Don't Forget! My Mashup and I Have Moved

If you're receiving this post by email, I'm grateful you have been a follower on this blog, and I'd be ever so happy if you'd hop on over to my new blog on WordPress, www.janmorrill.wordpress.com, and click on the "Follow Blog Via Email" button.

And, if you're not a follower, WHY NOT?? Just kidding. But, that too, would make me ever so happy, and we like Jan when she's happy.

Not so much when she's not.

Here's the link to my new mashup:

http://janmorrill.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/monday-morning-mashup-32612/

Thank you and have a happy Monday!

Morrill's Monday Morning Mashup - "Gone to the Dogs" - 3/5/12

I know you're probably tired of hearing about my Internet woes, though not as tired as I am of experiencing them. But, thanks to the fantastic Windstream technician who arrived at my door this morning, I think the problem is fixed. Amazing the problems one little loose wire can cause.

Since I've obviously  missed my morning deadline for my mashup, this week I'm doing something a little different. Instead of writerly links, I've  posted a mashup of a few of my favorite dog YouTube videos.

A little fun for your viewing pleasure!

TWO DOGS EATING

TODDLER AND DOG PLAY THE BLUES

SOMETIMES WHEN YOU'RE FISHING

STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN

BEAR AND JUBIE ON GROUNDHOG DAY

If you have a favorite YouTube dog video, post the link and I'll add it.

Morrill's Monday Morning Mashup - 2/27/12

MASH-UP

A creative combination

or mixing of content

from different sources.

I'm back with the Mashup after a couple of weeks of Internet challenges and being out of town. I hope this week's blogs of Twitterly information will help you over the hump of Twitterphobia. After you read these articles, my best advice is "just do it." Stop twittering your thumbs over Twitter and get started. Little by little, you'll learn this very foreign language.

# # # 

This post titled "44 Essential Twitter Hashtags" by Caitlin Muir on the blog, www.AuthorMedia.Com, explains what a hashtag is, and describes how to use them effectively. Says Ms. Muir:  "Used correctly, Twitter hashtags are one of the best ways to connect with industry experts, readers, and other authors. Used incorrectly, it’s just another way to waste your precious time."

http://www.authormedia.com/2012/01/24/44-essential-twitter-hashtags-every-author-should-know/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AuthorTechTips+%28Author+Tech+Tips%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

# # #

When it comes to effectively using social media, Madison Woods is one of the best I know. She has begun an excellent and comprehensive series on the Writerly Business Plan on her blog. One of the components of that series is "Twitter as a Tool." Madison says:  "Networking is way different from selling. Marketing is not directly selling. It’s the art of making someone want whatever you are offering."

http://madisonwoods.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/writerly-business-plan-using-twitter-as-a-tool/

# # # 

Insatiable Booksluts. With a name like that you know you want to visit this website. And it gives you some idea that these bloggers (Susie, Rob and Amy) post information in an entertaining and informative manner, for both writers and readers. Their post on "Using Twitter to Market the Books You Wrote" provides great information on what to do, and more importantly, what NOT to do when using Twitter for marketing:  "Even super famous people with a zillion followers don’t spend all their time sitting around saying 'buy my book/watch my show/etc!' They wouldn’t have a zillion followers if they did that."

http://insatiablebooksluts.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/hey-you-should-read-this-using-twitter-to-market-the-books-you-wrote/

# # # 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

A man should not
enter a house suddenly
without knocking.

               --- The Talmud

Morrill's Monday Morning Mashup - 2/6/12

MASH-UP

A creative combination

or mixing of content

from different sources.

The last week reinforced something I've known all along: Technology is both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing was my cell phone. One rainy night last week as I drove home from Tulsa, my tire pressure light came on. I was five miles onto a dark, windy, lonely country road, so I tapped the light and hoped it would go off. It didn't, and within two minutes came the awful, whiny, rumbling sound of a flat tire. In the pouring rain, I searched for a place to pull over, but muddy ditches lined both sides of the road. At last, I approached a gravel driveway and pulled off the road. I prayed for a cell phone signal.

Relieved to find a signal, I called my husband, then AAA. I have to say, AAA is the modern day version of a knight in shining armor. From the representative on the phone to the husband and wife team who came to my rescue, they were friendly and professional, even as they got wet and muddy in the pouring rain, changing my flat tire.

It scares me to think about what the night would have been like had I not had a cell phone. I would have either had to wait to be rescued by hopefully a kind soul, or I would have had to walk to a house and ask for help. Oh, I guess I could have changed the tire myself, too.

I saw technology as a curse when my Internet was up and down most of the weekend. Even when it was up, it was painfully slow. I realized how much I depend on the Internet, not only to stay in touch, but to conduct business: paying bills, purchase airline tickets, research for my book, even research for this mashup. When the Internet is down, all of that comes to a stop. And when it's slow, I sit in front of the computer, pulling my hair out.

I guess it'd be more appropriate to say we've gotten so accustomed to the Internet being blessing that we feel cursed when suddenly it's taken away. We have cursed ourselves by becoming so reliant on its blessing.

Now . . . on to the mashup!

Agent Kristin Nelson (Nelson Literary Agency, LLC) has an excellent blog where she regularly posts invaluable information on being an agent as well as blogging on the publishing industry. Her "Agenting 101" series provides information on almost anything you might want to know about the agenting process. Her style is easy and friendly, but also very blunt and to-the-point. I also like that at the beginning of her posts, she lets us know what music is playing on her iPod. http://pubrants.blogspot.com/

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Another agent, Janet Reid of Fine Print Literary Management, posts on the blog, Query Shark. This is an excellent blog on the querying process, where writers can submit their queries for honest (okay, sometimes brutally honest) critique. The great thing about the blog is that Ms. Reid shares the critique so that we can all learn from it. http://queryshark.blogspot.com/

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The Center for Fiction has created a website so full of information, I'm still exploring my way through it. But the page, "For Writers" contains relevant topics such as "Writers on Writing" and "The Book Business." It's an excellent website to sit down and peruse with your morning cup of coffee.  http://www.centerforfiction.org

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

And then the day came

when the risk to remain

tight in a bud was

more painful than the

risk to bloom.

               ---Anais Nin

Morrill's Monday Morning Mashup - 1/30/12

MASH-UP

A creative combination

or mixing of content

from different sources.

For me, the past week has been full of writerly challenges. First, after a series of editing back-and-forths with my editor for Broken Dolls, I'd begun to have some concerns that the Japanese culture and the "little girl' nature of my character, Sachi Kimura, were being taken from the story. It was a tough decision, fraught with indecisiveness and fears that my editor had a world more of experience than I, and that I was giving up. But finally, by mutual decision, we ended our editorial relationship and wished each other the best.


Of course, that leaves me with the question, "What now?"


Second, because I had been so devoted to the editing process, I had decided not to enter any of the contests for the Oklahoma Writers' Federation 2012 Story Weaver's Conference this year. But, after the events referenced in my first paragraph, I decided--five days before the deadline--that I would pull together some stories and send them in. Good thing I work well under pressure.


Here are a couple of articles I found that helped me along the way this week:

C.S. Lakin

Once again, Jane Friedman to the rescue. If you haven't yet begun to follow her blog in one of the ways given in last week's mashup, you're missing out. I found useful information on the editing process in two posts this week. On JaneFriedman.com, Jane's guest blogger, C.S. Lakin, posts the article, "Four Ways to Find the Right Editor." Ms. Lakin's article provides good information, as well as links to other helpful sites. But it was in something she said about "fit," that brought me some comfort:

"Sometimes the fit just isn't right."

http://janefriedman.com/2012/01/30/4-ways-to-find-the-right-freelance-editor/

Jane Friedman

One of the links that Ms. Lakin refers the reader back to is Jane's article "Should You Hire a Professional Editor?" This post lists three elements that explain why hiring a professional editor sometimes leaves her feeling "less confident about an author's work."

http://writerunboxed.com/2010/03/19/should-you-hire-a-professional-editor/

Kristin Nador

For those of us who are challenged with keeping up our blogs, Kristin Nador has an excellent series called "Sharpen Your Blogging Habits." From finding your audience to amplifying your blogging voice, she gives step-by-step ideas on one of the best ways to build your social network.

http://kristinnador.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/sharpen-your-blogging-habits-golden-rule/

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:


You must meet the outer world
With your inner world or
Existence will crush you.


