It's generally helpful to delete WP cache so the new design shows up properly, instead of hyperventilating about why the changes made to the site isn't showing up on any other device except my master computer (which has the admin access to the site). :sigh:

I want to share an incredibly inspiring and fascinating talk by Amy J. C. Cuddy about how our body language can shape who we are.

Most of us think that others look at our body language to judge us. But we too unconsciously are affected by our own body language and act accordingly. Our body language governs how we think and feel about ourselves.

So watch this amazing talk on body language and see how you can make yourself more confident:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc&w=560&h=315]

Instead of my usual how I'm doing with my writing and life, I decided to post about what I'm grateful for this year. :)

1. My awesome family for being supportive and fabulous, despite a lot of ups and downs this year.
2. My great writing buddies, esp. M&M Writers — Amanda Bonilla, Amanda Carlson, Shawntelle Madison and Sandy Williams.
3. Book bloggers and reviewers and Twitter and Facebook buddies for great book recommendations, wonderful conversations and support.
4. My agent for being awesome and patient.
5. My readers who are just plain awesome (and have excellent taste! :) )
6. Romance Divas and the Indie Romance Ink gang for invaluable information and keeping me sane.
7. Finishing house hunting, which was extremely stressful and took a reeeeally long time!

I'm hoping for a healthier and more productive 2013. (I was sick 9 out of 12 months in 2012.) And I can't wait to move in 2013! :D

Now that it's almost NaNo time, I want to talk about something that's probably one of the most important things a writer can have: backup. If your computer has ever crashed and burned and lost all your projects — or at least a big chunk of them — you probably know how important it is to back up often. (It's happened to me too….ugh.)

But just knowing doesn't mean you actually do it. So let's talk about a tool that helps you back up automatically: Dropbox.

It's probably one of the best tools out there for backup and syncing your projects on multiple computers and mobile devices. Furthermore, it's available for Windows, Mac and Linux. So no matter what kind of OS you're running, you can use it. And the best thing about it? It costs nothing, and the free version comes with a full suite of features.

To start with, you need to create an account. The account ID is tied to your email address. A lot of services and companies are prone to spam, but not Dropbox. I've yet to receive a single spam message in my inbox, and I've been using Dropbox for over a year now.

Once you download Dropbox and install it, it will run seamlessly in the background and automatically back up all your files to a designated directory (or a folder). It's very intelligently designed, so it updates only the files that have been changed since the last backup. This ensures that it doesn't suck up all your computer's processing power, so the programs you're really interested in — such as Word or Tweetdeck (for those of you interested in social media…or maybe just procrastination) — can run as fast as possible.

In addition, Dropbox lets you automatically access the latest version of your work on other devices.

For example: Let's say, you wrote 2,000 words on Computer #1. Then you decided that you want to continue working on the manuscript from Computer #2. Without Dropbox, you'd have to get a memory stick and transfer the manuscript file over, send it to yourself via email, etc. But with Dropbox, you can just go to Computer #2 and open up the file, so long as you have the Dropbox program on both computers.

Later, if you want to review the manuscript on your iPad, you can do so by accessing the file using the Dropbox app. See how convenient and easy this is?

If you want to share your manuscript with another person and allow them to edit, you can share only that file by putting it in the Public folder and giving them a special link for it. This can be done easily via the Dropbox web interface or by right-clicking on the file.

Finally — if you ever decide that the latest version of your file is garbage and you must get a previous version back, it can be done. Access the web interface for file history or right-click on the file on your computer for version history. Using this feature, you can even undelete files you've gotten rid of accidentally.

A note on pricing: The Dropbox basic plan is free and gives you up to 2GB of storage. That's usually enough for most writers to back up their manuscripts and notes. If you need more storage space, you can always upgrade to their paid plans. The paid plans can be pricey (almost $100 per year for the cheapest plan), but you get at least 50GB.

A note on tech support: The Dropbox website is full of helpful articles to help you out, should you feel lost. (Though I doubt you will since the program is very intuitive.) Almost all of their help articles contain screenshots, which I found useful. I've never had to email their tech support because their web articles are just that great.

Final verdict — Give Dropbox a try to back up your data and sync your files across multiple devices. At $0.00, you can't beat its pricing or features.

As many of you know, I love WordPress, esp. backend stuff, but I'm not as great at designing themes.

So I outsource my themes and/or buy premium WordPress themes from professional designers. Out of them all, Themify has been the best in terms of selection, ease of customization and support. (I cannot say the same of the other site where I bought a few themes.)

Currently Themify has a big 2nd anniversary sale. Enter coupon code happy2 when you check out, and you get 50% off on all themes and club memberships. It's a great deal since Themify's usual promotions and discounts are for 30% off.

This means you can pick up their themes for less than $10/each. ($19.95 for 2 — buy 1 and get 1 free deal. Trust me you'll have a hard time deciding which two to get because they're all great. I picked up four themes from Themify.)

P.S. The sale ends on Monday August 13.

Recently, I happened to look at two blog posts on related themes — the ability to endlessly revise, tweak and change your published story on KDP, PubIt, etc. if you self-publish.

One posted on Dear Author was written from a reader's point of view, who basically does not like this practice at all.

Another is posted on The Passive Voice, written from the point of view of mostly writers who have self-published, whether or not they have traditional publishing experience.

I can't imagine trolling the web for reviews and endlessly tweaking and revising my books, reformatting them and re-uploading them over and over and over again. Firstly, it's unfair to ask my readers to re-read the book they've read once just because I revised it. (That's what betas and critique partners are for.) Secondly, I have other books I need to work on.

I guess in a way it's really tempting to revise when you get a lot of less-than-flattering comments on some particular aspect of your story. But that's supposed to be done before you publish and charge people money, not after.

I have, however, re-uploaded my books before, and it was due to some improvements I made in formatting, to update my bio, etc. So no, my readers don't have to re-read my books to get the latest version of the story.

And now, excuse me while I go try to progress in my work on my works in progress.