My Five Favorite Writer's Helper Sites Around the Web

Hey y'all. Hope some gorgeous spring weather is upon you. We've had some thunderstorms and far too many cold snaps, but this week, we're living the good life.

I thought today I'd let you in on some of my favorite help sites for writing in case you're feeling uninspired. I know a few people who've mentioned they're not motivated or stuck in their WIPs. Here we go (I tend to repeat myself without remembering, so if you've seen some of these links from me before, don't remind me unless it gets excessive. It's all about my self-confidence. *wink, wink*):

1) Chaotic Shiny - A) it has one of my favorite words in it. I love shiny stuff. B) It has generators to help propel your writing. Need names, places, descriptions, events? Chaotic shiny has it. My first novel, The Treasure Hunter's Lady, was the plot product of a random story generator. God bless the people who put those things together.

2) Behindthename.com - It has long, long lists of names from literary to historical. I've picked tons of names from this site, either by searching for the name and its variations or by meaning. I don't think I could live without this site. It's the mother of all baby name web spots.

3) Cracked.com - Okay, it can be vulgar, and they make fun of a lot of things, from history to politics to the animal kingdom. But I also learn all kinds of things from this site. It not only points fingers and blurs the reality you know, it teaches. Who could ask for more?

This photo has nothing to do with this
post. That's the beauty of it.

4) Stock xchng - I know, it's a weird looking title for a website. And what does the stock market have to do with writing? Well, your guess is as good as mine. This isn't about money. Although you can find dollar sign photos here. For free. For your blogs. I love this site because I've pulled all sorts of goodies for blog posts from it. It makes my life easier because I don't have trot around the world searching for an approproate (or inappropriate) photo.

5) Pinterest - You knew that was coming, huh? What I love about it is that I can make super-sneaky private boards. And it fuels my obsession with steampunk fascinators and hats. And I can upload graphics and media I use to market my books. I have a whole board full of quotes from them. Or you can see everything I've pinned from motivational quotes to Victorian photography. Yes, it's a time suck, but it's a deliciously wonderful one.

Feel free to share your favorite time suck, er helpful writer-friendly sites with me!

When I'm not blogging here, I'm at Have Novel, Will Edit, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus!