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THINGS THAT MAKE ME GO MMMRUH!

July 12, 2007 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Things That Make Me Go Mmmruh

by Geralyn Ruane

Taking Back the Magic

The water in my Samâ€™s Club backyard pool looks green, feels suspiciously silky and comes up only a little higher than my waist. Not exactly Bel Aire luxury, but so what? In this blistering sauna of summer in the Valley, I flop around my pool with the abandon of a breaching whale. I let the chlorinated water buoy me, engulf me, and go up my nose! Mmmruh!

I HAVE SUMMER BACK!

Fourteen years ago, I lost it. I graduated, got a job, and became an official grown-up. No more breaks from school. JuneJulyAugust became nothing more than a block of ordinary days during which I had to crank the AC in my car. Like Jackie Paper, I let my beloved magic slip away through neglect.

But one good dunking in my improperly pH-balanced pool opened the flood-gates to all the mmmruh! Iâ€™ve been missing:

The smells of freshly cut grass, sunblock, and hot dogs getting crispy on a neighborâ€™s grill â€“ mmmruh!

The sounds of fireworks, laughing, whistles and splashing â€“ mmmruh!

The taste of an ice cream cone, a loverâ€™s sweat-salty skin, or a combination of both â€“ mmmruh!

The carefree feelings of reading in a shady hammock, eating supper outside, or wearing nothing but a bathing suit all day â€“ mmmruh!

Now that Iâ€™m awake, I can bite into the succulence of summer almost anywhere. The flavor rolls across my tongue, sweet and fresh, and so, so familiar.

The sight of a young woman taking her little girl to the Community Pool, reminding me of how Mom used to pack the four of us kids into the car and drive forever, just so we could spend the day swimming at the State Park â€“ mmmruh!

Geralyn Ruaneâ€™s had a crush on MacGyver since the middle school, and these days she channels all that fantasy energy by by writing romance, chick lit and womenâ€™s fiction. Last year her short story â€œJane Austen Meets the New York Giantsâ€ was published in the New York Times Bestselling anthology The Right Words at the Right Time: Volume 2.

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Writer’s Word

July 11, 2007 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Writer's Word

by Jenny Hansen

Keeping Your Hands on the Keyboard

Are you ever typing so quickly that you are afraid to let your hands leave the keyboard? Do you have times when new ideas are coming and you donâ€™t want to stop to pick up your mouse to format?

You have choices. We talked about creating templates in last monthâ€™s column. This month I want to share with you the keyboard shortcuts that are available to you in Microsoft Wordâ€¦some of them even work all over Microsoft Office.

Hit the CTRL key at the same time that you hit the letters on the keyboard to do these shortcuts (ex: Ctrl + A).

* The letters with this symbol next to it work throughout Microsoft Office.

Other Word Shortcuts.

I hope youâ€™ll share with me whether these tricks help save you time. If there are terms like “hanging indent” that don’t make any sense to you, just use the F1 function key to look it up in Word and get an example (think party invitations where the “Where” is on the left side and there all the information about “where” is lined up about an inch to the right).

Iâ€™m just back from my honeymoon in the Pacific Northwest and am so sorry to have missed the deadlineâ€¦youâ€™ll have these when you return from the National Conference! Until next timeâ€¦

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President’s Message

July 7, 2007 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as President's Message

MEETING MEMBERS AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE

by OCC Co-President Sandy Novy-Chvostal

Opportunity–Creativity–Community. OCC embodies them all.

Opportunity, in all areas of your writing life, is something all OCC Boards work hard to provide. Creativity comes from within. Community, however, can only be achieved by reaching out and connecting with your fellow members.

The perfect opportunity to do so with both new and old, local and long-distance members, is at National Conference. Once again OCC will be hosting a Hospitality Suite and once again Michelle Thorne — past RWA Bookseller of the year, past OCC president and longtime member — will be serving as our Conference Coordinator and Suite Hostess.

Our scheduled Suite Events include the Book Buyers Best Awards, celebrated with a Chocolate and Champagne Party on Wednesday night. We will also be hosting the first annual Presidentsâ€™ Tea on Thursday, and a â€œSalonâ€ following the RITA/ Golden Heart Awards Ceremony. (For dates and times, please see page 4).

If you are a published member and will be signing at the literary event, please contact Michelle at agreatreadoccrwa@aol.com to be included in any plans concerning that activity.

This year, Michelle is also planning to capture as many OCC members as possible in â€œPostcard Podcastsâ€ to be used up on our website throughout the year. So check in with Michelle at the Suite to participate in that project.

And most of all, donâ€™t hesitate to use the Suite to sit down and relax, to put your feet up in between lectures and take the time to chat with your fellow writers. Writing is basically a solitary profession, but even so, you donâ€™t always need to go it alone.

Happy Writing,

Sandy

Sandy Novy-Chvostal (aka Sandra Paul) has a degree in journalism, but prefers to write from the heart. She is married to her high school sweetheart and they have three children, three cats, and one overgrown “puppy.” Her 2006 Silhouette Romance DOMESTICATING LUC is a finalist in this year’s RITA Awards.

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CyberTalk

July 4, 2007 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as CyberTalk

with Gina Black

Maybe I should title retitle my monthly column CyberTrek because once again I’m sending you all out into the internet, mice in hand. It’s the easiest way to travel. No standing in line. No exorbitant fares. No nasty airplane food. And lots and lots of good info.

Everybody got their coffee? Good. Let’s go.

First stop: Claire Delacroix’s post on Surviving the Copy/Line Edit
Claire is a member of one of my online groups (and fellow knitter extraordinaire) who blogs often on Very Useful Subjects. This is one of them.

Second stop: Diana Peterfreund’s post (on The Knight Agency blog) about Writing a Series
Diana’s own blog is a daily stop for me. She doesn’t shy away from controversy, so things can get lively–which I like. She also does an excellent job of explaining this business. Check out her posts on Primer Part one and Primer Part Two (Glossary). Excellent information and advice, as always.

Third stop: Agent Jessica Faust blogs about the Bad Agent
The Bookends, LLC blog has been up and running for a bit over a year now and it’s well worth spending some time digging through the archives. Recently, Jessica did a series of Query Critiques (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. wrap-up, and follow-up).

Fourth stop: Ever wonder who reps who?
Querytracker.net purports to have the answer and so far–from what I know–they seem to have it right. There’s also a system of tracking queries built into the site that I haven’t looked in to, but I know some people who have and they like it. Even without that function, when querying an agent you really need to know at least some of who their other clients are.

Just a note, if you stop by someone’s blog and you enjoy the entry, leave a comment. If you really enjoy the entry, buy their book. 😉

That’s it for this month. I hope you enjoyed the ride!

Somehow, Gina manages to work some writing time in around her internet adventures. In addition to posting here, she blogs on The Gina Channel, Romancing the Skein, and Title Wave.

And yes, her computer screen really has burned itself into her glasses.

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