Digging Deeper into Lord Dal

 

Over on the BooksWeLove Blog, I'm digging deeper into the character, Lord Dal, the archmage. Stop by and to see some of what made him who is is.

~till next time, Helen

2021 MFRW Challenge Observations #MFRWHooks

 

Someone flipped the calendar to read 3/22/22.  Wait...It can't be spring already. I'm working on guest posts and interviews for the release  of Fire and Amulet as well as getting a jump on the A to Z in April Challenge which this year will feature the characters and world of it as well. Looking up a past blog post I realized I never did a summary of what began as the MFRW 52-Week Challenge, then shifted to a monthly topic. Links to the 2021 posts by alphabetic title are below with the official topic in parentheses. Again, congratulations to the other authors who participated. And to our readers I hope you enjoyed our revelations whether they be personal or about the writing life. If you came here from the BookHooks, thanks. If not, check out the other posts.

 ~till next time, Helen

 

Cause, Not Just For A Day (What issue/cause you care about that finds its way into your writing.)

Dark Days, Dark Actions (How different seasons affect your writing)

Don't Like The Cold? Move (Inventive ways you've found to keep warm)

Journeys In Real Life (Real life events that have inspired your writing) 

Journeys In The Real World (Real life locations you have used in your books)

Lottery for Life (An event where Luck played a part)

No Muss, No Fuss (Describe a perfect weekend getaway)

Perfect Union (Describe the perfect wedding)

Scared. Escape Needed (Share a scary story you've experienced, read, or seen)

Smoke and Flames (Name the ways an important dinner has failed)

Sweeter Than Candy (Sweet ways to say I love you)

Time To Live (You can go back in time for only one day. Where/when would you go?)

T is for Tracking Tools

Keeping track of plot lines, character names, or unusual words can be hard to do for a single novel. A series is even harder to manage. At the start, let me admit that I am a plotter. While no single tool works for every project, there are programs that can be purchased. However, this post will focus on things you can do yourself.

 

A step beyond lists using pen and paper are tables built using spreadsheets or word processing programs. 

And since this is a blog hop, I also use a table to track posts written or awaiting creation.

 

In my book of tools are numerous templates for character profiles. Many of which are twenty to thirty pages long. A piece of writing advice that never worked for me was to fill out complete character profiles for all my main characters before I wrote word one.

The form I use the most is a handful of questions on a single page. While I agree that some pre-planning can help me get to know my characters, I don't need much to start with. Just a physical description, a name, and a statement of the hero's journey. Although I don't complete an extensive profile, I do have an abbreviated form of a few questions that include the previous mentioned items and things like preferred weapons and possibly favorite food. But those are filled out as the story and characters develop.

~till next time, Helen 

Click on the button to find my next post in the challenge. Remember, it won't be live until midnight after this entry.

If you're interested in following other blogs in the A to Z in April challenge, click on the logo for the master list of the other participants.

Autumn Cleaning

Summer vacation is over. School is back in session. Beach towels, lawn chairs, and bathing suits have been cleaned, washed off, and put away until next year. You could call it fall cleaning (the slightly cooler weather second-cousin to spring cleaning, but there is more than can be done than getting the house ready for autumn and winter. It can be time to clean your computer.

Take fifteen minutes a day, or if you have the time a half-hour or an hour, to do things like:

• Wipe the fingerprints off the screen
• Vacuum out the sand or other tiny granules that have found their way between the keys

• Back Up... back up... back up your hard drive
• Delete unneeded files (Yes, I put back up and delete in that order for a reason. You may have a slightly larger backup, but if you find out you need a file, the odds are better you will have it. If you delete first, there is no backup if you find you really didn't mean to get rid of it.

• Organize emails into folders and delete emails that contain dated or inaccurate information
• If you use a universal link, rescan it to see if any additional sites now carry your books
• Update pre-release posts and cover reveals to include the sales sites

 
There is another computer-related item that will apply to many of us. Update the website. Now I'm not just talking about cleaning out old posts that are no longer relevant. If a broken link scan hasn't been performed in a while, this is a good time to do so before the busy autumn season. Results of the check were a total of 3000 pages scanned and 57 broken links found. A couple were my fault where I put in the placeholder title of the article it was to link back to rather than the actual URL. Me bad. Then there were a couple where the author changed their website without putting in a redirect. They bad.

The items that constituted the most broken links were the result of the changing world.

• An ebook site going away
• A site's reorganization of their archives
• Sales sites no longer valid for books that were showcased on my site and which are no longer available or an updated version was published which resulted in a different ASIN, ISBN, and URL.

~till next time, Happy Cleaning, Halen

Do I Need Two Starts? #mfrwauthor

We're at week 42. Where has the year gone?

To have a prologue or not is a personal decision. One reader will peruse it while another will skip it. I did a review of my published and unpublished works and as  rule I don't do prologues. It is just a practical decision. The start of a novel has to hook the reader if not within the first sentence at least within the first few paragraphs. Writing the perfect beginning doesn't always come easy. So why would I want to do it twice? Once for Chapter 1 and once for the prologue.

That said, there was one novel where I toyed with having a prologue. But after an editorial review it was moved from being a stand-alone section and turned into the head of the first chapter. So without further ado, here's the prologue that wasn't, from Windmaster.

Intrigued? Windmaster is available in paperback and ebook at Amazon. Ebook sites: B&N /  Kobo  /    More ebook stores

~till next time, Helen

 

This is a blog hop so visit the other authors for their take on prologues. ~till next time, Helen

Planning Ahead or Free-Wheeling #mfrwauthor

It's Friday again. Wow, we're at week 18. One word in the topic caught my attention - profile. In many parts of the country, being accused of profiling can get you beaten up or sued. At the start, let me admit that I am a plotter. In my book of tools are numerous templates for character profiles. Many of which are twenty to thirty pages long. A piece of writing advice that never worked for me was to fill out complete character profiles for all my main characters before I wrote word one. The form I use the most is a handful of questions on a single page.

While I agree that some pre-planning can help me get to know my characters, I don't need much to start with. Just a physical description, a name, and a statement of the hero's journey. Although I don't complete an extensive profile, I do have an abbreviated form of a few questions that include the previous mentioned items and things like preferred weapons and possibly favorite food. But those are filled out as the story and characters develop.

The second part of the prompt relates to setting. I write fantasy so the world is in my head. I start off my world-building with photographs of possible places my characters will go to. A south sea island, a cave, a mountain city, or an alpine meadow.

As the book (or books) progresses, I jot down specific items. Curses, measurements of time, local legends and traditions all get jotted down. But the main use of a setting profile is keeping names straight. The names of towns and regions, mountains and lakes are tracked as are items in their area. Ships and inns are tracked in the world profile.

I've dished on how much I plan ahead, and about my profiling. This is a challenge so there are other authors who are revealing whether or not they profile. You might find a technique that works for you.  ~ till next time, Helen

Here's a correction for the gremlins. Holly Bargo

Me Bad. #MFRWauthor

No matter how much you write, whether it be blog posts, synopsis, or full-length novels, a hard lesson for many authors to accept is that their pearls of wisdom will not be perfect. We are human beings. Skilled ones, but still human beings. What can make writing a challenge is that we don't necessarily make the same mistakes every time. The word that got stuck in our head and appeared fifteen times in one chapter is replaced by another in the following one. A review of the first draft showed that we wrote the same dance scene twice in the book. Among the tools I use are style sheets, crib sheets and checklists to help identify problem words. Word processor spell check programs are useful, but I've often found them more frustrating as they insert words that I don't mean. The fall back is a dictionary and keen eye.

And now the list of things that have haunted and frustrated me in the past.

• Words stuck in your mind. Highlighting suspected ones and using a word frequency counter can help. The latest one to be used is from WriteWords. Although a beta reader with a keen eye is also useful.
• Dangling modifiers
• Affect vs effect
• Farther vs further

What is your bugaboo that you can't seem to avoid? Leave a comment. And be sure to click on the below links for more tips from the other authors in the hop.

~till next time, Helen

Out and About with Cynthia Woolf

The first interview of the year is up. I'm dishing secrets with Cynthia Woolf. You're invited to stop on by and see the answers to questions such as "Was your road to publication fraught with peril or a walk in the park?" and "advice for aspiring writers." There are also a couple of special questions answered just for my readers.

