Thursday Thoughts - Keeping it Modest

Welcome to 2014. Yep, goodbye 2013 and all that went with it. It’s time to start anew. When I did my year end blog, I thought about how I'd approach things in 2014. Would I try for more words this year? Last year I made the 500k… just barely. Read more? I definitely want to do that. I fell short of my goal to read 150. I read about 141. One book I’m still reading from last year. That I’d like to change and read a lot more but with all the muses and a fourth one ready to spread her wings I need to be reasonable. And yes, I also have a family, an evil day job I hate, as well as other responsibilities; aging parents, my life outside of writing fiction… metal journalism, and a few great pals I like to hang out with.

So this year, instead of putting the pressure on myself to write 1 million or read 300 books, I’m aiming lower. What’s that you say? Why am I going low instead of high? As I said, to keep it modest which makes it more attainable. To me, going lower means I spend more time editing, revising, learning, and honing the craft. I have so many stories that need rewrites including ones that never got submitted as well as stories that have been published but rights revert back to me. The muses in these stories cannot be ignored any longer so in order to make them live again, I’m planning on taking time out of new stuff for the old stuff to be renewed. Make sense? I sure hope so. 

No worries, there are still new ones that will see the light of day. Calisto and Valios, more from N'awlins Exotica, and BL's Wretched.

By setting the goals lower it means I’m not worrying about how many read books or word counts. Instead, it’s about getting books out there to be subbed and or published. Hopefully this will work so that 2014 going into 15 will be a successful one for me and the 3 muses. Oops, I mean four!

Watch out for Veronica Bagby on January 15th!

Thursday Thoughts

Ah one of my fave words...

EDIT

Hmph, okay not really.

Find out what the head has to say about the necessary evil that is the edit!

http://desiresdd.livejournal.com/21914.html

Thursday Thoughts Fun With a Gun!

Good Morning! This is the gay male muse Michael Mandrake with a guest post. Instead of blogging about writing how about something different. Like my subject matter? As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve sort of broken away from the ideas that my fellow muses use in their stories. My characters are comfortable with their sexuality and instead, the “gay” in the tales is a mute point. I’m looking to create stories that are more of a mainstream variety. On my plate, I have a noir story, a suspenseful spy tale with a who killed who, and even an urban fantasy planned with a demon who focuses on one particular man and makes him live and relive a nightmare in order to get him in bed.

In my book Under the Gun, I’m pushing boundaries with an erotica romance about two men who have an interesting fetish. It’s only the sidebar, since the tale centers on the characters each searching for a partner, one for a lover and a business associate. Under the Gun is a start to the series Hardy and Day, a collection of adventures where Malik and Camdyn are private investigators, finding out different information on their clients whether its cheating spouses or potential employees with hidden secrets. While they investigate, they build a loving relationship, exploring all possibilities as well as play a wicked game with their favourite toy.

Being a new writer, I had to do some research about guns and I continue that for this story as well as Closely Guarded, my spy novel. The parts of it, what kinds a PI is allowed to carry as well as licenses. The first book doesn’t delve into the use of them but it does give you the insight into what Camdyn and Malik love to do. It was a true departure for me since the sex and or romance is never the most exciting part of the story. For this one though, I enjoyed tapping into my inner kink and pushing the boundaries for their first love scene.

How appropriate my publisher for this series is called, No Boundaries. Have a look at the cover blurb and excerpt. 

No Boundaries

Amazon

All Romance

Barnes and Noble

Camdyn Hardy is a former cop who has his own private investigator business. Due to a misunderstanding from a client, he gets into an argument with his lover Tay. Right after, they breakup Camdyn is left alone to think about his future as a PI and his love life.

                                   

Malik Day was recently discharged under the DADT policy and is looking to get his life on track The main reason he joined was because he dreamed of being a ranking officer. Now that it’s been taken away, he desires to start his life anew and find someone to share it with.

After two weeks the men meet at a shooting range and find out they have a lot in common. Once they engage in a one on one match, they proceed to a bar to have drinks and get to know one another better.  They both discover their affinity for guns as well as Camdyn’s need for a new partner at Camdyn & Associates. Malik is intrigued but afraid to ask him and decides to wait till they are closer. Camdyn is excited about this prospect as well but waits for Malik to say the word. Finally, in an erotic encounter, true feelings are revealed.

