Author Archives: Betsy

Learning from House and Hitler

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Betsy

In case you’re not familiar with the TV show, House (Dr. Gregory House) is a brilliant diagnostician (with really cranky ways and a serious prescription drug problem).His credo is “Everybody lies”. Finding the patients’ lies is often the focus of … Continue reading →

Posted in Nuts and Bolts, Philosophy of Life | 1 Comment

Fantasy Rejection Letters

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Betsy

Fantasy Rejections Like so many of my fellow authors I have a stack of rejection letters. Well, actually, since they are emails, they don’t really stack–but you know what I mean. Reading through them, I see a lot of repetition … Continue reading →

Posted in Nuts and Bolts, Philosophy of Life | Leave a comment

Sex, Lies, and Semantics

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Betsy

Why are we so often so willing to let people lie to us repeatedly? Is it that we just want to believe the story they are telling? Or that we don’t want to face the truth, especially the truth of … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy of Life | 2 Comments

Uncle Bud and the UFO

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Betsy

This story won 2nd place in the April contest on LinkedIn (Aspiring Writers group). Genre was open, theme: April Fool, focus: Uncle Bud and a silver flashlight. My Uncle Bud worked for the government. At least that’s what he claimed. … Continue reading →

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The Green Monster

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Betsy

This story won third place in the Aspiring Writers March flash fiction contest. The challenge was genre: mystery, theme: buying an old house in the country, focus: a worn hand-written letter found in a safe hidden behind a picture. The … Continue reading →

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Tips for Newbies: Anatomy of a Book 2–Title/Copyright

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Betsy

In the previous entry, we described Front Matter. The mandatory parts of the Front Matter are the Title/Copyright pages. This can be the first page in your book.  The title page should be on the right side when you view … Continue reading →

Posted in Nuts and Bolts | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Tips for Newbies: Anatomy of a Book

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Betsy

So, you’ve decided to self publish a paperback using POD (Print on Demand) technology. Here are some basics you need to know in order to fill out the forms properly. [My comments are based on using CreateSpace as a POD … Continue reading →

Posted in Nuts and Bolts | 1 Comment

X-File #227: Last Words

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Betsy

This is the first place entry from the February Aspiring Writers Flash Fiction contest on LinkedIn. The challenge was genre: fantasy, theme: paranormal encounter at a ski resort, highlight: a cell phone. Length: 600-715 words. X-file #227: Last Words “Mulder, … Continue reading →

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On Being Bionic

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Betsy

These days I have medical devices attached to my body 24/7 because of my diabetes. I like to think of it as being bionic.   I first started using the term bionic when my husband got his pacemaker. “Needing a machine … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy of Life, Self-help | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Initial Success

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Betsy

This entry won third place in the Aspiring Writers contest for the first half of January 2012. The genre was fiction: suspense, theme: first day on the job, highlight: an email you received in error. Length: 600-715 words. Natalie was … Continue reading →

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