One of my (many) pet grammar peeves is the overuse of exclamation points. I’m not sure if the interrobang will improve things or result in more problems. The application of the interrobang is pretty straightforward. According to Wikipedia: A sentence ending with an interrobang asks a question in an excited manner, expresses excitement or disbelief … Read More →
I was very surprised and excited to find my name on the Fish Publishing shortlist for the Short Memoir Contest. This is the first writing contest I’ve entered in nearly 20 years, so this is quite a thrill for me. The short list has 81 entrants. The winner and nine runners-up will be published in the 2013 … Read More →
I may be one of the few people who enjoy receiving spam. Well, is it really spam if I signed up for all these emails? The daily Woot announcement always starts my day off with a chuckle. Kudos to the writers at Woot. I enjoy every silly description they create. Today’s gem: Lenovo 15.6 Dual-Core … Read More →
I’m really enjoying Hillary Rettig’s The 7 Secrets of the Prolific about writing, procrastination, perfectionism, and all the internal and external traps that keep a writer from actual being a writer. A lot of her advice is spot on, and I’m working to put it into practice immediately. She advises the writer to find other writers, … Read More →
As an avid reader, I usually have a few books going at the same time. Some evenings, I’m in the mood to cuddle up in my heated blanket and read some classic English literature in the form of a hard-cover book with an old binding and yellowed pages. I may also have a how-to book … Read More →
I came across this unique item while searching for an image for my twitter account. This is soooo appealing! The thrill of using a typewriter may be passing from memory, but Jack Zylkin’s groundbreaking innovation brings this mechanical marvel out of retirement and offers a nod to its influence on the development of modern automation. … Read More →
I love reading Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings. I also enjoy every morsel of advice offered by Stephen King. Today, the blog had a few excerpts about the use of adverbs from King’s excellent book of advice to writers: On Writing: A Memoir on the Craft. I blogged about this book awhile back. It’s one of … Read More →
I used to read a lot of how-to books. The advice started to get repetitive and I began to weary of reading simplistic tips that I rarely used in my own life. The other night, I happened across a book to help writer’s overcome their procrastination. The book had 44 excellent (5-star) reviews on Amazon.com, … Read More →