Books

Calm before the storm. Next weekend is kuuuhhraazzyyyy. Not only is it my youngest child’s birthday, but it felt like everyone wanted to schedule something that weekend. I’ll be heading to a family event with my mom and one unhappy son while hubs and son go on a scout camp out. Then, Sunday is the birthday / movie party for my baby. Dang, I can’t believe it’s been eight years since I held him in my arms for the first time.

Photo by sxc.hu user ba1969

Happy Easter to all who celebrate. Here’s an Easter smile: 10 Geekiest Gadgets to Celebrate Easter.

Brain food…

• 40+ free ebook tools for authors: Mah-velous list. [Link: Porter Anderson]
• The Comfort of Bad Reviews (That Aren’t Yours): Even the classics get bashed. [Link: Therese Walsh]
• Spring cleaning (and organization) for your social networks: By Cousin Sarah Evans. OK, She’s not really my cousin, but I wish because she’s awesome and thanks to her, I dumped big files in Gmail with Find Big Mail.
• 4 PR Lessons I Learned from Saved by the Bell: Yes, that show. I loved it and admit having the theme song on my MP3.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Book rug: <3 this rug by Pamela Paulsrud. She has other book sculptures — just click prev/next. My second fave is alphabook. [Link: Bitrebels]
• iPaw’d: I’d get this for my dog, but she doesn’t hear very well anymore. [Link: Bitrebels]
• 8 Snarky Song Charts Cleverly Illustrated: I had seen “Friday I’m In Love” before, but not the others. Delightful collection. Prepare for songs to play in your head.
• World’s Biggest Pac-Man: Holy, Inky, Blinky and Clyde!!
• The 20 All-Time Funniest Twitter Bios (part 2): S P E C T A C U L A R V E R N A C U L A R

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

When The Ten Commandments (Affiliate) appears all over the TV listings plus my sister’s and son’s birthdays arrive — it means it’s time for Passover. Indeed, Passover begins at sundown on Monday. It often falls on my sister’s birthday. Sometimes it lasts through my son’s birthday, but not this year.

I need to make this tweet from Rochelle Veturis my mantra: “Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.” ~Turner. My oldest went to college night last night, and of course, looked at out of state schools. The only school in Texas was a small private school. I’m telling myself it will work out. It’s her job and I just need to stay out of it unless she comes to me.

What do you know? I woke up to this message from Seth Godin about college debt. Agreed. Do you care where I went to college? I think the only people (outside of family) who cared were the ones who received my resume for my first after college job. Beyond that, no one cared. I know some companies post in their job listings that candidates should have degrees from top schools. They also know they need to look at the whole person, not just what’s on the diploma.

Despite this, I take pride in having attended TCU (one year — yes, the school that won the Rose Bowl this year!) and American U (graduate). Actually, having spent about 10 years in the school’s speech and hearing clinic when I was a kid, I went to TCU longer than most. AND my mom took classes there while pregnant with me

Brain food…

• It May Be Your Fault If Your Client Doesn’t Appreciate All That You Do: You do such a great job delivering what clients need. And because of this, they don’t realize what happens behind the scenes. Isn’t that the reason they hired you?
• 10 Home Office Time Savers: Wow. I do most of these, so these tips work!
• Top Five Mistakes Writers Make at Conferences: Here’s a past post on what to do after the conference and why I shy from conferences.
• Authors Sign eBooks Electronically: I had wondered what could replace autographed books. Here’s your answer, but it takes more time than the pen.
• A Scroll to the Editor: We Love to Read: Birch Lane Elementary School took issue with NY Times’ article on the downturn of picture books. I’m a grown up and I bought picture books before I became a mom. When my almost 8-year-old cleaned his bookshelf, I gave away most of the books — but kept some. Just had our school bookfair. Managed to walk away spending less than $100. Whew.
• 20 Must have Android apps for every user: Have some of these on my Android tablet, but disappointed it doesn’t have a vibrate feature. Turns out, this isn’t a common tablet feature. iPad 1 and 2 don’t have it. Samsung Galaxy has it.
• 25 Must Have Firefox 4 Compatible Add-ons: I still prefer Firefox to Google Chrome and the others. But I try to limit add-ons to must haves because Firefox has one big weakness: memory hog.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 10 Amazing Transparent Sculptures: Last set of links had a yarn car. This one has an cool car — literally.
• Bitter Borders Compilation: Sad and funny. At least, the staff has a sense of humor to get through this. [Link: Victoria Strauss]
• Google Exodus: Hilarious video. In honor of the upcoming Passover and another viewing of The Ten Commandments (Affiliate). Yes, I posted this last week. Worth posting again!

P.S. Of course, I want you to have fun. Since I had so much brain food this week, I figured I’ll limit the fun links to avoid overwhelming you.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

When Paul, my husband, was in his late 30s, I started thinking about how I could surprise him for his 40th. It’s hard to be surprised when turning 30, 40, 50 and so on. Paul surprised me for my 30th. To be honest, I wasn’t that surprised. I have a weird radar that figures out surprises. That, and my five-year-old made a comment — but she only confirmed what I thought.

So I decided to do something drastic… celebrate his 40th when he’s 39 1/2. This put the date in the summer and right between my daughter’s camp sessions, so she was home for the celebration. Frisco RoughRiders, a minor league baseball team, plays within a couple of miles from our house. Hmm… how about an old fashioned ball game for a party?

The day arrived. Paul isn’t one of those who feels the need to show up early especially for a ball game. Of all times, he decided he wanted to leave earlier. Oh, fine. I went with it delaying as much as I could.

We ran into my parents in the parking lot. (They lived an hour away.) So I came up with a perfect explanation on the spot. (And I’m not usually good at on-the-spot situations.) “Dad won tickets to the game and had plenty for the family.” Oh, it was very plausible. Everyone knew Dad was lucky. He won a car, a bike, trips.

We went to our seats and ran into my brother and sister. No big deal. Then our friends started showing up causing my husband’s face to turn curious confused. We revealed the party. Surprise! He was surprised even though we didn’t arrive after everyone else did as I had hoped.

All of us received an unexpected surprise… us adults with black tongues from the red and black — RoughRider colors — frosting on the cake.

Everybody’s Talking about Surprises

I wrote today’s post as part of the WOW-Women on Writing Blanket Tour for Letter from Home by Kristina McMorris (www.kristinamcmorris.com). This debut novel is the story of three young women during World War II and the identity misunderstandings they and the men in their lives have. Ask yourself: Can a soldier fall in love with a woman through letters? and What happens if the woman writing the letters is different from the woman he met the might before he shipped out, the woman he thought was writing the letters? Is it still love or just a lie?

Like many authors, Kristina has had a wild selection of “real jobs” everything from wedding planner to actress to publicist. She finally added novelist to the list after Kristina got a peek at the letters her grandfather wrote to his sweetheart (a.k.a. Grandma Jean) while he was serving in the Navy during World War II. That got her wondering how much two people could truly know each other just from letter writing and became the nugget of her novel. In honor of her grandparents, and all the other families kept apart by military service, Kristina is donating a portion of her book’s profits to United Through Reading, a nonprofit organization that video records deployed U.S. military personnel reading bedtime stories to their children.

Comment for a Chance to Win

If you comment on today’s post on this blog or any of the others participating in Everybody’s Talking About Surprises by 11:59pm on March 17, you’ll be entered to win a special surprise prize! It includes an personalized copy of Letters from Home, a Big Band CD, Victory Garden seeds, and a $20 gift card the winner can use at … well, it’s a surprise! All wrapped up in a vintage WWII box. To read Kristina’s post about surprises and a list of other blogs participating in Everybody’s Talking about Surprises visit The Muffin.

Tell us about a time when you were surprised.

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day last Monday (we won’t debate the merits of whether it’s a valid holiday or not), I want to thank you for reading and commenting. Because of you, I keep on trekking and sharing what I learn along the way.

Artwork by Marko Schmitt

Brain food…

• How Kindle’s new Public Notes could change the way we read ebooks: This will be an interesting feature. I hate writing in books because I like them clean, bright and wrinkle-free. So far, I haven’t made notes in the three books I’ve read on the Kindle — but all were fiction.
• Confessions of an Ex-mill Writer: Tempted to join a content mill to get writing experience and build up your portfolio? Stop. Do not pass go. Read this first. If you still want to do it, more power to you.
• How to Avoid the Most Common and Dangerous Passwords: I hope you’re not using the same password at all the sites. What if one site is hacked?
• 110 Ideas to Get More Freelance Work and Generate New Client Leads: Nice list organized in several categories.

For fun because we’re allowed…

• Think Snow: Sick of winter, ice storms school cancellations? Me, too… and so are the subjects in these hilarious photos.
• 7 Sites You Should be Wasting Time on Right Now: Nintendo does Great Gatsby. Ha!
• 13 Funny School Names: There’s always more to the story… based on my experience in seeing “General Hooker entrance” in Boston. General Hooker was riding on a horse at that entrance.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

I mentioned last week that my daughter made her first appearance right after the Dallas Cowboys won the Super Bowl. Wow. 17 years. And by this time next year, she might have a decision where she’ll be going to college in the Fall of 2012. I hope we’ll be done with the college application process. Looking at the list of things to do during the junior and senior years is the fastest way to give a heartburn to a parent. I think Tums is calling me. (I prefer Dicarbosil, but they’re no longer on the market.)

As hard as we might live in the moment and appreciate each day, time races on at high speeds. (That’s the best I could come up with to avoid the tired “Time flies.”)

Best headline from “North Texas” ice week: “Snow MG!”

Speaking of OMG, Bitrebels listed me as one of Twitter’s Top 75 Bad*bleep* Women. (I have three kids, you know. This is a safe for work website. *grin*) I followed over half of these great women before the list came out, so I’d say it’s a valid list — not another popularity thing. Me and popularity never go together. OK, better stop with the self-deprecating business before it spins out of control. Anyway, thank you, Bitrebels.

Lots of brain food this week! Not to worry,  it won’t take up your weekend.

Brain food…

• Nancy Pearl’s Rule of 50 for dropping a bad book: Writers, another reason why those first few pages must grip readers. Readers, we have so many books to read — don’t waste it on the ones that don’t captivate you. [Link: Daphne Gray-Grant]
• Amazon Kindle Firmware 3.1 Update: Right now, the update is only available to the latest generation of Kindles (third). I hope they plan to make it available for earlier generations as I’ve been longing for print page numbers. If I can upgrade to 3.1, it’ll be another reason to like the Kindle. It’s growing on me.
• 40 Ways to Build Trust in Your Brand: Excellent tips for every business.
• How Your Name May Cost You at the Mall: Fascinating. Those of ya with last names R through Z (women, go based on your maiden name), what’s your experience? Thinking about it, I don’t recall doing anything in alphabet order other than lining up for 5th grade and high school graduations.
• How the Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie Can Help You Improve Your Problem Solving Skills: I remember trying to read this book in high school as I’m an Agatha Christie fan. I couldn’t get into it. But of course, that could change today. Anyway, I love Avil’s use of the book to share lessons learned.
• Post Super Bowl Twitter Hangover: Frank’s experience of using social media too much during the Super Bowl is a lesson we need to learn. This is one reason why I stop participating in Twitter chats. It took time away from family and getting things done and didn’t pay off enough to make these sacrifices.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• What Lies Are We Telling Our Loved Ones: Hmm… don’t think I’ve committed these… am I lying to myself now? [Link: Guy Kawasaki]
• Chart: It’s Valentine’s Day. What Should You Get Him? Not Kosher, but funny.
• The Social Media World Before Twitter and Facebook: I used bulletin board systems (BBS). In fact, I met my husband through one. I wouldn’t tell people this in the ’90s, but thanks to the Internet and social networking — I shout it from the social media rooftops.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

Football fans, welcome to Dallas-Fort Worth and places around and in between! First, sorry about the cold weather. It happens when you have Green Bay and Pittsburgh headlining the game. So what can we do? Here are the answers to all your “North Texas” questions and myth crushers from The Dallas Morning News.

Photo by flickr user John Pozadzides

Technically, Cowboy stadium is in Arlington, not Dallas. Oh, not the one with the cemetery. That’s in Virginia. It’s Arlington, Texas where the 2010 MLB American League champions Texas Rangers play. Dang proud of ‘em even if they didn’t win the World Series.

You’ll also find a couple of amusement parks where I spent many summers there including Six Flags and the water park that has changed names many times.

Although Arlington is an entertaining city sandwiched between Dallas and Fort Worth, naming the teams “Arlington” just doesn’t work. Sorry, Arlington.

On top of the identity confusion, did you know that official Super Bowl merchandise say, “North Texas”? Bland, isn’t it?

“Where are you from?”

“North Texas.”

“Where’s the Super Bowl?”

“North Texas.”

Good news is that weather reports predict temps in the 50s on Super Bowl Sunday. I’d say that’s cool. Maybe not South Florida warm, but it’ll do.

I haven’t seen Texas Stadium except while driving on I-20 to my hometown of Fort Worth. My seven-year-old has (camp field trip), my cousin from New York has (Cowboys – Giants game). I just don’t pass that way often and when I do, I’m on my way to hang out with my family in Fort Worth. I did catch a Cowboy game at the old stadium. Neat experience. TV works just fine for me especially with the high priced tickets and parking.

A memorable Super Bowl: I was 11 days from my due date with my oldest child when the Cowboys won the Super Bowl in 1994. Boy, it took a lot of energy not to jump up and down. Folks were surprised I didn’t go in labor during the game.

Brain food…

• 10 Ways to Make Editors Fall in Love with Your Work: Michelle Rafter shares advice from Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) editors.
• Four reasons why the sales growth of e-books will be slower than industry executives think: Michael Hyatt is one of the most reliable resources on the publishing industry.
• The Problem with Memoirs: Harsh, but lots of truths. [Link: Rachelle Gardner]
• Yes Virginia, You Can Over-promote: Sometimes I’m perplexed. I’ve seen folks like the person described in Lori Widmer’s article. Yet, they’re getting results. I aim to help others, get to know ‘em and occasionally point to my work. I think results could be better, but I’d never promote myself like this. And I’ve unsubscribed to newsletters from people who send too much stuff.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Typography Art: Darth Vader and Typographic Maps. [Links: Bitrebels]
• Browser History Timeline: Eric Meyer updated the timeline. I remember my first browser: Mosaic from Internet in a Box.
• United States of Awesome and United States of Shame: Texas rocks wind power, but fails high school.
• Intel’s Thrilling Chase Movie: How long did it take to create this extremely creative film?
• 7 Videogame Characters Made out of Bottle Caps: Starring Blinky and Mario.
• Gamer Wedding Cakes: Glad we stuck with a traditional one even if we liked playing games. These are cute, though, especially “Game Over.”

For the past few years, I’ve been more cautious about things I buy and keep. Part of it, I attribute to my dad’s passing. He left behind a massive Donald Duck collection thanks to friends and family spoiling him with the Disney character he often imitated to make children laugh. Plus, why have all that stuff in the house to sit there and take up space?

The Books Must Go on … elsewhere

I hope to donate my Theatre World Annual collection. Each book is an encyclopedia of theatre for that covers one year. The shows that played, the shows that closed and recognized actors. I started collecting them in the early 1990s when I discovered the first five books. I wish I had never started the collection because I spent more time loading and unloading the books from shelves than I did reading them. Besides, today we have ibdb.com and many Internet resources where I can look up show information.

Yet, I can’t just give them away. I tried to sell some of the books, but it’s hard to find the hardcore theatre fans who actually collect these. I sold a couple on eBay, but it wasn’t worth the time to post and repost each book as collectors will be looking for specific editions, not a bunch in the set. Shipping a bunch of books in one box is pricey.

The Second Kindle Book Purchase

My book club announced the latest book (It’s a new year — so we haven’t put together our list yet) the day before I had two doctors’ appointments. While I could grab one of my many books I want to read, I needed to read the book club’s choice because of the deadline. With two doctors’ appointments, I expected to read a bit even with a kid in tow.

I don’t keep fiction books after I read them, so why pay for it? I checked with the library. I put my name on the waiting list that had seven people in front of me. I couldn’t tell how long it’d be before the book would be available.

Since I have a Kindle and a need to get a book ASAP, I bought my second Kindle book. (And I’ve had the thing for almost a year.) The first Kindle book came in August when I was heading out of town and found out my book club’s read the night before leaving town. Since I read a lot while traveling, I thought it’d be worth purchasing and it was.

I checked in my library’s website to cancel my request. Aw, man! I couldn’t. A copy is on its way to my library and arrived at the library on the day of the doctors’ appointments. Thanks, Murphy. It’s OK. I read at least 13 percent of the book, so I’d say it paid for itself (it was cheap for a Kindle book, too).

Quirky Book Buying Habits

By the way, the Kindle has a bunch of free books and PDF files loaded. (Check Amazon’s limited-time offers page for free books — scroll down past the fee books.) Have yet to read them just like the many books on my bookshelf. Isn’t that odd? I don’t want to buy an ebook unless I’m absolutely sure I’ll read it soon. Yet, I have books on the shelf that have been sitting unread for years. When buying books, I don’t think about when I’ll get around to reading it — just that it has value because I typically buy nonfiction reference and advice.

Even though I, a geek and gadget lover, still prefer books to ebooks — the ebook readers have a purpose. For me, I can grab a book that I need in a hurry without fuss. As much as I’d like to cut down on books and bookshelves, I’m not going to buy an ebook version of all of the nonfiction books I own and keep. Ebooks aren’t cheap enough to replace a big library.

Besides, I make a lot of mistakes with the tiny mouse / joystick on the Kindle. The administration and categorization process is tedious on the Kindle.

How do you feel about ebooks today?

I’m grateful to live in a time and a place where we treat people for who they are inside not what’s visible.

Brain food…

• Authors: How to write a press release for your book: While press releases aren’t the best route for marketing a book, you can make sure that the PR you do is the best possible with these tips. [Link: Jane Friedman]
• How to Write Copy that Connects using a Tried and True Formula: One thing I work to do… avoid “we” or “company name” and make it about “you.”
• Social Media Measurement 2011: Five Things to Forget and Five Things to Learn: I love this article. It’s not your usual social media metrics article. For one, it says forget about following numbers. Agreed. People ask me, “How did you get so many followers?” That’s not the point. The point is whether they’re the right folks. Of course, if you’re looking for a social media expert and see a self-proclaimed expert with 20 followers — pass.
• My Favorite Question: Makes you think about a company’s strengths. “If brand dies tomorrow, and you had to deliver its eulogy, what would you say missed the most? What would make you genuinely sad?” This helps writers who work on content for companies.
• 5 Tips for Freelance Mentor Relationships: Some of you may have  gotten emails from newer writers asking for advice. At first, it may frustrate you because you’re thinking, “I worked hard by myself to get where I am. Why don’t you Google that?” True. But put a positive spin on it. The person contacting you sees you as a success and that you have the answers.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Should I Work for Free? Debated whether this was brain food or fun. It’s both. [Link: Karen Swim]
• Pac-Man Ghosts: Another mashup. Inky, Blinky, Clyde and Sue replaced by Waldo, Stormtrooper, Superman and Megaman.
• Apple’s Rise to Number 1 Infographic: How Apple went from Homebrew Computer Club to number one.
• 15 Funny Exam Answers: Makes me wonder how my teachers would’ve responded if I had given smart aleck answers. Probably just mark ‘em wrong.
• 10 Most Curious Birth Stories: I would’ve love to have a kid born in 09/09/99, 03/03/03 or 05/04/03 (missed by one week), but it wasn’t to be. Fascinating stories.

The mysterious Paul in this case is my husband! And he arrived this very day in the year Star Trek debuted. I’ve mentioned him before, but I don’t expect y’all to memorize details in this blog. Anyway, he and the Super Bowl are the same age, so I never have to convert the Roman numerals into English. Or rather, I brush up on them using his age.

I’ve been out all day. Just finished talking to second graders about college and careers. Went well. Whew. Talking to my kids’ classmates always makes me feel uneasy until I explain to them that I’m deaf and have an accent. After that, it’s a smooth ride. We discussed writing as a job, so I had one child write a sentence on the board:

“My dog ate my homework.”

What a great sentence! At first glance, it didn’t need editing. However, the class worked together to make it better.

“My golden retriever scarfed down my homework.”

I hope this taught them the value of editing even when the original sentence has no grammatical errors.

Brain food…

• Free Ebook: Time Management for Writers: Thursday Bram shares unconventional tips to better manage your time so you can write a few thousand words a day.
• Lending Kindle Books: Brilliant. Now if we could check out Kindle books from the library. Maybe without having to go to the library to get it? [Link: Scott Stratten aka Unmarketing]
• How to Balance Twitter with Writing: Be mindful of your social media usage. It’s very easy to blur the lines of useful activity and just wandering ‘n tweeting.
• The case of Rob Sgobbo, and why writers cheat: Even if you know you won’t get caught, can your conscious handle it?
• Why You Should Never Search for Free WordPress Themes in Google or Anywhere Else: Yikes! That’s a problem for nonprofits.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• My Week of Eating Nothing But Candy: Reading this may make you feel better about limiting your candy intake. Robb says candy didn’t fill him up and it didn’t help with his mental stability. Would you know it? He lost four pounds on the candy diet. However, reading his experience… it does not feel good to be loaded up on sugar even with a peanut butter thrown in.
• Never said about restaurant websites: I may not eat out often, but I’ve seen more bad restaurant websites than good ones. On a recent visit, one was so bad that I immediately left the website.
• Top 10 Miniature Animals: Panda cows, foxes, tarsiers, oh my!
• 9 Breathtaking Natural Wonders: They are. [Link: Margie Kinney]
• From Brad Shorr: “S.C. man loses snowball fight: the funniest headline I’ve seen in ages.” May not be safe for work, but a great laugh!

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

A two week break from school and work is just right. Neither too much or too little, but it’s enough to snap your schedule as you don’t go to bed or wake up as early. I managed to sleep until 8am a lot of the time — unusual for me.

Well, I had a great start and a disappointing finish this week. I’m all over the place… so I’ll just hand you the links and get out of the way.

Brain food…

• My Freelance Writer’s Manifesto: Right on, Carol. Preach it!
• Excuses, Excuses: While I see the writer is trying to be funny, really you shouldn’t complain about editors (or any client) in public even in jest. What do you think?
• ArchivedBook: Browse old Facebook updates without scrolling down through old posts for pages and pages… (Details from Tech Tickle.)
• The Big Question: Where to look and not to look for writing jobs outside of low paying ones (read: content mills).

For fun because we’re allowed…

• Sh*t My Kids Ruined: Instant stress reliever.
• Worst Video Game Names Ever: No wonder I haven’t heard of these and you know I’m a gamer girl.
• Damn You Auto Correct! These give you plenty of reasons to turn off autocorrect. It has a way of sneaking on you. I wrote a message recommending Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. Autocorrect changed it to “Outports.” Not funny, but I’ve seen my share.

P.S. The non-Collector’s Edition (read: cheap) of the latest from the awesome series Mystery Case Files: 13th Skull is available. I’ll be playing that one soon.

How was your first week of 2011?

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans