I’m so excited to share my latest project! It an e-book called “Eight Habits for Highly Effective Scrapbooking.” I posted a detailed description page on my scrapbooking blog papergoodness.com. Eight Habits is currently available on Amazon.com (more sites will come later).

In this ebook, you will learn how to:

* manage your scrapbooking time
* integrate your busy life and relationships with your hobby
* nurture your personal scrapbooking style
* set (and meet!) scrapbooking goals
* sustain creativity
* and more!

Check it out, and don’t forget to let me know what you think!

Hyperink’s question of the month, “What makes a compelling character in a book or movie?” ties in nicely with my current focus on improving my fiction writing.

Here is my answer to that question:

A compelling character is someone who comes alive on the page through believable personality traits, motivation, reactions and growth. He must have both strengths and weaknesses, including at least one major flaw that hinders him from initially reaching his goals in the story.

His strengths make him worthy of the reader/moviegoer’s cheerleading. We might want to root for the underdog, but that underdog must have something going for him too. On the other hand, the character has to have a flaw that allows us to identify with and feel sympathy for him as he goes through challenges.

This major flaw is also instrumental in the most important aspect of a compelling character: emotional growth, commonly known as the character arc. The character must change as a result of what happens to him in the story. In fiction, we are drawn to an imperfect hero who, by overcoming his flaw, learns something about himself or the world around him.

For three years in a row, beginning in 2009, I’ve kept track of the books I’ve read. My goal is simple: read more books than the year before. I started with 26 in 2009, clocked 30 in 2010, and finished 38 last year.

I’d say that all of the books I finished in 2011 are good reads. (That’s mainly because I don’t balk at putting down a book I don’t find compelling in the first few chapters.) A lot of them are great books. But my favorites, by far, are the following:

• The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens. Adventure, mystery and a fun way to travel through time.
• Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool. Totally deserved its Newbery win.
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I read the trilogy, but this first book is my favorite.
• Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine. So much emotion on the page, from the point of view of a character who cannot express it.
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Quirky and ingenious use of vintage photographs.
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. A work of art that drew me in, page after page.

My goal this year is to finish 40 books. That’s roughly 3 1/2 books per month. I think that’s doable. One of the benefits of reading more is developing the ability to read with a fair amount of speed. While I’ve always been a faster-than-average reader, setting a yearly goal has given me an additional motivation not to linger too long on a single page. Maybe I should add speed-reading to my goals for 2012.

One of my recent favorite quotes:

Do not hover always on the surface of things, nor take up suddenly, with mere appearances; but penetrate into the depth of matters, as far as your time and circumstances allow, especially in those things which relate to your profession.

- Isaac Watts (1674 – 1748), English hymn writer, theologian and logician

It’s that time again! National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is only two days away. And I’m jumping in!

I attempted NaNo a few years ago, when it wasn’t the behemoth it is now. I don’t even remember when it was, but I know I gave up less than halfway through the month. Since then, I’ve blogged thousands of words, finished and revised one novel, and plotted a second one.

I think I’m ready to attempt a NaNo novel again. The timing couldn’t be better. A few weeks ago, I set a goal of drafting my second novel by the end of the year. If I win NaNo, 50K words will get me a long way toward my goal. I even have a carrot at the end of the month. The developers of Scrivener are offering a 50% off coupon for NaNo Winners.

Are you a NaNo participant? Good luck, and may the words flow for all of us!