Manon Eileen – a Writer's Blog

Sunday again – already.

Not much longer now...

Thursday morning I leave for Gran Canaria, but it still feels like it’s ages away. However, if I consider how fast time flew last week, Thursday will be here before I know it.

I’m sorry I haven’t been posting as many blogs as I should have this week, but at least I have a good excuse! Clearly, the studying and writing for uni kept me highly distracted, but I also attended a wedding this weekend.

I still have *one* more assignment to hand in and I’m not motivated to work on it at all.

Last Friday my boyfriend’s cousin married, and it was quite wonderful. It was the first wedding I had attended that I’ll actually remember. The dress was beautiful and while before I didn’t really feel the need to marry, I now sort of feel inspired – even if it’s just because I want to wear an equally gorgeous dress. Perhaps I should just go to a wedding dress store and tell them I’m going to marry and try on ALL the dresses they have.

On a totally different note, I was awarded two awards by Ozlem Yikici at yikici.wordpress.com. I received the “Versatile Blogger Award” and the “Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award”. I wanted to give her a very special shout-out: Ozlem is a terrific young woman with a big heart. We met on Twitter not too long ago and since then she has become one of my best Twitter friends. I love her blog and you should check it out. Thanks so much for awarding me, Ozlem, I greatly appreciate it!

I also would like to mention last week’s #writepsych tweet chat – I think it was a huge success! There were quite a few people present that asked a bunch of interesting (and tough) questions. I will organize another #writepsych chat soon, so stay tuned!

Without further ado, this week’s blog mashup!

Fun & Interesting Articles

What color are the sash and bonnet in this painting? Wrong. @ io9.com – on how culture influences our perception of colors.

Fanmail FAQ: Looking for Good Books…. @ Patrick Rothfuss – Pat made a list of all his favorite sci-fi and fantasy books… A great list if you want to get into the genres!

Savory Tomato Scones @ Serious Eats – going to try to make these when I get back from vacation. Yum.

Introducing Kilobot, a swarm robot cheap enough to actually swarm @ io9.com – another step closer to total annihilation by robots… (+ Meet your new robotic kindergarten teacher)

Writing, Publishing, Social Media and all that

7 Tips for Better Twitter Chats @ Mashable.com – I am going to try out these tips next time I’m hosting the #writepsych chat!

How To Sell 1 Million Books On Kindle: Lessons Learned From John Locke @ The Creative Penn – Good information, this.

Old School Book Marketing Techniques for the Digital Age @ The Creative Penn – Joanna had quite a few very useful posts this week!

3 Guaranteed Ways to Get Your Blog Post Read @ Pushing Social – More good info.

How to Promote Your Blog Without Feeling Like a Sleazeball @ Pushing Social – Hell, every time I say something about my blog to promote it I feel like a sleazeball. Great post!

Why I’m Keeping My Day Job @ Guide to Literary Agents – I loved this post, I thought it was very to the point.

Time for another Casual Sunday post!

Perhaps you’ve seen I mentioned “Queen’s Day” a couple of times on Twitter in the past few days.

Queen’s Day, or Koninginnedag, is a Dutch holiday, celebrated on April 30th. Queen’s Night is celebrated the night before.

Basically, what Queen’s Day entails is that everyone, nationwide, has a day off. Most people spend the day one of our bigger cities (like in Utrecht, where I live) to enjoy all the events that are organized (lots of music and fun festivities). Flea markets are all around the city. Queen’s Day also entails a LOT of booze. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. Everyone’s drunk… Except for me, because I don’t drink, lol (but I did join my boyfriend and friends to sit in the sun and watch some bands perform, which was fun).

Queen’s Night is basically the same. Lots of booze, people and music. Nationwide.

Also, tradition is to wear something orange, which is our national color (ever watched a national football/soccer championship? We’re the folk in the bright orange :p).

Queen's Day in Amsterdam

This is what Wikipedia has to say about Queen’s Day (because I suck at explaining it because for me it just means what I said above)

Koninginnedag (pronunciation) or Queen’s Day is a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Celebrated on 30 April (or on the 29th if the 30th is a Sunday), Koninginnedag is the official birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands, Beatrix. Queen Beatrix’s actual birthday is 31 January; 30 April was the birthday of her mother and predecessor, Juliana. It remains as an April observance in honor of Juliana and to assure better weather.

With the accession of Queen Juliana in 1948, the holiday was moved to her birthday. When her daughter, Beatrix, took the throne in 1980, she retained the celebration on 30 April, but altered her mother’s custom of holding a parade near a royal palace, instead choosing to visit different Dutch towns each year and join in the festivities. In 2009, seven people were killed when a car was driven into a crowd surrounding the royal family’s vehicle; the driver died that evening. Koninginnedag is known for the nationwide vrijmarket (free market or flea market), when many Dutch sell secondhand items, and as an opportunity for “orange madness” or oranjegekte, when the normally-staid Dutch lay down their hair, often temporarily dyed orange for the occasion.

Well, now that I have taught the world something essential again, I guess it’s time for another blog mashup!

Fun & Interesting Stuff

Tech & Tweets Saving Lives as Tornadoes Wreak Havoc Again [VIDEO] @ Mashable.com

Before I Die @ Candy Chang - a public installation artist, designer and urban planner. A interactive graffiti project of hers, “Before I Die”, which I stumbled upon a few days ago, I thought was very inspiring. What do you want to do before you die?

“Jersey Shore” Gone Wilde @ Youtube.com – a great interpretation of Jersey Shore in Oscar Wilde style. This was hilarious :p

3D Projection Mapping: 10 Jaw-Dropping Examples [VIDEOS] @ Mashable.com – This indeed made my jaw drop!

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2″ Trailer @ Youtube.com – WHO ELSE IS GEEKING OUT ABOUT THIS?!

Meet Rollin’ Justin, the robot who’ll someday make your coffee (and play outfield) @ io9.com

Writing, Publishing, Social Media and all that

5 Pieces of Well-Meaning Writing Advice That I’m Glad I Didn’t Take @ Guide to Literary Agents

Everyone Wants to “Help” Writers. But Whose Help Do You Really Need? @ Jane Friedman’s “There Are No Rules”

Social Media Has Almost No Effect on Online Retail Purchases [REPORT] @ Mashable.com

Eight Things To Keep In Mind When Naming Characters @ Jody Hedlund

How Twitter Can Make You A Better Copywriter @ Pushing Social

5 Quick Ways to Liven Up Your Twitter Stream @ Mashable.com – This one’s particularly useful, folks!

Five Common Writing Problems and How to Fix Them @ The Creative Penn – I love constructive blogs like these.

Creating the Victim @ MySilentFury.com – you always put a lot of thought into creating the bad guy, but aren’t you forgetting about the victim? A very useful blog.

Lots of really great blogs this week \o/ Enjoy!

And of course, Null Hypothesis @ xkcd.com