I’m looking for a few good fiction. I’m a fan of horror, suspense, and science, and historical fiction. No, I don’t need anymore books on writing. I have over thirty. I do see the Writer’s Market 2009 is out. I’ll be purchasing the deluxe edition. I have last years edition and landed two projects that paid me over a $1 per word. I have found the Writers Market to be well worth its price.

Yesterday I ordered these three books;

• The Other Boelyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

Although I know this book isn’t historically accurate (I’m a huge history buff) I’ve heard a lot of great things about it so I’ve decided to check it out for myself.

• Cell: A Novel by Stephen King
• Lisey’s Story by Stephen King

I already have read the two King books mentioned above however I don’t have them in hardcover since I try to get hardcover whenever possible I decided to upgrade mine softcover to hardcover.

This is where you come in. Any recommendations on what I should order? If you have any either leave them in the comments section or post on your blog and link back to this post. If you are an Amazon Associate use your associates ID include it, if I like your suggestions I’ll order under your link and you’ll get a few bucks added to your account.

Hmm, now if I can find room to hold my purchases? I already have three eight-foot bookshelves. I’ve already run out of space. I’m seriously thinking of converting one room in the house into a library. It will be my quiet place to go when I want to curl up with a good book, and becoming completely lost in the writer’s story.

Technorati Tags: writing, Amazon associate, author, fiction

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Currently I’m laying out in a chaise lounge overlooking Lake Marion. I’m on vacation, staying in a waterfront condo and yes I’m relaxing.

Michele, tagged me a while ago with a freelance writing from home meme.

Hmm…well I could have had a long list but I’ll try to keep it short.

1. Spending time with daughter

For anyone that knows me, or has read vegan momma for any length of time it should be obvious that this would be top on my list. I’m fortunate the majority of the time I’ve spent with her. I took extended maternity leave, went back into the corporate setting for a year, and opened my business full-time after that. I started freelance writing towards the end of last year.

2. Working outside

I dislike being indoors so you’ll usually find me outside working on my notebook computer; 17″ MacBook Pro.

3. Ability to work from anywhere

Again thanks to my job, portability of a my Mac notebook computer, and wireless card which is part of my backup plan, I can literally work from anywhere.

4. Access to jobs/clients that I normally wouldn’t have

With my business my furthest client lives in Japan, with freelance writing my furthest client is Australia. The internet brings the world closer.

5. No drama

Regardless of where I worked there always seemed to be at least one employee that thrived on drama. I am happy that I am able to avoid this working from home.

6. I’m responsible for my own actions

In the corporate setting occasionally I had to work in a group. My work was always done on time; however, I have been in groups where others were slackers. They lacked motivation. It was annoying.

7. I’m able to avoid gym traffic

Not only do I try to continually strive to be the best with my business and freelance writing assignments I’ve also strived to stay in the best physical shape possible. It wasn’t always easy making sure I got out of the house early enough to get to the gym so I can make it to work on time or heaven forbid go after work; however, I got it done now I can go whenever I want. I’m usually in the gym around 9:00. I’ve always looked at my workouts as “me time” and I enjoy them more since it’s not crowded when I do my workouts.

8. I don’t have to take time personal leave or vacation time to make appointments

Admittedly I rarely took the time off when I worked in the corporate setting however there have been times when I’ve taken off of work to make appointments that could not be done after business hours. Also I had to take my daughter to a few appointments, and once had to stay home with her when she was sick. Since I work at home I don’t have to worry about that nor do I need to leave early if my daughter is let out of school early.

Although I have a long list of the reasons why I enjoy working from home, I’ll end it here. Since I haven’t actively promoted this website (yet) I’m not going to link to anyone; however, If you like to participate create your own list and link back to my article. I’ll stop by and comment.

Technorati Tags: freelance writing

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I haven’t done as much writing as I normally would, but the time I’ve spent writing has been extremely productive, a change in scenery can occasionally trigger that. I’ve submitted several articles to websites that I write for. I’m a business owner who also writes. It’s a great feeling to know that I can depend on the money I make from freelance writing to not only pay my bills but set aside money for savings and investments.

As a business owner and freelance writer choosing a portable computer were top priority I didn’t want to be dependent on a public computer to complete my work. I needed a mobile office. Another essential was built in WiFI. I needed to work from anywhere, same applies to freelance writing. I didn’t want to limit myself with a desktop computer. Those are some of the reasons I purchased a notebook computer. I also wanted a Mac notebook computer; The Macbook Pros beauty captivated me, classy design, ease of use, for the most part it really does work.

The biggest reason I made the transition to Macs in 2006 was I was tired of the Windows OS. I could go into the reasons why here on addicted to writing, but I’ll save it for one of the professional websites I write for. My friends think it’s amazing I made the switch. I was a Windows power user. I worked closely within IT department. I have numerous Windows certifications, and here I go crossing over to the dark side. Many of my friends/acquaintances work in the (Windows) IT field.

We’ll be returning to Maryland tomorrow. Honestly, I could stay here another week that’s how much fun I’ve had enjoyed writing in a different location. My laptop is my mobile office. I can pick up my MacBook Pro and work from almost anywhere. Sometimes that “anywhere” is a different location within my home or working in our yard as my daughter plays and other times the location carries me miles away. Although I do have a desktop MacPro my 17″ MBP is my preferred computer of choice.

Question: If you use a portable computer do you always work from the same location or do you find yourself picking different locations in your home or outside of your home to work.

Technorati Tags: freelance writing, vacation, Macs, MacBook Pro

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Yesterday I was contacted by my editor, for one of the technology websites where I’m writing, regarding a technology event that will be held the second week in July. It’s an invitation only event. The products won’t be released until the fall.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend. The event will be held in New York which is a little over three hours away from me by car; however, I would have been taking the plane.

