Mike Fleming

Character Name Generation

Ever struggle to come up with character names? Sometimes they just pop into your head wrapped in a bow. That’s pretty rare, though, at least for me. Other times I’ll see something and be inspired with a character name. (And sometimes I’ll even remember to jot it down!) More often than not, though, it’s painful to come up with character names, especially on demand. Fortunately, technology can come to our aid. If you’re old-school you probably already have a megadump of your local phone company’s database right there in your kitchen. On printed paper, no less! Just pop open that phone book and randomly point to somewhere on a page.… Read More »Character Name Generation

Blog Transition Complete

My blog is now migrated. Woohoo! Thanks for your patience and sorry if you noticed any hiccups. How do you like the new design?

Switching Blogging Software

This is just a quick note to let you know that I’m switching to WordPress in the next couple days. If you’re an RSS subscriber (thanks!) then you may see my older posts in your feed again. I’m going to try to prevent that but if it does happen it should be a one-time deal. In fact, repeatedly seeing the old posts in the feed is one of the reasons I’m switching. Sorry if you experienced that in the past. The other reason for switching was because I felt penned in with my current software. I simply didn’t want to use it and thus blogging was rare. Now, though, I… Read More »Switching Blogging Software

Philosophy of the Muse (or, Hot Tub Bubbles)

Ever sit in a hot tub? Personally, I can’t resist the lure of the relaxing hot water, messaging jets, and all of those bubbles. During a recent hot tub experience I was mesmerized by the bubble patterns as they clung together in big, foamy islands, zipping past me in the strong current, forming, breaking, and forming again. As I contemplated bubble “behavior” I couldn’t help but think of the multiverse. Oh, you know you would, too! 😉 But even as abstract as the multiverse theory is I got even more abstract by likening the bubbles to ideas or the muse. So, read on if you’re in the mood for some… Read More »Philosophy of the Muse (or, Hot Tub Bubbles)

Hiveword Novel Writing Software Launched

If you’ve used the Writer’s Knowledge Base (WKB) you’ve probably noticed that it’s “Powered by Hiveword.” It’s true, too. The WKB has shared its existence with an unseen twin that has only been referenced in hushed tones. Sort of like Voldemort, I suppose. But not any more. I’m pleased to announce that Hiveword has finally busted free and is waiting to help you organize your novel in one place on the web. Hiveword allows you to track multiple stories whether those stories are novels, short stories, or whatever. It’s geared toward tracking fiction so each story can have characters, settings, and scenes. Screenshots: Story Detail, Story List Characters The data sheet… Read More »Hiveword Novel Writing Software Launched

Google+ and Writers

Writers and software developers have a lot in common. One of these days I’m going to write a big ol’ blog post on that. I’m sure, though, that many writers don’t consider themselves to have the same geeky creds as a computer guy. Pocket protectors and all that. But what do computer guys like? Shiny things, of course! Enter Google+. IT folks are flocking to Google+ in large numbers. We simply can’t resist new toys from Google. The Google Plus Directory tracks details about Google+ membership and, looking at the table below, you’ll see that computer guys dominate the top categories. Engineer 77,923 Developer 45,136 Designer 36,298 Software Engineer 31,655… Read More »Google+ and Writers

Introducing the Writer’s Knowledge Base Newsletter

As you know, the Writer’s Knowledge Base (WKB) is a searchable collection of links to great articles about writing. The purpose of the WKB is to: Enable writers to find great content that matches their needs Expose great bloggers to a wider audience The obvious way to achieve those goals is to have people go to the website and search. They’ll get the content they seek and, hopefully, discover and follow the bloggers that provided the information they needed. It works and it’s a rather personal experience. Elizabeth and I decided to try to extend the reach of the WKB via a free newsletter. It helps to achieve our goals… Read More »Introducing the Writer’s Knowledge Base Newsletter

The Genesis and Building of the Writer’s Knowledge Base

I wrote a guest post over at Elizabeth Craig’s blog about how a “Reese’s moment” spawned the Writer’s Knowledge Base (WKB) along with some background on how the system works. There’s quite a bit of detail there but you can also find more information in the announcement posts by me and Elizabeth. You also might find the original mockup of the search screen amusing. I posted that on the WritersKB Facebook page.

Seeing Hiveword.com in your referrer logs?

The Writer’s Knowledge Base (WKB) has been taking off like crazy. Writers are using it to find relevant articles for all of their writing needs. If you have articles in the WKB then you may see referrer entries for hiveword.com when users click on the links to you. Upon reviewing your website stats you may wonder “What is this Hiveword source?” and then proceed to the site. Then you’ll be stumped. Sorry about that. Due to poor timing on my part I didn’t get a link on the main page to the WKB which is ultimately the source of your traffic. In a nutshell, then, the WKB is a “sub-site”… Read More »Seeing Hiveword.com in your referrer logs?

Writer’s Knowledge Base

If you’ve ever tried to do a Google search for articles on the craft of writing you may have been seriously underwhelmed. Using the contextually obvious “plot” or “character” keywords will bring back tons of results that will be of no use to you as a writer. Enter the Writer’s Knowledge Base (WKB). The WKB is a service provided by Elizabeth S. Craig and me for finding high quality articles on writing via a Google-like search. The search is done instantly over thousands of writing-related articles ranging from character development to author promotion on social media. Unlike Google, all of the results are relevant to you as a writer. They… Read More »Writer’s Knowledge Base