Tag: #amreading

Do you know if you are suffering from brain-drain?

Published on by Jean M. Cogdell22 Comments

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But Beware of Summer Brain-drain!braindrain

An affliction that slips up on you along with the rising temperatures, humidity,thermometer-153138_640

and buzzing mosquitoes.

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You may not notice it at first. Your brain cells and ideas drain away slowly when you decide to take a few days to welcome the sun and blue skies.sun-151763_640

Next, you’ll decide to skip a day of writing or blogging. I mean one day won’t hurt, or even a couple. Right? But before long a week has passed, you’ve forgotten a much-needed password and discover your muse is missing. You’ve developed foggy brain and reached the summer danger zone.

How do you combat this affliction , and survive until fall?

The cure for brain-drain can be done as you enjoy the summer.

  • Read good books. Notice the plural. One won’t get the job done.
  • Write. Write every day, even if it’s just fifty words. The writing doesn’t have to be prize winning. Once you get started, a sentence or two will become a paragraph and stop the brain-drain.
  • Music. Listen to music. It feeds the soul.
  • Watch old movies. That’s right old movies. Because the writers didn’t rely on “special effects” as much as the newer ones.

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Do you suffer from brain-drain?

What do you do to keep the mind moving right along during hot summer days?

Let us know- leave a comment!

I’d love to hear from you! Click the “write me” tab or contact me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter  peeps andFacebook fans.

How to avoid the dreaded over 140 warnings

Published on by Jean M. Cogdell11 Comments

Yes, we all get the red warning from time to time. 

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Within Tweetdeck or Twitter, I use bitly  to automatically shorten my links. But, there are several to choose from such as Ow.ly, or TinyURL.com, all you need to do is to search for one that will work for you.

Everyone knows how to shorten your own post within WordPress. Use the Get Shortlink button!

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But how do you shorten a link that is not yours?

What do you do when you want to share a link plus add comments?

I use goo.gl URL Shortener which is an add-on to my toolbar. Here is a few of features for the Google shortener add-on.

► Features
  • Official goo.gl API support
  • Official goo.gl history/dashboard support with OAuth
  • Auto copy to clipboard
  • Keyboard shortcut
  • Context menu
  • QR Code
  • Highly customizable
  • Incognito mode
  • Share with your default mail client
  • Share with many different services 100zakladok, AOL Mail, Baidu, Bebo, Blip, Blogger, Bobrdobr, Delicious, Diaspora*, Digg, Diigo, Evernote, Facebook, Formspring, FriendFeed, Friendster, Gmail, Google Bookmarks, Google+, Hatena, Hyves, Hotmail, Identi.ca, Instapaper, iWiW, Lifestream, LinkedIn, LiveJournal, Mail, Mail.ru, meinVZ, Menéame, Mister Wong, Multiply, MySpace, Netlog, NUjij, OKNOtizie, Orkut, Oyyla, Ping.fm, Plaxo, Plurk, Pocket, Reddit, Segnalo, Sina Weibo, Sonico, Springpad, studiVZ, StumbleUpon, Technorati, Tuenti, Tumblr, Twitter, TwitThat, TwitThis, Viadeo, VKontakte, Wykop, XING, Yahoo! Bookmarks, Mail, Yammer

(Hate to admit this but I’ve never heard of some of these.)frog-sad

Don’t want an add-on? 

Well, Google may still be the site for you.

Just head over to the Google URL Shortener web page. Bookmark this page and use it to shorten the links. Super simple.

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Have you ever failed to share because the link is too big?

Do you think using one of these will make it easier to share?

Do you already use a link shortener? Which one do you like best?

Talk to me in the comments section, I’d love to hear from you! You can also click the “write me” tab or contact me onTwitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter  peeps andFacebook fans.

Do you want a creepy and disturbing book?

Published on by Jean M. Cogdell3 Comments

If you are squeamish,

don’t read:

The Butterfly Garden

The book is written in two different POV’s, the FBI investigating the crimes and one of a surviving victim. The author hooked me from the beginning. Changing point of views made perfect sense as the story unfolds. I had no problem following what was happening. It is a dark, disturbing, methodical and well-written story. I usually can’t finish a book that deals with sexual violence because I find the subject distasteful and hard to stomach but I couldn’t put down The Butterfly Garden. I finished this book in one day, not because I didn’t know how it was going to end, but because I wanted to hear the rest of the victim’s story. So, if you are the least bit squeamish about the treatment of women, you may want to take a pass. However, if you can handle the subject, the writing is worth the journey. This is one book that will keep you up all night.

Dot Hutchinson kept me turning the pages late into the night and the story haunted me long after I turned out the light. The Butterfly Garden gets 5 Stars from me. It is available now, for FREE through KindleUnlimited.

Read any good books lately? Do share… 

Have you read this book? What did you think?

I’d love to hear from you! Click the “write me” tab above or contact me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter peeps and Facebook fans.

Thanks for keeping me on my toes

Published on by Jean M. Cogdell5 Comments

Today’s thank you goes to John Maberry, gentleman from N. VA, author, lawyer, and former government employee. Let’s not hold the last two against him. I’m sure those experiences are good fodder for a writer.

John pointed out that I left a few important tidbits in my post about the new Amazon “Instant Preview” for books.

Oops! He’s right and I’m sorry.

Here’s what I forgot to mention.

1. You can earn additional money.

Add your Amazon Associates ID  to your book preview and you earn advertising fees. You read that right!

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Once you plug-in your Amazon Associates ID, you’ll see Link updated with ID under the box. So make sure you sign up and add your ID to the link. Every little bit helps!

2. This works on all ebooks.

Not just Kindle Unlimited. Tryouts for Ben is not listed with KU but when you click on this link, viola an “Instant Preview” opens. Wow!

3. Add your Associates ID to any book you “imbed.”

That’s right, you will receive advertising fees for helping out fellow authors. Writing a book review, add an “Instant Preview” with your ID and share the love!waiting westmoreland

 

Tell me, have you signed up for an Associates ID?

Do you remember to use it?

Big thanks to John for the heads up! Y’all stop by John Maberry’s Writing Website and say hey. Tell him Jean sent you.

I’d love to hear from you! Click to write me or contact me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at  jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter peeps and FacebookFacebook fans.