Month: October 2014

Categories
31days

Day 1- The Button: What’s in a Name? #write31days 2014

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“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” ~William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliette.

I would not consider myself an obsessive type, but I must admit that I am fascinated with origins and meanings of words and names. There’s a name for it you know, but I’ll save that topic for another day…Already thirsty for more? Check out this link on “obsession” to wet your whistle.

For the next 30 days I’ll be writing about the meaning of names and some words. While I will be focusing a great deal on myself and the characters I’ve created, I’ll be relating it all to everyday life and things that I find interesting, and hopefully you will too.

This is Day 1 so I figured I’d explain my button in case anyone hadn’t yet quite figured  out what I was thinking when I made it.

The image is a visual remark on the complexity of the English language. In it we see a bow, a bow, a bow, and two people bowing. Then there is the mention of Beau, not someone’s lover or boyfriend, but he could be.

You see, the spelling of each of these words is the same, but the meanings and even the pronunciations can be very different. Am I a total geek or is this really cool?

Well, that’s all I have for today. Please see below for a preview of what I’ll be sharing all month-long. Links will not be active until the posts go live, but go ahead and peruse them anyway. They are all active now.

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Day1– The Button | Day 2– Onomastics | Day 3– Etymology| Day 4– Nomenclature
Day 5– Namesake | Day 6– Character | Day 7– Branding | Day 8– Blessing
Day 9– Curse | Day 10– Alias | Day 11– Nicknames | Day 12– Identity
Day 13– Meaning | Day 14– Function | Day 15– Description | Day 16– Calling
Day 17– Titles | Day 18– Suffix | Day 19– Prefix | Day 20– Affix
Day 21– Label | Day 22– Personality | Day 23– Signature | Day 24– Voice
Day 25– Language | Day 26– Orthography| Day 27– Moniker
Day 28– Spiritual/Religious Names | Day 29– First Name
Day 30– Surname | Day 31– Names

Outside of my own personal search throughout the years, basic meanings and definitions of the terms used here can be found at the following websites: http://www.meaning-of-names.com/, Google search http://en.wikipedia.org/, and  http://dictionary.reference.com/.

Learn more here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Books

Review: Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I give this book a 4.

 

This is a story that I thought that I’d already read. I have read other Austen books in the past and since so many people talk about this book, I guess I just felt that I’d already read it. I even thought maybe I saw a film adaptation of it and that was the reason I hadn’t read it. Going back and truly thinking about it, I realized that I had made it to the ripe old age of, none of your business, without reading this book and then decided to rectify that.

When I started reading the book I remembered why I hadn’t read it in the past. I read Sense and Sensibility in high school and it was a really tough read for me. The language is almost Shakespearean but not so poetic, and the conversation are more humorous. I quickly remembered that back then I was not much of a fan of Elizabethan culture and I’m still not, but this is still a good story.

It doesn’t take too much imagination to get to the core of this book’s overall message and apply it to modern times, thus the title. This book is the perfect example of how pride, perceived pride, jealousy, prejudice, stereotypes, and so much more are a part of our everyday lives and how they can twist things about so innocently, and not so innocently.

Since I read mostly fantasy and sci-fi, my classic literature muscles were strained when reading this, but it was a good strain. Austen’s creativity is obvious and the amount of emotion she is able to express is astounding. Always one to consider the high and low points of social interaction, I found the ideas of etiquette in this story to be quite amusing.

I wish there was more I could say, but I am at a loss for words. This is an excellent story and one I feel more young people should read or maybe even be used as a tool to explain the pros and cons of social etiquette. I must, however, admit that I prefer reading a more modern vernacular. For that reason, I can’t say that I love this book, but I do really like it.

This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
IWSG

#IWSG October 2014: Have A Plan

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Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click the image to learn more or sign up.

In honor of IWSG’s three year anniversary and one year anniversary of the website and Facebook Group, the IWSG Team is putting together an eBook that will benefit all writers – The IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond. And we invite all IWSG members, Facebook members, and followers to contribute.

Here are the details:
The three topics will be writing, publishing, and marketing.

Each contribution needs to be between 200 and 1000 words. Focus on one of those three aspects and give us your best tip or procedure. The essay can include bullet points, top ten lists, and recommendations. (Websites, software, books, etc.)

You can either post it for your October 1 IWSG post or email it directly to TheIWSG AT gmail.com or alexjcavanaugh AT earthlink.net (Since the length can go over the standard IWSG post length.) Include a one sentence byline and a link to your site. Also state that you give us permission to use it in the book and which topic it falls under. (We will only edit for misspellings and grammar mistakes.)

All submissions need to be sent or posted by October 2, 2014.We will compile them into an eBook and aim for an early December release. The book will be free and available for all eReaders.

Thank you for making the IWSG such a huge success!!

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Publishing seems like a simple concept, and at its core, it should be but things aren’t always what they should be. To publish, according to Dictionary.com, is to issue textual material for sale or distribution, but of course I’m paraphrasing. With this definition, publishing does seem simple indeed, but we all know there are steps to publishing and that’s where things get complicated.

Step 1: Have an idea or desire to write about something.
Step 2: Write and develop the idea into a consumable format (printed, digital, audio, etc…).
Step 3: Publish and promote the developed idea.
Step 4: Sale and distribute the developed idea.

Even these steps seem simple, but again there’s more to it. One thing’s for sure when taking these steps into consideration, publishing needs a plan.

I want to hone in on Step 3 for just a moment. Publishing has been a tricky pursuit as of late. With so many options available to the masses, it’s easy to get caught up in all the hype and miss an opportunity to make the best decision as opposed to the easiest or most popular decision. The question on the minds of many is whether to pursue traditional publishing, independent publishing, or something in between. Also, many wonder what defines traditional publishing, independent publishing, and as for the in between, let’s just call it hybrid publishing. While I don’t have all the answers, here’s how I see it.

Traditional publishing is when an author signs a contract with a publishing house, big or small, and no payment of services is required up front. With traditional publishing many aspect of the process are taken care of, such as: editing, distribution, and some marketing, but also some of the creativity may be limited when it comes to the ultimate title and or cover of the book as well some other minor issues. The publisher registers the copyright and ISBN for distribution purposes.

Independent publishing is a term that’s often misinterpreted and rarely understood. True independent publishing means that the author is the publisher in deed and title. The author writes, edits, markets, prints, distributes, and so on or contracts professionals to do so on their behalf. The author registers the copyright and ISBN and is recognized as an independent publisher, not just an indie author. The author/publisher has total control of the entire process from beginning to end which includes all the financial responsibility as well.

Hybrid publishing is what most people consider independent publishing. All the all authors who publish exclusively with Amazon.com are essentially hybrid published authors. They do not always own their ISBN and while they own the rights to their work, the copyright is registered to Amazon.com for the purposes of distribution. Amazon doesn’t own the rights of the work, but the rights to distribute it. There are many other cases and examples of this such as: Smashwords.com and many more. I simply used Amazon.com as a quick reference. Here the author is given a greater amount of control over the publishing process than with traditional publishing, but still not all of it and there are fees involved.

What this all boils down to is having a plan. Not every writer wants to be a published author. Many are content to blog and share their work with the public in their own special way, but for those who desire publication, a plan of attack is necessary. Just as a good writer does due diligence and research for the development of their stories, so must a good writer do their due diligence in the pursuit of publication.

There is no right or wrong path to pursue on the road to publication anymore. Each individual must decide for themselves how they want to pursue their dream of publication. There is no quick and easy road to personal success and if you are looking for more than that, you may not be ready to call yourself an author.

Decide what you desire to reach your personal success and do your research to find the best path to take you where you want to go. Everything else that comes along the way is extra; extra baggage, extra goodies, extra work, extra goals and dreams.

Do you have a plan for your writing and publishing path?
How will you compose your story?
How will you go about perfecting and editing it?
How will you publish it?
And how will you market and distribute it?

Hybrid publishing is not a term I came up with. I’ve seen it used by others and apply the term to myself and my work. 

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Kristin Smith, Elsie, Suzanne Furness, and Fundy Blue!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #139).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords