As I browsed through my local Barnes & Noble, I saw this reference book sitting on the shelf and remembered the engineers that I worked under twenty years ago. Most of them had PhD’s, but very few of them could spell to save their lives. We used to joke about this fact all the time. [...] Read more »
Chronories: Journal Software for the Mac
I found Chronories, a journal software for the Mac, when I went to download MacFamilyTree for an unrelated article. Curious as ever, I download the free trial so that I could add another article to my growing portfolio. Chronories is more than a piece of journal software. Journal Entries This is a standard feature of [...] Read more »
One Month into My Smoke-Free Lifestyle
Hello, Everyone, I’m still alive and doing pretty well. As of August 24th, I have been smoke-free for one month. This is a major milestone for me, as I was not able to stay away from the cigarettes for longer than a week. I’ve been writing like crazy, although I haven’t touched Shades of Evil [...] Read more »
My Father’s Passing
My father was diagnosed with emphysema and COPD in January of 2006, when he went to see the doctor over a bout with pneumonia. He had tried to quit smoking a few times while I was growing up, but always went back to it. He was finally able to quit when the doctor told him [...] Read more »
Writing Progress: Surpassed My 40K Goal
This novel is nowhere near complete yet, but I’m happy to say that I surpassed the 40K milestone last Sunday. I still need to work on my descriptions, and I still need to flesh out the antagonist some more. I’m making progress, albeit slowly. Due to some other projects, I haven’t worked on this story [...] Read more »
The True Meaning of Memorial Day
Character Development through Voice Journals
Alan Rinzler posted a great article about character development, using a technique from James Scott Bell’s The Art of War for Writers, called voice journaling. His article inspired me to practice with the characters I’m writing about. I figured that I would start off with the easiest character first, since I already know a lot [...] Read more »
FastPencil: Online Publishing Made Simple
FastPencil is another self-publishing service company that plans to rival Lulu with its simplicity. For instance, you don’t have to wade through pages and pages of material to figure out how to self-publish your book or ebook. I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing yet. I’ll know once I finish the [...] Read more »
Shades of Evil, A Paranormal Thriller: Draft Two Completed
I have been working on this story since I crossed the finish line of the 2008 NaNoWriMo competition, trying to solidify the plot to something intelligible and believable. The mind mapping technique worked to outline the newer characters, and I had constructed what I thought was a solid plot at the time. My characters evidently [...] Read more »
nook eReader Review: Very Good Despite Its Quirks
After testing the nook in my local Barnes & Noble, I decided to take a chance. I loved the look and feel of this ereader device and looked forward to the convenience of buying more books without adding more clutter to my already cluttered bookcases. I read all of the pros and cons of owning [...] Read more »