Free EBooks: Kindle First Offers a Free New Release Every Month (Pick One out of 4 Choices)

Here's a great freebie if you have a Kindle:  Amazon has a program called "Kindle First" which offers you a choice of four different new releases for the price of $1.99 if you are not a member of Amazon Prime, and gives you the ebook for free if you have paid for an Amazon Prime membership.

This month, out of the four choices, I chose a romance novel -- surprising myself because I'm really a big mystery fan, but the description here regarding how the town really became a character in the novel intrigued me enough that I opted for the romance selection.  Actually, it appears to be more romantic suspense so I'm not far off the mystery mark anyway.

Image above:  I chose Nancy Naigle's new release, Mint Juleps and Justice, for my monthly freebie this month from Kindle First.

Six Days And Counting Till My Standing Desk Arrives



From Amazon.com:
Techni Mobili Mobile Laptop MDF Cart
(shown in for setting and standing)

Writing means sitting on your keister for long periods of time, obvious to anything but what is in your mind and on the screen.  Which is great for getting things done, but very bad for your back, your neck, your legs - and fine.  Your butt.

So, I've ordered a standing desk.  I'm so excited about it that I'm not even bothered that the customer reviews discussed around an one hour assembly time.  Eww.  But I'm not thinking about that.  After all, it comes with its own screwdriver.  Isn't that sweet of them?

In fact, it is becoming insane over here on the Planet Reba because I'm actually counting the days till this thing arrives.  I've already rearranged furniture for it.  I'm pondering whether or not it should have a name.  My car does.  My computers do.

And, look!  There's room for my tea mug on that little shelf, as well as my wireless mouse.  (I hate laptop mice.)  Adorable.  And it has wheels! It's so smart, too....

What is the word for giving personalities to inanimate objects?  Because I'm doing this.  It's like my new sidekick is coming.  My executive assistant. 

My own Jeeves. Watson. Friday. Ethel.

I'm only hoping that I don't go all Wintour and end up throwing my coat and purse on this thing.

Scrivener for Windows is Coming! Scrivener Writing Software in Beta Available in Fall 2010

For several years now, Mac users had the ability to use Scrivener and Windows users were left to fret and be jealous, and organize their stuff as best they could. Until now!!!

Literature & Latte has officially announced on its web site that the Windows version of Scrivener will be available in November 2010 in its beta version (in time for NaNoWriMo) and the full-fledged, official version will be available in Winter 2011.


What is Scrivener?

It's an award-winning program for writers - providing online tools to help writers write. It's not an alternative to Word (which editors prefer - editing with their authors via Track Changes), but a way to organize and structure your work in process. For many, it is a beloved part of their routine (check out the New York Times review here).

How? Scrivener is a software package that (1) breaks down big documents into bits, so they are easier to manage, while also (2) giving you an outlining tool and (3) a corkboard, both for purposes of outlining your work -- and (4) enabling you to tag it with your research (images, PDFs) for crossreferencing. Once you've got the book written, or the thesis complete, Scrivener lets you pull it all together into a single file or document, which you can export into Word.

According to the Scrivener website, look for the beta to be available around October 25, 2010. The site promises free copies for those willing to work in beta, helping flush out the last few bugs in the system. Once it's finalized, Scrivener for Windows will cost $40 and it will work on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Also, if you have the guts and energy to have a validated 50,000 word count at NaNoWriMo this year, Scirvener will offered to you at half-price: Literature & Latte is promising a 50% discount coupon for its new Windows version as a NaNoWriMo incentive. Cool, right?

Check It Out For Yourself

The web site has a video (5 minutes of your time) that goes over the basics. For an example of how an award-winning, multipublished author uses Scrvener, check out Robin Lee Hatcher's description of her process here.

How I'm Going to Use Scriviner

I'm ghostwriting a book (again - I've got to stop doing this, and get my name out there!) that requires lots of intensive research, much of it dealing with the law -- statutes and cases from both federal and state sources. This, in addtion to news stories, various opinion pieces, etc. In other words, a nonfiction work that needs lots of supporting documentation.

I'm hoping that Scrivener is going to enable me to write the draft with the crossreferencing that's necessary for both footnoting as well as the index much more smoothly than Microsoft Word was going to provide. We'll see soon enough, right?

Moleskines

Moleskines - if you're a writer, you gotta have one. According to moleskines.com, a moleskine "is the legendary notebook, used by European artists and thinkers for the past two centuries, from Van Gogh to Picasso, from Ernest Hemingway to Bruce Chatwin." (Yes, I agree - I never thought of Hemingway as a European artist....)

Wikipedia has a nice history of the notebook, which is currently manufactered in Italy by Modo & Modo since the original manufacturer, Tours, went out of business in 1986.

From the Modo & Modo site, "...in Ernest Hemingway's memoir, Moveable Feast, he chronicles Paris in the 1920s just after World War I while spending time writing in various Paris cafés. Hemingway reflects on the quintessential moments ordering a cafe au lait and pulling out his notebook and pencil from his pocket to start writing. It is this simple ritual that he describes so well. That comfortable feeling, when even in the mist of a bustling café that one can immerse oneself into thoughtful prose or a delicate sketch. During this time in Paris, Hemingway apparently had also been working on The Sun Also Rises using his trusted Moleskine. Not a surprising notion to those that have come to know and love Moleskine."

For how people are using their moleskines, check out Moleskinerie.com.