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What’s the Power of Your Network?
Let me start by profusely thanking everyone who bravely participated in Pitch Your Shorts and everyone who helped spread the word about the pitch session. I was out of town all last week for my...
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Goodbye, Google Friend Connect–Now What?
We’ve all seen the Google Friend Connect (GFC) widgets on websites and blogs we visit. Some sites have asked us to join GFC to qualify for a contest or giveaway. On our own blogs, we enjoy seeing...
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When Does Fan Fiction Cross an Ethical Line?
Fan fiction, also known as fanfic, refers to stories written by fans about the characters, situations, or world of existing works created by others. This definition sounds broad because the world of...
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Using Google Search Terms for Fun and Education
After the last few weeks of “serious issues,” I needed a silly break, so I looked up the search terms that recently brought people to my blog. Google didn’t disappoint, as several phrases caught my...
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How Do You Handle Disappointments?
Over a thousand writers stared at their phones yesterday, willing them to ring. Only around 150 of them received the call they were waiting for. Yesterday the Romance Writers of America (RWA)...
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Exploiting Our Brand: Is There a “Right” Way?
Our brand is the impression others have of us. So we all have a brand, whether we know it or not. Hopefully, we’re building a brand that reflects who we really are, in a way that shows us at our...
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Smeagol Presents: The Hunger Games
In honor of April 1st—otherwise known as April Fool’s Day—I have a silly treat for you. Many of you know my Tech Guy, as he’s not only an awesome Jedi Master of everything computer, but he’s also a...
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Are You Missing Blog Readers?
Now that the dust has settled from the disappearance of Google Friend Connect (GFC) from all non-Blogger blogs, I thought I’d post a followup examining how much the discontinuation affected people....
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What’s the Hardest “First Step” You’ve Taken?
As I write this post (late) Monday night, I just returned home after the regional writing conference, Desert Dreams. I had a great time, met wonderful people, attended thought-provoking workshops,...
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Are Ebooks Ever Done?
In the world of traditional publishing, if errors make it through the editing process for a book, authors (and their readers) are stuck. A lucky few authors are able to get egregious mistakes like...
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You’ll Look Like a Spammer If…
If you’ve had email for a while, you’re familiar with email spam. Spammers often try to make their emails seem relevant, with fake warnings about our PayPal or eBay account, etc., but their messages...
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3 Reasons to Love the Writing Community
I’ve had a lot to be thankful for lately. My family and I got away for a fun vacation, my klutziness didn’t result in too many injuries out in the middle of nowhere, and I survived being without...
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It’s (Writing) Olympics Time!
The Olympics are starting in a week—while I’m in Anaheim, California for the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Annual Conference. I’m really looking forward to the confernce, but man… Did it have to...
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Goodbye, Feedburner! Hello, Ownership of Our Platform
Months ago, I wrote about the death of Google Friend Connect (GFC). Many people who used the GFC social media and feed reading service couldn’t believe that Google would drop a service used by so...
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NaNo Prep: What’s Your “Next Big Thing”?
I don’t usually participate in blog tagging posts, but every once in a while, one comes along that fits in well with my blog. On Tuesday, Janice Hardy tagged me for The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. As...
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Life Lessons from the “Epic Road Trip”
Those of you who follow me on Twitter might have heard that my family and I took a two-week road trip a couple of months ago. And yes, it was “epic.” We traveled over 2100 miles on our way to visit...
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The Best Reason to Blog – Part 3
Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S. The day we eat too much food, roll our eyes at the antics of our extended family, and think about all the things we’re grateful for. Or in my case, see if I can sneak...
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Merry Christmas! Some Gifts for You…
I’ll be offline for most of this week, but I wanted to leave you with some fun (and yummy) gifts. If you’re celebrating this week, I hope your plans all unfold smoothly, your travels all go safely,...
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Faking It: Making Our Actions Count
We’ve probably all heard the phrase: Fake it until you make it. The idea is that we’re supposed to act the way we want others to see us, and we’ll be treated the way we want. The concept can be...
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9 Tips for Making Online Friends
In my last post, I talked about the online opportunities for writers, including fully interactive writing conferences. So now is a good time to rerun this post about about how to reach out to other...
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