 Hope you'll stop on by and leave a comment. The post is at http://cynthiawoolf.com/?p=6732

~till next time, Helen

World Building For All Genres by Janet Lane Walters

World building is something every writer in every genre needs to pay attention to. Sometimes it's to build a town similar to the one we live in, or it could be a fantasy world where magic rules and dragons fly. Read a informative article by Jane Lane Walters of tips and traps on world building. Be sure to read all the way through. The ending is one every writer can relate to. And then go back to read parts 1 and 2. Or pick up one of Janet's books.

~till next time, Helen

Books We Love Insider Blog: World Building For All Genres Part 3 Janet Lane Wa...: The next area of World building to consider is Characters. There are a number of areas where people help weave the world web. ...
 

Fiction and Research by Jacqueline Seewald

You’ll notice that a lot of writers set their novels and short stories in places they either live in or have lived in. This may seem provincial, but in fact, it makes for good writing. If authors know a place well, they can create a realistic setting, an intriguing background for their writing. Setting is one of the important components of any piece of fiction.

The rest of the post can be found at Fiction and Research by Jacqueline Seewald.


~till next time, Helen

And if you haven't read Jacqueline's fiction, check out the following Tuesday Titles: The Killing Land or The Dark Moon Rising by this very talented author.

I'm a Perfectionst... And I'm a Writer

Calling all perfectionists. Just because you're a writer doesn't mean you're doomed to fail or that you have to change yourself. Use it to your advantage.

For those who can't help finding the detail, a must-read  What Does It Mean To Be A Writer AND A Perfectionist?   by Colleen Story on the blog, Writers In The Storm.

Among the questions answered

• Why Do We Pick on Perfectionists?
• 5 Positive Traits of Perfectionist Writers
• 5 Challenges Facing Perfectionist Writers
• 7 Tips to Help You Become the Best Perfectionist Writer You Can Be

Read the full story at http://writersinthestormblog.com/2016/04/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-writer-and-a-perfectionist. 

Colleen M. Story writes imaginative fiction and is also a freelance writer, instructor, and motivational speaker specializing in creativity, productivity, and personal wellness. Her latest novel, Loreena’s Gift, was released with Dzanc Books April 12 2016. Her fantasy novel, Rise of the Sidenah, is a North American Book Awards winner, and New Apple Book Awards Official Selection (Young Adult). She is the founder of Writing and Wellness, a motivational site for writers and other creatives. Find more at her website, or follow her on Twitter.

4 Major Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Blog Posts

By Karen Cioffi

Writing is a craft, a craft that needs to be learned. With that being said, there are many successful bloggers who had no writing training.

You might consider writing as being doubled sided. There are research papers, resumes, articles for medical and scientific use, business and health content, and even short stories, children’s books, and novels.

To write for these genres, you need to learn the craft of writing. Depending on the genre you write, you need to know how to write dialogue, how to reference quotes in a nonfiction article, and how to write POV (point of view). You should know the difference between a comma and a semi-colon, and how to use each. You get the idea.

On the flip side, there is web writing: blog posts and writing copy. In these niches there aren’t many rules, aside from grabbing the reader and making your content engaging and shareable.

While there aren’t many rules for blogging, there are four mistakes you should avoid:

1. Avoid aiming for perfection.

If you wait for the perfect time, the perfect circumstance, the perfect topic, the perfect anything, you’ll be forever waiting.

While you do need to be a responsible writer and respect your reader by providing quality content and doing the best you can, you shouldn’t wait for everything to be perfect. There’s nothing wrong with learning as you go along.

I love what George Fisher said about perfection: “When you aim for perfection, you discover it's a moving target.”

2. Avoid confusing and unfocused content.

The quickest way to lose a reader is to make your content confusing. If you’re topic is ‘allergies,’ don’t go on a rant about the latest clothing styles.

Blogs posts should be in easily digestible pieces of information that are focused. From the title to the concluding paragraph, keep it on topic.

In addition, you want to lead the reader down your post. In the beginning let the reader know what to expect, what’s in it for him. This will motivate him to read on.

3. Don’t write long paragraphs.

We all lead hectic lives. We want to get targeted information as quickly as possible. For this reason, your content needs to be easy to read and written in short paragraphs. This is especially important for skim readers.

Keep your content clean and leave plenty of white space. White space is the space between paragraphs, between words, and such. It’s the blank space on the page.

