As both a writer and a publisher, I know that sometimes we get stuck in one way or another.  Maybe we need something to inspire us, maybe we need a bit of information that is hard to find, maybe we are trying to establish our character’s place in history… in short, we need help.

So I have decided to share with you some of the things that help me when I need it.  You can call them resources, or tools, or lifelines, or whatever you like.  I won’t put them all in here at one time, but rather I’ll tantalize you with two or three in each entry in an effort to draw you back to my blog.  (Hey, at least I’m honest about it!)

Resource #1: Our Timelines.  Sometimes it is really helpful to get a handle on what was going on in the world at a particular point in your protagonist’s life.  This is especially true if you write historical fiction.  One really helpful resource I found is called Our Timelines.  Our Timelines allows you to enter both the birthdate and death date (if needed) of your character, all the way back to 1,000 CE, and it then will create a timeline with major events for each year in that character’s life.  Now, I’m not saying it lists EVERYTHING that happens every year, but it’s a great start, and a super resource to use when you’re trying to establish the technological or political frame of reference for a particular time in history.

Resource #2: Twists, Slugs and Roscoes-A Dictionary of Hardboiled Slang.  From the site: “If you’ve ever read a hardboiled detective story, you may have come across a sentence like,

“I jammed the roscoe in his button and said, ‘Close your yap, bo, or I squirt metal.’”

Something like that isn’t too hard to decipher. But what if you encounter,

“The flim-flammer jumped in the flivver and faded.”

“You dumb mug, get your mitts off the marbles before I stuff that mud-pipe down your mush–and tell your moll to hand over the mazuma.”

“The sucker with the schnozzle poured a slug but before he could scram out two shamuses showed him the shiv and said they could send him over.”

Exactly. Sometimes it’s hard to decode the slang of a past generation… or for that matter of the present generation, but that’s a different story.  If you want your hardboiled dicks, shamuses, and peepers to talk like wise heads, here’s your connection. Go here for the straight dope.

Resource #3: Guide to Grammar and Writing.  No matter how well we may think we write, or how strong a grip we may think we have on the English language, sometimes anyone can make a grammar mistake. It’s not always easy to get things right when you write. So, to help with those little things like grammar, usage, and composition, check out the Guide to Grammar and Writing at Capital Community College.

That’s enough for the moment.  I hope these are helpful for you, but if they aren’t, or if they are and you’d like to see more, drop around again soon.