Tag Archive for: Skype

Getting Together When We’re Apart

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By Sparkle Abbey

We’re all doing it. If you haven’t yet, trust us you will. No, we’re not talking about drinking wine at noon. Although if you are drinking wine at lunchtime, more power to you. We’re talking about virtual meetings. Around the world, people are working from home as we practice social distancing, which means you may have already had to embrace the virtual meeting.

There are lots of options for online meetings. Last week our critique group used Google Hangouts. Our next meeting we’re going to use Zoom. It seems pretty straightforward and some of us have already used it for day-job work meetings now that we’re working from home.

If you’re considering using technology to stay in touch with family and friends, we have a few tips – besides the very important don’t take your computer with you to the bathroom.

So, before you accidentally turn yourself into a potato filter, here are our five tips for a successful virtual get-together.

  • Test everything first. Does your computer or mobile device have a microphone and camera? Make sure you know how they work. 
  • Before your first meeting learn a bit about the virtual meeting tool.  Practically all the available options have a tutorial on their website and YouTube is packed with how-to videos. 
  • Try out a few different options and see which one works best for you. There are a bunch of them out there. Google Hangouts, Zoom. Slack, Skype, Teams, Go-To-Meeting, and more.
  • Manage your expectation. It’s not going to be perfect and you’ll mess up, but keep trying. We promise it will get better with more experience. 
  • Have fun! Though it’s not as good as seeing your friends and family in person, it’s a creative way to stay in touch and see those faces you’re missing. 
Zoom seems to be the most popular meeting app of choice and so we’ve also included a link to a great article from Fast Company on the 7 Tricks to Make Zoom Meetings Great.
Let us know what you think! Have you been doing virtual meetings? If so, what’s your favorite app? If not, is it something you’d be willing to try? 
Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.) 
They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.

Visiting With The Killer Coffee Club

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by Shari Randall

One of the
biggest perks of being an author is getting to spend time talking with readers.
Because I’m a writer, reader, and former librarian, I love talking books! I
feel torn while writing because I stay away from the type of books I love
reading most – mysteries. I’m afraid I’ll unconsciously pick up another
author’s voice or plot point. While writing a
first draft, I switch to nonfiction, biographies, or craft books, or delve into
whatever I’m researching for the work in progress.

So I was
especially thrilled when I received an invitation to visit the Killer Coffee Club to talk to readers about my new mystery, Curses, Boiled Again!
The Club is run by Nikki Bonnani, a college instructor, personal trainer, and
writer who moderates this long-running book group. Nikki is high energy – she reminds
me of an Energizer Bunny. I think she’s met every author out there. The
authors who have visited the Killer Coffee Club – in person or via Skype – are a Who’s Who of the mystery
world: Brad Parks, Donna Andrews, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Rosemary Harris, Edith
Maxwell, Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, Lee Child…. I could go on. The Club has
been meeting at the Barnes and Noble in Ithaca, New York since 2009 when they
discussed Louise Penny’s Still Life.
The fact that Nikki chose that book tells you about her excellent taste in
books and I’m not just saying that because she invited me.

I was
thrilled to be invited, but also a bit terrified. I couldn’t make the trip to
Ithaca, so I’d be doing the visit via Skype.
Not
familiar with Skype? Wikipedia says Skype is “a
telecommunications application software product that specializes in providing
video chat and voice calls between computers.” In plain English, Skype lets you
video chat on your computer.
I love what Skype does but
I’m not keen on how Skype makes me look – like my passport photo. Still I was
happy to do it. By the way, Nikki looks great on camera. She’s been doing Skype
for a long time and is a pro. I noticed a few things that she did and that I
didn’t do which might help you if you ever get to do a Skype interview:
1.    
Check
the position of your screen. Nikki had her computer camera set in one
stationary spot. I Skyped on my laptop, while I was curled up on the couch. Not
a good idea. After a while I noticed that I was veering in and out of the frame
as I shifted position. If you Skype, set your computer in one spot, preferably
in a way that makes you lift your chin while you talk. Not only was I looking
down at my laptop, I realized that particular posture muffled my voice.

2.    
Practice
ahead of time. I Skyped my older daughter, who was bemused to be using this, to
her, antiquated technology. We worked out a couple of kinks, most especially
something I’d never thought would be an issue – lighting. I’d planned to sit on
the couch with a floor lamp beside me, but I ended up looking a mobster in
witness protection being interviewed on Dateline,
all shadowy and obscured. Overhead lighting will make you more visible, but may be harsh. Be sure to experiment.

3.    
Test
your link. I had the link to Skype, which I confirmed with Nikki before the
meeting, ready to go at interview time so I could simply click a button to connect.
The bottom line? I had such a
good time talking and laughing with the Club I forgot to be nervous. Because
Nikki is a writer, she asks thoughtful questions that spark great discussion.
Her group also asked great questions, and an hour flew by.
I hope these tips are helpful
for your Skype visits. If you have any tips on using Skype or on author visits
to book clubs in general, please share them in the comments.

Shari Randall is the author of Curses, Boiled Again, Book One of the new Lobster Shack Mystery series from St. Martin’s Press. RT Book Reviews called Curses, “a delicious cozy with deadly outcomes and plenty of probable culprits.”

Separation Anxiety

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For my day job, I’m working on a new book about baby’s first year. It’s been a long time since I had any infants in the house. Heck, even our dog is middle-aged. Many of the basics of newborn care haven’t changed, but the who, what, when, where, why, and how of baby’s sleeping habits has undergone a dramatic change since my kids were little. I’ll be devoting an entire chapter to what parents need to know about sleep – their own and their child’s.

I’ll also be focusing on separation anxiety, typical behavior in eight month old infants – and also in this mom whose “baby” is currently studying in Scotland. The news reports from the semester abroad student have been terrific. A little homesickness, a touch of shyness, but all in all, she’s having a grand time. Even willing to try vegetarian haggis – so the sense of adventure is strong.

But me? I have been surprised at how much I miss her. I’ve decided – and tell me if this makes sense – that my emotions are exaggerated because she’s in a different time zone. I feel like I’m watching a tape delay of the Beijing Olympics. The game is already over by the time I turn on the TV. I’m rooting for a winner when if I only go on the Internet, I can find the scores and know what happened. I’m not in “real time” with my kid.

On the other hand, my husband says I’m talking to her more now that she’s overseas, than when she was 120 miles away. Part of it (okay all of it) is my personal craziness, but Skype has dramatically changed my over-anxious life. If you’re not familiar with this free software, and have family and friends who live at a distance, you need to check this out. With Skype you can talk, and if you have a camera/microphone attached to your computer, you can actually see the person on the other end — all without charge! On the first day in Scotland, by moving the camera on her laptop computer around the room, I could actually see where my daughter is living. When we talk, she can show me what she is wearing to the “freshers” dance. Of course, I could also see the circles under her eyes from lots of late-night events.

Letting go – whether your children are four, fourteen, or forty – is never easy. But thanks to a daughter who is patient with her over-anxious mother and with the help of cell phones, e-mail, and Skype, I can watch as she takes wing and soars.

Only 95 more days to go (before she’s home!).

Evelyn David