Here’s a peek:

What is a language? Break the concept down to its barest components, and all a language really is, is a meaningful sequence or pattern based on understanding a unique key. Once you determine what that key is, you can create any language that you want. That “key” can be based on text, numbers, sound, color, shapes, non-verbal cues like movements of the body, etc. It can be exceptionally complex or incredibly simple, too. –SOURCE: Creating an Alien Language: Your Language, Your Rules

I hope you find the time to follow along and chime in with your thoughts. This will be an ongoing series for a few months, be sure to tune in for next time.

Related posts:

1. New Guest Post at Apex: Creating a Language Based on Symbols
2. Guest Post: 3 Science Fiction Writing Exercises at Apex
3. My Guest Post at Apex: Are You a Believer or a Skeptic?

What I Liked

I enjoyed being able to make the font larger and smaller and change the typeface. For whatever reason, I felt that the larger the text was, the easier the book was to read. I also liked that the book automatically re-calculated the number of pages depending upon whether I held it landscape or portrait, too. I could easily see where I was in the book and how far I had to go. When I needed to pause because I was doing something else, the book automatically opened to where I left off.

The battery life was great, though. I had the iPad on for about 3 hours and I never had an interruption in the actual reading experience.

What I didn’t Like

Just like most vampires, direct sunlight really killed the experience for me. Also, the iPad screen had a nice consistent page-turning smudge from where I was flipping through pages. Yes, I could have “double-tapped” to turn the page, but I preferred actual page turning to that. The screen really made an impact, because it smudged so easily any time the light hit it the wrong way I started to feel like I need to keep cleaning the screen.

The Verdict?

I would use the iPad to view digital comics, because I feel that they actually render better on the device than in print. (You can download free comics and check them out for yourself through DriveThruComics.com.) For trade paperbacks and other books, I would probably use the iPad in a pinch or plan on using it on a trip if I needed to bring several books with me.

Related posts:

1. My Thoughts on the iPad
2. Breaking News: Using Facebook Pages? Log in ASAP
3. Guest Blogger Writing Tip #2: Reading out of Discomfort

First? I can’t really make a hard comparison between my netbook and an iPad, because I feel that they are two different tools meant for two different uses. A netbook is a fully-functional (fully-compatible) mini-laptop that is perfect for writing on-the-go, traveling, etc. and the one I purchased was $350. An iPad is an electronic media device designed for the general public (a.k.a. the “non” technologically savvy) to watch movies, read electronic books and digital comics, share photos, listen to music and participate in popular social networking sites. This tool, which again I feel was designed more for media consumption, has a base price of $499. While the iPad can be much more than a fun tool to interact with digital media, I feel that this is its primary function.

My biggest complaint about the iPad is that it doesn’t come as a plug-and-play sort of a tool. If you want to do more with it, you will need to customize it. This particular WiFi model only has a 32G hard drive, no webcam and doesn’t have any ability to connect to other devices via USB. The touch screen keypad isn’t made with writing in mind, because the buttons force you to hunt-and-peck for the characters that you want. (Not to mention, not all of the characters are exposed on the one screen, so putting in complicated passwords was an exercise in insanity.) Again, here you would have to purchase the extended keyboard and the case in order to use it like you would a regular computer. I feel that the case is outrageously expensive at $40, however I do like the design because it allows you to stand or hold the iPad in any number of ways.

In terms of accessing digital media, not everything will work on the iPad. First, the iPad doesn’t support Flash. If you don’t think this is a big deal, try browsing the web without it. Several websites had big, gaping holes in them because Flash didn’t work in the browser. Additionally, not every website works on a Safari mobile browser.

As I mentioned earlier, I really feel that this is a good device for people that aren’t technologically-savvy because everything that you would ever want to access for electronic media is available at the touch of a button. The iBookstore is really slick and I enjoyed reading some of the free downloads to try it out. The Table of Contents in the free, public domain books from Project Gutenberg are all hyperlinked and there’s a nice status bar at the bottom. Probably one of the best features, is that you actually “turn” the digital page so it feels like a real book. Depending upon how you hold the iPad, the book turns to face you so you can either read one page or two at a time.

Digital comics look amazing on the iPad. You can re-size the art with your fingers and scroll with ease; it’s definitely a new way to appreciate comics. Movies also look pretty cool, but here’s where you start to get into additional application mode.

The applications are organized in a way that will help you find what you’re looking for pretty easily. Applications can either be free or paid; I feel that they will be a vital part of the iPad experience, because developers might figure out a different way to use the iPad’s core functionality. Just as one example, the Sketchpad HD app allows you to use the iPad as a drawing tool. The preview displays four different kinds of paper, including graph paper, and looks like it would be pretty awesome for students to have on hand. If I was in college, I’d totally consider getting one just so I wouldn’t have to haul around all kinds of notebooks and textbooks.

All in all, I feel that the iPad has a definite market, but that market is more for the user who wants a device to experience digital media in new ways. Will it replace my work computer? Absolutely not. Would I consider buying an iPad? For me, I want to wait and see what new apps are around the corner that fit my lifestyle to justify the $499 minimum price tag.

Related posts:

1. Reading a Novel on the iPad
2. My Thoughts about Online Self-Promotion
3. What Social Media Means to Me and My Writing

Coming out of that meeting, I was so energized that I thought about how cool it might be to create this random horror plot generator for FlamesRising.com, to share with other authors and game designers.

So that’s exactly what we did. Here’s an example:

A centaur with the ability to manipulate pheromones, whose home base is in a state-of-the-art gymnasium, wants to build a time machine. Supported by bees, the centaur appears to have one weakness – friendly puppies. Interestingly enough, the centaur can write hieroglyphics.–SOURCE: Horror Plot Generator

Over several hours of interesting word choices and some fancy hours of programming from our PHP god, FlamesRising.com now has a random horror plot generator that people can enjoy. When I was working on this, I kind of went a little nutso with some of the word choices, so the generated plots range from paranormal romance to modern horror and every possible permutation in between. There are some pretty silly ideas that will generate, but there’s also some nuggets of inspiration there, too.

I’d like to invite you to check out the horror plot generator on FlamesRising.com when you need a little pick-me-up. It was a lot of fun to work on, and I hope that it inspires you like it did me.

Related posts:

1. Writing Game Fiction Day Three: Plot your Plot
2. Writer’s Block? Maybe it’s “Writer’s Avoidance” Behavior
3. Gaming Fiction Day Four: Inferred Plot and Metaplot

There’s been a lot of chatter the past few days about the FTC’s “new” ruling regarding a website’s or blog’s disclosure about endorsements and testimonials. Unfortunately, there has also been a lot of misinformation circulating as well. I’d like to point out that as of October 5, 2009, the FTC hasn’t published the Guides concerning this issue. In their recent release, FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials, the FTC states that:

The notice incorporates several changes to the FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers. The Guides were last updated in 1980.–SOURCE: FTC.gov

If you notice, the guides were last updated in 1980, which was well before the internet or advanced cell phone technology even existed. As I’ve mentioned many times before, we’re still in the wild, wild west days of the internet. The technology has been changing so rapidly, that the government and the law haven’t had the chance to get caught up yet. I’m sure we’ll see more enhancements to existing guidelines and new laws develop within the next, few years.

When the FTC does publish their new Guide, I’ll be sure to offer a link here on my blog. The ruling goes into effect December 1st, but please don’t panic. The reason why the FTC started working on this was because of fake testimonials from the weight loss industry. Chances are, if you have a personal blog, you wouldn’t be effected by this. If you do review a restaurant or a product, I’d simply state where you bought it from or if you got it for a review.

Hope that helps!

No related posts.

Here’s a brief excerpt of the article:

The Pros and Cons of Having Your Own Website

Whenever I’m at a convention, one of the more common questions I am asked is: “Do I need to have my own website?” I always counter with, “Well, what do you want to use the website for?” Several have answered me either with the proud declaration “To get published, of course!” or “To sell my books!”

Having an online presence may or may not translate to your desired action, in part because your presence really is about “you” as a person rather than “you” the author.

Be sure to visit the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America to read The Pros and Cons of Having your own Website.

Related posts:

1. My Article for the SFWA about Personalization
2. Guest SFWA Blog Post on Website Usability and Design
3. New Guest Post at SFWA: Social Media and Your (Lack of) Privacy

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America was kind enough to ask me to write an article about online marketing for their website. After mulling over what I wanted to talk about, I decided to contact a few authors I knew to ask them to weigh in on an aspect of online marketing called “personalization.”

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Get Personal with your Marketing Efforts

In recent years, the topic of online marketing has become more of a focal point for several authors. Coupled with the changes in the publishing industry and advances in technology, I seem to have more discussions about online marketing than I do about writing fiction, in part because I’ve been involved in online marketing professionally for the past few years.

Read the remainder of how to Get Personal With Your Marketing Efforts on the SFWA website.

Have a fabulous day!

Related posts:

1. Do You Need Your Own Website? Read My New SFWA Article
2. Guest SFWA Blog Post on Website Usability and Design
3. New Guest Post at SFWA: Social Media and Your (Lack of) Privacy

After working with Windows Movie Maker and a site that provides royalty-free images located at either http://www.istockphoto.com or http://www.sxc.hu, I used photo manipulation software to make the images the right size. (For these trailers, you can do an 800 x 600 pixel canvas.) From there, I ensured I had permission to use the music for the book trailer. You can also find royalty-free music online or you can use what are known as public domain songs as well. For more about the free video software, you can watch and learn how to use Windows Movie Maker online.

Below is my latest trailer. This time, I decided to keep it short and go with an “impression” style theme, where color was a focal point. This trailer is a bit different from the other two, because it doesn’t tell a story. It’s more of an “ad.” In my opinion, the book trailers I’ve liked the best have been short — especially if there isn’t any action in the vid. It is very hard to keep up the pace for five minutes or more if you have nothing but still frames appearing in your trailer.

Video can sometimes work great to promote your book, simply because it alludes to a mood rather than cover the entire back blurb. However, there is more than one way to put together a book trailer. This is just the start for me, and I’m finding I enjoy storyboarding and playing around with film.

Check out the book trailers I linked to above, or view this one for a horror anthology dubbed, “Buried Tales of Pinebox, Texas.” Thanks for sticking with my blog, and I hope you share a link to your trailer, too!

Related posts:

1. [Video] Trailer for THE QUEEN OF CROWS e-Book
2. Book Trailer for Argentum, My Online Serial Novel
3. You Can Market Your Work with Video

Enter the K.I.S.S. system, which stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. (The acronym can also be used to describe Keep It Short and Simple, too.)

Sounds easy enough, right? Well, the challenge for a lot of writers is this little thing called “the brain.” This spongy mass tends to get in the way of great writing because it’s easy to “over-think” your projects and what you’re working on. Having a strategy to write is one thing, but thinking about your writing so much that you end up either a) not writing or b) writing something you’re not happy about. Our writing ends up suffering because we feel obligated to write something rather than focus on something we want to write.

If you feel you’re over-rationalizing your projects, then read on because I’ve got good news for you. You can use the K.I.S.S. system to simplify your woes and get back to writing what you want to write. All you have to do is ask yourself these simple questions and limit your responses to one, two or three word answers.

I’d like to help you by using an example. Let’s say you are tasked with writing an e-book about how to use WordPress. Here’s how the K.I.S.S. system can help you:

1. What am I writing? – e-book
2. Who am I writing it for? – first-time users
3. What is the format of my project? – how-to, non-fiction
4. What is the primary focus? – explain main features
5. Do I need to do any research for this project? – no
6. Do I need to use any additional skills? – yes, screen shots
7. Is the project paid or unpaid? – paid
8. What do I achieve by working on this project? – money, publication credit
9. Do I own the rights to the content? – no
10. Is there a contract? – yes, work-for-hire
11. Are edits including in the contract? – no
12. Is this a project I want to write or have to write? – have to, money
13. Am I getting paid fairly? – no
14. Is the publisher reputable? – yes
15. How much time will this take? – 10 to 15 hours

Here you can see that fifteen questions, broken down into simple answers, offer a wealth of information. In this example, the writer can see at-a-glance what the project will entail from the legal side of things to the production side. Based on these fifteen questions and responses, is this a project you would take on in your schedule?

If you’re interested in a related topic, I offered a little bit of information on this when I designed some writing exercises to learn word conservation. The K.I.S.S. system can also be applied to the way in which you write as well. A writer’s style is often something that develops naturally over time. Using simple, clear phrases can help improve your writing in some cases, but may not work for every project that you’re writing for.

What kinds of questions would you ask yourself when working on a project? Can you limit your answers like I did?

Related posts:

1. From Email: How do I get Published? How do I Figure out if my Writing is Worth the Trouble?
2. Guidelines and Rules for the December Writing Marathon
3. The Trouble with Over-Editing

However, if you have an existing account this new functionality is a hindrance rather than a benefit. The profile information that you had filled out to go underneath your logo is shifted to a new tab, and most of your customization has shifted.

If you’re using a Facebook page, I recommend logging in to see if this works for you. Otherwise, you can join me today while I dig around and see how I can make mine look better.

Related posts:

1. How to Create a Facebook Page on the New Facebook
2. Usability: The Good (and Bad) of Facebook
3. Keep On Top of Jobs, News and Buzz with Google Alerts