Books

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

Or is that the quiet before the storm?

All of the kids get out of school early today. I’m trying to finish up my work so I can make the most of winter break. It’s been an overwhelming two weeks filled with anxiety. I try to tell myself to take it one day at a time and one to do item at a time. Then, celebrate each completed item. Normally, this works well. I guess when you haven’t even done the annual letter that you send to friends by this point, it’s not a good sign.

I’m one of those who tends to be the first one sending out the holiday letter. Haven’t even started it. That’s because I had to prioritize my list. My friends won’t fall apart if they don’t hear from me, whether it’s late or not this year. That goes for blogging, too. I enjoy blogging and sharing my experiences with you, but I had to sacrifice it because of priorities.

Yes, like exercise, people tell you… make time for it! Make time for blogging! Make time for this. Make time for that. Enough make times and you’ll have to take things off your list or change the priority into low ones.

By the way, exercise is one of my higher priorities. It affects my physical and mental health.

Next Friday is Christmas Eve. The following is New Year’s Eve. I hope that you will spend time offline enjoying whatever you enjoy whether it’s eating Chinese food or attending midnight services. Ooh, that reminds me… I need to see if I have a jigsaw puzzle that I haven’t done. I do one every year during winter break.

All right, time to let you go tour the goodies and for me to get back to work.

P.S. In case you wondered, I took that photo in the ’90s when I lived in DC. I don’t have an eye for photography, but proud of that picture.

Brain food…

• Make Calm Your Default Setting: Bob Burg teaches an important lesson. Some hospitals don’t just ask you if your pain is 1 through 10 with 10 being unbearable. They show you a picture with 10 faces illustrating pain from a touch to monstrous. What may be a catastrophe for one person is an annoyance to another.
• Strategy Made Simple: I think most of us know that social media for business should have a strategy and plan. But not all of us have the resources especially one-person businesses. Ron Ploof shares a simple table to help you manage your social media strategy.
• Breathtaking Facebook Fan Pages: Breathtaking may be a little strong, but they’re impressive and provide lots of great ideas. Many are from entertainment industry, but scroll down for food, beverage and misc.
• All About the Excerpt: Key to convincing people to buy the book. [Link: Elizabeth Craig]
• 10 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block Fast: Not yet another writer’s block advice column. Has a couple of unique ideas.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 15 Coolest Snowmen: Beware — a couple not safe for work.
• Bad Press Releases: 20 Worst Headlines Ever: Maybe not ever, ever… but pretty bad. [Link: Arik Hanson]
• 10 Most Powerful Tweets of 2010: Was Schwartz’ announcement this year? Anyway, anyone could do this type of post, but Twitter did a beautiful job. Keep watching Twitter’s Year in Review for more. [Link: Tim Berry and Liz Strauss]
• The History of Video Games (in song): I recognized Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” That may be no big deal to you, but this gal… does not have normal hearing
• 201 Mega Men: I woulda loved having this as a poster when I was a teen. What teen girl needs Kirk Cameron and Ricky Schroeder posters when you have adorable mega men? I guess I was a geek, huh?
• Amazon Provides a Dose of Humor: I had seen hilarious reviews here and there, especially The Mountain Three Wolf Moon Short Sleeve Tee. More gems hiding out there on the A to Z site.

How will you spend the last two weeks of the year?

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Meryl Evans

Credit: Shawn P. Calhoun

Overwhelmed this week and next in hopes to wrap up many things before the kids’ winter break. At least, I know my limit and adjust rather than pressure myself to write up something because I do it most Fridays. Despite the hectic schedule, I took the time to drive through my neighborhood to admire my neighbors’ hard work in decorating their yards. So beautiful.

So on with the show…

Brain food…

• Q&A: MFAs and Metaphors: I’ve been keeping the idea of getting an MFA in the back of my mind and watching for programs. The big question: Is it worth getting an MFA? Getcher answer.
• Shut up and get to work: Need motivation. Go here and click links until you’re motivated.
• The 9 Biggest Myths about Finding and Following Your Passion: Even dream jobs have bad days. Like the article says… enjoy the ride.
• What You Should Say to Your Client When Their Payment Is Delinquent: Tough situation. Good advice.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 16 Drinks Named for Authors and Their Books: If you create your own, what would you call it? [Link: Jane Friedman]
• In Color: Architecture Photography: Wish I knew another word for “Wow!”
• Fiverr: What people will do for $5. Some of it is unethical like “posting four positive reviews of your business or product.”
• Life Back in the Day: 18 ads from the ’70s: 30 to 40 years later… whole new meaning. [Link: Laura Spencer]
• Hot Wheels Extreme: In honor of my son who has a giant collection of these miniature cars.
• Christmas by the Book and a Recyclable Christmas Tree: A writer’s dream Christmas tree? Could make it an annual thing… different book types, colors, etc.
• Star Wars Alphabet: Too bad this didn’t come out when my kids were toddlers. Too cute.

How are you doing this holiday season?

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

As a writer, one of my goals for this year was to use more stories and real-life examples in articles. The challenging part was coming up with a story or example that tied in with the rest of the article. One of the pros at this is Michael Katz of Blue Penguin Development and I’ve been studying his weekly newsletter to learn from him.

We hand out candy on Halloween. Sounds boring with no chance of becoming a story in an article? Michael did it. The funny thing was this Halloween was the first time I didn’t have to do the running-to-the-door-and-grabbing-the-candy-bowl on the way business. My 11-year-old son shocked us when he said he was too old for trick or treating. This guy loves candy more than his older sister who was trick or treating with her teen friends long pass age 11.

Not only that, but my seven-year-old had the flu, so my husband was home to help, too. Between them covering the door, I had the whole Halloween night off for the first time since we moved in our house.

I grew up in a neighborhood where most kids were the same ages as my 10 years older  siblings, so few kids came to our door. Our neighborhood made my childhood neighborhood look like country living (Fort Worth) as the doorbell rang too many times to count. During the early years, I loved standing by the door ready to open it to see what surprises appeared on the other side of the door. Creative costumes, creepy costumes and teens faking it costumes.

In the past few years, my enthusiasm dropped. The doorbell’s constant interruption left me with little I could do between ringings except for reading magazines. When you do something long enough, it turns into a bore that all the costumes — good and bad – blur.

That happens to business professionals, too. They call, they present, they meet. They can do everything right and fail to capture interest from the party on the other side of the phone call, table or desk. Like answering the door on Halloween and losing interest in the costumes, they have heard and seen it all before.

Author of Metaphorically Selling Anne Miller shares over 50 stories using metaphors, stories and examples to shake resistance and close deals in Make What You Say Pay! The diverse examples in the book cover speeches, greeting cards, elevator speeches, new concepts and more. The book has a simple layout: the story followed by Miller’s short commentary on the story and why the metaphor worked.

Not only does the short, fast read offer examples from different situations, but also uses a variety of metaphors. So no expecting a book filled with the oft-used sports metaphors. Because of the diversity of situations and metaphors, most people can benefit from the book. A developer can get ideas on how to explain technical concepts. A small business can get ideas on how to thank clients for their business.  A finance employee can get ideas on how to convert lifeless numbers into meaningful ones.

Miller sorts chapters by topic to simplify finding the right stories that fit your situation. Need to grab attention? Convince them to get on board? Stand out from the crowd? Miller includes all of these and more.

The only slight weakness is the commentary. First, all of it is in italics. Italics aren’t meant for paragraphs. Its job is to highlight short points, book titles and the like. Some feels forced, like you have to include commentary, but the story says it all and any commentary would be just repetition. The commentaries are one or two paragraphs, so they don’t take up much space. The value is in the stories. In fact, I wish there were more stories and examples. Miller invites readers to submit their stories and she plans to publish them as long as they keep coming.

Make What You Say Pay! belongs in the professional’s reference library. Almost every business professional can punch up business with a story or metaphor. Miller’s book will help find that metaphor so you’re not stuck using the needle in a haystack analogy again.

Title: Make What You Say Pay! The Language That Opens Minds, Closes Deals & Wows Crowds
Author: Anne Miller
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN-10: 1450583873
ISBN-13: 978-1450583879
Date: July 2010
Format: Paperback
Pages: 164
Cover Price: USD: $14.95 Amazon: $13.45

FTC disclosure: Reviewer received copy from publisher, which had no influence on the review.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Meryl Evans

My mom and several dear friends all have their birthdays on the last three days of November. Anyone out there have a birthday at the end of November? I’m betting we could become fast friends Yes, with only 365 (366 in leap year) days for the picking to be born… we’re bound to know people with birthdays around the same time. I have a few friends that share the same birthday as me. However, having that many special people with birthdays so close together isn’t playing the odds.

Mom and me, August 2010

I could write about how awesome my mom is, but I’ll forgo that. One, she’ll cry. Two, how many ways can a gal say her mom rocks and how many times have you heard it? I won’t bore you, but know that I’m lucky have her for a mother and can see why many people speak highly of her. Great, I probably broke #1. (Yes, she reads my blog. Now she’s probably gonna email me and ask why I posted this in public.)

December. Wow. And Hanukkah is early this year. It started on the evening of December 1. Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate.

Brain food…

• How I Kept My Freelance Business Intact During Relocation: My family won’t be moving for a long, long time. We’re happy with our school system and the program it has for one of my kids. Freelancing certainly gives us the freedom to live wherever we want unless you have many local clients.
• Fake Writing Jobs: RealWritingJobs.com: I’ve been getting these tweets, too. Thank you, Victoria Strauss, for telling the story so you won’t have to translate the terms and conditions. Twitter has suspended some of these accounts. Yeah!
• What Your Clients Want and Deserve: Another winner from Lori Widmer.
• Yes, Virginia, there is a way to give title comps: Why and how you should compare your book to competitors in your book proposal. I did this when I wrote my book proposal, and it provides great insight to do this part. It will help you make your book better.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 12 Ugliest Book Covers: Not just the obscure books…
• 12 of the World’s Ugliest Building: Yes, another “12″ — must be in honor of December, the 12th month. Yes, another from Oddee. But it’s in honor of my mom who loves building designs, especially Frank Lloyd Wright. My sister gave her a Lego set of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water that Mom put together herself. First time since my brother was a kid.
• You Went to the University of … What? I’m from Texas where we’re known for being football fanatics. I joke that American University (my alum) isn’t a real school because it doesn’t have a football program [Link: Liz Kline]
• 15 of the Lamest Google Ads Ever: Sometimes logarithms get it wrong…

Since Hanukkah involves lots of candles and I love candles, I’ll ask you: What’s your favorite candle?

Me? Ooh, toughie. For summer, I liked Party Lite’s Spiced Plum that’s not made anymore. I tend to like variations of cinnamons. In my office with me is Home Interiors’ Baked Apple Pie. Delightful cinnamony fruity scent.

I’ve been watching CaptionFish for weeks eagerly waiting for a local theater to carry Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 with rear window captioning. I have been Harry Potter movies right when they came out and without captions, but I’d rather go once and get the full experience. Daughter did catch the midnight show and reported when she got home: “I’m home. It was amazing. Good night.”

First the Texas Rangers make it all the way to the World Series and wins one game. Now FC Dallas, a team in the original sport known as football (soccer in only the U.S.), heads to its first-ever Major League Soccer Cup final! I guess the other Dallas-area sports teams are trying to make up for the Dallas Cowboys’ embarrassing season. (Oh, and the Cowboys managed to pull out a win in the first game with Jason Garrett coaching.) Maybe Thanksgiving won’t be Cowboy-less after all.

Brain food…

• Mobile emulators: With more people accessing the Internet on mobile devices, you don’t want to lose opportunities with your website — so you want to test to see how it looks on different devices. Two resources: http://ready.mobi and 10 Excellent Tools for Testing Your Site on Mobile Devices.
• PC Magazine‘s Favorite Blogs 2010: Web Worker Daily made the list! I haven’t written for them in a while; great to have confirmation they’re an amazing resource for telecommuters.
• When it comes to writing, economize: Excellent advice for new and experienced writers.
• Book Blurbs and Interior Design: The Creative Penn shares tips for writing the back blurb and picking the right interior designer for your book.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 12 Coolest Doors: First I’ve seen such unusual doors like these.
• 10 Funniest Windows Errors: Ah, I remember my first computer error that drove me batty: “REENTER?” Now, that may look logical to “re-enter” something… but this was 1984. Without the dash, I read it as “r-ee-nter” (like “renter with a long e) as opposed to “re-enter.” And speaking of old computers and 8-bits…
• Pixel Star Wars: Welcome Back to the 8-Bit Days: Games on the Apple ][+ contained stick-figure style graphics, blocky graphics or text-only a la Zork.
• Joy of Tech on the Beatles: Apple’s website announced that “Tomorrow would be unforgettable.” All it did was announced Beatles available in iTunes. Sorry… that’s not unforgettable.  I guess company forgot we can put our CDs in our computers and transfer the songs to iTunes. (I’ve had Beatles on my MP3 for a long, long time.) C’mon. Aw, dang it. Now company has  me talking about it — bet that’s what it wanted.

This one’s short. Week was long, online reading time was short. Some folks said there were long lines on election night right before the polls closed. Did they forget there’s a cool and convenient thing called early voting? I was in and out within five minutes.

Brain food…

No brain food this time. My brain was fried this week with so much going on with flu in the house and work. But I took the time to check out some funnies because we need to laugh more.

For fun because we’re allowed…

• All-Time 100 Gadgets: According to Time…
• University Website: Too true especially since I’m starting to visit more college sites with a kid who is a high school junior.
• The 100 Best Signs at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear: Long, but worth it.
• Book Cover Fail: Good reminder of the importance of the book design’s message matching the title. I couldn’t find this book anywhere outside of Fail Blog, so maybe it was an early draft that won’t exist in the final draft.

What are you doing this weekend?

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Meryl Evans

As a kid …

I’ve been on both sides of the special needs parenting relationship. Well, I don’t think I was a special needs kid, but I do have a unique challenge because I’ve been deaf since birth. My parents always told my teachers to treat me like any other kid with one exception: make sure I sat where I could read lips.

However, my parents championing for me didn’t stop there. In third grade, the school put me in the lowest reading level and in the middle of the math level. Mom disagreed with the placement. The school moved me up to the middle reading class and to the highest level math class. It worked well except my mom didn’t like the reading teacher. One advantage of being a “sort of” special needs child is that I picked up this championing skill from my mom and put it to work with my child.

The magnet program started in fourth grade in my school district. The magnet program is an honors type program where kids worked with harder material and faster. I didn’t make the magnet program because my standardized test score wasn’t high enough. Mom had me tutored and retake the test over the summer and I entered the magnet program in fifth grade. It was one of the best years in grade school.

As a Mom …

As a Mom of three kids, I’m on the other side of the coin and have one child with unique needs. While I’m open to talking about what makes him different, I don’t write about it online. It’s not for me to reveal. I don’t want to affect his future (not that it should). You and I know that the Internet has a memory of a million elephants and exposes its memory to everyone.

The downside of not talking about it publicly is that parents in the same situation don’t have me as a resource to know they’re not alone. I came across a blog about a Mom in my situation and appreciated her sharing experiences. Instead of posting online, I talk to parents in my area. However, I sent a message on Facebook to one parent I rarely see to find out how her moving was going. Her family hadn’t moved yet and she told me about her child’s current challenges.

I told her about a program in our public school system. She knew nothing about it. At least, she was in touch with the right administrator who can help her child get into the program that I spoke of.

No matter what support they have, parents of special needs kids never stop fighting for their children. Even with my child in a special program, I have had to go up to bat for him when something wasn’t working.

As a worker …

Thanks to freelancing, I have the flexibility to be there for my kids when they need me without the guilt. While I always put in my hours, I felt stressed when I had to leave the office outside of lunch time. Goodness knows, we have lots of appointments and meetings with teachers. These meetings occur during the day, a time when corporate parents struggle to leave the office. Then, they may have to make up the time by working late — more time away from the kids. A vicious cycle.

Fortunately, more companies offer flexibility. I believe that as long as the employee gets the work done well and meets goals, then flexibility shouldn’t be an issue. Of course, if the hours start shrinking too much — then the manager needs to address it.

Companies may fear hiring parents of kids with special needs or people with special needs. But we tend to stick around longer, which keeps turnover low. When we find a good company that’s flexible, we tend to be more loyal. Because of the work parents do for their kids, they tend to put the same type of knowledge and energy into their jobs. Also, people living with a unique situation have creative ideas because they look for solutions that few need. Just read Chynna Laird’s bio below and you’ll see what an amazing person she is who does more than most parents of children with no unique challenges.

Inspiration for this post …

I wrote today’s post as part of the WOW-Women on Writing Blanket Tour for Not Just Spirited by Chynna Laird. The book is a memoir of a mother fighting for a diagnosis when countless doctor’s told her that her daughter was just “spirited.” Chynna shares the heartbreaking reality of mothering a child with a severe “No touch” rule. She calls it “Mothering without touch.” Although Not Just Spirited is the perfect match for parents of children with sensory processing disorder (SPD), the determination and victories shown in the book will encourage anyone parenting a child with special needs or working to overcome an obstacle in their own life.

Chynna has also written a children’s book, I’m Not Weird, and resource book about SPD, At-Home Strategies for Managing Sensory Processing Disorder: A Guide for Parents. She is now working on another book, White Elephants. When not writing, Chynna is a mom to her three young children and a student wokring on her BA in psychology.

Win …

If you comment on today’s post by 11:59pm on December 1, 2010, you’ll be entered to win a copy of Not Just Spirited: A Mom’s Sensational Journey With Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). The unbiased and robotic Random.org has the honor of picking the commenter whose name will go into the WOW drawing for the book. To read Chynna’s post about parenting and a list of other blogs participating in Chynna’s Blanket Tour for more chances to win, visit The Muffin.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Meryl Evans

Welcome to meryl’s notes blog (this here place you’re lookin’ at) in Plano, Texas. We’re honored to be a stop in Candace Coulombe’s WOW! Women On Writing Blog tour for the Coffee House Fiction Anthology 2010 and The Fifteenth Dame Lisbet Throckmorton Contest. We’re giving away a copy of her book, Second Grace: stories of fresh starts, second chances, and also running away. Read on to see how you can win.

About Candace Leigh Coulombe: Candace Leigh Coulombe is the author of Second Grace: stories of fresh starts, second chances, and also running away and Mercy Seat: a novella of love, loss, redemption, and hagiography. Second Grace won the Compilations/Anthologies category of the 2010 Beach Book Festival and an Honorable Mention in the 2010 San Francisco Book Festival, and an included story entitled “ScentEasy” won the 2009 Environmental Futures Writing Prize.

Candace works in Northern California full-time as a marketing communications specialist and part-time as a writer of short fiction, essays, and poetry. Her work has been recognized by the Sacramento and Elk Grove Public Libraries, NYC Midnight, the American River Review, and PEN Women. Listen to an in-depth interview or read her stories.

The Truth That Allows You to Lie: Using Historical Facts to Enrich Your Fiction by Candace Leigh Coulombe

Gentle readers and writers~

Like many literary women, I feel I was born in the wrong era. It’s through the escape of fiction that I enjoy other times. And, as a writer of flash fiction, I can afford to be capricious. I experience disparate eras, genres, and points of view that would be difficult to commit to, for a reader or writer, in longer forms.

Writing historical fiction isn’t just writing a period piece. You can take a known event or age and craft new characters, or take persons of note and craft new situations. Then, add elements of non-fiction, memoir, or fantasy.

We all need external influences for our work, or we’ll write about the same boy who broke our heart over and over again. My stories have three elements vying for the same little space: practical matters (word count, genre, location, object); inspiration (poem, painting, etc.); and theme. I don’t hold fast to “write what you know,” only to “write what you want to know more about.” So, some of my favorite stories were inspired by news articles. The glimpse of the true story -– the exoticism of a foreign land or time gone by -– makes me want to learn more. Inevitably, in the research, I encounter new ideas that enrich the story. The language should reflect a precise era, location, and social class.

I aim for accuracy, even when the narrative veers toward the fantastical. For example, I was given the task of writing a bus stop horror story. I’d read a news item about German convalescent homes that erected fake bus shelters as a bit of therapy. Around the same time, I’d read accounts of the Lindbergh kidnapping. I pursued a historical fiction-fantasy approach to the perpetrator’s fate in “Buses and Planes.” The characters and details of the Lindbergh affair are true; I’ve just imagined a different fate. There are very small things, some the reader may never know, like the smoke rings one of the characters blows that echo the rings on the real ransom envelope.

For “The Gulf of Aden,” I’d read an article about the precautions some cruise lines were taking when sailing through the eponymous passage, and I wondered what would happen if they didn’t take any. It’s a contemporary story about division of wealth in which the social-climber gets what she thought she wanted and finds it’s not really wonderful at all. But, the story wouldn’t be the same having read up on pirates or Cunard itineraries.

My two best resources are The Complete New Yorker and The New York Times archives. I love having access to a century of news, reviews, and advertising. I wrote “Phoning Arcadia” after reading a “Talk of the Town” column from 1927.

But, for any work, the truth in the details allows you to buy the lie that is the story.

Whether it’s romance, suspense, political satire -– anything, actually — stories aren’t derived from nothing. It’s an interesting obituary, lip print on a shirt or aching piece of music. Then, instead of placing that object in the story, you weave in a thousand details. Lipstick on a collar is almost never from a wife –- a universal story there. But what about laundry marks, collar stays, the faint scent of sizing?

Try to capture a little piece of history in each story. There’s so much beauty in the world. Let your curiosity make your stories replete with truth and beauty and readers will gladly join your adventures.

So, tell me, if you could take any historical event and craft a new ending, what would it be?

Win: For a chance to win a copy of Second Grace: stories of fresh starts, second chances, and also running away., please leave a comment at least 50 words long that answers Candace’s question. You have until 11:59pm on November 1, 2010 to qualify for the drawing. The unbiased and robotic Random.org has the honor of picking the winner.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Meryl Evans

I smiled when I read Daphne Gray-Grant’s October 5 issue of Power Writing. (I recommend the newsletter especially for writers.) She wrote, “Finally, one important P.S. I’m no longer a member of a book club because I dislike being told what to read — especially when there’s a deadline. If a book club works for you, well, make that item #8. If not, don’t feel guilty about it! Reading should be about enjoyment, not guilt.”

In this issue, she gave seven ways to make sure your reading helps you writing. I suppose I should share the seven tips to avoid torturing you while reading this. The tips are hers and the comments that follow are mine.

1. Be sure to read only those books you enjoy. It took a couple of books for me to learn to just cut the book loose if it stinks. Well, unless, my college class required it.
2. Read only a limited amount of crap. How do people get an accent where they live? Because they hear it so much, they sound like it. Same thing with reading bad writing.
3. Read the kind of writing you aspire to produce yourself. This doesn’t mean reading Jane Austens. It means if you write white papers, read the white papers from the best writers and books about white papers from reputable white paper writers.
4. Never feel obligated to finish material you don’t like. Before I pick up a book or agree to do a book review, I research it to see if it’s worth my time. Sure, I’ve posted a few reviews of books I didn’t like. In these cases, I was doing a job as a reviewer not reading a book I chose.
5. Keep a record of what you have read. Books read PDF file. ’nuff said.
6. Have a good system for tracking the names of books you want to read. I keep a file with this info that I can access on my mobile device. You never know if you find a deal while out and about.
7. Give books away when you’re finished. The only books I keep are references that I can refer to again, autographed books and special books such as those where I contributed.

I agree with her that reading should be about enjoyment and not guilt. My book club has given me the opportunity to read books that I would otherwise never get to read especially fiction. Because I do non-fiction book reviews and other book-related work, I don’t get to read fiction.

Thanks to the book club, I’m currently reading The Help and read Time Traveler’s Wife. If I don’t like a selection, I don’t read it. Other members have admitted to not reading or finishing a book and we respect that. I also discovered books I would not have considered like The Secret Life of Bees and The Freedom Writer’s Diary. I’m sure every book club operates differently. I appreciate mine for their flexibility, insightful discussions and delightful company.

Daphne Gray-Grant is a writing and editing coach and the author of the popular book 8 1/2 Steps to Writing Faster, Better. She offers a brief and free weekly newsletter on her website. Subscribe by going to the Publication Coach.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Meryl Evans