Announcing my two short stories now in print!
Both - "Miss Penelope's Letters" and "Through a Glass Darkly" are now available for gift giving, a quick read to slip inside your brown lunch bag at work, or just to display on your coffee table or fireplace mantel.
These also contain larger type for those who may appreciate not squinting while they read.
Hope you enjoy!
Pages
- Welcome, Readers
- Catch Me If You Can
- The Timekeeper - Short Story
- Unleashed - Short Story
- The 86 Legend - Mini Read
- ENIGMA
- Dove Island -- Mini Read
- It's Elementary, My Dear Winifred
- Miss Penelope's Letters
- Kiss Me, Mr. Hitchcock
- See No Evil, My Pretty Lady
- Through a Glass Darkly
- When the Bough Breaks
- Awards / Reviews
- My Art Gallery
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
A Monday Morning Rant
I hate the internet.
Or maybe it's just the constant "new and improved" junk that sites continually bombard us with.
Case in point:
Years ago when I became a 'bona fide' author (contracted by a traditional publisher), I was informed I needed my very own site, plus there was a lot of hoopla about maintaining a blog.
A 'blog'? The word itself didn't set well with me. It sounded like something I'd use for a substitute expletive.
Yet, I was willing to give it a go. Upon inquiring, I learned there were two free sources for blogs - WordPress and Google Blogger.
I tried WordPress first, but frankly, I found it very hands-on unfriendly. I ran over to check out Blogger and discovered that hey, I could understand this simple interface!
So there I was blogging along on Blogger. Then when I learned my new site (another freebie, this one from the folks at Free Webs) had its very own blog, I thought, 'Instead of sending readers to two different places, why not combine?'
I did just that and said bye-bye to the Blogger blog.
Fast forward three years to the summer of 2012. Free Webs, changing its name to merely Webs, "improved" their site with a "new sitebuilder".
Ha.
You should've read all the questions and comments flooding their support forum.
And it seemed that with the recent "new" change, they decided I wasn't paying enough for the "privilege" of using their "excellent" services. They downgraded my Premium status (I paid for the domain name through their provider) to plain old "free" - which meant I had lesser storage and lesser bandwidth. I discovered that, as a suddenly "free" member I exceeded my limits and could no longer upload photos. Several of my pages -allowed as a Premium elite- disappeared with this 'new and improved' change of theirs.
I gritted my teeth for a bit, but decided if they wanted to play that game, so be it. I wasn't about to be hijacked into paying for the higher cost of regaining my Premium status.
It was 'adios, Webs'. I knew Blogger was still free, plus they now had up to 20 pages. An author's dream, right?
So I returned to Blogger, worked diligently for about a day to set up my new site. And wonderful! It was still as easy to navigate as I remembered.
But now...(why, oh why, are they doing this?) Blogger is going the route of 'new and improved' interface.
Have you tried it? It's nothing like the old, nothing like the familiar I'm used to, nothing like the easy dashboard I love!
Yesterday, on the 'improved' setting, I tried to upload a photo. Guess what? It wouldn't open up my Pictures folder. Excuse me? How am I supposed to upload a photo if I can't even access the correct folder???
I am bummed, folks, bummed. I returned to Blogger for the simplicity, the ease of what they originally gave us. What idiot in the Google virtual boardroom determined that they needed a 'new and improved' method???
Call me one of those who doesn't 'get with the program', but I'm of the opinion that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
In only a matter of days the old interface/dashboard will be gone. Disappeared. No longer accessible.
Am I the only one seeing red here?
Or maybe it's just the constant "new and improved" junk that sites continually bombard us with.
Case in point:
Years ago when I became a 'bona fide' author (contracted by a traditional publisher), I was informed I needed my very own site, plus there was a lot of hoopla about maintaining a blog.
A 'blog'? The word itself didn't set well with me. It sounded like something I'd use for a substitute expletive.
Yet, I was willing to give it a go. Upon inquiring, I learned there were two free sources for blogs - WordPress and Google Blogger.
I tried WordPress first, but frankly, I found it very hands-on unfriendly. I ran over to check out Blogger and discovered that hey, I could understand this simple interface!
So there I was blogging along on Blogger. Then when I learned my new site (another freebie, this one from the folks at Free Webs) had its very own blog, I thought, 'Instead of sending readers to two different places, why not combine?'
I did just that and said bye-bye to the Blogger blog.
Fast forward three years to the summer of 2012. Free Webs, changing its name to merely Webs, "improved" their site with a "new sitebuilder".
Ha.
You should've read all the questions and comments flooding their support forum.
And it seemed that with the recent "new" change, they decided I wasn't paying enough for the "privilege" of using their "excellent" services. They downgraded my Premium status (I paid for the domain name through their provider) to plain old "free" - which meant I had lesser storage and lesser bandwidth. I discovered that, as a suddenly "free" member I exceeded my limits and could no longer upload photos. Several of my pages -allowed as a Premium elite- disappeared with this 'new and improved' change of theirs.
I gritted my teeth for a bit, but decided if they wanted to play that game, so be it. I wasn't about to be hijacked into paying for the higher cost of regaining my Premium status.
It was 'adios, Webs'. I knew Blogger was still free, plus they now had up to 20 pages. An author's dream, right?
So I returned to Blogger, worked diligently for about a day to set up my new site. And wonderful! It was still as easy to navigate as I remembered.
But now...(why, oh why, are they doing this?) Blogger is going the route of 'new and improved' interface.
Have you tried it? It's nothing like the old, nothing like the familiar I'm used to, nothing like the easy dashboard I love!
Yesterday, on the 'improved' setting, I tried to upload a photo. Guess what? It wouldn't open up my Pictures folder. Excuse me? How am I supposed to upload a photo if I can't even access the correct folder???
I am bummed, folks, bummed. I returned to Blogger for the simplicity, the ease of what they originally gave us. What idiot in the Google virtual boardroom determined that they needed a 'new and improved' method???
Call me one of those who doesn't 'get with the program', but I'm of the opinion that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
In only a matter of days the old interface/dashboard will be gone. Disappeared. No longer accessible.
Am I the only one seeing red here?
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Clean Giveaway Blog Hop
Hello to all Blog Hoppers!
My Clean Giveaway is easy. All you need to do is to sign up and become a follower of my blog. (Joining by email subscription would be nice as well, but not mandatory.)
The winner receives a free print copy (if in USA) of When the Bough Breaks. (view related page information in tabs above) International winner will receive a compatible download for your eReader. Please leave a comment with your email addy so I'll be able to contact the winner.
Thank you, and thanks for joining the hop!
My Clean Giveaway is easy. All you need to do is to sign up and become a follower of my blog. (Joining by email subscription would be nice as well, but not mandatory.)
The winner receives a free print copy (if in USA) of When the Bough Breaks. (view related page information in tabs above) International winner will receive a compatible download for your eReader. Please leave a comment with your email addy so I'll be able to contact the winner.
Thank you, and thanks for joining the hop!
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