It’s About Time by Monica Stone, Member at Large
November 19, 2009 by Marianne H. Donley in category Archives tagged as Member At Large, Monica StonerTime is a four letter word. No matter how hard we work, we never have enough time. We can save time, waste time, lose time, make time, but we can never create time. We can kill time, find time, steal time, juggle time but still time gets away from us. Somehow twenty four hours just don’t seem to be enough time yet I suspect if we could create thirty six hour days we’d still not have enough time.
As writers we seem to constantly need just a little bit more time. Time to write of course but also time to perform those every day miracles that seem to need our time and no one else’s. Somehow only we can plan meals, sort laundry, mop floors. And if we add more commitments to our time all too often we find time for those commitments and not our writing.
When good causes come calling I find it’s easier to commit myself to a donation than to time but of course they’d rather have some of my precious time. How can we put a monetary value on something we can’t touch and never have enough of?
Then there’s the whole sleep thing. We’re told we need more sleep but again there just does not seem to be time for eight hours of doing nothing but recharging our bodies. Of course this is one of the places where we really do need to make time or we’ll find ourselves running out of time.
I understand there are some time management blogs and courses available. I’ll look into them as soon as I can find the time.
Monica Stoner
You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something.
-Winston Churchill
e-maginings: e-Book Reader Market Heats Up by Lyndi Lamont
November 17, 2009 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as e-maginings, e-readers, Lyndi LamontThe e-book reader market is heating up this fall with the upcoming release of Barnes & Noble’s nook. B&N is hyping it as “the world’s most advanced eBook Reader, and I have to say, it looks great. It features e-ink display and AT&T’s Wi-Fi, so you can browse, buy and download books anywhere you find the network, including the B&N brick-and-mortar stores. At $259, it costs as much as Amazon’s Kindle 2, but offers the option of adding a memory card for additional storage. A nice feature is the full-color touchscreen at the bottom of the display where you can browse for titles or use the keyboard.
The only feature that has authors a little concerned is the nook’s “lend ebooks to friends” feature. Some of us are saying, WTF? Their site says books can be loaned for up to two weeks. I’m assuming they disappear from the reader at that point as library e-books do after the due date. I’d have to see that in action before I can endorse this feature.
The December issue of PC World magazine has a review of e-book readers, alas too soon for the nook to be included. They liked the Sony Reader Touch Edition at $300, but rated the Kindle 2 as the best buy at $259. All Sony and Kindle models were rated Very Good, with the Interead Cool-ER listed as Good. Two they did not recommend at this time are the Astak EZReader PocketPro and Foxit eStick Reader. Both need to do some “catching up” in PC World’s opinion. Click here here to read more.
PC World’s point about the e-book market being Balkanized is right on the mark. The problem hasn’t just been coming up with great hardware; there’s a software problem, too. And as long as publishers and distributors insist on using proprietary content it’s going to continue to be that way. It will be interesting to watch how this all plays out.
Lyndi Lamont
aka Linda McLaughlin
http://www.lyndilamont.com
http://www.lindamclaughlin.com
As Time Goes By…we must never forget by Jina Bacarr
November 11, 2009 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Casablanca, Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, Veterans Day, World War IIThere’s a scene in the classic film Casablanca when Résistance fighter Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) tells the musicians in Rick’s Cafe to play La Marseillaise after Major Strasser leds a group of Nazi soldiers in a rendition of “Die Wacht am Rhein” (Watch on the Rhine), a German nationalist song. It’s a powerful message about the stirring emotions music brings out in all of us–especially when freedom is at stake.
Interesting, but a similar incident happened two days after the Germans marched into Paris on June 14, 1940 in a restaurant in Montmartre called La Crémaillère. (Who can forget Rick’s words to Ilsa in Casablanca when he says, “The Germans wore gray, you wore blue…”)
An Englishman ordered a drink at the bar in this classic restaurant built in the early 1900s for himself and his companion, an American lady. She noticed a piano in the corner and started playing God Save the King to bolster the courage of her British friend.
The Nazis immediately told her it was verboten.
“America is not at war with Germany,” she said calmly and continued playing. The Germans were perplexed and angry until she explained to them that she was playing an American song called “My Country ’tis of Thee.”
Same tune, different words, but the power of playing the song in defiance remains. According to eyewitness reports, the Germans apologized, bowed, clicked their heels and left.
Let us not forget on this Veterans’ Day all the brave soldiers, both military and civilian, who have dared to stand up against tyranny.
As the heroine in my World War II novel, Cleopatra’s Perfume, Lady Eve Marlowe says, “I survived, dear reader, angry and filled with the passion to save lives and end this terrible war. The obsession that was never far from my mind comes sharply into focus. Now I will use that passion against them. The Nazis. The urge to be part of the machine to defeat the enemy is irresistible to me.”
Jina Bacarr is also the author of The Blonde Geisha , Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs
February 2010: meet The Blonde Samurai
“She embraced the way of the warrior. Two swords. Two loves.â€
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What’s in a job? by Abby Gaines
November 9, 2009 by A Slice of Orange in category Writing tagged as Abby GainesOne of the fun things about writing novels is the different careers and jobs I get to explore as an author, all in the interest of research. A well-chosen job adds affects kinds of aspects of a character—the pressures they face, their likes and dislikes, their ambitions, their education, their skills…. Often I choose a job for my character seemingly out of thin air, then discover that choice says something vital about my character.
Happy Halloween!
October 31, 2009 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Halloween, storyStrolling through the neighborhood, the decorations were impressive and I wanted to share them with you. As I looked at the houses, I realized the focus was on setting the tone, first impressions–just like the opening of a story.
While some of these entryways may over promise in terms of delivering something similar inside, don’t you just want to check it out?
Here this real estate agent is clearly calling attention to the key element they want you to focus on (Yes, the agent’s name really is Bubes. Perhaps it’s pronounced in a special way):
Here a daunting uphill climb is accompanied by ghosts and an organist, luring you to the top…
It’s all about the entry way:
Step right in…
Where are you going, and what makes you want to go there?
This was the “piece of resistance” (never have been able to understand how that phrase works in French–shouldn’t it be irresistible?). Quite an entrance, isn’t it? I like the skeletal remains on the pathway. The witch is almost too scary…
And here there’s room for some added support (don’t they look like a ghostly version of Rodin’s The Burghers of Calais?), directing you too that compelling opening. Nice, eh?
If your story were a house, would you want to go inside? What does the entry way look like? Think about it….
Isabel Swift
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