How Hard is it to Say Yes?

Check out this interesting post from Nicholas Rossis’ blog with How Hard is it to Say Yes?

Nicholas C. Rossis

Image: Pixabay

I recently came across a great thread in Quora about the usage of the word “yes” in various languages. The thread is concerned with explaining why romance languages use almost the same word for “yes” (si [Spanish, Italian] and sim [Portuguese]) when there is no word for “yes” in Latin.

This last bit was news to me. It’s almost as strange as the lack of the verb “be” from Russian. A language without “yes”? How can that work?

And yet, it’s true. While English (and Greek) speakers use “yes” without a second thought, it turns out that many languages have no need for it.

Romance Languages and “yes”

Dante actually classified medieval Romance languages according to their different words for “yes”:

• “si” was found in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese – the major “southern” Romance languages. However, Portuguese doesn’t even use “sim” very often. It still clings to…

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This Is When You’re Most Likely to Lose Interest In a Writing Project (and How to Keep Going)

Check out this post from the Novelty Revisions Blog that tells us This Is When You’re Most Likely to Lose Interest In a Writing Project (and How to Keep Going)

Novelty Revisions

Think back to the last time you came into contact with a brand-new idea for the first time. Do you remember how it felt?

Maybe it was unexpected — you were just minding your own business when it wandered into your life. Maybe you were secretly hoping something would come along but had all but given up on the possibility — but you just kept holding on.

Regardless, chances are you were an absolute wreck — in a good way — when this new idea hit. You couldn’t think about anything else. It seemed the more you thought about it, the more the idea began to expand inside your head — almost as if the story was already writing itself with each passing second (and without you).

This is, by far, one of the most exciting states of being a writer — those moments you are so captivated by a…

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How to Publish with KDP: Part Two

Check out this excellent post from Harmony Kent via the Story Empire blog with How to Publish with KDP: Part Two

Story Empire

Image courtesy of bigstock.com

Hello SErs. Harmony here. As promised earlier, here is the second installment in the post series dedicated to taking a step-by-step look at how to get your finished manuscript from your computer and on sale on Amazon in both ebook and paperback.

If you’d like to take a look back at the planned outline in that post, then here’s the shortlink: https://wp.me/p7OGru-29c. And here’s the link to Part 1: https://wp.me/p7OGru-29t. To make it easy to browse back and forth, I’ve set all links to open in new tabs. As this series progresses, I will update the links for you so that each post includes links to all past posts in the series.

So, here’s Part Two: General Formatting Necessities

Whatever software you’re writing in, there are a number of tips and tricks you can use as you type to help ease the burden of formatting…

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Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Author Updates – #Reviews – #Flash Sarah Brentyn, #Family Claire Fullerton, #1920s Elizabeth Gauffreau

Check out what’s new at the Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore with Author Updates and Reviews from Sarah Brentyn, Claire Fullerton and Elizabeth Gauffreau

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Welcome to the first of the Cafe and Bookstore updates for the week with recent reviews for authors on the shelves.

The first author Sarah Brentyn with a recent review for her collection of short fiction Hinting at Shadows

About Hinting at Shadows

No One Escapes Life Unscathed

Delve into the deeper reaches of the human condition and the darkness that lives there.A girl haunted by her sister’s drowning. A boy desperate for his father’s affection. A woman forced to make a devastating decision. A man trapped by his obsessions.

Experience tales of love, loss, murder, and madness through this collection of flash and micro fiction.Take a peek behind the smile of a stranger. Get a glimpse inside the heart of a friend. Scratch the surface and discover what is hidden beneath.

These stories will open your mind, tug at your thoughts, and allow you to explore the possibility that…

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Does Goodreads Have a Troll Problem?

Check out this interesting post from Nicholas Rossis’ blog that asks: Does Goodreads Have a Troll Problem?

Nicholas C. Rossis

I’ve heard from several authors who have stopped using Goodreads over the years. As Camestros Felapton reports, they may have a point, as Goodreads seems to suffer from a chronic troll problem. Matters reached crisis proportions way back in 2012. But recently, it looks like things have got worse.

Author Patrick S Tomlinson is currently being targetted by a sustained cyberstalking attack on Goodreads. Multiple fake accounts are leaving insulting reviews of a book of his that has not yet been published (not even as an ARC).

The fake accounts have been quite blatantly using fake names and identities, including a fake account pretending to be Otis Chandler, one of the founders of Goodreads:

@otown Hello Mr. Chandler. It may interest you to know criminal cyberstalkers have stolen your identity as part of a fake review bombing campaign against my next book, which is still in editing. They're…

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The Delta Pearl 20 — Slash

It’s time for The Delta Pearl 20 — Slash from this post on Teagan’s Books Blog

Teagan's Books

Saturday, January 1x, 2020

Composite of Pixaby images by Teagan R. Geneviene

Welcome back to the #steampunk riverboat, my chuckaboos!  There have been several interruptions in the voyage of The Delta Pearl during the past few months.  I appreciate you for steadfastly coming back to the riverboat dock. With that in mind, here are links from the most recent chapters.  The Delta Pearl 19 — Flirt.   The Delta Pearl 18 — Bump.   The Delta pearl 17 –Jump.  

Call for things!

This chapter’s random things from readers are cosmetics from Mary J Melange.  Also even though it was part of a comment, Kirt Tisdale mentioned help, which I thought would be a great thing. 

Speaking of random reader things, I could use more.  If you want to leave a random thing — that existed in the Victorian or Steam Era, please do so…

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3 Reasons to Consider "Readability" Before You Publish – From the Writers in the Storm Blog

Readability is a critical part of editing that doesn’t get a lot of attention.  Whether we’re imparting instructional analysis or immersing readers in elaborate fantasy worlds, knowing our audience’s preferred reading level is key.

What is readability?

Readability formulas are calculations which are written to assess the reading level necessary for the reader to understand your writing easily.
Readability refers to how easy and enjoyable your writing is for the reader.

Good readability can make a reader quit in paragraph 1 or race through the whole story, so consider readability to make your work sparkle for readers.

Writers Rock When They Meet Reader Expectations

Image by Виктория Бородинова from Pixabay 

Readability grade level testing is common in elementary schools to categorize books. Length of sentence and the complexity of the words are measured, but grade-level appropriateness does not mean what age a person has to be to read it. Adults use preferred readability levels with different types of text.

Writers benefit from aiming at those levels and better engage their readers, but what age level should a writer use?

Read the rest of this post HERE.