Conversation that you never want.

Hello, this is your Inner Voice speaking.
Oh boy, this could be trouble.
I read your manuscript and find it promising interesting good.
Thanks, I think.
Your writing is intriguing and still lacks something.
Wait a minute. If you are my Inner Voice, where were you when I wrote my ms?
I just returned from a three-year vacation in Germany.
Therefore, I can call you my Missing Voice.
Exactly--Hey, that is not fair--you tricked me.
Exactly. What do you mean my story lacks something?
It is a cute story with a twist; however, your antagonist is a retarded fish!
Fish, there is no stinking fish in my novel. What book did you read?
Moby Fish, something along that line. I remember now, it was about a big fish.
Sounds like you did more that take a vacation in Germany. How much beer did you absorb?
Belch!
I thought so. I wonder if you are even my Inner Voice. My Inner Voice would be discussing style, character development, plot and dialogue. You know, topics pertaining to my writing skills. I believe you have been in Germany for more than 3 years.
Herman, it was only yesterday that I visited Deutschland.
Ah Ha, you have not read my novel. My name is David and your writer was Herman Melville; he passed away in 1891. You have been wandering aimlessly among writers for over a hundred years. My Inner Voice has been silent and I am guessing that is an indication that I have not made any major writing mistakes. You need a new writer to bother help. Read my mind and go help that person.
Thank you for clearing this up for me. I will leave now…ACQ here I come!
Boy--that was a narrow escape. Imagine my surprise when he confused me with the great Herman Melville. I believe I will work on my novel.
David, this is your Inner Voice. We need to talk.

Happy Thankgiving

Hello everyone


I want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and joyous time with your family and loved ones. My large turkey sits in the fridge, waiting for my stuffing (known throughout the entire universe and the Lesser Antilles). Complementing this will be my world famous Mince Meat pie, string beans, sweet and mashed potatoes. Probably should not forget the Croissants, dripping with real butter and clover honey. My family dinner will take place on Saturday…some of my relatives have to work tomorrow.

The other good news is that I have taken the plunge and submitted my first, of many, query letters. I am researching Agents and Publishers on Query Tracker. If you are not a member of this site, you should be. Sign-up is free and quick. Click on Find Agent, type in your genre and you are looking at a list of agents looking for your work.

The E-Book Reader War

    
     There is a lot of talk (and buying) about the different e-book readers currently on the market. To mention a few there is Amazon’s Kindle, the Sony e-book reader and Barns and Nobel’s Nook. The Nook features two screens, one for reading your book and the other smaller one for viewing in color the book cover. Qualcomm is also introducing a full color reader. Prices are still high for all of the readers and will have to lower to an acceptable level for the common person to afford one. If the e-book reader is the new wave of the future then I believe the price should be affordable for everyone, say a hundred dollars. Every time an e-book is sold and downloaded to a reader the company receives $10 to $13 dollars. I am not sure how much the author receives for each sale but you can guess it is minimal compared to the profit of the companies selling the product.

     Besides the price of an e-book reader dropping what features would you like to see if you purchased one? I will start this off. I would like to be able to hook it to my computer and upload my unpublished manuscript. I would also (as I read it) like to be able to edit it via a small keypad or at least underline the places to edit later. Finally I would like to be able to download it back into my computer. I am looking forward to reading your comments.

Moving the Needle

I read a post by literary agent Nathan Bransford where he discusses the dilemma of "what to publish that's facing editors, agents, sales assistants, marketers, and other assorted publishing types in New York." He says they are moving the needle, or making an impact on books that are published and sent to book stores. Who their making an impact on, is up for grabs. The publisher's bottom line comes to mind. As writers we have to ask ourselves who threads the needle and who pulls it through the publishing fabric.

The zeitgeist or ideas prevalent today can also be called fads. The vampire fad has almost run its course and its time for a change. Personally I would like to see the broad genre of SiFi/Fantasy take over. But alas, I fear that mindless zombies will take the public interest next.

We, the authors thread the needle and the agents, editors and anyone else down the line leading to our books being published, must pull it. If every writer wrote a single genre, the lines to the book stores would dwindle away. We can either flow with the zeitgeist or write what we are passionate about. I am fervent about SiFi/Fantasy and will thread the needle with my novel. What are your thoughts on fads? Do you think, I need money and will write a new twist on vampires or zombies or do you write only books you are passionate about?

David

Free Text to Voice Translator

Tonight I Googled for free text to voice software. I wasn't expecting to stumble upon a professional program that would read aloud my WIP, but stumble I did. Second listing from the top was a link to Natural Reader Text to Voice Software. The welcome page began speaking as soon as it loaded. On the left side of the page are links to Natural Readers abilities and I tried them all. The free program was excellent for the use I wanted it for. After downloading the program I opened it up, wondering how I was going to hear my chapters read out loud.

On the bottom of the main control panel is a small button titled Go to miniboard. I selected it and a small control panel opened up. Holding the mouse button down, I moved it to the top of my page. Next I opened my MS Word Document and selected all of the text in that chapter. Clicking on the start button (on the miniboard) I was surprised to hear my text change to voice. I sat back and listened as the ladies voice read my script. I did notice a few places where commas were not needed so I edited it on the spot. My editing did not interfere with the text to speech process. One thing this program did was to pronounce a word incorrectly, or so I thought. After looking at the word I realized that I left out an R. This changed the meaning of the word. Funny, neither I nor my beta readers ever found this mistake.

There is also a professional version of this text to voice translator. The information for this and the free one is on their web page. This is a great editing tool.

Quote:

"I like to tackle the hardest jobs initially. I should have edited my book first then written it."

Edflll/10-10-2009

A new look for the coveted Kreativ Blogger Award

I couldn't help but notice how manly this beautiful award is. Not that I am complaining about it. How about it guys! Can we us a different logo. Any suggestions will be welcomed. Here is a suggestion from old Pompeii, Italy.

David

My first blog award

Yesterday I was honored with the Kreativ Blogger award. I thank TK Richardson for passing this coveted award to me. Awesome responsibilities come with this prize.

KREATIV BLOGGER AWARD RULES:
? 1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
? 2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
? 3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
? 4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
? 5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
? 6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
? 7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

Yowza and I thought editing your manuscript was hard. I did number one and three (the easy part) then thought about number five. I have to pass this award on to seven more bloggers. I know, it sounds like a chain letter, but I can see a positive purpose. First you link and add seven more blogs to your site. Second you meet more interesting people in the writing world (that is if you select blogs of other writers).

Because I am a new person on the block in the world of blogging I realized that I do not know seven other bloggers. I could send it back to the person who gave it to me and the other six bloggers she nominated.

Nah!

This is a golden opportunity for me to reach out and check out other writers blogs and pass the award on, one blog at a time. I Googled and Binged the award and only found references to others who received it. No mention of the original creator of the Kreativ Blogger Award.

My hat is off and thanks to the person responsible for this awesome honor.

Here is number four:

1. Trumpet and piano are my favorite instruments. I played the trumpet in both Big Bands and Dixieland groups.
2. While on a scuba diving trip off Catalina Island, I ran out of air at a depth of one hundred feet and had to blow and go all the way to the surface.
3. I have self taught myself to read and write Egyptian Hieroglyphics.
4. I drive a 1985, powder blue Corvette. I modified the engine giving me over thirty miles to the gallon.
5. I am working on cracking the Linear A script of ancient Greece.
6. The ghost of the former owner of my home is still here. It?s OK as he doesn?t eat much.
7. I have all rescued animals including two horses, four dogs and too many cats to count.

I will begin searching for writer blogs on ACQ and pass this wonderful honor on.