Dear Santa, I've been a very good writer this year! (Gift ideas for book makers)

If there's a writer on your holiday shopping list this year (or if you're a writer who wants to drop a few hints), here's a few ideas for the annual Festival of Avarice. Basically my five favorite things that dropped down the chimney into my writing life this year:

ThermaCare HeatWraps for the type-weary wrist. After a day of way too much word count, I ice my hands and wrists with bags of frozen peas, then don these oh-so-comforting...I don't know what to call them. Smittens?

My Canon LiDE200 Color Image Scanner has been an incredibly valuable research tool. It cost less than $100, lightweight, slides right into my laptop bag, nice high res images, and it's super easy to use. I bought one for my mom, too. Gets power from your computer, so you can take it anywhere.

My little red Sony ICDUX70RED Digital Voice Recorder also cost under $100, stores up to 290 hours of interviews, has a slow-down feature on the playback for easier transcription, and plugs directly into a USB port for lightning fast upload. (I also store a couple hours of music on it so it doubles as a slightly less slick iPod on the airplane.)

At 2 AM, I was packing my bags for a 7 AM flight and discovered that my new widescreen laptop didn't fit into my classy leather laptop bag. I had to cart it in an unpadded canvas tote. The answer to my prayers (okay, it was more like swearing): a felt laptop sleeve from Veer.com opens out to create a cool, mousable work surface. Great for backpack travel to library, coffee shop, first class, or grandmother's house. Swaddling clothes for your computer. A little pricey at $85, but it also keeps your laptop from burning your thighs in bed. (Unless you're into that kinda thing...)

While we're at it, the funky merch dept at Veer.com features all sorts of bangles, trinkets, T-shirts, and treats for people who love letters, typography, and the visual art of words. (Click here to see the Veer logo spelled out in cheese, balloons, gymnasts, pencil shavings, and pie!)

The under-mistletoe motherload -- sorry, book purists -- for my purposes, the Kindle wireless reading device is the greatest thing since toast on a stick. Again, it's a little pricier than I'd like, but so worth it. The last two or three years, I've been reading less and less because my eyes are fried by the end of a long writing day. The Kindle text to voice feature may not be super-expressive entertainment, but it's fine for research material. That means I can save my eyes for pleasure reading, which is made more pleasurable by print and margins that adjust for comfort.

Yeah, yeah, I know, there's nothing like the interactive feel of a nice hardcover book in your hands, and a book shouldn't feel like a Gameboy and blah blah blah. Bottom line: I'll be reading ten times more and enjoying it thoroughly. And if you're hoping to have me review/blurb your book, your best bet is making it available to my Kindle.

(By the way, if you're shopping for someone in cancer treatment, the Kindle is even more perfect. Oy! What I wouldn't have given for one of these babies when I was in chemo!)

Fellow writers, chime in! What do you want for Christmas this year?

Dr. Janece O. Hudson Gets Into Your Dreams

Boxing the Octopus Contest/Dream Advice Exclusive: Ask Dr. Hudson a question about your dreams in the comments below or simply post a comment to be entered in a drawing to take place on Friday, August 5th at noon CDT to win a copy of Into Your Dreams! Beginning this afternoon (Monday, 8/1) Dr. Hudson will answer your dream questions on a first-come, first-served basis in the comments section. Please include an e-mail address with your comment or check back at the blog on Friday afternoon so we can reach you if your name is drawn. -------------------- Right around the time I sold my first book, I was fortunate enough to meet Jan Hudson, the author of more than thirty romances and romantic comedies. During a shared meal at a writer's conference, I casually mentioned a vivid, terrifying dream that had repeatedly troubled me for months, something about continually being cut off on my commute to work by tornadoes dropping from the sky. That's when I learned of Jan's ...

Quick Tips from a Tightrope

The other day, I posted this sobering message on my Facebook and Twitter feeds: New writers don't want to hear it, but staying published is the hard part. Like trying to walk a tightrope in lard-slathered socks. The publishing biz had just given me another such reminder, with my former publisher (and holder of my entire in-print backlist) deciding to go all digital, at least in the near future and whittling down its editorial staff to nearly nil in response to dwindling sales. But even in the best of economic times, it's a huge challenge to keep one's career alive long enough to build an audience and prosper, especially for the grand majority of authors, who survive on the mid-list. (Big-time bestsellerdom has its own perils, but that's another post.) Yet somehow, I remain if not wildly optimistic, perpetually hopeful. Over the years, I've seen some very talented authors crash and burn with the fortunes of lousy covers, a line's or publisher's demise, or an ...

#TheStruggleIsReal Why I’m Not Mad That You Didn’t Hire Me (Freelance editor Jerusha Rodgers on a millennial dilemma)

Today we hear from Jerusha Rodgers (aka "The Plot Whisperer") of Rabid Badger Editing in a post prompted by a conversation about agism in publishing, which I see from the perspective of a, um...let's say "experienced" author/book doctor in my 50s and she sees from the perspective of a fresh new face in her mid-20s. Ironically, yes, she had to explain to me about "the struggle is real." Shortly after graduating, a friend of mine posted the greatest Facebook status ever: “I would love to reenact some the of the fantasies in Fifty Shades of Grey, specifically the one where she gets a full-time job straight out of college.” With an economy that clings to safety (read: tradition and money) and a workforce and community that strives for advancement (read: cooler, more accessible stuff), applicants whose limited practical experience is backed up by open minds and inherent expertise in the use of technology often get left out of the running. It’s the st...

boxing the octopus

Search This Blog