Onto the helpful hints:
I swear by THIS for formatting during that crunch before submission. I searched it out this week to format a short story for submission, and realized I hadn't passed it along before. It's a fantastic resource.
And, because I was doing a lot of editing this week, I did some looking around and heard about Natural Reader. It's a free program that allows you to listen to your words instead of just reading them over and over. I have, of course, read my novel out loud in editing, but my voice was hoarse and my throat sore for the next day or so. Plus, having sat in a Read & Critique at conference, I know that it sounds different in someone else's voice. I haven't actually tried this yet, but plan to within the week. It came highly recommended, though.
It seems there are a lot of online conferences I keep missing, but I lucked across this one ahead of time: NiNoCon begins Saturday, February 4. Click on the link for more information.
This link is just meant to be frosting. There was an article on Flavorwire about "15 Authors' Beautiful Estates". I was rather partial to Stephen King's house (I'd love to see it decorated for Halloween), Mark Twain's house and Kurt Vonnegut's house.
Finally, some weekly reminders:
Don't forget the A-to-Z Challenge. Even if you don't want to participate in the blogging challenge portion, there is currently a video challenge for your video-making pleasure. We are also looking for anyone interested in guest posting in the lead-up to the challenge.
The NLAPW (Pen Women) Flash Fiction Contest is ongoing. The theme is Are You Devious At Heart?; it is a micro-flash, 100 word maximum contest with a cash prize.
Pikes Peak Writers is accepting submissions (unpaid) for an anthology, to benefit their scholarship program. The theme is Moving Mountains.
And, of course, the Pikes Peak Writers Conference is open for sign-ups, and has scholarships available for those who need help with the fee. The sooner you sign up, the more likely you are to get a pitch session and/or a Read & Critique session.
That's it for today, folks! I hope you'll be back to sign up for the A-to-Z on Monday. Next Thursday, I hope to include a Project 52 update with my links. Also, don't forget that the continuation of my notes for New Models in Publishing, a Write Brain workshop presented by Pikes Peak Writers will be moved to Wednesday of next week, in lieu of [Mostly] Wordless Wednesday.
Which author's estate was your favorite? Any helpful links, information on readers or online conferences to pass along?
May you find your Muse.
