Using OneNote to get Organized

Mentors for Rent Community for Kidlit Writers is a closed group for writers but has lots to offer. It doesn't cost anything to belong.
This month or the next thirty days or so, a group of us members will be using and discussing OneNote to get organized.
I have never used OneNote, but it is free. I have a project that I would like to use it for and see how much help it will be.
The project is a family cookbook.
With the death of my mother last December and Dad several years ago, I find myself wanting to pass on family recipes and stories.
Using the OneNote I can store the emails  I get from family members on a page entitled with their names. I will be collecting recipes, stories and pictures.
So far I have gotten one story I never knew  about from my baby sister. I have received a few recipes from my oldest sister.
OneNote tutorial
One of the things I like about OneNote is that I can access my saved information from any of my devices. I have it on my desktop, ipad and iphone.


If you have used OneNote please comment the pros or cons you have found using it.
Remember next week I will announce the winners of Hoodoo and Writing Dialogue.
I hope you have enjoyed a Happy Easter.

Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith

Hoodoo written by Ronald L. Smith

Hoodoo is Ronald L. Smith debut novel, released in 2015.

Published by Clarion Books Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Illustrated by Sebastien Skrobol

Set in Sardis, Alabama in the 1930's.

Hoodoo is a twelve year old boy born with a heart shaped birthmark. When his Mama Frances saw it she said, "That child is marked. He got hoodoo in him." That's how he got the name Hoodoo Hatcher. 

Everybody said it was some kind of sign. People knew he was different the first time they laid eyes on him.

Hoodoo is some kind of folk magic. People used it for healing, or putting love spells or curses on people.

Hoodoo didn't know if he was much different than anyone else. After all he couldn't conjure up a simple spell. His Mama Frances says he has magick in him but it was buried deep.

One day a stranger comes to town looking for something. It shook up his cousin Zeke. Shook Hoodoo up too.

The stranger was after Hoodoo. Hoodoo's daddy was hanged and tried conjuring at the last minute. Hoodoo's left hand had the power his dad transferred to him. The stranger wanted that hand! Hoodoo must stop the stranger before the stranger got that hand. The stranger uses black magic on the whole town to get at Hoodoo. Can Hoodoo figure out how to destroy the demon in time to save himself, his family and the town?

This book is set in a small town in Alabama. Mr. Smith creates a believable setting. I kept wiping the sweat off my brow when I read it.  

This story is  about an African -American boy and the small town he lives in. Both parents are dead and he is raised by his Mama Frances. I love how Mama Frances believes in God but also uses the home remedies too.

Hoodoo, tries to do the right thing. I love the saying, "A wise man don't look for danger, but he'll die for a cause he knows is righteous."

Hoodoo has to be wise. He has to have heart to defeat the stranger.

Great read!

Next Sunday is Easter so I hope you all enjoy the day with your family and celebrate Jesus being alive and well.



March Book Giveaways

Writing Dialogue by Tom Chiarella and Hoodoo by Ronald L Smith

To continue our series of writing books, this month I will be giving away Writing Dialogue by Tom Chiarella.

You have probably heard the best way to write dialogue is to sit and listen to someone talk and then to write like that-minus the uh's and uhms in between the real speech. That is true but it is much more than that.

In chapter one Tom gives us a unique challenge: Write what you say not what people around you say.

Why would I want to do that? This helps you find your voice, who you are.

Instead of writing down mundane phrases you hear people saying, listen for the unusual. I have an aunt that I love to listen to because she is always saying something off the wall. I keep a notebook handy when I'm around her. Hehehe.

This slim book has eight chapters that will lead you to write conflict by your characters dialogue.

You will learn to compress exchanges between characters. This helps with character development and to drive the plot forward. Exercises will help  master these skills.

Another good  exercise is to study comic strips and the economy of words used.

Sometimes dialogue is not needed. Silence can be as big a mover as talking. Examples of this are given.

To use or not use dialogue tags is a question we must ask ourselves and it is unique to the story we want to tell.

An appendix and index are included.

This is a good book to refer to again and again for those pesky dialogue questions that surface from time to time.

If you would like to win this book or the book Hoodoo please enter using the rafflecoptor or leave a comment.

Winners will be announced April 3rd. So check back here to if you won.

See you next week!

February Book Winners Announced

Debbie Daurelio is the winner of Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood


Linda Carpenter is the winner of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by AVI.


If you didn't win don't despair, there will be new books given away this month.
Check back often and thank you for visiting and sharing the love of reading and creating.
Sheila