Tag Archives: time travel

Do You Judge a Book by its Cover? The Guardian, by Carey Corp

A few weeks ago, writing friend Carey Corp emailed me, with the subject line “Help!”

No, her email hadn’t been hijacked by spammers. She was trying to produce the cover for the print version of her successful YA paranormal romance, The Guardian. She’d done a nice job putting together the cover for the e- version. And isn’t a cover for a print book simply a matter of adding a back and spine to the ebook cover?

Carey found out it wasn’t when she uploaded her print cover to CreateSpace, only to receive a message that it didn’t meet required specifications. After another try, and another reject, she emailed me.

Carey remembered that I worked in graphic design for over ten years before turning to web design, and later programming. And back when I was active in the field, print was still the thing. I was actually one of the first people in the Dayton area to use computer-prepared files for full-blown, four-color printing films, so all of the issues CreateSpace identified in their emails to Carey, were familiar to me.

The modifications I made were minor as far as appearance was concerned, such as adding another set of wings to the spine – I love little details like this! Reworking the rest with higher-resolution photos took a few hours in Photoshop, tweaking color density, printing to a PDF, then emailing to Carey. When I didn’t hear back within a few days, I figured no news was good news – and it was! See her take here.

I am not a big reader of Young Adult fiction, but going by the description, this is something I would have devoured when I was a teen. A lot of Carey’s readers are adults, too, and the more I read this description as I reworked the art, the more intrigued I became – I might just have to pick up a copy! The Halo Chronicles: The Guardian (Kindle version) THE HALO CHRONICLES: The Guardian (Volume 1) (Print version)

Do you enjoy YA fiction? And, do you pass on a book if the cover’s not quite professional? (I’ll admit it – it takes a lot more to get me to buy if the cover’s less than appealing.) If you’re an author, ever try doing your own cover? As a graphic design professional, I’m a big proponent of “don’t try this at home” but for some, it can work out well. What do you think?

My Town Monday: Guilty or Innocent, 115-year old case – could you decide?

Dayton, Ohio is no stranger to murder – just watch the news, and it seems there’s one almost every day. But a hundred years ago, murder was a novelty, and a trial for such, a spectacle people came to see from miles away. Yesterday afternoon, Dayton History reenacted such a case in the original Old Courthouse, that still stands at Third and Main today, giving us a chance to see what it might have been like, and even participate in the trial, over a hundred years later.

Dayton's Old Courthouse in the early 20th century

Upon entering the courthouse, Dayton History staffers gave the audience a sheet of the text of actual newspaper articles printed at the time. They were printed on yellow photocopy paper, which was amusing considering some of the yellow journalism within. 🙂

In September of 1896, 20-year-old Albert Frantz was accused of murdering Bessie Little, the 23-year-old woman he’d been seeing, whose body was found in the Stillwater River. There were a lot of suspicious circumstances leading up to the verdict of whether Miss Little had committed suicide, as was initially thought, or if she died by another’s hand. Witnesses described how Bessie was caught “in a compromising position” with Mr. Frantz in her parents’ barn, which led to him putting her up in a hotel soon after (there were few living options for single women in those days). It also came to light that she’d seen a doctor, and had been declared pregnant, and Mr. Frantz supposedly wanted to marry her, but was unable due to being underage – and his parents refused to give consent.

At the hotel, they found a letter from Bessie, addressed to Mr. Frantz’s parents, begging them to let their son marry her. But the most telling evidence was found on a newly-constructed bridge, that crossed the Stillwater into what was then a lightly-populated part of town: blood on the bridge itself, and a track mark from it that looked like a buggy had been driven through it.

Last weekend's reenactment

Mr. Frantz had been planning to take his sweetheart for a ride the last evening she was seen alive.

Other evidence was produced throughout the trial, which in reality, reconvened throughout the next three months. One item was the woman’s skull! It had been kept in a jar of alcohol at the police office, after her body had been exhumed from her resting place in the potter’s field in Woodland Cemetery, when her manner of death was first called into question. When the skull was brought in, the “bailiff” opened the courtroom’s windows, due to the undoubtedly-horrendous smell! The reason the skull was unearthed was probably the biggest factor in the ultimate determination of the court: Miss Little had been shot in the head through the ear, twice.

