A Light Through the Darkness

I threatened a rant last week about chat-speak (I loathe it, for the short version of the rant), but as I didn’t have time to write it out when I was annoyed (probably a good thing, come to think of it), it mellowed and got intertwined with some other things.

Namely, this.

I love reading John Scalzi’s blog, because in addition to being a great writer, he has a wonderfully moderated community that actually TALKS.  Which I appreciate.  Because there is nothing guaranteed to make me grind my teeth faster than the “OMGWTFBBQ ur RONG!!!!” that are in a lot of other comment streams out there.  Yes, I know, the Internet is a wonderful place, and even those who can’t spell/don’t have a good grasp on grammar have things to share.  They do.  I don’t dispute that.

But for the love of whatever gods you hold dear, please stop making my eyes bleed.  Especially if you are chatting with/emailing someone in a professional capacity.  This includes writing your blog (especially if you are a writer), emailing your benefits center, or chatting with someone in a professional capacity.  Because really, to me, nothing says “I don’t actually care about what I’m doing here” faster than when I see an email on an account that starts “I c my acct, but I don’t c the option to do X. Pls process. Thx.”

Seriously?  SERIOUSLY?  (And yes, I write just about everything out.  Even text messages.  Ask my friends.)  But that’s neither here or there.  This is a piece of professional correspondence.  Which looks like a 3rd grader with a smart phone sent it.  Is that really the image you want to send?

Sorry, but that’s a huge pet peeve of mine.  And I see it every day (I work as a chat associate for a large financial organization).

I thought of that again today when reading Scalzi’s blog, because the comments talk about some things that self-publishers should be looking at.  And I realized something about myself.

I have a day job.  I have a day job that (luckily) pays my bills at this point, a day job that I enjoy (for the most part) and that I’m not planning on leaving.  My writing is for me to share with people.  While I have no intentions at this point of quitting my day job (even if I got a big contract), I don’t mind getting a bit of money from my writing.  But for me, at this point, it’s not going to tip the balance one way or the other .  (At least, not as long as my hubby is also working.)  That being said, I do self-publish some things, and I’ll continue to do that.  And when I do it, I don’t have a problem paying for things I can’t do.

I’m not a graphic designer.  I think in words, not pictures.  Which is why I pay talented folk like Starla Hutchton and J.A. Marlow to design my covers.  I am, however, a darn good proofreader and copy-editor, so people pay me to do that.  I sometimes swap services for services.

I also give away stuff for free here on the blog.  I will continue to do that, as they come up, because, well, I like to have people read my stuff.  And that’s the crux of it all.

I’m a writer.  Even if I never made another dime on writing, I would still write, and I would probably still share it here on the blog, if nothing else.  I get crazy when I don’t write regularly.

But I’m working a schedule now that means that I probably can’t write every day.  And I’m coming to terms with that.  It’s okay.  As long as I write on my days off (Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays), I think I’ll be good.  I just need sleep on the other days.

So yeah.  That’s what’s been going on in my brain lately.  Along with some other things.  I’ll be trying to write more on here too.  I’ve got two reviews I want to write ( for Feed by Mira Grant and The Street by Paul E. Cooley) that should go live either this weekend or next week.  And I think I’ll be dropping some other things too.

Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.

First of all, I don’t read a lot of YA, but for some reason, science fiction YA is something like crack to me.  I’ll speed through it.  It might be because one of my favorite re-reads when I was younger was Podkayne of Mars.  Madeline L’Engle was one of my go-to authors (she still is, to be honest).  So when my friend J.A. Marlow mentioned she had a YA science fiction novel, I knew I had to read it.

The String Weavers (String Weavers Book 1) did not disappoint.  I will not lie – I read this book in two days.  And it’s not a small book.  It’s not a simple book.  It’s a lush, vibrant, amazing book that sucked me in to its worlds and wouldn’t let me go until I came out gasping on the other end.

This is the story of Kelsey Hale, a  normal sixteen year old girl.  Well, if normal girls could hear phantom music, have food disappear on her and see ghosts.  Doesn’t everyone?

Well, no.  Turns out Kelsey’s bracelet, a gift from her dead mother, is a Weaver band – a special piece of jewelry that aliens use to travel the Strings and help keep the Universes (yes, with an “s”) untangled.  There are Phoenixes to help them, but there is also danger – and that danger has just come to Kelsey’s home, and kidnapped her and her father.

What I liked about this book was that Kelsey was really real.  She didn’t automatically become a badass – she’s a teenager, thrust into an incredible situation, and she doesn’t just rise to the challenge.  She falls sometimes.  She breaks some things (mostly rules).  She gets into trouble.

And damn, is this well-written trouble.  I had a lot of fun reading this, and I have already bought the second book The Phoenix Eggs,  and I promise you there will be a review of that soon.  There are some typos that I did notice, but they didn’t detract from the story.

Disclaimer: I do know J.A. Marlow as a friend, and I did receive a free copy of the book to review.

Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.