      -- Mark Nepo

Morrill's Monday Morning Mashup - 1/9/12

MASH-UP

A creative combination

or mixing of content

from different sources.

We are into the second week of 2012. How's it going with the goals you set for 2012? Or, are you like me -- still in holiday mode, with an elusive cloud of possible goals floating around in your head?

This post on Bob Mayer's blog, Write It Forward gives a broad overview of goal-setting, though it's primarily an introduction to his book:

https://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/goal-setting-for-writers-for-2012/

A detailed "how-to" on setting goals appears on the blog, Writing-World.com:

http://www.writing-world.com/basics/goals.shtml

So, here is my strategic goal:
I would like to have Broken Dolls published by a major, traditional press by 2013.

Here is a long-term goal:
I will have edits completed by June 30, 2012.

Here are a couple of short-term goals to work toward my long-term goal:
1) I will work at least two hours per day, five days per week, in my Internet-free zone.
2) I will send 15-25 edited pages to my editor each week.

What are your goals for 2012? Did they change after reading these posts?

This New York Times post, "Why Authors Tweet," discusses why many authors tweet and why some don't. It's a subject many of my writer friends and I have debated. Author Jennifer Gilmore states: "On Twitter, I have a sense that people -- those you know and those you don't -- read your work in a way I have not always felt in the world."

However, Jeffrey Eugenides says that tweeting and other social media is "toxic to the kind of concentration fiction writing requires."

And therein lies our dilemma, fellow writers. Do you tweet? If so, leave your tweet handle in a comment and I'll follow you. I can always use a new challenge in balancing my social media time with my writing time. (Refer back to my short-term goal #1.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/books/review/why-authors-tweet.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&emc=eta1

There are certain words which by their nature, arise often in my writing. A few that I can think of off the top of  my head are talk, walk, smile and look. DailyWritingTips.com posted 75 synonyms for "talk." That's right, 75!

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/75-synonyms-for-talk/

And of course, thesaurus.com is always an excellent source of finding alternatives for oft-used words. Here's the link for "look":

http://thesaurus.com/browse/look

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:


When I'm writing, I'm listening. -- Madeleine L'Engle





Now that I've completed my Mashup, I'm off to "listen" in my Internet-free zone. See you next week!

Morrill's Monday Morning Mashup - 01/2/12

MASH-UP

A creative combination

or mixing of content

from different sources.

Happy New Year! Something feels good to me about writing 2012 instead of 2011. I don't remember feeling that way about writing the new year before. Usually it takes me a month to transition, but I must have been ready for the change this year.

Hope your holidays were happy! Ready to get back into the mashup? I am, and in my holiday internet perusing, I found lots of good information.

Linda C. Apple posted an excellent blog on the difference between resolutions and goals. Too often, we set resolutions, which, in Linda's words, are "determined thoughts that weaken over the months. They lose their freshness. Then life takes over and chokes our good intentions for the remainder of the year and our gasping resolutions hold on to enough life to make us feel guilty because we have failed--again." Wow. Now, don't you want to read more?
http://lindacapple.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/get-a-goal/

DailyWritingTips is an excellent resource for writers with a variety of useful pages including Word of the Day, Competitions, and Book Reviews. But the link I'm sharing this week is "The Best of DailyWritingTips in 2011," which includes the most visited posts for 2011 and includes such interesting tidbits as "7 Grammatical Errors That Aren't," and "50 Redundant Phrases to Avoid."

 http://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-best-of-daily-writing-tips-in-2011/

Chuck Sambuchino (remember, Chuck is a speaker at the 2012 Oklahoma Writers' Federation Story Weavers Conference in May!) has an excellent blog, Guide to Literary Agents. A feature of that blog is "7 Things I've Learned So Far." This week's post is by author, Miranda Kenneally, and I found myself reading each one say, "Yeah! I like that one!" My favorite, however, was #4: My truth isn't everybody else's truth.
In the editing process, when someone questions something I've written, often my first thought is, "But that's really what happened." Seeing Miranda's #4 was like putting glasses on. It made me see more clearly, perhaps because it was through another author's eyes, that it doesn't matter if "it really happened," if I haven't made it convincing with my story.

