Kalen Cap

Author of the Teen Thief-Catcher Novels

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First full draft completed

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I completed the full draft of “The Ancient Tripod of Peace” (working title) back in May. I’m receiving critiques and editing the first volume currently

With a second novel in a series for that in very early development, plans are for that to be the first book of the Teen Thief-Catcher series. Have a fledgling facebook page for that series and young adult sleuthing books in general.

With eventual publishing plans, I am participating in a blog tour with other writers for the upcoming year starting in August.  While a bit early for the new novel, this one has young adult protagonists and so I’m getting better acquainted with both authors and readers in that genre. The blog tour is via scribophile.com and the Blog World Tour group, Team Young Adult. blog

 

You can catch future posts here and via the Teen Thief-Catchers facebook page as the blog tour continues.

 

December 2014

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Have continued with work on “The Peace Cipher” (working title). Revamped the initial draft for younger main protagonists. While slow and steady progress is being made, given my otherwise full time employment, I do feel that the novel holds together much better with the changes.

Progress update

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While progress has been slow this year within my fiction writing, I have made headway on my second novel. This work-in-progress has been shaping up as I continue to write part-time, writing around my full-time work schedule and volunteering commitments.

I’ve also gained a better depth of understanding for the setting. The Sandusky Bay area of Ohio has a lot to offer, and is a unique setting with its mix of tourism and local flavor within a firmly entrenched four-season environment. I continue to be inspired by the area and have been changing more of my volunteering efforts to there as well.

I’m looking forward to continued progress in 2014. I expect the pace of completed writing in fiction to remain modest this upcoming year as well.

Social Media and Social Networking Dashboards

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As my involvement in writing content within social media for nonprofits I volunteer with increased recently, I found I was often switching between profiles when also looking into my own writing projects and personal use of social networks as well. A social media dashboard began looking more appealing.

I’ve been aware of social media dashboards for sometime. With increasing sophistication and diverse options, they can range from the limited free versions to the rather pricey. Since my needs were rather simple, but I did want several social networks and profiles capabilities within a dashboard since I’m an admin for a couple of organizations, I chose Hootsuite Pro’s trial offer. At $9.95 after the first month’s free trial, that’s likely within my budget, and it has quite a few apps (such as a Youtube one) that can be used to supplement its social profiles which include facebook, google +, twitter, LinkedIn and other networking sites as well. So far, the only omission among what I expected on first look is that google + is strictly for pages (I admin for one of those), but not for individual’s profiles or the increasingly important communities feature of google +. Still, I’m pleased with Hootsuite so far and will likely post a more experienced review sometime later.

Hootsuite does have a free version for those considering dashboards for the first time. There are also quite a few competitors in the social dashboard arena. I imagine I’ll still peruse the individual networks at a leisurely pace at times, but a social dashboard does provide a means to quickly check-in around varied work schedules and the like. If considering using social dashboards for the first time, I suggest starting with one of the free versions and make comparisons before committing to any expense.

(Note: I am not an affiliate of Hootsuite or any service provider.

Review of MEASURING THE NETWORKED NONPROFIT by Kanter & Paine

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WM-expenses-pie-2006 Attempting to become more effective in my volunteer capacities with nonprofits and social media, I read “Measuring the Networked Nonprofit” by Beth Kanter and Katie Delahaye Paine. Published in Autumn 2012, I was hoping for something up-to-date and this book did not disappoint. Most of the references and tools mentioned are current. That hasn’t always been the case for me when reading books related to social media where things tend to change rapidly.

What is excellent about this book is it takes models and theories, for example “ladder of engagement,” and presents these in everyday language, tying in practical advice, current means of measurement, and examples. This helps make complexities of measurement more accessible to those in nonprofits who deal with social media and presenting its results to decision makers. My perspective is that of a volunteer for largely volunteer run organizations, so I had to translate for that regarding the small staff discussions throughout the book. I imagine the same would be true of mid-size nonprofit employers, having to translate back to a smaller scale concern, but I believe this book would be applicable for quite a range of nonprofits.

That is not to say I found the book perfect. For one, transitions between topics can be rather abrupt within chapter narratives, even for a nonfiction book about technical issues. Also, future editions of “Measuring the Networked Nonprofit” should correct the one key weakness within it – the examples were rather hit or miss. First, the hypothetical Katie’s Kat Shelter (KKS) was used so many times that it hindered rather than forwarded the points being made. How likely are such concepts and measures to work in the real world if the text’s examples have to be imagined to write about? Even the real world examples needed more care. The full-page SeaWorld example in the chapter on relationship building may indeed be applicable to social media for organizations in crisis, but SeaWorld is a business, not a nonprofit. That’s not to say that business applications aren’t applicable for nonprofits, it just wasn’t presented that way within this book specifically about measurement for nonprofits.

Those concerns aside, MEASURING THE NETWORKED NONPROFIT is an excellent resource for the times. Making complex analyses more accessible is a worthwhile contribution to those involved in helping nonprofits that seek to help in the world.

A bit on Outlines

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I’ve been reworking the outline for the second half of my work-in-progress ‘The Peace Cipher.’ As I clear up the muddy third quarter of my second novel, I thought I’d give a plug for using outlines, particularly if a plot has some complexity.

I understand the “pantser” approach to writing has its advantages in terms of discovery for authors and I think that can work well for many. But, I’m finding that the few readers of early drafts of my work are more likely to appreciate the story elements if I’ve outlined extensively compared to when I have not. Again, this may be because of more complex plots, but I find that’s where I find a novelist can offer readers something different.

There are a variety of tools available for writing effective outlines. I like ‘Scrivener’ as a program for that purpose, but the old-fashioned ‘cork storyboard with notecards’ can work just as well. Whatever method of outlining authors choose, I’ve found it yields more helpful suggestions and comments during initial feedback sessions with early readers.