Circulating: Meet Goals and Record Your Progress With Trakr
I recently reviewed an app called Trakr for iPhone.AppStorm. It helps you keep track of anything you can count, and well, I found the thing to be pretty darn handy. Books you’ve read, cakes you’ve baked, pages you’ve written, miles you’ve conquered, stitches you’ve knit, games you’ve won, dinosaur bones you’ve found … anything! Read more
Scrivener — Powerful Software For Writers
The $45 I recently paid for the writing software called Scrivener has turned out to be money very well spent. Created by Literature and Latte, Scrivener is a word processor plus a project management tool, and it helps you tackle the most difficult of all writing obstacles — how to organize all those ideas and get them onto the page in the order you want and without leaving anything out. (And then even easily reorganize those ideas later if need be.)
Anyone working on long-form texts — novels, research papers, essays, memoirs, movie or TV scripts — will find this program a life-saver. Read more
Circulating: Spread the Word With iQuotation
There’s a free iPhone app called iQuotation, which I gave an overview of for iPhone.AppStorm. It’s chock-full of famous quotations that you can “favorite” and also share with friends via email and social media sites. Read more
goodreads
Today I joined goodreads, which is like an online bookshelf for all your books — those you’ve read, those you want to read, and those you’re currently reading. I discovered it a while back but put off taking the plunge, I’m not sure why. I wish I hadn’t waited so long, though. Now that I’ve signed up, I’m excited about all the organizational and recommendation features. But then again, I’m kind of weird like that. Read more
Circulating: Test Your Word Wisdom With Phrase Wit
Being a lover of words, I really enjoyed reviewing an app called Phrase Wit for iPhone.AppStorm.
Phrase Wit turns exploring the nuances of the English language into an addictive quiz, making great use of vivid colors and interactivity so that the whole experience is fun and challenging. Read more
Making of a Cover
Germany company Paperlux made this video called “Making of a Cover,” revealing some of the process behind their creation of the very cool and interactive magazine cover for Novum 11/11. Read more
Young Adult Writing Conference
At the beginning of this month, I mentioned the Indie Author Publishing Conference & Pitchapalooza, and here’s another conference you might be interested in.
It’s not too late to register for this upcoming Saturday’s Young Adult Writing Conference, taking place at Burton Barr Central Library.
Presented by Phoenix Public Library and Changing Hands Bookstore, the Jan. 28 event is scheduled to be held between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and will include writing classes, a box lunch, and a writing panel of standout authors of YA fiction, including several New York Times bestsellers. Registration is $85. Read on for more details, including which authors will be present and which classes are on offer. Read more
Indie Author Publishing Conference
On Saturday, Feb. 25, Changing Hands Bookstore and the Phoenix Public Library present the Indie Author Publishing Conference and Pitchapalooza.
The event’s goal is to give participants the tools they need to jumpstart their endeavors in publishing. One lucky individual will even win an introduction to a literary agent during Pitchapalooza. Continue reading for more info regarding the various conference sessions. Read more
“Between Two Worlds” by Zainab Salbi
I’m finishing up a book called Between Two Worlds: Escape From Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam, written by Women for Women International founder Zainab Salbi (with Laurie Becklund), and I simply cannot recommend it enough.
Salbi was born in Baghdad, Iraq, and while she was growing up, her father was ordered to work as Saddam Hussein’s personal pilot. Her memoir describes what life was like for Iraqis under the dictator’s rule, including the psychological abuse that she and her family suffered as Hussein and his supporters controlled their every move. Read more
Circulating: 50 Unique Journal and Diary Apps
Combining two of my favorite things — writing and my iPhone — I contributed an article to iPhone.AppStorm that spotlights 50 different journal and diary apps.
The roundup, published today, features apps for people who want to record thoughts and memories on the go — but these aren’t apps for just any kind of note-taking. I included only those that were created with the idea of a genuine digital journal in mind — and let me tell you, some of these developers got pretty darn creative. Read more
Author Alice Hoffman at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore
Have you ever heard of the movie “Practical Magic,” starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman? It was based on a book of the same name, written by Alice Hoffman.
On Saturday, Nov. 12, Hoffman was in Phoenix for a speaking engagement, as well as a book signing later that evening at The Poisoned Pen independent bookstore in downtown Scottsdale. At the signing she discussed her latest book, “The Dovekeepers,” as well as answered some questions about her previous works — including what she thought of Sandra Bullock and the film “Practical Magic.” Read more
5 Books That Changed My Life
I used to read a lot. Well, I still read a lot, it’s just that what I used to read were a whole lot of novels, and now I read more magazines and blogs and text files for work.
In an effort to remedy that, I recently went through my bookshelf to sort all the “Books I Bought And Still Haven’t Read But Definitely Plan To Read” from all the “Books I’ve Already Read Or Will Likely Never Read” in the hope that seeing just what’s on my shelf might encourage me to start turning pages again. (Or at least remind me of what I already own so that I don’t buy any more until I can clear some space …)
You know how music albums and songs can sometimes jolt you back to what your life looked like in the past? I think books can do that, too. A number of novels over the years have influenced me as a writer, as a reader, and as a person — but I’ll spare you the master list and present just five of them here.
“The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern
Erin Morgenstern is incredibly cool. Not only is she witty and interesting, and not only does she have great taste in music, but she also had the tenacity to not give up on her manuscript for “The Night Circus” — which was picked up by Doubleday (U.S.) last year, and is coming out in less than two weeks on Sept. 13!
About the book:
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.
Click through to read more. Read more
Circulating: ScatterBrain: All Your Thoughts in One Place
Do you have an iPhone? Do you like reading about new and useful apps? My review of the ScatterBrain app was published on the iPhone.AppStorm website today.
ScatterBrain is a free note-taking app that enables users to quickly take down thoughts and then color-code them for easy and quick reference later. Read more
The Query Shark
Even if you’re not a writer — and even if you’re not a fiction writer — you’ll enjoy The Query Shark blog.
The blog’s author, who works in the fiction publishing industry, posts reader-submitted queries on the site and then, well, chomps them to bits. (A query is a letter that a novelist sends to a publishing house. The query letter is supposed to make the publisher want to know more about the author and the novel and, fingers crossed, publish the book.)
What makes the site so entertaining is that 1) many of the queries are so astoundingly bad and therefore, very humorous to read, and 2) The Query Shark does not pull any punches when it comes to pointing out as much. Read more
