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Sunday, July 31, 2011

Liebster Award

The Write Time has been awarded the Liebster Award.





Thank you Lora for this award! I'm honored.

The goal of the award is to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers. The rules of the award are:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all - have bloggity-blog fun!


So, as I pass along this award, here are my top 5 picks:

1. Joyce Alton She is such a dedicated writer. She is running a 12 writing marathon and critiques each and every entry. Her blog has such good information.


2. Suzanne Payne A friend I met on twitter. She tagged me for a meme, but that's okay.

3. Stephanie Diaz Fellow AQCer participating in the Marathon. She has a great ms coming along and I hope to see it in print. (Then I'll do a new author interview with her!)

4. J. Lea Lopez She gave me sage advice on how to set up this blog. If it wasn't for her insights along with Cherie, I wouldn't have got this blog off the ground. We collaborated a while back and was noted in the top blog posts of the day. She will be a guest on The Write Time tomorrow!

5. A. M. Supinger My very first follower! She is another friend I've made over at AQC. She has a blog with lots of owls. I was going to say she lives somewhere in.... but she tells me she is a very private person.

Honorable mentions to WriterCherie. Her blog has 215 followers so she does not meet the awards requirements, but she too helped get this blog going.

Thanks again Lori for this award.

Dean

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Thurday's Time Tip: The Power of Self-fulfilling Prophecies

Here is another aspect of time management. You have to believe you can accomplish what you set out to do. If you don’t, you won’t. It is that simple.

You condition yourself to be able to accomplish something, or fail. You’ve already decided the outcome before you even begin.

Last week I witnessed an interchange with an irate customer and an experienced manager. I walked into the exchange and was shocked to watch as a grown woman flung her food and screamed about her burger not being prepared correctly. She threw an absolute temper tantrum, one that would make any two-year-old proud. It took some time to calm her down. She told the manager that she had trouble with her nerves and was struggling with coping with things.

I believed her statement. I wondered if she couldn’t handle a simple problem of not getting bacon on her burger how would she deal with bigger challenges? Her excuse was her nerves. She was giving herself permission to be rude and to have such a conniption fit.

This woman already decided that if things don’t go according to how she thinks they should it is okay to have a nervous breakdown. Now I’m not taking this lightly. She may, in fact, have a medical condition. My experience has taught me that your expectations are typically met.

So as you plan a week or a day (I promise to discuss both of these options in the near future!) take into account your own expectations. If you already believe you can’t do something, chances are you will not be able to. On the flip side if you believe you can accomplish what you set out to do, you more than likely will.

So when something doesn’t go right and you hear someone say, “I knew that wouldn’t work!” just remember they already believed that, thus the self-fulfilling prophecy. Believe in yourself; believe you can do it, and more than likely you will.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

All About Time and All About Writing - Guest Blogger Greenwoman

Greenwoman was one of my first "fans" for my blog. She kept hounding me to get my blog going. I'll not give the phrase she said, it is a bit, risque. She has a whole guest blogger thing going on over at her blog. (Which gave me the idea of having guests for my blog.) I believe she is the source of the Meme's that are going around! I am happy she agreed to swap blog posts. So Thursday has arrived on Wednesday. You can read my post over on Greenwoman's blog. I'll also be on Cherie's blog this Friday.

Take it away Greenwoman!

SO, Dean has this fantastic blog all about writing, and time management. This is a good subject!

I have a confession to make. I'm TERRIBLE at time management. It isn't because I don't know how to do it--I've read an entire self-help section's worth of time management advice. The problem is that I am undisciplined. No, that's not true. It's worse than that. I'm REBELLIOUS.

"Well then," you're probably saying to yourself, "it's a good thing she doesn't have to work for someone else."

Well yes . . . and no. No, because it means I have no one to feel rebellious toward besides myself. (I imagine there's medication for this. I'm afraid to take it. It might make the voices in my head go away.)

SO, in order to get my writing done, I have to trick myself.
I figure I can do anything for 15 minutes at a time. I can even listen to my kids talk for 15 minutes. So, I employ a timer and a reward system to stay focused. (The reward is usually something like spending five minutes goofing around on twitter or making another cup of tea. I am a simple creature.)

