By

Michele L. Tune

Photo Credit: http://www.sxc.hu

I thought I’d share some link love to some of my favorite posts I’ve read recently. These are some really good ones. And, don’t just read the following posts and move on. These blogs are really awesome and their authors are way talented! Subscribe to their feed so you can follow them from now on.

An Opinion on Penny a Word Writing Gigs by Dana Prince, at The Writer’s Blog - Dana really shared her opinion on this touchy topic with dignity and grace! It’s wonderful how she gives such awesome reasons for accepting writing gigs that don’t pay as much as you’d like. It’s not for everyone, but Dana makes you feel good about yourself if you are taking those type of gigs - for whatever reason. Another one who deserves a big ole way to go!

Find or Establish a Local Writer’s Group by Rebecca Laffar-Smith, at The Writer’s Round-About - Rebecca asks if you attend or have thought about starting your own local writer’s group. She highlights some great reasons and gives the time and place of the local writer’s group she herself attends. If you’re in Australia (in her area) perhaps you can go!

Freelance Writing: Your Way or Mine? by Amy Derby, at Write from Home - You’ll love the way Amy handles “Mr. X”, who e-mailed and ridiculed her writing abilities. I love how she pretty much vented and got it all out - without even cursing! And, how awesome that she can earn such a great living (making more than she did at a top law firm!) by doing what she loves most. Way to go, Amy! I say Amy’s way is working just fine!

How Honest Are You with Your Readers? by Deb Ng, at Freelance Writing Gigs - Are you honest with your readers? Do you share decisions you’ve made regarding your freelance career - decisions that could bring you negative feedback? How do you handle it? Do you ignore it and move on? What’s your take on being totally honest in your blog posts? Would you rather not? Find out what Deb has to say. I loved reading her thoughts. Check this one out. It was a great read!

How to Write an EBook (series) by Katherine Huether, at KatherineHuether.com - Katherine does a fantastic job of giving her readers step-by-step instructions for writing ebooks. She’s written many for her clients but is planning to write and market one (or several) for herself in the future - hopefully the near future! So, if you’re looking to write an ebook - for clients or for yourself - be sure to absorb this entire series!

If I Ran the Zoo…(Just how important are spelling and grammar, anyway?) by “Other Deb”, at The Dangling Conversation - Deb discusses the importance of spelling and grammar. How important is it to you? Do you care if you read something that is horribly written? Is it ok with you that children in our country are graduating high school without being able to read or write a proper sentence? Deb shares her heart on the topic. Definitely one you should invest a few minutes for!

Is Your Child Learning at School? by Hope Wilbanks, at Coffee with Hope - This is an amazing story about a child Hope had the opportunity to teach as she played the role of substitute teacher recently. The event broke her heart and as you read about it, I’m sure most (if not all) of you will be wiping tears. What an injustice America’s children face each day… Bravo to Hope for making a difference - even if it was just that one day, I’m sure the memory and kindness she showed him will carry throughout his lifetime! (But I have a feeling she’ll have the opportunity to make a difference in multiple lives some day!)

Organizing Your Freelance Writing Career by Sharon Hurley Hall, at Get Paid to Write Online - Learn how Sharon balances her freelance writing career with family and an actual life AWAY from the computer screen. Her approach is one that’s working, so you may want to see how you could glean from her experience and put her wisdom to use in your own freelance career!

Putting Weekends to Good Use by Jenn Hollowell, at Working Writer - Do you write on the weekends or use them as a time to push away from the keyboard to clear your head and rest your eyes? If you’re wanting to use every spare moment you can scrounge up to build your freelance career, check out Jenn’s advice for making the weekend a tool to enhance your business. Great idea, Jenn!

Time Management: The Internet (Part One) AND Part Two by April Aragam, at Blog of a Writer - Great tips for keeping yourself accountable while using the Internet. April shares simple steps you can take so you don’t end up swallowed up and lost in a sea of chats, blogs, and whatever networking sites you adore and participate in. Very sound advice, April!

