Six Highly Informative Blogs for Authors
When it comes to self-publishing, there are countless blogs out there written by authors primarily selling their books, by “experts” selling their services, and then the ones that are full of advice and entertaining stories that you don’t want to miss reading.
They are, however, not all created equal. Some are just more passionate about the information they are providing, and overall they give us more valuable knowledge in all aspects of self-publishing. I don’t know about you, but I can use every available resource. Knowledge is power, or in this case, possibly the difference between success and failure. So here is a list of some of the most informative blogs available to help you achieve that success.
Founded by Joel Friedlander, former book designer and founder of an information- packed blog. It has extensive resources and tools, guides and books, video instruction, and an online training course – The Self-Publishing Roadmap. This is a full service blog.
Former publisher of Writer’s Digest, a writer, editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, and media professor. She helps authors learn the business side of publishing and how the digital age affects everything from transforming writers, publishing, and storytelling. She has online classes and author services as well as countless resources.
London-based website by self-published author, entrepreneur, and speaker Joanna Penn. She provides the resources to help you write, publish and market your book. She has books, courses, tools, and podcasts to propel you in the right direction. All kinds of great information here.
Founded in 2011 by independent author and consultant Stephen Hise as a platform to celebrate independent authors. Operates like an interactive online magazine. Contains thousands of helpful staff articles as well as tutorial books for authors. Offers opportunities for authors to display their books on the site, video trailers, new release announcements and a featured book section.
Founded by David P. Vandagriff, a writer who has a background in law, intellectual property litigation and tech. Hundreds of articles relating to self-publishing. Learn about enhanced e-books, fiction fundamentals or self-publishing strategies.
At the Savvy Book Marketer, Dana Lynn Smith shares a wealth of tips, advice and tools to help you sell more books and make more money from your publishing business. She is an author,has a marketing degree, and 19 years of publishing experience. Endless tips and resources for aspiring authors.
There is always something new on these sites almost daily, so check them out!
Have any suggestions for other great websites or blogs?
Solitaire
Author of –
THE DRAGOMEIR SERIES ( If you love dragons, you’ll find this series intriguing and a lot of fun!)
Where Do Authors Get Their Ingenious Writing Ideas?
Do they just appear out of nowhere and land in your lap when you least expect it? Probably not very likely. Certainly some authors have wonderfully vivid imaginations, but others are often people who are simply good at making observations and interpreting them into amazing storytelling. Their characters can even be based on someone they know in real life. Some writers have so many ideas in their heads that it’s hard to know which one to go for. There are an abundance of sources for inspiration. Here are a few –
- Mark Twain based his character Huckleberry Finn on a childhood friend.
“In Huckleberry Finn I have drawn Tom Blankenship exactly as he was. He was
ignorant, unwashed, insufficiently fed; but he had as good a heart as ever any boy
had. His liberties were totally unrestricted. He was the only really independent
person—boy or man—in the community, and by consequence he was tranquilly
and continuously happy and envied by the rest of us.”
- John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, “The Grapes of Wrath” is a commentary on social injustice and the forces behind poverty and oppression.
“I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this
[the Great Depression and its effects].” – John Steinbeck
- The world of dreams is a magical place where writers often get answers and inspirational ideas. Dreams have been a source for my creative ideas for years. Many times I have been awakened with an unusual idea and have written it down on anything I can find so that it won’t be lost. Other times I remember vividly the entire thing when I wake up, and a book is spawned right then and there. Generally some changes ensue, but a dream was where it all started.
- You might find inspiration from a snippet of interesting conversation you’ve heard recently, or a dialogue from a movie might spark something in your brain that’s worth creating a story about.
- You might get some great ideas from going on a nature walk, watching the night sky, or looking at a magazine or reading a human interest story.
- Traveling around the world or taking a day trip to the next town and discovering new places and people can make you see new things and spark thoughts for a story line.
- If you have children or just watch and listen to children, it can change the way you view the world when you see through their eyes.
