Pet Peeves

I must admit I have pet peeves about things I read (and watch).  Here are a few that come to mind:

1) If I can take 30 seconds and fact check it on Google, or Yahoo, or whatever search engine, and find out all I need to know about it, the author should have done that, too.

2) If you are setting your story in the real world, I expect things to happen as in the real world--ie.  the laws of physics still apply. If you are setting your world in a made up place, you need to be sure to create what your laws are and stick with them.

3) Not doing enough research for specific things in your story.For example, if you are setting it in a country you've never been to, you still need to research enough so those of us who have been there, or live there, have no idea you've never been there.

What are some of your pet peeves?

Kudos to my Aunt

I know, I know.  I said I wasn't going to post again until next week. But when I said that, I had no idea my Aunt was going to be featured in an article in the Elmira Star-Gazette.  She is a historian, and helped find a family member whose ancestor played a large role in the Underground Railroad movement in the Elmira area.

The article can be found here.

Go check it out. I know I learned something about history from it!

Hope you all have a great weekend!  And I'll be back next week (our move for work is almost done, now it's just all the logistical things, like phones, fax machines, and internet!)

Happy Monday!!

Hope you all had a great weekend and are looking forward to a wonderful Valentine's Day tomorrow.

Just a quick post today to say I am taking a short blog break for the rest of this week and all of next week.  Things are crazy at work these next two weeks, and I am deep in revisions on Quest.

Hope you have a great two weeks!

My New Favorite Word & an Editing Update

Remember a few weeks ago when I talked about wondering what my new, overused word was going to be?  Well, Nicole found it for me (Thanks, Nicole!).  It is LOOK, in any form you can write it in.  Armed with this knowledge I picked up with my editing last night and realized in most places I used the word, I was being lazy (yes, that's right, LAZY).  Most uses were an easy fix of restructuring a sentence to say what I really should have said to begin with.

As for the editing, I have learned something about myself.  I can read for others on the computer all day long, and feel as though I am reading a book, and make my comments.  When I read my stuff on the computer, I cannot get that same distance.  Enter my tablet e-reader.  I have been sitting with the tablet in one hand, and a notebook and pen in the other.  I've been catching typos and areas that don't flow.  Places I need a connecting sentence, or sections that just need to come out as they do nothing.

I am six chapters from an entire read through this way, and plan on re-reading it the same way after I make my changes to find any new areas in need of improvement (and to fix that dreaded LOOK word!) Knowing that I am always on the lookout for ideas from others, I thought I'd share this with you all to see if it might help one of you.

What are some of your favorite words to use?  Have any special reading tricks for your own work?  i would love to hear them.

Much Needed Thanks

Last week I dug into my revisions on QUEST and began to get feedback from my CP's (Critique Partners).  And it was all over the map-- making me very frustrated with determining what was an actual problem and what was just opinion.

Enter a group of people who read for me (or offered to in the future), talked with me, and helped me find my footing. 

So, without further adieu, here they are:
 
Katie, Trisha, Elizabeth, Fiona, PK, Nicole, Ciara, Crystal

Thank you all so much for your time, eyes, and words of encouragement!!!!!