He's also a regular commenter here and might have won a flash fiction contest.
In other words, we're pals AND I know his name.
Too bad my spam filter didn't.
Priscilla is a petulant thing. She is stupid as only a literal-minded thing can be (not quite on the level of sheep in that she's not quite suicidal but close.)
When I tell her in no uncertain terms that AuthorPalOMine@SharkForBrains.com is a pal, and his emails should be color coded green and speedily sent to my inbox with a trumpet flourish, she will do that.
But she'll ONLY do that if the email is AuthorPalOMine@SharkForBrains.com.
If it's AuthorPalOMine@AuthorPalOMine.com, Priscilla balks.
And by balking I mean she does not color code it green, does not speedily deliver it to my inbox and all trumpets have fallen silent.
Given we all have multiple email addresses (I have six, three of which you'll see associated with my agenting gig) it's really important to remember that Priscilla and her ilk require consistency.
Always query from the same email address. Always follow up from that address if you're doing revisions or anything else.
If you're pals with a shark, and you know you're going to change email addresses, let me know. That way I can make sure Priscilla's instructions are updated.
Here's the reason you want to do that: If you send something with an attachment, it's likely to get sorted into spam if your address isn't in my address book. Once you're in spam, my response time drops like a rock cause I do forget to check it sometimes. Oh, I'll find you eventually sure, but neither of us really want a delay like that.
I do pay attention to the people I know, but the way I make sure of that is by color coding your email address. Change your email address and you've stymied me. I'm pretty sure this is NOT what you want to do.
Is it?
47 comments:
Harley, the best dog in the world, was one of those special guys who would tilt his head when you spoke to him. He'd look you in the eye with that, huh, duh, WTF are saying about me, kind of looks, just like your dog of the day.
"Huh, wha' were you saying about notifying you if I change my email address."
"What's email?"
Holy smokes, a revision request from QOTKU? Mr. Blog Reider better clean up his email act!
Elka does the endearing head tilt thing as you're talking to her. Her eyes are very human (I think) and she's trying as hard as she can to understand what you're saying to her.
I love the animal pics on this blog. And I will never, ever change my email address. Ever. Got it. Oh boy,
"...and might have won a flash fiction contest"
Second tab on the Excel Spreadsheet. List of winners. Unless you're being vague so as not to reveal his identity. Otherwise... *returns Janet's flinty look* *starts smiling* *fails completely at looking intimidating*
One of the advantages of having my own domain (at least with the hosting company I use) is that I can set up an unlimited number of email accounts. I have three that I use all the time, based on my level of familiarity with the correspondent. There's one for all the people I know personally (family, church friends, etc.). There's one for people I don't mind contacting me (e.g., people on this blog, people on my blog, agents, etc.). And then I have one I use for places that make me provide an email address, but I anticipate most of the time they'll send me spam. 90% of what goes to that address ends up in the trash. This seems to work well, though sometimes I'll forget to switch accounts in Outlook and send email to someone in the second group from the first account. And when it's an agent, it does concern me that their spam filter may be set to accept the second address and not the first, so my mail will get eaten. Thanks for the reminder to be diligent about this, Janet.
Of course, I would never presume you actually *want* to get my emails, so I would never presume to bother to notify you with a change of email address. I would just hope you check the spam filter once in a while, and that somehow you would recognize my message as not being spam and fish it out. :)
this is so nicely timed! I sent a requested full to an agent a couple of days ago, after agonising whether to send it from my professional-sounding email address or the less-than-professional one from which i'd sent the original query (accidentally, i should add - usually all queries go from the posh account, but apparently it was one detail too many for my poor addled brain that day). So thank you Queen Shark for the reassurance!
Congrats Anonymous Reider! Best of Luck as Janet's Chum!
Like Colin, I have multiple e-mail addresses with different purposes. I use Mac's Mail application so that I may view them all at once. Occasionally, my durn computer will hiccup and send an email from address A when I'm trying to send it to address B. This post makes me wish for the good ole days when all you had to do was smack the thing to make it work. That way, instead of dealing with all the technicalities involved with checking the server and yada yada yada, this scenario would likely go something like this:
Me: *sends email from address A*
My Computer: *sends email from address A*
Agent's Spambot: *accepts email*
Me: *sends follow up email from address A*
My Computer: *sends email from address B*
Agent's Spambot: *blocks email*
Me: *after not hearing back, checks email to make sure it was sent. Sees computer sent it from wrong email, and sends another follow up email from address A, apologizing for a possible double email, and explaining that I thought email may have gotten blocked*
My Computer: *starts sending email from address B*
Me: *whacks computer*
Computer: *sends email from address A*
Guilty as charged! Bring on the handcuffs! Not with the shark, obviously I'm not the he that she mentioned, (Now there's a perfect example of *that* being needed for clarity!) but, I've made the mistake of switching emails and creating confusion. Colin, I wish I had your techie know-how. I think I have a dedicated professional email with my Wordpress site, and I haven't worked with it yet, because other than Facebook and Twitter I'm struggling with Social Media. I'm still worried QOTKU could see my dormant Goodreads account, for heaven's sake, cause then I'd be banished for sure. According to that electronic genius I've only read four books in my life!
Gossamer@purrboxdefuzzy.com is coded to flash in gold in Janet's inbox, I'm fairly sure. :)
Today's puppy has a gorgeous coat and such purtyful eyeballs. Jennifer, my girl Penelope has people eyes too, her whites are unusually visible and clear for a dog.
Now there's an interesting question, Sherry, that goes to an article from earlier this week:
Janet: Do you only look at the social media someone says they have, or do you search Goodreads (for example) to see if that person is there, or do you just Google that person's name and see what comes up? At the moment, I'm operating on the assumption that you (or any agent I query) might visit my blog because that's listed on my email signature, and you might then visit any social media I list on my blog. So if I have an outdated MySpace account, if I don't mention it, you'll never visit it or go looking for it. Is this incorrect?
I have a domain email, my gmail email, my forum email, my other forum email, my old when-yahoo-was-the-lesser-of-two-emails email, and a couple others I don't ever really check because the only thing they ever collect these days is spam. Gmail picks up all the important email addresses, but sends everything with the gmail address unless you change it to the address you really want to use and sometimes, I forget :(
I only have 2 emails (work and not), but wish I was as organized as Colin. I was thinking of having a more professional email for writing, but I have so many outstanding requests that I don't want to end up on the wrong end of a nearly suicidal spam filter.
At least one request got bounced back to me due to volume. I do wonder if agents have a way of keeping their inboxes from becoming full because that will bounce your request as well. I think this was how this agent took vacation myself- spam full the inbox, hit the sunny Carribean for a week, clear out the inbox, and resume the madness. It's better than Norman- you get a lovely notification that your email was not delivered because there was no room for it. Sigh. I needed to do one more revision anyhow.
I received a full request in my spam folder once. It wasn't a habit to check, considering it's mostly filled with, well, spam--and not even the useful kind--but I did, and my heart did a little flip when I saw the familiar name and then the request.
Goes to show hope can be found in the unlikeliest of places.
Then again, that's what certain spammers are probably betting on.
At one point not that long ago, and for reasons which remain unknown even to my firm's IT guy, emails from one of our largest clients ended up in the spam filters of all of our office computers. After about an hour of trying to figure it out, IT guy ended up instructing all of us how to tell the spam filter on our computers that those email addresses were NOT spam. Fortunately, that worked, but we all check our spam filters once per day, just in case.
My work-from-home-IT-husband does computer and accounting work for several small businesses and a few rather large/national clubs. He must have 15-20 email addresses, several with his clients' domains and then his personal email accounts. He has all of them redirect to a single email address, but they send and receive from whatever address he wants them to [at least that's my non-computer-understanding of how it works]. I have no idea how he does this.
I have four email addresses, and I check all of them separately.
I don't remember where the spreadsheet of contest winners was, but I remember when it was first mentioned, I clicked on it and I found myself on a page which asked for my password. Oh well. I'm apparently as computer-savvy as Priscilla [the phrase “She is stupid as only a literal-minded thing can be” probably applies to me].
So I'll just keep my one gmail address for my author-related work. I can do easy things. Which reminds me of a funny off-topic story. My husband usually has me go to auto parts stores to pick up stuff. I am NOT mechanically inclined, except that I screw up everything. So I bring a paper [written by hubby] with all the relevant info, hand it to the parts person, and say “I need one of these.” If the parts person needs more info, I always have to call hubby to ask. Anyway, one day I had fun. I brought my oil dip stick into parts store and held it out to parts person [who knows me by now].
Me: I need one of these.
Parts person, inspecting dip stick: Why?
Me: It's too short to reach the oil.
The look on his face was priceless. I gave him a few minutes to try to formulate a response [his thought process probably included the phrase “clueless woman driver”] before I laughed and told him I was joking.
I don't think I want to know what color Janet has my emails color-coded to, if any. Altho maybe I shouldn't worry. After all, sharks are known to extend professional courtesies among themselves =)
Happy Friday everyone!
Ah! I remembered Kari Lynn Dell's story as soon as you mentioned sheep! I also think the Kari Lynn Dell FF contest was one of the first I participated in. One of the words was dell.
I have one email and one only.
I think I've got everything situated for sharing it - even on the Google+ sight. This will make me check though!
Ha! Colin - I thought it was YOU, although I now remember you said you'd not finished your WIP. Must go look at the list!
Michael Seese comes to mind...and John Frain.
Gulp!
I have been known to mix email accts. I have been duly chastised and will be more mindful.
Best wishes to that commenter who got a request for revisions from Janet. We are in awe.
BTW - I score 3 on the checklist of things that MIGHT make me a possible pal of the Shark!! Regular commenter - check Got an email from Janet once - check Won a flash fiction - check. But if I sent her kidlit, she might bite my head off - sharks are known to do that.
My guesses are the same as Donnaeve's. John Frain or Muchael Seese- must be. Both are just brilliant and funny. Hope whoever it is quickly gets back on the pretty green side of Priscilla in the next few minutes.
I also have same checked list as SD King- regular commenter, contest winner, shared emails with the shark. However, I write epic fantasy- if I sent that to the shark- well, the feeding frenzy... Eh gadz!
Before I really began querying and supporting my writing in earnest, I had an email address that began with "jozeyno" - this was a character I created 30 years ago, not even in a written work (ready for a shocker, not? I was a theater geek as a kid) and the "no" was some sort of denial that Josie was my avatar. I honestly can't think why I used it, but it was my email for a long time and when it came time to use email for business correspondence, it was time to grow up. "jozeyno" is far from the silliest email ID ever, but it does not identify ME in any useful way, and I felt it was best to downshift, so now my email is under DLMajor.
My online identity varies between DMajor, DLM, DLMajor, and DianeM, but it's easily identifiable I think, and the email is a part of it. "Branding", pre-published luddite author style.
I only have two accounts - work and home - and have no issues keeping track on my home email because it gets fairly little spam and I just use Outlook as a client and divide things worth keeping (adoring correspondence with Janet re: Adorableness, Gossamer the Editor Cat) into subfolders. To have multiple actual accounts would go way beyond my needs for now (I'm an admin, I keep a lot, but I organize it and have a thing about not having to scroll to view my entire Inbox!). Google imposed upon me a gmail account which I do not and possibly will not ever use, but it does exist should I find reason to expand.