The prosecution and defense both presented their closing statements – both waxing rather melodramatic at times – then the jury (which were picked from the audience) went to deliberate. As in a modern, Ohio court proceeding, the jury was instructed to issue a guilty verdict only if the prosecution was able to “remove all reasonable doubt.” I was guessing they’d say “Not Guilty,” because despite the evidence, the state hadn’t removed all doubt. When they issued their verdict, the jury agreed, and the “judge” told the defendant he was free to leave.

The Dayton History staffers handed us another sheet of newspaper articles on the way out, containing the results of the trial: Guilty of First Degree Murder! It turns out that, after a series of failed appeals, Mr. Frantz became the fourth person in Ohio to die by electric chair, almost a year later.

Can you imagine that quick of an appeals process now? Or presenting the actual corpse as evidence in a trial? (Thank goodness for modern photography and videography!) And interestingly enough, do you think the modern-day jury was more compassionate, more discerning of the evidence, or maybe just more hard of hearing? (There was a lot of echo in the courtroom, and yes, it was hard to hear sometimes.) Anything fun like this reenactment in your home town? Please share!

Note: This program will be presented three times next weekend, August 5, 6, and 7 – Details at DaytonHistory.org.
Want to learn more about this case? Check out Spilt Blood, by Curt Dalton (one of the researchers for the reenactment)

More at the My Town Monday blog

Historic photo via Dayton History

Updated Books: Cool, or Fail?

I’m currently working on revising Time’s Fugitive, my second time travel romance, and sequel to my upcoming release, Time’s Enemy. Like Enemy, the first draft of this book was written a few years ago. What’s surprising is how many things in the world around us have changed since then – things that now need to be changed. For example, I have a scene where a character’s car breaks down, and the young driver and her passenger need to walk for help. Yes, they have cell phones – it wasn’t written that long ago – but what I now need to account for is the fact that many late-model cars (including the one they have) now come with some kind of navigation system, which also includes a way to call for help. This needs to be revised so that there’s a good reason they can’t just press the red button on the rearview mirror and get help from OnStar. Another book of mine features computer technology – including national security-sensitive software that goes missing. In the original book, written over ten years ago, the software was on a removable disk cartridge, like a Zip Disk. (Anyone remember those?) In a recent revision, this needed to be changed to be on a USB flash drive.

This reminded me of Stephen King’s The Stand – which I first read in the late 90’s, after it had been updated from the original version published in 1976. Definitely a book I enjoyed, despite a few details where not enough attention was given to updating. In the original version, characters drove across a post-apocalyptic U.S., preferably in the largest vehicles practical – in most cases, station wagons.

In the 90’s version, these characters were still taking station wagons.

Huh? In the 90’s I remember, there were a heck of a lot more minivans and SUVs than station wagons. Not to mention, a 4WD SUV would be much more practical than a station wagon, especially for driving off road. And cell phones? I don’t remember if they were mentioned – they might’ve been, and there was no power, hence no operable cell networks. But the characters used CB radios to communicate – which hit their heyday in the mid-70’s.

So think about those updates when you’re revising an old novel – I still enjoyed The Stand, but little details like this did take me out of the story, and remind me I was reading. So if the contemporary American heroine in the book you’re reading is in trouble and she’s not using her cell phone, you might flip to the copyright page, and see if you’re reading an old book. Otherwise, there’d better be a good reason that heroine can’t just call for help, or you might have an Update Fail on your hands.

Does it bother you to read books where the details are outdated? I’m willing to forgive it if it’s an old book, but otherwise, it might just be sloppy writing. What do you think?

Time Management: How’s That Working Out for You?

A couple weeks ago, we discussed how we want to use our time… and how we actually do use that time. For those of us who work a full-time job, have a family, and have a writing “job” on the side, it can be especially challenging.

