The following contain links to the websites, a short description, and a link to the post in which I provide a long description of what the site is about and why I’ve linked to it. Not every link will have a blog post (or a blurb) yet, but I’m working my way through them…
I’ve taken out the NaNo and Blog Azeroth folks here since they are in the random link rotation (and linked in the respective posts). It was just too much of a headache to maintain the lists, since I routinely had to go through and winnow out the ones that had stopped posting. :p
Main Categories: Writing, Model Horses, World of Warcraft, Micro Businesses, Website Design (WordPress/PHP), Pages I Just Like
Sub Categories: Author’s Blogs, Blogs About Writing, Things To Make You Write, NaNoWriMo / Camp NaNoWriMo, Model Horse Artists, Model Horse Forums, Origonal Finish and Multi-Artist Resin Vendors, Model Horse Sales Venues, Model Horse Shows (Live and Photo)
Writing
Everything and anything to do with writing goes here. Even the blogs by authors that have nothing to do with their livelihood. Just because.
Writing Websites
Online Writing Workshop
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Author’s Blogs
These blogs aren’t always about writing, although most authors do tend to talk about their work now and then. Maybe a better name for this section would be ‘blogs I read that happen to be written by authors that I also read’. Hmm.
Blogs About Writing
These are blogs or websites about the craft of writing. Here writing could mean: fiction writing, genre writing, copywriting, playwriting, drabbling, or any other site thematically similar.
Alexandra Sokoloff, Screenwriting Tricks for Authors
This one is written by Alexandra Sokoloff, if the title didn’t give it away, and is a fascinating look at writing through a screenwriter’s eyes. I have learned an incredible amount about screenwriting from this blog, patterns and storytelling techniques from TV and film that I never would have noticed. I’m still working my way through the archives, but I’d highly recommended this blog to anyone looking to tighten up their story’s underpinnings.
This blog is written by Janice Hardy, with occasional guest writers, and aims to give writers the ‘how to’ behind common writing advice. There is a lot to read through in the archives and I really enjoy Janice’s writing style (and helpful hints!). Regular posts include: How They Do It Tuesdays, Re-Write Wednesdays, and Find Your Plot Fridays.
Copyblogger [Writing]
Founded by Brian Clark and written by a host of authors this is one of the ‘Big Name Blogs’ that you’ll find in almost every link list of folks who write for a living. True, the blog is focused more on how to write good copy than good fiction, but there’s no novelist I can think of who’d be better off skipping this one.
Everyone who sells something depends on their voice in the market to find and keep customers; this blog (and its massive archives) are a great resource for learning how to hone that voice. Go forth and read!
Just be prepared to get lost for a few hours, it’s sort of like TV Tropes that way. One. More. Link. … *click*
Kristen Lamb’s Blog
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Men With Pens
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Rachelle Gardner
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Terrible Minds
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StoryFix
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Surly Muse
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Things To Make You Write
These are the forum challenges, the word prompts, the plot generators—anything that inspires you to get the pencil to the paper. Need to shake up your Muses? Then read on!
250 words is one page, 750 words is three pages. Write three pages a day and you can rack up some nifty badges (depending on how much you write, when you write, how fast, etc)! The website tracks how fast you type, how many breaks you take, and lots of other data as well. Your writing is 100% private, per the site, but you can always replace the text using a word scrambler if you prefer.
One word, 60 seconds– the perfect mesh of a writing prompt and a word sprint! The site will let you post the results of the sprint to the ‘Read’ page, but you can always just cut and paste it out without posting. Not a bad way to wake up your Muses, although the results are likely to end up in the DVD extras portion of your novel.
NaNoWriMo / Camp NaNoWriMo
NaNo and Camp NaNo are fiction novel writing events in which one writes 50,000 words in 30 days. Below are links to the main websites for each as well as links to my fellow NaNo’ers.
The Office of Letters and Light
This is the Non-profit that runs NaNorWriMo, Camp NaNoWriMo and Script Frenzy. Per their blurb: “We believe in ambitious acts of the imagination. The Office of Letters and Light organizes events where children and adults find the inspiration, encouragement, and structure they need to achieve their creative potential. Our programs are web-enabled challenges with vibrant real-world components, designed to foster self-expression while building community on local and global levels.”
NaNoWriMo.org (National Novel Writing Month)
This yearly event is held in November by The Office of Letters and Light. It’s a 50,000 word writing challenge with a 30 day time limit and is one of the craziest challenges you can take on (unless you want to write a novel in a weekend!). It’s one of my favorite events, even if I hold more losses than wins, and I’ve been playing since 2005.
CampNaNoWriMo.org (Camp NaNoWriMo)
Camp NaNo is a summer-themed version of the November madness we all know and love! It’s the same 50,000 words in 30 (or 31) days, only this time it falls in the midst of summer break—which in infinitely easier than November for most folks. This new bout of insanity kicked off in the summer of 2011 with the July and August sessions and here’s hoping that we see it again in 2012…
Model Horses
This is an enormous hobby and I dabble in almost ever sub-genre. I’ve tried to cover all of the major sites, but again I’m only linking to those websites that I actually visit. Not that I’m active on all the forums, heck knows I don’t have time for that! *grin*
Artist’s Blogs & Websites (Painters, Sculpters, Tackmakers, etc.)
Bluebird Studio
This is the sculpting blog of Karen Grigson an Australian artist who posts fascinating in-progress pics of her resculpts. I love watching her horses come together and since she starts from Breyer bodies it makes my fingers itch to rummage through my own body box! She only posts a few times a month (3-9), but it’s worth it to hop on over and check her out!
Don’t Eat the Paint
This is the artist’s blog of Laura Skillern, who writes some really kick-ass tutorials on sculpting and model horse showing. As of this August, she’s lost in the turmoil of graduate school, but she’s definitely worth following and the archives are a real treasure trove. Head on over and check her out!
Maggie Bennett
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Maggie Bennett Sculpture
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Model Horse Fun
Is Jeanne Grunert’s blog (owner of EquinArt Creations) and covers a wide range of topics within the model horse hobby, including posts about her personal model herd and news about EquinArt Creations. She also posts on About.com, so keep an eye out there as well!
Morgan’s Sculpting Journal
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Tick Tock Studio
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Forums
Model Horse Blab
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Origonal Finish and Multi-Artist Resin Vendors
EquinArt Creations
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Falling Brook Enterprises
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Sales Venues
Model Horse $ales Pages
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ModelXchange (mXc)
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My Auction Barn
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Model Horse Shows (Live and Photo)
International Model Equine Hobbyists Association (Photo Shows)
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World of Warcraft
Blog Azeroth
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Jaded Alt
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Dual-Boxing.com
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Wowhead
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Zeherah’s Hunter DPS Analyzer
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Huntsman’s Lodge
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Multiboxing.com
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Petopia
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Rawr
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The Undermine Journal
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Micro Businesses
Website Design (WordPress/PHP)
CodeHooligans
This is Paul Menard’s digital home on the web and is an interesting mishmash of useful WordPress posts and personal commentary on whatever happens to catch his attention. I found the blog because I use his Media-Tags plugin and I’ve found both the current posts and the archives to be a big help in getting my website tweaked into something I’m fond of (still working on that).
Digging into WordPress
This blog is by Chris Coyier & Jeff Starr and was apparently built to help build a platform for their book of the same name. As expected the website is all about WordPress and all the various tips and tricks that they two have unearthed whilst digging in the code. I haven’t bought the book yet, the website and its archives have proved to be an entertaining (and useful!) read. At some point I’ll probably shell out the money and pick up the book as well, but for now I’m going to happily nom on the free content… nomnomnom
Pages I Just Like
Rowdy Kittens
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Schola Abdico
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Stepcase Lifehack
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Steve Pavlina
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This blog is written by Leo Babauta and is about “finding simplicity in the daily chaos of our lives. It’s about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what’s important, create something amazing, find happiness.”
Brazen Careerist
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Get Rich Slowly
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IttyBiz
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43 Folders
“43 Folders is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.” I don’t go to this blog for recent posts, since those are few and far between, but for the archives. There is a treasure trove of posts here, back to 2004 on various hacks and productivity tweaks. Good rainy day reading or for when you need a quick kick in the pants.
The Daily Brainstorm
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