Outdoor Comfort Indoors

This is so interesting. I LOVE chaise lounges and have always wanted one inside. Of course, I didn't want my indoor chaise to look like patio furniture. These unique designs on the indoor chaises are perfect! The same comfortable style with couch-like padding and beauty. It's perfect for my portable computer stand too. The bottom is high enough off the floor to allow the base of the stand to go under it, so I can do my writing from the comfort of my chaise. Gotta have it!

New Website

Don't forget to check out my new website tamiparrington.com. I had that name once (okay, I've had the name itself all my life, lol, but I lost the domain name a few years ago). I let it drop and couldn't get it back until a few months ago. It's good to have my name back.

Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Cigar

I'm always teasing my husband about his big cigars. He loves them though. He doesn't smoke cigarettes, just those. He buys cigars sampler packs so he can try out different tastes. Then he picks the ones he likes and buys those. It's interesting to see the differences between cigar and cigarette smokers. I'm a cigarette smoker, and I don't think about trying different brands. There aren't a lot of differences to choose from in cigarettes, but cigars have amazingly different varieties, flavors and styles. There doesn't seem to be an end to the choices he has, and it isn't unusual for him to switch back and forth between them.

Hell's Own -- FREE tomorrow

As the beginning of book two's pitch begins, Hell's Own (book one in the demon series) will be free tomorrow -- May 27th, 2012. Please remember to leave a review after you have read it. That helps authors, and also helps you.

Making Music

I recently listened to a Twitter friend's music clip. It was just awesome, but it really made me think about how much there is to creating music. As a writer, I know how much goes into the creation of a book that goes far beyond just putting the words on paper. Musicians too have to do a lot more than just come up with the right notes, sing and/or play them well. They have to put it all together and then produce it in a format that you can use when listening. That's where programs such as . There are many different kinds of sound production software programs out there, but true professionals need a really professional and powerful program. There is a distinct learning curve required to operate such complex software, but once you get it down, you can create amazing things.

Tami Parrington - The Independent Author Network

Tami Parrington - The Independent Author Network

Death and Taxes

As a writer, I'm an independent contractor. That's true whether I'm writing fiction or non-fiction. Whether I'm writing books for my own publication or writing web-content for other people's marketing campaigns. No matter what I'm writing, I am my own boss, and when I work for someone else, it's a business-to-business relationship, not employer-employee relationship. There's a lot of good points to that, but one of the big problems with it is that no one is withholding taxes for me, so at the end of the year I better have enough saved up to pay Uncle Sam. There's also no one conducting a group insurance plan for me for medical or life insurance. For some writers, that's okay. They have a spouse that works in the "real world" who has those things. But for others, it is a real hardship. It's not impossible to get insurance though. You have to find a contractor liability insurance company that can help you get the coverage you need. Of course, that won't help much with taxes.