Excerpt: Love by the Book by Melissa Pimentel

Anyway, I asked her to write something that would entice the menfolk and she came up with the following:

Lauren is an American expat who's been in London for a while now. She reads, drinks, and smokes a lot. She excels at the following activities: having fun, making sure her companions are having fun, eating baguettes, being clever. 

As a child, she rode a very fat horse named Jason, played defense in football, kick-boxed on a regular basis and got in trouble at her Catholic high school for reading Candide in church. When you meet her, none of this will surprise you.

Now. First of all, let me say that all of the above is true. But more important to the cause at hand, it makes me sound like Ignatius J. Reilly out of A Confederacy of Dunces. And yes, I know that reference just reinforced her description of me, but I'm trying to hide my true, hideous self from prospective suitors (at least for a little while).

So Meghan's description just wasn't going to cut the mustard. In the end, I confessed to Cathryn that I'd signed up to Castaways and begged her to write my description, hoping that her relatively scant knowledge of my adolescence would work in my favor. I was right, and Cathryn wrote a great, slightly fabricated couple of paragraphs that made me sound eminently more attractive than Meghan had.

It went online today along with a full-color photograph of my entire smiling face and from then on it was in the hands of the Internet dating gods.

page 56, Love by the Book by Melissa Pimentel

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• A Confederacy of Dunces - quotes and extracts - 89 (manwithoutqualities.com)

Getting "Content" on Triberr

by Donna Huber

If you are on Triberr you may have seen on posts in your Tribe that says "No content present". My posts use to display a similar message until I found a simple fix.

It appears to be a problem with the RSS feed, but I tried many things to fix it. I wanted a preview of my content to display in the stream. I think it makes people in my tribes more likely to share the post when they know something about it. Thankfully, most of my blog post titles give someone an idea of what the post is about. I mean, what else would Review: The Winter Boys be about? However, some of the guest posts aren't as clearly titled. For example, Critter Control to the Rescue could be the title of the author's latest cozy mystery or literally about mouse catching. In truth, it was a post on editing and how to limit pesky pet words. Without the preview in the Triberr stream, people wouldn't know that.

I first messed around with settings in the RSS feed. I set it to full text then to partial text. That didn't help. I unconnected my blog on Triberr and then reconnected it. No dice. It wasn't displaying any content when it pulled my post through. Then I found this little setting in Triberr:

Your setting may say "keep original description from RSS feed". If yours does and you are getting the "No content" message, then use the drop down arrow to switch the setting to "Let Triberr create a description". After I made this change, my posts started having a description. I still briefly get the "no content" message when the post first pulls into the stream, but it is quickly replaced with a description. 

I still don't know why it happens. Perhaps it is because I use Blogger and most of Triberr is designed for WordPress, but that is just speculation.

Anyways, it is now fixed for me and you can fix it yours, too!

Chunk, Chunker, Chunking? by Robert James Dellamano

I'm a Chunker. There, I said it. I AM A CHUNKER! "What's a Chunker?" you ask. Does it mean I eat big chunks of food without chewing it, like a caveman? No, and I apologize for that. It means that's my style of writing. Or, more accurately, my style of beginning to write. And now you might be asking, "Alright already, what-is-'Chunking'?!" Chunking is a style of writing taught in an Introduction to Writing course my first year of community college. I don't remember the teacher's name, but she was one of those teachers that stands out (otherwise) for her dedication and enthusiasm for her profession. 

The method involves beginning a writing by mentally vomiting as much information as possible about your subject onto paper. The vomiting analogy is perfect, although unpleasant, because, well, we are calling this 'Chunking', and because the material you're putting down flows out of your mind in bits and pieces (OK - enough of that, right?).

I use the method to get going on my writing. Once I have even the slightest idea of a character, plot line, setting, description, etc., I start to chunk. I throw down on paper everything that comes to mind - rarely sentences, seldom long phrases, occasionally short phrases - but always bullet pointed type bits and pieces, including just one word at a time. Hence, 'Chunking'. 

Then, after much is set to paper, I take a break from it (unless a bit that I think is really important comes to mind). After a day or so, I re-visit what I've chunked. Then, and only then do I start to organize my chunks. And I'm sure I don't have to explain what that means, but I will anyway, because I like to write. Why else would I be here, right?

So now I start grouping things together - character aspects, descriptions, settings, into bigger chunks that relate to each other. Again, the process of chunking. And so the process continues as I flesh out the various aspects of my story, adding things here, deleting things there... until it all becomes one (hopefully) cohesive writing (that isn't just a bunch of random chunks!).

Fortunately for me, I haven't experienced much in the way of writer's block, but on those rare occasions that I do get a little stuck, this method helps tremendously. And this process can happen anywhere - at my desk, in the grocery store, driving (eyes on the road!). You get the picture. 

I think it's also a good way for a new writer, or one who lacks a little confidence, to get started. It's similar to when I think about exercising. I may not want to so I tell myself to at least stretch a little. That way I know I'm doing SOMETHING beneficial for my health. Invariably, once I start stretching, I follow it up with a full work out. I'm sure you get this picture, too.

This method works great for me, so if you're having a bit of difficulty getting started, or keeping going, give this a try. But you can forget about the vomiting part if you want...