Which Comes First: The Source or the Story? by Susan Johnston, at The Urban Muse - So, what’s your answer to this question? Join Susan as she ponders her thoughts - and asks you for yours - on this topic. It’s a lot to consider!

SERIOUS UPDATE: I visited Susan’s blog today and discovered her dad has passed away. She needs your hugs, prayers, and/or any kind words of encouragement and understanding you have for her. My condolences, Susan. I’m praying for you!

Work Your Jaws by Melissa Donovan, at Writing Forward - Melissa talks about how not only has our handwriting suffered since our obsessions with being at the computer typing, but because of our isolation, most of us freelancers aren’t talkative or social anymore. Something to think about for sure!

Writing Style Meme by Becca, at -In fond memory of her school days, Becca assigns “homework” for her readers to complete. You can post your answers on your blog or in her comments section. This looks like fun. She asks some good questions! If you haven’t already visited, be sure to drop by. I’ve given Becca link love before, but it was for her other blog: Becca’s ByLine, which is a wonderful blog as well!

Happy weekend reading!!

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Post and Photos By Michele L. Tune

So far, I have kept my personal life off this blog but I decided to share my birthday with my readers…

What’s your favorite birthday meal? Mine is Mexican. Anything Mexican/vegetarian. I enjoyed eating it at my favorite Mexican restaurant for my birthday! I rarely ever eat out. I remember when I reached the awesome milestone of losing 100 pounds, my mother took me to celebrate at this same Mexican restaurant. It was a very special event!

Spicy salsa with crispy tortilla chips are the best… Yum-OOOO! ! See ‘em  there? I always try to stay away from these the rest of the year, but they’re awesome and they’re complimentary while you wait for your meal!

(By the way, I didn’t eat all this food myself! A few others helped.)

What did I end up ordering? First of all, I always drink unsweetened iced tea with lemon. I use my own sweetener (Stevia Balance with Inulin and Chromium). When I was near 300 pounds, I was on a LOT of diabetic medication. Now my blood sugar is fine without medication. I keep it in check by eating and drinking healthfully and the Stevia helps balance my blood sugar as well. I love it’s taste, too!

The Garden Delight Quesedilla with onions,peppers, lettuce, tomatoe, sour cream, etc.

And a plate of Bean and Cheese Burrito, Enchilada and Tostada.

AND a side order of refried beans and Spanish rice.

I think the best part of this birthday was being around people I really care about. Mexican food and neat gifts and pretty cards didn’t hurt either, though! I love pink so I received pink office supplies (notebooks, a desk set, CD case, etc.). I also received a beautiful birthday card from a very special friend in Canada. (Thank you!)

And, I know you’re wondering about birthday cake. Well, there wasn’t one! I have to maintain my 100+ pound weight loss, you know. My favorite is chocolate, so I only splurged on a small (very moist and delicious!) chocolate brownie. It was gone before I thought to take a photo of it!

Thoughtful Birthday flowers…

So, what’s your favorite birthday dinner? Do you eat out on your birthday or enjoy a special birthday dinner made by a loved one? Do you love celebrating your birthday or does thinking about it make you cringe? What do you, as a writer, consider the perfect birthday? What gifts do you yearn for? Share in the comments!

Hope you enjoy many wonderful birthdays while writing the cyber highway!

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By

Michele L. Tune

Has it really been over 20 years since I was in the first grade? Since that nerve-wracking day my knees knocked and my teeth chattered. It was a new school with so many children standing outside. I didn’t want to get out of the car. I was terrified. Looking back, I’ve always felt like a hermit. I wanted to run home, crawl back under the covers, and hide from all those children! But mom encouraged me, coaxed me out of the car, and before long I was in love with my new teacher, classmates, and reading time.

When you first open Rockets, this is what you see:

Reading time… ah, the memories! The teacher would have us all gather around a table, seated in our chairs. I was so anxious for story time. I wanted to learn to read more than anything in the world. I couldn’t wait ’till she pulled the book out. It was called Rockets. It’s the book I learned to read with.

