I learned something new before Church this morning. Yep. You read that right--I was not only up early enough to make it to Church--I was even awake enough to learn something. It's an Early Morning Miracle!
Sadly, what I learned is something you probably all know--but I'm tech-challenged--so this is monumental.....I learned how to perform a very basic, simple HTML command. Actually three.
I read the blog of Janet Reid, a Literary Agent, aka The Shark. She's pithy, sometimes irreverent, but always spot on in her advice--at least on literary topics. And she's the first to tell you that doesn't know everything...although most of her readers challenge that.
She also runs a 100-word limit Flash Fiction contest on the weekend requiring five specific words (usually related to the book she just read), and her readers post their stories in the comment section of her blog. We all get to read the stories (she has some seriously talented fans--and some that write downright scary stuff). After a few days of reading the responses that have rolled in during the 24 hour posting limit, she decides on a winner and gifts them with something--usually a copy of the latest book she has just read. But what I really enjoy reading are the comments she makes on her top picks--and what she found interesting about them. It's enlightening to see how the mind of an agent works.
I usually use the words she lists and write a story, that I don't post. I prefer to lurk and read everyone else's posts.
But I kind of liked what I wrote yesterday, so this morning, just before the deadline, I submitted it. I had it all prettied up with a phrase or two italicized here, or a word bolded there. But when I pasted my story into the comment section all the fru-fru went away--it posted in plain text. Other peoples fru-fru stayed. I couldn't figure out why. I tried cutting and pasting it from notes, my email, and my blog. All with the same results--my fru-fru was missing. Then I realized why--you have to use HTML tags in her comment section (I don't know if that's true of all blogs or not).
HTML tags intimidate me because I don't know about them. But Knowledge is Power, so I did what I always do when I need information fast. I Googled it.
I found a simple site that told me what I needed to do, I prettied my flash fiction up, and I submitted it--with time to spare. It's another Early Morning Miracle!
About Me
- Loulymar
- My bags are packed and I'm always ready to seek out an adventure with Bandit and Moggy in tow. Bandit is my thirteen year old Chinese Crested, who I frequently call The Bald One or The BaldOne Boy (like he was one of the Baldwin Brothers). Moggy’s full name is Pip-Moggy. He’s my two year old gansta-resuce kitty. I couldn’t decide between Pip (which are the spots on die and domino tiles) and Moggy (or Moggie when I mistakenly thought he was a she), so I combined the two. Moggy refers to the British term for "cat of unknown parentage .” So in essence, I have an almost bald dog, and I’ve named my cat “Spot.”
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