In subsequent books, the story continues where the twosome begin their work and love relationship. Together they’ll take on cases investigating cheating husbands or wives, companies with defector employees all the while trying to maintain their newfound commitment to one another as well as having a little fun in the process.

When he made it to the office, he signed the necessary papers and waited as the man finished his transaction. Lazily, he leaned on the counter and nonchalantly glanced at a hot looking man that stood less than twenty feet away. Malik grinned and moistened his lips in the gorgeous stranger’s direction.

Damn.

The attractive guy gave him more than an eye and winked. Obviously, he plays on my team. His lush brown-and-blond hair barely kissed his shoulders. Beautiful azure eyes the same color as the Pacific. Lips so slim and kissable, Malik knew he could enjoy them for hours. Wicked visions crossed his mind as he eyed the scruff on the man’s cheeks. He liked a little roughness when making love.

The snug, black shirt fit well, hugging his bulging muscles. Malik eyed the ink that peeked from under one sleeve and salivated. His skinny, black jeans clung to his taut buttocks; Malik’s own trousers felt a little tight in the crotch. “Mhmmm.” Malik tried to keep his stares from being obvious to the clerk. 

Would the hot man like to play with him a little? Malik sure hoped so.

It had been a long while since his last fuck. He’d spent the time searching for employment, going to job fairs, and not getting any call backs. Malik had remained so focused on getting a job; he’d ignored the signals of his groin needing a release from other than his own hand. Too long. He headed for the door and wished the handsome man would follow.

Maybe it’s time to stop looking for work and attempt to find a man.

Just when he stepped out, a voice stopped him. 

“Hey.”

Malik slowly turned around. It was indeed him, the hottie he’d been eyeing. It shocked Malik to see the guy was actually speaking to him. “Hello.” Malik was taken aback by the guy speaking to him, but he guessed he warranted a greeting when they exchanged more than a passing glance.

The man stepped closer to him and held out his hand. “Name’s Camdyn. And you are?”

“Malik.” He accepted the handshake and returned it firmly. “Nice to meet you.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Same here.” Malik noticed Camdyn continued to hold on to his palm. Of course he didn’t mind; it felt unexpectedly soft and warm. “Um, you been comin’ here a while?”

“Yeah, I um…” Malik stopped short and bit his lip. He tried not to sound too excited. This was the last place he’d expected to be picked up at. The shooting range? Malik would’ve never thought of this place to meet other gay men. 

“I been around, but I just got back in town.”

“Yeah? I’m guessin’ from the getup you served in the Army.”

“Uh huh… I um… yeah, let’s go outside.” Quickly, he pulled his hands away, even though he didn’t want to. Surely, he wanted to talk with Camdyn some more, but away from others coming in and out of the shop. He felt a little uncomfortable being picked up at some place so manly, but in a way, he liked it. 

Thursday Thought - How to SURVIVE Nano!

What you need to do to SURVIVE Nano!

Good morning readers! Wow, I’ts been a while since I had a Thursday Thought but here it is, the tips I think you need to survive NaNoWriMo.

First off, some of you may ask, what is that? Well, the head, Shar will tell you a little at BL’s today. Hop on over there once you get done reading me. *grins*

In short, it’s writing a 50K novel in 30 days. Whoa, that’s a lot of words right? However, when you break it down, it’s only 1667 words per day. That’s it? Yep. Some can do that in their sleep. For others it’s a struggle especially when they have families, jobs, and other responsibilities that take them away from Nanoing. Luckily, I’m just the muse and I won’t have to worry about that, but since Shar is conveying mine and then BL’s thoughts on paper, she might need to follow these guidelines:

1.    Explain to the family you’re doing something big!

Well, in the scheme of things for you it is. With significant others who are already used to the way their authors act when finishing any kind of story during the year, they know a lot of things might not get done. Oh like, cleaning up the house per say. Dinner might be a little late getting to the table and if it does, it might be takeout as opposed to a home cooked meal. Still, try and explain it to the family how you might be unavailable at some points. Try not to ignore them! Get them involved somehow. Shar talks the story over with her husband and asks him questions. Now this is not so easy with kids, especially when they’re babies or toddlers, which brings me to the next one.

2.    Try to write when the house is QUIET!

For Shar, she’ll do it after two or three a.m. when the family is asleep. If you get your word count of 1667 for the day then you have the rest of it to enjoy with the kids. You won’t be disturbed by them asking for food or to play because you’ve done the necessary words to stay on course.

3.    Don’t worry about huge editing mistakes and write EVERYDAY!

Some don’t correct ANYTHING and keep writing. For me and Shar however, each time we sit down to a story, we go over the last parts of what was written during the last session. Just basic mistakes like misspells, grammar or punction mistakes. Still, leave the overall editing where you might repeat yourself or miss a full description for when you go through the story later on. I hope if you’re planning on publishing that you’ll use several betas and or editors beforehand. Also, take the time to write everyday. Do sprints on Twitter with friends. Get together in person or virtually with other Nano writers. Take advantage of the forums on their site as well as forming your own group of friends to keep the focus!

4.    Take time to relax BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER NANO.

I know in 2010 when Shar and I did African Sun, she was writing all year and even did a different challenge in December which proved detrimental in 2011. The first three months of that year, she had no real focus or determination to write. In 2011, she had several projects going on around November and we weren’t able to finish writing Closely Guarded. Now this year, Shar managed to get BL’s book done. As it stands, there are still only a couple of stories left unfinished because this year Shar had a different plan where she didn’t start any new stories.

She finished out the books for Rawiya and BL in the SNOTM series, the sequel to My Lieutenant, as well as Closely Guarded and Wild Horses. Now, Shar is relaxing her mind, only doing edits, blogposts, promoing, and no serious writing. Only fanfic and free reads for now. *grins* Additionally, during Nano the plan is to write early and leave the rest of the day to spend time with the kids and hubby as well as friends to take her mind off the story waiting on the laptop. Afterwards, Shar plans to take December only to write some fanfic and do revisions of Vertigo Two for me and finish Trois in Treble for Rawiya. Might also do a read with Rawiya for Xmas but she doesn’t want to burn out like she did in 2011. The key is to do other things and not get so worn out at the end of November.

5.    DON’T worry about making the 50k goal!

But wait Michael, you said I must write everyday! Still, stressing over it doesn’t help. Worrying about the goal only puts more pressure on yourself. I believe Shar did that last year. She kept telling herself she had to make it! Yes the write-ins are good and looking at the wordcounter, seeing that your close is fun but try not to immerse yourself in stress. You might just discourage us as muses and therefore make the characters in your story stop talking. Again, I say take time away from it. Don’t worry about others who may finish in fifteen days. Everyone works differently and at their own pace. If you didn’t do the 1667 today, try making it up on the weekends if time allows. The key is to not beat yourself up when you don’t get there. If the will and the story is there, you will do what is needed to make the goal.

6.    Lastly, make sure you have fun!   

Sure it’s a big deal to make the 50k! You get the little things to put on your blogs and you say, I survived and made it but the key is to enjoy the creation process. Sure it’s stressful but I think sprinting with others makes it even more enjoyable. Talking over your stories with fellow authors. Supporting one another and cheering each other on is fun too. To know that a large portion of the world is doing the same thing is very comforting. You’re not alone!

Take advantage of the tools and resources Nano gives you. Enjoy your time doing the challenge and in the end, you might have a finished product you can be proud of. In some instances, you could give it to a publisher to share with readers everywhere.Perhaps a bestseller? One can only hope.

I’m happy to be doing this again with Shar and I hope these 6 tips will help you succeed in your goal! I thank you for listening and enjoy he craziness that is Nano. If you’re not doing it, cheer those of us that are onto the finish line. 

Thursday Thought

So, my latest novella, Under the Gun from No Boundaries is an interracial m/m romance about a two men who come from different paths but find out just how much they have in common. Malik Day is a discharged soldier under the now defunct DADT policy while Camdyn Hardy is private investigator who just lost his lover when he decided homosexuality wasn’t for him.

The novel idea came from a sub call I answered and wasn’t successful at getting published. However, that seemed to be a blessing in disguise. I’d get to rewrite this novella and give the characters a much longer story.

Surely, other than Binding Justice, it’s different than my other books. I add a touch of snark from BL, tap into the kink as she would and add some more sensuality as Rawiya; all because my characters ask for it.

