Synchronicity: Finding Meaning in Writing

scarab beetle synchronicity in writing pixabaySynchronicity [sing-kruh-nis-i-tee] is a concept developed by psychiatrist Carl Jung, who felt that it was possible for seemingly unrelated events to come together in “meaningful coincidences.” In his book by the same title, he told of a patient who seemed to reach an impasse and was making no further progress in treatment. During a session, she told him she’d had a dream about someone giving her a golden scarab, an expensive piece of jewelry. While she was talking, Jung heard a tapping on his window behind him, opened it and a large green-gold scarab beetle flew in. Jung caught it and handed it to the woman, saying, “Here is your scarab,” and from that point on, she made great progress in her treatment.

The novel I’ve been working on concerns a young woman who inadvertently ends up being the primary caretaker of her elderly aunt who has Alzheimer’s. After the death of the aunt, the woman uncovers family secrets that change her perception of most of what she thought she knew. I’m to the point in the book where I’m about ready to kill off the aunt. No, I won’t murder her; she dies of natural causes, but I was struggling with whether or not the timing was right. I felt like I wanted to provide a bit more substance before the aunt’s death, but I wasn’t sure what that substance would be. My writing stalled. Continue reading “Synchronicity: Finding Meaning in Writing”

Is Big Five Publishing Positioning Itself for Large eBook Profits?

big five publishing vault of money pixabay safe-913452_640As an Indie author, I’ve always sided with Amazon because Amazon made my career as a writer possible. Nevertheless, I was a little confused recently by the retail giant’s apparent about-face with regard to the agency model.

Essentially, the agency model does two things:

  1. It allows traditional publishers to set the price of their own eBooks, and
  2. It prevents Amazon from discounting those prices.

In practical terms, this means that many traditionally published eBooks are more expensive than their paper counterparts. Not surprisingly, this has led to an overall drop in profits for publishers.

A less obvious effect has been to make some readers angry with Amazon because they think the retail giant is to blame for the high prices. So why has Amazon allowed this to happen? And why are traditional publishers willing to take such a big hit to their profits? Continue reading “Is Big Five Publishing Positioning Itself for Large eBook Profits?”

Some Time-Saving Keyboard Shortcuts for Google Chrome

Fast typingI came across some very handy keyboard shortcuts recently. Some IU followers may already know them, but for those who don’t, you might like to try them out. These could be especially helpful to authors who do a lot of research online.

I have a very bad habit that inevitably results in me tut-tutting away and cursing my laptop. Or my broadband. I’m a taboholic. I have an addiction to having as many open internet tabs as possible. I just can’t help it. Technically savvy husband is forever ticking me off and telling me to ‘for goodness sake, close some of those tabs’ when I’m muttering that my laptop isn’t playing nicely with me.

But I NEED them all open. I really do. I need to look this up. I need to look that up. I need the dictionary open. I need the thesaurus open. It saves SO much time if the pages are open, ready and waiting.

I admit that, yes, I do have a tendency to have just a few too many tabs open. I’m sure most of you are far more moderate and only have a few essential ones open whilst you’re writing/researching/editing. Continue reading “Some Time-Saving Keyboard Shortcuts for Google Chrome”