Ideas are free. Just about anything we experience, see, hear or read can spark an idea. We just need to be aware and observant – most writers excel at this.
Solitaire
What or where is the most unexpected place you’ve found a writing idea?
Memorial Day 2016
Once again it is May 30th, and for many it is a long weekend for camping, parties, lots of sales, and even Memorial Day cruises. There are many reasons why this day is notable. But let’s not forget the real reason – the important reason. It was set aside to remember and honor all those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the military service of America . . . Those who died fighting to preserve our lives and our freedom. They won’t be here to celebrate with us because they gave up everything for us. So amidst our celebrations, let’s pause and take time to remember the thousands of men and women whose lives were cut short so that we could live, and be with those we love to enjoy our freedoms.
God help us to remember the cost of our blessings and to remain worthy of that cost.
Solitaire
How to Effectively Kill a Demon – Dragomeir Series Novels
In Greek mythology, the River Styx formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld. The word itself meant “hate” and “detestation.”
In the Dragomeir Series– the River Styx is an important part of the story – the boundary between Earth and The Provinces of Hell. The Demons of The Pronvices, lead by the Dark Lord, are trapped on one side and are desperately attempting to cross over to Earth.
There’s only one problem with that. Demons have ichor running through their veins rather than blood, making the dark, acidic water of The River Styx toxic to them. Ichor contains a property called Mercury which was purposely placed there to effectively strand the demons in the accursed land. They are prisoners for all time for the crimes they have committed against humanity.
When a Human bleeds, the blood comes out red due to the oxygen in the atmosphere. However, when Demons lose ichor, the color is green due to the Mercury coming into contact with ozone. Ozone is the majority of the gas in our atmosphere. It causes us to perceive color the way we do. The Mercury in ichor reacts badly with the water in the River Styx causing severe burns and death. A single drop of its water will sizzle like cooking meat and leave a nasty looking welt that can take days to heal. Even the fumes from the water cause a bad reaction in Demons, so they dare not get too close. As a result, most demons are terrified of the variant forms of water.
To discover more about the intriguing lands, exceptional people, and amazing dragons of these worlds you can find
The Dragomeir Series books –
At my website and various other locations – www.solitaireparke.com
Forthcoming Book #4 –
- Daughter of the Dark Lord
Part One
The Burning Sky
Have any questions or comments – please contact me!
Solitaire
10 Quotes to Keep You Thinking, Encouraged, and Positive
- “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
- To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world.”
- “When you think things are bad,
when you feel sour and blue,
when you start to get mad…
you should do what I do!
Just tell yourself, Duckie,
you’re really quite lucky!
Some people are much more…
oh, ever so much more…
oh, muchly much-much more
unlucky than you!”
― Dr. Seuss, Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?
- Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
― Oscar Wilde
- “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt, This is My Story
- I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
― Maya Angelou
- “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!”
― Audrey Hepburn
- “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
― Albert Einstein
- “You’re going to come across people in your life who will say all the right words at all the right times. But in the end, it’s always their actions you should judge them by. It’s actions, not words that matter.
― Nicholas Sparks, The Rescue
If you have a favorite quote, please share or comment.
Solitaire
SECRETS OF “THE ARIELLA”
Who is this dark-haired beauty that they call ” The Ariella” or Queen Mother? She commands an army of Dragons and Dragon Riders as well as a group of seemingly misfit Creatures that dwell in various mountain locations around the planet. She has their fierce loyalty and is a force to be reckoned with among her global community; all of whom she guards with her life . . . she and her ominous and amazing Dragons, Basiliskos Verminthrax Pejorative – a male black Wyvern, and Invectum Viperathrax Pejorative – a male white Wyvern.
In The DRAGOMEIR SERIES books you can read all about this global population – their triumphs and defeats, while getting to know how “The Ariella” manages to keep them all alive from conflict to conflict. But how long has she been around, and how did she become Queen Mother to this unlikely group of characters?
To answer this question, I am currently writing a Prequel to the series, which will chronicle her life, and rectify some of the myth surrounding her tumultuous journey leading up to her title, “The Ariella” or Queen Mother. The story picks up shortly before her birth and follows her life thereafter. It was her destiny to become the Queen of the Dragons and a champion to the downtrodden misfits in her world.
If you love Dragons, Dragon Riders, Otherworldly Creatures, and lots of adventure and intrigue, I hope you will enjoy the first three books in the DRAGOMEIR SERIES –
AND keep watching for my forthcoming book, the Fourth Book in the Series –
- “DAUGHTER OF THE DARK LORD”
Don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions. Happy Reading!
Solitaire
www.solitaireparke.com (Books available at numerous websites)
Facts about Easter 2016 –
Easter is the time of year when many folks are thinking of the Resurrection, parades, Easter baskets and egg hunts, the Easter bunny, chocolate shaped eggs and rabbits, jelly beans, peeps, and many other traditions that help to celebrate this springtime holiday.
Easter is a Christian festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial after his crucifixion by Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD. It is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. The week before Easter is called Holy Week, and it contains the days of the Easter Triduum, including Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Maundy and Last Supper, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus. In western Christianity, Eastertide, the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the fiftieth day, Pentecost Sunday.
But unlike most days in the Christian calendar, Easter does not have a fixed date. Easter feast days are moveable days, in that they don’t fall on a fixed date in the normal Gregorian or Julian calendars, which follow the cycle of the sun. Easter instead is determined by the lunar calendar, which is based on the phases of the moon. Easter is scheduled to fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox around March 21. This year it falls on March 27th.
The Spring or March Vernal Equinox is the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator – the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator – from south to north. So, in Western Christianity, Easter will always fall between March 22 and April 25.
The equinox occurs because of the tilt of the Earth in relation to the Sun. This is what causes the seasons. The Earth’s tilt is 23.5 degrees relative to the plane of its orbit and means that, although one revolution of the planet takes 24 hours, it’s different depending on the time of year.
During the summer time, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, so we get longer days as more light falls on this part of the planet. In the winter time it’s the Southern Hemisphere that gets the majority of the light.
On the spring equinox, the Earth hits the turning point in its orbit where neither the North nor the South poles are tilted towards the sun. As a result, the Sun spends a roughly equal amount of time above and below the horizon at every location on the Earth, so night and day are about the same length. The word equinox is Latin for “equal night”.
Meteorologists use it as the official turning point in the seasons because – although it can vary from year to year, it allows for the most accurate record-keeping.
The eggs are a symbol of new life, used as a symbol of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday. They can also be seen to represent Spring and celebrate rebirth and re-invigoration after the harshness of winter. This is why we see lots of chicks, lambs and other cute animals – it reminds us of the continuation of life.
The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the “Easter Hare” originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behavior at the start of the season of Eastertide. In legend, the creature carried colored eggs in his basket, candy, and sometimes toys to the homes of children.
So, however you are celebrating this Easter holiday, I hope you have an amazing time with friends and/or family that’s full of love, laughter and great memories!
Happy Easter Everyone!
What are your Easter Traditions?
Solitaire
Is Every Character Important to Your Plot?
The world of Dragomeir has a remarkable number of varying species which seem to get a lot of press when it comes to origins and abilities. As a result, other key characters seem to get lost in the shuffle. I think it’s only fair to give credence to a couple of characters who were instrumental to the plot, and came to the rescue of Tanis, the headliner of the story.
- The first of these two people is Betty, the Den Mother at the Emerald Grotto. She is matronly and ageless. She is older, but at the same time, seems youthful. I know how that sounds, but she’s somewhat of an enigma. Her graying hair is always tied back in a bun and her clothing makes her look strangely homebound and domestic. It’s her energy that impresses everyone the most, and a very imposing demeanor. Betty is fearless and plays a huge role in the conclusion of the Dragomeir Trilogy.
