Thinking about websites

I'm blogging at the Ruby-slippered Sisterhood Tuesday. The topic is: making websites easy-to-use for disabled visitors.  (By the way, if it's good for disabled users, it's good for everyone.)  Feel free to drop by, absorb the information, or leave a question.

Even more importantly.... drum roll....

I have a beautiful, redesigned author website.  I love the way it turned out. (Thank you, Austin DesignWorks!)

Visit today. Oooohs and aaaahs may commence.

Another day, another blog

I'm blogging Tuesday at the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood (a writing group I belong to).  We'll be talking about readers with disabilities--which includes blindness, dyslexia, and amputations (can't turn pages!)

So join us if you are curious at the blog.

It takes a village

I have become an unapologetic user of people. Everyone I meet becomes a potential source of information for my next book. No one is exempt.

• Tom-the-personal-trainer offers me insights into the mindset of male athletes. 
• My physical therapist helps me figure out how to hurt people (and, not surprisingly, he is very good at that). 
• My nurse practitioner advises me on how long it takes for untreated wounds to become infected (when she's not taking care of me). 
• My cousin (who is studying to be an English professor) can now serve as my finger-on-the-pulse of academia.
• All female acquaintances with teenage sons are now my new best friends. 

Yesterday, I had brunch with a friend and two of her amazing kids.  One will soon be a secondary English teacher (yay! another finger-on-the-pulse). The other is a male high school senior.  Poor guy. I had a list of questions waiting for him. If he could have any classic car, which one? What types of sport teams are available in college?  How much do teen soccer players know about knee injuries?

WARNING to all males 14-18: Avoid me if you don't like talking to earnest old ladies. I have an endless supply of things I want to understand about your world.

So, friends, I may be unapologetic about picking your brain, but I am also deeply grateful.  It may be my mind assembling the puzzle pieces of the plot and my voice choosing the words, but it is your knowledge, experiences, and generosity that provide the building blocks.

I thank you all!

The write kind of holiday

Merry Christmas / meri Kirihimete / Froeliche Weihnachten
 

I'm loving this time of year.  Regardless of your faith tradition, I hope you are too.

However, 2012 brings a major change in how I structure my holiday.

I've spent so much time around work-a-holics that  I vowed I would never be one. When I was off-duty, I wouldn't work. Holidays were a time to relax and celebrate.

Then I became an author, and my attitude had to change. I am writing under a deadline. I can no longer measure a project by its percentage of completeness. The book is done--or it's not done.

So, yes, it is Christmas morning. We've opened gifts. We've eaten our 'special breakfast.' We've planned what we'll take to Christmas dinner at the home of dear friends.

And in-between all of that, I'll be writing.

Happy Holidays!

The scariest question

A blogger in the UK, Reading away the days!, has scheduled me for an interview on January 14th.  Megan McDade has sent me advance questions to ponder.

The scariest question: Tell me about yourself.

Let's think about this a moment.  I'm a novelist.  I write fiction! Why would readers trust me to get the facts straight when I'm paid to make things up?

Okay. Deep breath.  I can do this.  Back to writing answers to my first interview as an author...

Hidden gold for writers

I love hanging out with other writers, which is why I belong to several writing groups.  My author-friends in the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood run a great blog to help aspiring authors—and I'm the blog host on Tuesday, December 18.

We'll be discussing websites that we use to gather research for our manuscripts. 

I'm encouraging Ruby Blog visitors to add comments which list their favorite research sites. Throughout the day, I'll update this authoretc post with their recommendations.  By Tuesday's end, I hope to have a wonderful, cumulative list of Hidden Gold.

Free Books and Publications

• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Federal Citizen Information Center

Government Websites to Cultural Resources and Artifacts

• The British Museum 
• NC Dept of Cultural Resources

 
Websites about History and Historic Places

• Colonial Quill blog
• Colonial Williamsburg
• Costume Gallery
• Mount Vernon
• NC History: A Digital Textbook
• NC History Project 
• NC Historic Sites
• Old Bailey (Historic proceedings from England's court system)
• Recipes from the past
• Tryon Palace

  
Military, Law Enforcement, Crime, and Forensics

• All things military
• Dept of Defense registered websites
• Graveyard Shift (Blog about law enforcement)
• Firearms Tutorial
• Military Rank
• Navy Seals 
• U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
• U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
• U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• U.S. Joint Special Ops Command
• Weapons   
• Writer's Forensics Blog

Miscellaneous

• Old book repository
• On this day in history...
• Online Etymology
• Urban Dictionary

Holiday Giveaway from Spencer Hill

When my book sold, I joined a new community.

Spencer Hill Press (SHP) is a small publishing house. There are about 25 authors (with approx the same number on the editorial staff).  We support each other, cheer each other on, read each other's books, and break out into fist fights over share our beloved editors.

December 3rd marks the beginning of our first annual Holiday Giveaway. 

We have a lot of great prizes: free books, SWAG, gift certificates, and critiques of queries and manuscripts.  (Details for the prize bags/ giveaways are included here.)

All you have to do is enter via the rafflecopter buttons below.

 The contest is like an online scavenger hunt.  You'll earn points by following SHP authors on twitter or visiting the websites/blogs of SHP authors to learn about our upcoming releases.  Rafflecopter supplies the questions; you supply the answers.  (My question is super-easy; if you have seen the cover of my book, you'll have no problem answering the question.)

Rules:

• Contest runs from Dec. 3rd to Dec. 16th
• Contest is open to all ages from 13 to any adult age. 
• Contest is open to US and Canada residents only. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway