It seems that the bottom portion of my R on Butcher would be cut off. UGH!!! I thought it was just part of the house. Who cares about that. No it is the title in the trim line.

So I download Gimp2 which I have no idea how to use and after hours- like 12 or more- I finally moved the whole cover over about an 1/8th of an inch and resubmitted. In the preview my entire title is clear of the zone, but I run the risk of the 1/8 inch showing up blank on the end of the cover. Worth a try to see what happens in review. I have prepared myself for tears when the book arrives and I didn't need to make the change and now the cover is a mess.

I may just make my own cover next time. If I just had good artwork for it. But I am a writer, not an artist. I could just cry. It is so exhausting, but I am not giving up. I know what I want and I will get it no matter how long it takes to get it right!

Revamped the book and cover!

Since I submitted my book to Harper Voyager I have published the revised version on Amazon. While I was there I made the changes to the book that I wanted originally but was told my artwork wouldn't work. Then I read online that you should submit it anyway and get the proof to see if it does work. Apparently my words do not fall outside of the trim line. I am awaiting approval. The new cover is so sharp. I can't wait to get my own copy! The new book also includes five chapters from Pirates Cove. I will let you know when it goes live!

Chris and Sharon I put your comments on the back of the book and will get you a signed copy as soon as it comes out!

Pirates Cove in Two Part?

What do you say folks? The book is already at 52k words and I have so much more yet to write. Should I continue the story as it is going, which will turn it into a massive book, or break it up into two parts and let the story be told the way it is being written right now. I am at a loss. Personally I hate two- part books, but I also hate books that just go on- and -on forever as well. In print the huge book would cost so much to print and to ship it might not be feasible. E-readers would not see a difference in how the book feels in your hand ie. being too weighty.

Right now I am considering a two book deal. The book is moving along nicely and I want to maintain this pace. In order to squeeze the whole thing into one I would end up in a seven to eight hundred page Stephen King -like monster that might be out of some peoples price range. And for me I hate reading an eight hundred word book because it never fits comfortably in your hand and your wrist starts to suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome. Do you think King would reimburse me for the surgery on my wrist from reading his massive books? And how about when the book is almost done and you have seven pounds of book in one hand and a few onces in the other. UGH I hate that! His publisher really should consider these problems when they turn out these bohemoth books.

So I can relax and finish the book the way it should be written if I break it up. Would you buy the book in two parts? The wait on the second part would be much shorter than from book one to book two because I am already headed there and I promise not to fill the book with fluff to meet someones  page quota.

Comments PLEASE!

 

Guest blogger- Lorne Oliver

The Body Fuels the Mind

I have this bad habit of avoiding yard work and household chores by having to write. “No, no, I can’t mow the lawn.  I have to write.”…”I would love to help you weed the garden, but I’m almost done writing chapter ten.”  And then I sit there staring at the same sentence without having any clue where to take the story.  It goes nowhere. The lawn doesn’t get mowed.  The garden doesn’t get weeded.  And I don’t write.

Man, maybe I should go mow the lawn, weed the garden, paint the garage, take the dogs for a walk, do laundry, wash dishes, clean the cat litter, mop, go shopping, place chore here…but I can’t.  I have to be sitting here looking at the last words of the last sentence I wrote last Tuesday because the muse is about to pop up and the book will write itself.

Then day becomes evening, evening becomes night, night day, and still that damn cursor sits there flashing like your whole entire life is paused.  But it’s not.  The grass grows, the weeds overtake the vegetables, the dirty plates pile up, the dog pisses on the couch – you get the point.

Eventually I kick myself in the ass and get to doing something other than staring blankly at nothing.  Five minutes into doing something I remember back when I was a kid wanting to be this well-known writer.  I wrote and forgot more stories than I care to count while circling my parent’s lawn on the riding mower. 

I don’t know if the quote is from somewhere else, but I love books/movies/tv shows about writers so I will give Norman McLean who wrote A River Runs Through It all the credit.  “The body fuels the mind.”  Excellent book.  Excellent movie.  The body fuels the mind.  If you are blocked in your writing…get up.  Go do something.  Your fingers, the keyboard keys, your pen does not write the story.  Your brain writes the story.  Lucky for you it counts as carryon.

Do something.  Doing a job, any job, that doesn’t really take much brain power can sometimes let your creative side focus.  Just the other day I wrote two blogs in my head while weeding the garden.  I had to take a break to go get my notebook and jot down some notes.  My cardinal rule since I was twelve or so was to always carry a notebook and pen because you never know when inspiration will hit you.  The next time I go out I will have it with me.

A lot, A LOT, of Red Island was written while working the evening shift at the Urban Eatery in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.  I volunteered to work the evening pizza shift in the hopes that it would be slow and I could stand leaning against the door frame to the back prep room with my notebook resting on my hand and my pan in the other.  I wrote many pages in between making the most excellent thin crust pizzas.  The pizza fueled the body, but the body fueled the mind.

Lorne Oliver's Blog:  http://redislandnovel.blogspot.ca