Author: Melissa Bowersock

Melissa Bowersock is an eclectic, award-winning author who writes in a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres. She has been both traditionally and independently published and lives in a small community in northern Arizona. Learn more about Melissa from her Amazon author page and her blog.

Choosing Names for Your Characters

character names feedback-2849602_960_720 (003)Some years ago, I wrote about the importance of names for characters, and things to consider when choosing them. More recently, other issues about names have come up for me, and I thought it was time to do an update.

When writing a novel, choosing names for your characters can be alternately fun and frustrating. I would doubt that any of my books go from start to finish with all the same names; many of them undergo several iterations before I’m happy with them. Personally, I love figuring out a name for a new important character, but it can be a long and bumpy journey, especially if I don’t think it through completely. Here are some things to consider: Continue reading “Choosing Names for Your Characters”

Track Changes in MS Word

accept or reject pixabay button-32259_640I don’t know about you, but I hate it when Microsoft issues a new upgrade to its Office programs, especially Word. I like Word; I use it every day and I know where everything is and what it does. But nooooo, MS has to issue new upgrades so it’s NEW and IMPROVED. It’s like car companies that put out a new version of a car and they just have to put the gas tank on the left side instead of the right side, just so you know you’ve got the latest thing. Blurgh.

But I digress.

Because MS releases periodic upgrades to Word, we often need to update our tutorials, as well. Way back in 2013, Laurie Boris wrote an excellent one on how to use Word’s track changes using Word for a Mac. This tutorial will concentrate on Word for PC. Many things will be similar, but not all. Continue reading “Track Changes in MS Word”

Author Tips: Choosing Names for Your Characters

authors and character names feedback-2849602_960_720 (004)Some years ago, I wrote about the importance of names for characters, and things to consider when choosing them. More recently, other issues about names have come up for me, and I thought it was time to do an update.

When writing a novel, choosing names for your characters can be alternately fun and frustrating. I would doubt that any of my books go from start to finish with all the same names; many of them undergo several iterations before I’m happy with them. Personally, I love figuring out a name for a new, important character, but it can be a long and bumpy journey, especially if I don’t think it through completely. Here are some things to consider: Continue reading “Author Tips: Choosing Names for Your Characters”

Trouble in Audible

I’ve written a couple of posts on my adventures with audio books: how to get connected with a narrator and how to use free promo codes. I’m sorry to report that the bubble has burst, and Audible has recently made a change that seriously impairs promotion efforts and even production efforts.

Previously, Audible (through Amazon’s subsidiary, ACX) would grant up to 50 free promo codes to both authors and narrators who split the royalties on a book for which they collaborated, 25 for the U.S. and 25 for the UK. If you used up all your codes, you could always request more. The fabulous thing about this was that you could give away the codes, readers/listeners could download the free books, and you still got your royalties. Audible got new customers or reinforced their relationship with habitual customers, so it was a win/win/win.

Well, as so often happens, scammers went to work figuring out how to Continue reading “Trouble in Audible”