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/7-things-ive-learned-so-far-by-miranda-kenneally

There's something about the new year that refreshes and inspires. I hope the links in this week's mashup help you get off to a good start in 2012!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

If you wait,

the only thing that happens

is you get older.

-- Mario Andretti

Morrill's Monday Morning Mashup - 12/19/11

MASH-UP

A creative combination

or mixing of content

from different sources.

I hope this week's mashup will take your mind off the fact that there are only five shopping days. Oh. Sorry for reminding you of that.

Grub Street Daily posted an excellent blog called "Reaching Readers via Social Media: Hot Tips for Authors." This post is contains a good mix of things to blog about, as well as resources to help you not be a social media wallflower.

http://grubdaily.org/?p=3141&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GrubStreetDaily+%28Grub+Street+Daily%29

Anne R. Allen's blog post, "How to Blog: Beginner's Guide for Authors" is also on social media. Though she gives a lot of good "how-to" advice, I thought the most eye-opening piece of information she gave came from Oak Tree Press acquisitions editor, Sunny Frazier:

“I don't read the query (sorry aspiring writers!) I look for two things:  genre and word count. I then Google the author. I'm looking for the number of times the writer's name appears on the Internet. I'm searching for a website or any attempt to build a platform.”

http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-to-blog-beginners-guide-for-authors.html

ProBlogger.net is a blog solely dedicated to helping you improve your blog. I especially liked "How to Run Two Blogs in the Midst of a Busy Life." Does that not apply to all of us? Once I started using Tip #1, "Keep a clean list of post ideas and update it frequently," I rarely run out of things to blog about.

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2011/03/15/how-to-run-two-blogs-in-the-midst-of-a-busy-life/

And finally, I'm adding a new feature to my weekly mashup. Often, simply reading a quote will inspire me to write. Each week, I'll post a quote that inspired me, or at least made me reflect.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"Do not wait until all the conditions are perfect for you to begin.

Beginning makes the conditions perfect."

-- Alan Cohen

Morrill's Monday Morning Mashup - 12/12/11

MASH-UP

A creative combination

or mixing of content

from different sources.

Now that many of you have finished your Nanowrimo novels, (or for any other novel that needs some rework,) this is an excellent article on how to work through what Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird, calls the "shitty first draft." I like to think of first drafts as the seeds to a flower, eggs to a chicken, a trickling stream to the Grand Canyon. Oh, forget it. You get the picture. Three Ways to Work Through a Difficult First Draft was written by guest blogger, Christi Craig, on Suzannah Windsor Freeman's Write It Sideways.

http://writeitsideways.com/3-ways-to-work-through-a-difficult-first-draft/

Kristen Lamb's blog post, Is Your Novel a Spineless Weakling, was another good follow-up for Nanowrimo, and one of the best articles I've read on the necessity of an antagonist in your novel. In Broken Dolls, there are two antagonists -- Society, and Mama. Who is your antagonist? (Big newsleak: Watch for news of a guest appearance by Kristen Lamb at a future Ozarks Writers League meeting!)

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/is-your-novel-a-spineless-weakling/

And, if you are having a tough time even coming up with a "shitty first draft," here are a couple of links with writing prompts:

http://www.writersdigest.com/prompts

http://creativewritingprompts.com/

http://www.creative-writing-now.com/fiction-writing-prompts.html

I'll close this week's mashup with a quote by Elmore Leonard, who defined the difficulty of editing in a deceptively simple way:

"I try to leave out the parts that people skip."

Morrill's Monday Morning Mashup - 12/5/11

Welcome to Monday morning! This week's mashup will test your resolve. I started and ended with positive blogs, but the meat (gamey as it may be) is in the two posts on slush piles. I dare you to chew through them. Then, be sure to follow Chuck Sambuchino's blog. Better yet, come meet him at this year's Story Weavers Conference!

