Top 10 Things I Just Learned About My MacBook

This is the first entry in what will, no doubt, be along, winding path as I work to familiarize myself with my MacBook Pro.  Having never really worked with Macs (at least not since public schools), this will take awhile.  In the meantime, for those who are similarly struggling, here are the Top Ten facts I have learned this week.  They might seem incredibly simple, but for anyone who has similarly made the transition, you'd be surprised what becomes alien so quickly after a lifetime of learned behavior with the rest of the computer world.

#1. The internet screen can be minimized, closed, and enlarged by the three colored bubbles on the LEFT side of the window.  Mind blowing, honestly.

#2. CTRL C is no longer the way to copy something.  Instead, it's the key with the apple on it and then the same letters as before.  

#3. On the MacBook at least, the scroll bar was not available when the internet was open unless I hovered over it.  To fix this, I had to go the System Preferences (found either at the bottom with the gear icon or at the top under the Apple icon)

#4. That System Preferences will become your best friend on that first day.  The sound, the mouse control, etc are all found there.

#5.  Speaking of mouse control, there is no right click on this MacBook Pro.  The solution?  Apparently, if you hold two fingers on the mouse pad.  Who thinks of these things?  Thank goodness for Google.

#6. What can and cannot be moved to the trash is really trial and error - but mainly error.  There is a nifty additional option to see what you can do by holding the mouse down while over the icon.  If it doesn't want to leave the task bar, then it won't be an option.  Then System Preferences comes back to hold you hand.

#7. Nifty trick: If you save an image to your desktop, you can simply drag it into your blogs.  Like so:

#8. Chrome is incredibly picky about being closed.  On every other computer I've ever used, I just closed it out with the lovely little "x" in the right hand corner.  Now, it appears, that I have to close it with the left bubbles, but also to go to the top of the screen under Chrome and select Close.  

#9. There's intuition, and then there's learning a new computer.  This is not an intuitive experience.  This is a hunt and peck experience.  It's like watching someone try to type on a reverse keyboard. Only worse.

#10. Last thought of the day: Take it slow.  Nothing is going to make sense.  Nothing at all.  I'm having to get used to this, but it's actually kind of fun.  

I'll see what nifty tricks of the Mac universe I can pass on for next week.  Until then...


L.E.

Queries Again? (I must be a masochist)

Alright then, I've realized that in my absolute need to write about how incredibly expensive even writing a query has become, I left out a few important details.  Before I delve into said details, let me point out one small, rather pertinent fact:

I have never been accepted for publication by any major agents and/or publishing houses.  

As much as it may pain me to admit, that fact is true.  I have had a few queries garner a second look, but then nothing.  NOTHING.  Sad emptiness that makes me want to curl up in a small ball and feel absolutely worthless.  I am here today to try and make certain that anyone who stumbles upon this blog realizes that we are not worthless, not even a little bit.

Having said that, I now want to offer a tiny ray of hope in the query process as well.  After the first round of mindless "seminars" that you can pay to attend and receive pointers, there are still the tried and true basics of querying.  I'll be sharing the main points, and if I ever (fingers crossed) have a query accepted and then the manuscript accepted (a key caveat), I will share every painstaking detail for those who are interested.

Here are the bare bones (as far as I can tell).  My theory is that every little bit helps.

1. Start with a hook (the ideas for hooks are wide ranging, but a similar theme does seem to be something that strikes the reader's imagination and also give a tiny trace of the character to come - there were dozens of options, but other sites said "you must introduce the character here" - that seems to me to be code for do both)  

2. Introduce the dreaded synopsis (It is brutal, beyond words, to take a 50,000+ word piece of our souls and condense it to usually 250 words, but we have to at least try.  My best advice is to write everything you want to say, and would say if someone would but listen, then go back and rewrite the whole bloody thing, taking out superlative adjectives and any overabundance of plot points.  Stick to the basics, but make it interesting - I did read that it was important to show true plot, not just emotional baggage, and I liked that point - a lot) 

3. The less that is said, the better (this is particularly true in light of the word constraint, but also about yourself.  If you haven't been a well published or over-educated person in a minute field that over qualifies you - sorry, personal baggage decided to drop by - then don't point out that you have little to no experience - instead, give what audience the book might appeal to instead) 

4. Revise, revise, revise (Those 250 words - or 500, you might get lucky - will come a lot sooner than you think.  When in doubt, edit it until you are crying from the emotional toil.  Chances are that if you're like me, you'll have finally cut back on the superfluous words by that point) 

 5. And finally, edit (This might seem a bit obvious, but I am sure I'm not the only one out there who has sent an email and then realized - too late!- that the type font was different at the top or that a name was spelled wrong. Unfortunately, we can never get back what we've sent, so make absolutely certain it is as good as it can get - CAREFUL! though, don't overthink it, that will no doubt nix any chance of you ever sending it.  I personally would rather send something and have a small typo than never send it.  After all, if you never ask, the answer is always no)

And so we conclude my thoughts on the dreaded query.  I truly hope some day soon I'll be coming back to this page and editing it to give my personal experience in acceptance not rejection, but until then: