Access Denied!

September 14, 2015October 21, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 34 Comments

None of us like to talk about the end of life issues, but Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes,” is true and sooner or later, someone will be dealing with things we’ve left behind.

It seems like yesterday, sassy, opinionated and in the prime of my life, I thought the world was my oyster. But, I blinked and time slipped away faster than water through a sieve.

Now, when I open the paper, friends and acquaintances from high school look back at me from the obituary page. It gives you pause, especially when you notice their ages are within striking distance.

I lost my best friend of 37 years, almost six years ago. She died suddenly and too young. Afterwards, I made a point of getting things ready for my family. My last Will & Testament is in place, and arrangements made, right down to the last detail.

However, I wasn’t aware these plans should include digital content, all of it. Photos, stories, blogs, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to name a few.

What’s Included in Digital Content?

Email accounts
Online Searches
Digital Manuscripts
Facebook
Yahoo
Google
Microsoft
Apple
YouTube
Twitter
Blogs
Any other accounts where you have an online presence (too many to mention)
Fiction and non-fiction featured in online magazines and journals.

What Do You Want to Happen in the Event of Your Death?

Information to remain private?
Information and/or accounts deleted?
Surviving family members to have access to data?

Unless I specify who has access to these accounts, no one will.

What Can You Do?

Put your wishes in writing.
Google: Go to your account and create an “Inactive Account Manager. Without this, family members will, typically, need a court order to access.
Facebook: You can choose to set up a temporary or a permanent online memorial or delete all content from the social network after you die. However, a legacy contact most be designated for access. Refer to security/legacy settings.
Yahoo: Based on the privacy terms each user signs, Yahoo will not disclose files and all inactive accounts deleted.
Microsoft: Deletes inactive Outlook/Hotmail accounts; however, data may be released with a request or a court order.
Twitter: Does not provide anyone access. Your account is deleted upon notification of death.

These steps are not difficult to complete. I took care of my Google and Facebook accounts in a couple of minutes. I would recommend if you haven’t completed a Will, consider it. Not ready to make those plans? At least write your wishes in a statement, sign, date it, attach a list of all the sites you want included, and put it in a safe place. And the last thing, talk to your family and make your wishes known.

Talking about these issues are never pleasant, but when the time comes, I want my family to have access and/or a legal right to my words and images. What are your wishes?

What do you think? Have you made arrangements?

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story. And as always, you can follow me on Facebook at SheilaMGood, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Twitter @cofcmom,and Contently.

Tips for the Floundering Tweeter

August 15, 2015October 21, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

Although, I’ve had a Twitter account for awhile now, I admit I’m not proficient in the use of Twitter. For one, it can be addictive and it’s hard for me to say anything in a 140 characters. I’ve been working on my Twitter presence and thanks to Kevan Lee at Buffer for his article, Twitter Tips for Beginners, I have a number of tips to share with those of you who, like me, are still floundering beginners or, just floundering.

Twitter Tips

Unless you don’t want to get anything else done -Don’t read every tweet. According to Kevan, “If you’re following 100 people, you could see 2,200 tweets per day.” I don’t have that kind of time.
Use Lists: This is something I’ve used for some time now. I currently have nine lists, from writing to politics.
Talk to people. If they tweet, re-tweet, mention, or favor a tweet – recognize them. Say something, after all, Twitter is about connecting with people. In the South, we call not responding – rude!
Use a scheduler. I use Buffer and have for a long time.
Make sure your profile is up to date, professional and says something real about who you are.
Follow as many as you want and more if you can. You follow me, I’m gonna follow you. And, by the way, you can find me on Twitter @cofcmom.
And, Thanks Kevan for this: No. 1 Rule of Tweeting: If you want everyone to see your tweet, don’t start it with an @ symbol. I didn’t have a clue.
You’re not going to be shunned or cut off from Twitter world if you repost a Tweet more than once. Go for it. It’s okay. You might pick up a follower or two.
Don’t forget the # hashtag, but don’t overdo it either. According to Kevan, when you use more than two #’s, engagement drops by 17%. Who knew you could # someone to death. Kevan has a whole article on the science of #hashtags. You can check it out here.

Here’s to Tweeting. I’ll see you on the Twitter playground. I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story. And as always, you can follow me on Facebook at SheilaMGood, Twitter @cofcmom, Tumblr, and Pinterest.

Ways We Sabotage Our Own Writing Success

September 1, 2013November 14, 2015 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 7 Comments

Writing is not for the faint of heart. It takes hard work, dedication, a thick skin, and perseverance. Submitting that first piece of work is like standing naked on the stage of American Idol for all the world to judge.

We know, intellectually, constructive criticism and rejection will be part of the creative writing process, yet we are often unprepared. In addition, juggling everyday responsibilities and establishing a solid writing schedule amid time constraints can lead to disorganization, resulting in sabotaging the very success as writers we seek.

Sabotaging ourselves is easy. With its many disguises, it insidiously creeps up in the form of revisions, platform building, tutorials, tally counting, and discouragement, to name a few.
If you have ever found yourself doing any of the following, you might be sabotaging your writing success and perhaps it’s time to reevaluate.

Obsessing over a story or chapter–Revising to the point you can’t seem to move forward.
Obsessing over a rejection or critique–Taking it personally rather than learning from the experience
Obsessing over another’s numbers – Number of stories or novels published; the number of Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest followers they have compared to you. As a result, you spend more time on social network sites than writing.
Obsessing over learning rather than doing – Reading or attending every how-to-write-the –best-novel book, class or seminar without ever translating the knowledge into a story or novel.
Obsessing over time – Constant complaining over not enough time, schedule interruptions; lack of planning, no set schedule, timetable or goal.
Obsessing over a blank page – Writer’s block or missing muse.
Obsessing over the negative rather than the positive – Allowing discouragement, resentment, and anger to sap your creative energy.

Each one of us has chosen our path in life and defined our own success. However, to achieve our dreams and goals we must recognize the obstacles in our path, including the ones we often place ourselves.

Patterns of sabotage can lead to talented writers throwing their hands up in frustration or never seeing their dreams come to fruition. However, once recognized these patterns can be changed and success is but a keystroke away.

What do you think? Do writers sabotage themselves? Have you? I’d love to hear your comments.

“…Finally… never quit. That is all the secret of success. Never quit! Quitting, I like to believe, has not been a striking characteristic of our family, and it is not tolerated in our college.
If you can’t win the scholarship, fight it out to the end of the examination.
If you can’t win your race, at least finish—somewhere.
If your boat can’t win, at least keep pulling on your oar, even if your eye glazes and the taste of blood comes into your throat with every heave.
If you cannot make your five yards in football, keep bucking the line -never let up—if you can’t see, or hear, keep plugging ahead! Never quit! If you forget all else I have said, remember these two words, through all your life…”

John D. Swain novelist and screenwriter; The Book of Man: Readings on the Path to Manhood (Manuscripts & Archives, Yale University)

Time is relative, write?

How to write more

Is that block you keep stumbling over …you?

Too Much Planning Can Sabotage Your Productivity – And Career

Bloopers, Typos and Laughter

August 13, 2013August 11, 2017 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 1 Comment

We’ve all heard the warning, check and double-check spelling, punctuation, and grammar before submitting a piece for publication, but … what can I say, mistakes happen to the best of us.

If you’ve made a mistake recently, relax. Laughing at one’s self is a sign of maturity, or in some cases, getting ahead of the other guy.

"If you find it hard to laugh at yourself, I would be happy to do it for you." 
Groucho Marx                                                                         CLICK TO TWEET

"Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone..."
―Ella Wheeler Wilcox                                                      CLICK TO TWEET

So, kick back and have a good, old-fashioned belly laugh. It’s good for your health and good for the soul. As demonstrated by these wonderful church ladies with typewriters.

I can’t take credit for finding these tidbits of laughter. I received them from a dear friend. I tried my to find their origination but was unsuccessful. I did manage to locate them in numerous other places on the net. Angelfire.com, Beliefnet.com, Lotsofjokes.com, to name a few.

These Bloopers and Typos actually appeared in church bulletins or announced during church services.

1. The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
2. The sermon this morning: ‘Jesus Walks on the Water.’
3. The sermon tonight: ‘Searching for Jesus.’
4. Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
5. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.
6. Smile at someone who is hard to love.
7. Say ‘Hell’ to someone who doesn’t care much about you.
8. Don’t let worry kill you off – let the Church help.
9. Miss Charlene Mason sang ‘I will not pass this way again,’ giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
10. For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
11. Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
12. Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
13. At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be ‘What Is Hell?’ Come early and listen to our choir practice.
14. Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
15. The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment, and gracious hostility.
16. Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM – prayer and medication to follow.
17. The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
18. This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
19. Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.
20. The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the Congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
21. Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
22. Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
23. The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new campaign slogan last Sunday: I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours!

Thanks to my friend Jo and all her friends for forwarding these on. I hoped you enjoyed them as much as I did and took them in the spirit they were intended, a good belly laugh and a gentle reminder – check and recheck. Typos happen to the brightest and the blessed of us. No pun intended.

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