has posted over at Western Fictioneers about using the right search words to use when listing your novel over at Amazon. From the blog:
Search words are one of the most important tools used to sell a novel, so you want to use them wisely. At Amazon you are allowed 7. That’s it, so you have to pick carefully. Did you know there are rules for what search words are allowed and which ones aren’t? The following is a list of what not to use.
Only 133 of our country’s 401 national parks usually charge an entrance fee. So start Planning Your Visit!
If you’re planning a trip that includes multiple national parks, you might consider the $80 annual pass that provides entrance to all national parks, national wildlife refuges, national forests, and many other Federal lands-more than 2,000 in all. The America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass is offered free to all active duty military members and their dependents. Information on these and other pass options is available online. Continue reading
Michael Lanza posted a great article back in 2007 on the Backpacker Magazine website about hiking the John Muir Trail. I’m thinking about doing this same thing; Hiking the JMT in a week. How hard could it be? I’ve always wanted to see how many blisters I can get on my feet…
From the article:
Got a few days off, a pair of healthy feet, and a pain threshold higher than Dean Karnazes? You can (possibly) blaze the length of America’s Most Beautiful Trail.
Sunset Magazine has quite an extensive series of articles on Yosemite, including a slideshow of the ‘Top Wow Spots’ in the park.
From Sunset Magazine:
Getting there. Yosemite lies 195 miles east of San Francisco, 175 southeast of Sacramento, and 90 miles northeast of Fresno. The main gateway towns to Yosemite are El Portal, on California 140 just west of the park; Mariposa, also on 140 30 miles southwest from El Portal; Groveland, on California 120 west of the park; and Oakhurst, on California 41 south of the park. The entrance fee is $20 per vehicle.
When to go. Yosemite is a four-seasons park. Summer is the busiest time, with highs in the 80s and occasional thunderstorms. Fall offers warm days, cool nights and fall color. Winter brings lows in the 20s, considerable snow at higher elevations and lesser quantities in the valley. Spring is gorgeous, with blossoming dogwoods, splashing waterfalls and highs in the 60s.
Mark Phelps is reporting on the Flying Magazine website that the Spruce Goose may be up for repo. That’d be something to see!
The Spruce Goose (officially known as the “Hughes H-4 Hercules” FAA registration NX37602) is the largest flying boat ever built and has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history. It was built from birch wood because of wartime restrictions on metals, like aluminum. Critics nicknamed it the “Spruce Goose” – a name that Howard Hughes despised – even though it contained no spruce at all.
I guess “Birch Bitch” wasn’t publication friendly.
This magnificent aircraft only made one flight – with Howard Hughes at the controls – at Long Beach Harbor on November 2, 1947. The war had long since ended, but Hughes was bound and determined to show his detractors that the plane really could fly.
