Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Moving to a New Blog!

I know it's been a long time since I've posted, but it's been a busy few months, and I've been figureing out how to use Wordpress on my own Web site. So, without further ado, here is my new location: http://www.temlynwriting.com/blog

Please change your bookmarks and visit me over there!!!

~ Julia

Thursday, August 10, 2006

New issue of Writers Remember: Filling the Inkwell

My, my -- it sure has been a while since I last posted! Things have been crazy-hectic, and there's no sign of that changing any time soon. So, I'll share a simple update.

Writers Remember is back with a new issue of our E-zine/newsletter: Filling the Inkwell! (We never really went anywhere -- I just wasn't able to keep up for a short while with other things taking precedence).

So without further ado, here it is!

http://www.writersremember.com/newsletter/2006/aug10.html

To subscribe click here, or here, or send an e-mail to: writersremember-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

We're planning on a book discussion, and will be having a vote in the next few weeks, so check back for more information, as I'll be posting more about it here, as well as in the Writers Remember Forums!

Have a great weekend! I've got family visiting (my grandma and cousin and cousin's kids -- all of whom I haven't seen in 3 and 1/2 years!), so I'll be keeping busy for the next 2 weeks!

And my birthday is in 10 days! :o)

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Round One of the Blogosphere Project: AWChain

So, Towerkel at AbsoluteWrite has started the first round of Blogosphere Project: AWChain, and I'm the second in line after Towerkel's post.

Let's see, what's new since my last post? Oh, that's right--AbsoluteWrite.com is back up, and so are the forums. Hooray!!!

And just when the forums are back up, and I'm getting back into the swing of things on the forums, I have to go out of town for a week. Our choir is going on a tour throughout several states. I've been stressed about it for a while, factoring in some personal details and health issues, but now I'm actually kind of looking forward to it! And even if I'm out-of-it now and then throughout the trip, once we get on stage and start singing things turn around, and I can't help but get excited! Especially since we're going to Chicago first. Maybe we can get to see Wicked (the musical (again!). (Reminder: I must record the Tony Awards!)

Thinking of Chicago reminds me of six summers ago when I spent a two weeks in Boston. There's just something about older, bigger cities. So much history. Chicago is where Shoeless Joe Jackson played, where the Black Sox scandal took place. New York City, Boston, Chicago. Love the old cities.

And maybe I can get some Dunkin Donuts while we're there. They're hard to find in Houston. It seems to be either Southern Maid donuts or nothing. Oh, and Shipley's Donuts, which are actually good. Mmm, donuts. Definitely need to get some of those.

You know what's kind of addicting? Amazon.com. They have all these new features. (I spent more time than I should have updating mine!) You can build your own profile, share multiple wishlists, even have recommended lists! The author plogs (yes, plogs, not blogs) are fun, too! Check out Jenna's and Ray's!

Sorry this post is so short and random, but I'm still packing and preparing. The one not-so-fun thing about this trip? No internet access. Blah. Oh well. It'll be fun. :o)

Okay Kira, you're next!

Technorati Tags: awchain, AbsoluteWrite, Absolute Write

Friday, May 26, 2006

The Absolute Write & Barbara Bauer Scam Agent Fiasco

A Must-Read for you: Teresa Neilsen Hayden's post about the wrongful removal of Absolute Write and the Barbara Bauer situation.

(I don't foresee Barbara being removed from Writer Beware's 20 Worst Agencies List anytime soon unless she cleans up her act.)

Need more incentive? Even Neil Gaiman, John Scalzi, Holly Lisle, and Miss Snark have commented on that post.

Long story short: Barbara Bauer didn't like her name being listed on the 20 Worst Literary Agencies list, nor being exposed at Absolute Write's Bewares & Background Check board. She contacted Absolute Write's webhost (JC-Hosting), and threatened to file suit against them if they didn't have have Jenna Glatzer of AbsoluteWrite.com remove the negative information. AW refused. The hosting company, The hosting company, which apparently knew little about how scammy this scammer is and regarded her threats as extremely urgent, is owned by a (now former), and which is owned by a (now former) member of Absolute Write, gave Absolute Write one hour's notice, before taking down the entire site. Not just the forums, which is where the scam list information was, but Jenna's entire business! They have been withholding all of her files and information, and it is unknown if the forums will be able to be restored complete with all the old posts, or if we will have to start anew. However, we are a strong community, and things are being restored as we speak. Barbara is not much of a threat, and the hosting company really is to be shamed for taking such extreme actions considering the warnings they received about how bad a scammer Barbara is. If that wasn't enough, the owner of the hosting company (a former member of AW, remember?), has since decided to create her own writing website. Something smells quite fishy, if you ask me.

Thinking that she's some sort of worthwhile big-wig, Barbara Bauer has harassed such well-known people in the writing world as Teresa Neilsen Hayden of Making Light, Angela Hoy of Writer's Weekly, and now Jenna Glatzer of Absolute Write. What will it take to shut this scammer agent up?

For you AWers who are going through withdrawals at the lack of a superb writing community, Roger J. Carlson has set something up for the in-between time. Here's the link.

Jenna Glatzer, who is the owner and editor of Absolute Write, has written a bunch of excellent and helpful books, and just recently completed a Celine Dion biography, which was commissioned by Celine herself!

Hundreds of us are now campaigning to get the names of the worst scammers out there, and to warn other writers that "money flows toward the writer," and that writers should not pay to be published (vanity publishing).

So, on with the information...

Thinking that she's some sort of worthwhile big-wig, Barbara Bauer has harassed such well-known people in the writing world as Teresa Neilsen Hayden of Making Light, Angela Hoy of Writer's Weekly, and now Jenna Glatzer of Absolute Write. What will it take to shut this scammer agent up?

For you AWers who are going through withdrawals at the lack of a superb writing community, Roger J. Carlson has set something up for the in-between time. Here's the link.

Here are some various posts and blogs and news that can fill you in on what's going on:

Making Light's observations on the Absolute Write/Barbara Bauer/Stephanie Cordray/JC-Hosting situation

Making Light's threats from Barbara Bauer

Neil Gaiman's observations on the scammer work of Barbara Bauer and others, including a link to the 20 worst agents

Holly Lisle
gets in on the action.

Barbara Bauer has been Wiki'ed!

A.C. Crispin and Victoria Strauss on an encounter with Barbara Bauer

Dawno has a bunch of posts on the subject:
Miss Snark doesn't like the situation much, either!
Kira Connelly has several posts regarding the incident as well, plus she's compiling a list of all the information and posts she can find on the Barbara Bauer/Absolute Write scandal!

MacAllister Stone has blogged several entries on the subject.

Frank Baron on Barbara Bauer, Pretend Agent

Jim C. Hines has a great post, and says this: As I understand it, Ms. Bauer has a habit of sending nasty and/or threatening letters to people who re-post that top-20 list or spread the information around. I see this as a good thing. By the time she starts writing to all of us who have shared that information, she won't have any time left for scamming new writers. Sounds like a win to me!

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books indulges in the Googlebombing!

Jenna Glatzer, Editor-in-Chief of Absolute Write shares her Thank Yous

Want to see who else is blogging on this subject? Click here!

In case you're wondering about that list of the 20 worst agencies, here it is:

Below is a list of the 20 literary agencies about which Writer Beware has received the greatest number of advisories/complaints over the past several years.

None of these agencies has a significant track record of sales to commercial (advance-paying) publishers, and most have virtually no documented and verified sales at all (book placements claimed by some of these agencies turn out to be "sales" to vanity publishers). All charge clients before a sale is made--whether directly, by levying fees such as reading or administrative fees, or indirectly, for editing or other adjunct services.

Writer Beware recommends that writers avoid questionable literary agencies, and instead query agencies that have verifiable track records of sales to commercial publishing houses.

Note that while the 20 agencies listed here account for the bulk of the complaints we receive, they're just the tip of the iceberg. Writer Beware has files on nearly 400 questionable agencies, and we learn about a new one every few weeks.

* The Abacus Group Literary Agency
* Allred and Allred Literary Agents (refers clients to "book doctor" Victor West of Pacific Literary Services)
* Barbara Bauer Literary Agency
* Benedict Associates (also d/b/a B.A. Literary Agency)
* Sherwood Broome, Inc.
* Capital Literary Agency (formerly American Literary Agents of Washington, Inc.)
* Desert Rose Literary Agency
* Arthur Fleming Associates
* Finesse Literary Agency (Karen Carr)
* Brock Gannon Literary Agency
* Harris Literary Agency
* The Literary Agency Group, which includes the following:

-Children's Literary Agency
-Christian Literary Agency
-New York Literary Agency
-Poets Literary Agency
-The Screenplay Agency
-Stylus Literary Agency (formerly ST Literary Agency, formerly Sydra-Techniques)
-Writers Literary & Publishing Services Company (the editing arm of the above-mentioned agencies)

* Martin-McLean Literary Associates
* Mocknick Productions Literary Agency, Inc.
* B.K. Nelson, Inc.
* The Robins Agency (Cris Robins)
* Michele Rooney Literary Agency (also d/b/a Creative Literary Agency, Simply Nonfiction, and Michele Glance Rooney Literary Agency)
* Southeast Literary Agency
* Mark Sullivan Associates
* West Coast Literary Associates (also d/b/a California Literary Services)

More updates likely.

