Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Day is tomorrow and known as a harvest festival. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. It is a holiday celebrated primarily in Canada and the United States. While perhaps religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday.

The date and location of the first Thanksgiving celebration is a topic of modest contention. Though the earliest attested Thanksgiving celebration was on September 8, 1565 in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida, the traditional "first Thanksgiving" is venerated as having occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation, in 1621.

Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. Thanksgiving dinner is held on this day, usually as a gathering of family members and friends.
Excerpt from Wikipedia.com

Visit History.com for fun and informative Thanksgiving topics!

Man vs. Wild vs. Survivorman.

My novel, set in North Carolina, has environmental themes and in future postings I'll be blogging on environmental topics under the tag eco-logical.

The survivalist, Les Stroud - Survivorman, from Canada, knows extreme environments well and Bear Grylls, a British special forces veteran, is another to embark on journeys of Man vs. Wild. Both have their styles: Stroud the sole cameraman with a no-nonsense approach and Grylls going to extremes with bravado and athleticism.

Writing Groups of Northeast Florida

In my city of Jacksonville there are many opportunities to network as a writer. Not only are there colleges and libraries, but also numerous writing groups. The Florida Writers Association has many groups throughout Florida and in Jacksonville there are at least six groups. Each group meets monthly and has a guest speaker and usually afterward will have a critique session.
                              Flagler Hotel in St. Augustine
There is something to learn from each guest speaker who always offers informative information about writing and the business of writing. There are usually great turn outs with 25 or more attending and who all are in various stages with thier writing. The meeting locations range from libraries, to a Historic Bed and Breakfast and a Church meeting room. I've also been part of groups that meet at a University and on a house boat. Since writing is as diverse as the meeting locations and the people who attend the groups, there's always something new to learn.
                                     Amelia Island Coast

Building a Website

It seems that everyone is getting a website and those who haven't (who need one), soon will. Many websites are created equal in terms of layout, a.k.a., template websites, and even then contain content relevant to the person it belongs to. However, even content can be the same if the author of the website doesn't research and set themselves apart from every other look-a-like website. Some template sites are free while others can cost $50 to $150 depending on the seller. Website developers also offer custom sites for as low as $150 (2 pages and minimal hosting services). The person's ability to program/use HTML and their creativity will determine the cost of the project.

For me, I created my website layout using Photoshop then had a design company program it's foundation. I thought about how I wanted it to look, my needs for it, and that it had easy navigation. A user friendly website is what invites returning visitors, so instead of using a traditional layout I made certain that mine would engage the visitor and want to keep them clicking on pages. The possibilities are only limited to the time a person is willing to invest in researching the web and finding HTML and other coding sites that offer free code for any feature that can be thought of.

My website design is a three panel layout that eliminates down scrolling. At the top, my links surround a photo banner on three sides and below this are the three text panels. The left panel has my networking links. The middle panel tells what my website is about and has a bookmark button along with updates and subscription info. The right panel provides a noteable links section featuring pages of greater interest; some of these are Notes (character related), Photos (3 roll-over galleries), Characters (Flash page) and Playlist (there's 2, one with character requests). Interactivity is an important part of my website. There's also a 45 second Flash intro that's part of my novel's theme. My website has taken time to develop, and will continue to do so as my needs as a writer/author grow.

Message Boards for Writers

Posting to message boards is a great way to not only network, but to also build your writing skills while at the same time giving feedback to others. Your perspective on whatever topic is posted can be helpful and thought provoking in a way you might not have realized. There are countless writing topics available and if there isn't one then create it. When I post on the Absolute Write forum, I make sure to contribute informative content and not just always give a short, quick reply. Since I write Young Adult fiction I reply to posts that are relevant to the themes in my story.

This is an opportunity to introduce new readers to my writing who might have interest in knowing more about my work and the characters I create. And the same for me toward their work. Of the many networking opportunities on the internet, message boards are an excellent way of displaying your writing and creative thoughts. The next best thing for me is Blogger and then Twitter. I also use Shelfari to not only showcase what I've read, but also to network with others on the message boards, groups and review pages that are available.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

Today, the National Novel Writing month began. What is writing a NaNovel all about? Well, for one thing, it isn't about taking time to write! The title says it all, because that idea, and goal, is to write throughout the entire month (30 days) and finish with 50,000 words or 175 pages by midnight on Nov. 30th. Established in 1999, this national novel month of writing is to encourage writers, or even those who have never written a novel, to throw off any worries about how they'll write, and to just write. With this mindset the writer is free to create (then clean it up-revise-later) and continue until the goal is reached.

To meet the monthly goal the writer must meet daily goals, or close to it. In 2008 there were over 120,000 participants, 20,000 of which completed their novel. And in 2009? Likely there will be many more! Of those 20,000 last year I'm certain many of those works have been revised and submitted. And of those not yet publishable, a great work still happened and this is the reason for the national novel writing month.