I started using the timer method during NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) a few years ago. My writing buddy and I would have "word wars": 15 minutes on the clock, type as much as you can, the one with the most words wins. Okay, so you don't win anything, except an opportunity to feel smug. But you take what you can get. After a session was over, we'd spend some time chatting and comparing notes, shake out our wrists, and then do it again.

I wrote 100,000 words in 30 days--all in 15 minute increments. And the thing is, my family barely even noticed I was participating in NaNoWriMo. With short bursts of intense focus, I managed to get my daily writing done in one or two hours instead of sitting in front of the keyboard from morning 'til night.

Over the past two years, my writing buddy and I have inched our sessions up to 30 minutes. Longer sessions are a good idea when editing--it's hard to get editing done in 15 minute increments. And these days, sometimes our check in will go like this:

Me: "Time! How'd you do?"
Laura: "Good! I'm getting this chapter rearranged. You?"
Me: "Good, I'm on a roll. Want to jump back in?"

And off we go again. Sometimes, we even work WITHOUT a timer. Like when we write at a coffee shop or the library.

But sometimes when I'm working alone, I need to go back to 15 minutes. It's a way of psyching myself out. "Yes, I have 4500 other things I also need to do today. So I only have to concentrate on writing for 15 minutes. Then I can do something else."

Usually I only need the timer once. Because usually the real issue is getting my butt in the chair to work, and once I'm there, I don't want to stop.

I use a simple kitchen timer, but there are some options out there for writers like Write or Die (http://writeordie.com/).

The great thing about living by the timer is it makes everything feel more like a game. Sometimes I even use the timer for less pleasant tasks than writing. Tasks like cleaning. But let's not talk about that: I'd rather be writing.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Sophie Perinot talks about her new book, and how she finds time to write.

I’m excited about the new aspect of my blog. Guest Bloggers. I have several writing friends I’ve made at AQC willing to post, and some friends I’ve made on twitter. All writers, all with demands on their time. They will share their insights to writing and managing their time.

My first interview is Sophie Perinot who is about to publish her first book The Sister Queens. She has all the details on her blog

I met Sophie Perinot aka “Lit_Gal” over at Agent Query Connect (AQC) in some of the forums and in the Wednesday night chat room. She strikes me a very savvy and astute individual. Her posts in the forums are always informative and polite! I read many genres of books and I enjoy historical fiction. I write high fantasy and love medieval times. I admire historical fiction writers, because of the amount of research they need to do for the backdrop of their stories. Not an easy task. Research, writing, and blending it all together.

Overall writing takes a lot of time. So I asked if she would help me with a blog post on how she manages her time, successful writer that she is. She agreed to do a question and answer. Here is her interview.

Welcome to The Write Time Sophie.

First let me say I am delighted to be here on “The Write Time.” This is my first foray into blog interviews and I am glad to have a fellow AQConnect member on the other side of the virtual microphone. Now back to business.


What led you to writing historical fiction?

Historical Fiction was pretty much pre-destined to be my niche. I’ve been a life-long student of history (my undergrad degree is in history) and I come from a family of complete history nerds (my sister is a professor of history, my husband was a history major, my oldest child who has just started college is studying Art History. . .I could go on). As someone who studied French in abroad, and who is a hopeless devotee of Alexandre Dumas, père, French history was a logical starting point. So the manuscript that hooked my wonderful agent was set entirely in France, and the manuscript that sold to NAL and will hit shelves in March 2012 takes place about fifty-percent in France.


What time period, and location are your favorite?

I don’t have a favorite time period, except very broadly—13th century to 17th century—but I write books set in Western Europe. The novel I am working on now will again be set in France (16th century), but I have a project set in Italy planned as well.

How much time do you spend on research?


Lots :) But writers of historical fiction do have to be careful not to be sucked into research to the point where books don’t get finished. We are not writing academic history and the publishing schedule (the time span between publication dates for individual books) seems to be getting tighter in our genre. If you spend ten years researching each book it is hard for me to imagine making a go of it in publishing at this time.

I remember back at my very first Historical Novel Society Conference in 2005, the keynote speaker was Jack Whyte. During his address he said something that really stuck with me (and I am paraphrasing here because it’s been years) – “if your main character needs to do battle using a sword, by all means find out what type he would have used but you don’t need to learn how to forge one from scratch.”

What gives you story ideas?

