Words are important in my house. We like to be precise in our words, but sometimes there just isn’t a word for what we want to say. If we were really industrious, we could scour the interwebs for a foreign word that sums up what we want–like Schadenfreude or tartle–but it’s so much easier (and tons more fun) simply to make up a word of our own. Do others do this, or are we just…insane certifiable weird? Growing up, my family had respect for vocabulary, but never actually created new words, but my wife’s dad was a champion word-coiner and word-repurposer, making a language subset they called Schoenfeldese. Obviously, she is the vector for this infection. But, are we alone? I compiled a list of our freshly minted neologisms to share with you, and I invite you to share yours as well. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Culture’ Category
Minty Fresh Words
Posted in Culture, tagged coined words, making up words, neologisms, new words, personal linguistics on 12 Apr 2013| 7 Comments »
Old Man Gamer
Posted in Hi Tech, tagged bioshock, bioshock infinite, game review, Gaming, gears of war, gears of war judgment, halo, halo4, video games on 11 Apr 2013| Leave a Comment »
I am that rare thing, that forgotten demographic, that chimera of the gaming world.
I am a guy with an Xbox Gold Membership and an AARP card.
‘Struth. Even though my twitch-muscle response time took a nosedive during the Reagan administration, even though I often win the FIFO award during multiplayer gaming sessions, I still enjoy a little mayhem now and again.
The First-Person Shooter is my go-to genre in gaming, and as such, I’ve followed several of the big franchises over the years. This year saw long-awaited releases for three of them: Halo, Gears of War, and BioShock. I’ve played them all, now, and I am therefore qualified to say that there’s only franchise that did it right.
Now, since I am Old Man Gamer, my yardsticks are not the same as those freshly minted TwitchMaster 2000 players. While I appreciate the diverse weaponry and multiplayer modes and splatter-factors, I put greater weight on story line, set design, innovative gameplay, character realization, and what I call the Immersion Factor. I also care about how women are portrayed in video games, not because I’m a prude, but because I’m just sick and tired of females only existing in video games to up the titillation quotient.
So–assuming I haven’t lost you completely at this point–my findings.
The Art of History
Posted in Books, Writing, tagged book review, books, creative writing, gabriel garcia marquez, love in the time of cholera, marquez review, novel writing, novels, Writing, writing tips on 09 Apr 2013| 4 Comments »
As part of my preparation for my next book, I’m reading and analyzing authors who exhibit a particular style. So far, it’s been Alice Hoffmann and Julio Cortazar. Now, it’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
The book I chose was Love in the Time of Cholera, and several things immediately set it apart from other books I’ve read in recent years. (more…)
Free Free Free
Posted in Books, Writing, tagged amazon, book promotion, books, creative writing, ebooks, free book, free kindle book, Kindle, novel writing, novels, publishing, self-publishing, Unraveling Time, Writing, writing tips on 08 Apr 2013| Leave a Comment »
I’ll admit it. I got nothing done this weekend. I was positively glued to my iPad, pulling up the growing stats on my promotion for Unraveling Time, watching the numbers click upward hour by hour, day by day.
It was fascinating, and it totally exceeded my expectations.
(And in case you missed it, no worries; it’s still available for free, thru midnight tomorrow. Don’t be left out. Go claim yours!)
So, instead of something pithy and/or insightful, let’s talk about the progress so far.
Secondary Effects
Posted in Books, Writing, tagged amazon, book promotions, creative writing, ebooks, free books, Kindle, novel writing, novels, publishing, self-publishing, writing techniques, writing tips on 06 Apr 2013| Leave a Comment »
Yesterday’s promotional campaign–offering Unraveling Time free of charge for an entire weekend– came under the heading of “It couldn’t hurt.” I thought it might get my book in front of a couple of new readers. It did, but it did more than that. There are secondary effects.
Unraveling Time is a time-travel/historical/adventure/romance (yep…it is) and as such, I listed it in two sub-sub-genres: Historical fantasy and Time Travel Romance (didn’t know there was a Time Travel Romance sub-sub-genre, did you?) Well, this morning, due to the free copies that people have downloaded, Unraveling Time is in the Top Ten for its genres. Now, I grant you, those are rather specific sub-sub-genres, but here’s the thing. At Amazon, there are people who subscribe to the RSS feed of top sellers in those genres. There is even an RSS feed for top free books in those genres. And that, my friends, is targeting your demographic.
Of course, it’s a free promotion, and I’m not making a dime off it, but as folks in another business say: The first taste is free.
Already, I’ve had emails from people thanking me for the free book, telling me that they’ve started reading it already and are enjoying it, and one email from a brand-new reader just to tell me that she really loved a line from the book (“…and the sand
beneath him that smelled of ancient anger.”)
I can’t tell you how big my grin was when I read that.
So, if you some friend or colleague or even just a blogger like me says, Here’s a book for free, go get it. Even if you don’t read it, you’ll help that person’s book reach new readers and that is, essentially, what most of us are striving for.
k
It’s Heeere
Posted in Books, Writing, tagged amazon, book promotion, creative writing, ebooks, free books, Kindle, novels, publishing, Unraveling Time, Writing on 05 Apr 2013| 1 Comment »
It’s out there. For free. Go get one!
Unraveling Time is free through Tuesday!
What are you waiting for?
While you’re doing that, I’m going to write up a review of the book I finished yesterday.
k
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Free Ride through Time
Posted in Books, Writing, tagged book giveaway, book promotion, books, e-readers, ebooks, free book, Kindle, novels, publishing, self-publishing, Time travel, time travel adventure, time travel romance, Unraveling Time, Writing on 04 Apr 2013| Leave a Comment »
Attention, biblio-nauts! I’m kicking off a promotion for one of my recent novels.
Starting tomorrow (Friday, April 5), you can get a free copy of Unraveling Time for your Kindle-reader.
No gimmicks. No strings. From April 5 through April 9, this book is entirely free. Go, get it, and keep it forever. It is literally yours for the taking!
(Remember, you can read Kindle books on your PC, your Mac, your iPad, your iPhone, your Android phone or tablet…anywhere!)
Still not sure? Read an excerpt of the book right here on this blog! What can you lose (except a weekend spent with a good book)?
Want to know more? Want to know what it’s about? (more…)
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 