While I’ve had my head buried in a 20 page paper trying to prove that flash fiction is short story at its most distilled, many of my friends and colleagues have been up to much more interesting things. (More interesting than literary criticism?! I know, I couldn’t I believe it either.)

NaNoWriMo Word Counters

First, a little gift for the NaNoWriMo crowd. Jennifer Mattern over at AllFreelanceWriting.com  has released not one but two new word counters for all your novel writing needs. In the spirit of stripped down, quick and dirty NaNo, one word counter is a simple tool with no bells and whistles to distract you from your furious typing.  On the other hand, if you’re like me and like to procrastinate with shiny new toys, you can check out the super duper word counter that not only counts up, but counts down, tracks your progress toward a goal (like weight loss) or just generally takes care of all of your counting needs.

Scary Freelancing Story Contest

Further, in the spirit of the Halloween season, this week’s SpecialtyBuzz specialist Jake Ponier has started a Scary Freelancing Stories Contest over at FreelanceWriterville II, the Freelancewriterville.com Social Networking community. Submit your tale of “vampirish clients, very unfortunate events, or deadliest deadlines” for a chance to win a $10 Amazon.com gift card.

Don’t forget to sign up for FreelanceWriterville II while you’re there.

Days of Gratitude eBook Released

Just in time for Thanksgiving, someone I am very thankful for, my friend Vanessa Lowery, released an ebook calledDays of Gratitude.  The book consists of 30 gratitude exercises that will only take 5 to 10 minutes per day, so you could probably squeeze it in around Nano, writing, business management, family, and Thanksgiving no sweat. Earlier in my freelancing career, Vanessa helped me immensely, so I can testify that she won’t steer you wrong!

Everybody have a safe and happy Halloween weekend!