Visiting Thoughts In Progress Today
Hi all, I’m over on Mason’s blog, Thoughts In Progress today. Hop on over and have a look. If you’ve missed any of the stops on the tour the links are below.
September Tour So Far:
September 1st – Working my Muse
September 2nd – Misanthropolgy 101
September 4th – Like a Bowl of Oranges
September 7th – Sonya Clark
September 9th – The Rhapsodist
September 12th – Diamond – Yup, Like the Stone
September 13th – Alex J Cavanaugh
September 14th – Thoughts in Progress
And now that you are all caught up, remember I’ll be over on Carol’s blog tomorrow and she’ll be popping in here.
Still a lot of stops to go.
Prep For the Tour
Hey all,
Turns out planning a blog tour is exciting, exhilarating, and a lot of hard work. The tour kicks off on Wednesday the 1st of September over on Eric’s blog, working my muse, and Eric is going to be visiting the realm so I am definitely looking forward to it.
I’ve been busy, writing guest posts, double checking links, making sure everything is going to plan and knowing that something is probably going to come up anyway. I’ve also been helping out with the 40 hour famine. As always, so much to do and so little time. Writing has definitely been taking a back seat but I’m getting back on top of everything so hopefully I’ll have a few really good writing sessions in the near future.
First week of the blog tour begins with Eric and then on the 2nd I am visiting Geoffrey, followed by Lua on the 4th. Hope to see you all there and please pass the word on.
Twitter me this
Okay – so the links are coming thick and fast, but probably because there are so many brilliant bloggers out there sharing their stuff. Here are the links I’ve found and posted on twitter over the last week.
My picks for the week – and there is a few of them because everyone has been writing awesome posts this week:
Talli Roland on blogging: http://talliroland.blogspot.com/2010/07/ten-for-tuesday-of-blogs-and-bloggery.html
Elspeth Antonelli – 10 lessons for writers: http://elspeth-itsamystery.blogspot.com/2010/07/10-lessons-for-writers.html
Words of advice from fantasy authors: http://io9.com/5579212/words-to-live-by-advice-from-34-science-fictionfantasy-authors
Just Jemi – printing out the MS: http://jemifraser.blogspot.com/2010/07/printing-epiphany.html
Lua shares her writing story: http://likeabowloforanges.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/getting-aligned-or-the-dilemma-of-being/
Check out Sybil’s collection of book trailers – yes, mine’s been added:
Trailer for Death’s Daughter been added to Sybil’s collection of book trailers: http://www.sybilnelson.com/
Other great links this week:
My top 5 songs to get me ready to write – what are yours? https://cassandrajade.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/top-5-writing-songs/
Miss Rosemary’s scattered thoughts on writing: http://disgruntledwriterscircle.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/scattered-thoughts/
Yona Wiseman – Rave rejections: http://daylightprocrastinator.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/rave-rejections/
Hema P – The writing bug: http://hemapen.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/the-writing-bug/
Cheryl Angst – Twitter chats for writers: http://cherylangst.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/twitter-chats/
To Conquer a Mountain – Creating a universe: http://shoutitfromamountain.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/creating-a-universe-and-a-reality/
Casey Lybrand – time management for writers: http://blog.caseylybrand.com/2010/07/19/writing-time-management-and-blogging/
Holly Ruggiero – Playing with Words: http://scribblessplashes.blogspot.com/2010/07/playing-with-words.html
New blog post – Bringing fantasy to life: https://cassandrajade.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/bringing-fantasy-to-life/
Talli Roland – chick lit is dead: http://talliroland.blogspot.com/2010/07/chick-lit-is-dead-long-live-er-womens.html
Elizabeth Spann Craig – About being a writer: http://midnightwriters.blogspot.com/2010/07/8-things-no-one-told-me-about-being.html
Jemi Fraser looks at getting an e-reader: http://jemifraser.blogspot.com/2010/07/e-reader-help.html
Carol Kilgore – using your sixth sense as a writer: http://underthetikihut.blogspot.com/2010/07/that-tickle-on-back-of-your-neck.html
New blog post – My writing goals: https://cassandrajade.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/writing-goal/
Mason Canyon reviews Nowhere to Hide: http://masoncanyon.blogspot.com/2010/07/nowhere-to-hide-by-terry-odell.html
RT @bubblecow A Four Parargraph Approach To Cover Letters http://bit.ly/b17YA0
Cat Woods – Seven deadly sins for writers: Pride – http://catwoods.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/seven-writing-sins-pride/
Terry Odell guest posts on Mystery Writing Is Murder: http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2010/07/homework-time-by-terry-odell.html
Criminal Brief – why writers need an editor: http://criminalbrief.com/
Margot Kinberg – Straight Shooters http://margotkinberg.blogspot.com/2010/07/straight-shooters.html
Terry Spear – The closet muse: http://casablancaauthors.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-closet-muse.html
Stephen Tremp – the 30 second blurb: http://stephentremp.blogspot.com/2010/07/30-second-elevator-blurb.html
New blog post – Query Letter: https://cassandrajade.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/query/
Novel Journey – on dialogue: http://www.noveljourney.blogspot.com/
More From Twitter
Another round up of exciting links that I have found in the last little bit. I do post these on twitter as I find them and I hope that people are finding them useful. Yes, my links are scattered through them.