Now onto the music. This story is a romance with two very interesting characters, both of headstrong, stubborn, proud, and alpha. I’m choosing some metal in this case since both characters are faced with difficult situations. Some Sevendust and Ministry for the angst, maybe even some Nine Inch Nails. For the calmer and more tension filled moments, Depeche Mode. When the characters finally realize what they have is worth giving it a try, smooth R&B like Sade but there’s one scene in particular where the characters are having sex but, ahem, a little different than you’d expect. For this, I like to pull out NIN again and one song I’m thinking of is the song Sanctified. The tone of the song, seductive with an edge, gives off the feel I’m looking for in this particular part.

I love when a song helps me write a story! Thanks so much for listening.

 No Boundaries

Amazon

All Romance

Barnes and Noble

Camdyn Hardy is a former cop who has his own private investigator business. Due to a misunderstanding from a client, he gets into an argument with his lover Tay. Right after, they breakup Camdyn is left alone to think about his future as a PI and his love life.

                                   

Malik Day was recently discharged under the DADT policy and is looking to get his life on track The main reason he joined was because he dreamed of being a ranking officer. Now that it’s been taken away, he desires to start his life anew and find someone to share it with.

After two weeks the men meet at a shooting range and find out they have a lot in common. Once they engage in a one on one match, they proceed to a bar to have drinks and get to know one another better.  They both discover their affinity for guns as well as Camdyn’s need for a new partner at Camdyn & Associates. Malik is intrigued but afraid to ask him and decides to wait till they are closer. Camdyn is excited about this prospect as well but waits for Malik to say the word. Finally, in an erotic encounter, true feelings are revealed.

In subsequent books, the story continues where the twosome begin their work and love relationship. Together they’ll take on cases investigating cheating husbands or wives, companies with defector employees all the while trying to maintain their newfound commitment to one another as well as having a little fun in the process.

When he made it to the office, he signed the necessary papers and waited as the man finished his transaction. Lazily, he leaned on the counter and nonchalantly glanced at a hot looking man that stood less than twenty feet away. Malik grinned and moistened his lips in the gorgeous stranger’s direction.

Damn.

The attractive guy gave him more than an eye and winked. Obviously, he plays on my team. His lush brown-and-blond hair barely kissed his shoulders. Beautiful azure eyes the same color as the Pacific. Lips so slim and kissable, Malik knew he could enjoy them for hours. Wicked visions crossed his mind as he eyed the scruff on the man’s cheeks. He liked a little roughness when making love.

The snug, black shirt fit well, hugging his bulging muscles. Malik eyed the ink that peeked from under one sleeve and salivated. His skinny, black jeans clung to his taut buttocks; Malik’s own trousers felt a little tight in the crotch. “Mhmmm.” Malik tried to keep his stares from being obvious to the clerk. 

Would the hot man like to play with him a little? Malik sure hoped so.

It had been a long while since his last fuck. He’d spent the time searching for employment, going to job fairs, and not getting any call backs. Malik had remained so focused on getting a job; he’d ignored the signals of his groin needing a release from other than his own hand. Too long. He headed for the door and wished the handsome man would follow.

Maybe it’s time to stop looking for work and attempt to find a man.

Just when he stepped out, a voice stopped him. 

“Hey.”

Malik slowly turned around. It was indeed him, the hottie he’d been eyeing. It shocked Malik to see the guy was actually speaking to him. “Hello.” Malik was taken aback by the guy speaking to him, but he guessed he warranted a greeting when they exchanged more than a passing glance.

The man stepped closer to him and held out his hand. “Name’s Camdyn. And you are?”

“Malik.” He accepted the handshake and returned it firmly. “Nice to meet you.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Same here.” Malik noticed Camdyn continued to hold on to his palm. Of course he didn’t mind; it felt unexpectedly soft and warm. “Um, you been comin’ here a while?”

“Yeah, I um…” Malik stopped short and bit his lip. He tried not to sound too excited. This was the last place he’d expected to be picked up at. The shooting range? Malik would’ve never thought of this place to meet other gay men. 

“I been around, but I just got back in town.”

“Yeah? I’m guessin’ from the getup you served in the Army.”

“Uh huh… I um… yeah, let’s go outside.” Quickly, he pulled his hands away, even though he didn’t want to. Surely, he wanted to talk with Camdyn some more, but away from others coming in and out of the shop. He felt a little uncomfortable being picked up at some place so manly, but in a way, he liked it. 

