The night before NaNo

So, with 4 hours to the beginning of NaNoWriMo on the east coast (and 9 hours until my first NaNo writing session), I’m pretty much all set.  The first third of the novel is outlined in detail, giving me 15 chapters which should take me through November 15, and if I stick to my daily [...]

Fall foliage photos

I mentioned earlier how the leaves are at their most riotous.  Here are some pictures. From Fall foliage 2010

Tools of the trade

With lots of people posting their initial impressions on Scrivener 2.0, I figured I’d talk about some of the other tools I use since I plan to write about my impressions of Scrivener 2.0 after I’ve completed NaNoWriMo.  Scrivener is, of course my main tool for writing because it does a whole lot of things [...]

Scientifc American gets a face-lift

Beginning with the October 2010 issue, Scientific American has gotten yet another face lift. I’ve been a subscriber to SCIAM for 15 years and I read each issue cover-to-cover, and in doing so, I’ve become very comfortable with the look and feel, and where things fall in the magazine. So I was ready to complain [...]

The onion and the flu: a myth in one act

I received an email message today with the subject “FW: Very interesting – Onion Theory” and I realize that alone should have given me pause, but I recognized the sender’s address and took a look at it anyway.  The gist of the message is that onions scattered about the rooms of your house can stave [...]

Finally fall

Driving home from work yesterday I noted that the trees around here are at their most riotous.  It has been unseasonably warm for the last few days, but last night a windy cold front blew in and this morning in was in the low 40s when I left the house.  It’s that combination of cold [...]

T-minus 2 days and counting to NaNoWriMo

I think my count must have been off in yesterday’s post.  According to the NaNoWriMo website, at the present moment, there are 2 days, 15 hours, 17 minutes and 15 seconds until NaNoWriMo officially begins.  Last night I spent about 2 hours on the outline, most of which turned into research for the science and [...]

Countdown to NaNoWriMo: T-4 days

With just 4 days before NaNoWriMo 2010 begins, my outline got an overdue boost last night from an exercise we did at our Arlington Writers Group meetup.  The exercise focused on thinking outside the box.  We had to bring some kind of problem with us, and my problem was that the overall plot didn’t have [...]

My NaNoWriMo game plan for 2010

With 5 days left before the start of NaNoWriMo, I thought I’d outline my plan of attack this year.  I realize that many people go into this with the goal of just finishing.  I finished it last year, but did not emerge from it with a useful novel.  (That is not to say it was [...]

Fangbangers of the real world

I can’t help but think of those of us who willingly donate blood as the real-world equivalent of True Blood‘s “fangbangers”.  Fans of the show might wonder (as I do) why anyone would willingly allow themselves to be bitten by blood-thirsty vampires.  And yet we donors do the essentially the same thing, allowing bureaucratic vampires [...]

To-do list for a Tuesday evening

Some things to get done this evening: Clean bathrooms Clear hardwood floors Clean off my desk Play with Scrivener 2.0 preview More work on the novel outline Just so that it’s clear that I started the evening with good intentions. ETA: Well, I’m clearly not going to get the rest done this evening, but I [...]

The trouble with David Pogue’s “Trouble with E-Readers”

In the November 2010 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, David Pogue writes a column pointing out “The Trouble with E-Readers“.  The trouble with Pogue’s column is that he is focusing on arguments that are old-hat and many of them are being addressed.  What he, and the rest of the world seem to miss is that perhaps the most [...]

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