whales-are-gay:

clockways:

Seriously fuck this country right now. 

Everyone of you in the US needs to check you’re still registered this weekend and register if you aren’t. And you need to go out and vote. And before any of you even get the thought of ‘it doesn’t even matter’ in your head FUCK THAT. 

FUCKING TEXAS has a chance of going blue this election. Let’s make that happen. Get out there and vote and make sure this weekend you can. 

remember: texas does NOT let you register to vote online. go to your local town center and register in person. check out this link to see the rules for how to vote in every state in 2018. 

http://votersedge.org/ca will let you look up and compare your candidates and look up other ballot measures.

I’m not sure if it works outside California but it does let you enter ZIP codes so it should be easy to find out.

the-redwaller:

Gryffindor.

Matthias gets construed (validly) as a fluffy soft boy, and he is in some ways, particularly in the first book when he’s very young – but that erases a huge part of his identity, which his bravery, courage, daring, and outspokenness. 

When Cluny visited Redwall, Matthias immediately spoke out against him to his face; he never hesitated once in the quest for Martin’s sword, not even when he found out Asmodeus had it and Martin himself told him to stay back; he always took responsibility to do what needed to be done; he never questioned who would wield Martin’s sword, and accepted his identity as heir with pride and determination. Gryffindor traits all.  

Likewise, his flaws are that he can be hotheaded, acts before thinking, and gets frustrated easily. Gryffindor flaws. 

I can agree with this, though I can also see an argument for Hufflepuff based on hard work, kindness (unless you’re attacking the Abbey or him, obviously), justice, and loyalty – those are also traits that are key to Matthias and that I think are important to keep in mind. I think some of those more Hufflepuff traits come through more when he’s older in Mattimeo, where he’s more patient and more mature. Maturity isn’t a Hufflepuff trait, but I think Matthias has a good mix of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, especially in Mattimeo, which is why I think he could go either way. As for Hufflepuff flaws, he can also be very stubborn. I’m sure there’s more but I’m tired right now.

socialistexan:

See your Senator here? To quote Willie Nelson, VOTE EM OUT:

Up for election this year in 2018:

• Barrasso (WY)
• Corker (TN) RETIRING
• Cruz (TX)
• Flake (AZ) RETIRING BECAUSE HE’S A COWARD
• Fischer (NE)
• Hatch (UT) RETIRING, MITT ROMNEY RUNNING TO REPLACE HIM
• Heller (NV)
• Manchin (WV) THE ONLY DEMOCRAT TO VOTE YES
• Wicker (MI)

Up for election in 2020:

• Alexander (TN)
• Collins (ME) MADE AN HOUR LONG SPEECH ON WHY SHE VOTED FOR HIM
• Capito (WV)
• Cornyn (TX)
• Cotton (AR)
• Daines (MO)
• Ernst (IA)
• Enzi (WY)
• Gardner (CO)
• Graham (SC)
• Hyde-Smith (MI)
• Inhofe (OK)
• Perdue (GA)
• McConnell (KY)
• Risch (ID)
• Rounds (SD)
• Roberts (KS)
• Sasse (NE)
• Sullivan (AK)
• Tillis (NC)

Up for election in 2022:

• Blunt (MO)
• Boozman (AR)
• Burr (NC)
• Crapo (ID)
• Grassley (IA)
• Hoeven (ND)
• Isakson (GA)
• Johnson (WI)
• Kennedy (LA)
• Kyl (AZ) JOHN MCCAIN’S REPLACEMENT
• Lankford (OK)
• Lee (UT)
• Moran (KS)
• Paul (KY)
• Portman (OH)
• Scott (SC)
• Rubio (FL)
• Shelby (AL)
• Thune (SD)
• Toomey (PA)
• Young (IN)

VOTE!

EM!

OUT!

I won’t say Manchin doesn’t deserve it, but his opponent is far more likely to vote with Trump than he is, and vote splitting between Manchin and someone else is more likely to hand his opponent the seat. There isn’t another Dem in the running here. 

whatbigotspost:

kitchenwitchupinthisbitch:

ironspiderson:

PLEASE REBLOG THIS WARNING

HEY GUYS

The new Venom movie has a scene with intense flashing lights (the lab entry scene) and I received no warnings and had to leave (just for that scene) as I am epileptic!!! PLEASE share this since I’ve seen NO warnings being shared and this is very important and can prevent people from having seizures etc during the film.

