Elle Casey, author of Wrecked and War of the Fae, is running a springtime giveaway of Young Adult and New Adult ebooks (there are some paperbacks available as well).
I am taking part with both my titles. For a chance to win one of my stories, or stories by the other authors involved, you can enter here: http://bit.ly/1499km3
Good luck!
Here are the titles included in the giveaway:
I recently purchased a copy of Scrivener. I’ve previously done my writing in OpenOffice or Microsoft Word, using Microsoft OneNote when I wanted to keep track of details. However, everyone raves about Scrivener, so I figured I’d give it a go!
With that in mind, I’ve spent this weekend working my way through the interactive tutorial – and yes, I probably will read the entire user manual at some point – I’m the sort of person who always reads the instructions! That way, I might forget how to do something – but I usually remember that it can be done. 
Anyway, since I tend to save all my ideas for plots as individual documents, I was curious to see how Scrivener would cope with importing those if I were to just highlight everything in my ‘Ideas’ folder and attempt to import it. Obviously, I didn’t actually do that – I set up test files in OpenOffice and Word, one regular and one password protected for each program & imported them to a test project in Scrivener.
I should perhaps mention that I already knew that Scrivener didn’t support importing for OpenOffice documents (apparently, the work-around is to cut & paste, or I suppose you could save it as a .doc or some other supported format first.) – I just wanted to see what would happen.
The results were:
General: It wouldn’t import the folder that contained the documents, I had to select all the documents within the folder individually. I mention this because, depending on how you organise your writing, you may have sub-folders for a project you’re working on in another program and need to factor that in when you come to import that particular writing project to Scrivener.
OpenOffice .ODT file: Didn’t import – but Scrivener created a document that consisted of a link to the OpenOffice file on my hard drive – clicking on the link started up OpenOffice and opened the file.
OpenOffice ODR file – Password Protected: As above, didn’t import but I got a document with a link that started up OpenOffice, prompted me for the password & opened the document once I entered it.
Microsoft Word .DOCX file: Imported as a document.
Microsoft Word .DOCX file – Password Protected: Didn’t import, created an error message and, where the document would usually go in Scrivener (represented by a sheet of paper with lines on it) – I had a blank sheet of paper with the file name as the title but no link or anything else. I was able to type into the blank document – at which point – lines appeared on the sheet of paper icon that represents it in the Scrivener Binder.
So, there you go. I just thought I’d share that in case it’s useful to anyone else who’s starting out with Scrivener.
My second title, a novella, is now available from the various e-book retailers, and can also be purchased in print from Amazon. Links here: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple iBooks, Sony, and Diesel.
Description:
I’ve been quiet lately because I spent August desperately working on Camp NaNoWriMo – despite getting an average of only 5½ hours sleep a night! In fact, I only had two nights in the whole month where I got as much as 8 hours sleep – and one of those is only if you count an afternoon nap as part of the total!
Anyway, despite being zombified for most of the month, I managed to hit the 50,000 word deadline with two and a bit novellas. It took a lot of self discipline to write when I was that tired! I managed it though, even though I had a six day period around week 3 where I couldn’t write at all & had to play catch up during the last week.
It always makes me feel virtuous when I ‘win’ a NaNoWriMo. So, I’m still coasting on the sense of accomplishment, but I need to get back to work soon. It’s a shame that I find editing much harder than writing when I’m tired. It’s not a good state for jobs that require attention to detail.
I’m working on the post-editor edits for my next title. It’s a fantasy romance novella and should hopefully be out some time later this month.
On a personal note, I’m thinking about starting to track calories & exercise on MyPlate (part of Livestrong.com) again. I can’t just cut down on food, because if I don’t eat enough calories, I don’t lose weight. My body is very clear about that! For example, if I set my calorie goals to lose 2lb a week, then I won’t lose any. I have to aim for 1½lb if I want to lose weight. MyPlate (or the Daily Plate as it was back then) was the only thing that helped me lose weight before my wedding. Exercise and cutting down on food weren’t helping. It’s a narrow path that I have to walk if I want to shift the pounds.
I’ve got a family wedding coming up next year, and I’d like to shift a bit of the weight that I’m still carrying after I had my son. I need to shift about a stone and a half (21lb) and I think it will only happen if I calorie track. It’s an annoying and time consuming faff. Calorie tracking is only easy if you eat pre-packaged foods, which I don’t in general. Having to calculate every single ingredient that goes into cooking a meal is a real pain. It does work though.
For years I refused to diet at all, and I still don’t believe in diets that involve denying yourself things. If I try to cut something out, then I just wind up eating twice the calories in other stuff, trying to satisfy the cravings for the thing I’m denying myself. I’ll be eating what I usually eat, just in moderation. Plus, knowing I have to track something if I eat or drink it means that I’m less likely to eat when I’m not actually hungry. As eating when I’m not actually hungry is something I do more often than I should, that’s helpful.
If I run out of calories for the day and I’m still hungry, then I’ll eat something. I’m not going to be overly strict with myself. It’s just a good set of guidelines to work with. Plus, it will help me work out which of my favourite meals are most calorific and should perhaps appear less frequently than they currently do!
According to Wii Fit I’m at the upper end of the ideal weight category, but it doesn’t take my frame into account, and I know I am carrying more weight for my BMI than is healthy for me.
I intend to reward myself for losing weight by having a go at making a gorgeous dress I’ve seen in one of the Burda magazines I’ve been buying. I haven’t yet made anything out of them due to a lack of free time. My dressmaking experience is limited to my wedding dress (a simple, empire line pattern) and a couple of outfits for my son. This dress will involve learning how to do gathers, so it will be a steep learning curve! Hopefully a fun one though.
I currently really want a packet of crisps (chips), but I’m not actually hungry yet. The self-discipline starts here… wish me luck!
Edited to add: A warning to anyone considering using MyPlate to track calories. It seems to set a suggested calorie intake amount that is way too low. I set it to lose 1½lb a week and it told me I should be aiming to eat 1,000 calories a day. That struck me as far fewer calories than I used to be able to have – I have a vague memory that it used to be 1,400 to 1,600 under its former incarnation as the Daily Plate.
I checked and yes, 1,000 calories a day is far too low for healthy weight loss. Not sure why it’s doing that but it’s something to be wary of. I plan to aim for more like 1,400. Livestrong’s own site warns against 1,000 calorie a day diets, so I’ve no idea why it’s telling me to eat that little!
I generally approach writing a story with: some characters, a basic concept, a start, and a finish in mind. The middle bit takes care of itself as I write. I’ll brainstorm ahead and maybe make a few notes on where I want the action to go over the next few thousand words, then I’ll write & when I start to run out of notes I’ll brainstorm some more. It works well for me.
I also tried improvising a story completely once for Scriptfrenzy. I just started describing the first scene that came into my head and the characters appeared on the page as they appeared in my mind. I did make a couple of notes in the middle of writing it, but that was because I wasn’t near my computer at the time. All I had on me was an old envelope, which was covered in scribbled notes on both sides by the time I got home. That also worked surprisingly well. (Though it probably helps that I’ve got a background in narrative improvisation, so I’m used to making up stories on the spot and holding the plot together.)
What I’ve never yet done – and intend to try for the August session of Camp NaNoWriMo – is to pre-plan out a story scene by scene and then sit down to write it. I’m finding it really tricky, because my instincts are screaming at me to do it the way I usually do. Now that I have plot ideas for the first ten thousand words or so, they want me to start writing it – and then plot the next bit, then write, etc.
Still, it’s an interesting challenge. I’m determined to get through any inner resistance and plot the whole thing before the start of August. I’m wondering if it will increase the amount I’m able to write each day, or have any other beneficial results. Time-wise it wouldn’t help speed up my writing in general, as this seems to take longer than the way I’m used to doing it. However, it might help for situations like NaNoWriMo, where I have to write a set amount of words in a set amount of time.
I think it’s good to shake up your writing habits occasionally – to try a different style/genre, or a different way of working. I’m hoping that I’ll learn something from the experience (other than that I’m mad to be contemplating a NaNoWriMo month when I’ve still got three stories to get through edits!)
After pretty much a lifetime of thinking of myself as a writer – I have finally published something! ‘Dimension Jumpers: Wanted’ went live on Smashwords, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and the other European Amazons earlier this week. It’s been approved by Smashwords for onward distribution, and is now live on Apple iBooks and Barnes & Noble. Still awaiting distribution to Kobo, and various other e-book retailers.
A print version is available via CreateSpace, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and other european Amazons.
At roughly 9,500 words, it’s a long short story/short novella, or a ‘novelette’ if you use that term.
Here’s the description: “All Amy wants is to blend in, hide her abilities, and stay alive. She’s just met the man of her dreams. Unfortunately, he’s one of the top police agents in the capital, and she’s the top suspect for the recent killing of the king. Even more unfortunately, she doesn’t know whether she’s guilty or not.”
I’m so pleased to finally see it out there after much back and forth with various beta/proof readers and my editor.
Now, on to the next title!