Las Vegas is an exciting town for musicians, performers, and artists of all types. But there’s one gap: writers. While there are several large writing groups in the area, I noticed that there doesn’t seem to be much support for eBook creators. So, I started a local group here that will meet a couple of times a month and provide coaching and support.

Why not join us? You can register for the group in general, and specific meetings at: http://www.meetup.com/eBook-Creators-of-Las-Vegas/. I sure hope you’ll come out to a meeting!

(Super secret spoiler: I’ve also got a new audio product on the way that I’ll be sharing with Members of this group first…)

Writer’s tools are extremely expensive, especially in terms of software. Here’s a great list of free open-source software designed just for writers.

First, lets define exactly what open source software really means. The term “open-source” comes from the idea that the source code of the software is revealed to the public, unlike Microdaft where everything is super-duper secret. (Or at least, so they think.) When the source code of a piece of software is available to anyone, it means that anyone in the software community can use it – within certain very loose guidelines – to create new software, create add-ons, refine the program, and so on. The one major caveat: they cannot take this free source code and sell it for a direct profit.

Does that mean it’s free? Well, sort of. There’s a strong code of ethics in the open-source community, and almost nobody abuses the grass-roots system that has grown up around this concept. Most people who contribute to open-source projects make their living by consulting, designing, supporting, and doing other things alongside the product of the open-source project, not the project itself.

However, this same code suggests that if there’s a donation button, and you’re happy with the software, then by all means, buy the programmer a virtual coffee. Realize that programmers of open-source software make only marginally more than your average freelance writer. Yep – a couple of bucks wouldn’t hurt either of you.

The website osalt.com has a massive database of open-source software for almost any purpose. (Be aware that they also offer downloads of commercial software – scroll past that to get to the free stuff.) But here are some of my personal recommendations for writers;

- OpenOffice, an alternative to Microserf Office. I have not used any MSO products for several years – this does more than MSO ever will, and looks almost identical. Virtually no learning curve, except for some exceptionally cool new stuff. Imagine this: free, does more, and fewer crashes. I once used this to layout an entire book for print, which I’ll talk about in a future blog post.

- WordPress, the blogging platform that this blog you’re reading is based upon. (This is different from WordPress.com, which is when you use it on a public server, which I do not generally endorse for writers.) I’m talking about WordPress.org, which offers the version that you can download and install on almost any webhost. A zany array of plugins and graphical themes are also available at WordPress.org/extend/.

- XMind, a mind-mapping application that can be used not only to distill your writing ideas, but also to map out characters, plot lines, and even help you figure out who the murderer is.

- PDF995, which although not really an open-source project, it is still free and very reliable. Even though you’ve read in other posts what a fan I am of Adobe products, I still use this for creating most of my PDF documents from typed documents, because it’s lighter and faster than the real thing. This version displays ads each time you use it, but you could just slap down the $10 and not see the ads.

- Celtx (pronounced “Kel-tix”) offers an alternative to the writer’s plague of crazy pieces of paper in every room of your house. Designed as a pre-production and planning tool for screenwriting and similar story-based art forms, it’s very useful for writers. Think of this as a digital binder, collecting your ideas and storyboards, not to mention the actual script, all in one place. Great collaboration tools for more than one contributor.

And for Writers Who Podcast…

- My beloved Audacity, the program that I use to record and edit almost all my audio podcasts. Easy to use, with cool built-in effects and a very forgiving undo button. Even the kids will love this.

- I recently discovered The Levelator, a dandy yet tiny application with big benefits for any podcaster. Smooths out levels and jumpy volume levels. This saves me hours of work.

If you can find a way to give back to the open-source community, please do so by donation or by promotion. It will keep writers in software for a long time coming.

This recipe for Chewy Oatmeal Cookies makes so many that I overflowed my little glass cookie jar. Is that a problem?

Blend first for about 3 minutes with an electric hand-mixer;
- 1/2 pound (1 cup) chilled margarine
- 1 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla

Then make a well in center and blend in;
- 1 1/2 cups white flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon (I used2 teaspoons of the Poudre Douce again from Victorian Epicure)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups rolled quick oats

(Optional: 1 cup raisins.)

Blend all together, and drop by lovin spoonfuls onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, and transfer to a cooling rack. Eat until the book is done.

Take this advice from William M. Akers, of YourScreenPlaySucks.com. Mr. Akers has been a professional writer for television, film and elsewhere for over 20 years, and he now teaches screenwriting at Vanderbilt University.

Here’s a link to an article by Mr. Akers, mainly about:

- how to get back into writing if you’ve taken the summer off,(“If you do not write every day, you are not a writer.”)

- not self-editing as you write (“If you write something and instantly hate it and erase it and feel worthless… hell, you’re never going to get anything done!”)

- how to avoid interruptions from your children (“They’re in therapy now, but I got my work done.”)

- what to do when you can’t think of anything good to write. (“Write crap.”)

He also reminded me of one of my favourite movie lines, from Finding Forrester: “JAMAL: Women will sleep with you if you write a book? FORRESTER: Women will sleep with you if you write a bad book.”

Enjoy!

I went to see the movie Julie & Julia this evening, partly because it was about a female blogger, and partly because it was about Julia Child, a hero of mine. But I didn’t expect to re-learn an important lesson about writing.

There’s a moment in Julie & Julia where Mrs. Child remarks something like, “It took 8 years of my life to write, and it turns out it was nothing more than something to do so that I wouldn’t have nothing to do.” She fears that writing the cookbook was not the way to reach her audience. She wants American women to know how to produce great French cuisine at home. The book is still not published, and now, she’s 8 years from where she started.

Love of food, or your business, or whatever your topic is, is not enough to write a book. The fact is, Mrs. Child’s book took so long to write because she found that the market she had anticipated in her own mind was not the one she ended up selling to in the end. Proper market research in the beginning can save not just hours, months, or possibly years of work, but also the heartache of having to de-construct something that you have spent so much time building.

Market research today is very different than it was in 1959 – you can spend an hour on Google and learn more in 30 minutes than one could learn in weeks and months in 1959. Time is an Author’s most valuable asset, and it is worth spending a bit of it up front before writing a single word of your book.

This same point is re-made at another point in this great movie, when Julie has been blogging about her passion for almost a year, with thousands of followers, commenters, newspaper articles, and of course, recipes, before she gets a call from a literary agent. In other words, her market research was in her blog. She was already proven.

And yes, the blog did get made into a movie.

Here’s the recipe for the carrot cake that I pictured on Twitter last week. So many of you have asked for this, so I’ll just post it here. What does this have to do with self-publishing, podcasting, writing, online marketing, or anything else that I write about? Once you taste it, you’ll understand.

With thanks to Joan Craven of Craven Communications, my very generous friend in Calgary.

Karrott’s Cake, originally from Enjoy: More Recipes from the Best of Bridge (the yellow one).

1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup corn oil
3 eggs
1 + 1/2 cups flour
2 cups finely grated carrots (I actually put in closer to 3)
1/2 tsp salt
1 + 1/3 tsp baking soda (who wrote this crazy cookbook, anyway??!!??)
1 + 1/2 tsps cinnamon (I used the Poudre Douce from Victorian Epicure and put in a bit more than called for)

The “official” instructions:
Mix oil and sugar, beat well. Add eggs, one at a time and bet after each. Sift dry ingredients and add to egg mixture. Beat all together until well-blended. Fold in raw carrots. Bake one hour at 300~ in greased 9×13 pan.

What I actually did:
I wanted to set this up the night before so that I could throw it together in the AM, so I grated the carrots, and added them to a bowl with all of the other wet ingredients, excluding the sugar, which I put in the fridge overnight. I then put all the dry ingredients into a second bowl, and sifted them through a strainer as I added them. In the morning, I just added the dry to the wet, folded only as long as was necessary to get it wet, dumped it in a pyrex pan sprayed with pam, and went to take my morning shower. By the time I had dressed and made breakfast for our guests, it was time to remove it from the oven. I iced it with bought icing and nobody knew the difference. (Uh, well, at least they didn’t until now.)

Eat well = write well!

Let’s face it: writers don’t get a lot of exercise. I’ve discovered this recipe that makes a really crunchy and filling low-carb snack.

Low-Carb Crunchy Writer’s Snack Mix
(This makes enough to last at least a week or more.)
- 1 box Bran Buds
- 1 bag raisins
- 500g toasted sunflower seeds
- 500g toasted pumpkin seeds
- 250g toasted sesame seeds
- 1 Tablespoon sea salt

Toss in large airtight sealed jar, and spoon out when you feel munchy. Little goes a long way.

The raisins add some carbs, but they are more than offset by the bran, and seem to reduce cravings for sweet stuff. The seeds provide omegas and keep one from feeling hungry because they take a while to break down. If I eat about 3-4 Tablespoons of this before midday, I eat far less lunch.

Makes a nice snack with fried onions – just chop an onion, fry in EVOO, and add the mix to the pan. Can also add spices, curry powder mixes, other low-sugar dried fruit or nuts, chili flakes, bran flakes, flax seed, dried vegetable flakes, etc. Use it to top off soups or mix into tuna salad. Delish!

Here are three books that every author, fiction or non, should have in their library. And, at least one of them may not be what you expect.

If a grammar reference could have sex appeal, this would be the book. The Elements of Style is the definitive reference for writers of any type. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I carry this around in my purse. Makes for great reading during your lunch, in the ladies, in a taxi, etc. I don’t care how nerdy this makes me sound. At least I’ll know that I’m using proper sentence structure as I defend that accusation. The 50th Anniversary Edition is now on the way, and the illustrated version has become a cultural icon. You can even download it as an audio book. I’m not sure I could sleep at night if I didn’t know where my copy was.

This next one will seem a bit strange to some, because I’m primarily a non-fiction writer, and I’m about to recommend a book about screenwriting. But Robert McKee’s STORY is based on making content appealing, easily understood, have good flow, timing, and yes, also about using the dreaded plot diagram. All of these still apply, whether you are writing for business, a cookbook, or an instruction manual. Plus, it’s just a great read. This book is also the source of the beautiful quote, “…the story arts have become humanity’s prime source of inspiration, as it seeks to order chaos and gain insight into life.” Good reading no matter what.

The third book is my 12th-grade English text book, Adventures in English Literature, which I sinfully stole from the shelves of my Catholic school on the last day of class. I loved that class, and I loved my instructor, Mrs. Hargreaves. Her genuine love of literature, English and otherwise, was contagious (at least to myself) and I knew I’d use that book over and over again. In the end, I was billed for my missing book, so between that and a few minutes in the confession booth, my debt to society has been paid. It was worth the cost of an over-priced textbook, because it’s amazing how often I use it to look up a poet, their life story, and a summary of their work in 300 words or less. It’s still faster than Google. Authors all the way from Chaucer to modern poets still living are profiled, along with introductory material about each era and the current events that shaped the work of each writer. It’s an extremely useful cultural reference, along with a handy way to confirm the accuracy of quotes and source material. It’s amazing how many current works reference stuff in this volume.

OK, there’s one more, and it’s a recent addition. Teach Yourself Copywriting, by the modest J. Jonathan Gabay, who doesn’t even have his name on the cover, is a tight little volume about writing words that sell stuff. You’ve all heard me say it a million times, “every organization is a sales organization”, and this book is a great summary of how to craft words that tell people about your organization. Clear, to the point, and with extremely useful illustrations and diagrams, this book just doesn’t waste time. Gabay starts from the right place, the mind of the buyer, and ends in the very same spot. A great reminder of what motivates people, how to get them to understand things quickly, and how using fewer well-chosen words is always more powerful than many words used casually. Very enjoyable to read cover to cover.

Enjoy your back to school reading!

I was awoken very early this morning by my neighbour’s new rooster. (Yes, she’s still my friend.) While trying to get back to sleep, I heard another sound – a gentle rustling and footsteps in my yard, outside my bedroom window.

I crept out of bed to see a young deer and her very brand-new fawn munching on Bracken Fern in my cedar grove. This was the smallest fawn I’ve ever seen. He was very darkly spotted, and his mother was gently licking him. He couldn’t have been more than a few days old. From my vantage point, he seemed only to be about the size of a cat. I must have made some sound, because he followed her as she quickly led him out of my view.

This morning is the last time that I may get to see such a scene, because today is the day that my yard will be excavated by heavy equipment. Our newly-built house will finally nest into the garden I imagined more than 2 years ago when I first walked onto this lot. The stumps of trees that we felled to build the house and deck will be scraped clean, like everything else here. And all of that Bracken will be gone by the end of today, pushed into a large pile of organic matter that will form a berm between the front of my property and the road. 12 hours from now, the food source on my property for these deer will be eliminated.

Building and construction are a lot like writing and editing. You plan, you imagine, but when it comes to actually doing it, you are forced to make compromise after compromise. Editing a large manuscript is arduous and sometimes full of agonizing decisions about what to keep and what not to. The “manuscript” of my construction project has been awful to edit because of outside forces like weather (the market), lack of available help (sub-contractors), and a huge distraction factor on my part. (Ironically, many of my days have been spent writing instead of finishing to build a house.) And once you’ve eliminated all the crap, you must be careful not to have robbed it of all character.

Living on a gulf island means that there are weeds in every garden – plenty of them – and I’m far, far from being the only food source for these deer. In fact, I rarely see them in my yard, and they are quite fat. (More than once has my husband suggested that he wished he still had his rusty .22 in the basement.) I’m not hurting them by pulling out stumps and putting up wire fencing. And so I believe a few weeds should be left in each piece of writing, especially in non-fiction, which often serves to keep the content light and more personable.

Today I’m ripping out thistle, scraping away long grasses and raking up piles of stones. But I’m going to leave a section of grasses and ferns at the end of my driveway still wild – just for the deer. They are so sweet and gentle, and I want to make sure that my garden is going to be welcoming to creatures like that. I don’t care about the weeds – they will flower and attractively greet visitors. Who wants to pretend to be perfect, anyway?

Wow – it hardly seems possible that I’ve already reached the 100 mark, when this revised blog has only been operating as you see it for a few months. Prior to that, I was posting on multiple blogs for similar subjects. This forum has been an exercise in setting personal boundaries.

Thank you to all of you who continue to send me email and comments, online and offline. I really find the interaction very stimulating, not only for my own writing, but for the development and marketing of my clients’ products. My commitment to helping to develop authors on the West Coast of Canada is renewed every time I hear from one of you.

As a blogger who loves what she does, and what I write about, I can offer one piece of key advice. If you glean nothing else from reading about blogging, please know this: only blog about topics for which you have a true passion. Blogging is work, and loving your subject makes it a pleasure rather than a chore. More coming soon!