I wish they would tell you before you consider buying a ticket. I went to Incredibles II and they put warning just as the movie was starting. I turned to my husband and said, “Thank God I’m not epileptic but imagine buying tickets to a movie only to find out now that you wasted your money.”

Also, that warning was only later added to I2. I saw it opening night and was NOT warned and pretty concerned about what that scene might do to folks w/ photosensitivity and tried to spread the word. I believe efforts like that led to the addition of the warning later (at least.)

Anyhoo, in that vein, lemme boost this!

My theatre had put signs all over the ticket booth, the concession stand, and the ticket ripping counter, plus the one before the movie. I looked at my boyfriend and said ‘Huh. Someone either had a seizure here or threatened to sue.’ because I’d never seen my theatre do anything of the kind for movies with flashing lights (including Kick Ass, among others).

Regardless, thank you for the warning about Venom.

miscellaneous-monster:

3brosangel:

ms-potts-to-you:

hookslovelyswan:

vorpalgirl:

freshest-tittymilk:

jenniferrpovey:

athelind:

jenniferrpovey:

breelandwalker:

bodaciousbanshee:

more-legit-gr8er-writing-tips:

the960writers:

zoemay8500:

glorious74:

konekat:

oldmanyellsatcloud:

lunamax1214:

rosey-buddy:

paranerdia:

While you are worrying about whether beta readers will steal your ideas, there is a more genuine threat on the horizon.

When offered a publishing contract, please do all your research before you sign. There are a number of fakes and scammers out there, as well as good-intentioned amateurs that don’t know how to get your work to a wide audience. I won’t tell the heartbreaking stories here – there are too many.

Being published badly is worse than being never published.

It can destroy your career and your dreams.

The quick check is to google the publishing house name + scam or warning.

But, to be sure, check with these places first. They aren’t infallible (nothing is) but they can help you protect yourself. They are written and maintained by expereinced writers, editors, publishers and legal folks.

Absolute Write: Bewares and Background Checks

Preditors and editors

Writer Beware

and the WRITER BEWARE blog

Keep yourself and your work safe.

This is really important, so if you are a writer or have writer friends, or you are a writing blog, please reblog it.

Just to let you know, PublishAmerica changed their name to America Star Books.

HEAD’S UP, WRITER TYPES: THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PSA!

Also applies to many so-called freelance sites that are just content mills, and may not pay unless your work is used, even if the contract seems designed otherwise.

Listen, reading these is like legit reading horror stories.  When it comes to publishing your writing, always, always, ALWAYS do your research.  Not only will it help you avoid scams, but it will also be likely to help you land a much better fit for an agent/publisher/whatever.  Knowing more is never going to hurt.

Omg!!! Thanks for the warning! Writers— reblog!

I’ve heard stories like this that are scarier than horror stories. This is an all time worst nightmare for a writer. Everyone reblog and make sure you keep your work safe! 

Always, ALWAYS check Writer Beware. Let me also recommend Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s blog about contracts and contract scams for authors in her section Business Musings.

Reblogging again for the links.
Also check pred-ed.com and the Absolute Write forum. Then google Publisher’s name + scam and see what comes up.
Do NOT use the BBB ratings, they are wholly unsuitable for rating publishers and regularly give A ratings to well-known publishing scams.
You can also read my own post on publishing scams, have a link on the left of my blog ( can’t link here, I’m on mobile, sorry).

@korrigu

SUPER IMPORTANT PSA!

Equally important to know is that you can SELF-PUBLISH through a number of platforms these days. @ean-amhran and I used Amazon’s CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing to publish both of our books. No editors, no contracts, no finagling with publishers who want to change your materials. Just direct-to-market material.

(Granted, it means you’ve got to do a LOT more work yourself with editing and formatting and cover art, but it’s worth it to miss the headache of trying to bargain with publishing houses or avoid scams.)

Be vigilant, fellow writers!

If you choose to self publish then HAVE A PLAN and think things through.

And hire an editor. Please, for the love of all that is holy, hire an editor. It’s expensive, but you will get a better book out, a better reputation…

If you’re going to publish electronically, make sure you also get someone who can LAY AN EBOOK OUT PROPERLY.

I have spent money on Kindle books, many of them reprints of older works, whose formatting is so messed up as to render them unreadable.

I actually recommend using the Smashwords Style Guide even if you don’t use Smashwords.