My favorite story from the entire books was The Monkey and the Banana. See the title on the page there? Oh, how I loved this story! The Rockets reader was awesome and very easy to learn to read from because there was bright, fun pictures and you can see from the title that part of the words were actually drawings you looked at and figured out the words for.

At the end of the school year, the teacher told us the school would be getting new reading books for the new year and we had the opportunity to have the old ones if we wanted them. Did I want one? Was she kidding? Already at the age of six, I was sentimental. I knew I wanted the book I’d learned to read from. I had to have it. I can remember how excited I was when I got my copy. Funniest thing of all is I still have that Rockets reader over 20 years later! (Actually, it’s just a teeny bit longer than 20 years - but don’t tell anyone!)

Looking at the pages open like this brings back so many memories. It’s almost as if I’m that little girl again, so eager to take her turn at reading her favorite story aloud.

I also remember fantasizing about my name being on the cover of a book. How I longed for people to read my words! I knew, even at the age of six, that I wanted to be a writer. Amazing.

I have to say, though, that I’d never have picked reading up so quickly if my parents hadn’t read to me, I don’t think. I remember mom reading to me - a lot. She read me Bible stories, fairy tales, and all sorts of books. So, do you remember the book you learned to read from? What was it? Did it happen to be Rockets? Do you still have it?

Lastly, here’s the full views of the front and back…

Rockets was put together by:

William K. Durr

Jean M. LePere

Mary Lou Ahin

and

Consultant: Paul McKee

Writing the Cyber Highway Copyright 2007-2008 Michele L. Tune All Rights Reserved

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Michele L. Tune

I was planning on publishing a different post but something happened to change that. I’ve decided to share my GINORMOUS MISTAKE with you all, so what happened to me doesn’t happen to you. It’s embarrassing, frustrating, makes me want to cry - and it could have been prevented. So, what happened? What’s up with the above title? Why should you use free e-mail?

Here’s what happened:

Some of you might remember I started out with my very first website hosted at vistaprint.com. I was so excited to have a website for sharing my portfolio - a real website to display my freelance writing services. I chose my template, wrote the content, and published it for all the world to see. It was all I needed - until I decided to move this blog from Blogger to its own domain and self-host it with WordPress. It’s been a journey filled with ups and downs but I’m so glad I made the decision to just go for it. I’ve had a lot of support from you, my cherished readers, and I really appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.

Now, don’t get me wrong, VistaPrint was really good to me. It’s just that when I decided to move this blog to WordPress, I didn’t see any reason to keep the VistaPrint account when I could host my freelance site at the same place I chose for this blog - BlueHost.com.

The Process

There began the journey of having Goofy Girl Designs create a fresh look while I started writing all new content to reflect the creative, inspiring writer I am. It’s not easy to write great things about myself, but I don’t want to be invisible* after all! Then there was the fun of waiting (with much anticipation!) for it to all be done. It didn’t take long, though. My new website is finished and since it’s also a WordPress site, it was actually live while my first website was still live at VistaPrint.com. That was a little strange. How’d that happen, you ask? Well, it’s too long a story to get into here, but it just had to do with the fact that I own michele-tune.com and micheletune.com (without the dash).

So, what’s my point? Why should you use free e-mail?

Once the new site was ready, I hesitated on transferring the VistaPrint domain to BlueHost.com. I should have listened a little closer to that inner voice tugging at me. I started the process and waited, all the while thinking all of my e-mails within my VistaPrint account would just “transfer” right along with my domain. You’re shaking your head right now, right? Well, I didn’t realize what would happen next. I couldn’t gain access to my domain’s e-mail account! I started panicking because the editors I was waiting to hear from might respond and their e-mail would be gobbled up by the wonky situation. Oh, what to do?

I got BlueHost.com on Live Chat and VistaPrint on the phone. VistaPrint told me I didn’t even have an account with them. Er, what? Huh? BlueHost told me they were sorry, but that I surely had lost all my e-mails since the domain was close to being resolved and I couldn’t gain access to my e-mail account. This went on for a couple of days. Finally, I got a message saying that VistaPrint.com was having technical difficulties and they’d have them fixed as soon as possible.