Ready? Here we go . . .

I like lists. They are easy and quick to scan over, and as I tick off items on the list, I feel like I’ve accomplished something. Here’s a list of books of interest to writers. When I reviewed this list, I felt a sense of accomplishment that I’ve already read a few—Bird by Bird, Writing Down the Bones. I’m looking forward to reading several of the others.

 http://www.changetheworldwithwords.com/ten-great-books-for-writers/

Many writers are in the querying process and have received the kick-in-the-gut rejection letter. Admittedly, this post will not do much to make you feel better about a rejection, but it will clarify the many reasons for rejection. Yes, the list makes the odds of being accepted by an agent sound insurmountable, but at least after reading this post, you'll know just how “wowerful” we have to be. http://agentcarlywatters.wordpress.com/2011/11/28/why-agents-take-on-less-than-1-of-all-queries/

I’m afraid this is another distressing, but necessary blog post. Though cynical in tone, guest editor and former slush reader, Ruth Harris, provides us with a bird’s eye view of what it feels like to go through a slush pile, and therefore teaches us what NOT to do. Still, she reminds us that great writers have risen, even from the bottom of stack and stacks and stacks of manuscripts. http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2011/11/confessions-of-big-six-editor-triumph.html

This blog by Chuck Sambuchino is one of my favorites. He regularly posts information on new agents, which is an invaluable resource to writers who are trying to obtain representation. As Sambuchino says, “Newer agents are golden opportunities for new writers, because they’re likely building their client lists.” And here's some big and exciting news: Chuck Sambuchino will be presenting at the Oklahoma Writers Federation (OWFI) 2012 Story Weavers Conference May 3-5 in Oklahoma City!

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents

I end this mashup with Chuck Sambuchino's blog so that you won't be discouraged. When I was querying agents, upon receiving a rejection--once I regained my composure--the first place I visited was Chuck's blog or his book, Guide to Literary Agents. From one of those sources, I'd pick two more agents and send out two queries for every rejection I received. But, I found my agent, Kathleen Anderson, when I shepherded and pitched to her at the 2011 OWFI conference. You see from the posts above how difficult it can be to get out of the slush pile--another great reason to attend the OWFI 2012 Story Weavers conference!

New York Times Best Selling author, Jodi Thomas, taught me that triumph comes through perseverance. As you can see by the above posts, without perseverance, you are likely to remain squashed at the bottom of stacks and stacks and stacks and stacks of manuscripts.

So persevere!!

Morrill's Monday Morning Mashup - 11/21/11

Welcome to my Monday morning mashup, where I post links to information I found interesting or useful in the previous week. Below, I've listed a few appetizers to whet your writerly appetite for the coming Thanksgiving week:

KRISTEN LAMB'S BLOG

Kristen Lamb posts some of the most useful advice and information I've seen yet on social media. I recently purchased her book, We Are Not Alone - The Writer's Guide to Social Media. I am still in the process of reading it. (watch for a review!) but so far, it's full of practical, easy-to-follow information about how to establish an online presence.

The link below is on PLATFORM. According to Kristen, it's not just for non-fiction writers anymore.

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/why-writers-need-a-platform/

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WRITEITSIDEWAYS.COM

This is a blog by author and teacher, Suzannah Windsor Freeman. I subscribe and I look forward to its emails that are always full of helpful information for writers. Here's a mashup within a mashup -- a list of 23 websites that will make your writing stronger:

http://writeitsideways.com/23-websites-that-make-your-writing-stronger/

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MYSTERY WRITING IS MURDER

This award-winning blog by Elizabeth Spann Craig regularly posts information that is useful to all writers - not only those who write in the mystery genre. I especially liked this post about what NOT to listen to in a critique. The guest blogger, Anne R. Allen, states:

"A critiquer should tell you what's right with a work as well as what's wrong."

This is something we as critiquers too often don't remember. Here's the link to the post:

http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2011/11/9-pieces-of-bad-writing-advice-its-best.html

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Happy Thanksgiving! Unfortunately, browsing the Internet for interesting tidbits probably won't burn any calories, but I'll see you next week anyway, with a new mashup!