Friday Night Writers' Group AKA Kritique Kritics

Author: Debra

Techi Tip: What should you do when you get a new computer?

Debra

First things first, protect your computer.

  • Create a second user ID just in case you get locked out from the first one.

  • Set a System Restore Point on your computer so that if something goes wrong, virus, etc. you can restore your computer to a point when it was working correctly. You can set a restore point monthly or whenever you want.

  • Create a Recovery Drive (thumb) to get on your computer if the system restore point doesn’t work.

All of the links are for Window 10 information. If you are not using Window 10, then Google the key words (second user ID, System Restore Point or Recovery Drive) and follow instructions for your system.

 

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Dac’s Twelve Days of Christmas

Debra

Dac’s Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas,
Someone gave to me
A kitten with extra toes.

On the second day of Christmas,
Amazon sent to me
Two cat toys,
And a kitten with extra toes.

On the third day of Christmas,
Amazon sent to me
Three French feathers,
Two cat toys,
And a kitten with extra toes.

On the fourth day of Christmas,
Amazon sent to me
Four chirping birds,
Three French feathers,
Two cat toys,
And a kitten with extra toes.

On the fifth day of Christmas,
Amazon sent to me
Five golden strings,
Four chirping birds,
Three French feathers,
Two cat toys,
And a kitten with extra toes.

On the sixth day of Christmas,
Amazon sent to me
Six balls a-rolling,
Five golden strings,
Four chirping birds,
Three French feathers,
Two cat toys,
And a kitten with extra toes.

On the seventh day of Christmas,
Amazon sent to me
Seven koi a-swimming,
Six balls a-rolling,
Five golden strings,
Four chirping birds,
Three French feathers,
Two cat toys,
And a kitten with extra toes.

On the eighth day of Christmas,
Amazon sent to me
Eight chickens laying,
Seven koi a-swimming,
Six balls a-rolling,
Five golden strings,
Four chirping birds,
Three French feathers,
Two cat toys,
And a kitten with extra toes.

On the ninth day of Christmas,
Amazon sent to me
Nine crickets jumping,
Eight chickens laying,
Seven koi a-swimming,
Six balls a-rolling,
Five golden strings,
Four chirping birds,
Three French feathers,
Two cat toys,
And a kitten with extra toes.

On the tenth day of Christmas,
Amazon sent to me
Ten doves a-flying,
Nine crickets jumping,
Eight chickens laying,
Seven koi a-swimming,
Six balls a-rolling,
Five golden strings,
Four chirping birds,
Three French feathers,
Two cat toys,
And a kitten with extra toes.

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
Amazon sent to me
Eleven mice a-squeaking,
Ten doves a-flying,
Nine crickets jumping,
Eight chickens laying,
Seven koi a-swimming,
Six balls a-rolling,
Five golden strings,
Four chirping birds,
Three French feathers,
Two cat toys,
And a kitten with extra toes.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
Amazon sent to me
Twelve bunnies running,
Eleven mice a-squeaking,
Ten doves a-flying,
Nine crickets jumping,
Eight chickens laying,
Seven koi a-swimming,
Six balls a-rolling,
Five golden strings,
Four chirping birds,
Three French feathers,
Two cat toys,
And a kitten with extra toes!

Merry Christmas from Dac, again this year.

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What Santa Thinks after Eight Hours in the Mall

Debra

Wipe your snotty nose.

You stink; get your mommy to change your diaper.

If you pull my beard, I’m going to pull your hair.

You’ve been such a naughty kid don’t expect anything for Christmas.

Do you really believe there’s a Santa Claus?

Yeah, I want to hold another screaming or crying kid.

What do I have a sign on me?—Barf on me today!

Keep that sucker in your mouth and don’t touch Santa with sticky hands.

Santa doesn’t want cookies and milk; he wants a ham sandwich and a beer.

 Kid you’ve been eating too many sweets.

Take you finger out of your nose.

No, I don’t want some of your slobbery sucker.

I hope that’s pumpkin on your outfit.

Don’t sneeze!  Don’t sneeze!  Oh, crap!

Why couldn’t I be Mrs. Claus instead of Santa.

Scrooge is beginning to make sense.

When is Christmas over?

Now I know what my wife had to put up with.

Kid, I feel like crying, too.

Quite complaining, at least you have diapers; I have to hold it.

 

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Marketing a Book

Debra

The Friday Night Writers’ Group is beginning to think about marketing our upcoming book: Tales from a Rocky Coast, Volume one.

Personally, I’m thinking I’m going crazy. My mind starts to go over things and sooner rather than later I have a headache or I wish I hadn’t started this project. Luckily, I’m always able to step back or to talk to one of the other writers and I calm down. I still feel overwhelmed, though.

All these words start spinning in my head and I need to prioritize them and let the other writers help. That’s all.

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Redirecting Websites via DreamHost Instructions

Debra

I had no idea how difficult and time-consuming it would be to redirect one website and three sub-sites. My guru and DreamHost have been trying to help me. It’s so much more detailed than I imagined or just so many steps that you duplicate for each website. If I get one sub-site done then I will be able to do all of them and hopefully, the main site will work after I do the exact same things to it. 

Done, finally. The branding should be consistent and the redirection is seamless.

Thank you Joshua David Baker for your help in completing this task. I was also happy with the techs at DreamHost.

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Tales from a Rocky Coast – Volume One

Debra

Our book is almost ready for publication. We are editing our second proof and I’m surprised by the edits–the number and the tiny things that people catch. It gets exponentially more complicated when you add a second, third and in this case a fourth writer in one book. 

My hope is that we will only need one more proof and that it will be published in January or February 2018. I’m ready to be done and we still need to move on to marketing. 

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Merger

Debra

We are merging our eleven year old website, Kritique Kritics with the original name of our group, Friday Night Writers’ Group for consistent branding reasons. This website has such a long history and I don’t want to loss the goodwill by dumping the name Kritique Kritics.

I need to think about how best to do this. I want our site to be easily found by new followers and not so different or difficult to find by old followers. 

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Warrior Cat Book Series

Debra 
Originally published in September 2011.

I just started my second book in the Warriors saga, by Erin Hunter which is a pen name for three authors. I started reading the first one to help me write a book about my cat and give him a voice. The second one, I have to admit

I absolutely love the books. Just call me a child at heart. They are better than “The Cat Who…” series. What’s delightful about the books?

The cat names:  Tigerclaw, Yellowfang, Mousefur and Fireheart to name a few.

The rituals: naming of the cats, meetings between the clans and the clan structure.

Funny or insulting lines: “Sounds like a pawful”, “I’ll have the other clans shaking in their flea-bitten skins”, “Excitement tingled in his paws”, “What’s a kittypet like you doing out in the woods?” and “Just a two-legged pet”.

Buy it for a child and read it yourself when no one is looking Tell yourself you’re buying it to read to a child—just try one book and you will be hooked.

I wish I’d know about these books when I was reading to my nephew, Kyle.  He loves cats and he liked me to read to him before he went to bed.

 

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