4. Don’t use grandiloquent language.

Here we go back to the premise that people are in a rush and along with this, most people don’t want to have to look up words to get the gist of the article. This is another quick way to lose a reader.

Keep your writing simple. Write how you would normally speak.

In addition, choose your words with care. C.S. Lewis knew the importance of this when he said, “Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.”

Following these ‘four mistakes to avoid’ will help you write blog posts that readers will appreciate and will want to share.

Originally published at http://www.writersonthemove.com/2014/06/4-major-mistakes-to-avoid-when-writing.html
Article reprinted from The Writing World newsletter. Want more must-know writing and marketing information, along with updates on free webinars right to your inbox? Get free access to The Writing World (http://thewritingworld.com) today!

Guest Post by Emily Johnson

Today I welcome Emily Johnson as a guest to the Journey to the Stars blog who shares What Everyone Ought to Know about Workplace Organization

Workplace organization is a key to productivity boost, no matter where you work. A well-organized workplace can affect your productivity growth and, therefore, you can work faster.

Being inspired by OmniPapers manual about workplace organization, we've collected the best tips about this art.

Organize your workplace

A perfect workplace should have two zones: computer and non-computer ones. When you need to use your computer, go to the first zone. If you have some tasks to do away from your computer, go to the second zone. For example, you can call colleagues, read best practices, or take a break.

Clean up your writing place

Successful people claim that your writing place should be well-organized. Throw out drafts and notes you have or hide them into a locker. To keep all items you use daily, use boxes or drawers. Don't forget to put live plants (an aloe, a cactus, an azalea, etc.) to boost spirits and clean the air. If you feel tired, take a pause and drink a cup of green tea as it contains L-theanine that can improve brain functions.

Update gadgets

All workers have gadgets they use daily for business purposes. To stay productive, you need to update all gadgets you have. Plus, it is a good idea to use digital gadgets that might help you work efficiently. For example, buy a digital highlighter or a smart pen to translate and transfer texts to your computer.

Add comfort and health.

If you want to stay energetic, you need to take care of your health. While you're looking for a comfortable office chair, pay attention to the following: it should support the lower back and have arm rests. Plus, if you want to stay healthy, you need to use mini elliptical trainers while working, stand up from time to time, or work standing to reduce a risk of health diseases.

Your inspirational boosters

Every person has something that inspire him or her. It's very important to decorate your workplace with such boosters, so don't hesitate to put your favorite photo, a painting, or a quote to stay inspired while working.

There are many ways to boost productivity at work, and people should know all of them from A to Z. As soon as you start working efficiently, you'll start achieving more in your life.

After reviewing the infographic, click on it for more tips.





Thank you Emily for the interesting and informative tips. If you've enjoyed the post, click on the infographic for more tips.
 
About Emily: Emily Johnson is a writer and a content strategist of OmniPapers blog and contributor to many websites about blogging and writing. You can always find more works of hers on Twitter. 

~Till next time, Helen

I have a ...

When you're published (and having a signing event) it is inevitable that someone will approach you and the conversation starts with, "I've got a  (novel, novella, story, screenplay...) that I want to publish. How do I go about it?"

Depending on how serious the person is or the status of their work (or how many people are waiting to talk to you), the discussion can start with some basic decisions.

• Ebook  / print
• Indie Self-publishing /
• Small Houses / Big NYC firm

And I usually end with "Have fun with your writing."


Depending on their perceived skill level, I might mention what assistance is available from a given site such as createspace or kdp, but I usually stopped short of recommending any particular book. One reason is the great variance between authors in their writing ability, experience, and genre, not to mention the sheer number of books out there. 

Recently I gave a two-hour tutorial on bringing a book to life.The talk was given to a person with a completed manuscript and a determination to have a book in print. Their deadline was such that they needed something concise, complete, and easily understood. The book handed them was the 2015 edition of Createspace and Kindle Self-Publishing Masterclass: The Step-by-Step Author's Guide to Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Books on Amazon by Rick Smith.

The result? The manuscript is now finished and undergoing editing. Pictures are being inserted, and the marketing/promotional plan being written. According to the soon-to-be published writer, Rich Smith's book provided the overview and sufficient detail to move the project along. Then they'll move onto more discrete resources such as the Smashwords guides, and help forums.

