Take Off Your Worry Pants and Run Free

I admit it. 99% of the photos you see on my blog are ripped off from free photo websites. But are they really really free? Yeah, websites like Pixabay or MorgueFile or Stock.xchng say they are, but if a lawyer with big guns really wanted to shoot down my little balloon, technically, and with a lot of money, he theoretically could. Not that I'm worth the latex shreds that would be left behind, nor do I lay awake at night worrying about such an event coming to pass.

But if you're the nail-chewing oh-my-goodness type that hyperventilates over the thought of an EMP bomb detonating over the roof of your house, have I found a worry-free site for you!

Unsplash provides 10 pictures every 10 days directly to your inbox. Or you could go to their site and mosey around if you've got nothing better to do. These are seriously can't-argue-with-it airtight not-even-kidding kinds of free photos for anyone to use.

Unsplash.com hosts images whose creators have waived ALL rights the laws allow to be waived. The variety is fantastic. The organization and bells and whistles on the site, not so much. Still, if your camera is shoddy or you don't have a photographic eye, go ahead and use Unsplash.

It will free you up to worry about something else.

What's A Kill Fee?

When it comes to TV shows, I'm slow but sure. Translation: I don't have cable so I wait until my favorite shows go on sale at Amazon, then I park my behind on the couch and watch the whole season in a sitting, something like this (yes, you should watch this, it's short and freaking hilarious):

Recently I just finished up season 6 of Burn Notice, one of my all-time favorite shows that's about a spy who gets burned (revealed as a spy). What in the world does any of this have to do with writing? Stay with me...it's Monday and I haven't had any coffee yet.

Sometimes writers are paid a Kill Fee. Does that not sound like some kind of spy and/or hit man terminology? Did you know writers are that deviously skilled?

Well, they're not. Oh, I suppose some are, but here's what a Kill Fee really is...a fee paid to a writer who's worked on an assignment that, for whatever reason, isn't published. Example: Mr. Happy Writer is contracted (contracts always make writers happy) to write an article for a magazine. HW turns it in and the editor is pleased. But then the editor calls you back a few days later and says they're changing the focus of the upcoming magazine issue. Sorry, HW, we can no longer use your article. But HW is still happy because the editor is going to pay him some money anyway and all the rights will revert back to HW, who can then sell the article to someone else. That, my friends, is what is called a Kill Fee.

Now get outta here. I've only got 3 episodes left on season 6!

Book Dominoes

Don't panic. Just because I've gone camping and am unable to film a vlog today, I haven't left y'all high and dry (speaking of which, hopefully I am because I hate camping in the rain...nasty business). I found a fun video that's pretty cool to watch. Enjoy!

Reader in a Candy Store

Looking for that perfect beach read to toss into your tote? Or have you got a published book you'd like to see snuggled up against towels and sunblock? Toodle on over to Book Candy Studios Facebook page tomorrow for Open Book Friday.

Book Candy runs an open invitation each Friday for authors to share a cover and short blurb on their latest and greatest. The best part is that there's no charge. Oh yeah, you heard me right. FREE!

So if you're indecisive about what to read next, or you're sick of looking at your To Be Read pile and want to flip it off, go ahead and pop on over to Book Candy Studios. It won't cost you anything.

Perk Up Your Corner of the Web

Take your blog or website from being a yawner to an eye-popping are-you-kidding-me wowzer of a page for free! Really. There are no easy payments that will continue until you're dead. No credit card numbers involved. You don't even have to take the Mark of the Beast to participate.

PosterOven is the place to go. You pick a template and simply fill in the boxes with your copy. You can even add in social media little square things with crazy robot-like UPC line doodles that mean something to Smart Phones. Yeah, I know there's a techhie name for that, but I prefer to cling to my Luddite roots.

So scoot on over there and play around. And if you make a pretty pretty poster you'd like to share, send me a link to your creation and I'll coo and goo over it.

An Escapee From the Island of Dr. Moreau

Lately I've heard the term "hybrid author" bandied about like the little birdie thingamabob that gets smacked back and forth over a badminton net. Unless you're playing with me. I whack that thing into the universe and it never comes back.

Oh yeah. Back to hybrid authors. What are they? Half electric, half ethanol? Are they the result of eating one too many GMO's? Are they part human, part fruit bat, with an unnatural taste for human flesh? Gasp. ARE THEY FREAKING ZOMBIES ABOUT TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD?!

See. This is what happens when my brain is unleashed.

So, hybrid authors. Here's a definition...
A hybrid author looks at publishing options available and uses them. All. They publish their work in many formats: traditional, indie, digital, or self.

This kind of writer used to be known as a rebel. A lunatic. A naughty, naughty child who refused to color in the lines. Not anymore, baby. Now that the derogatory connotation has been replaced with a shiny new Prius-type label, hybrid authors are popping up all over the place.

And why not? Publishing possibilities are exploding. No longer does an author have to slap on a three-piece suit and sit on the hard plastic chair in the reception room, waiting for The Man to open the door and usher them into the biz.

That being said, there's still a mandatory key factor that every writer must first and foremost adhere to with all the ferocity of being in a velcro suit stuck to a velcro wall... WRITE WELL. Take the time and put all your blood and sweat into crafting the very best piece you possibly can, and even then edit it one more time before flaunting it before the world.

It's an exciting time to be a writer. Just make sure your stories are stellar.

By the way, if you don't know what in the world today's title has to do with any of this, check it out here. Great book.

Romance, Treachery, and Tea

If you've read A HEART DECEIVED and loved it, I've got another fantastic read to recommend to you. My crit buddy, Jessica Dotta, is releasing her debut novel, BORN OF PERSUASION, in September. Here's a blurb:

The year is 1838, and seventeen-year-old Julia Elliston’s position has never been more fragile. Orphaned and unmarried in a time when women are legal property of their fathers, husbands, and guardians, she finds herself at the mercy of an anonymous guardian who plans to establish her as a servant in far-off Scotland.

With two months to devise a better plan, Julia’s first choice to marry her childhood sweetheart is denied. But when a titled dowager offers to introduce Julia into society, a realm of possibilities opens. However, treachery and deception are as much a part of Victorian society as titles and decorum, and Julia quickly discovers her present is deeply entangled with her mother’s mysterious past. Before she knows what’s happening, Julia finds herself a pawn in a deadly game between two of the country’s most powerful men. With no laws to protect her, she must unravel the secrets on her own. But sometimes truth is elusive and knowledge is deadly.

Sound interesting? You bet it is! I was lucky enough to get to critique it and woo-hoo! Love it to pieces. 

Now then, here's the fun part. Check out Jessica's Facebook page frequently during the entire month of August. She's got giveaways galore, and one of them will be my book. You might be the lucky winner!