My why I chose the Victorian Era podcast is finally available. Not sure why this one took so long to get uploaded, but it did.
Tune in to http://www.melanierobertson-king.com/podcastgen1.3/ to listen to it.
I hope you enjoy it.
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Road testing my laptop’s cooling mat
So far so good. The laptop’s side of the cooling mat is definitely working and from what I’m feeling right now, my lap is much cooler, too. Time will really tell. So far it’s only been a wee while. But me thinks it’s going to work a charm.
A eureka moment
They don’t happen often but when they do they’re usually pretty darn good. I happen to think this one is a cracker! I’ve figured out how to get Robert out of his arranged marriage to Letitia Christie so that he’s free to marry Sarah.
Not saying any more than that right now. If you want to know, you’ll have to wait until my novel is published and buy a copy so you can read it for yourself.
“Who are my favourite authors? Why” podcast
After almost a month and no podcasts created, I’ve rectified that today with my Who are my favourite authors? Why? podcast.
Tune in to http://www.melanierobertson-king.com/podcastgen1.3/ to listen.
Hope you enjoy it.
Ottawa Romance Writers Association presents…
In celebration of our 25th anniversary, in collaboration with Algonquin College, please join us on September 25, 2010 for Story Mastery by Michael Hauge. This day-long seminar with one of the most respected experts in the industry will help you with your story-telling abilities no matter your target audience or stage of your writing career.
Detailed information, including registration forms and fees, can be obtained at the Ottawa Romance Writer’s website…
http://www.ottawaromancewriters.com/events/workshops/michaelhauge.html
For information on Michael Hauge, visit his website at
http://www.screenplaymastery.com
Hope you’ll come out and join us!
Productive Day – not writing
Yesterday turned out to be a very productive day… not on the writing front but on the “fun stuff” for my website front. Jigsaw puzzles and word search puzzles lots of them to choose from! Best of all they’re linked through the main page of my website now.
Hmm… wonder what I can get up to today that doesn’t involve writing???
Naming properties in my first novel
I had a brainwave this morning that I would change the name of the estate in the Victorian era from Gordonsfield to Gleanstane (basically glen of stones) and since I envision the Christie mansion being in a bit of a valley, a standing stone or two by themselves and a stone circle atop a hill, the name sounded absolutely perfect.
However in my heroine’s time, she knows it as Gordonsfield. A bit of a dilemma but not for long. I mention the burnt out shell of a house on the property which still exists in the twenty-first century. So, the burnt out shell of a house was rented by one Gordon Eadie a tenant farmer (crofter) on the Christie estate and the land that his house was on was his “field”… hence Gordon’s Field… and over the years shortened to Gordonsfield.
So a few find and replaces later and an explanation or two and all will be well. However, I’m going to continue on from where I left off at the weekend and worry about the earlier changes later. I’m finding myself on a roll as far as the current revisions are going so want to keep on that track. I’m not in any rush to go back to the first three chapters and start again – spent way TOO much time back there.
Cooling mat for laptop
After sweltering on Sunday working on my laptop computer in a non-air conditioned environment, I decided it was time to buy a cooling mat for my laptop and hopefully one that would keep me cool, too.
My local computer shop had one of the thermal varieties on display so had me sit on it. Within moments, my bum was cooling off rather nicely. The beauty of this type is it doesn’t require power to run the fans which cuts down on your battery life big time. It’s light and will fit easily into my laptop case. It didn’t take much convincing after I’d done the “sit on it” test. I purchased it and now can’t wait to use it!
Here’s the link to the cooling pad I bought.
Productive day on the revisions front
I started back in my chapters 7-9 file of Sarah’s Gift after lunch and by the time I shut the computer down to come home from my mum’s, I was into the chapters 13-15 file. I even found the perfect place to put the file I started working on when I was distracted last weekend! When said file called to me to be written.
Woo Hoo!!! Hooray for me!
Most recent wordsearch puzzle
I’ve come to the conclusion after doing this one myself, that it’s just a wee bit too big. 66 words is just a bit much when the border on the puzzle remains the same size. The first one I did, had 55 or 56 words which seems to be a bit better. I tested the new one today and have decided on a few things…
1. fewer words
2. sort the list into alphabetical order before creating and uploading the puzzle, although I just loaded wordsearch1 and I don’t think the word list is in the same order as earlier… hmmm…
And as I was testing the puzzle, printed and done on paper rather than the screen, I realized I’d left a good portion of the early parts of the book this one is based on out of it.
Oh well, I’m flying by the seat of my pants so what can I say? I’m certain the more of them I create, the better they’ll get. At least I hope it turns out that way.