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Readability

On Twitter yesterday, someone posted a link yesterday to a Readability Meter. Now I’ve never paid that much attention to these tools, even though a lot of them come with Word and WordPerfect and such. As it was one of those days (you know the ones), I decided I could fritter away a little time testing some of my stuff to see what US grade reading level someone would have to have to understand my...

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Ring Ring….

These days I do 92% of my internet browsing, Tweeting, and game playing through my iPod Touch, and I’ve noticed that very few blogs, including mine, had mobile support! So today I’ve added the WPTouch plugin to make browsing this blog much easier for those who, like me, have plunged into the mobile world. If you own a blog, I would ask, even beg, for you to add this or a similar plugin!...

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Rebuilding Links

I have tried to rebuild links with the sites I’ve linked to on other blogs, but I’m sure I’ve missed some of you! If you link to my blog and would like me to return the favour, please let me know. My only conditions are: #1 I have to like your blog (but all of my readers are intelligent, funny people, so I’m sure I will) and #2 Your blog has to accept comments easily (#2 comes about...

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Why I Hate Facebook

I don’t mean that I hate Facebook in general. It can be a fun way to pass the time when I have a few spare moments and need to unwind and want to play Scrambler. Wait.. spare time? What’s that? I have only the vaguest recollection… Networked Blogs is actually a decent tool for at least telling people I have a blog and I use Facebook groups to organise reminders for the Writing Adventure...

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What Do You Tweet About?

I am a sucker for stats. I suppose it’s because I have so many websites. I won’t tell you how many; it would make both of us blush, and we don’t want that. For example I find it interesting that people have found NixyValentine.com by searching for the phrases “word meters”, “the artistic temperment”, and “where do ideas come from”. I find it interesting...

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Twitter: What Is It Good For?

Now, you might think this is going to be an article on how to promote yourself and your writing on Twitter, or even how to tweet without being a spam-whore. It would be, but about 28930284902 other bloggers have beat me to it. (That’s a rough estimate.) Yes, I sincerely hope that regardless of the fact that Twitter can bring lots of blog traffic and readers your way, you use it for the sheer joy of...

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Word Meters

I’m not a tidy person. I’m really not. Not even a little bit. In fact, if you aimed the word slob in my direction, I wouldn’t even have enough pride to duck. However, I am organised. I love office supplies including folders, staplers, pens (oooo), and my favourite has to be binder clips. I never ever turn down a trip to the office supply store. In that same vein, I also love charts,...

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Writers Market Online

Having found the Writer’s Market books very useful in the past, but don’t like the fact that they “expire” (think of the trees!) and have to be replaced every year, I thought I’d give the Writers Market subscription website a try. Access costs $6.00/month or $40/year or $55/2 years.  I figured $6 is a cheese and onion sandwich, so worth a try.  If you were to get the print...

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The Fiction of Writer’s Block

Seriously.  Just don’t believe in writer’s block.  Like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny.  (I do believe in the Tooth Fairy, but that’s a long story for another article.) Yesterday I didn’t blog because my blogging time disappeared into the world of Twitter via Tweetdeck.  Tweetdeck has an interesting feature where you can follow certain phrases, so that any time someone Tweets...

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Tracking Queries

Four years ago when I was first querying agents, I kept track of to whom I’d sent what (and their replies) by using Microsoft Excel.  Not particularly sparkly, but tidy and efficient.  Anything that keeps me from being painfully confused when I come back to it a few weeks later is a good thing (This would be after I’ve forgotten what the heck I was thinking at the time). Now there are several...