One of my favorite places to find giveaways is through a Ning site called Book Blogs.  This is a huge community and the Giveaway Group has well over a thousand members.  Whenever one of the members is hosting a book giveaway on their own sites, they post a notice in the group.  And with that many people, there’s never a shortage of blogs to visit.

The other place I go to find book giveaways is through GoodReads.  I’ve mentioned them on this site before, but the giveaway section deserves a little love all on its own.  Again, because there are so many people on the site, there are always book giveaways going on.  The difference is that you don’t have to visit the hosts blogs.  These giveaways are done right on site.  And there are hundreds of them.

If you know of a great place to find book giveaways or are having one yourself, let me know.  I’ll be more than happy to pass along the information and jump in myself.

There are all kinds of writing groups on this site.  Some are meant to help the fiction writer, so to help the poet, and others are just there to help you build points.  And why would you want to do that???  Well because if you earn enough points, you can cash them in for all kinds of cool things including Paypal cash cards.  I’ve never earned that much myself, but I never really tried either.  I wasn’t there to try and make money, I used it as a way to find my personal voice and new people to hang out with.

There are 2 basic kinds of people on Gather.com.  Those that you’ll love to hang out with and talk about everything under the sun, and those that will harass you relentlessly and drive you absolutely mad.  And trust me, there are quite a few of them.  However, you don’t have to accept their friendship requests and if you accidentally run across one of the types of people, just unfriend them and you don’t have to worry about it anymore.

Gather.com is kind of like a social network for writers.  And I mean writers of all genre, all walks of life, all personalities, and everything in between.  Whatever you are in this world, or whatever you want to be.  It’s all good and it’s okay because when you join up with site, you’ll find that you’ll look forward to the times you show up to Gather.

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How many times have you found a site you really wanted to check out because it said “free” only to find out it was anything but free?  It seems as though every site you find anymore has something that’s listed as free, but there’s always a catch.  I find those sites all the time, so I’ve gotten a little leary over the years.  So when I found a site online that said I could read any book online for free, I went looking for the catch.  And guess what….I couldn’t find one.

The site is called ReadAnyBook.com and they claim that you can read any book on their site free of charge.  You don’t have register, but if you don’t, you’ll only be able to read portions of the books.  I figured that that was where the free part came in.  I figured there would be a charge of some sort when I registered, but none.  It’s a free membership.  Okay, I can dig this.  I figured the books would be either very old books or books nobody had ever heard of before, but again I was wrong.  They offer titles such as Twilight, the entire Harry Potter series, and even Dan Brown’s latest novel, The Lost Symbol.

The really cool part, in my opinion, is that the books are read on the site via what looks like an actual e-reader.  It’s really cool.  Furthermore, there are thousands of titles to choose from.  I was very excited and will be back to finish reading The Lost Symbol.  It looks awesome.  So go check it out and see if there isn’t a book or ten you’d like to read.  Up to this point, I couldn’t find any catch to the site.  But if I do, I promise to come back and tell you all about it.

Most sites I visit have their sidebars loaded with advertisements, but hers is filled with lists of various e-zines and markets.  And when I say filled, I mean to the rim.  There has to be over a hundred different sites listed in her sidebar which almost sidetracked me from getting this post done.  She’s got publications for those trying to break into the online publishing scene and publications for those who still prefer the traditional printed magazines and anthologies.  She’s even got an entire list of sites that publish flash fiction, my cup of tea.

Even with all these awesome lists, there’s more to see on this site.  I took the time to check out a few of her other posts and came across one that just jumped off the page at me.  It had to do with starting an e-zine and all the trials and tribulations that go along with it.  Having run a newsletter that didn’t have people sending in submissions was hard enough, I can’t imagine trying to run a zine that had a thousand submissions a week coming in.  I’d be totally insane!!!

Seriously, check out Sandra’s site and her huge list of zines and publications.  It’s going to take time to get through them all, but with the amount of information  on her site, it will be well worth it.

As I started looking for something to post about, I happened to run across a different site altogether that had mentioned Ty’s list.  This other site really didn’t have much to say about the list other than it could be found on the author’s site.  So I followed the link and found this huge treasure trove of sites that any fiction writer of any stage of the game would find useful in their writing quests. 

The list includes everything from Agent sites, to e-zines, to Kindles.  Seriously, if there’s any way a site can be used by the fiction author, it will probably end up on this list if it isn’t already.  I would have had this post up sooner, but I got swept away checking out this already enormous list.  As I said before, he’s only up to #40 and it already takes a couple hours to really see everything listed.  I had a ball, I have to admit. 

Go check out Ty’s site.  There’s a lot more there than just this list of coolness.  He’s a pretty cool guy who writes in the fantasy, sci-fi, and horror genres and gets a kick out of the idea that he gets paid to invent stuff.  He also likes to write about beer, but that’s a totally different post. 

This is a very cool submission site that helps writers send the work into publishers without having to scour the Internet and beyond just to find someone who’s accepting submissions at that time.  They’ve got an entire list of magazines/e-zines, but it is up to the writer to visit the site and read the guidelines for themselves.  But working the Hey Publisher site is a breeze.  Once you’ve registered for an account (which is free), you’ll be able to visit the publishers page.  There are over 1,200 publishers in their database so you’ll need to choose which category you want and enter a keyword or two so you have a smaller list of possibilities.

The site also offers a community powered support system.  So when someone has a question, they type it in and someone in the know will come along and help answer if they can.  From what I can tell, there doesn’t seem to be a ton of activity in there, but enough to know that there are people helping their fellow writers.  It’s kinda cool.