One of the great things about writing historical fiction is that history is full of the fascinating, the bizarre, and the profound. It is a treasure trove of ideas.

Very often as I am researching I will come upon a fact or an event that makes me think, “wow, you couldn’t make stuff like this up.” So, I keep an eye open for ideas for future projects while I work on current ones. For example, the idea for my novel, The Sister Queens, came from a footnote in a history of Notre Dame de Paris that I was reading for a 16th century project -- a footnote about Marguerite of Provence, whose kneeling image is carved over that great church’s Portal Rouge, and about her sisters. I had never heard of these remarkable sisters from Provence and wondered how such extraordinary women could have largely slipped through the fingers of history. I started a folder with their names on it and began ruminating on ideas for a book about them.

Beyond the historical events included in my novels, the themes often come from my own life. I think the most important questions that we ask ourselves as human beings haven’t changed substantially in a thousand years. For example, One of the secondary themes in my current book is what does it mean to be a great man? Is professional competence the most important measure of “success?” Sometimes it can be more interesting and less “threatening” to examine “big issues” when they are removed from our everyday context and allowed to play out in the more remote setting of history.

When do you write?

Unlike many folks who are trying to do all their writing after hours, I have the luxury of daytime writing. All of my children are in school full time, so I can usually manage some time in my “writing lair” during the heart of the day. I don’t tend to write on weekends when my kids are home unless I have a deadline (I never miss deadlines – it’s a matter of personal pride for me). When I do have a deadline then weekends and even vacations or holidays are just “extra work days.”

When I am gripped by my muse I can (and do write any time and any where). I sometimes dictate portions of my work into a hand-held voice recorder. That gives me a lot of flexibility and allows me to “steal moments’ for writing. As a result, I’ve written sections of a book in the car and in the frozen food section of the grocery. I’ve also been known to get up in the middle of the night and creep off somewhere to dictate in the dark, lol.

How much time a day do you spend on your writing?

I consider “writing” to be all aspects of the process of getting a book to market – researching, writing, editing, and even some social networking or blogging (which falls under marketing). When you roll all that together I would say I try to spend at least 5 hours a day on my writing on weekdays during the school year. In the summer writing is more difficult.

How do you balance your writing with other aspects of your life?

When I first started writing it came second to pretty much everything else in my life. I was treating it like a hobby. I quickly realized, however, that if I wanted writing to be a job I had to start treating it like a job. So, I started to be stricter with myself (setting daily and weekly word goals) and with my family (telling my kids, “I am going to write for two hours, do not come to my office unless you are bleeding”).

Once I signed with my agent I became even more focused. I figured this was it – my shot. I didn’t want to fritter it away. So, while my agent was shopping one manuscript (ultimately unsuccessfully), I absolutely plowed through my next, completing it in substantially less time than my first. That extra push was worth it because that manuscript became The Sister Queens.

Despite being very focused, there are certain events I won’t miss for work. Where I draw that line today (as a writer) is different than it was when I was a lawyer, and that’s one of the reasons I stopped practicing law—to have more time for my family. The main thing I would remind other writers is that each person gets to decide on where the line is drawn in her/his life. I never compare my work habits or writing output with those of my writer friends. Their lives/circumstances are different than mine so of course they will arrange their writing schedules differently.

What do you feel is the key to your success?

Success – hm. On a major level whether or not I will be successful as a writer is still very much an open question. Yes, I have a wonderful agent and a super publisher behind me, but publishing is in flux, and the market is inundated with material. In this atmosphere many author’s first books become their last. When my book comes out in March 2012 I will have a very short time to “make an impression” on readers and book bloggers. I hope that I can do that, and I believe I’ve written a sister-story that will resonate with modern readers even as it paints a vivid picture of the high middle ages. But let’s face it, there are no sure things in this business.

The key to getting as far as I have, however, is something I feel competent to discuss. There are several important things I did that any other aspiring writer can do: 1) Learn everything you can about the BUSINESS end of writing. Don’t just spend your time on the artistic side. Invest in yourself as a professional—read about the industry; join on-line communities; attend conferences. 2) Be persistent but apply your effort wisely. Sometimes it IS time to set aside a particular project and move on to another. This is not the same as giving up, it is using your limited time in the manner most likely to yield the result you want, a publishable novel. 3) Write. Don’t talk about writing, or think about writing—do it. There is no substitute for practice. Writing is the only way to get better at writing.

