Make time? How do I make time? Is there a recipe for it? Is it cooked, knitted, or chiseled?
Life keeps getting in the way. It has a nasty habit of stopping me in my tracks, and I'm sure people can relate to that.
Take my editor for instance. She currently has Earl bearing down on her and is battening down the hatches.
Okay, I don't have the – valid – excuse of a potential hurricane ripping the roof off my house, or floating the cows out of the pasture past the car, for being slack. (I don't have cows, or even a pasture, but I've watched Twister, I know it can happen. Right?)
While Earl isn't even a blip on the horizon for us in the UK, that's not to say things can't get freaky and time consuming in other ways.
We have stocktake this month. Me and my coworkers dread September and March. It inevitably means long days. Early mornings and late nights. We all hate it.
But there is also fun to be had. Believe it or not, we all get on really well, and jokes and pranks are rife. Working late (and I don't mean 6pm. More like 10pm.) we generally have dinner together (Who ate my pizza!!), the odd beer, and generally things tend to be relaxed.
It got me to thinking that I probably know more about my colleagues, than I do about my family. The atmosphere is far more relaxed and while we all have places we'd rather be, there is politeness involved. That's what makes the difference.
Families don't tend to be polite with each other. If we have a place we'd rather be — we go there. Regardless.
Saying that, I ended up having to go shopping for girl clothes, because tomorrow I have to go to a wedding. (That happens approximately once every ten years.) I'm a jeans and sweater girl. I don't do pretty dresses and shoes. Not willingly, anyway. But  I better show up half way presentable. After all… I don't get to go to many weddings, and I like Helen and Barry, so I want to make an effort for them. (And the SO looks rather spiffy in a suit!)
But yeah. Dirt doesn't scare me. Well, it probably would, if I wore girl clothes.
Just as well, I guess. Having aquired a horse to share, I keep coming home smelling a little ripe. (I don't think so, but the SO is probably glad I throw myself into a shower straight after.)
What has all this got to do with writing?
Well. Aside from some cretin deciding the day only has 24 hrs, not much. (I'll have to have words with this person. Seriously. Where do they get off?) I get nothing done these days, and I am running out of excuses. Actually, I don't have exuses. I just suddenly look up and realize there's not much day left, and then I have no idea where the time went or what I did with it.
At the moment I don't get much writing done. You'd think with the days being longer in summer, we'd have more time… after all, I don't have kids who need to be entertained. Instead, I have less time, and I don't know why.
Do we take longer to do things in summer? Maybe. Sure, we take the odd day out where we go to a BBQ, or sunbathe, or whatever, but it's not like we go off for weeks on end.
So why do we struggle to get things done in summer?
I know I say "Make time" for writing, and I'm going to eat humble pie. I can't make time either.

Time. It's enough to drive you mad, isn't it?

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Here's a little rant for you.

For the third time this week (it's Tuesday, people) I "entered" a blog contest, and for the second time this week (it's TUESDAY!) I felt like the author is trying to con me.
I won't name names, but know this: If you dangle a carrot, one surefire way to never see me again, is to try and make me sign up for something. Anything. I don't mind if it's a newsletter or something, fine. But if you try to make me sign up for something where I have to hand over my personal details, you can go and take a very long walk off a very short pier.

I will not sign up for anything, unless I want to, and yes, I don't have to, I realize that.

But if the only way I can enter a contest is to sign up for something first… ferget it. Not going to happen and your name is mud with me.
I'm serious.
You can ask politely if I would leave details or sign up for something, but if you make it a condition of entry… no.
Ever seen the "No purchase necessary" parts of competitions? You're making me purchase. Sure, you're not asking me for money. You're actually asking me to part with something far far more valuable — and usually on an unencrypted page!!!

Authors, in this day and age, asking people for personal details — regardless of what they are — is a no-no. And anyone asking for them should raise a red flag with people.

Hand over personal details?

Just. Say. No.

Authors, there is a difference between promoting and phishing. And if you ask for my full name, mailing address, post code and phone number, then I'm afraid… you're phishing. You don't need that information, and I have to ask what you will use it for. Hm? Care to tell me?

Where are you storing that info?
Is it secure?
Do you have permission to even ask for this information? (It is illegal to store personal data of Europeans outside Europe without express permission.)
What is the information used for?
Can I trust you with my information?
What are your privacy rules?
Is your site secure, or do my details get transmitted unencrypted?

One of the biggest growing crimes is Identity Theft / Fraud.
Think before you ask for those details.
Think about who has access to those details.
Think about where you'll store those details.
Think about your READERS!!!

And if you answered "Uh. I don't know." to anything I've raised here, then don't ever ask for anyone's personal data.

Please.

And if you team up with some company who sponsors your contest, then ask those questions of THEM before you say yes.

For the record… there are probably about 20 people total who have my real email address.
Everyone else gets secondary ones, or aliases I can kill off the second they get spammed.

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I'm currently finishing a futuristic, after selling my paranormal novella to Lyrical Press.
It got me to thinking.
I write several different subgenres. I like (make that love) my paranormals and that's my primary genre.
But there are times when I write something else. Like my futuristics, which have always been a love of mine. I also have the odd fantasy romance sitting on my drive. Another love of mine.
I just like to spin a good yarn, you see. Genre? Who cares. Seriously.
Of course, most authors are neatly pigeonholed into a specific genre. Frankly, I don't want to get shoved into a niche and end up "having to" write in that niche all the time.
No thanks. It's not how my mind works.
Sometimes a vampire will make an appearance, or an angel, a werewolf, a ghost… other times it'll be an alien, a fairy, or an elf.
I'm hoping people will like "Howl" when it's released, but I'm also hoping I can sell "Kamil's Legacy", my futuristic, and that people who liked "Howl" will also like my futuristics — because they like the way I write.

What about you? Do you stick with one genre? Do you diversify? Do you write mainstream one minute, and off the wall space opera the next?
I'd love to know, because surely I'm not the only one who writes in different subgenres.

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We all know to involve the senses in our writing. The eyes, ears and nose – or sights, sounds and smells. Naturally there are tactile senses too, like touch and feel.

I'll concentrate on sounds today.

What does a bang sound like? A whisper? Someone walking through the grass or leaves? What kind of noises do we hear in our every day lives?

As I sit here, I hear the fan in my computer whine and whirr. Whine because I need to get the dust out. I hear the chuntering of my hard drive when it kicks in. Is there such a word? I don't know, to be honest, but that's the sound it makes. Looking it up, it's defined as "murmur, mutter, grumble". So in a way, yes, that's what it does.
There are people talking, the forklift beeps while in reverse, there are rattles, clangs and crashes coming from the warehouse. (Yes, I'm at work.) The phone here "woodles" rather than rings.
So with just those few sentences, we already have a multitude of sounds.
Remember to include sound when you write.
The computer whirred to life.
A pair of bleating lambs came running across the yard.
The leaves rustled beneath his feet.
You get the idea.
Here are a few sound words for you, just in case you like lists:

baa, babble, bam, bang, beep, boom, bow wow, buzz, caw, cheep, chime, chirp, chomp, chortle, clack, clang, clatter, click, clip clop, cluck, clunk, coo, crackle, creak, croak, cuckoo, ding, drop, eek, fizzle, flush, groan, growl, hee haw, hiss, hoot, honk, howl, hush, kiss, lap, meow, moan, moo, murmur, neigh, oink, pant, peep, ping, pitter patter, plop, pluck, pop, purr, quack, ratchet, ribbit, rustle, roar, scream, screech, sizzle, slap, slurp, squish, smack, smash, snap, snarl, snort, squawk, squeak, snap, splash, swish, swoosh, thump, tick tock, tinkle, trickle, tweet, vroom, wham, whack, whimper, whine, whirr, woof, woosh, yap, yelp, zip

Yeah, not great, but hey… Make your own list!

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I wanted to mention that the Office Web Apps have gone live. (I didn't pay attention!)
If you have a (free) Windows Live ID, you can log into http://office.live.com/ and you will find free, ad supported versions of Office 2010 – Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote.
You can create new documents, save them to your SkyDrive, or open and edit any documents you have stored there.
Microsoft allocates a generous 25gb per user, plenty of storage, if you ask me.
Files may not exceed 50mb (which might get tricky with OneNote), but it will keep them managable on slower connections.

So if you need access to the latest version of Word, but can't afford it right now — you now have the option to use it on the web.
It doesn't have all the features – obviously. Else why would you buy the full version?
And you can only save files with the .docx extension (not .doc), but seriously… if you need quick access from anywhere, it's a great solution, even with the tradeoffs.

Also, if you buy a new PC, it will likely come loaded with the free (ad supported!) Office 2010 Starter version.

I will experiment a little with my Office 2010 version, and how it fares backup wise with the SkyDrive, and report back.

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I have an IRS induced headache.
I'm trying to sort out the ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) I need, and it's… interesting.
At first, I thought I'll just go for a shortcut and use an accepting agent.
Then they told me what they charge, and when I recovered from the shock… no thanks. They quoted me £450 plus VAT – so we are talking about £528.75. Noooo thank you. I'd rather have a headache. I can get a ton of painkillers for that kind of money.

So I researched and researched.
Luckily there are a lot of helpful sites out there.
I will list a few here:
The Publishing Maven: Getting an ITIN: Overseas Authors
How to get an ITIN
Self Publishing Matters: Getting the IRS to issue an ITIN
Your ITIN and you

There is much valuable information in those few pages, and I recommend those who need an ITIN read through them.
I'm still trying to find out exactly what kind of proof I need from my publisher, whether to take the contract with me when I get it, if they keep it, or make a copy… stuff like that.
When I am ready to file the application, I will update what I took with me, where I went and what the deal is.

But for now, I'll leave you with this:
Don't wait to check out what you need until you have to file a tax return. If you need an ITIN, check into it right away, because it takes about 6 weeks to get it — longer if it is rejected.

Next will be registering copyrights… it looks easier.

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The contract is signed, sealed and on it's way to Lyrical Press.

So now what?

I know I need to get myself an ITIN (Individual Tax Identification Number) from the IRS. The more I read, the more confused I get. Whee… such fun.

Then I have to register copyright in the US. It works differently in the UK. Copyright is automatic, but the burden of proof lies with the author. If you want to make sure, you can special mail your work to yourself, date stamped, naturally. Don't open it. If you intend to do more than one, make sure you know what the content of the envelope is.
I would suggest to mail it to yourself with the work's name as a reference on the mailing label. While this only proves the work was in your possession at a certain date, make sure you keep relevant information like drafts etc safe.
I'm printing off the original draft and stick it in an envelope with the final draft, as well as write the story to CD, and add a printout as well. A nice little archive box should do the trick, and I can put the contract in there too.

While I wait for things to start rolling, I'll be working on the next book. This time a futuristic which I originally planned to submit, but I wasn't happy with the ending.

If you really want to keep up with my more personal stuff… you can head to Thinks to Keep, my personal blog.

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This morning I got up as usual. Nothing special, except I woke up at 5am, too hot, and went to get a glass of water.
Went back to bed to snooze another couple of hours.
So when I finally did crawl out of bed to get ready to work, the usual ritual followed:
Shower, brush teeth, get the coffee started, creep outside to have a cigarette. (Yes, I smoke. Boo-hiss, I know.)
Came back inside, got dressed. (No, I didn't go outside naked, sheesh. Dressing gown, kthx!) Went hunting for my shoes, which have a tendency to hide during the night.
Got my coffee and trundled to my PC to check my email.
Nothing at all unusual about any of that, except…
There was a contract offer for a novella I'd submitted to Lyrical Press in my inbox!
I stared. And I stared some more. Then I picked up the phone to ring my other half who was already at work, to tell him what I was looking at.
He was thrilled for me.
I dropped a quick note on my critique group's forum, then I had to rush out because I was late for work. I hadn't even read the contract yet, and it still hadn't sunk in. (I've read it now, obviously!)
I got to work, hopped on my computer, logged into my webmail and motioned a coworker over (grinning from ear to ear): "Look."
So now it's official — I'm joining the ranks of the published.
The novella is (currently) titled "Howl".
(No, that's not the cover up there, that's just a werewolf I rendered some time ago. You can find the full size original on my gallery here.)
It's a paranormal romance, where a young woman finds out she surrounded by a web of lies – and the man she falls in love with is a wolf she saved from being shot.

Updates to follow!

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There is a ton of technology out there, and most of it is pretty confusing for people.
When you're a writer, staying on top of things is important, but if you have to fight with the technology you use, that's not so easy.

What do I mean by technology?

Well, there's your computer, for one thing. Printers, scanners, fax machines. The coffee machine is technology too, but so is the Web.
The lines get pretty blurred nowadays, technology can be both tangible, and intangible.

The tangible technology is often not that difficult to master.
You probably use your computer every day and you're used to what it does and how it works. (Yes, it can be tricky, especially when you upgrade something.) The same goes for peripherals (printers etc. Anything attached to the main box, basically.)
The intangible technology can be more harrowing.
I'll list some of them for you, which I believe help writers work more efficiently, or promote themselves better.

1. Blogs
2. Word Processing Software
3. Spreadsheet Software
4. Query / Submission tracking sites / software
5. Online backups
6. Networking sites / forums
7. Notetaking software
8. The Internet as a whole
9. Firewalls and Antivirus

Those are intangible, but empowering you to do more, promote more, stay safe.

The tangible ones I wouldn't be without are these:

1. Desktop Computer
2. Laptop Computer (when travelling)
3. Router
4. My super coffee machine!
5. Cell Phones
6. Printers
7. Libraries

There isn't much else I could list, not on the tangible front, anyway.
Why the computer, laptop, router and printer are important is probably self explanatory. I also like a good coffee while I write, so my coffee machine is essential. Cell Phones – mostly to keep in touch while away from home. And libraries… well, I'm a writer. What did you expect?
You know all this, I'm sure.

The intangible ones… well some are confusing, time consuming and distracting. Take the internet for example. We all procrastinate way too much, so sometimes I turn the router off when I want to stop myself surfing.
Blogs are a great resource, not just to keep up with other writers, but also for research. The same goes for networking sites.
If you don't use online backup, head on over to iDrive.com and sign up for a free account. I have blogged about backups before on my critique group's blog. You can read the entry here, if you want a few choices.
Firewalls and antivirus are there to keep your writing safe. Use them.
If you don't… imagine submitting a manuscript – or query – to an agent / editor, and they find a virus in it. That's not the impression you want to make, so get yourself a decent antivirus program (I don't trust free antivirus btw) and a decent firewall as well while you're at it.
Programs like Norton 360 have a firewall in the package. That's to stop anyone from breaking into your computer. Use it. You might not care what they could take from you (You will, if it happens, trust me.), but at least have a care for friends and family and don't expose them if you don't have to.
Query and Submission tracking sites and software are for those of us who like to keep track of who has our story and since when. You don't have to use them, but they not only provide a central area for queries, they also have a wealth of information you can dive into.

So there you have a few. Let me know what you find empowering (technology wise), what you would add to the list.

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Times are hard. We all know about credit crunches, spending cuts and tax raises.
So I've looked around for some free useful Writer tools for you.

1. Google Docs - a simple online word processor, with the ability to share and collaborate, as well as chat.
2. Open Office – a Microsoft Office alternative that's completely free. It has a few glitches, but it does the job rather nicely.
3. Lotus Symphony  – another free Office contender, with a variety of plugins.
4. Evernote – a free note taking application like Microsoft's OneNote. I highly recommend it.
5. WordWeb – free one-click English thesaurus and dictionary for Windows, Application independent.
6. Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary – free (online only)
7. One-Look Reverse Dictionary – free (online only)
8. RoughDraft - a free wordprocessor providing special modes for screenplays, novels, short stories etc. (Development discontinued, but don't let that stop you from trying it.)
9. Sonar 3 – Free submission tracking tool
10. FreeMind – Free Mindmapping software, which can be great for brainstorming.

Well, there you have it. That's just 10 of all the ones out there. I tried to be a little diverse and I hope you enjoy (and possibly benefit from) these tools.

Happy writing!

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