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.

Is everyone as excited as I am about the #writepsych chat? Check out what it’s all about here.

I would like to announce the definitive time for the chat:

I will be online to answer all your psychology related questions from

2 to 4 PM, GMT on Wednesday June 22.

That’s 4-6 PM my time (I’m in the GMT +2 zone). Figure out on your own what time that is for you!

I’m really looking forward to chatting with you all and to learn about your characters! I hope I will be able to help you with your character development .

Another announcement I can make is that today my very first real interview was published. M.E. Anders (@meandersfit) interviewed me for her blog. Go check it out here! The interview was a lot of fun to do, thanks again for having me, Mindi!

See you tomorrow, folks!

As you may or may not be aware, I study Clinical Psychology. This is the reason why I write about psychology often, on my blog. I think it’s a fascinating subject and so far, my knowledge of psychological matters has been really helpful to me in my writing.

I thought I’d share!

I am going to organize a tweetchat, where I will answer your questions regarding character psychology!

I know many people struggle with writing about psychological issues and how psychology actually influences character’s behavior. Now, I will be particularly capable in regard of answering questions about mental illnesses and how this may affect your character, since that is what the “clinical” part in clinical psychology is about. Nevertheless, I will also be quite able to answer any other question you may have regarding behavior and the like, too.

I will use the hashtag #writepsych during these chats, so keep an eye out!

Write down any questions you may have and we will discuss them during the chat!

Please spread the word of the #writepsych tweetchat – we have a week to make people aware so everyone can make use of it!

(P.S. I am manon_eileen on Twitter )

I’m really excited about this!