So how’s it going two weeks in? For me, it’s gone quite well… at least during the week. I’ve managed to get an hour of time working on my current book in revision each weeknight, just as I’d planned. In addition, I also got a workout in every night, something I haven’t done regularly for some time, so that’s significant.

The above is not to say my schedule never got disrupted, but that’s OK because I outlined it to allow for that.

For example: On Tuesday night, DH suggested going out to dinner. The Schedule allows for an hour for dinner, which includes spending time with and feeding the critters. It also allows an hour for chores. However, going out to dinner took two hours, as we met friends and had a couple beers too. So that night, something had to be sacrificed from the schedule: chore time. (Hint: any time something disrupts the schedule and something’s gotta go, chores wins, hands-down, unless there’s something there that can’t be put off, i.e. paperwork/bill paying when the bills are due within a few days.) On another day, I ended up doing unplanned mom-taxiing (and I think that was a day the paperwork couldn’t be put off), so writing business got left off. No problem there – I have it on the schedule every night, but honestly, there isn’t business stuff that needs to be done every night.

Where time management might continue to be a challenge is on the weekend. When we have Two Whole Days stretched out before us, it’s easy to put off whatever’s on the To-Do list, until next thing we know, it’s 10:30 PM Sunday night, and we haven’t written Monday’s blog yet <cough>. We also have the tendency to see that big block of time and fill it too full, without leaving any time for what the weekend’s supposed to be for: going somewhere, doing fun things with family and friends, or just relaxing – which are all sooo important, to avoid burnout.

So that’s my next challenge – get caught up on the stuff I didn’t get done this weekend, and figure out how to manage that time, so I don’t run into this next weekend.

Especially since I have some family fun planned.

What about you? Have you seen a difference since taking a harder look at how you spend your time? Any suggestions or insights to share?

Illustration via Microsoft Office Images

Thursday Thoughts: An Alternative to Microsoft Word?

Last summer when I got a new computer, my 10-year-old CD of Microsoft Office 2000 finally bit the dust. The disk had become corrupted; the files would no longer copy from it to install.

So I investigated alternatives. I ruled out the new version of Office immediately: we have Office 2007 at work, and I hate it. Most people who, like me, have been using Office for many years hate it too, or at least did until they resigned themselves to its new interface. Come on, the “ribbon” takes up way too much screen space, even on a big monitor. And I have to re-learn where everything is? Just give me back my damn menus!

Oh, Office Ribbon - how do I hate thee?

Of course, there are older versions of Office for sale, unopened, on Ebay, some at great prices. But none were certified to run on Windows 7, which came with my new computer (and I’m quite happy with). Luckily, there’s also another alternative, for an even better price: OpenOffice. And it’s free – honest-to-goodness, legally, free. Just go to www.openoffice.org and download it.

It includes an alternative to each of the major components of Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Access. It also comes with a drawing program.

The only part I’ve used enough to really evaluate is Writer, the Word-alternative. I’ve dabbled a bit with the spreadsheet, and so far, it seems like a decent facsimile of Office 2000’s Excel.

Yay! Menus!

Which makes me happy, because I don’t need all the whiz-bang features Microsoft’s added to the later versions of Office. OpenOffice has most of them, but best of all, it has menus, not that silly ribbon interface.

Granted, not everything’s in the same place. For example, Word’s Track Changes feature is on the Revisions ribbon. In older versions, it was in the Tools menu. In OpenOffice, it’s in the Edit menu, and it’s simply called Changes. But if I have to hunt around for features, hey, I’d rather do it in a free program! (They do take donations, if you’re so inclined.)

I have run into a few problems with OpenOffice Writer, however. Most of these show up when I save a document in a format other than .doc (Microsoft Word 2003 and earlier) or .odf (OpenOffice’s native format). .rtf is the worst. I’ve seen it muck up line spacing, and change fonts – and the latter not consistently. It’s made the first letter of every paragraph – and only the first letter – a different font- sometimes even a Chinese character!

It also corrupted the .doc file of my manuscript for Time’s Enemy. I didn’t find this out until I sent it to my editor, and it crashed her system every time she tried to open it in Word. I thought this might have been due to the fact that she uses a Mac, but when I tried it on my daughter’s computer (which still has Word 2000 installed on it), that blew up, too.

