03.06.08
Posted in Computer Tools & Tricks at 11:04 pm by Administrator
For the past few months, I’ve been focused on my data management issues. With so many novels to keep track of, I needed to get some of this out of my head and into a database. I figured I would post a quick rundown on my experiences for what benefit they might be to others in similar situations.
I initially went with Microsoft Access, which I love for its flexibility and ease of use. Made some great tables and forms on there and was happy–especially because of the features in Access 2007 that let you store multiple values in a field and attach documents–but then I wanted to work on my database and its linked documents on my second and third computers. That’s when things got tricky. For various reasons, all my computers aren’t on the same network, so it wasn’t as easy as calling up the files on a different computer.
I put it all on my portable drive, which got the job done, but the constant hassle of lugging my portable drive around started to get to me. PLUS my laptop kept wanting to give the portable device a different designator than my other computers used for it, which caused some problems with the links.
I already had been using Xdrive and Google Documents for some other purposes–both of them have nice functionality–but for this Access problem they still required some movement of files back and forth among computers because they don’t have features to support Access connectivity.
I have an account at Office Live, which I love for my Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents (if you haven’t tried it yet, I recommend it; there’s a really nice plug-in that allows for pretty much seamless interoperability between your computer and your online files… it’s at http://www.officelive.com). It didn’t work out. My Access database was too big to send to Office Live (it limits document size). Just as well, since Office Live isn’t set up to work with Access, so it might’ve been a glitchy solution anyway. I’m still hoping–as are some other Office Live users, judging from the forums–Microsoft will expand Office Live to support Access use.
Soooooooooooooooo… it looks like I’ll be working to expand my SQL and PHP knowledge in order to achieve my final solution. I don’t want to go there. I want to write novels, not develop applications. I’m looking into Oracle Apex as well, for what it might allow me to do. If you’re a little more technically inclined than I am, you might be able to get up and running pretty quickly. It’s quite powerful. Check it out at: http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/application_express/index.html.
I still haven’t completely ruled out going with one of the ‘easy’ database tools. I’m reading up on/testing a few to determine what all they have to offer. So far, I like:
Trackvia at http://www.trackvia.com - It has some great features, but their built-in stuff seems to support business customers and their needs (customers, employees, order tracking, etc.), when what I need is something that will let me handle books, characters, and the related multimedia content. Still, it looks promising for a lot of things.
DabbleDB at http://www.dabbledb.com — This one’s fun to play with and I really like the ease of use and flexibility. It has a really nice copy-from-spreadsheet capability. It lets you do all kinds of stuff with your tables and the data in them.
I won’t recommend one over the other. Which you prefer will really depend on what, exactly, you want to do with it. The best way to determine which fits is to visit the sites and check out the intro material and online demos. They both cost about the same (in the $10/month range) but Dabble offers the service for free to those who open up their data publicly. Sorry, you probably won’t want to do that if you need a place to store info. about your unpublished novels–although if your characters are interesting enough to lure visitors, you might be able to generate some interest in your work. MUHAHAHAHAHA!
If I could roll TrackVia and DabbleDB together, and get rid of all the parts that are only in the way for me, I’d be set.
Here’s another that I’m really excited about, BUT it’s in Beta so it’s a bit clunky and buggy. It’s not advertising itself as ready to handle operational needs yet but it’s working to get there. For now, don’t try to make it ‘the place’ to store your data–but keep it in mind for the future. In the interim, it is great fun to play with and I think it’s going to be an awesome capability if they keep going along the line they’ve plotted. It’s like spreadsheets on steroids–and with a great user interface. Super-easy to use and you can get some pretty nice reports and views from it. Right now it’s free, but I imagine that’ll change once they get the kinks worked out.
Blist — http://www.blist.com
Anyway, I figured I’d post this for the benefit of others who might be in the market for a solution, either now or in the near future. It’s worth at least taking a look at these before you commit yourself to a life of PHP and SQL or invest in a high-end solution that ends up costing more than it’s worth to you.
Happy writing–and databasing!
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01.31.08
Posted in About Writing at 8:26 am by Administrator
The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) Contest has moved into the customer review phase.
While my Publishers Weekly review was less than encouraging–which means I won’t score well enough to move on to the next round–the response from readers has been overwhelmingly positive, and that feedback has made the whole experience more than worthwhile for me.
I’ve also had the opportunity to read some of the other entries. There are some wonderful excerpts there, stories I can’t wait to read in full and put on my bookshelf once they’re published.
