100 sites for fiction writers: #80 - Author Tech Tips

This is an ongoing series looking at websites that can be of help to fiction writers with their craft and career.

Author Tech Tips

Doesn't it always seem for writers as if there is some new website or some new technology that needs to be learned? Every time one turns around, there's a new social networking site or a new e-book format, or something. It can be a bit daunting, and it can feel as if one can never catch up.

But help is available. It's a website called Author Tech Tips.

Admittedly this site is not updated very often, but it still contains a ton of information.

For instance, there are Social Media articles that can help you learn the ins and outs of online networking and such. Then there are Tech How-Tos articles, such as "How to Never Forget a Password Again" and "How to Sync Files Across Multiple Computers Automatically."  Also there are tips for using specific networking sites, such as Twitter, Facebook and more. You can even read about Legal Issues, Productivity and Gadgets.

If you want to get extremely technical, this is probably not the site for you. But for those who want the basics covered without feeling like they have to learn another language, then Author Tech Tips might be a godsend.

Book blog tour: Black Friday!

It's Black Friday, so get out there and buy some e-books! Preferably mine!

Now that that's out of the way, the blog tour continued to promote my new epic fantasy e-book novel Ghosts of the Asylum.

Today the blog tour takes me over to the site of the popular author BV Larson, who writes fantasy and science fiction and probably whatever he wants. He was gracious enough to give me some space on his site, and I type away about world building for fantasy authors.

Enjoy!

100 sites for fiction writers: #79 - Book-in-a-week

This is an ongoing series looking at websites that can be of help to fiction writers with their craft and career.

Book-in-a-week

Are you up for a challenge? And can you spare $3? If so, you might want to look into the website Book-in-a-week.

Book-in-a-week brings writers together in an effort to create support while writing, to give that extra little push to make writers more productive. The main purpose of using this site is to get you before a keyboard and typing.

The point here is just to write, no editing or re-writing. Writers set goals for each week, then check in with the site throughout the week and finally give a total page count of completed work at the end of the week. A writing goal can be as small as 10 pages or it can run into hundreds of pages. Again, the writer sets his or her own goals.

Everyone who reaches their goal is considered a winner, but there are drawings, so you have a chance of winning an Amazon gift card. The $3 I mentioned is an initial fee to join the site.

But besides giving writers a nudge to write, Book-in-a-week also offers much more. There is a listing of Helpful Tools, as well as links to Writers Offering Advice. There are also links to Websites Catering to Writers and an online Community, where writers get to interact with one another and a big portion of the work at Book-in-a-week gets done for the writers.

Keep in mind all kinds of writing and writers are accepted at Book-in-a-week, but fiction writers especially might need a push to get them writing, to get them productive. This site can help.

Books read in 2011: No. 53 - White Wolf

by David Gemmell

Started: November 24
Finished: December 5

Notes: I'm not the biggest Gemmell fan, but I do enjoy reading him. It's been about a year or so since I've read anything by this late author, so I thought it was time I turned to him again. This is a tale of Druss the Legend, probably the author's best known character.

Mini review: I enjoyed the first half of this novel quite a bit, but felt the second half slowed down more than I liked. The end surprised me, however, in that it wasn't one of those let's-wrap-everything-up-in-the-last-chapter endings I've noticed in every other Gemmell novel I've read so far. The characters here are quite strong and memorable. I'll be glad to read more Gemmell in the future.

Happy Thanksgiving from the blog tour

Just because today is Thanksgiving doesn't mean I'm putting a halt to my blog tour promoting my new fantasy novel, Ghosts of the Asylum. Oh, no.

Charles Gramlich over at the Razored Zen blog probably has better things to do today than put up with my nonsense, but he has been kind of enough to allow me to appear as a guest poster today. I chat about what I'm thankful for this holiday season.

And, I've said it before but I'll say it again, if you're a fan of Sword and Planet fiction, you must check out Gramlich's Talera Cycle series. I personally enjoy it more than even Burroughs.

Books read in 2011: No. 52 - The First Dragoneer

by M.R. Mathias

Started: November 23
Finished: November 24

Notes: This indie fantasy author has proven somewhat popular, so I though it high time I got around to reading some of his fiction, though I have read some of his non-fiction. My understanding is this novella is the first part of a longer work. Here goes.

Mini review: The story I thought a little slow in the telling, but when things happen, they happen fast. The writing is clear and easy to read. The characters are very likable. I could definitely recommend this writer to others.

Blog tour: Movies and music that influence me

Fellow Kentuckian and author J.M. Martin hosts my blog tour today, the day before Thanksgiving. Yet again I talk about my influences, but here I skip literature and go on about movies and music that have influenced me over the years.