Halloween countdown: 13 days away

© Joyce Stevens

13 days until Halloween!

10-17-07- My friend, Joyce, made the Wheelchair Witch for me. She is really an artist. The faces on her sculptures are priceless!

Custer and His Naked Ladies- It's about two weeks away, from what I hear.

Writing tips-

Christmas projects- If you’re planning on doing a writing project for Christmas gifts, the time to start was three weeks ago—get on it!

Are you writing in email?- Email shortcuts can creep into your formal writing if you’re not careful. What may be acceptible in an email could be totally inappropriate in a formal letter.

Green writer- I like to edit on paper, as my eyesight is poor. That can mean a lot of printouts over the course of a book. Lately, I’ve been printing in draft. There’s not that much difference in appearance, and think of the ink I’m saving! Oh! Don’t forget to change the settings back to normal before you do the final print-out! Hey! With the news about printing inks being unhealthy to breathe, the draft setting may even be better for you. I just had a thought: How many of us run our printer while a child is in the room? Maybe it’s time to rethink that practice. And open a window!

Quote du jour:

“Men get pearls from oysters; women get diamonds from nuts.” The Cowboy and the Girl , song from old movie, unknown (I'm researching it).

Stag 1-writer 0

©Janelle Meraz Hooper

10-08-07- I am a writer, part three. As a small niche writer (no agent, no advance, no mainstream publisher*) I do it all myself. I do my own research, develop my own plots, write my books (no co-authors here—don’t you hate it when you buy a book and find out it was co-authored? I do.), and market them. The marketing is labor intensive because I do my own letterhead, labels, business cards, bookmarks, etc. Everything, except the cover. This time I got smart and let Reflection Studios in Puyallup do the cover. It was a good choice. The cover is gorgeous! I’ve been asked why there are flowers on the cover and what does that have to do with naked ladies? Well…there’s more than one kind of naked lady. * What I do have is several very nice fiction awards.

My deer trap- My stag deer was never tempted by my red apple. I guess he is busy with his ladies down the street. This photo is from last year. I’m sure the rack has grown by now.

Quote du jour-
"Yes, it's hard to write, but it's harder not to." Carl Van Doren