Tell us about your new book and when it is out

My debut novel, The Sister Queens, is set in 13th century France and England. It tells the captivating story of medieval sisters, Marguerite and Eleanor of Provence, who both became queens — their lifelong friendship, their rivalry, and their reigns. While I certainly hope that fans of historical fiction will enjoy the book, I had a broader audience in mind when I wrote it. I am half of a pair of extraordinarily close sisters, and I wanted to write a novel centered on the dynamics of the sister relationship, exploring how our siblings mold us into the people we become. So, if you are a sister, if you have a sister, my book is for you.

The book comes out on March 6, 2012. For more information on the novel (including a back-cover blurb) or where it can be pre-ordered please visit www.thesisterqueens.com

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?


I will refer readers back to the second paragraph of my “key to success” answer. I really do feel if you do those three things you are well on your way. I will also say, however, DO NOT BEAT YOURSELF UP when rejections come in. Writers tend to assume it’s them—their query isn’t catchy enough, their manuscript isn’t good enough—but the truth is this is a tough business and it is highly competitive. It is important to write because you love to write, not because you think it is going to replace your day job. I write because I just can’t stop.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Thursday’s Time Tip: Guest Blogger Writer Cherie talks about how she deals with managing her time.

Writer Cherie has a fantastic blog! I met Cherie over at AQC (fantastic site for all you aspiring writers, and seasoned writers as well.) She gave me so much help on setting up my own blog, I just had to ask her to be a guest once I’ve had my blog up and running. She is also one of my first followers! How's that for becoming cyber friends? She is also a great one to follow on twitter! Cherie’s blog is Ready, Write, Go. She can also be found @WriterCheri on twitter.

I was happy when Cheri agreed to be a guest blogger, and she will be the first of many guests. I’ve been asking others to come guest blog, and I’ve a couple more yeses, so they will be appearing here, and in my TBA tab, under Guest Bloggers. Cheri gets double duty on this, one she is posting on time management, and two my first guest at The Write Time. She asked what do you want me to blog about? So I just tossed a few things off the top of my head. She took that and ran with it.

So here is Cherie with her perspective on Time Management and how she deals with her challenges. Take it away Cherie!

When Dean asked me to guest post and talk about my writing time management and why I write, I was pretty excited. First off, Dean's blog is cool (just look around!) and he is such a classy guy. Secondly, he's always trying to help others, especially with his time management tips. I mean, we're all complaining about not having enough hours in a day, right? You don't? Well, lucky you 'cause I sure do.

As a stay-at-home mom, my job is my family. I know it's easy for others to think that I've got all the time in the world to sit down and write my stories. I wish that were true. (Universe, if you're listening, can you make this statement true? Pretty please?) I have two little ones, and while I believe they are the MOST ADORABLE kids in the history of forever (mommy bragging here), they are also the MOST NEEDY people in the world. I can't simply kick off my shoes at the end of the day and leave my job at the office. I'm working 24/7, and when they get sick, 24/7 is no longer an expression but a reality.

Being a stay-at-home mom also means being in charge of the entire household. Chores are just the tip of the iceberg, and yes, they take a HUGE chunk out of your day. Sometimes we think scrubbing the toilet will only take a minute, but if you have four toilets in the house.... Well, you get my drift. And if I was just your regular housemom, I wouldn't be here whining. :D So what happens when you have a "writer mom" like me? And why, oh why, do I have to...do I NEED to write, when I've already got my hands full?

Let's do a simple math. There are 24 hours in a day, 8 of that usually spent sleeping. So that leaves us with 16 hours to do whatever we want. Right? Making dinner takes at least 1-2 hours, breakfast and lunch together probably constitutes a full hour, depending on what you AND your kids are having (yes, I cook everyday). Getting ready takes at least an hour. Getting them ready takes another hour (but if you have a little boy, I swear it feels more like 4 hours just trying to get him to put clothes on after a bath.) So now we are left with 10 or 11 hours. Yahoo, you say, looking at the clock. Then you realize that the milk in the fridge expired a week ago, you need to run to the bank, the post office, and goodness, the library books are overdue? Your daughter's swimming class starts in 5 minutes, and your car's almost out of gas. By the time you get everything in your list done, it is five o'clock and time to start making dinner. Where did the day go? After the dishes are stacked in the dishwasher and the kids are finally in bed, you sit in front of the computer and fall asleep.

Dean's questions for me were the following:

1. WHEN do I write?

My answer: I write when I can. I take snippets and claim them for my own. When the kids are settled down for a movie (I love DVDs, don't you?), I'm as ecstatic as a clucking hen. Sure they'll interrupt me for apple juice breaks and crackers, but it's okay. If I take the stairs two at a time, I can be twice as fast.

Sometimes the muse strikes me at the most inconvenient time (curse you, fickle muse!). It's okay to drop whatever it is you're doing (just don't drop the baby) to write down your inspiration. The world will not blow apart in five minutes.

I go to bed late and wake up early. So I really don't get the recommended 8 hours of sleep, but what the heck. Some things have to give, you know. I'm not masochistic by any means, but I do what I can to answer the next question:

2. WHY do I write?


I write because the words fill my head and they need to go someplace. Writing is an outlet for me, a way to keep balance. I am always juggling my other roles: as a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter, a friend, and it is all too easy to lose sight of who I am inside. The me who exists as me, and no one else. When I sit down and take a moment to listen to my thoughts and write them down, I find peace. I've always written for the sheer pleasure of stringing together words and making them beat, making them come alive. Of being able to draw emotions on paper. In real life, I'm not a talker. I'm the person you'll see in a corner, curling up with a book or having a quiet conversation with someone. When I'm writing, the worldy inhibitions we strap ourselves with fall away and I feel free. I can say what I want, process emotions without having to worry about other people's opinions, and if I make mistakes I can hit the DELETE button and start over again.

And lastly,

3. HOW do you make the time to write?

This ties in with my first answer. But I will elaborate a little more and add this: sometimes, five minutes is simply not enough. We have to get off the guilt wagon and give ourselves permission to take an hour or two for us. For our writing. For pursuing our dream and what we love to do best. It's okay. The laundry can wait another day. Your children will not die from lack of attention for a measly hour. There's a reason why there are take-outs and pizza delivery.

The trick is BALANCE. We can't be everything to everyone all the time. We can't please everyone and please ourselves at the same time. The laws of nature dictate otherwise. But. If we know our priorities and set them accordingly, we won't drown in our To-Do list. Right now my kids are playing in the toy room. Dinner was already purchased and eaten. The house is relatively clean. I feel like I have all the time in the world. ;-)

Thanks, Dean, for the opportunity to share.

You are quite welcome!

Please come back on Saturday. My next guest blogger is about to be a published author. So the unveiling of the other half of my blog title, the Write Time, Time Management tips and Writing.

Thanks again Cherie, Loved your post.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

TBA and a guest spot at Jello World

I have a new page/tab TBA.

I am excited about a new aspect of my blog. It will tie in with the time theme, but with a bit of a twist. I have great plans for this, and have already made some arrangements. Not sure when the debut will be just yet, but I will announce it soon.

I am calling this TBA because the correct label will give it away! For now I'll just say: coming soon!

J Lea Lopez invited me over as a guest writer on her blog Jello World. So if you want some tips on writing on your blog, go check it out!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Everyone has the same amount of time

An ad for a mobile phone company talks about roll over minutes. Minutes you don’t use can be saved and rolled over to be used next month. While that is a great plan for a cell phone, sadly, it doesn’t work with real time.

Time is about the only thing all of us are given the exact same amount of. When the sun rises and we get out of bed, we are allotted the exact same amount of time as everyone else. Mr. President, CEO, little child all have 24 hours in a day. (Ok it is 23 hours 57 Min and 56 seconds thus all the leap seconds and years added to keep things in line. We will round up to 24 to keep things simple.)

Time cannot be saved and used at a later date. That is why it is so important to manage our time wisely. There are a lot of things that vie for our attention. Some things we take the time to do could be considered a waste of time. What we “spend” time on are on things that we value.

I’ll discuss setting priorities and how to get the things done you really want to get done at a later post. Just remember you need to decide what is important, and what you value. Once your values are known, then setting up what needs to be done and how to accomplish it becomes apparent.

Learning how to be productive, efficient, affective, are all ways of managing time. Opportunity costs are another way of looking at how to use the time.

A few years ago I was discussing this with my second oldest son. He had completed high school and was taking some collage classes. He was frustrated with all the demands on his time, and he couldn’t go “hang out” with his old high school friends. We discussed opportunity costs. He wanted good grades, and scholarships. If those were in fact his goals, he couldn’t hang out every day. He could do things after school things, but he had to set his priorities. It was a hard lesson for him to learn and he had to change his approach to doing things. But he was serious, and he made the changes and made better grades in collage than he had in high school. But the opportunity cost of achieving that was missing some nights with his friends.
How we use our time will determine what we are able to accomplish.

So set your goals, determine what is important and lay out a plan to get it done. I’ll be discussing these aspects in future posts. This week remember that time cannot be saved to be used later. We all have the same amount of time. How do you use your time?

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Meme-ilicious My answers to my bloggy friends' questions

I don’t know who started this Meme, but my last Meme gained many comments and is one of the more popular posts on my blog. So I’ll take Suzanne Payne’s tag and work on this as well.


If you could go back in time and relive one moment, what would it be?


Ok, not a fair question. It is very personal. I have five moments, but they are the same type of moment. Carrying my new born son(s) and daughter from the delivery room to the weigh, measure and print room. I spent time in the delivery room being with my wife, helping her with the labor (like I can really help, it is all her, but I was there for moral support and coaching.) Once our child was born, she, of course, gets to hold the baby. Then I was able to walk the hall with my newborn in arm and enjoy the first few minutes of their life. Those times are ones I wouldn’t mind reliving.

If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?

My wife and I have discussed this on many occasions. The mistakes made help make us the people we are today. That said, I would like to return to July 12, 1997 and not change lanes on the interstate. Changing lanes sent the minivan careening off the road, and ejecting my four year old son across the oncoming traffic and being ran over by an 18 wheeler. He lost four toes that day.

What movie/tv character do you most resemble in personality?


I am told I look like Mark Hamill. Luke Skywalker isn’t bad.

If you could push one person off a cliff and get away with it, who would it be?


I couldn’t push anyone off a cliff. No one has ever got to me that much. I don’t even like to entertain this idea, so I’ll have to pass.

Name one habit you want to change in yourself.

I have and tend to procrastinate. Not often, but I do at times.

Describe yourself in one word.


Happy.

Describe the person who named you in this meme in one word.

Interesting.

Why do you blog? Answer in one sentence.
I enjoy being creative, and blogging allows several outlets for my creativity.

Who am I tagging?
CC, Peter Burton, J Lea Lopez, Brenda, Cherie, Kristal Jones, Clippership, and Lora Palmer

Meme The Second:

Are you hot?
My wife thinks so, and that is good enough.

Upload a picture or wall paper you are using at the moment.


I think the Mach 5 is cool.






When was the last time you ate chicken meat?

Today in a chicken wrap at Sonic.

The Song(s) you listened to recently?
Titanic Soundtrack, Carpenters

What were you thinking as you were doing this?

What kind of question is this? I was thinking of the answers to the questions!

Do you have nicknames?
Not really.

Tag eight Blogger friends.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
1. Peter Burton A Storyteller's Musings
2. Brenda Carre The Art and Writings of Brenda Carre
3. J lea Lopez Jello World
4. Brenda Drake Brenda Drake Writes
5. Writer Cherie Ready, Write, Go
6. Joyce Alton Yesternight's Voyage
7. 1KellieM Tighty Writie
8. Lora Palmer A Writer in Bloom

Who’s listed as number one?

Peter Burton, a great writer, and I’ve been a beta reader for him

Say something about number 5.

Cherie helped me get my tech questions on building this blog

How did you get to know number 3?

AQC, she was a great help in getting me on twitter, and building the blog.


How about number 4?

She posted to my blog, I followed her back and liked what I saw

Leave a message for number 6.

Hey Clip,

My chapter one is soooo much better because of your crits. Thanks for running the Marathon on AQC!

Leave a lovey-dovey message for number 2.

I’ll pass on lovey-dovey, but she has been a great support in helping me join AQC, and my writing is much better because of her encouragement.

Do number 7 and number 8 have any similarities?


Both I met at AQC and then more with twitter. I like their sites and the friendship that is growing.