- The second is Jean. Originally the secretary to the Thaumaturgists, she manages to fool everyone into thinking she is ditzy and slow. Jean shows up in the second book, “Flight of the Aguiva” proving just how wrong that assessment really is. She turns out to be a member of the Watcher Clan, and an aggressive, sometimes rash leader, dedicated to the furtherance of Mt. Drago. Highly trained in combat, Jean uses her skills in the service of Queen Mother, both in the field and at the mountain in ways that disturb Tanis and his dragons. Jean is the embodiment of how far a person can go when properly motivated. She is an over achiever and proof that you don’t need super powers to be a super soldier. So check out these two remarkable women and find out how they helped save Queen Mother’s beloved mountain and the world.
Books 1-3 of the Dragomeir Trilogy are available from multiple sources at –
Do you have a favorite character from a book who isn’t the main character? What books have you read where those people really stood out and why?
See you soon,
Solitaire
One of the most amazing lessons you’ll ever learn about writing!
I came across a blog site today that was incredibly insightful and full of terrific information by a prolific writer, Jon Morrow. His site, BOOST BLOG TRAFFIC, is one that you will want to visit again and again to keep you inspired, to give you up to date great ideas for blogging and just writing in general, and probably change the way you think about being a blogger or writer. According to Jon Morrow, the sky’s the limit, and you are capable of almost anything. So believe in yourself and check out the site of an incredible man and his story. Be sure to check out the “Popular Posts” and get his Free download!
Click here – http://boostblogtraffic.com/jon-morrow-confession/
Know of any other posts that are great for writers/authors? Please Share!
Solitaire
Why is February 29, 2016 a Leap Year?
A leap year, where an extra day is added to the end of February every four years, is due to the solar system’s disparity with the Gregorian calendar.
A complete orbit of the earth around the sun takes exactly 365.2422 days to complete, but the Gregorian calendar uses 365 days. So leap seconds – and leap years – are added as means of keeping our clocks (and calendars) in sync with the Earth and its seasons.
Why Are There Leap Years?
Leap years are needed to keep our modern day Gregorian calendar in alignment with the Earth’s revolutions around the sun.
It takes the Earth approximately 365.242189 days – or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds – to circle once around the Sun. This is called a tropical year, and is measured from the March equinox.
However, the Gregorian calendar has only 365 days in a year, so if we didn’t add a leap day on February 29 nearly every four years, we would lose almost six hours off our calendar every year. After only 100 years, our calendar would be off by around 24 days!
Who Invented Leap Years?
Roman general Julius Caesar introduced the first leap years over 2000 years ago. But the Julian calendar had only one rule: any year evenly divisible by four would be a leap year.
This formula produced way too many leap years, but was not corrected until the introduction of the Gregorian calendar more than 1500 years later.
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII revised the Julian calendar by creating the Gregorian calendar with the assistance of Christopher Clavius, a German mathematician and astronomer. The Gregorian calendar further stated that leap days should not be added in years ending in “00” unless that year is also divisible by 400. This additional correction was added to stabilize the calendar over a period of thousands of years and was necessary because solar years are actually slightly less than 365.25 days. In fact, a solar year occurs over a period of 365.2422 days.
Fun facts about leap years –
- The Summer Olympic Games are always held in a leap year. This year, they take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- US presidential elections are held every four years, in a leap year.
- In Greece couples often avoid getting married in a leap year, believing it to be bad luck
- Food for thought: If you work on a fixed annual wage, today is just one more day’s work than you would usually have to do for your salary.
- As touched on above, a year that is divisible by 100, but not by 400, is not technically a leap year. Therefore 2000 was a leap year under the Gregorian calendar, as was 1600. But 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not. “There’s a good reason behind it,” Ian Stewart, emeritus professor of mathematics, told the BBC. “The year is 365 days and a quarter long – but not exactly. If it was exactly, then you could say it was every four years.” Pope Gregory and his astronomers’ solution will have to be rethought in around 10,000 years, Prof Stewart points out.
If you know any more Fun Facts about Leap Years, please share!
Solitaire
Solitaire Parke - Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books 