I just looked at yours and thought I should mention that anything that you post on a publicly accessible web site risks losing first time online publishing rights -- many places will consider it to have been published online already (hence one reason for the 13 line rule here and the password protection at Liberty Hall).

And so I offer a shameless plug: The Crow's Nest.

btw, Minister, your site looks nice. Paul says that you look just the way he imagined.

lol, hardly! That would be one impressive toddler .

I actually tried to set one up at msn, because I already have an email account there, but they seem to be having technical problems because I kept getting errors. So I just picked one randomly off of google. I don't know if Dea uses it or not.

As a side note about the potential usefulness of blogs for writers: I plan to use mine to hone my creative non-fiction skills. Probably with extra emphasis on the "creative" side. So, look out mike, you're getting some competition! *G*

--Mel

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So, look out mike, you're getting some competition!

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Well, don;t post anything there that you might be able to sell, silly!

Hey, maybe I'll build up a reader base that will launch my novels into best-sellers when I get them published! [/wishful thinking]

Well, it could happen. I do see this as something of a marketing exercise. If I can manage to write entertaining posts on a daily basis, I might develop loyal readers. And since they would already like my writing, they might buy my books. At that point, I think it would be worth it to have "given away" some writing in order to cultivate an audience.

But even if that doesn't happen, at least I'm practicing writing. That will pay off eventually.

I had no trouble with msn. My only gripe is that I'm having trouble customizing it sufficiently that it doesn't look like a cookie cutter job. I've seen several others that are really sharp there, but I don't understand yet how they are getting the effects and features they are using; looks like some of them are writing in their own code, or borrowing it from elsewhere. That's a bit much for me, for now.

Will, if you have msn messenger, there should be a little button that says "my space." If you click on that, it should take you where you need to go to set one up. The whole thing is predicated upon having a hotmail account. And it really was easy. If you like the default settings, you can use it practically instantly, just like posting to a board like this one. I took a little time shifting things around and experimenting, and will probably continue to do that.

Even those of you who have gotten used to me will probably not like it.

But if anyone wants to read it, be my guest.

If you don't plan on trying to sell it, great, carry on. I just don't want to see you use up your most salable rights unknowingly.

As for putting up stories -- I personally can't stand reading more than a few pages online (hurts my eyes) so it's hard for me to imagine anyone else wanting to.

Then again, I might be missing out....

But I'm also not overly fond of the feeling I get from time to time in things, that I'm shouting into an empty cave and nobody listens. I'm also interested in feedback, in hearing the opinions of others about what I'm doing and saying. (I got a bad case of that in my regular writing career a few years ago, and took a four-year wander through Internet Fan Fiction.)

Of course, the biggest barrier in my writing a blog is that I don't read them myself. I've sampled a few, but none are part of my regular online comings and goings. (One of my main purposes online is reading comic strips not available in my local paper.)

Of course, you then begin to wonder, "how many people are actually reading all this garbage?"

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Finding small images on amazon takes a little digging, but you should be able to figure it out if you look at the ending I gave my links /ASIN/[inventory #]/sixapart-20/ (not sure how you are supposed to navigate your way to this page; I just stole it from another blog I saw)

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Theo, what you're doing is using someone else's Amazon Affiliates link. That's what the sixapart-20 means. I'm sure they won't care as you are helping them earn money, but wouldn't you rather be earning the money for yourself?

If you become an Amazon Affiliate they give you the pictures of the book to display on the website, and create all of the code for you. It's much easier than trying to do it manually with someone else's account.

It's what I use, but now I have to add the disclaimer - I'm biased. I married the guy who wrote Blog and owns the site after downloading his software and having problems (I wasn't well versed in html and ftp'ing back then.)

I moved to Sri Lanka to be with him, which is the basis for my main blog at http://www.srilanka.laurieashton.com/

I'm still new to this whole blogging concept, so be forewarned.

Franc li-- I have also signed up at livejournal. This was only a week or so ago, so I really need more friends! Feel free to add me to your list if you like. Someone had Ahavah (and isn't even using it!), so I am Ahavah_Ehyeh. Livejournal is pretty cool, but I haven't figured out how to make it very pretty or add link boxes.

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Livejournal is pretty cool, but I haven't figured out how to make it very pretty or add link boxes.

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Ok, fixed.

I say "oddly" because I didn't think I'd be back, and now that I am, I added two more blogs. XD

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I looked at the selection of shotguns at walmart (though I wasn't really going to buy a shotgun or anything). What I got instead was a toy pump action airsoft rifle and some sticky targets (that way I can, you know, practice moving from room to room and shooting things in my very own home!). And some egg nog. Even more than a 24-year old buying a toy gun after looking carefully at the selection of shotguns, throwing in a quart of egg nog spells C-L-A-S-S-Y. But I say, you can't be white trash if you ain't white. Besides, who can resist but making serious considerations for their personal security when they see this:

[image]newsprint ad for training in the secrets of ninjutsu[/image]

I mean, you're telling me you're not thinking of getting yourself a gun right now? NINJAS! There are freakin' NINJAS! Heck yeah I'm going to protect myself! Trained, silent assassins, learning jutsus and having wacky adventures and stuff. It's only a matter of time before they invade my home, throwing shurikens and kunais and nekos and stuff.

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