It lays out how to neatly format an e-book in a wonderful step by step format, and you can get it free from Smashwords. Just leave off the couple of things that are (very obviously) Smashwords specific.

If you can’t stand dealing with the meticulous detail, then by all means hire somebody, but most people can learn to format an ebook correctly and once you’ve done it a couple of times it takes about an hour tops.

@ghdos spread the knowledge

Because the redirects aren’t working for me, I’m going to assume others might have trouble with these links, so for those who need it the URL for the website to Writer Beware is:

www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/

As stated on here: “Writer Beware is sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, with additional support from the Mystery Writers of America, the Horror Writers Association, and the American Society of Journalists and Authors.”

These are not publishers’ guilds, notice; you sometimes see scammers trying to defend themselves against Writer Beware exposes by claiming that they’re “small press” or “indie” and Big Publishing is somehow out to get them – but all of those guilds are run by and for writers, to help support them and represent them in the field. It is the closest writers have to having unions, and there’s no direct competition between them (you could literally be an in any of those guilds are the same time as each other, in addition to others, and I believe a number of authors are).

Writer Beware is a wonderful resource, and I highly recommend it. It’s both a good general guide to the scams people run/red flags to watch out for (such as giving up your copyright entirely as opposed to specific rights, or being charged to publish something or have it edited, when they’re trying to act like they’re a “normal” publisher), and a frequently-updated list of the latest specific known scammers, both in “fake agents” and fake/scammy publishers categories. (The company formerly known as Publish America is one of the most famous and egregious cases, but by far not the only one)

Additionally, for SF and fantasy writers, the SFWA’s own list of qualifying markets that one can be published in as a prerequisite to be able to get into their guild (remember, it IS a profession-based guild), is a great guide to normal markets for those genres that have standard contracts that aren’t abusive or scammy, and their guidelines include some of the industry-standard minimums for “per word” etc rates, so even if some new magazine market isn’t on their list, you can tell if it’s suspiciously far outside the usual per-word or whatnot standards. (It’s likely the guidelines for Mystery Writers of America etc also would be useful in that vein)

Even if you’re unpublished or don’t want to join their guild, they’re a wonderful group and resource, and I highly recommend their site and Writer Beware in particular!

The other sites mentioned above, such as “Preditors and Editors” should be still valid if you Google them, and are often rec’d by Writer Beware, but Writer Beware is the one I’m most familiar with. 🙂

Also, you should never have to pay an agent or anyone a  “reading fee”! DO NOT PAY PEOPLE TO READ YOUR WORK!!! Run away from so-called agents that charge a reading fee! They are considered unethical in their own industry!

Also related to agents: Should you go this route and seek one, DO NOT PAY ONE DIME TO THEM upfront! A real agent only gets paid when he sells your book to a publisher! The average cut is about 10-15% of the first sale profits, if I remember right, with cuts of film and other rights maybe being more, when sold. At most, writers should only be responsible for the costs of phone calls and postage.

For more information see: How Literary Agents Get Paid. Standard Commission Practices and Payments for Literary Agents

Edited to Add:
Some other great, highly respected resources for writing and getting published are:

Writer’s Digest

The Writer

Writer’s Market

BOOST

Sharing this with everyone!

@zarcake-writes @momolady @detownley @darkdrabblings @whatzaoverwatch

Just in case, yeah?

tikkunolamorgtfo:

apparentlyeverything:

because the Republican he’s running against is far worse and Democrats need to retake the Senate, period. You can’t do anything without a majority, that’s just how the whole thing works

Normally I would very much agree, but like…if a “Democrat” habitually votes with the Republicans, then how are they actually Democrat? Manchin’s voting recording is scarcely better than that of Rand Paul and Susan Collins. If you can’t rely on a politician as a Democratic vote, then you don’t have them as part of your potential majority. What good is a vote you can’t rely on? 

Manchin votes with Trump’s position 61% of the time, it’s true. However, it’s still a lot less than the lowest rate of Republicans. Out of Republicans Rand Paul votes with Trump the least at 74.3% That’s not a small number, especially with voting percentages. And again, even if this were a small number, his opponent is still way worse and vote splitting for someone else would be more likely to hand the seat to his opponent. Plus, again, if the Democrats want any hope of stopping future major things like Kavanaugh, they need a Senate firewall, and they can’t afford to not gain every seat they can and hold every seat they can because far more Dems are up for re-election than Republicans in the Senate this go around.