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About the Author

The author is a graduate of Florida Coastal School of Law who currently resides in southern Illinois. He is an avid nature lover, and a fan of both blues music and the St. Louis Blues NHL hockey team.  His childhood dream was to be a cowboy, and his adult dream is to ride off into the sunset with his best girl. The author urges everyone to spend time/money at their local animal shelter, and to visit the following websites on a daily basis: freerice.com and freekibble.com.

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Review: The Oath of Nimrod By David S. Brody

by Claire Rees

Cameron Thorne exhaled. He never should have agreed to participate in this conference. A couple hundred conspiracy theorists fueling each other's paranoia at a hotel in central Massachusetts over a mid-winter weekend. Even Amanda had taken a pass. "Astarte is in desperate need of new socks," she said, kissing him on the nose. "But you have fun. And don't let them convince you that aliens built the pyramids."

Cameron Thorne and his fiancée Amanda have discovered a race of North American Giants and some other discrepancies that could change American history forever. As they dig deeper and deeper they find themselves in more danger, especially Cam who gets kidnapped and ends up with a broken finger. They are not sure who they can trust and who they cannot. Then enters Randall Sid a former FBI agent claiming that he wants to help Cam and Amanda. Mind- control, brainwashing and cover up by the American government were all part of the day job for Randall Sid and he warns cam of a secret project called MK-ULTRA where the government try to discredit historians and other people to get the public to believe what they want them to believe. But will he be able to keep Cam, Amanda and their daughter Astarte safe or will it go even higher than him. This is the question I kept asking myself.

The conspiracy theories in The Oath of Nimrod  are really well written and it does make you think what governments may or may not be hiding. Also as with all good cover ups it includes the Freemason which is a subject that fascinates me. I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good cover up story full of lies and kidnapping, even murder. The ending was really great and I felt that it fitted the story well. It was also really good that with the artifacts the book mentions it had pictures of them which is great as a visual aid and seems to make it more real for me as the reader. Even though this is book four in the series you will not have to have read the first three books in order to enjoy this one.

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Book info
Available formats: ebook and print (308 pages)
Published: September 2014 by Eyes That See
ISBN13: 978-0990741305
Genres: fantasy, suspense
Source:
Read: February 2014

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Interview with Gwen Selix

by Heather Kirchhoff

What made you decide to start writing? Was this something you always thought you’d do?  

I have been writing since I was very small. Something about it just drew me in, from the time I read my first novel at age 3 I just knew I had to become a part of the great world of writers. I always hoped I would be a writer I often felt it slipping away and for a really long time it did. But a few years ago it just came slamming back to me and I haven't stopped since. 

How do you come up with your characters or story ideas?

My story ideas just come to me I can be looking out the window and get an idea, My favorite though is when I hear a line of a song and a whole story will come to me there is something magical about when that happens. 

The characters I write them as they come out to play which they often do. The ones from Shadows of Pandora my first novel came to me in a dream and I know that is like the normal way that they come but something about these ones were different I just knew they had to be written about and now they are out there for all to enjoy.

How do you get inspired to write? 

Music big time I have to have music on when I am writing it just kicks it into gear for me. I also have to read a lot the more I read the better I feel my writing gets.

What do you do while having writers block?

I usually read a lot or watch TV and often game as well. I am a huge nerd so pretty much anything nerdy I love to do when I can't get the words out.

What kind of stories do you write?

I write YA, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, YA Romance, Suspense, and Thriller.

Who are your favorite authors?

I have several but if I had to pick 4 I would say F.Scott Fitzgerald, J,K, Rowling (she is my hero) Shelly Crane, and Mary Higgins Clark .

How long have you been writing?

I have been writing since I was about 6 years old but creating stories for as long as I can remember. I have always loved getting lost in my imagination.

What are your stories about?

Premonition is book 2 in the Evermore Trilogy it picks up right where Shadows of Pandora leaves off. House on the Hill is a YA/ Dark Fantasy novel that shows that there can be good to counter the evil in this world and Hunted and Captured is about a young Detective in a small town who is about to meet her first serial killer #PuzzleKiller.

What are you currently working on?

I am currently focusing on finishing House on the Hill. Premonition and Hunted and Captured are also being written when I hit writers block for House on the Hill.

What do you do when not writing?

When I am not writing or reading I love to spend time with my sister and best friend author Emma Lynn and time with my amazing husband Josh life without them would suck.

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About the Author

I am a  twenty-seven-year-old lady from the United States, but dreams of living in London, Paris, or NYC.
I have been dreaming of being a writer since I was a small child. I picked up my first novel when I was 3 years old and I have been reading since. I knew from time I read my first Boxcar Children book that I wanted to be a writer. I wrote Poetry in Hig School and on several occasions had it published. When I was a Senior I told my parents I wanted to be a writer, but I was told it was dying art and that I should just give up and pick something more practical. I went to college and studied ASL *American Sign Language.*,  It wasn’t until 2011 when my Grandmother got sick that I started writing again. I started off with a Harry Potter Fanfiction and I wrote under Gwen Malfoy. It was after a lot of support from my Husband and best friend that I started writing again. Once I did I knew I was picking the right choice for my life.

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