My must-read recommendations go to the following:
Very cool book trailer for CassaStar – check it out: http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/2010/07/book-trailer-for-cassastar.html
Cat Woods sharing seven deadly sins for writers: http://catwoods.wordpress.com/
If you have the time check out this review of Death’s Daughter:
The Rhapsodist reviews Death’s Daughter: http://alexwillging.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/cassandra_jade/
Here are the other great reads I’ve found recently:
Sybil Nelson – 8 steps to a great book trailer: http://journeysinink.wordpress.com/2010/06/20/eight-steps-to-a-great-book-trailer/
Lua Fowles – writer in a mask: http://abrokenlaptop.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/be-mysterious-writers-in-masks-features-lua-fowles/
Helen Ginger – on using Networked Blogs: http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com/2010/07/giant-head.html
An award for my blog: https://cassandrajade.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/resolution/
Susan Whitfield – Interview with Tim Marquitz: http://susanwhitfield.blogspot.com/2010/07/tim-marquitz.html
Sylvia Dickey Smith – http://sylviadickeysmithbooks.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/guidelines-for-a-writers-critique-group/
Janice Hardy – trends in writing: http://storyflip.blogspot.com/2010/07/being-trendy.html
What women write – finding your writing rhythm: http://whatwomenwritetx.blogspot.com/2010/07/what-do-you-need.html
Eric – The importance of the little things (character) http://workingmymuse.blogspot.com/2010/07/little-things.html
Robert Liparulo: making fantasy feel real: http://noveljourney.blogspot.com/2010/06/5-elements-that-make-fantasy-fiction.html
Elspeth Antonelli – ten things to do before you write: http://elspeth-itsamystery.blogspot.com/2010/06/before-you-write.html
Madison Woods – getting answers from twitter: http://madisonwoods.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/another-reason-i-love-twitter/
Some interesting tips of spelling: http://manuscriptedit.wordpress.com/
Elizabeth Spann Craig – excellent list of links for writers: http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2010/07/top-retweets.html
Stephen Tremp – moving along on his writer’s journey: http://stephentremp.blogspot.com/
Mason Canyon – A question for authors and soon to be authors: http://masoncanyon.blogspot.com/2010/07/do-i-ask-or-not.html
Jeaniene Frost – Why women find vampires hot: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/06/30/why.women.love.vampires/index.html?fbid=oF8F5aXpTib
Bibliophile Stalker – Some great links for writers: http://charles-tan.blogspot.com/2010/07/july-14-2010-links-and-plugs.html
Cat Woods – Sentence variation http://catwoods.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/improve-flow-with-sentence-variation/
Carol Kilgore – Try something new: http://underthetikihut.blogspot.com/2010/07/lab-experiment.html Must read for #writers.
Lee Robertson – Murky Middles: http://writerleerobertson.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/murky-middles/ Got lost in the middle of your story?
Vivienne Tuffnell – Would you write full time? http://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/guest-post-vivienne-tuffnell/
Lua shares her thoughts on World Building: http://likeabowloforanges.wordpress.com/
Fantasy e-book Death’s Daughter: http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_19&products_id=227
Resolution and an award
Stop taking photos. I’ve been sorting through photos for days and still haven’t actually looked at all the photos I took on this holiday. The strange thing is that there are entire stretches where my batteries were flat, I left the camera at the hotel and all manner of reasons why I had half days all throughout the trip where I didn’t have a camera and I still managed to take far too many photos.
The thing that really gets me though is that I don’t actually look at my photos. I have a few up around the house from various trips and times and they are lovely but I don’t go through photo albums or look at any saved pictures. I didn’t when I went to Thailand and I haven’t from any of the holidays I’ve had in Australia, so why do I keep taking photos?
I think it comes down to freezing a moment. If you see something then you’ll remember it but the memory gets hazy quickly. If you see something, line up a photo, frame it and press click you have far more chance of remembering what you saw. Possibly.