The Happy Ending

During that time of the “technical issues” I managed to get to my e-mails (how, I don’t know because VistaPrint said I don’t even show up on their records as having an account!). I was able to save all of my important e-mails, contacts, and markets and stuff I had saved there. Sheesh, what a relief! I think it was a miracle, really.

The domain has resolved and is pointing in the right direction. And, I’m currently using free e-mail. Even though I had free e-mail for personal e-mails, I had heard negative things about using it for editors/clients. Why? Because they wouldn’t take a writer as serious if he/she were using a free e-mail service. That’s what kept me from using free e-mail. Well, I’d rather have an editor or client have a working e-mail to reach me with then to use only a domain e-mail that I might not always have access to.

What have I learned?

• to study a little more before I leap into a technical situation I don’t know anything about
• to follow Melissa Donovan’s advice and back everything up*!
• not to risk my precious correspondence with editors because of what someone thinks about free e-mail
• to always keep a printed version of all current and important contact information
• to give the guy at VistaPrint who told me I didn’t have an account with them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it was his first day!

So, what about you? Do you use a free e-mail address for your writing business? Do you have your e-mails forwarded from one e-mail address to another so you’ll have them in another location? Do you back up often enough? Has anything like this ever happened to you? Am I doing the right thing by using free e-mail? Throw your opinion in the comments. Let us know!

And a special thanks to Goofy Girl Designs:I love my new site and have received a lot of e-mails and positive feedback about it. I couldn’t be happier. Thanks, Heather!

*linked to Sharon Hurley Hall, at Get Paid to Write Online - Are You Invisible?

and Melissa Donovan, at Writing Forward - When It All Comes Crashing Down

Here’s to safe e-mail correspondence while writing the cyber highway!

Writing the Cyber Highway Copyright 2008 Michele L. Tune All Rights Reserved

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If only there were more hours in the day we could spend loads of time writing blog posts, visiting and commenting on other fantabulous blogs, and even discover new ones we never knew about. But life is busy and hectic and crazy and sometimes it has to come first, regardless.

I know you wonder where all my rambling is going. It’s going somewhere, I promise. This Arte Y Pico award, the one you see in this post, was presented to me by Grandy, over at Functional Shmunctional. This lady is amazing. Since the first time I visited her blog, I knew I’d have to return again and again. Her posts are like Pringles–you can’t have just one! I love this lady. She’s brilliant and her posts reflect her colorful personality beautifully. There’s never a dull moment with her and I’m just so honored to have crossed cyber paths with her.

When she presented this award to me, here’s what she had to say:

Michele over at Writing the Cyber Highway ~ This lady can really make you think, and feel. Isn’t that what writers do? Well, Michele will make you put the words into a sentence and push you to get the words written. She is quite a mentor and cheerleader to me. Thank you sweets!

Ah… *wipes tears*

Thanks so much, Grandy! Even as a creative writer, I can’t find the right words to express my gratitude and appreciation. Thanks, blogging buddy. You’ve made my day!

I can pretty much guarantee (if you like hilarious entertainment) that you’ll want to subscribe to her feed. She doesn’t have a lot of confidence in her writing abilities yet, but I personally think she’s quite talented and knows how to captivate her readers. She’ll keep you hanging on every syllable ’till the very end of the post and you just have to jump right in and comment. She responds to every single comment she gets–and they’re usually always in the double digits!

One of the rules is to give this award to five other bloggers. Since I try to keep up with about a gazillion blogs and I’m not quite sure who already has it, feel free to grab it up and post that I gave it to you. Just be sure to come by and leave a link to your post in the comments so I can check it out! And to anyone who has given me an award and I haven’t posted about it, my sincerest apologies. I’m not the best at remembering and posting about these things. But this one grabbed my heart. I knew I had to accept this award because Grandy’s words about me were just so sweet and touching.

