Friday Morning FYI – 1/22/2016

Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI – my chance to share observations/wisdom/rants in short, easily consumed form.

This week’s FYI is a Copy->Paste from The Writer’s Circle. I normally don’t do that, but this image resonated with me and reminded me of a friend who doesn’t like to refer to herself as an artist despite her talent:

 

Scared Artist Quote

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

PS – Why didn’t any of you gentle souls point out I’d been titling this month’s FYIs as 2015!? I’m looking at you, Tabitha and Amy, my retweeting friends ;).

Round and round, underground

This little thing popped into my head yesterday, the first half in the afternoon and the second as I shut my eyes in bed last night. I have no idea what it means, refers to, or where it came from (or why the second half wanted those breaks), but, as I’ve done with other inspirations from the ether, I thought I’d toss it up here.

————————————-
In and out
Up and down
Back and forth
Round and round
Underground
 
Can’t be found
 
 
Silken wound
 
 
 
Fox and hound (red and brown).
————————————-

Hmm. The more I read it, the more is sounds like some creepy clue left by a serial killer. I don’t have plans to write a serial killer book, but maybe now that’ll change. *shrug*

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

Friday Morning FYI – 12/11/2015

Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI – my chance to share observations/wisdom/rants in short, easily consumed form.

This week’s (long’ish-and-hastily-written-before-a-five-hour-drive) FYI is about daring:

Last week I wrote about a friend launching a book. I provided a few hints about the novel’s contents, and recommended you check it out. What I didn’t note was the book is self-published. I’m bringing that up because it’s important to understand how daring a thing that is – or more accurately, how daring my friend is for doing it the way she did. She hired a team, invested her time and money, and has done (and is doing) everything right to position herself for success. It’s not what I would have done, but while attending her launch event last night, I saw it was the right choice for her at this point in her evolution as a professional writer.

Where am I going with this? Just to note that in a world (profession, industry, sport, etc.) where everyone wants to tell you how things are done, you have to decide for yourself the best way to go. If you forget that, look to the people around you for a reminder.

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

Friday Morning FYI – 12/4/2015

Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI – my chance to share observations/wisdom/rants in short, easily consumed form.

This week’s FYI is neither observation nor rant nor wisdom, but instead a celebration:

A friend has launched a book! It’s all space-opera-y and genocide-y and romance-y and pew!-pew!-y. You should check it out 🙂

CLICK ME!!!

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

Beta Reader Archetypes

I love my beta readers. All of them. If I could, I’d buy them Lexuses, just like artificial rich people do in those obnoxious say-I-love-you-at-Christmas-by-giving-them-a-car-with-a-bigass-bow-on-it commercials. Yes, that much.

If you’re not familiar, a beta reader is someone to whom you show your polished novel (not an early draft–that would be an alpha reader), and ask for feedback. In working with many of the same beta readers for my second novel I used for my first, I noticed things I hadn’t anticipated or previously spotted.

And when I notice stuff I think might be helpful, I stick in on here. You’re welcome, interwebz.

Continue reading “Beta Reader Archetypes”