I’ve had a ball going through the publishers and favoriting some of those that I’ll be submitting to at some point.  I did send in one submission so far, but probably won’t hear anything back from them for about another month.  By which time I will have probably forgotten about submitting to them and will wonder who they are and what they want.  LOL

So hey, check them out and see if there isn’t somewhere in their vast list of publications where you can send some of your stuff.  It isn’t all fiction zines, there are some non-fiction places, some for poetry, and so on.  Pick a topic and add some keywords and you’re on your way.  Have fun and tell them I sent you if they ask. LOL

I did, however, want to tell everyone about something that my little friend Ruthi—from Ruthi Reads—has started doing.  She’s trying to help get the word out about everyone’s upcoming book giveaways and I think this is a very cool idea.  She calls it the BYGB, or Book Your Giveaway Books.  This is a monthly linky and this one is for BOOK GIVEAWAYS ONLY and is only for those that end during the month of December.  So, if you have a book giveaway happening and would like to get in on the action, check out Ruthi’s site and add your giveaway to the list.  It’s just that easy.

There will be a fresh BYGB event again next month, which will be for any and all book giveaways that end in January.  But for now, get over and check out this one and add your December event to this month’s list.  And when you do, be sure to tell my sun-shiny little friend HI!!!

But thanks to the diva over at Mommy Wants Freebies, I’ve found a really cool little site filled with freebies. And not unrealistic freebies, but the kind that you’ll eventually get to hold in your hands. And best of all, there are no surveys to fill out, no cell phone requirements, and no hidden fees or promises. The site is called Free Samples Without Surveys and that’s exactly what it is. No bells, no whistles, no promises that will never come true. Just a little blog where you can find real free samples to things like shampoo, hair color, and food items. Sorry kids, no free laptops here.

The best part about this site is that the webmaster tells you on the front page what to expect. They also tell you what to watch out for when looking for free samples on other sites. They don’t hold anything back, but they’re not rude about the way they put it either. It’s an awesome site and there are links to all kinds of free samples. I’m pretty impressed so far. I haven’t put in for any of the samples yet, but I do like the no-nonsense approach to the site.

So, if you like free samples, check out Free Samples Without Surveys. You won’t find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but you will find real freebies and real samples without having to give out all your personal information in the process.

My story this year is a fantasy tale about a woman’s journey after she’s killed in a car accident.  In her quest, she finds out that there’s more to life than the physical part.  She meets people from some of the world’s greatest legends, as well as finds out that in the here-after, we’ve all known each other since the dawn of time.

As a huge ancient history fanatic, I’m always integrating aspects of those myths and legends into my own stories.  I’ve always believed that there has to be some grain of truth behind all of the world’s ancient myths.  I don’t think each and every detail of all those tales are true, but somewhere deep down, a bit of truth lies in wait.

I’m really hoping to hit the 50K mark and then some.  I had a pretty set outline I thought I could follow for the most part.  My characters always end up taking the story in the direction they want, but I try to keep pretty much on track.  However, my main character in this story, Kelly, has already taken a new direction I hadn’t thought of in the basic design.  Oh well, it’s her story.  Guess she can tell it how she sees fit.

I’ll post updates throughout the month as to where I’m at and whether or not I’m going to make it to the finish line.  I’m hoping to get there, but I won’t say I will until I get a little closer to the mark.  Wish me luck.  I’m going to need it.  LOL

I’m not one who usually enjoys leaving my comfort zone, and I knew how to use WordPerfect inside and out. So, it took me awhile to get used to this new program and I’m still learning the ins and outs of the whole thing. There are some pretty cool features that come with OpenOffice, such as word completion. As you’re typing out a certain word, the program sort of finishes it up for you. I’m not sure I like this function, as I type to fast to pay attention to what’s being put in front of me, and it’s kind of annoying.

One of the features I do like about this program is that you can automatically create PDF files with the click of a button. Now, many of you bloggers might not understand what that means, but for those who write e-books, it’s a given. Anytime you write something that is to be read in Adobe Reader, it’s in a PDF file. For a long time, you had to buy a special program from Adobe in order to make this happen. I think the program was like $100 or something like that. I don’t remember for sure, but that’s because I about choked on the idea of spending that kind of money and waited until someone came out with a freeware product that did the same thing. Now, I can do it as soon as I’m done writing whatever it is that I happen to be writing.

OpenOffice also comes with a bunch of other applications, most of which I’ll probably never use. There is one application that does nothing but calculate mathematic equations. No, won’t be needing that one, unless my daughter gets stuck on an Algebra problem at school. There is also a spreadsheet that comes with this program, but it’s pretty basic. There are a lot of templates for different projects, but I’m still not sure what they’re all for. I’m still in the learning phase of this journey.

The only real thing I’m going to have to get used to is in saving my work to my flash drive. Not because it’s hard, but because I have to save everything in a different type of format. Everything I have right now is saved in .wp and I can’t do that with this program. I don’t want to start saving everything in this program’s default format, which is .odt. So, for now I’m saving in .rft format. I just hope I don’t screw up my work because of this. LOL. That would be my luck.

If you’re looking for a free office type word processor, check this one out. I won’t say it’s totally cool, because I don’t know that to be a fact yet. But, I won’t say it sucks because so far it’s been pretty easy to use. It all comes down to what you’re looking for and what you’ll be using it to do. My favorite part of the whole this is that it’s free, and so are all the extensions that come with it. I like free!!!