While not every book on craft, how-to-publish, and marketing is suitable for every author, whether published or wishing to be, the answer to I have a ... has been expanded to include Createspace and Kindle Self-Publishing Masterclass.

~Till next time, Helen

Find Createspace and Kindle Self-Publishing Masterclass on Amazon and more about Rick Smith's books at www.ricksmithbooks.com.
  

 

What's in a Cover, Return to the Darkside

The series, "What's In A Cover," began with non-fiction. Taking advantage of a short hiatus from flying with dragons, I thought I'd celebrate the upcoming release of From the Back Street to Main Street… And Beyond by sharing its cover design.

Unlike the colorful covers for the fantasy series, the Dragshi Chronicles, the design for From the Back Street to Main Street utilized a different principle--KISS. Or for polite company, Keep It Simple SXXX (you fill in the blank.)

Unlike the previous non-fiction books, which covered multiple topics over an extended period of time, this one is about a single group for the shorter time span of only 180 years. And the final critera? The entire design one had to be suitable for a church.

Selecting a title was the easiest of the cover triad of title, image, and back matter. Combining the title of a slide presentation from an earlier anniversary celebration with a suggestion from a church member resulted in From the Back Street to Main Street… And Beyond.

The simplicity of the overall design meant the image increased in importance. A scan of the possible images grouped them into three possible themes: people, building, and objects.

Each category had its own issues. If a person, or group of people) was selected was from among the ministers, congregation members, or events received the honor? Various objects including the stained glass windows were evaluated and discarded. Only one window survived the demolition of the Main Street sanctuary and it was not available. Pictures taken over the years were not of production quality. The communion set seemed more appropriate for an antique reference. Early documents blurred into unreadability when seen in thumbnail size. Which left buildings.

No known image existed of the earliest sanctuary which left the landmark red brick building that graced the center of town for 100 years or the modern church of today.

For a history, some claim the older the image the better. But production issues such as crispness still had to be acknowledged. Laying out a selection of images in different formats from several eras helped narrow down the front cover image to three possible ones, then to one. A black and white cover wasn't wanted so the background became a solid color. Encircling the image with white provided contrasts for the art.

My personal approach to have a cover reflect the story raised the question of how to incorporate "And Beyond."  Putting both the old and new buildings made the cover too busy, especially with the long title. A reminder that the history book would be published in paperback as well as in digital format solved the problem of incorporating present and future with the past. The modern sanctuary went on the back cover.

Introducing From the Back Street to Main Street… And Beyond.

AVAILABLE AT: Paperback: Amazon   Barnes and Noble   

 ~till next time, Helen

Storyline - Archaeology Gets Technical

Archaeology is not all Indiana Jones and a bullwhip. Modern technology has a place alongside maps and exploring in the jungle. Metal detectors have uncovered the secrets of battlefields yielding artifacts and insights into troop movements. Now x-rays are helping unlock the secrets of a scroll from what is called the Villa of the Papyri. The scroll is among hundreds retrieved from the remains of a lavish villa at Herculaneum, which along with Pompeii was one of several Roman towns that were destroyed when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79.

Some of the texts have been deciphered since they were discovered in the 1750s. But many more remain a mystery to science because they were so badly damaged that unrolling the papyrus they were written on would have destroyed them completely. Enter technology and phase contrast tomography. The process had previously been used to examine fossils without damaging them.

Phase contrast tomography takes advantage of subtle differences in the way radiation — such as X-rays — passes through different substances, in this case papyrus and ink. Using lab time at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, the researchers found they were able to decipher several letters, proving that the method could be used to read what's hidden inside the scrolls.

More of the story at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2918524/X-rays-unlock-secrets-ancient-scrolls-buried-volcano.html

Just because the present works with the future, doesn't mean we have to eliminate the human. For myself, I'll take technology and Indiana Jones.

 Till next time.  ~Helen

Storyline - Love Forever?

One of the pieces of advice I give authors, especially those just starting out, is to keep a journal. No it is not the diary once popular among young girls. What the authors journal contains are things such as a name that says "I am xxx." URL's, photographs, or rough sketches of a place or time that will serve as the basis for a locale.

Storylines, notes, tidbits of thoughts fill more pages. Below is one item of interest for writers of romance. 

Archaeologists with the University of Leicester uncovered remains of two skeletons holding hands believed to have been resting that way for at least 700 years.