Technorati Tags: BarbaraBauer, Barbara Bauer, JennaGlatzer, Jenna Glatzer, AbsoluteWrite, Absolute Write, Scam Agents, MissSnark, Miss Snark, NeilGaiman, Neil Gaiman

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Dawno & The Roomba (Doesn't that sound like the title of a children's book?)

I think Dawno and I are long-lost sisters. Her post on her Roomba sounds a lot like something I would write, IF I had a Roomba, which I don't (but I want one).

Monday, January 30, 2006

The Rule of Four Meme

Dawno referred to us this meme, which she found at Making Light.

Four jobs you've had in your life:
1. Writer
2. Editor/Proofreader
3. Student
4. Bookstore Clerk

Four movies you could watch over and over:
1. Little Women
2. The Princess Bride
3. You've Got Mail
4. A Knight's Tale

Four Places you've lived:
1. Long Island, NY
2. Cleveland, TN
3. Central Florida
4. Houston, TX

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. LOST
2. Firefly (on DVD since it was cancelled)
3. Myth Busters (Unfortunately we don't have cable at the moment.)
4. Jeopardy

Four Places you've been on vacation:
1. Boston, MA
2. Orlando, FL
3. Ghana, West Africa
4. Ontario, Canada

Four websites you visit daily:
1. WritersRemember.com
2. AbsoluteWrite.com
3. All Info About Musicals
4. MySpace

Four of your favorite foods:
1. Oreos
2. Mashed Potatoes
3. Oranges
4. Kiwi fruit

Four places you'd rather be:
1. In Tennessee with my husband
2. Visiting my family in Florida with my husband
3. In a bookstore
4. In a library

Category tags:

Monday, January 23, 2006

AbsoluteWrite Monday Meme #6

Recipe Meme

Open your refrigerator. What is the first item on the left at the front of the 'fridge on the top shelf.

Open the food cupboard closest to the stove. What is the first food item on the right on the bottom shelf (you may go up a shelf if your bottom shelf holds pet food or non-food stuff)

Find online or create for us from your imagination, a recipe using those two things as primary ingredients.

In my fridge and pantry:

fridge: Raspberry Dannon Fruit on the Bottom yogurt
cupboard: Betty Crocker Triple Chunk Brownie mix

Recipe: Yogurt brownies

Categories: None
Yield: 1 Servings
1 pk Family size fudge brownie mix
c Plain nonfat yogurt (Mine isn't plain, though)
2
Egg white; (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)
1 ts Pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 degrees if using glass pan). In large bowl mix egg white, vanilla, and yogurt. Stir in brownie mix and stir until just blended. Mixture will be very thick. Spray 9x13x2 pan with nonstick cooking spray and spread mixture in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes, watching carefully not to overbake. Let cool at least 2 hours before cutting in 24 brownies. Each brownie equals 100 calories and 1.5 grams of fat.

Link to recipe and information here!

There's my recipe.

What's yours?!

Category tags:

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

AbsoluteWrite Monday Meme #5

Last Live Music Show Seen: Wow, I haven't been to a concert in several years. My husband and I saw the touring cast of the Broadway musical Wicked in November. I'm not sure if it counts, but it is a musical.

Last CD Purchased: Currently collecting DVDs, though I used to buy CDs all the time. Last one bought was probably Broadway's The Lion King.

Last Thing Cooked: A ground beef stew recipe I stumbled upon recently.

Last New Thing Eaten: Malt-o-Meal's version of Cheerios, called Scooters.

Last Thing Bought: A 5-book haul at Barnes and Noble's clearance tables!

Last Gift Received: I can't remember the last gift my mom gave us for Christmas, as we just visited within the last 2 weeks, so the last actual gifts I recember receiving specifically are 2 adorable pairs of soda bottle cap earrings made by my husband. :o)

Last Piece of Clothing Bought or Received as a Gift: Do purses count? LOL! Okay, an adorable black sweater with a mock green/blue/stripey shirt underneath, and French cuffs. From my mom. She has great taste. :o)

Last Embarrassing Experience: Jumbling my words when talking with a girl friend I haven't seen since high school.

Last Totally New Experience: Cast member in a musical premier January 10, 2006.

Last Foreign Country Visited, if any: Canada, though it doesn't seem so foreign. Before that, Mexico and Ghana, West Africa.

Last Big Achievement: Having the honor of my personal essay "A Walk in the Clouds" accepted in the Stories of Strength anthology.

Category tags: