Who Do You Write Like?

Curious which famous author your writing most closely resembles? Check out this fun, and decidedly quirky website, I Write Like.

All you need to do is enter a few paragraphs of your own writing, and let the site analyze it, spitting out the name of your supposed literary kin.

Here's the scoop from the Associated Press:

I Write Like Erupts Online, Authors Scratch Heads

NEW YORK — For anyone who has ever thought Charles Dickens was lurking inside his or her prose, a new website claims it can find your inner author.

The recently launched I Write Like has one simple gimmick: You paste a few paragraphs that exemplify your writing, then click "analyze" and — poof! — you get a badge telling you that you write like Stephen King or Ernest Hemingway or Chuck Palahniuk.

The site's traffic has soared in recent days and its arrival has lit up the blogosphere. Gawker tried a transcript from one of the leaked Mel Gibson phone calls. The suggested author: Margaret Atwood.

The New Yorker found that an invitation to a birthday party was James Joycean. Many others were aghast to discover they wrote similarly to "The Da Vinci Code" scribe Dan Brown.

The New York Times tried putting in actual novels, such as "Moby-Dick." Herman Melville, it turns out, writes less like himself than King, according to I Write Like.

Atwood, herself, tried the site only to discover she also apparently writes like King. "Who knew?" she tweeted.

Eager to try out this kooky new tool, I copied and pasted a few paragraphs from one of three books I've been working on and presto! It turns out I write like Stephenie Meyer. Hmn, curious, since there isn't a vamp or a werewolf in the entire thing!

Release Day!

Finally, the day is here. Wolf's Den is now available online. To wet your appetite, I'm posting a second excerpt below. The first excerpt is available here.

Luka?

“Where did you hear that name?” he asked.

“I didn’t. It’s mine.”

“I don’t believe you.” A growl replaced the hurt sound that had come from deep in his chest. “Who told you? Are you a voyeur, as well? Did you spy on us while we made love?”

Spy on him and Anya? Would she do that?

“It’s my name,” she insisted, and then was overcome by a violent fit of coughing. She couldn’t breathe. The smoke was poisoning her lungs and starving her blood of oxygen. She grew dizzy.

She watched him, the supreme effort it took to regain control, but he clamped down and put away his darker half.

“Wait here until you hear the shots, then go,” Griff told her. “Head for the trees, and when you reach them, keep running. Don’t stop.”

He turned, looked back once, and then vanished into the smoke and flames devouring the cabin.

In addition to The Wild Rose Press, Wolf's Den is also available from Amazon.com.

Wolf's Den Receives 4-1/2 Tea Cups Review from Happily Ever After

I'm thrilled and relieved. My first book review is a good one! Book 1 of The Legacy of the White Wolf has its first review. 4-1/2 Tea Cups from Happily Ever After Reviews. Among the comments:

This was an excellent paranormal romance, mostly because of the author’s fluid, poetic writing style...Who doesn’t want to read about true love conquering death?...The characters and dialogue were realistic and enjoyable. Great job!

My thanks to reviewer LynnMarie.

Where Do Wolves Live in the Wild?

Wolves, most commonly the Grey Wolf, inhabit few areas of the wild in the U.S. Accordingly to the graphic below (courtesy Wiki), wolves are found in Alaska, Yellowstone National Park, and the northern most parts of some of the Great Lakes states. Green areas show present populations, while red areas show "extirpated" areas where wolves once thrived.

The tiny green dot you see in the desert southwest represents the rare Mexican wolf, which was eliminated from the wild in the 1950s, then reintroduced in a small range in southeastern Arizona in 1998.

Congratulations to FREE Book Winners

Wolf's Den debuts in just 4 days. Though 7 lucky winners have already claimed their free copies of the book, there's still plenty of time to enter the contest drawing to win a $77 Amazon.com Gift Card. It's easy, all you have to do is sign up for my occasional newsletter.

Click here to enter.

In the meantime, congratulations to the following on winning a copy of Wolf's Den!

Leslie Y.
Carly M.
Judy C.
Shkye M.
Diane S.
Yadira A.
Nikki B.

Thank you to everyone who has entered so far and been following my blog.

Contest Starts Today, Wolf's Den Arrives in 7 and Counting

I can't believe it's just a week until the first book in my Legacy of the White Wolf series begins. You don't have to wait a week to read it, however, not if you're one of the 7 winners who receives a copy of Wolf's Den now.

The contest doesn't stop at free books either. All who enter are also eligible to win a gift card from Amazon.com that will be awarded August 1.

Enter the Contest Now.

Call for New Samhain Anthology

Here's a great opportunity for all those who love to write romance, but aren't that confident with erotica. Samhain has just opened submissions for a less spicy antho.

Springtime “Just Romance” Anthology

Samhain is dialing down the heat and focusing on the romance for a Springtime “Just Romance” Anthology.

I’m excited to announce an open call for submissions for a new anthology for Spring 2011. The theme is Springtime, and in keeping with that theme, I’m looking for stories that focus on blossoming romance rather than full-blown sexual relationships, chemistry rather than combustion, the spark of attraction rather than the blaze of passion.

The stories can have closed-door sex scenes, glossed-over sex scenes, or characters who are waiting until after the book is over. There can be as much romantic and sexual tension as the book can handle, but no explicit language, and all stories must end with a happily ever after or happy for now.

I’m open to all sub-genres of romance, and all types of sexuality: m/f, m/m, f/f and combinations thereof.

The anthology will include novellas from 20,000 to 25,000 words in length and will be released individually as separate ebooks in May 2011 and will be combined as one print title for mid 2012 print release.

Submissions are open until November 1st, 2010 and the final decisions will be made by November 30th, 2010.

More info: http://www.samhainpublishing.com/submissions