Think of the circumstances that put them in the position. Did he die first? Or did she? Expand the thought and there is the beginnings of a story.

More of the story can be found at https://gma.yahoo.com/ancient-skeletons-found-holding-hands-england-164100113--abc-news-topstories.html

Till the next time. ~ Helen

What's In a Cover Pt 2

The "After 'The End'" series began with a few considerations about cover design. Continuing the topic will include examples of the thoughts that went into a specific cover design--and the resulting cover.

The first two examples are non-fiction. Deciding on a design was easy. The publisher had a standard template so fonts, layout, and colors were preset. However, that does not mean creating the final product was easy. The central image needed to be selected.

Hundreds of images in the collection had to be narrowed down to the five presented to the publisher, who would have the final word. In the case of the first example, since the state of electronic scanning was still developing, the original photographs would eventually be driven to North Carolina.

Among the considerations that went into the selection were visual interest and how the image represented the topic of the book. The picture had to be unique. In other words, it could not be in common use, such as in a calendar or as important, used within the book itself.

Many pictures that met the previous criteria came up short on the final selection requirement--quality. Many  of the eye-catching images had too many losses. In far too often a case, chunks of the picture no longer existed, which meant extensive restoration. Two things that were beyond time and budget limitations.

Other pictures might have been intact, but had insufficient crispness. When offset printed, details would have  been lost and/or the image blurred.

Now for the examples: The 1890s image of the downtown was chosen because of the grocery wagons. Why wagons when there is obviously only one. There were two wagons in the original and the entire building was visible, not just the one storefront. The uncropped picture was reprised on the reverse of the flyleaf.

The reverse tact was taken in the second example where the picture was selected because of the more panoramic view. Click on the appropriate title for more information on Around Matawan and Aberdeen or Of Town and Field: Matawan and Aberdeen.

Next post -- What went into the fantasy covers for the first two books of the fantasy series, the Dragshi Chronicles.

Till next time ~ Helen

What's in a Cover?

One of the major decisions an author has to make is the cover design. Even if the publisher controls the design, you probably had to create a marketing or cover design form with a summary of the elements of the book. However, when you are independently published, what goes into that first impression is even more important.

Fred Showker, the publisher and editor of DTG Magazine, provides some fundamental design rules.  What I liked about Joel Friedlander's post "E Secrets to e-Book Cover Design Success" is the variant of the old KISS philosophy. To summarize what Friedlander, a self-published author and an award-winning book designer put forth for a good cover, is to keep it  Simple. Ebook covers don't have the space that print books do. Small -- today books are found and/or purchased online, so the cover has to look great in a thumbnail. And his final "S" hint, Strategic. Remember, your cover is part of your brand.

Whether you hire someone, design your own cover, learn the important concepts. At the end of the day, what makes a great book cover? The one that makes YOU purchase a book.

The reason I've been looking at this topic? 

The cover for Hatchling's Curse is being designed as I type.

Till next time ~ Helen

Additional Resources:

http://digitalpublishing101.com/digital-publishing-101/part-2-preparing-source-files/ebook-cover-design/

http://promo-design.co.uk/blog/ebook-cover-design/10-tips-for-designing-your-kindle-ebook-cover.php

X-Post, How to Survive The Summer Hiatus and Still Write

Now that the mid-point of the summer is here, and many families are taking vacations, or spending hours in the pool, as a writer I find it harder to keep to my schedule. Intuitive life coach and fellow writer Mary Jo Guglielmo offers suggestions on surviving the summer.

Among the pieces of advice she offers is, "If you’re struggling to write this summer, consider taking a hiatus from writing for a few weeks.  It might just be the antidote for a stalled writing project." Another is for authors to break the write every day rule and give ourselves permission to un-schedule our writing so that fall temperatures will bring increased interest and rejuvenate our works. 

Although we may stop and smell the roses, it doesn't mean we turn off our writer's brains. And she tells how she handles that aspect also.

To read the entire post, go to http://www.writersonthemove.com/2014/07/taking-break-from-writing-finding.html.

Find Mary Jo on the web at For more information check out:

http://theadvantagepoint.wordpress.com

http://twitter.com/do_north.

On a personal note, color me jealous. Check out the surroundings of her picture.

Aloha ~ Helen