December is Impossible

How do people find time to do anything in December?

I’m sorry to all of you who are waiting on me for something or another: book reviews, beta reading, and social get-togethers. This is my official apology, and it applies to all of November, December, and… quite possibly, January.

November was busy. I was balancing a few too many things. Then there was my husband’s birthday and Thanksgiving— the first one at our house. I was also really diving into my role as editor for Grit City Publications, or at least trying to. I talked to a LOT of writers last month. It was NaNoWriMo, after all. So I pushed my own projects off ’til December.

December, as it turns out, is ridiculous. There’s the holidays, of course— a feat much larger to those of us with huge, complicated families. And there’s work to be done, just like every other month (although one of my clients pushed my deadline up a whole month out of nowhere.) And a baby to care for— of which I’m eternally grateful. Then there’s my husband who works 10 hour shifts 7 days a week to complete his jobs before the weather turns to winter for good. And did I mention the holidays?…

Anyway, I’m looking forward to a few things: Practice Cake by Dalya Moon, The Willing by C.S. Splitter, This Devil’s Dice by Jackson Spence, Get Unstuck! For Freelancers by Linda Formichelli, The Rise of Majick by Jay Taylor, A Sane Woman by Anthony Lee Collins, and some others.

I’ve also been in a huge zombie apocalypse mood ever since addicting myself to the AMC show, The Walking Dead. (I know, when do I have time for TV, you ask? When the baby keeps me up all night and I can’t concentrate on work or reading, that’s when.) I was already a fan of the graphic novels, you see, so this addiction only required a small leap of faith. I was rewarded. The show is freaking awesome.

On that note, I’m looking forward to the suggestions for zombie apocalypse books I received from my tweeps yesterday: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith, and some shorts by R.L. Schaeffer. And I’m reading World War Z, finally, which was a gift I received from a fellow zombie fan several years ago.

So reviews are upcoming. That’s the point. Just be patient with me. I have zero time-management skills.

Lastly, a special shout-out to all of my rockin’ guest bloggers. Thank you for keeping my blog alive when I can’t give it the attention it deserves.

 

Reasons to Blog: Guest Post!

Today I welcome Megan from the book review blog, The Reading List, to share with us some reasons to start or continue blogging.

 

I’m a writer, not a blogger!

Sorry, I couldn’t resist the Star Trek-ish reference in the title.  Being a writer and/or an author and being a blogger are actually two different things. I know this from experience. It’s sort of like comparing peaches to plums. Same family, but completely different fruit.

When I decided to delve into the scary world of book review blogging a few months ago, I gave it a lot of thought.  I’ve always been the type to methodically think things through before I come to any kind of decision. Just when I’ve thought I’ve made a decision, I have to think about the whole thing even more to make sure it’s the right decision. Starting a book review blog was no exception.

In the end, I remembered that blogging was something that I wanted to do. I have been an avid reader since I was a kid. Books that focused on the supernatural or Sci-Fi particularly piqued my interest and as I got older, that love for reading continued to grow as well. Books have always been a way for me to escape the hectic pressures of everyday life. I wanted to review books so that I could hopefully share my favorites and the authors that write them with others. It probably seems like we’re going to start singing Kumbaya here in a moment, but it’s the truth.

I think a lot of would-be bloggers are hesitant to jump into blogging because it can be very time consuming. You select a book, read it from cover to cover,  pick out what you liked and didn’t like about it (in my case you make a very structured list), and you write it all down in a way that will hopefully appeal to your readers.

I am definitely not the expert on blogging, by any means. I sit in a 5 x10 ft cube all day hunched over my computer keyboard, hacking away at the keys while I wonder what life is like on the outside. Then I go home to try to make sense of my book review blog, The Reading List. But there are a few things that I’ve learned that were pretty helpful in making my decision in starting a blog.

Social Media is the new media
Social media and blogging, in particular, are especially important in today’s technology driven world. Social media is quickly becoming the way that consumers get and receive their news and information.  When I started college (all of six years ago), classes that focused on writing for the ‘new media’ were essentially ingrained into the curriculum. It’s a sad reality, but the days of print newspapers and periodicals are numbered.

Share your interests
There’s something to be said about how much we can relate to another person just based on reading their blog. Think of it as a small window into someone else’s thoughts or ideas.

Starting a blog is easy. You only need an email address to get started, but a blog opens a number of doors for a writer. You can share your feelings on something that you’re passionate about, and collaborate with others who might feel similarly or even those who don’t. It’s completely up to you how your blog shapes up.

The same is true for authors. As a reader, I follow a lot of my favorite authors’ blogs on my feed reader. I like reading about what they are working on or when the next book in one of my favorite series will be released.

Attract readers and reviewers to your writing
You’d be surprised how much a blog or twitter feed can draw interest in your work. If readers enjoy your posts on your blog they might be more inclined to check out other things that you’ve written.  I have discovered so many new authors and great reads through Twitter and through the blogosphere (yes, I did use that word) that I wouldn’t have found if I hadn’t gotten into blogging.

Seems obvious, yes? Not if you’re a slightly paranoid, former technophobe like I am.

I’m not sure if I’ve left any words of wisdom, but if a light bulb flickered brightly somewhere in your general vicinity, you either have a ghost problem– or maybe, just maybe, that was the kick in the pants you needed to start blogging.

 

By day, Megan is a Staff Writer and Editor in Washington, DC– by night, she is an avid reader and reviews books on her blog, The Reading List, with the hope that others will develop an interest in urban fantasy, horror and paranormal fiction.  

You can usually catch her with her head down and face shoved into the pages of a book. When she isn’t reading or talking about books she is geeking out over Buffy reruns, playing The Sims 3 on her computer or pretending to be a normal person by exploring the streets of her city.