Archive | March 2017

How To: Make a WordPress Sticky Post…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Thanks to my good friend, author, poet and blogger, Kevin Morris, I now know how to make a Sticky Post for my home page.

What are Sticky Posts?

By default, WordPress.com blogs display posts in reverse chronological order on the home page with the latest post at the top. There isn’t a way to display posts in chronological order, but you can mark some posts as Sticky to make them appear above the other posts.

In other words, if there is a particular post you’d like your blog visitors to see when they land on your Home Page (where all your posts are displayed, latest post topmost), the Sticky Post is always displayed as if it was the latest post.

In my case, I’ve chosen one of the most popular posts I’ve written.

You Read – but do you leave REVIEWS?

(first posted on 8th May 2014)

This post has…

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Into Africa: 3 kids, 13 Crates and a Husband

Africa

My review of Into Africa: 3 kids, 13 Crates and a Husband by Ann Patras

First her book blurb found on Amazon. “When Ann and Ziggy Patras uproot from England in 1980 and head off with their three young children to live and work in deepest Africa, they have no idea what they are letting themselves in for. While prepared for sunshine and storms 13º south of the equator, the Patras family are ill-equipped for much else. Interspersed with snippets from Ann’s letters home, this crazy story describes encounters ranging from lizards to lions, servants to shopping shortages, and cockroaches to curfews.”

I have finished reading this book and here is my review. I found Into Africa a rather enjoyable and fun read full of adventure for this expat family. The flow of the narrative is easy, but quite slow. Patras’ clearly relates comedy into situations, and reading of life as an expat was interesting, and I gained a clearer vision of Zambia at the time frame this story is written from, circa 1980. I wonder how Zambia has changed since 1980? The food and toiletry, not to mention clothing and toy shortages compound Patras’ and her family’s life. This book is well written and interesting. 4 stars!

Caughtcha…

pen-and-paper

Thursday, June 27, 2002
Caughtcha…Loved your cheering at TSF today and to be
honest, this cheer for your cheer was to send this morning and I
immediately thought of you…smiles….

A little angel named Isabella,
had a Faerie gift to always hear,
the tinkling cup of joy and cheer,
especially when Wee Ones were near.

Folk in Garden Cheer adored Isabella,
and she kept them from woes gale,
she always tried and never did fail,
and loved to tell of a cheerful tale,
when she joyfully carried a tiny pail.

A pail of milk into the garden drug,
to feed those neither seen nor heard,
except from an occasional written word,
found with her daily wheats and curd,
to read, “from cheer never be deterred”.
–Denny Lancaster

A Few Quotations on Reading

frenchc1955's avatarcharles french words reading and writing

WAR AND CONFLICT BOOK
ERA:  CIVIL WAR/BACKGROUND: SLAVERY & ABOLITIONISM

https://commons.wikimedia.org)

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

                                                                  Frederick Douglass

Theodor_Seuss_Geisel_(01037v)

(https://en.wikiquote.org)

“You’re never too old,

   too wacky, too wild,

   to pick up a book

   and read to a child.”

                                                                  Dr. Seuss

J._K._Rowling_2010

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.”

                                                                 J.K. Rowling

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This entry was posted on March 9, 2017. 2 Comments

Guest author: Darlene Foster – Ten Truths About Critique Groups and Why Writers Need Them

Sue Vincent's avatarSue Vincent's Daily Echo

book-1014197__480Never underestimate the importance of a good critique group.  Without one, a writer may simply flounder in a sea of words and ideas. A critique group can make the difference between a mediocre story and an excellent piece of writing worthy of publication. Without the support of groups I’ve belonged to over the years, I would not have six books and several short stories published.

If you are wondering if you should join a critique group, here are ten things about critique groups you should know.

  1. Not all critique groups are created equal. You may have to try out a few to find one that works for you. The members need not write in the same genre as you, in fact it helps if there is a variety of writing being critiqued.
  2. Park your ego at the door. Although it is nice to hear what the members like about your…

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This entry was posted on March 9, 2017. 4 Comments

Why You’re Not You When You’re Not Writing

theryanlanz's avatarRyan Lanz

writing tea

by Meg Dowell

For the first week of 2017, because of the new year, I did not write any articles. Clients either weren’t ready to assign them yet or they were having me work on other projects (because being a content creator means you get to write marketing emails too).

For many of you, this probably doesn’t sound like that big a deal. But you have to understand that the nature of my work resulted in me writing over 500 articles last year – that doesn’t include these blog posts. I write articles. It is what people pay me to do. And having already taken a week off of work between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, enduring another week without producing an article was like going without food: it was unbearable.

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Excerpt: When Angels Fly

697

Excerpt: When Angels Fly

Eli took one piece of a Sixlet’s candy and planted it in the sandbox. Eli said he was “going to grow a bunch of candy.” I guess that made sense to a five-year-old. Eli always watched me work in our vegetable garden at home, so evidently he thought he could grow candy. I wasn’t about to tell him otherwise.

An Amazonian-Sized Problem

Staci Troilo's avatarStory Empire

Hi, SEers! Happy Wednesday.

reviewsI wrote a post on my own blog recently about Amazon and reviews. If you’d like to read it, you can find it here.  That post was the inspiration for this one.

There are nine categories on the Amazon Community Guidelines page that dictate the rules for reviewing books (or anything else, I suppose). Some are just common sense. Others pose some problems.

For example, one of the categories is Eligibility. You must have spent $50 on Amazon before you are allowed to review a product.

  • What about people who don’t have an account or have just opened one? (And before you laugh at the absurdity of that statement, you should know I know people who have family members buy things for them on Amazon because they don’t want to enter credit card information online.)
  • What about teenagers who read the YA books their…

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This entry was posted on March 9, 2017. 1 Comment