Friday Funny: Author Photos and Identity Crisis!

In a AgentQueryConnect chat last night, BBC (Mindy McGinnis) revealed her freshly uploaded video: Author Photos Can Cause an Identity Crisis. Mindy is going through the agony of choosing an author photo at the moment as her book “Not a Drop to Drink” will be coming out next year. There’s a lot to prepare!

Anyway, Mindy’s video is a humourous and fun watch. Although maybe not quite as humourous as these headshots–headshots of a different monkey all together.

Boom Headshot ! by Darkhunter117

Enjoy! Happy Friday and may your weekend be full of great writing. (Or reading.)

Let’s Play Tag!: About Jean Oram

I was tagged by the lovely Kela McClelland on her blog yesterday and being a grand lover of tag and all things play, I cannot resist playing along!

By the way, if you or some youngun’s you know have a hankering for a game of tag, I’ve got a couple of versions for you right here!

Here are the 10 questions Kela wants me to answer. So without further ado and all that jazz, here I go.

1. What is your dream vacation?

I’ll go anywhere! Really, for me, a dream vacation involves great people more than the weather or margaritas (or lack thereof).

2. Are you spontaneous or do you like to plan ahead?

I’m pretty spontaneous. I think that’s why I like writing as a pantster. I do a bit of planning though otherwise you end up on the top of a mountain without any water to drink. However, I find too many plans generally block out the fun because things change. You can only plan for so much. Besides, if you plan for too many things, your backpack ends up too heavy.

3. Tell us one thing you want to do but don’t dare do it.

Tell someone (read that: stranger) who is minding my business in a rude way to take a hike. For example, some buttinsky who is lecturing me in the grocery store (and ignoring my polite brushoffs) that I should be buying fruit for that birthday party, not the chips I agreed to bring. How did this become your business or responsibility, be-yotch? (Grrr.)

4. What’s your biggest phobia?

That would probably be the same as Kela’s–worries that something will happen to my kids. For example, my daughter who takes after me and sinks like a bloody boulder, is swimming with half her school today and most of her friends enjoy the deep end with their damn floating bodies. How do you think I feel right now? Yeah. Pass the percocet percodent perco… whatever.
5. If you were stranded on a desert island-what three things would you want with you? (Not including your laptop or family)

Food. Food. Water.

I watch Survivor. I know what this body of mine can take and can’t take. I’ve seen those folks suffer and unravel. On second thought, maybe I’ll switch one of those “food”s to flint/fire. But the general rule in my life is this: give me food and nobody loses their life.
6. Name three blessings in your life.

Family. Health. And always seeming to have enough.  If you gave me 5 things, I’d add sunshine and happiness because they’re pretty rockin’ too.
7. What was your nickname in High School?

Nobody dared give me one. Shocking, isn’t it?
8. If you could meet the President of the United States, what would you say to him?

Yo, I like what your wife is doing for kids in America. (She’s a big physical activity and play supporter.) Also, soo… about this health care thing.
9. If you could be any literary character, who would you be?

Chester. That cat’s got ‘titude.

Chester by Melanie Watt. Follow the link above to see my review.

10. What is your favorite quote?

“If you don’t like it, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” Maya Angelou. That dame seriously rocks.

And because you can’t tag your butcher, I won’t tag Kela back. And because I am always changing the rules… I’m not going to tag anyone right now. But wait. I’m patient. I might just reach out and tap you when you are least expecting it. It’s the way I win the game.

BUT I am going to ask you to share your nicknames from high school. You know, if you aren’t too chicken.

Is Your Stuff Bestseller Material?

Here’s an easy way to find out if your writing is bestseller material. Pop over to The Bestseller Code and pop in some of your work and click on the closest genre and see what happens.

Using math it’ll figure out if your sentence structures lend your work to bestsellerdom. The opening of Caviar and Lemon Drops gets a 20/20, however when things start hitting the fan later in the story and my sentences get shorter, I hit 8.3/20. So there you go. Take what you will from this thing, but it’s fun to play with!

How Many Words Do You Know?

Curious?

Yeah, I was too. So, I did a multiple choice 10 question ‘test’ over on Word Dynamo by Dictionary.com to see. Apparently it figures I know 42,059 words. Not 42,060 or 42,048. 42,059. Intriguing.

I went to take the test again (I got two wrong the first time) just to see if I’d get the same again, but I found I didn’t have the patience to do the whole test again. (What does that say about me? Nothing good, I’m sure.) But mostly I didn’t have the patience because the first word that came up was one I didn’t know. Oh well. I’ll take my 42,059 and move on.

Want to try it? Here’s the linky-poo.

Happy Father’s Day!

Just a friendly ‘writerly’ reminder on Father’s Day…