WordPress Plug-In AuthorSure Review

Update–As of November 2017, it has been two years since AuthorSure was updated, so although I still love WordPress, I can no longer recommend this plugin. 🙂

Have I mentioned before how much I love WordPress?

I love WordPress. Just in case.

I realized a few years ago that there is no privacy on the Internet, and rather than avoiding the Internet entirely as a way to keep my privacy, the more important part was to control my privacy. So I set up a Facebook account, I got a blog, I started tweeting. I was still nervous about putting myself out there. I liked it when someone found my blog, yet I wasn’t really ready to engage.

When John Ellis first started talking about authorship and proving your existence on Google+ and how everything is connected, I really only half-listened because it was more about engaging and letting people know who you are. (Sorry, John!)

But then I started seeing more and more how John is right. No fear. You may screw up, you may say or do something (lots of things) that people don’t like, and your SEO might be set up completely wrong, but it doesn’t matter. Communication can resolve a lot of problems. Google may be the benevolent dictator some of us love and some of us hate, but his point that Google wants real people on the Internet and not crazy s*ammy machines and h*ckers is a good one. Google is actually helping us to take that control over our privacy even further. We choose what goes out there and how.

September 12 Jenny

Willamette Writers Conference 2013 Review

Brew it up!

Having been to a total of four Willamette Writers Conferences now, I feel I have a little more insight into how this year’s conference played out. Granted, I didn’t have the benefit of being on the conference committee this year, so I didn’t stay at the hotel (which was more of a bummer than you might think); and I had other events going on that weekend and wasn’t able to attend every day, all day long… But I’m going to say it was a win.

From what I’ve heard from other attendees, the energy was even more positive than it’s been in previous years. One volunteer told me that it was as if the other years had given her the tools and skills to develop her writing, while this year showed her how to exploit and use those skills.

What are the reasons why the Willamette Writers Conference 2013 worked so well?

September 9 Jenny

FiLMLaB Win at OIFF!

Yep. This is awesome. If you haven’t heard about it yet, FiLMLaB is Willamette Writer’s annual contest for aspiring and up-and-coming screenwriters. Write a script (a short script) and submit it to Willamette Writers. A bunch of cool Portland and Hollywood film producers and managers read it and judge it, and then (wait for it!) you get that script made into a movie! (If you win, of course…)

This all happened to Haley Isleib last year when she submitted her script “Alis Volat Propriis” (She Flies With Her Own Wings–Oregon’s state motto) at the last minute (No, really–ask her about it–totally last minute) and had it made into a short film starring Randall Jahnson and Katie Michels, and directed by Christopher Alley. It was produced by Willamette Writers and Ampersand Productions.

Even better? Now there’s a FiLMLaB win of its own. The film won Best Comedic Short at the Oregon Independent Film Festival.That’s right. The inaugural film from Willamette Writers’ FiLMLaB contest won an award! How cool is that? Last year’s film was entirely last minute for Willamette Writers, the screenwriter (again–ask Haley!), and the production team. But it came together beautifully and I was so impressed by it all.

Want to get inspired by this FiLMLaB win?

The film will be screened at the OIFF Awards Ceremony on September 21, 2013 at Clinton Street Theater, and tickets are available here. Indeed. The home of The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be transformed into a red carpet gala event venue complete with an after party. I plan on wearing Jimmy Choos and rocking a Zac Posen. Can anyone lend me their Jimmy Choos? Size 9, please. And Zac–I’m available for fittings whenever you are. I’ll even take you out for happy hour first. ‘Cause I’m that kind of girl.

Next year’s contest should start in January or February (fingers crossed!) and have a submission date sometime in March, so that gives you plenty of time to come up with an idea. Bonus points if you use next year’s conference theme–“A New View.” That could be anything, really. But I suppose it’s all about the move that the Willamette Writers Conference is making from the Airport Sheraton to the DoubleTree at Lloyd Center. Because it will be a new view. No more runways. No more parking lot. From the DoubleTree you can see downtown. (OK. And one parking lot. But it’s a little one.)

September 4 Jenny