Monday Author Website: All Things From My Brain

This post is first in a series on author websites.  I''m interested in what works for readers, what keeps them interested in an author (and that author's works), and how authors can use their websites to attract and keep a diverse and lively audience.

All Things From My Brain

I found science fiction author Patrick Hester's blog (and website) while, ironically, looking for information on how to prevent Scrivener from doing odd formatting things when I cut and paste text from elsewhere into it.  I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did find a number of good tips for using Scrivener, so I'll be sure to be returning.  

The addition of useful information (on whatever topic is relevant) is excellent, especially if it's updated frequently.  Patrick's Scrivener Quick Tips are a regular feature on his site, so I'll be sure to revisit Patrick's site for further tips.  And revisiting is certainly something that we want to see ... I've lost track of the number of cool sites that I visit once and never return to, either because they're static or because there's nothing there to draw me in and keep me returning.  

Of more interest, however, than Patrick's Scrivener Quick Tips, is the Writing Progress sidebar that Patrick has placed on the right-hand side of his blog, underneath the usual authorly stuff (Follow Me, links to his latest books, and an Other Stuff I've Written section).  

I quite like the idea of showing progress.  I've seen it used elsewhere, but think that it works particularly well for authors as it gives readers, waiting with bated breath for the next installment my their favourite author(s), an idea of how things are progressing, what to expect in the upcoming months, and when they might expect to see excerpts and complete works.  In some ways, it may even help keep us writers on track, knowing that we've got those numbers out there for readers to see.  

I like the graphical representation, rather than a list of dates, as it gives readers an at-a-glance view of what's coming next.  As a fan of authors who sometimes take a very long time to write (Jean M. Auel, Diana Gabaldon, and George R. R. Martin, just to name a few), I'd love to see this because then I'd know to expect something this year, or next, or even the year after.

Gim Suey Chong: Our Quiet Man

Raymond Douglas Chong, author of Orchid Flower Love Poetry, has just had a short historical piece posted at the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation's website.  The piece, published on the Immigrant Voices page, is titled Gim Suey Chong:  Our Quiet Man.

Written by Raymond and his brother Michael George Chong, this short piece briefly describes the life of their father, Gim Suey Chong, a fourth-generation "sojourner to Gold Mountain, America."   

Take a few minutes to read about the trials, tribulations, and successes of this intrepid man!

Feast or Famine

The title of this blog is just so true ... sometimes Mommy writes, and sometimes she doesn't.  The last few weeks have been a good example of both.  I got a lot of writing (well, more like editing, but revising and rewriting does count, in my book) done while we were on vacation in Surprise, AZ.  When I came home, a day-and-a-half before the rest of the family so I could teach my Monday morning class, I was feeling energized and looking forward to a full afternoon and evening with the house to myself before I had to pick everyone up at the airport.

Then disaster struck, and back to Arizona I went, travelling while our youngest son was in surgery to fix a badly broken arm.  We dealt with the hospital, prescriptions, travel plans to return home, and took care of my poor little man, who was a real trooper through the whole ordeal.  We got home (on a direct Phoenix-Saskatoon flight!), my mom came to stay for a week, and we thought the worst was over.  Then when we went for his one-week x-ray and checkup, the unthinkable had happened:  the pins and the bone fragment had moved, and they were going to have to do surgery a second time.

We're now a week out from that second surgery, they're happy with where things are (even though the alignment isn't quite perfect, but that would've required a much more risky and complicated open reduction, rather than the closed reduction that was performed twice), and the cast should be off and the pins out next week.

So, did I do any writing?  Ha ... not a jot.  I haven't even made it to the gym, used the treadmill at home, or even done any yoga.  But things are beginning to return to normal, and I think my brain is starting to shift out of mommy-emergency mode into normal-mommy mode, so I'm hoping the next several weeks will be more productive ;-)  I've got a backlog of editing that I'm just beginning to get a handle on, and the fact that we still have feet upon feet of snow is keeping me from procrastinating in the garden.  The launch date for my next project is fast approaching, so I do have a bit of writing to do there ... and, surprisingly, writing non-fiction on a tight deadline isn't a problem at all.