Reading List

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I’ve been thinking a lot about how much I read, what I read, etc.  I also got to wondering how much I read, after reading that many people won’t even read one book this year.

So, with that in mind, I’m putting up a new blog page, my Reading List. I’ll start it off with the books I listed a couple weeks ago and keep going from there. That should include all my books read from May onward. From time to time I’ll include a blog update and maybe a short review or two.

I think you can tell a lot about a person by what they read, and I doubt I’m any exception. I’d be curious to see what people learn about me from my book list.

I’ll also be putting my Amazon affiliate link on the page, so if you’re interested in buying something from Amazon, I’d appreciate your using my link. If you do, I’ll cut a small cut to help support my lavish lifestyle. Yeah. Right.

I’m genuinely curious to see how much I read in a year. I think it’ll also be fun to be able to look back and rememberwhat I read. I know I read dozens of books last year, but I’d be hard-pressed to remember more than half a dozen of them right off.

If anyone is interested in joining me, or if you’re already doing something similar, drop a comment on this post and I’ll link to your reading list as well.

Get Inspired

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Need something to prompt your muse? Feeling a little uninspired? Try one of these writing prompts.

  1. What if there were no energy worries at all. Someone discovers a cheap, safe source of energy. What happens?
  2. A runaway teen returns to her home to confront her ________ about __________.
  3. Think of one piece of technology that most people use daily and then imagine what the world would be like if it had never been invented.
  4. A woman meets the man she’s always dreamed of and refuses to marry him.
  5. Three men walk into a bar.
  6. A teacher gets a 3 a.m. phone call from a student he taught several years ago and hasn’t heard from since.
  7. Take a character from history you like and transplant him/her to the modern world.
  8. A woman permits her child to be molested for years. Why?
  9. It’s 9:44 p.m. and _________ doesn’t know where ___________ is.
  10. What’s one item you still have from your childhood? Why did you keep it?
  11. In order to stop world poverty and hunger, a mad scientist decides to kill three fourths of the world’s population.
  12. A young man goes off to college and finds that he doesn’t fit in, although he was popular in high school.
  13. A __________ year old learns she’s pregnant.
  14. You have to barricade yourself in your home with several of your neighbors for a week or more.
  15. An abused wife returns to her dying ex-husband to confront him.

Will anyone read in fifty years from now?

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Check this out, one in four people read NO books last year.

I have a tough time understanding that, but that isn’t really what I want to write about.

As a writer, these numbers make me think.

  • Of the people who do read, the average was seven books a year. SEVEN.
  • The most avid readers are older females.
  • Fewer than 5 percent listed horror, scifi, speculative as books they’d read. I care about these because they’re what I write.

So, I can’t help but think about what this means for writers and publishing. If older people tend to read the most, then will the numbers of books read drop even further in the future, as the internet generation ages?

Will new technologies, like the kindle, replace books or bring younger people back to reading with the attraction of a cool gadget? Will they do both? Neither?

How possible is it for a writer to make a living in this market?

Will books as we know them even exist in a few decades?

I obviously don’t know the answers to these questions, but I have my own opinions. I don’t see brick and mortar bookstores going away any time soon. No Amazon or e-book can match the atmosphere of a good bookstore. Well, at least I hope they’re not going anywhere!

I’m curious. How many books have you read in the last month?

Here is my list

  • Lynn Viehl’s Dark Need
  • Plot and Structure by James Bell
  • Encyclopedia of Knitting by Donna Kooler
  • A historical novel about Bloody Mary. That author and title completely escape me, and I’m too lazy to go digging.

I’ve also started reading the Cluetrain Manifesto online.

O.K., everyone. What are you reading?

Writing Resources

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Here are the entries for the Writing Resources Carnival that ended April 30. I do wish that a few more people had participated, but many thanks to those who did!

Neil Bartlett presents A Beginners Guide To Writing For Profit | Pro Article posted at ProArticle. This is a nice, tips-oriented article for the person new to online writing and blogging.

Jim DeSantis presents An Easy Way For Newbies To Get Articles! posted at Internet Marketing at On Line Tribune. He focuses on finding cheap/free content and reworking it for your site. He has some good ideas, but take care. I’ve seen bloggers get called out for some of these techniques.

Miscellany, and a Reminder for Submissions

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Just a reminder, April 30 is the deadline to submit a link for my Writer’s Resources Page. I’m treating this as a blog carnival, so I’ll be putting together a post with all the submissions as well as making additions to the Resources Page.

I picked up a good plotting book the other weekend, Plot and Structure by James Bell. I’m about half-way through it, and it gives some good tips on plotting, managing sub-plots, crafting good beginnings, etc. I’ll write up something a little more in-depth once I’ve finished it.

I also picked up a copy of Writing the Breakout Novel, but I haven’t done anything except browse the table of contents.

In the comments, list your favorite writing-related books.

Submissions, please

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I’m looking to fill out my Writing Resources page some more, and I’m looking for some submissions. My goal is to put together a really kick-butt listing of online writing resources, so submit your own best work or others’ work that you find really useful.

Please leave a comment on this post with your link and a brief summary of what it covers. Don’t worry if there’s not already a category covering it; as long as it’s writing, publishing, or blogging related, I’m interested.

And while you’re here, don’t forget to subscribe to my RSS feed so you don’t miss any updates.

If you prefer, Direct Message me on twitter with your link. Follow me here. If you follow me, I’ll follow you back.

You can always friend me on StumbleUpon as well. I’ll friend you back, and please feel free to use SU to send me links in the future. When friending me, please mention that you found me through this post so I’ll know who you are.

And please spread the word, the more the merrier!

Edited to Add:

I also posted this as a blog carnival. If you came here via the carnival, then feel free to submit your post that way as well. I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone sends along.

Spiffy new theme

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Well, how do you like the new theme?

I got it at themelab as a free download. I have to say it is the most painless install of a wordpress theme I’ve EVER done. I only had to do a couple code edits, and those were very simple.

If you’re looking for a new wordpress theme, check these guys out. They have quite a few nice-looking free ones, and if they’re all this easy to install, even better.

By the way, I ran across them via my twitter feed. Somehow I ended up following themelab on twitter.

And my twitter feed is at www.twitter.com/cornerscribe so follow me!

9 Good Writing Excuses

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writing, novel, freelancing, book, fiction, blog, grammar

Dear Novel,

Yes, I know I have 60,000 words of you written already. I have a scene outline. I even know your ending (and I still respect you). Yet I haven’t sat down with you in days, haven’t added a word to you or done even a little tweak here or there.

Here is what I’ve been doing instead. You can see it’s all really important, so you won’t feel neglected.

  1. I helped my husband find his keys. I can’t have him wandering around tearing up the house looking for them any longer.
  2. I did laundry. Writing naked is overrated. Besides, it’s COLD.
  3. I organized my knitting supplies. Stepping on one of those stitch markers could be painful.
  4. I checked my facebook page. What if a publisher is desperately trying to find me?
  5. Made coffee. That one is obvious.
  6. We helped the guinea pig get un-impacted. You really don’t want to know about that one.
  7. I watched Battlestar Gallactica. (It’s inspiration, okay!)
  8. I cooked dinner
  9. I wrote a blog entry.

O.K. so maybe I’ve been procrastinating just a little bit. I promise to do better.