Thanks to Galleycat, my friend Lois Winston and the Macmillan people for this revealing look at how the publishing business works (NOT!)
Hope you all have a good weekend!
Thoughtful Thursday – Baby It’s Cold Outside!
This Thursday’s Thoughts are mainly about the cold, but also about how we become creatures of habit as we get older.
For example, if it’s over 30 I wear one coat. Over 40 another. Below 30 and out comes my big long coat and I add a sweatshirt underneath. When it goes below 20, as it has the past few days, I stick my head out from all the bundling and decide whether or not to do the walk to work.
Below 15 — definitely do the subway. If I do take the subway, I am totally spoiled because I walk straight into my building and never go outside in Manhattan. Which why I was surprised to see those big flurries of fat snowflakes dancing outside my window.
Of course, all that snow has me thinking of warmer locales because I am so not a person who loves the cold! I always tell people it’s because I’m not genetically prepared for it, having been born in Cuba.
That’s just my work habit. Then there’s my writing habit, especially over the weekend. Get up at 6 and make the coffee. Head up to my office at home, plop down on my couch, drag the blanket over me, grab the laptop and power it up. While it’s booting up, turn on the TV and look for something to have on while I write and if nothing interests me, slip in a favorite DVD. 😀
Habits. Funny ones to some people, I’m sure. What about you? You have any habits you’d like to share?
Building An Effective Web Presence Part 3
Building an Effective Web Presence – Part 3: Types of sites and how to get them up and running
There are a number of different types of websites and ways to get them running. How you decide to go will impact on the costs of not only building the site, but maintaining it. The options range from free – but involving a lot of your time – to having someone totally build and maintain the site for you. Of course, there is the in-between option as well – someone else builds and you maintain.
The first thing to decide on is the platform or in non-geek speak – what the basic foundation of the site will be.
One thing to keep in mind – regardless of the platform the coding for the site will generally be in HTML which is the most common language used on the web.
Traditional website: Usually coded using HTML, but may also have underlying coding in ASP or SQL (other languages). Websites of this nature generally require more advanced technical knowledge not only due to the coding, but also because such coding is usually done at a local computer and then uploaded to a web-based server using an FTP program (File transfer Protocol). In general, sites like these are created by programmers and also maintained by programmers unless you are well-versed in HTML and FTP.
One thing to consider with a site like this is to have it programmed by someone who has a writing community, such as Writerspace, Romance Designs or Noveltalk. These communities will not only build and host your site, but include you in their community listings, etc. giving you immediate exposure to your core audience – other writers and readers.
WordPress/Drupal: These are two of the hottest platforms out there. Both platforms are freeware (always nice). That means that you pay nothing for using the software that is the basis for the website, but you will notice that the WordPress/Drupal name will appear on every site using this technology. Sites based on these platforms are generally easier to maintain, especially WordPress. They are menu-driven and allow users to create and edit new pages via the internet, eliminating the need for the FTP procedure. WordPress also allows you to work with a WYSIWIG (What You See Is What You Get) editor which eliminates a great deal of the need for HTML coding (although those you know some basic HTML may find it more reliable to use the coding).
Drupal is a little more complex in terms of coding, but is quickly becoming popular, especially with programmers since they believe it provides more flexibility than WordPress.
I must confess to loving WordPress. Both of my sites are written using this platform. For more information on WordPress, you can visit www.wordpress.org. WordPress is also blogging software and so you can have your website and blog all with the same look and feel at one place.
If you chose this route, you will likely need a programmer to install the WordPress/Drupal software at the company which will host your site. Once that’s done, however, you should be able to apply one of their free themes to your site and begin coding it. Another option is to have the programmer design a custom theme and then you start coding and/or maintaining the site. Or, last but not least, you let the designer code and maintain the site.
FYI – WordPress also has a free site (www.wordpress.com – not .org) where you can create your website, pick a theme and be up and running with very little effort. The downside to the free service is that there is little you can do to change the theme, etc. without paying extra.
Finally, one of the other ways that you can have a web presence is by going with a blog only one of the free blogging services – Eblogger, WordPress or LiveJournal are some of the more popular services. You can customize the looks of the sites on these services and there are generally no (or few) charges associated with having your site at these locations. If you decide to move to a different web presence, I believe all of these sites have a way of letting you move your content to a new site or you could just choose to link from your new site to these services for the blog aspect.
Guilty Pleasures Monday – Colin Farrell
I must confess this Guilty Pleasures Monday choice is all Bad Boy. He’s got those wonderful Black Irish looks and I’ve enjoyed him in several of his movies — from his villian turn in DAREDEVIL (which is so not as bad as people say) to his appearance in THE RECRUIT and THE NEW WORLD.
Colin comes from a family of footballers, both father and uncle, and I understand that at one time he considered becoming a soccer player as well.
Last night Colin won the Golden Globe for Best Actor: Musical or Comedy for his role in IN BRUGES.
Hope you enjoyed this Guilty Pleasure Monday!
Fun Friday – Ads that you probably never expected!
I cannot take credit for today’s Fun Friday collection, in fact, I can’t post it here, but I can lead you to this interesting review of ads you probably never expected — condom ads, that is. 21 of them in fact.
Some are rather humorous, others . . .
Well, we are talking about condoms.
Anyway, I hope this review of the condom ads gives you a little ha-ha on this Fun Friday. You can click here to see the ads! Thanks to Dahlia Rideout for the article.
Thoughtful Thursday – Ponzi Schemes and Social Security
My sis and I were having lunch the other day and got started on the topic of Madoff and the alleged Ponzi scheme he allegedly ran for several years. (Innocent until proven guilty hence the alleged comments.)