Here’s to awards for writing the cyber highway!

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Photo Credit: Me

Ah, this is the life!

What’s better than a laptop and a good cup of coffee? Ok, maybe a good cup of coffee, a book, and a comfy chair, but that’s beside the point! (Isn’t that cup cute? It’s one of my favorites!)

It’s easy to be inspired to write when you have a nice laptop and cheerful cup of warm bliss, isn’t it?

Freelance writing and blogging are both hard to do, but there’s so much gratification all along the way. We’re not always on the forefront, though, getting that byline to show off to friends and family.

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of “behind the scenes” writing and my name isn’t going to be displayed with the work. It’s on topics I’m passionate about and have endless inspiration for, so I’m pleased with the finished products–even though I can’t shout the published clips to the world. Sometimes the best things in life happen behind the scenes.

Do you write behind the scenes? Or do you always prefer to see your name? Have you ever used a pseudonym? Do you enjoy using a pseudonym or would you try using one? Share your opinions and experiences in the comments. Can’t wait to hear (ahem, read) what you have to say!

Hope you’re busy writing the cyber highway–behind the scenes, or not!

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Happy 4th, everyone! Today and tonight are both very busy for me but I just had to wish everyone a happy and safe 4th. I’ll post again soon!

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Michele L. Tune

Photo Credit: Me

Pretty photo, isn’t it? I’m far from a professional photographer. Half of the photos I snap are out of focus and not so great, so when I get one that actually makes me happy and proud to be the one who captured it (like the one above), I’m elated.

I have to be honest. I’ve gone back and forth between two other blog posts today. Both are great ideas and they’re going to be pretty good posts, but I’m just not feeling either of them today. I know you’ll thank me (once you read them) for saving them until inspiration takes me over.

Since this is the weekend, I’ve decided on a fun blog post. I recently came across the most hilarious thing I think I’ve seen in a while. I guess it doesn’t take much to occupy me. I’m not going to spoil the surprise, though. I want you to see it for yourself. Anxious to find out? I know you’re dying to know! Ok, I’ll share with you… But be warned, you’re going to flip out!

What? Thought I forgot to tell you? If you’re still reading, you missed it already. Go back and click on the words “flip out.” See ‘em right up there? Yeah, those words. Go click ‘em. You’re gonna love it! And don’t forget to come back here and share your reaction in the comments. I can’t wait to hear (ahem… read) what you have to say about it.

Ah, the meme…. I didn’t forget, Janna! Janna, over at Something She Wrote, paid me back. I recently tagged her for the Writing from Home meme, so she tagged me for the A to Z meme. I thought it sounded familiar when I read hers. Now I know why. I went through my archives and I’ve already done that one! Sorry for the wait, Janna. And… drum roll, please… Weekend Fun with the Alphabet.

So, how’s your weekend been? Have you been reading or writing? Are you near the water? Enjoying the sandy beaches? Did you go shopping? Let us know… leave a comment now! We’re waiting…. And, by all means, did you “flip out?”

Hope you’ve been having lots of success writing the cyber highway–and fun, too!

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Michele L. Tune

Photo Credit: Me

Erika, at Musings from the Mitten, has tagged me for a meme (er, I’m running a little late - sorry!). The theme: Why I love writing from home…

Ok, here are a few reasons (in no particular order):

1. I don’t have to wear panty hose.
2. I get to see my thinking tree every day.
3. I don’t have to drive.
4. I can write while sitting on the porch.
5. I can bake banana bread and deliver it to people just because. (I don’t treat myself to this moist, delish bread - I don’t want to gain back 100+ pounds, you know! - but I do reap great satisfaction from sharing my love of baking with others.)
6. I get to network with awesome writers (like Erika!).
7. I can blog.
8. I can Squidoo.
9. I’m able to take photos like the one featured at the beginning of this post.
10. I get to Hub.
11. But most importantly, I can release words fighting to escape from my soul, all while making money and being around loved ones at the same time!

Thanks for tagging me, Erika!

A few ladies I know will share wonderful reasons why they love writing from home are:

1. Becca, from Becca’s Byline
2. Renie, from Renie Burghardt’s World
3. Katherine, at KatherineHuether.com
4. Opal, at Addicted to Writing
5. Janna, at Something She Wrote

If you ladies have the extra time and would like to participate, we’d love to read what you love most about writing from home! And, if anyone reading this has never heard of or visited the above blogs (including Musings from the Mitten) do check them out. They’re amazing ladies with awesome blogs!

UPDATE: Amanda, over at From Ink to Ether, took me up on my offer and posted The Beauty of Working from Home. If her blog is one you haven’t visited, please speed the cyber highway right now and get there. Amanda Nicole shares information on freelance writing rates and much more. Thanks for participating, Amanda!

NOTE: Anyone else want to jump in? I’ll update with your link as well!

So, my faithful readers, why do you enjoy writing from home? Are you just starting out or have you been writing from home for years, or even decades? Is making money the main reason you write? Or do you write because, like me, it’s your calling and you can’t escape it? Does the ole muse chase you down in the middle of the night and beat you over the head until you drag yourself to the computer and fill up those empty pages? Jump right in the comments and share your heart! Kick your shoes off and stay awhile. You don’t have to be a lurker here! No siree, Bob - or Sally! Want to participate in this meme? Go right ahead! Leave a link to your post in the comments. I look forward to reading your answers!

Keep up with me as I write the cyber highway. Grab my feed. You can subscribe to Entries RSS OR Comments RSS OR if you prefer to receive updates to your inbox, you can subscribe Via E-mail as well!

Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme

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Michele L. Tune

Warning: This is pretty much an uninteresting post about where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing, so if this type of stuff bores you to tears, remember you’ve been warned…

Photo Credit: Me

Ah, at last I return. So, where have I been? Writing, of course! Where? I’ll share a few of the places with you.

• Squidoo - I’ve wondered what all the rave is about with Squidoo Lenses. Now I know! I’m having a blast at Squidoo.com. So far, I’ve only created one lens: How to Make People Smile. It’s much like blogging, and it’s great fun–wonderful way to express your creativity!

• HubPages - Again, pretty much blogging and is an awesome way to share information you’re interested in, but maybe doesn’t fit within your blog’s theme. I have three “hubs” so far: Tea Tree Oil for Head Lice (no, I don’t have it! hehe), Brussel Sprouts: Sweet and Delish, and Pumpkin Pie… Yogurt.

I’ve shied away from sites like this for a long time, but I finally caved in and decided to just give them a try. I’m so glad I did!

I also wrote a piece for my local newspaper recently and finished a 1,500 word article that I’ll hopefully be able to let you know a link to soon.

So, lots of stuff going on... I’ve also been working on a fresh design and content for my freelance website. Heather, at Goofy Girl Designs, has been working hard on the design part and I’ve been working to write the content to really reflect the creative, inspiring person I am.

In other news… I’m getting a lot better about actually following up with my queries and submissions. I should have done this a long time ago. If you don’t follow up, it’s something you should really consider doing. Sometimes editors honestly are interested in what you submitted or queried about, or at least your writing style, but the e-mail gets lost or forgotten about. If you follow up, you’ll refresh their memory and possibly make that sale–or hopefully many sales!

Did you enjoy this post and my friendly, girl-next-door writing voice? Would you like to read more? Gobble up my feed - Entries RSS OR Comments RSS OR if you prefer updates to your inbox, Via E-mail - so you’ll always know when I have something to say! And get ready, this site will be podcasting soon. Imagine that - you’ll get to hear my southern accent. Ya’ll come back now, ya hear?!

Well, that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing–as far as writing is concerned anyway. What have you been up to? Do you write Squidoo Lenses? Are you a Hubber who loves writing HubPages? Do you write for your local newspaper? Have you thought of giving your freelance website a fresh design and content? Let us know what you’ve been doing lately!

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