It would be a great opportunity to mingle with others within the media, meet some awesome devlopers, and of course write articles for not only the website where I got the invite but hopefully sell articles to a few print magazines.

Although I’m disappointed at the missed opportunity there will be other media events that I will be able to attend and if I’m available I’ll definitely be there.

Photosource: Joy of Tech

Technorati Tags: freelance writing, technology

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To help me stay focused on the topics I’m going to write about for the day I write down my list in BBEdit. Occasionally I’ll add links to websites if I plan to use them as a reference in the articles that I write. Keeping tabs on my articles helps me stay focused, and I find that I complete my articles a lot faster. Important assignments and events are added to iCal. That’s my Mac calendar.

It doesn’t take me too long to think about the topics I want to write about if I ever get stumped a quick check of my RSS feed will give me ideas on articles that I can write about.

At times, we do need inspiration, and I make sure my RSS feed is loaded with technical websites that I think are phenomenal.

During the day I spend a few hours responding and creating products for my skin care business. I have two employees so it does not take as much time as it used to. I also focus on marketing and working on my personal websites, and last but definitely not least I spend a lot of time with my daughter.

As much as I enjoy writing I don’t spend my entire day doing it. If I did it would drive me nuts however I still write daily. It’s similar to exercise for myself. I cannot see myself going a day without exercise and I feel the same way about writing.

Technorati Tags: freelance writing, motivation, BBEdit, iCal

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Do you know I went to the same school when I was in kindergarten? My daughter is really looking forward to this opportunity and so am I. As a full-time business owner and freelance writing it can be challenging handling my business, freelance writing career, and an extremely active five-year old; however, I’ve been making it work. I wrote about it on my main website, vegan momma, yesterday.

Technorati Tags: homeschooling, freelance writing

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Although I really enjoy doing them, I write commentaries on many of my personal websites. I never have done that in the technical field. Sure if a friend or acquaintance asked a recommendation about software or hardware I would give them my opinion but when it came to work in the corporate setting my opinion, for the most part, was left out. I just gave the facts.

In order, to make it easier for myself I thought it would be a great idea to pull news articles about Apple and write a commentary about them. In order, to write an effective opinion piece you have to be knowledgeable about the subject you are writing. Thankfully I’m fairly knowledgeable about Apple so that wasn’t too hard, but I wanted to make sure I was writing my homework assignments effectively. That is where my friends stepped in. I have several friends that work within the field (lucky me) and they have agreed to critique my work. It’s helped a lot. They gave me a lot of feedback pointed out the parts that were effective along with the ones that weren’t.

You know the commentary that I said I hit out the ballpark? Well that has received a lot of comments thus far and people keep coming to that page to respond. As much as I like that article I can see other things I could have discussed within that article. In fact, when I was writing the article I thought about it, but I decided to hold off until a later article.

I have a few commentaries lined up for tomorrow and this weekend I plan to write a few tutorials something I really enjoy doing.

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It’s even more important when you are the one creating the income. Think about it computers stop working, Internet connections can fail are you prepare for a worse case scenario? My answer would be yes; I’ve got it covered.

I’m a full-time business owner and a part-time freelance writer. They are both dependent on the internet so you better believe I’ve made sure that I’ve covered my bases.

Backup Drives
Storage is dirt cheap I’m always amazed when people tell me that they don’t have an external hard drive to store their important files. I have four total two ate 1TB each are used for my photos and video. The other two 500GB apiece are set aside for the data that is stored on my computer.

Why do I need two back up drives? My 17″ MacBook Pro is where I do most of my work it is backed up daily to the external hard drive; however, I have an additional back up drive where I copy the data from the first back up drive to another.

Hard drives can fail if one conks out on I have a backup. I also copy my files off-site. I don’t play around when it comes to my business.

Internet Connectivity
I have two accounts; DSL along with Verizon wireless internet plan. My DSL service rarely conks out. I live in a private community. A winding road leads back to the house with trees on both sides when we get heavy rainstorms we’ll have the occasional tree that will hit the lines causing the phone and power to be knocked out. Yes, I know I can go to a place that has WiFi but I honestly don’t want to do that. I’d rather finish my work at home.

Since I’m following the rule of always having a backup plan having another way to connect means I’m still covered. Also, when traveling I’ll still be able to stay on top.

Backup Computer
My MacBook Pro is covered by Applecare it is a three-year warranty. If it breaks down I can take it into my local Apple store and get it repaired. That’s all good but what if I have a deadline? I really cannot take the time to go to the local Apple store now can I? I quickly need a solution mine is having another computer.

I have several computers, but the one I would refer to if something would happen to my MacBook Pro has all the files that I need. I power it on and pick up where I left off.

Protecting your hard work is extremely important. How are you backing up your business?

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That was challenging for me in the beginning mainly because as a technical writer I’m used to writing facts, that’s it. This website is different filled to the max with techno-geeks (I use that term affectionately, I’m one also) who happen to be extremely social. I know a reason why this website does well is because the readers actively participate in the discussions. The writers respond to them. People want to return because they know we, the writers, actually read what they have to say.

I’m finding with this website technical writing is different, and that’s ok. I’m loving it. It’s a great chance for me to express my opinions on various subjects that deal with technology from my likes to my dislikes. Ever wrote an article that you knew you hit out of the ballpark? I wrote one of those a few hours ago. I stepped outside my comfort zone, and let the creativity soar. It worked soon after my article was published someone responded, and another. It’s nice to be heard.

I’ve ordered Writing Opinion for Impact . I’ve read lots of opinion pieces over the years. I truly enjoy them. I like knowing how people think on an issue, especially when I disagree with them. I like finding out what makes people think the way they do.

We all have opinions it’s how we express them that can be challenging. It’s nice to get my groove back.

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