Old Meets New – You Can Have Your iPad and Your Typewriter Too
Hey, the iPad is cool and all, but let’s face it – that on-screen keyboard just doesn’t cut it for hardcore writing. Sure, you can get any old USB keyboard, but why not make a statement? Let the world know you’re a serious writer with the USBTypewriter™:
According to their website, you can buy a USB Typewriter of your very own, or you can buy a kit to make one yourself. You can also send them your typewriter to customize.
BookRix Author Elizabeth Towles on Writing
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Author Elizabeth Towles (etelizabeth) has been one of our most active contest participants recently, winning 2nd place and $500 in our “Family Stories” contest for A Ticket to the Past and 3rd place ($300) in the “My Best Fiction” contest for The Winter of a Mind. Her first full-length novel, The Long Night Moon, has received rave reviews and is available on Amazon. Elizabeth shared with us some of her tips for finding inspiration and curing writer’s block: The ‘Walks of My Mind’ on Writing Many things walk through my mind; they change with the choice of time. For instance: during the day, I tend to write with a conscientious eye, and a guarded temperance of my word choices; almost as if I’ve an invisible watcher editing my thoughts before they find print; night-time, then, offers a different stage for my writing; I feel the mellowing of my words, and my fingers fly across the keyboard with the courage of a Delilah. My thoughts sing a purer truth as the cover of darkness cheers me on. It seems most problems find an answer with only the light of the monitor in front of me. The shadowy dimness of the room lets my imagination have a free hand, no censoring of ideas, or judgment sitting on my shoulder. This night-time writing is very much an aid when I’ve stalled in a piece of work and the proverbial blank wall has to be climbed. I will take my character out of third person and write the voice in first person; most often I find that my author’s voice has been the culprit and I had slipped from a listening stage concerning my character’s actions to one of an author’s desire toward the script. In the dark, I can usually ‘feel’ my character around me, and if I close my eyes and truly listen, my character will lead me back into the story in a correct manner. Only then will the work move forward again. Another aid in writing is a gathering of ideas for later use: I read newspapers and magazines with an eye out for the oddity of a headline, or a story that draws me in. A parting caution: Never close your mind…let it be open to all that you see! - Elizabeth Towles You can connect with Elizabeth on BookRix, Facebook, Twitter and her blog. |
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Vampires vs. Werewolves Contest Winner – Ankita Verma
Congratulations to Ankita Verma, the winner of a $100 Amazon gift card in the Vampires vs. Werewolves mini-contest in the Gothic World group, for her story:
"How to get a life: The story of a vampire." 
You can also check out some of the other stories in the contest in the voting thread.
Author Gay Talese on Writer’s Block
“Probably I have writer’s block as a natural condition.” LOL! A man after my own heart!
In case you’re not familiar with him, Gay Talese was an essayist for The New York Times in the early 1960s and one of several writers who defined “literary journalism”. His piece, “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold”, which ran in Esquire in 1966, is one of the most famous magazine articles in history, and one of the greatest celebrity profile pieces ever written. In their 70th anniversary issue, Esquire editors honored it as the "Best Story Esquire Ever Published."
What do you do to get past writer’s block?