As an added bonus, the contest forums have introduced me to some great people. We’ve shared an unforgettable time, getting each other through the highs and lows of the contest.
I’m really grateful that Amazon and Penguin teamed up to provide this opportunity to writers. There’ve been a few kinks along the way, but that was to be expected since this is the first-ever ABNA. I do believe that the final novel chosen will be well worthy of publication. There are a lot that won’t win that also are worthy, but maybe this contest will help bring some of them the attention they deserve.
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01.16.08
Posted in About Writing at 2:31 am by Administrator
I’m so excited! 
I just got word that my manuscript The Keeper of the Sparrows–the first story in the Broken Sparrows series–has been chosen as a semi-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest.
Of more than 5,000 novels submitted, 836 were chosen to move on to the semi-finals round. More about the contest appears at: http://newsticker.welt.de/index.php?channel=fin&module=smarthouse&id=660078.
For the next few weeks, Amazon customers will be able to download excerpts from the semi-finalist novels and provide reviews. To find out more, visit: http://www.amazon.com/abna.
There are lots of great stories there.
My own excerpt is posted at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00122I1GK.
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11.06.07
Posted in About Writing at 8:48 am by Administrator
I love all the recent enhancements at Booksie!
I’ve decided to begin posting Out of the Dark.
http://www.booksie.com/other/novel/iveybanks/armageddon-lost-i:-out-of-the-dark/chapter/1
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09.28.07
Posted in Computer Tools & Tricks at 8:23 am by Administrator
After numerous attempts, in various Microsoft Office versions, to create links from Excel or Access cells to a bookmark in a Microsoft Word file, I was about ready to give up.
See, both Excel and Access show an option to go to a bookmark. But when you try to use the bookmark, it says it can’t parse the Word file. Evidently Microsoft made the decision to keep these tools frustratingly unaware of each other’s innards. To Excel and Access, ‘Bookmark’ means one of their own or one imbedded in html and perhaps other non-Word applications. Anyway, I’d searched the web and even ventured into VBE-land for awhile but knew there had to be an easier way.
Then I remembered (doh!) from the old days of manual html that a Word Bookmark is basically the same principle as an HTML Target. And so I tried framing the reference as a target and it worked great — in various available versions of EXCEL and ACCESS.
Soooooooo… for those who want to keep tables but also have the ability to rapidly go to a specific place in a Word document, here goes:
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1) If you don’t already have a bookmark in a Microsoft Word document, make one. This entails clicking on the place you want to link to in the document. Then go to your menu and choose Insert and then Bookmark. Give the bookmark a name and save it by clicking ‘Add’. Save the file.
2) What you do next depends on whether you want to link from Excel or Access:
- Excel: If you are linking from an Excel file, just right-click over the cell that you want to use to link to the Word document and choose ‘Hyperlink’.
- Access: If you are linking from an Access file, you’ll want to create a place for the hyperlinks. Use the menu to choose Insert and then Hyperlink Column. Then just right-click over the cell that you want to use to link to the Word document and choose ‘Hyperlink’ and then ‘Edit Hyperlink’.
3) Use the screen that pops up to navigate to your document and click on it. Once its name appears in the box, just add the following at the end of the file name:
#whateveryounamedyourbookmark
4) Hit OK.
That’s all there is to it!
If you don’t remember what you named your bookmark, go back into Word. From the menu, choose Insert and then Bookmark. This will let you view your list of bookmarks.
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One thing to keep in mind is that, should you move the original Word file, Excel and Access won’t know how to find it anymore.
It would be great if you could store that location as a relative link, but evidently Access doesn’t allow relative linking. For more information on absolute links (which do work in Access) and relative links (which don’t), check out:
http://www.compugoddess.com/relvsabs.htm
Hope this information saves someone else some frustration along the way.
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On a side note, I am so excited as I await my copy of Microsoft Office 2007. I will finally be able to drag my ‘My Writing’ database into this century. Looking forward to experimenting with all the possibilities that the XML-based Word format provides. Plus, the ability to put multiple values in an ACCESS cell will be a tremendous time-saver and should allow for cleaner representations in forms and reports. Now, I just hope it doesn’t disappoint.
Vista — which I didn’t go out seeking, but came installed on my laptop when I bought it — was a major disappointment. Thanks bunches, but I don’t like it when my computer tries to second-guess me. Grrrrrrrrrr… if I wanted to click that, I would’ve clicked it!
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09.15.07
Posted in About Music at 8:25 pm by Administrator
I just finished adding a YouTube playlist to my site.
Wouldn’t it be great if there were a mechanism in place for people with sites and blogs to go and pay a few dollars to purchase the right to play music on their sites? I can’t help but think the music industry is losing a lot of money–but at the same time, I can’t imagine that the companies want to hear individually from every small user like me, requesting permission. There really ought to be a better way.
Anybody know of one?
I’m hoping eventually there’ll be a capability like what’s offered at stockmusicsite.com, only with more kinds of music available.
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08.18.07
Posted in About Music at 8:13 pm by Administrator
Saw Styx, Foreigner and Def Leppard last night. LOVE Styx.
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07.22.07
Posted in About Life and Philosophy at 12:28 am by Administrator
We went to Six Flags America today. Aside from my frustrating inability to chase a nine-year-old and a five-year-old in different directions, it was a perfect day. While we were in the neighborhood, we stopped at the closest Kwik-E-Mart, which is in Bladensburg, and bought the children KrustyO’s. And of course, we had to get some Buzz cola. They like the way it fizzes.
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07.13.07
Posted in About Life and Philosophy at 11:59 pm by Administrator
Paraskavedekatriaphobia is defined as fear of Friday the 13th.
It’s a form of triskaidekaphobia, which is a fear of the number 13.
I spent a little time researching the history of Friday the 13th to find out why it’s considered unlucky. A lot of theories are out there, but it seems nobody knows the answer.
Don’t you hate when that happens?
But anyway, I’ve made it through another one unscathed. Muhahahaha!
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07.12.07
Posted in About Life and Philosophy at 5:45 pm by Administrator
Everybody I know has a dream. If I allow myself to dwell on the subject–which I try not to do–it saddens me that so few ever see those dreams come true. I guess in some cases the dreams are wrong. There are some things a person just can’t make happen, regardless of the measure of desire or commitment. But there are an awful lot of cases in which people could make their dreams reality… if they only believed in them enough to make them happen.
My song for today is “Dream Big” by Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband. Click here if you’d like to hear it.
I’ve been listening to it, thinking about my children, and contemplating whether I’m giving them the proper values and skills they’ll need, as teens and adults, to establish achievable dreams and to make those dreams come true. I think I am–I pray I am–but only the years to come will reveal that answer.
I see a lot of people give up on their dreams without giving them half a try, and I think what a terrible waste of potential that is.
One thing I’ve learned in my many years of living is that the life you live as an adult is largely defined by the priorities you set and live by. And so it’s important not to float along letting circumstances guide you. Actively decide what your priorities are, and reassess them periodically to make sure you understand what’s driving you at any given time.
Sometimes a dream, when viewed from a distance, can seem impossible to reach. Don’t just look at the end goal. Make a list of sub-goals, lay out a path, make baby steps that will give you a sense of accomplishment along the way. If you can’t get the course mapped out on your own, seek help from someone who has both more life experience and a proven commitment to your best interests.
Set your priorities wisely and live by them. Be true to yourself by being true to them. You might make a mistake now and then or get off-track. That’s okay. It happens. Just map out a course for getting back onto your path toward success.
And if your final goal is one of the exciting-but-hard-to-achieve careers, don’t turn your back on your chosen field just because you might not ever reach the top. Think really hard so you know what it is about that career that draws you, and consider work in related fields that let you do those same things, while you’re working toward the big-time. Yes, you might have to put up with people who accuse you of ’selling out’ if you design greeting cards for a living–but you’ll have food to eat, and a roof over your head, and you’ll be creating something where first there was nothing. You’ll also be earning money to buy painting supplies for the masterpieces you work on at night. You’ll be able to afford to go to museums, galleries, symposia, etc., to stay abreast of developments in your chosen field and to make contacts. And if it turns out you never become a world-renowned painter, then you’ll still have a fulfilling and rewarding life–if what you love about painting is the creative process itself. Granted, you might have earned more money during your lifetime if you’d become a stockbroker, but think of all the time you’d have spent doing things you hated.
Choosing a career isn’t hard. What do you love to do?
For me, there was only ever one thing I could be–a writer. That’s because I love to create with words. I could be content writing cereal boxes for a living because I’d be writing. Fortunately, it didn’t come to that, but I’d have made do if it did. I’d have written the best damned cereal boxes I could during the work hours. Then I’d go home at night and, using the computer I bought with my cereal-box earnings, I’d write words from my soul.
Soooo… if you’re about to give up on one of those hard-to-achieve dreams, please don’t. It’s not too late.
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