Design a Book Cover
I am participating in a fun cover designing contest at A Writer’s Journey Go on over and take a look at all the fun covers and vote starting August 31st and ending September 7th. Back in the old days I had ClarisWorks on my Mac computer and I would spend hours manipulating clip art pictures, painstakingly cutting and moving and creating.  As I’ve become more and more fixated on writing, I’ve been forgetting how much fun working with images can be.  Recently I downloaded Gimp and I’ve been teaching myself how to use it.  I’m learning to use stock images and manipulating things on Picnic through Flickr.  I’ve also been learning to make videos.  So much fun!  I love using various media to put out a message of some kind. This is a...
Read MoreYou Keep Using That Word
“You keep using that word. Â I do not think it means what you think it means.” Words mean different things to different groups of people. Â I’ve been noticing this more and more as I hang out on Twitter and other online places. Â Several times I’ve felt a weird mental double-take with unexpected words. Here are my examples, what are yours? Dev To me this is a short-hand for my sexuality, known (stupidly IMHO) as “devotee” or “devoteeism.” Â To the people at my work place and the geeky places I hang out online, this is short for “developer.” Â It makes me jump every time someone at work calls out, “Who has the dev copy?” Para To me and others in the disability rights field, this is short for...
Read MoreRomantic Friday Writers: Smooth Sailing
http://fridaynightwriters.blogspot.com/Â This blog has a challenge for writers of romance/love stories to write 400 words on a theme each Friday. Â The theme this week is Smooth Sailing. Another very rough draft today. Â Smooth Sailing is a difficult topic, since it implies no conflict! Â I have had several requests for a part two on Priya and Deepak’s story Home Country. Â I haven’t figured out a plot for it yet. Â So today I’m playing around to see what I come up with. Word Count: 388, critique however you would like. *** Priyanka had never dared to believe she could have such a good life. Â Well, maybe when she was very small. Â Before her parents had died. Â At that age she thought a good life would be wearing bright colored saris and dancing at...
Read MoreWhat do you look for in love?
When you think of your current partner or your ideal future partner, what factors matter the most to you? Â How has it changed over time? When I think about the man that I hope to meet someday, there are a few things I already expect from him. Â The qualities of being slow-to-anger, patient, and compassionate are very important. Â Physical appearance matters to some extent. Â A passion and drive in life is important. I base this ideal-man on previous experiences dating, on books and movies, on the ideas that I got as a child. Yet, I am aware of the Guys and Dolls problem. Â Sarah Brown thinks she knows exactly what her future husband will look like and act like and be like. Â She can list it in tremendous detail. Â Then life gets in the way and she falls in love with...
Read MoreRomantic Friday Writers: New Horizons
 http://fridaynightwriters.blogspot.com/ This blog has a challenge for writers of romance/love stories to write 400 words on a theme each Friday.  The theme this week is New Horizons First, a question.  If you’ve been coming through and reading my entries for the last few weeks you will see that my male characters are always disabled.  I would like to know if that is a problem for your enjoyment of the story.  It seems like people don’t quite know what to say.  I’m guessing that it feels like you think it’s a good thing to have a story that shows a disabled person having normal experiences, but it’s not really appealing or romantic to you personally.  Am I getting that right?  I’m worried that I’m making people...
Read MoreProgress Trackers
At proofreaders; available for pre-order
What Is Meant To Be
Second draft
Homework & Homicide (working title)
Second Draft
Book Montage
RFW winner October 7, 2011
