I. Have. To. Share.

Freelancing...

I've been doing a little freelance writing and having a lot of fun with it. I'm nervous every time I turn something in. I sweat out the rewrites and rejoice when I get an acceptance.
The amazing Mark Terry posted a whole freelance course on his blog a while ago and over these months I keep going back and rereading it. I wanted to do it, but was so scared to start. Fiction was easy. Fiction can take many roads and as long as you know the basic guidelines/rules you can make it into anything. But freelance?
DemandStudios.com lists jobs and you grab them up. Most are short, quick things that can be written in a couple hours (if that) and they pay between seven and fifteen. I heard they pay more but haven't seen it yet. These are getting easier and easier to write.
Constant-content.com lets you write whatever you want and put it up for sale. That's easier because I can write what I want and not what I have to. And you put your own prices on the article. So far, I've made nothing there, but I only have one article up. I'm working on a few more ideas and should have more up soon.
My daughter is working for odesk.com. They post jobs from private peeps and you do whatever job they want. This can include articles, ebooks, brochures, etc. Right now I don't have time to do odesk. Work is soul-crushingly busy and I don't want to commit to something I can't give my all to.
Anyway, I'm excited about this new endeavor and just wanted to share.
This is a picture of Trixie. She came up from West Virginia the day she was supposed to be euthanized. Now she's looking for a home.
:)

A New Blog...

Since I've fostered a number of dogs already I've decided to start a new blog; Foster Dog Stories.
I hope it helps get the word out that there are millions of dogs our there that need our help. When I first started fostering I'll admit I was scared. What was I getting myself into? All kinds of questions ran through my head: Would I be able to handle a dog with "baggage"? What if they were mean? What if they pee on my furniture? What if I have to go somewhere? Who pays for the food and crates and stuff?
So that's why I started the blog. I'm hoping my experience will help others see that it's not so scary and you get a lot in return.
I may cry when I get a pancake dog or when I see the scars and neglect, but a few tears are nothing compared to the love you get in return.
So now that stuff will be on the Foster Dog blog and I'll keep the writing stuff here.
You don't have to save them all. Just start with one.

Do you Ebook?

I read Konrath's take on the new self-published ebooks and I'm curious, a little afraid of it, but curious just the same.
I have one story about a woman reincarnated as a dog and it's told from the dog's perspective...how would I ever sell this to an agent??? I don't know how to put a positive marketing spin on it so I was thinking of Amazon. (Actually it's a lot more complicated than a reincarnated dog, but it's hard to blurb)
I really like this story. It's based on the fact that a soul mate doesn't have to be a romantic interest but just a higher connection.
However what holds me back is the fact that to go up as an ebook it would have to be perfect...beyond perfect. Every word, punctuation mark, paragraph would have to be absolutely perfect.
I'm not sure if I'm up to that much perfection.
Anyone got any ebooks they did themselves? Where did you publish? How did it work out?

Which would you buy???

Kindle? Sony Reader? Nook?
I'm thinking of purchasing one of these, but I'm not sure which is better and why?
I want light weight. I want to be able to read in sunlight. I want a lot of books.
Anyone have one of these toys? Why did you choose it and how do you like it?

Courage and Freelancing...

I've finally bitten the bullet and decided to give Freelancing a go. I'm nervously waiting for my reviews on two sites, Demand Studios and Constant Content.
Demand offers topics for you to write and has strict guidelines as to how each article should be written. I see this as a learning experience. Constant Content is more open. You post what you want and someone can buy it. They also have fairly strict copy editors who will review your work before it is accepted.

This is something I've always wanted to do but never had the courage to try. Even after the amazing Mark Terry put up a wonderful online course in freelancing I still worried that what I wrote wouldn't be good enough. Courage is a funny thing. We don't always have it when we need it. Some days its there and we feel like lions, but then it disappears like a whisper fading into the wind and we're left cowering under the desk.

I once read that courage was just fear holding out a moment longer. Do you think that's true? Where is your courage? Does it come from your convictions or your fears?

Let there be Peace on Earth and...

I live across the bay from New York City. September 11th was a nightmare here. My little town is full of commuters. Most people I know train, bus or ferry across the Hudson (East River) every day to work in Manhattan. I like the Sea Streak the best. That's the ferry going from the Highlands to the city. It's a beautiful ride.
When the towers went down we could stand on our shore and see the flames from where the planes hit. Within hours our view of the New York skyline was blocked by a huge cloud of smoke. We could see the Statue but everything beyond that was just one big cloud of billowing smoke. Frantic, we all grabbed out cell phones to call our family and friends who we knew were in the city. Almost immediately cell phone service in to the city shut down and we realize how many cell phone antennas are/were on top of the twin towers. When we turned to the TV we caught images of people running from the smoke clouds chasing them down the street. I thought of my cousins, neighbors and friends who worked in the towers. It was days before we knew who made it out and who didn't. Family members went into the city each day searching through hospitals where many lay unidentified. The stink from the smoke hung in our air for days afterward. You couldn't go anywhere to escape it. That smell was in our yards, our cars and our homes. I still remember exactly how it smelled. I don't think I can ever forget.
I went into the city a few weeks later. We took the train and were met with armed soldiers who patroled the streets. They made us feel safe and horrified. The city wasn't the bustling explosion of life we knew, it was subdued. Shock still clouded the faces of those who walked the streets. Coming out of the tunnel from the train the walls were decorated with pictures and posters of the missing. Women in wedding dresses, mothers and fathers with children, graduation photos. "Have you seen this woman? this man? my wife?" We cried.
We went to see the Allergist Wife and at the end Valerie Bertinelli came out to thank everyone for not giving up on our city. She said we can't let terrorism take away our way of life. If we do, they win.
Now I see this preacher in Florida wanting to burn the Quran. Why? What purpose does that serve? Would burning the Bible avenge the Inquisition? As a man of God shouldn't he be using his powers for good instead of hate?
Somethings I don't understand.
Muslims didn't attack America, terrorists did. Just because they use God/Allah as an excuse that doesn't mean every Muslim in the world wanted it to happen. I have friends who are Muslim and they were horrified by 9/11. Muslims died in the towers along with everyone else.
So here's our memorial to 9/11. If anything let it be a day we should remember the importance of peace and respect.
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me. And you. And him. And her. And them.