My brother recently did some puppeteering work on this music video. Nothing to do with anything, but I think it’s cool so I’m sharing. Go bro!

(It’s the Grayboy Allstars “Still Waiting” video, btw.)

I just got word that the workshop I’m presenting with my good friend Emma Clair at the RWA national conference in San Francisco has been scheduled. Hooray! Our talk is on “Creating a Web Presence.” We’ll discuss how to set up a site of your own and what’s necessary at each stage of your writing career - when you’re first starting out, as you begin submitting to agents and editors, and of course post-publication. Both Emma and I are looking forward to answering everyone’s questions. We’ve given this talk twice now and the audience interaction is our favorite part.

So, drumroll…. our talk is currently scheduled for Friday, August 1, from 2-3pm. I hope to see you there!

I’ve only watched this once and I’m sure there are plenty of peeps out there dissecting it for its political import and savviness. What interested me was how watchable this speech feels in comparison to others I’ve seen in my lifetime.

I thought I was going to see a rebuttal: Obama proving he had nothing to do with his pastor’s inflammatory statements. But this isn’t a politician’s speech; it’s a statesman’s, a masterful piece of speechwriting worth watching for its elegant patterns and escalating progression of thought. If you haven’t taken the time to see it, grab yourself 35 minutes and do so now. You can read the full text here.

Check this out - you can help with proofreading the books that are being prepared for Project Gutenberg’s free archives. The site isn’t the most intuitive I’ve ever used, but the satisfaction that comes from helping this noble effort is well worth the trouble.

Distributed Proofreading site

Project Gutenberg

Who needs more than a pen and a wordprocessor, right?

Right.

When I started writing, I thought that Word would be enough. Then I read a book that recommended outlining your story using index cards. Once you had your notes down, you could easily move them all around on a big corkboard to rearrange your story. So much easier than printing out actual scenes and rearranging them!

But not so easy to take with you - on the corkboard - to a coffee shop. And guess what happens once you take those cards off the corkboard? Yeah. Order, schmorder. I ended up with piles of index cards laying around my office - index cards with post-its attached, no less. Colorful but sad.

Then I heard a rumor that FinalDraft, the popular software program for screenwriters, had a ‘cards’ feature which would virtualize - huzzah! - my card dilemma. Some dollar$ later, I had hacked my way to a standstill. FinalDraft is just dandy - if you use it as it’s meant to be used. One day I’ll be writing a screenplay with it.

I was back to Microsoft Word and cards until one magical day I wandered into the wonderful world of SuperNoteCard. A program that’s actually meant for novelists sick of using index cards! for only $29! It has a few flaws and isn’t entirely intuitive, but it’s pretty damned great and helped me enormously as I made my way through First Draft in 30 Days, outlining my little heart out.

Then today as I was reading Nathan Bransford’s blog - ahem, writing - I came across a comment that led me to yWriter.

(The above pic is a screenshot of a yWriter storyboard showing scene progression arranged by POV.)

From my initial forays, this is the program of programs. It combines the best of SuperNoteCard - easy shuffling of scene order, ability to cross-reference settings, characters and objects, and an encapsulated view of my entire humongous manuscript - with the other key elements I’d hoped SNC would provide: a built-in scene timeline, POV indicators and chart, and a way to both describe a scene and write a scene on one “card.” Plus, drag-and-drop! And it’s FREE!

One caveat - the person who initially recommended this program did have an issue where they lost a draft of their manuscript due to a crash. Taking that into account, I’m backing up frequently. But I don’t think I’m going to stop using this program anytime soon.

Unless, of course, there’s something better out there. Anyone?

*** UPDATE ***

Nope, nothing bad - I’m even more convinced of the loveliness of yWriter. I just corresponded with Simon Haynes, the writer and software developer who created this in his (spare!?) time, and he’s very nice. He’s even set up a Google Group where users can go to request features and chat with each other about how great the tool is - check it out here: http://groups.google.com/group/ywriter. I’ve also learned that the software has received a 4-star review at PCMag, a very prestigious computer magazine. Congrats, Simon!

Apparently Spanish royalty with a side helping of virgin bride is hawt. I found these two titles cozying up next to each other in my local supermarket and paused to record the moment.

Is virginity really that appealing? America says Ye$!

* LATE ADDITION *

While I was at the supermarket reeling under the combined weight of a Spanish duke and Spanish prince, this article from our pals at MSNBC discussing Americans’  love for virginity was - ahem - ripping around the interweb. I could say things, but won’t bother, as the ladies over at SmartBitches have said it all.