February 21, 2014

Product Review: Now Novel

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.


If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know that I like to think I am a writer.  Although I always seem to have ideas for novels and never follow through (although I do occasionally participate in NaNoWriMo).  With several ideas that have been floating around in my head, when I saw the website “Now Novel” I knew I had to check it out.  Now Novel has their tagline staring you in the face – “Want to start writing your book, and finish it?”  YES! I want to finish a book!

I have a tendency to start strong, have several chapters mapped out in my head… and then I lose it.  I either give up or I throw  together a bunch of nonsense that either ruins the end of the book, or the book is never finished.

I signed up for the site, and then in true ConcertKatie fashion got a bit distracted and wasn’t able to go back right away.  This is when the site ended up being like a clingy girlfriend and emailing me reminding me that I had signed up and should come check out the site.  I actually got a couple I think because I got a free trial account so it thought I had signed up and stopped at the payment page (which I did, because that was when I was supposed to send info over to get set up for free) and then I got another email that I had signed up and didn’t visit yet.  It was all a bit overwhelming and put me off from going back to the site. (Any excuse, right?)  But I did finally go back to the site and log in to see what it is all about!

Once you are logged in, you will see your dashboard. It shows you what parts of your story are started or not, your word count and all sorts of important information.

NowNovel

Now Novel helps you find your idea, finesse your idea (get the plot, character and setting) and write your novel. There are groups to interact with, a forum and workshops to attend and a critique section to get feedback and interact. Our creative writing blog is full of tips and tricks to help you with your writing. Paying for the best essay writing service reddit can also help you avoid plagiarism and thereby avoid future problems.

The site really helps you map out your novel and should, hopefully, help me actually finish a novel.  We’ll see.  (Especially since what I am currently thinking of writing doesn’t seem to have an end in site). Though I do like how everything is organized out in little check lists – which is how I tend to do things myself. Maybe with the site I will actually follow through?  Let’s hope so! I want to finish a book!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Book Review: Seven Deadly Clicks

deadlyclicksSeven Deadly Clicks is a book about Essential Lessons for Online Safety and Success. The 7 clicks are:

Over-Sharing
Losing Your Identity
Becoming Online Prey
Sexting
Cyber Bullying
Being Financially Frivolous
Technology Addiction

This book is probably best geared towards teens who are just starting to use the internet. (Although kids probably start using the internet at like 4 now, don’t they?) It starts with talking about sharing on social networks. Act as if you have a large audience, not a small one because everything you say can (and will) come back to haunt you. There are even some real life examples of oversharing on social networks and tips to set up your security settings so that people you don’t want to see your stuff won’t. (Or at the least will have a harder time finding it)

I think the most important thing from the first chapter is DONT CLICK WEIRD LINKS.  I don’t know how many of my twitter followers get “phished” daily… and then there account starts sending the weird links to *me*.  And a lot get defensive about it when I tell them to change their password.  I’m looking out for you (but more importantly, I’m sick of getting BS DMs from you) so just change your freaking password.  It can’t hurt.

Overall this book has a lot of great information in it on how to keep yourself safe on the internet (or at least as safe as you can be if you’re going to be using social media and shopping online). I like that is uses real world examples to help prove that these things really happen – and don’t think “oh that won’t happen to me” because it absolutely can if you are not careful!  (And I’m still aware I have a technology addiction)

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Pulling examples from high-profile pop culture cases, Seven Deadly Clicks explains the very real dangers behind common online activities. The book covers everything from over-sharing to sexting, online addiction, and more. Teens and parents will not only learn how to identify and prevent falling into these digital traps, but also how to recover if they do happen to make a mistake. This ebook exclusive acts as an internet safety net, giving teens an entertaining, yet informative, resource to help navigate potential pitfalls and still live fulfilling lives online.

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