What’s a Ponzi scheme? It’s when someone is offered a high rate of return on an investment and the money paid to them comes from other investors and not from any kind of profit made by the company.
So my sis says, “You know who’s got the biggest Ponzi scheme going — the U.S. government.”
To which I went, “Huh?” (I hadn’t had enough coffee that day!)
Carmen, my sister, replied, “Social Security. Think about it. We pay and pay into the system and eventually we’ll get paid from the monies other people are paying into the system.”
Dare I say that both of us added to that comment, “Or not get paid.” Yes, many of us worry Social Security won’t be around when we reach the age where we can collect (which age seems to be getting higher and higher every time we look).
Now, practically speaking, I’m sure Social Security gets monies from other ways, such as interest, taxes, etc., but in general, it’s paying off one set of investors with money from another set of investors. To keep going, it will obviously need lots of other investors out there paying into the system unless some kind of bail out eventually occurs.
What do you think about Social Security? Has it treated you right? If you’re not yet retirement age, are you counting on it being there for you?
My thoughts on this Thoughtful Thursday and looking forward to hearing some of your thoughts on it as well.
Wicked Wednesday – FURY CALLS available March 2009
This Wicked Wednesday treat is a little tidbit from my March 2009 release in THE CALLING Vampire Novels — FURY CALLS.
It’s such a WOO HOO 🙂 for me to be able to say THE CALLING is back and with not only a fury, but with a vengeance (LOL! – VENGEANCE CALLS will be out in 2010). It’s a series of my heart and I’m blessed to be able to continue it.
So after HONOR CALLS in February (a Nocturne Bites novella), you’ll finally get to see the conclusion to Blake and Meghan’s story. Those of you who have been with THE CALLING for awhile may remember their first appearance in TEMPTATION CALLS back in 2005 as well as Blake’s appearance in the free read, DESIRE CALLS.
Now I finally get to give Blake and Meghan their full and complete story and it’s become one of my favorites. I hope it’ll become one of yours as well.
So without further ado, here’s today excerpt from FURY CALLS.
Blake Richards shuffled the empty glass from one hand to the other across the pitted surface of the bar.
The remnants of cheap beef blood clung to the sides of the glass, painting it with thick fingers of red-violet. A vintage libation fresh from one of The Blood Bank’s regular human contributors would have left far less proof of the nature of the grisly beverage.
But then again, maybe it was that no self-respecting vampire would leave behind a drop of something so fine as fresh human blood.
Something so fine which was relatively lacking tonight, Blake thought and glanced around the interior of the bar. In recent weeks there had been a decided decline in the number of vampires frequenting the bar and that had resulted in a slowly decreasing stream of humans seeking the more dangerous fun and games for which the Blood Bank was known in Manhattan’s undead underworld.
Rumor had it that a goodly number of his fellow vamps had begun pairing off with some of the more intrepid humans and taken their business to Otro Mundo, the new hangout that Ryder Latimer and Diego Rivera had opened adjacent to Diego’s art gallery in Soho.
Otro Mundo provided fine dining and the possibility for other adventures in the kinds of decadent surroundings that the two older vampires had experienced over the course of their long lives.
Apparently the two human wanna-bes had struck a chord with a growing contingent of the undead, providing them and their human consorts with such opulence that the Blood Bank no longer held any interest. Not that he would know much about such opulence, he thought, recalling the hungry days of his youth in Wales.
After his father had been killed in a coal mining accident, his family had been forced to live off whatever they could grow on their small plot of land. Not nearly enough for the brood of six. At times his hunger had been so great that he would make a thin soup from whatever greens he could gather in the woods so that he could leave what little food they had for his mother and younger siblings.
Until he had found a way to earn some money. He considered now that starving might have been better.
Shoving those painful recollections away, Blake scoped out the occupants of the bar, needing to satisfy the hunger that the inexpensive beef’s blood had failed to quench.
As his gaze swept over the dance floor, he noticed the attractive blonde moving to the hard beats of the music spewing from the Blood Bank’s stereo system. Foley, the owner of the Blood Bank, was too cheap to hire live musicians.
When she turned in his direction as she danced, her gaze briefly skimmed across his.
He thought he detected a glimmer of interest there and so he rose, added a bit of swagger to his walk as he approached the dance floor. He weaved through the crowd of people gyrating and grinding to the deep bass beat until he was just an arm’s length from the blonde.
No doubt remained about her interest as he came near since she shot a knowing grin his way. He joined her in the dance, her luscious young body plastered to his, sweet firm buttocks caressing his front, but even as he did so, he knew the attractive chit could only fulfill one need — his thirst for blood.
Satisfaction of an emotional kind had eluded him for too long and as for the physical . . .
His recent interlude with vampire elder Stacia had taught him a thing or two about physical satisfaction. Despite how good it had been with the beautiful and powerful elder, it had occurred to him too quickly in the relationship that there was something lacking.
Something he hadn’t experienced since . . .
He drove thoughts of her away as the young woman eased up onto her toes, slipped an arm around his neck and drew his head near. She whispered into his ear, “Would you like to go somewhere more private?”
She inclined her head in the direction of the Blood Bank’s back rooms and he knew just what she wanted — a quick tryst and maybe even some painful play with the toys Foley kept in the rooms for his more daring clientele.
He smiled, slipped his hand into hers and quickly strode toward the vampire guarding the hall to those private back rooms, intending to fulfill the young woman’s needs and his own.
But even as he did so, memories sprang up of the last young blonde he had taken into that area. Of the joy and pain that tryst had brought.
He cursed beneath his breath as all desire fled.