Mandy Webster – Page 3 – Write on the World

This was our table for the day at the TreeGhost General Store and Cafe located in Hubertus, WI.

Saturday, my writer friend and I trekked out to Hubertus, WI, located at 5241 State HWY 167 (Holy Hill Rd) to spend the day writing at the TreeGhost Café. TreeGhost is conveniently located within minutes of the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians, at Holy Hill, and is an excellent locale for those of you who would like to do some sightseeing before or after you write.

Locally owned and operated, TreeGhost offers service you just won’t find at any chain café. When we arrived, we were personally greeted by Kevin, the owner. Kevin made sure we had everything we needed for a productive day of writing and wasn’t satisfied until he made sure I was able to get my laptop online. Continue reading “Places to write: TreeGhost General Store and Café, Hubertus, WI” →

Blogging, Digital Marketing, Employment

Check out Fiverr for buying and selling writing services

July 7, 2013July 5, 2013 Mandy Webster

I will tell you how to drive readers to your blog for just $5. — Check out my first gig on Fiverr.

A reader (thanks, Tonette!) recently suggested I check out a website called Fiverr to see if I can find someone to design a book cover for a collection of poems I would like to self-publish. While I haven’t yet found someone to design my book cover, it did occur to me that maybe I should post a few gigs of my own on Fiverr.

My first idea was to offer novel critiques to fellow writers looking to polish their novels before self-publishing. (I also borrowed this idea from another reader.) I posted a gig for this, but after getting to know the website a bit better, I do not think this is quite the right format for advertising this particular service. Continue reading “Check out Fiverr for buying and selling writing services” →

Relationships, Truth, Written Communication

I love stationary

July 6, 2013July 5, 2013 Mandy Webster

butterfly stationary — This is the stationary I purchased on my latest trip to B & N.

While at Barnes and Noble the other day, I spent a large quantity of time in the stationary section. I love stationary. While it doesn’t make me happy (that would be silly,) it does give me an intense feeling of pleasure to consider covering a piece of pretty paper with a good, old fashioned, handwritten letter.

I can spend as much time choosing stationary as I spend choosing a book to read. I have to get it right because I don’t write so many letters these days. Before the internet, both of my grandmothers used to send me cards and letters on a regular basis. When I was in the military, getting mail was one of the highlights of my life. One of my grandmas has since passed away, and the other still sends cards. But it’s been a long time since I have gotten anything but bills and junk in my snail mailbox. Continue reading “I love stationary” →

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Summer writing challenge check in: Week 2

July 5, 2013July 4, 2013 Mandy Webster

overcoming writer's block - crumpled paper on ... — This wad of paper pretty much sums up all aspects of my life at the moment. | overcoming writer’s block – crumpled paper on wooden floor – crushed paper (Photo credit: photosteve101)

I am setting a horrible example for my summer writing challenge participants. I just can’t seem to get anything written. At least not on my novel. I’ve been dealing with some personal issues (on top of the whole job fiasco, as if I didn’t have enough to feel depressed about,) and it seems like every time I put a pen to paper, that’s all I can write about. This doesn’t bode well for me finishing my novel by the end of the summer.

So, my accomplishments this week: there was one. I wrote a tragedy arc for one of my characters to try to stoke the writing fires. That didn’t get me far. I’m thinking of writing a tragedy arc for myself next. It might be fun to plot my own demise. Continue reading “Summer writing challenge check in: Week 2” →

Book Reviews, Publishing

You must read Hugh Howey’s novel, Wool

July 1, 2013 Mandy Webster

Hugh Howey Wool — Hugh Howey’s novel Wool is now a New York Times Bestseller.

A long time ago, I thought about writing book reviews for every book I read. What an easy way to come up with content for my blog, right? But for some reason, the books I had read just kept piling up around my desk without me ever getting around to writing those reviews. Until now. Now I have finally read something so good, I feel compelled to blog about it.

I just finished reading Hugh Howey’s novel Wool, and I must say, it is the best book I have read in a long, long time. Wool is a futuristic dystopian novel that follows the story of a people who have been living in underground silos since the destruction of the outside world several years in the past. Continue reading “You must read Hugh Howey’s novel, Wool” →

Poetry, Publishing

I need some advice on self-publishing

June 29, 2013June 28, 2013 Mandy Webster

Insert cover art here — It’s probably pretty pathetic that something as simple as designing a book cover is what is keeping me from self-publishing my poems, huh?

A few semesters ago, I took a poetry writing course. I don’t really consider myself a poet, but I like to dabble from time to time. I wanted to take a course that would challenge me to think about my writing in a different way, and this poetry course definitely fit the bill.

At first, I had a hard time writing poems on demand. Then I started reading poetry on a regular basis, and the ideas began to flow. I started jotting stuff down as it came to me, and I ended up with a stock of poems to choose from whenever the time came to turn one in for a grade. Continue reading “I need some advice on self-publishing” →

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Write Your Novel this Summer: It’s time for our first check in!

June 28, 2013 Mandy Webster

kitty — Kitty says, “Stop looking at me and get back to writing!”

Well, it has officially been one full week since the start of our summer writing challenge. I plan to check in once a week on Fridays throughout the entire summer. Since I really haven’t accomplished anything yet, this week I will simply report on my starting point.

I started the summer writing challenge with a total of 65,128 words written. That’s about 240 double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12 pt font pages.

While figuring out where to jump back into my story this week, I read my last few chapters and did a bit of surface editing here and there. I have also done a bit of freewriting, which I will not add into my word count. I am still in the freewriting stage at the moment, trying to get back on track with my story. Hopefully by next week I will be cranking out some actual chapters again. Continue reading “Write Your Novel this Summer: It’s time for our first check in!” →

Novel Writing

I am back to the writing board and struggling to move my story forward

June 27, 2013 Mandy Webster

Sitting here watching the flowers grow when I should be writing — I hate to admit it, but yesterday I spent more time sitting here watching the flowers grow outside my office window than I spent writing.

Yesterday I began working on my novel again. I didn’t realize how long it had been since I’d looked at it. I first had to dig around in my computer files to make sure I was working with the latest version of my document. Next, I had to find the notebook I was writing in so I could figure out where I left off. Then I had to read the last few chapters to remind myself what was going on when I last looked at it. After that, I needed to figure out where my story needs to go next to keep it moving forward. Then I spent the rest of the day alternating between staring at my computer screen and staring at my notebook (and staring out the window.) Continue reading “I am back to the writing board and struggling to move my story forward” →

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

There is no better day to start writing your novel than today.

June 26, 2013 Mandy Webster

June 21^st was the first day of summer and officially the first day of the Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge. I meant to do a big kickoff on the 21^st, but as I mentioned in my last post, life kinda got in the way. I’ve spent the past few days since I returned from my disappointing journey unpacking and trying to put my life back together. I still have a bit of unpacking and organizing to do, but I have decided today is the day I need to get back to writing. If I don’t do it now, I’ll just keep putting it off, and summer will be over before I know it.

I doubt I’m the only person who got sidetracked and didn’t jump right into my novel on the first day of summer. I’m here to tell you it’s okay if you haven’t started yet. Just because you missed the first several days of the challenge, that doesn’t mean you now have to wait until next year. But you should force yourself to sit down and start as soon as possible. How does today work for you? Continue reading “There is no better day to start writing your novel than today.” →

Employment

Today’s top four signs you should turn down that job offer

June 20, 2013 Mandy Webster

I have been looking for a full-time job in my area for about four years, with no luck. I seem to be overqualified to do anything but teach, and full-time faculty positions are hard to come by. A few weeks before graduation, I decided to open up my job search to a slightly larger geographic area to see what would happen. Within two weeks I was offered what sounded like the perfect job for me. I began to make arrangements to transition to this job, and things were finally looking up. After several weeks of preparation, I arrived at my destination. Then my dream job quickly deteriorated into a nightmare. Continue reading “Today’s top four signs you should turn down that job offer” →

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: