Tag: Mandy Webster

Politics, Religion

Separation of Church and State

Mandy Webster
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer
Image via Wikipedia

I have a confession to make. I have a 2-foot stack of back issues of National Geographic and Smithsonian magazine that I have never read. I am working my way through them slowly, but I finally let my subscriptions expire this year because I was feeling really guilty about just how large my stack had grown. Anyway, I just finished reading the October 2010 issue of Smithsonian in which I found a very timeless article that I would love to share with you now. The full story is available online for your perusal.  Continue reading “Separation of Church and State” →

Chicago, Conventions & Conferences, Mount Mary College, Travel, Writing Programs

Windy city-bound today

Mandy Webster
English: Author Margaret Atwood attends a read...

I’m off to the Windy City today for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs’ (AWP) 2012 Annual Conference and Book Fair. This year’s conference includes a variety of readings from published authors, a keynote address by author Margaret Atwood (pictured at right,) and a plethora of educational sessions. There are so many options to choose from, I’m having a hard time deciding which to do. But here’s a quick-list of a few sessions I’m hoping to hit today: Continue reading “Windy city-bound today” →

eBooks

I’ve decided to write an ebook

Mandy Webster

html tattoo

I like to build websites. No, I am not a website designer. I have a basic understanding of HTML, but I am in no way “experienced” with it. The type of websites I like to build are WYSIWYG websites like those you can create for free using Weebly.com and similar content management systems (CMS). These systems are so easy to use, I don’t know why every small business or non-profit doesn’t have a website. But then again, I guess they probably don’t have a thorough understanding of how best to set up a simple site in a way that will draw traffic. Maybe they think it’s too complicated to even think about doing it themselves. I think they’re wrong. So, I thought maybe I’d write an ebook about it. Continue reading “I’ve decided to write an ebook” →

Book Reviews

Hey look, my name is in this book!

Mandy Webster

Rocks to Riches cover

The book in question, pictured at right, is the recently released, Rocks to Riches.

The brain child of Elisabeth Donati, Rocks to Riches is a middle grade novel  that Robert G. Allen, author of Multiple Streams of Income and Cash in a Flash, has referred to as the “modern-day Think and Grow Rich for kids.”

Nan and Millie, two of the main characters in Rocks to Riches, live in the same neighborhood and hang out with the same group of kids, despite the fact that the two don’t really care for one another. Nan, who lives in a run-down apartment building with her single mom and younger sister, thinks Millie is a spoiled brat with her big, fancy house and sports car-driving mom. And Millie can’t seem to get enough of reminding Nan that she’s poor.

Continue reading “Hey look, my name is in this book!” →

Random Rants

9:30 a.m. is a magical time of day for me

Mandy Webster
12-hour digital clock radio
Image via Wikipedia

No matter how hard I try, I can’t possibly be productive before 9:30 a.m.

It never fails, every morning I find myself looking at the clock at 9:30 a.m. and realizing that I am, once again, just now getting down to business.

I don’t think it’s just because I get to work from home most days and can take my time showering, getting a cup of coffee, throwing a load of laundry in the wash, and just generally screwing around until I feel like accomplishing something. When I had a full-time day job where I had to actually be someplace at a certain time, I was still incapable of accomplishing anything before 9:30 a.m. Continue reading “9:30 a.m. is a magical time of day for me” →

Blogging, Communication Technologies

What went down on Wednesday?

Mandy Webster
A WordPress weblog with the TwentyTen theme, a...
Image via Wikipedia

Seriously cheesy title today. Seriously. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I won’t let it happen again.

Well, I’m not making any promises.

OK, “So, what did go down on Wednesday anyway?” you’re probably wondering. (Or maybe not, maybe I’ve already lost you.) I teach 2 courses on Wednesdays; Communication Technologies and Business Communication. And, I thought Comm Tech was fun yesterday. I mean, sure it could have gone a bit more smoothly, but this is the first time I’m teaching this course, and I still have a lot of kinks to work out.  Continue reading “What went down on Wednesday?” →

NaNoWriMo, Novel Writing

Gentlemen (and ladies,) we have a NaNoWriMo novel outline!

Mandy Webster

For the first time ever in my writing career, I have developed a full and complete outline for a novel (shocking, I know.) How many times have I just sat down and started writing without giving much thought to where I am taking my characters? At least as many times as I have abandoned manuscripts in drawers and on hard drives, that’s for sure! But I want to be really prepared for NaNoWriMo, so I decided yesterday to do a little research and remind myself of the story structure lessons I learned when I took my novel writing class a few semesters ago.

In my research, I found the following video on storyboarding from Mary Carroll Moore, an award-winning author and master writing instructor:

The “W Storyboard structure” Moore details in her video was tremendously helpful. I had already decided on the characters I wanted to use for my NaNoWriMo novel, and even had a short story written about them. But I need to decide on an appropriate conflict to set my story in motion and then determine the trajectory of the story.  Continue reading “Gentlemen (and ladies,) we have a NaNoWriMo novel outline!” →