I guess the other problem is that most things look better in reality than they ever will in the photo. There are so many other sensations of sound and smell and just the presence of the place that they photo just doesn’t capture. It can’t capture how you felt standing in that place at that time. That’s probably true of any medium. Words don’t capture everything, images don’t, film doesn’t, in the end it is up to us to hold on to the memories.
Okay…
I’ve also been given a lovely blogger award.
Thanks Susie for the award. Here are the rewards.
- Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award. Thanks again Susie!
- Share 7 things about yourself. See below.
- Pass the award along to 5* bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! (*Changed from 15 to 5, but I’ll leave it up to you the amount you want to give.) Also see below.
- Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award. To do…
Seven things about me that you can’t read on my ABOUT page:
1. I am a collector of some really random things.
2. When working I listen to music but I don’t listen to entire songs.
3. I love watching movies over and over again and pulling apart the plots.
4. When I was in highschool I loved watching SeaQuest but when I bought the first season on DVD I realised I really can’t remember why I liked it.
5. I don’t like toast but I love the word toast.
6. I eat when I’m bored.
7. My favourite colour to write in is green.
As to passing this award along… By the way if you want to know why I’ve given them the award, click on the link and check out these very interesting blogs.
Congratulations and thanks for writing such amazing blogs.
I’m hopefully going to be resuming a more normal posting schedule and will be back tomorrow.
Tweets for Writers
I’ve been tweeting them as fast as I can find them and now here is the full list of links that I’ve collected in the last week or so.
Apologies if some of the links are faulty.
I definitely recommend checking out Alex’s blog and clicking on some of the links from the Dirty Dozen blogfest. Some great reads here.
Alex J Cavenaugh – Dirty Dozen movie blogfest – some great entries: http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/2010/06/movie-dirty-dozen.html
The rest of the links (yes – some of these are mine):
Carol Kilgore – Organised desk? http://underthetikihut.blogspot.com/2010/06/i-know-its-here-somewhere.html
Lua Fowles – Creativity’s Evil Sister: http://likeabowloforanges.wordpress.com/
Little Scribbler shares some great news: http://littlescribbler.wordpress.com/2010/06/20/now-that-im-finished/
Talli Roland shares what’s in her bag: http://talliroland.blogspot.com/2010/06/ten-for-tuesday-bag-lady.html
Thoughts in Progess – interview with Ann Summerville: http://masoncanyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/guest-blogger-ann-summerville.html
Alan Orloff – A really, really, really great idea: http://alanorloff.blogspot.com/2010/06/really-really-really-great-idea.html
Blog Post for #writers – Fear and Avoidance: https://cassandrajade.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/fear-and-avoidance/
Julie Dao – Forget chivalry, it’s grammar that’s dead: http://juleswrites.blogspot.com/2010/06/forget-chivalry-its-grammar-thats-dead.html
About Death’s Daughter by Cassandra Jade-fReado: http://bit.ly/93RQY9 via @addthis View excerpt and book trailer.
Talli Roland – Sleepyitis: http://talliroland.blogspot.com/2010/06/sleepyitis-sufferer-speaks.html
Writing tired: https://cassandrajade.wordpress.com/
Glynis Smy – When a video makes you want to buy the book: http://www.glynissmy.com/2010/06/when-video-makes-you-want-book-daughter.html
Clarissa Draper – First person and some grammar: http://clarissadraper.blogspot.com/2010/06/problems-with-writing-in-first-person.html
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Elizabeth Spann Craig – Stretching oursleves as writers: http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2010/06/stretching-ourselves.html
AdMan: How to write a book synopsis that sells: http://actionad.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/how-to-write-a-book-synopsis-that-sells-2/
From the Basement – Trust your characters: http://girldownstairs.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/trust-your-characters/
Blog post – 5 Reasons you shouldn’t write when tired: https://cassandrajade.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/5-reasons-tired/
Madison Woods – A writing question: http://madisonwoods.wordpress.com/
Twitter Links
I haven’t done a review of writer links in awhile – I used to do them weekly but now find myself just not having the time to put them all together. Here is a recap of some of the links I’ve been sharing on Twitter recently. Sorry if some of the links don’t work – I tried to test most of them and they seem to be up and functioning.
My Links:
- Finding your plot: https://cassandrajade.wordpress.com/
- Trailer for fantasy novel Death’s Daughter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbZJYfO64Yg
- Have you been given a writing suggestion recently? https://cassandrajade.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/writers-annoyed/
- Add to the list of character mannerisms: https://cassandrajade.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/mannerism/
- Interview about Death’s Daughter: http://walterrhein.blogspot.com/2010/06/words-with-cassandra-jade-author-of.html
- How do you find blogs to read? https://cassandrajade.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/5-reasons-blog/
- The Photocopy Saga – https://cassandrajade.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/the-photocopy-saga/
Excellent and interesting writing links:
- Clarissa Draper shares 36 different plot lines: http://clarissadraper.blogspot.com/
- Helen Ginger – Books to movies – some interesting facts: http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com/2010/06/books-to-movies.html
- Raquel Byrnes – Creating time for writing: http://nitewriter6.blogspot.com/2010/06/writing-in-space-and-time.html
- Careann’s Musings – Something to give all the writers out there a smile: http://careann.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/weekend-addictions/
- Serial Distractions shares some links for writers: http://serialdistractions.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/blog-posts/
- Winded Words – Apes and Art http://windedwords.blogspot.com/2010/06/apes-and-art.html
- Author Interview: Gary William Murning http://networkedblogs.com/4Kbdz – Thanks Talli for sharing.
- Welcome back to Crystal Clear Proofing and her weird word for the week: http://crystalclearproofing.blogspot.com/2010/06/vocabulary.html
- Ryan Lynch – The power of silence: http://lynchian.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/writing-in-general-–-the-power-of-silence/
- Brown Eyed Mystic – Pitching in a sentence: http://browneyedmystic.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/pitching-in-a-sentence/
- Milk Fever – What book would you take? http://milkfever.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/if-you-were-stranded-on-a-desert-island/
- Cat Woods – Fear and writing: http://catwoods.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/strap-on-your-writing-helmet/
- Doggonedmysteries – Toss out those adverbs: http://doggonedmysteries.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/toss-out-those-adverbs/
- Elspeth Antonelli – Decisions Decisions (very fun read) http://elspeth-itsamystery.blogspot.com/2010/06/decisions-decisions.html
- Terribly Wirte – Some interesting errors on the internet: http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/
- Elizabeth Spann Craig – fast paced books http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2010/06/fast-paced-books.html
- via Elizabeth Spann Craig – Authors Take Note: Yet Another “How Not to Get Published” Story: http://dld.bz/fXJZ
- Careann’s Musings – Tackling revisions (and weeding) http://careann.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/methods-of-revising-and-weeding/
- Creative Barbwire – My Commandments (very positive) http://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/my-commandments/
- Type M For Murder – on being a pro – http://typem4murder.blogspot.com/2010/06/on-being-pro.html
- The League of Extraordinary Writers – How do you prefer to read about setting? http://leaguewriters.blogspot.com/2010/06/and-question.html
Bit of Excitement
I posted this on Twitter when it happened but here I am sharing it on my blog.
Death’s Daughter made the top ten – BooksOnBoard announces this week’s bestselling eBooks and authors.
This was the list as released on May 19:
1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
2. The Secret of Excalibur – Andy McDermott
3. I am Nujood, Aged 10 and Divorced – Nujood Ali
4. Indemnity Only – Sara Paretsky
5. The Covenant of Genesis – Andy McDermott
6. The Summons – John Grisham
7. The Final Detail – Harlan Coben
8. Death’s Daughter – Cassandra Jade
9. The Killing Edge – Heather Graham
10. The Bone Conjurer – Alex Archer
I wonder if people who have published multiple books still feel the need to jump up and down with joy?
Cassandra Jade in the Realm 
The Day the Tweets Died
August 2, 2010 at 5:40 am (Author Info, Weekly Review) (blog, books, comments, internet, links, movies, post, tags, twitter, write, writer, writing)
Not really. As I mentioned in a comment last week, I managed to finally hit my download limit – all legal of course. That means ridiculously slow internet until the next period which is still about a week away. Which means that twitter is just not working for me at the moment. I can see the top couple of frames, and then it times out an dies. This is also a problem for some of you with really big blogs that have a lot of stars and bells and whistles. Love them usually, at the moment, I can’t actually view them.
What it all really boils down to is I can’t do my coming to a usual round up of tweets concerning excellent blogs I’ve read, not because I haven’t read some excellent blogs, but because without the twitter list telling me where I’ve been, I don’t actually have all the links.
In lieu of having some great links, I thought I would share a few random facts about my blog.
What did I learn from this?
If you don’t post, people don’t visit. If you don’t tell people you have posted, they won’t visit. If you don’t visit others, they won’t visit. And it really is worth using the tags and categories because sometimes really random google searches find your site.
Sorry for the lack of links, a couple of weeks and they will be back.
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