Luckily I could still open it on my computer in OpenOffice, and copy the content, and re-save as an .odt file. I then opened it in Word at work, and resaved as a .docx file, which worked fine for my editor.

So is OpenOffice a true replacement for Microsoft Office? After a year, the jury’s still out. But hey, at least the price is right! Now all I have to do is find a newer version or replacement for Quickbooks, that will read my Quickbooks 2005 data…

Know of any accounting software I should check out? Or do you have a software WTF to share? Feel free to vent here – we feel your pain!

My Town Monday: The Best Potato Chips!

Would you believe they come from Dayton, Ohio? Okay, “best” is subjective, but in my opinion, Mike-sell’s Potato Chips are the best!

Mikesells delivery wagon from 1911 They’ve been around since 1910, and claim to be the oldest potato chip company in the U.S. A quick Google search will reveal other claims that go back further, but Mike-sell’s is still a venerable, established brand. If you’ve ever lived in Dayton, or even visited, you’ve probably eaten them. They have several yummy flavored varieties, too. My favorite is the Mesquite Smoked Bacon flavor Groovy style chips. These used to be hard to find, other than in pizza parlors, but now they’re sold in some grocery stores.

I can remember Mike-sell’s Potato Chips being in my house since I was a little kid. Usually, they were the original, in the red package, or the Groovy, in the blue package. When Mom was trying to diet, they weren’t in the house, because if they were, she’d eat them (I am this way to this day). Even now, if my dad wants them, he has to keep them stashed in the car so Mom won’t eat them. This is on her request, although she’s been known to go out to the car and get them!

Mikesells original potato chips Mike-sell’s original potato and their Groovy chips contain three ingredients: potatoes, oil, and salt. One of Mike-sell’s distinctions is peanut oil. Until recently, the bags read “Made with 100% Peanut Oil… That’s Why They Are Delicious!” The bags still say “They Are Delicious!” but the ingredients now list “vegetable oil” in the ingredients, noting that it can include corn oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, and peanut oil. Considering how expensive peanut oil is, it’s no surprise – after all, there’s a lot of competition, and Mike-sell’s is not known as a gourmet brand, so a big price hike would kill sales. It’s kind of sad, because I can taste the difference: they’re a little-teeny-bit not quite as good. Still, they’re my number one choice, because yes, They Are Delicious!

So now you know what to eat if you want snack food in Dayton. Mike-sell’s chips are sold in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan and Tennessee. The national brand that’s probably the closest to Mike-sell’s (the original red bag variety) is Lay’s Original. But Mike-sell’s Groovy is nothing like Ruffles – Groovy is big ripples, and The Best Chip for dips.

Does your region have its own snack foods I should try, if I visit? Do you have any fun memories of them? Please share!

More at the My Town Monday blog

Thursday Thoughts: A Writer’s Time

One thing many writers find to be challenging is time management. That’s especially true for those of us like me who also have a full-time job, family, perhaps even a small business aside from writing, but I think it’s something just about all writers wrestle with at one time or another. You think you have a whole evening (or – gasp! – a whole day!) so you take your time getting around to the writing, hurp-durp around on the Internet some, check your email 20 times, play a few computer games, then finally sit down to write… and next thing you know, you’re falling asleep at the keyboard. You look up, and it’s midnight. Where has the day gone???

Add Facebook, Twitter, and trying to build an Internet presence into that mix and… well, for me, the scenario above was becoming an all-too-common occurrence.

Daily goals were not being met. Weekly goals – halfway, if that. Yet, I still felt like I’d been busy! So I did something I learned in a time management course, way back when: I analyzed where did my time go… and where did I want it to go each evening?

A few things were immediately apparent: I was spending way too much time goofing off, and way too little writing. And too much time accomplishing too little (that big, light-blue block of “I don’t know”). Also, notice what’s not there: attending to the writing business, and exercise.

I have five and a half to six hours from the time I get home from work, to the time I need to go to bed. I thought about how I thought my evening should break down, and this is what I came up with:

A half-hour for exercise (bonus: I read while on the treadmill)
An hour to read/answer email and hit social media
An hour and a half for dinner, and spending time with family, feeding the critters, etc.
An hour for doing personal/family chorse, like personal paperwork
An hour for writing – that’s actual writing, planning on the WIP, or revising
A half-hour (average) for writing -business stuff: updating my website, blogs, designing promo materials, etc.
A half-hour of downtime (usually playing computer games)

I read before I go to bed, that’s not counted in the above.

I came up with this “schedule” on Monday. So how has it worked so far?

Monday – so far so good, but didn’t get the paperwork done so that went over into Tuesday.

Tuesday – I ended up fighting with OpenOffice for an hour, because my manuscript had somehow become corrupted and my editor couldn’t open it. Sometimes stuff happens. This ate into my writing time. Last week, it would’ve killed it. Tuesday, I still got a half hour in on the WIP.

Wednesday: worked out almost exactly as planned, expect I spent more time on this blog, twiddling with the charts. I’m finding that the exercise is much more likely to get done if I do it right after I get home from work (I’m soooooo not a morning person, so getting up earlier is not happening).

The thing to keep in mind is this is a guideline, not a must-do. But so far it seems to be helping.

How about you? Do you have trouble with time management, whether or not you’re a writer? If you’ve found anything that helps, please share!

My Town Monday: Margarita Madness

Other places might have Monday Margaritas, but only Elsa’s has Bad Juans.

BadJuan Elsa’s is a Mexican restaurant and sports bar that’s been a fixture in the Dayton area for decades. There are several locations: the original location on Linden Ave. on the east side of town, the second one on Far Hills Ave. in Centerville, Elsa’s Kettering, Elsa’s on the Border (of Dayton, Kettering, and Oakwood) and new locations are planned. The food is good, but the Bad Juans are what Elsa’s is well-known for.

The Bad Juan is Elsa’s trademark margarita. They come in many flavors – I’m not sure what, because I always order raspberry frozen. Original lime on the rocks is probably the most popular.

The Bad Juan isn’t complicated. It’s basically cheap tequilla and a couple of mixers. For ten years, my husband Don owned a bar across the street from one location (they weren’t really competition – his place specialized in live music). He had his own version of the Bad Juan, called the Bad Don. People said it tasted exactly the same (and had the same effect), but it never quite took off.

Which brings me to the real distinction of a Bad Juan: They will mess you up! So if you go to Elsa’s and plan to drink a couple, plan on walking home, or have a designated driver! One is plenty for me, and that’s with food. So yes, they taste good, too.

A couple years ago, Elsa’s got all of the licensing, suppliers, and distribution set up, enabling them to offer bottled Bad Juans in grocery stores and other retail locations, so now you can have a Bad Juan at home. At 42 proof, the bottled Bad Juan isn’t as potent as the ones in the restaurants, but it’s still worth drinking for the effect. And you don’t need to drive!

Helpful hint from the former bar owner: If you want the bottled Bad Juans to taste just like the Bad Juans served at Elsa’s, chill it really well, so less ice melts.

If you’re from the area or have visited, have you tried Bad Juans? Got any good stories? If you’re not from the Dayton area, does your hometown have any distinctive drinks?

Wacky Words: So When did Google Become a Verb?

My husband invented a new verb today: Cozi. As in, “I won’t forget anything at the store, because I cozied it.”

Cozi is a noun - a great, online organizer. Did you know it's also a verb?

Cozi is a free, online organizer, and it’s awesome. It lets you set up a shared, family calendar so everyone knows when the kid’s music lessons are, what days Dad has to work (my husband’s hours are irregular), and when the critters need to be taken to the vet. Cozi also lets you set up To-Do lists, Shopping lists, and add things to a family journal. So if I think of a writing-related task I need to do while I’m at work, I can log on to the Cozi website and add it to my To-Do list. Even better, I can do this on my smartphone with the Cozi app, if I’m out and about, and not on my computer. No more worries about an unexpected chance to stop at the store, and forgetting something – it’s on Cozi.

Having worked in a marketing department for close to ten years in my previous life as a graphic designer, I’m probably more cognizant than most people of the proper, and not-so-proper use of trademarked names. While I’ve been guilty of asking for a Kleenex when the box clearly reads “Puffs,” I’ve never Xeroxed anything on a copier made by Konica-Minolta, and here in Ohio, a Coke is always Coca-cola (though I have ordered rum and Coke from a bar that served Pepsi products, because no one orders a “rum and cola”). I try not to cringe when someone mentions a “Romantica” novel that wasn’t published by Ellora’s Cave, or talks about making their own “book trailer.” Those are trademarked terms: if the book wasn’t published by EC, it’s simply erotic romance (or romantic erotica), and that book video is only a book trailer if it was produced by Circle of Seven Productions. Don’t even get me started on “iPhone” – I have a Droid, thankyouverymuch. My husband has an Android phone – his runs the Android OS, but it’s not a Droid-branded phone. Only Apple smartphones are iPhones.

So it follows when someone says they “googled” something on the Internet, I always got just a teeny bit annoyed. Because my understanding was that “Google” is a noun – a trademarked, proper noun at that. And what if the person was using Yahoo or Bing? (I know, I know, does anyone? Someone must, or else they wouldn’t still be around.)

After my husband’s turning Cozi into a verb, I was curious about that other, insidious noun-that’s-not-really-a-verb and decided to google the term “google.” Guess what – it’s in the dictionary. As a trademarked, proper noun… and a verb.

The Xerox corporation has made no secret of the fact that they’d much rather you photocopy, rather than Xerox, those tax papers for your mortgage processor, but in Google’s quest for Internet search domination, they have no problem with people googling stuff on the Internet. They’d much rather you google something than yahoo or bing it.

So it looks like I have to get over that one. As for Cozi? I’m glad my husband’s willing to use it (he’s not too fond of computers), so I think I’ll just quietly let him cozi whatever he wants.

Know of any funny verbs that aren’t really verbs? Or words you thought were only nouns, but actually are verbs? Please share!

My Town Monday: The Fourth of July in Dayton

Fireworks image The 4^th of July is one of my favorite holidays. Not only do I like fireworks, explosives, and hanging out with friends and family, I also like it for the same reasons that Memorial Day was one of my friends’ mom’s favorite holiday: I don’t have to cook, clean, or buy presents for anyone. (The only reason my friend’s mom didn’t like the Fourth as much was because their house was on a parade route, so there were always guests.)

Dayton’s main Fourth of July celebration takes place at Riverscape Metropark on the shore of the Great Miami, at the north side of downtown. This year, it was on the third of July, the culmination of the three-day Cityfolk Festival. In years past, the celebration has been elsewhere. In the seventies and eighties, I remember going to Welcome Stadium a couple miles down the river to see fireworks, often following a performance of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra inside University of Dayton arena.

Interestingly enough, the site of Riverscape Metropark was also the site of Dayton’s very first Fourth of July celebration, in 1809. There were a lot fewer people, as Dayton’s entire population was less than 400 at the time. There were also no fireworks – this was frontier country back then, and not many folks had the kind of money they surely cost, and animal pelts were the more common frontier currency. Instead, people sang songs, paraded around town, listened to speeches, and held artillery salutes. After a dinner hosted by one of the townspeople (cost: $ .50/person), there were wrestling matches, shooting competitions and horse racing, followed by dancing.

I’ve been to the Riverscape celebration before, but for the past few years, we’ve spent the evening with my brother and his wife, who live way out in the country. Although there are no crowds or traffic (big pluses!), it’s far from quiet. : )

Does your hometown do anything special for the Fourth, and do you go? (Or your country’s national holiday, if you’re not in the U.S.?) Do you know any of its history?

See more at the My Town Monday blog

Reference: For the Love of Dayton: Life in the Miami Valley 1796-2001, published by the Dayton Daily News, 2001.
Photo via Images on office.microsoft.com

Jennette Marie Powell

Life and Love in Four Dimensions