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Showing posts from June, 2016

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New contribution to Totally Novel on writing, update on Sweet Sixteen Killer

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I've been pretty quiet lately on the blog, sorry about that. I've been laying mostly low, though I did recently begin contributing to a new website for writers and readers called Totally Novel. My first contribution for members of the site is a post I titled 3 things that prevented me from writing a novel. To read the post, sign up for a free trial. Take a look around and if you don't wanna stay, don't renew membership. That said, it's a pretty cool effort being put together by a former Google+ member like myself. As a matter of fact there are several members on the site from the old Google+ days. (Side note: there is a free membership option)
I will be contributing to the Totally Novel blog bi-monthly for now. My next addition will be in August. I'm super excited for the site and I hope you can come join us and become a part of the groups, forums, blog, workshops, and more. 
All that said, I haven't given up here. This is still my primary site and blog. 👊

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https://twitter.com/babylontales/status/747969720448495616

via WP for Windows app.
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Gothika is not PG rated

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Gothika is not PG rated



Imagine the look on someone's face when they discover Gothika starring Halle Berry is very much not PG rated.
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Looking back over my book Hardboil High: Freshman

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Looking back over my book Hardboil High: Freshman



Several years ago, almost eight, I spent 2 days in my family's cabin on the lake writing the next, great American novel. Sounds like a horror film, right?







Well, nothing scary happened, except for a lot of cabin fever. But not that kind of cabin fever.







What I did do was pretty much what I was aiming for... I wrote an entire complete first draft of my novel. Was it perfect? Far from it. Was it there? Yeah. Did I feel like I'd made a mistake? Mostly. Did I have a lot of fun? Absolutely.







Today, I went back and started putting the numbers together, and looking at what I had. I was feeling more positive about my work, and feeling like maybe there was something there to brag about, if I'd just get back on it.







Turns out that a) I wrote more words in 2 days than I remembered, b) I had a higher wordcount than I recalled as well. That definitely left me feeling better about the whole experience.







In the near future, I will probably be revi…
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Video demo of new #GoogleSites

Video demo of new #GoogleSites



Man, this looks slick. I love it already. Really, really can't wait to get hands on this.







Hopefully they will bring back social features (commenting and so on) with a vengeance, because it was never perfect before.







https://youtu.be/S1WZtm6aNWM





https://youtu.be/S1WZtm6aNWM

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So #GoogleSites is getting a makeover, finally

So #GoogleSites is getting a makeover, finally



I for one am glad to hear this. Google Sites is a great product, and has felt kind of ignored in recent years. Sure, they've added better integrations here and there, but overall the product has remained the same.







People love Sites in the education sector, and I hope Google is not forgetting that. I know they have Google Classroom now, but let's not forget that a lot of folks in education still get a lot of use out of Sites. And think of the students who can create and collaborate on shared sites as well. Unlimited potential.







Any rate, I really hope it's nothing but good things moving forward.







SIDE NOTE: It's currently only available in Early Access for certain Google Apps accounts. More info at the link.
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I Will Kill You for $5: Update and Stats

I Will Kill You for $5: Update and Stats



So, I'm in the editing phase of my seventh story in the "I Will Kill You for $5" project--in which people pay me $5 to write a short story or flash fiction wherein they die.







I've been crunching the numbers, and I'm happy to say that I've about met my wordcount goal for filling an entire volume (i.e., book compilation). This was something I had hinted at early on in the project, but didn't get my hopes up that I would actually have enough clients to pull it off.







What next?



I think my next goal, after releasing story #7, will be to go back to all the stories and see if I can't add or revamp them a little. I know in some of the stories, I cut corners and deleted "scenes" because of the 7 day deadline to complete that Fiverr gives me (technically, I gave myself). I'd like to add that content back in for the book, thus making it an "extended version" of the stories. I can't guarantee all of …
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I'm feeling pretty good about my writing WRITE NOW

Ever since last Fall, I took on a couple of writing projects. The first was publishing the Josephine the Dragon stories by Taylor Christine on the blog. The second was writing the next installment in the I Will Kill You for $5 project.

But, alas, it felt like I had really fallen behind on the blog and writing in general. Life has been crazy, to my credit. However, as is the case a lot, I dump on myself a lot about writing.

https://twitter.com/babylontales/status/739960281099436032

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This "short" story is almost done

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This "short" story is almost done



FINALLY! I'm almost done with this really long short story. I'm sitting at 11,079 words as I type. Longest short story for me to date. Normally, I'm WELL under that for short stories. But this one... this one just kept begging for more and more. I kept trying to find ways to trim fat, but just couldn't. The joys and traps of writing mystery/crime stuff. If you skim too much, it's like "really?"







Only one more scene left. Just one more scene. And then it's done.







And when I'm done, I'll be like Elaine here.
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We have a policy for that

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We have a policy for that



This is probably going to be the topic for my next article. Management utilizing policies to their own advantage, to outmaneuver their staff and work them to death.







OR... designing policies that help all parties at the organization from the top to the janitor, and protect the work environment and culture.







#prodev
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Words to write by

https://twitter.com/kseniaanske/status/740348208254046209

Whenever you feel like writing is too hard. Remember this. Remember it is harder not writing. To close up yourself and not let it out.
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Deep Thought #11

Deep Thought #11



What if the only reason Google+ is still considered a ghost town is because it doesn't have pervasive ads?







Think about it... if advertisers could buy ads to pop-up in your feed, they'd be all over this platform like a dog on your dinner guest's crotch.
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Deep Thought #10

Deep Thought #10



What if listicles were the devil's way of wasting your time?







--



Side note: My browser wanted to correct listicles to testicles... coincidence? I think not.
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This story I started working on in October just keeps getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger. So much for the...

This story I started working on in October just keeps getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger. So much for the "short" in short story. I'm really enjoying it though, I must say. #amwriting





https://talesfrombabylon.com/2016/06/05/about-a-story-and-updates/

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About a story and updates

I've been awfully quiet on the eastern front lately. Lots of other things have been engulfing my time as of late. But when I can, since October, I've been working on a short story for my good friend Jessica Wright. It was part of my I Will Kill You for $5 project, but I was giving it away as a thank you for her and her boyfriend helping out with recording my first ever comedy gig. Well, what should have been a quick short story, has been getting longer and longer, and more complex as I go.
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