Haha, and as I look at the comment window, I see that there is an option to Email follow-up comments to ... my gmail email. *SnerK*
DLM, that's because blogger is a Google company so any minute information you may have given to Google is now cross platform shared. They'll find you. One way or another.
*Boss is in CA for Grand National Roadster Show, goes back to editing!*
Since we seem to be tallying, let's see how I do on the "friend of the Shark" checklist:
* Contest Winner: CHECK!
* Regular Commenter: CHECK!
* Have corresponded with QOTKU via email in the past: CHECK!
* Has a Carkoon record: STRIKE!
* Consistently and painfully violates commenting rules: STRIKE!
* Likes kale and lima beans: STRIKE STRIKE!!!
* Uses italics: STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE!!!!
Does your spam filter have an address, Janet? Maybe I should just cut out the middle-person... :)
nights, exactly! I do what I can to keep 'em guessing - not using the gmail, not being on FaceBook, turning off locations on my devices and so on. This doesn't exempt me from USE THIS ONE WEIRD TRICK crap noting cities and states I have at some point in my life heard of, and may even live in, but at least I'm very slightly harder for the ad nerds to quantify and make money off of.
Yep, Colin was the first name to pop in my head as well.
So Colin, pretend donnaeve and My Grace are clairvoyant, foreseeing great things in your future, and finish that WIP.
___________
Here's a thot to tuck into the back of one's head: whilst it is considered polite not to send an unrepped genre to an agent, every once in a while something special happens (chumbucket) when the rules are bent. Had an opportunity to sub a Regency Romance to Her Sharkness and received a professional, polite and honest reply, as per the bent rules of the hour.
Now, what if my chumbucket sub had been the most brilliant thing she had read all year? While Her Sharkness won't suddenly be acquiring RegRom, I imagine her reply would be to my book's benefit.
Just sayin', if an "opportunity" comes along, here or somewhere else, don't be afraid to take it. Faint heart ne'er won fair agent.
Donna: By the time I've finished this or any WiP that might be worthy of Janet, she'll probably have filled her client quota for the year. Or she'll have retired to the Bahamas.
I'm truly humbled that people think Janet would have such a positive response to something I submit to her. But no, she's not talking about me. And you can be pretty sure that anyone she mentions in the context of queries will NOT be me for a good while yet. However, I'm with those betting it's John or Michael. Both worthy candidates.
I meant Michael not Muchael - ugh! Trying to comment clandestinely at work. Mistakes happen.
I, like Colin, have a Carkoon record, use italics (but trying to fix that), and sometimes I break the "rules". But I see the rules a bit like the pirate's code in that they are not actual rules, but more along the lines of guidelines and you must be a pirate for the rules to apply.
And sometimes I just want to blabber here because all you Reiders are simply lovely. And it makes me feel like I exist because sometimes my existential crises are intense and dangerous. I would have jumped out of a plane without a parachute by now just to see if I would fly if not for this group. Just saying.
I have eight e-mail addresses for different parts of what all is me. Because of that I learned the hard way that consistency is of the utmost importance.
If you query from one address make sure you stay with that for future conversation. Never send a requested anything from a different address than it was received to. Sometimes it is even important to reply to the request using the reply button. It will sometimes remind the recipient of who you are.
There are too many various bombs out there for someone to open an e-mail from an unknown address. Even if they do they will never open an attachment. I am pretty sure that I will have to use an attachment when I get to sending fulls. My e-mail server does not like really large amounts of text.
Hilarious, Colin! STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE!
When you put that word in, I could see QOTKU snapping at your behind with every STRIKE! LOL!
Yeah, QOTKU is generous to "us'ns" out here. I wouldn't be surprised if we all haven't emailed her at some point to ask a question we'd be too embarrassed (or secretive - shhhhh!) about.
I'll go one further on the checklist:
* Contest Winner: CHECK!
* Regular Commenter: CHECK!
* Have corresponded with QOTKU via email in the past: CHECK!
* Friended QOTKU on FB: CHECK!
* Met her in person: CHECK!
AND, if she had anything else to offer up, like:
* Buy her book: CHECK!
I'll have to think of some more. I thought about blood and organ donation, and then realized she might think of that as chum.
:)
I am not sure how I reach the honor of being friends with the Shark but I am sure that she has hunted down all of my email addresses and set her filters to delete anything from me by now, especial after the Lego incident of 2016. Not to mention the threat of showing up at her office singing show tunes.
Did anyone else notice how enthusiastic Sherry was about handcuffs? I am not judging her. Just thought she got a bit too excited about the idea.
I used to have 6 or 7 email addresses, back when it was fun to claim as many as possible (when xXx and alternate spellings were popular). Then I downsized to 4. I check them separately for the most part, because replying from different email addresses hasn't worked well for me in the past. (Although I consider myself fairly tech savvy.) I still want to downsize that to 3, but I don't want to delete all my history. It's good search material. And that's not counting my 2 work-related emails.
Colin, I think Janet's kind of answered that question about social media in recent weeks (although this was in regards to short stories across multiple genres):
And let's all remember, we're not googling to assemble a list to trip you up. We're mostly googling just to get a sense of what you're like. If you're not crazy, and you don't have sixteen self-published books for sale (that you neglected to mention in the query) one of which is this novel you're querying for, it's all good. [WIR 1/10/16]
The email thing can be a mess.
I have two accounts at home with Charter. I really only use one so no big problem.
I have one at school, which could cause a problem if I want to send an email from school to someone I normally communicate with from home my email address will be different than the one at home.
Then there's gmail - I must use gmail to communicate with "blogger: Janet Reid, Literary Agent." Also if I send a group email to students or faculty at school, but access my school email from my home computer, the message will be sent through gmail automatically (and not my home email or my school email account).
Since I never remember I have a gmail account unless prompted, I never check it for incoming messages (I may do that today to see how many Christmas greetings I got).
Luckily I don't think I've sent Janet Reid an email, but if I did, it would have been from my home account (but not the gmail account) and it would have had an attachment (that she's never opened).
On a serious note on junk mail.
A former student, clearly depressed, appeared at my office at least a decade after she graduated. She wanted to have lunch. I never go to lunch with students or former students but this time I did. We had a very nice lunch the next week.
Later that month she died mysteriously. (I assumed suicide (but don't know)).
A month later I skimmed my junk mail - and there was an email from the student (sent before a week or two before she died) suggesting (pleading?)we go take photographs (one of the things we discussed at lunch earlier).
I've been haunted by the big "If only I had found that email" regret since.
Ugh - I checked my gmail inbox. Only three real messages, all from students. One was dated September 2014 (2014!)thanking me for helping her understand something in a course I didn't teach.
The other two were from a student who is a good singer/songwriter who sent me audio versions of songs he had just written and recorded.
I've seen both students many times since so no harm done.
Joseph: Wow. That's really sad. And yes, it would haunt me too. :(
And am I terrible for seeing the premise for a horror story there...? :-\
Thanks for the reminder, I'll make a point to check all my spam boxes today.
Joseph, how tragic, but don't be hard on yourself. You can't change what happened and regrets won't change anything. Perhaps the lunch you shared with your former student was one of her best memories she took with her.
Another thing, you're assuming she committed suicide, but what if she died in an accident or an illness she didn't tell you about? Anyway, I'm sorry for your loss.
Joseph Snoe, I get why you'd think like that, and I would have too. She was reaching out for whatever reason - and you bent a rule for her, which was good.
Ha, Colin - your way of looking at many events in life is a good thing for a writer! Like the time I tried to tell my "terrifying" story about that scam and...you thought of it that the same way, while all I could do was envision myself being dragged off into some stranger's car trunk never to be seen again.
:)
Joseph,
That's too much for anyone's shoulders. Completely understand your regret, no way I'm trying to diminish that, but you can't take everyone's pain and attach it to yourself. It's too heavy a burden.
My wife works at the agency here that provides the suicide hotline, and there's a national number: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Not a bad number to have sitting around. The stories I hear sometimes are unbelievable, so let me share one quick one. (The guy in it tells it longer and better, but you can imagine the emotion.)
Anyone who volunteers to answer the phones is required to go through training. A guy goes through eight hours of training one day and is headed home afterward. He lives on the other side of the river, southern Illinois. ON HIS WAY HOME FROM TRAINING to counsel for crisis intervention, a person is about to jump off the bridge to take their life. He stops his car in the middle of the bridge, gets out and uses everything he just learned to coax this person back down to his side of the bridge.
Those were two lucky people. The person who was about to jump, obviously. But here's also this guy who wants nothing more than to help people and gets his opportunity immediately.
That story never gets less incredible every time I think about it.
Call the number if you like, Joseph. They've talked to someone in your shoes before. But that's your decision obviously.
I have eight email addresses, four of which I actually use. I also have a work email. Although yesterday I found out I have two work email accounts. Something you'd have thought they would have told me about ages ago.
Joseph Snoe, I feel for you. I had something somewhat similar happen once. A friend asked me about getting together to make cookies, and I forgot to respond but didn't think much of it because it wasn't time sensitive. She committed suicide a week after she sent the email. My lack of response wasn't the reason she made her decision, but I wonder what-if. And still feel like a jerk eight years later. And wonder what-if. Then feel like a jerk again.
Colin, I definitely see the potential for a ghost and/or horror story in situations like this.
I'm only here today because I am licking my wounds. I got outbid on a nice set of leather tools when someone swooped in on me at the last minute. I had promised myself no blogs until the writing is done, but here I sat while I waited on the auction.
So, since I broke my vow to myself, let me congratulate the person who has the R&R. Janet is a remarkable agent.
Emails are serious business these days. See the great hunt for Gary Corby posts.
I email QOTKU from time to time and chat, "hey, how you doing?" Well, no, not really. Her patience with me does have its limits. Regardless, she knows who I am, because I make sure I'm easy to recognize. No LadyOfTheLake@Camelot.whatever.
I'm going to put out something to think about. The first month of this year is gone. What have you done differently that is going to help you achieve your writing goals?
Here's a thought about author word counts. Notice anything? They write daily. It doesn't matter how much. They write daily.
I don't strive for a daily word count, but I do get out my handy dandy antique hour glass and flip it until I feel I've reached a satisfying stopping point. Some days the story flows, but usually, it's work.
We all want to get to that point where an agent requests. That takes work. We can read all the books on craft, talk about writing, take classes, and wish, but in the end it comes down to work.
This guy makes it look effortless, but they didn't start out this way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g70ZgvmaYAM
Joe, I'm very sorry to hear about your student. I had a similar situation and have thought about it often. It's sad, but I know your heart and you can't beat yourself up about it.
Last bit of advice, get organized. I had two blog posts written. The first a review on Chris Humphreys The French Executioner. No idea where they are. That's what you get for not paying attention where you save something or not saving something.
Joseph Snoe, not making light of or diminishing your regrets, but by living on this planet long enough, death will hit close to home. Cherish the good memories and release the bad. It's tough, I've lived it. The inverse of sorrow is humor and that is why I prefer writing humor (even if it isn't quite a story).
I'm going to add to the checklist.
*finalist in FF: strike one
*sporadic commentator: strike two
*I have communicated with Ms. Reid: Swing, foul ball
*Gnawed on--over at Query Shark with no less than a "Thud" and a "Splat" or other sounds of a hot mess landing aground: Contact, back,back,back...ker-thunk!
Kregger
Congrats to the bait who has hooked the Shark. I hope you have your email together.
Non sequiturs alert.
This discussion could go into the be prepared category.
Another place to look for lost contacts is that 'other' file on your FB account.
QOTKU has us in tease conjecturing who it may be. Does she live on a boat in paradise?
Thank you, Julie M. Weathers, for that daily writing reminder. My work load doubled then tripled in the last month. There are a few red stickers on my January calendar. There are no excuses.
My mind works in non sequiturs.
It's probably wrong of me, but this situation made me laugh. I can SO easily see it happening to me, only with my luck the recipient would never figure it out. Glad you caught it, Janet, and hope you'll be adding to your client roster in the near future. More books for us to read!
Y'know, even if she never reps me as an agent, I like the idea of being pals with a shark. And with all her blog chum.
Joseph, you have a good heart and clearly that student knew it. Suicide (if that's what it was) is never about other people, it's about that one person. This might have been her way of saying goodbye to people who mattered to her. But it was still goodbye. Wishing you peace of mind.
NM, from the last post: I'm just glad if my words renewed your determination. I hope you know they were directed to myself as much as they were to you. And thank you just the same, but I'd like to decline any association with the term "pit bull." For, um, political reasons. :)
Good advice. I have one for writing: the pro. One for friends, associates, and family members who can type.
Julie M. I like your question about it's a month gone already, and what have we done? I'll show how my year's going: a writer friend and I have already had to postpone our second annual writers' planning retreat.
I was thinking I only had 4 email addresses, although I am dumping the yahoo one because it is the most spammy, so that leaves 3 that I actually use. Then I remember there is one with my website hosting thingie which I have never used, and then there are 2 from my home network which I use one for all my mother's important communications, and one for my banking. These two are practically secret, even from me.
Then I remembered that my undergraduate school recently handed out email addresses to alumnae, but I'm pretty sure. I rerouted all email that I rarely get from that one to one of my regularly used email addresses. And then there is a local online arts and culture magazine that I blog for, that I think gave me an email address.
So the answer is...um...I have no idea how many email addresses I have.
Off Topic: If we get to vote on these sorts of things, I think "Faint heart ne'er won fair agent" should be nominated for next weeks subheader. Just my opinion. :-)
And a hearty congrats to whoever the Reider is who got a full request from the Shark! Huzzah!
kd, I was picturing a pibble standing there growling and barking at all of us I have no idea what a political pit bull is...But considering I try not to be political in public, it's no surprise. :)
And now, I'm back to picking pictures with street names. It's always the same pictures, always the same names. I think reCaptcha has lost it this time...
Good to be reminded of this!
NM, no worries. I try not to get all publicly political either (ie, not going to explain), although it's a really tough stance when you were raised thinking that was completely normal and it was a civic responsibility, not a choice, and your parents knew a bunch of passionately political people, including Hubert Humphrey and Nadine Strossen and Al Franken. Let's just extend the watery metaphor over here and say I'm more of a "guppy motivator." Sort of like Nemo. All bluster and exuberant naive bravado and damned lucky to survive my adventures with only a slightly damaged fin.
On Julie's point about what's been accomplished so far this year: I signed on to a January writing challenge. This was a FB group of about a dozen serious writers. We each stated a goal for the month, divided into daily work loads, whether it was word count, butt in chair, or by the piece. We reported in every day--every day--on whether or not we hit our goal. And I did, every single day. It was a relatively simple thing to have do that check-in, yet it increased my productivity.
I only have two email accounts. I regularly check the spam folders in each.
You shouldn't have to do this with your contacts, but as an FYI, most email hosts will accept wild cards in the filter rules to catch varations on an email theme.
Say for example you wanted to catch any variation of "JohnWriter@gmail.com" you would set your filters to use "JohnWriter@*.com".
Alternatively, if you wanted to let any email through that came from a certain domain, you could do it with the following wild card example: "*@awesomelitagency.com", which would capture any email sent from the Awesome Lit Agency.
It won't protect you from someone changing to a new email, but it at least allows you to get a little but smarter with your filters.
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