Like many writers, I enjoy taking online courses to educate myself about the various aspects of writing. Last month I learned about designing websites using Joomla!, which I hadn’t heard of before, and this month I’m increasing my knowledge of WordPress. Both types have their advantages, but I’m still leaning toward WordPress because I’m more familiar with the system—familiar enough to be dangerous.
My current website is a WordPress one, and I notice a lot of writers have this type of website. What I like about it is that I can add content with only a basic knowledge of code. For those of you who are thinking about new websites or blogs, do check out these two systems. Both websites have loads of tutorials and forums to ask questions.
Just out of interest – are there any author websites that you really like and return to on a regular basis? I’d like names plus reasons why you find these particular sites attractive. Is it the colors or the content or something else?
I recently downloaded SmartEdit, which is currently free. It’s a little like AutoCrit, and brings up instances of clichés, overused words, repeated phrases, adverbs etc. in a manuscript. Like most editing programs, a writer shouldn’t take the results as gospel, but this can be a useful tool to have in an editing arsenal. I’ve used Autocrit before and liked this one better because the results can be saved to a file. It’s worth checking out and having a play.
There seems to be a ghostly theme going on in my life recently. In a coincidence, or not, my current audio book I’m listening to, picked at random, is Divine Freaks by Fiona Dunbar, which features a 13 year-old who starts seeing ghosts during her biology class—a freaky man about to apply his scalpel to a white rat. Just an aside, she freaked out, and I would have too!
I have books one and two in Stacey Kennedy’s Frostbite series. I’ve almost finished Supernaturally Kissed about Tess who sees ghosts. A good book BTW, and I hope to write a review soon.
Last week my husband and I were walking Bella before hubby left for work. We both heard the harsh pant of a dog behind us—the sort of sound a dog makes when it’s pulling on its lead—and turned around, expecting to see a person with a big dog.
There was nothing there.
A few houses before we reached ours we saw Casper, a neighboring dog, run outside. He ran right in front of a SUV and the driver couldn’t avoid him. It was horrid, since we witnessed everything. Poor Casper didn’t survive.
I said to hubby when we went inside that the dog we’d heard had come to get Casper. Honestly, it was the freakiest thing. I’ve never experienced anything like it.
Have you had any ghostly experiences?
June 25th, 2012 at 1:30 am · Link
Oh my goodness, Shelley, I got shivers reading about Casper. I think you’re right about the other dog coming to collect him. But even so, a very freaky thing to have experienced.
June 25th, 2012 at 1:58 am · Link
It was freaky. I said to hubby, “Did you hear that?” He nodded and then the accident happened mere minutes later.
June 25th, 2012 at 5:14 am · Link
My life seems surrounded by ghosts.
The most recent episode occurred when poor Murray was dying. For two days leading to his death, I kept feeling something brushing against my legs or heard the tapping of toenails on hardwood floors. But I was alone with Murray.
Then my husband (300 miles away) called to say that for two nights he dreamt of our old dog, Chelly showing up at my house.
The day Murray died, I realized it had to be Chelly who had been waiting for the little guy to pass and escort him ‘home’.
She was always the nanny to my other dogs, teaching them the proper way to behave in the family. She was also my best girl and to this day I miss her terribly. Sometimes I think she’s still with me. We were inseparable in life.
June 25th, 2012 at 5:23 pm · Link
Wow, that’s an amazing story, Maria. At least young Murray is in good company and well looked after in doggy heaven.
June 25th, 2012 at 5:24 am · Link
Ohh my poor Casper. That is so sad. I think I’ve seen ghosts before. I think there are spirits out there, human and animal.
June 25th, 2012 at 5:23 pm · Link
I tell you, hubby and I are believers :)
June 25th, 2012 at 8:13 am · Link
Aww poor Casper, that’s so sad.
I over the past 5 years I’ve had what I thought were ghost encounters but who knows what it really is.
I had just gone to bed and felt Ken come to bed, lay down next to me, put his hand on my back..I lefted my head off the pillow to say goodnight and no one was there. I just laid there speechless looking at his empty side of the bed.
That’s happened 4 times where I felt the bed move so much that my body actually shifts like someone was getting into bed and I felt a hand on my back or an arm go around me like for a cuddle, but when I lift my head to look…there’s no one there.
I thought maybe it was just my sleepy mind but I’ve felt something like a hand on my shoulder when I’m in the shower, a hand on my shoulder while I’m cooking dinner and felt like someone sat down next to me on the couch..and no one was there. I cannot explain it.
June 25th, 2012 at 5:24 pm · Link
I got goosebumps reading that, Mary.
June 25th, 2012 at 6:37 pm · Link
I refuse to dismiss ghost stories. This world is far to big, complicated and convoluted physically and spiritually to pass ghost stories off. Can’t say I’ve had an experience anywhere near as intense as some of the others commenting today.
So sorry about Casper :-(
June 25th, 2012 at 7:20 pm · Link
I wonder why it feels spooky, but it does.
My ghost stories have to do with dogs, too. We lost a puppy to parvo. Just after we buried him, I looked up and saw a cloud formation that took about a third of the west Texas sky–it was shaped just like a big dog, with a dark streak for the collar. We had brought the puppy home from the pound to replace a big dog that had been killed by running out into the street. It seemed to me that the big dog had come for the puppy.
Seems like dogs take care of each other very well.
Thank you for your post, and thanks to the other commenters for their stories.
July 1st, 2012 at 10:33 pm · Link
Oh poor Casper… i would be mortified if I witnessed that… then after your experience, I’d be thinking about it too – what if??