Give Your Blog A Facelift

We are in the 3rd month of the 3rd quarter. Now is a good time to take a look at things and see what you can do to reach your goals. Also, it's a good time to see what needs to be tweaked.

If you don't have a blog, now is a good time to start one. If you have one, but it's not serving you well, maybe it needs a facelift.

Don't settle for the rather mundane templates allotted by the blogging platforms. Choose one that reflects your content and your personality.

There are hundreds of websites that offer free templates. Here are a few to get you going. It's time to shop around.

Blogger

Enter a search string "free Blogger xml templates" and you'll get hundreds of results.

Tutorials by Jennifer Apple offers some really good Tips For Blog Templates & Blog Design using PhotoShop.

FalconHive specializes in converting popular Wordpress templates to Blogger.

Wordpress

Same thing. Enter a search string "free Wordpress blog templates," and you'll get hundreds of results.

Free Theme Layouts has some stunning themes.

Free Wordpress Themes has 301 templates.

Clone 24 offers a huge selection with a category search in the right sidebar.

Don't limit your imagination to these few websites. Do your own search. You'll find a dizzying array of choices, and most are free.

Takeaway Truth

Time is accelerating. Write an action item list today, focusing on effective changes that can pay off immediately--like giving your blog a facelift.

September 11: In Remembrance

September 11. What were you doing that morning?

I read a psychology article once about how certain days mark ends of eras and the beginning of new eras. Those days are remembered with great clarity. Stephen King wrote about this in his book Danse Macabre. He tells of being at a Saturday matinee when the launch of Sputnik was announced. He remembered every detail of that morning at the movies.

Ask anyone who was old enough at the time what they were doing when John Kennedy was assassinated. They can tell you whether they were children at school or adults at work.

Similarly, ask those of different generations where they were when they heard that James Dean, Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, or John Lennon had died?

We lived in the NASA area for many years. If you ask me what I was doing on the morning the Challenger exploded, I can tell you.

Like all days that mark historical changes in our country, our culture--the very fabric of our lives--we all remember exactly where we were and what we were doing on that September morning 10 years ago. We'll never forget.

In remembrance, I honor those lost on September 11 and pray that their loved ones have found peace. I also pray for those who survived and have struggled to overcome injuries.

With that thought in mind, I urge you to make a donation to help those struggling with physical and emotional injuries. I checked out many organizations with Charity Watch to find one where donated monies actually end up with those who need help rather than end up as payment for office expenses, salaries, expense accounts, and bonuses to those who run the charity.

Sadly, I found it next to impossible to find a legitimate fund for 9/11 victims. So many were scams or, if they were legitimate, funds were misused or derailed. People who take advantage of others' misfortunes ought to receive maximum punishment which still wouldn't be severe enough in light of what they've done.

I've chosen Injured Marines Semper Fi Fund because our soldiers are the ones who ended up paying a tremendous price for the war that resulted from the September 11 attacks.

If you follow the link, there's a big green donate button on the menu bar on the main page. They take major credit cards, and it's a secure site. In the Comment box at the end of the donation form, I put simply: In remembrance of Sept. 11.

Takeaway Truth

Thomas Campbell wrote: "To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die."

Bridge Between Talent & Success

A few years ago I blogged about something I learned from prolific author Robert (Dick) Vaughan.

In case you don't know much about Mr. Vaughan, allow me to educate you about this remarkable author who sold his first book when he was only 19. He's written over 250 books under 35 different pseudonyms--men's and women's names.

Early in his career, he was nominated for the Pulitzer. He won the 1977 Porgie Award (Best Paperback Original) for The Power and the Pride. He's written television movie novelizations and books in just about every genre. In 1998, he was inducted into the Writer's Hall of Fame. His novel Brandywine's War was named by the Canadian University Symposium of Literature as the best iconoclastic novel to come from the Vietnam War.

I guess one could say he's a man's man because he served 3 tours in Nam and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with the V for valor, the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Purple Heart. Let's just say that he can bring a sense of realism to his books, and that's probably one reason he's such a popular author of what my husband calls men's fiction.

This Man Knows Writing

I give you his credentials in order to make the point that Robert (Dick) Vaughan knows a lot more about writing and publishing -- and staying published -- than most of us will ever know. How has he produced so many words? So many books and every kind of writing?

I was fortunate to attend several workshops Dick Vaughan led at writer's conferences in Beaumont, Texas. One thing Dick said really stuck in my mind. I owe much of my writing career to following this one bit of advice from him.

So I want to talk about that -- about a subject to which most people don't pay enough attention because it sounds like, well, hard work.

Remember This

In the workshop I attended, he said if you look at writing talent that it's maybe 15% of writing success. And that might be stretching it.

He then said writing opportunity (going on the internet, finding editors who were acquiring, networking with other writers, etc.) is maybe 10%.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that those two elements make 25% of writing success. What's the other 75%?

Work Discipline

He said, and I agree, that Work Discipline makes up the bigger part of the equation called writing success. Dick Vaughan said to embroider this on a sampler. I didn't do that, but I did print it out into a big sign that I taped above my computer.

The bridge between talent and success is Work Discipline.

He advocated establishing a daily page quota whether it be 1 page or 10 or more. Every day, produce that page quota. That's work discipline. That's how he approaches every project. He knows how long it takes him to write a book, and he breaks that down into pages per day.

Meet your established quota. That's work discipline. That's what will get you going when you don't feel like writing. Work Discipline is often the one thing that many writers lack. I always say that you can move a mountain one shovelful at a time just like you can write the biggest book by writing one page at a time.

Takeaway Truth

The bridge between talent and success is Work Discipline. Start building your bridge today.

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Don't Make Me Make You Brownies

Nina Cordoba. She is the author of Don't Make Me Make You Brownies, the book I'm reviewing today.

Usually, I place the author's name in the the title of a book review post, but the length of this book's title precludes that. Although the title is long, it's a great title. In fact, from the moment I saw this title, I knew I had to read this book.

I want you to remember Nina's name. I predict she, and her books, will become very popular with readers. I know that I adored Don't Make Me Make You Brownies, and I think you will too.

Book Specs

Available on all major digital book platforms. I read it on my Kindle.

Price: $2.99
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 376 KB
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B005G82APY
Lending: Enabled

The Story

What do you get when you add a heaping helping of sexual desire to a mismatched couple composed of a pickup-scorning, California-liberal TV consumer reporter and a Texas-cowboy/lawyer?

You get a delightful novel of contradictions, conflicts, and, ultimately, compromises as Abbie and Rick learn that if they want something bad enough -- like the love that grows between them -- then they must blaze their own trail and create a world that works for them. After all, isn't that what we all do when we love someone who holds different attitudes and opinions about the external world?

This fish-out-of-water story has some parts that are downright hilarious. There are times when you want to tell Abbie: "Oh, for heaven's sakes! Grow up." But that just means the author did her job and created a character who elicits a strong reaction in the reader.

Never fear. Abbie grows and changes in ways that are believable and organic to her. That, dear readers, is what allows her to get her very own happy ending, enabling her to stay who she is, and, yet, be more than she was at the beginning of the story.

Although, this is a romantic comedy, you won't find very much "on screen" sex scenes or romance for that matter. The love scenes are more edgy and comical than sexy and romantic, but that's okay for this romance cum chick lit.

The story will keep you turning the pages to the very end. Then you'll want to grab everything else written by Nina Cordoba. Like her other book Not Dreaming of You.

Takeaway Truth

A good book is the least expensive form of great entertainment. Try an ebook today!

Firefighters Are Heroes

Wildfire Out (Click map to enlarge.)

Although the danger is still there, the fire that has threatened us in the Hill Country since Sunday is now out. Emergency Management announced late last night that the fire was 100% contained. Now they're just on guard for hot spots rekindling.

Danger Exists

Everything is so dry that the danger still exists. The thousands of dead trees in the forests pose a constant threat of similar incidents. A falling dead tree that hit a power pole, creating sparks, caused the fire that burned more than 5,000 acres, several homes, and a church.

Wildfire Today has the map you see on the blog and a lot of information about the fires in Texas.

This morning the air is crisp and holds only a faint smell of smoke.

Takeaway Truth

Thank you to the firefighters, the brush crews, and all the volunteers who supplied food, water, iced cloths, eye drops, Chapstick, and other supplies to support those on the front lines.

How Bad Do You Want It?

We're at our home in the Hill Country. We've been looking forward to a week of vacation up here. I was going to spend the week finishing my work in progress OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER. Larry was going to play golf every day.

Guess what I'm doing instead of writing. Packing up photographs, albums, and other mementos which we'd brought up here because the family gathers here for special weekends.

A wildfire is burning less than 4 miles from us. It started late Sunday when a dead tree limb (victim of the drought along with thousands of other trees in the state) fell on a power pole and knocked it to the ground. Sparks from it started a fire.

We heard about it from a friend up here when we arrived last night. We sat on the porch and couldn't smell smoke or anything. This morning we got up to not just smell smoke but see it everywhere. My heart is heavy at the thought we might lose all this, but I guess that's why we have insurance.

Minor Consideration

It's a minor consideration that I'm beginning to think that this book will never get finished. Every time I'm on a roll with it, something happens. It's been this way since May when I went to Louisiana because of flood waters threatening my brother's farm.

Thousands of acres had burned at last report yesterday. Fifteen homes have been lost so far. People have been evacuated. We're waiting to hear if we have to go. No lives have been lost yet, and I hope it stays that way.

However, I know that's just the way it is sometimes. Almost as if it's the universe's way of asking how strong is your will to persist. How deep is your determination?

How bad do you want it?

At this moment, all I want is for that fire to be suppressed--no more homes lost, no lives lost.

Takeaway Truth

As everyone up here has been saying for month: "Pray for rain."

Labor Day: Celebrated By Barbeque

In 1894, Congress declared Labor Day a federal holiday. Then they recessed and everyone went out for barbeque.



No, not really.



When I was a kid, I didn't understand why a day, on which everyone didn't work, was called Labor Day. I thought they should have named it No-Labor Day or Labor-Free Day. Later, in History class, I learned the holiday was establish as a way to honor the laboring masses.



Since 1882, the first Monday in September has been observed as Labor Day. That was the day when the Central Labor Union of New York City established the holiday.



Over the decades, the day changed from a big public celebration of parades and speeches about the contributions of the working men and women to a more personal celebration involving family and friends that marked the symbolic end to summer, characterized by bargain sales, backyard barbeques, and kids going back-to-school the next day.



Takeaway Truth



Honor the contributions of hardworking people in whatever way you choose. Have a happy Labor Day. Don't eat too much barbeque and potato salad. Remember, if you drink, don't drive. The life, career, and family you save may be your own. Get a designated driver.

Guests

On this fine Sunday morning, I have two quotations for you. Today's theme? Guests.



If you'll recall from my post yesterday, I have house guests through the Labor Day weekend. Lots of house guests--and they're all fun people. We're having a great time, and I hope you are too for this holiday weekend in the U.S.



"The ornaments of your house will be the guests who frequent it." So said some anonymous sage. This is true. My house is beautifully ornamented now.



The second quotation is from Ralph Waldo Emerson. "We dare not trust our wit for making our house pleasant to our friend, so we buy ice cream."



Totally true. Today's ice cream is Blue Bell Cookies and Cream. Just to make sure I make my house pleasant, I also stocked Blue Bell Tin Roof. Yumalicious times two! Just writing this makes me want a bowl of ice cream, but it's breakfast time.



Takeaway Truth



Once in a blue moon, ice cream is a perfectly acceptable breakfast.

Real Life & Retail Therapy

Real life intrudes--thank goodness because I needed a break.



I spent Friday cleaning house. Here's a true confession--as opposed to a false one, I guess: I normally pick up clutter on a daily basis and clean the floors in the rooms we use.



However, I don't clean the whole house, as my mother defined cleaning, unless I finish a book or company comes. I hate to say I haven't finished this latest ebook yet, but I had company arriving Friday. So I cleaned.



This morning all the menfolk departed in a manly pickup truck to take plants to our house in the Hill Country. We womenfolk are going shopping, lunching, and all around goofing off.



Hurray, I need some company and some retail therapy. Hope y'all have a happy Saturday too!



Takeaway Truth



Sometimes you have to replenish the creative well with real life experiences and socializing with people.

The Literary Machine

Software is part of a writer's toolkit. One thing I've discovered over the years is that there is no one software that has equal appeal to all writers.

I "grew up" using Word Perfect, and I still think it is a superior product to any other word processing software out there. However, with my ebook biz, I'm forced to use MS Word. There are people who adore Word. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them. To me, it seems clunky and redundant in so many functions.

In Word Perfect, you setup a format once, and it's done. In Word, you have to go to 2 or 3 places and make sure the setting is the same in all those places. Woe be to you if you forget to check Paragraph after modifying a style. But you can't fight city hall, or, in this case, the business world that embraced Word as the standard for all communications.

Freeware

I love freeware because it's, well, free. All joking aside, there is good freeware to be had for just about any task you may confront. In fact, there's a lot of writing software in the freeware treasure chest. Here's one that may help those writers who think more spatially. This will help you organize your thoughts and channel your creativity more effectively--or so it claims. It's free so why not give it a try.

Literary Machine

The Literary Machine is for any writer who must think critically and creatively and who composes and produces documents as well as anyone who sorts and analyzes information. Of course, this means just about anyone from researchers to novelists to teachers, scientists, lawyers, and more.

This software uses a textual concept-mapping matrix. (Anybody want to define that?) Let's just say it helps you brainstorm story and create characterization and a lot more. It's supposed to work the way your brain works. (It probably hasn't seen MY brain.) All kidding aside, if you have trouble getting your story thoughts organized because you're just not a linear thinking, you might try The Literary Machine. There's a learning curve so be prepared to learn it before you use it.

Takeaway Truth

Bottom line: it's free. It might be great for you. If you like it, make a donation to the development team.