Thursday Thought - Finding the Right Voice

I’d like to blog about something writing related that all author face. Finding the correct voice.

Now, for those of you that don’t know me, I’m Sharita Lira but I write under 3 pennames. Rawiya, BLMorticia and Michael Mandrake. I won’t bore you with a bio since the voice I’m referring to today is Michael so I’ll just say if you want to find out more please have a look at all my links at the end of the post.

When a writer speaks of their voice, they’re not talking alto or soprano.*laughs* In my opinion, they’re speaking of the style in which they write. Every author has a different style so no 2 authors should be the same. Sure, we have similarities. One may be a lot more sensual as opposed to the other that might be a lot more erotic.

Now, imagine the author having to do this with his or herself. *raises eyebrow* The voices that speak to you in certain kinds of stories may clash between pennames. You find your sensual writer has now become you more erotic writer. Maybe your snarky one as made your more long winded and eloquent voice more of a bad ass. *shudder*

I confess, I’m a newbie so I still struggle with this. In certain stories, Michael might pick up BL’s style of smart ass and Rawiya might sound more like Michael. Is this okay? Erm, in some instances yes but not always. The key is making it work for a particular story or character.

In short, Michael Mandrake writes long winded, eloquent, stories about people in love. If humor comes into his tales, it’s more of a dry humor, like the second book, A Second Chance, has a character that would typically be a BL type of man. Captain in Training, Daniel DeClerc. He, along with his new partner, Farris are both smart asses, but because the story is about 2 cops who are facing the challenge of loving after losing a partner in the line of duty, it works.

What about the latest one, Vertigo? The intimate scenes between Doctor Curry and his new lover might appear to be more like something Rawiya would write. He turns into more of a romantic since he thinks he’s found his soulmate. Make sense? Hope so.

So in closing, if you’re a writer with penames or even an author with one or your own name, have you found your correct voice? This, I’m sure, takes time to master and I haven’t done so just yet, but I know as I get better, they might not clash as much. However as you can see, sometimes that works.

Also today I'm at TRS. Please stop by when you have the chance!

http://trsparties.com/index.php/component/search/?searchword=sharita+lira&ordering=&searchphrase=all 

Live and Learn

Good morning. 

Another Thursday post here with me, Sharita. Today, I wanted to express how I’ve learned something new while being a new author to this genre. I’ve always been one of those people who feel that you can never stop learning anything regardless of how old you are. I appreciate when someone can set me straight and tell me if my thinking might not necessarily be correct.

With being an author, in my opinion, this is especially important when writing outside of what you already know. I’m a female writing in the m/m romance genre so in reading other authors and “listening” to what gay male writers have said on, for example Facebook, I like to pay attention to what’s been discussed and learn from it.

So what have I learned? The biggest differences between gay fiction and romance. What is it? Gay fiction is stories by gay males who write about their experiences in coming out or any growing up, etc while m/m romance or m/m in general is more about the relationship side and can include anyone writing about those situations. Also, this can encompasses genres like paranormal, urban fantasy, etc. Does that make sense? Maybe I didn’t say it right. Basically, I don’t write gay fiction but m/m which I have no problem with.

At first, I thought m/m was just a cutesy term that publishers use just so they don’t have to say gay but that’s not a fair statement. There is a big difference in those and while reading blogs from authors who’ve been in the genre a lot longer, I’ve picked up these ideas and emblazoned them in my brain. You may think I take issue with this but I truly don’t. I’ve never claimed to know it all and still won’t. Being a writer is about learning and growing so I’ll never know everything and I’m okay with that. In my opinion, if you don’t pick up things from your peers in regards to anything, you’re being stubborn. More so in writing, when tackling a genre such as m/m, you have to know what you’re talking about. What do I write; m/m romance and m/m erotica.

Okay! *smiles*

So, any other posts I’ve made about Call it what it is, Gay Male Fiction, scratch that. I write m/m romance/m/m erotica and I’m proud to say, I learned that from my gay male peers.

Thanks for setting me straight and hopefully I’ll continue to try improving at it.

Enjoying Short Stories

Michael's first book, True Meaning

When you read something new, do you have a preference for short or long stories? I know sometimes when I read, I like a short and tantalizing read to enjoy before bed. Or maybe when you’re traveling and are on public transportation, in a cab, or just relaxing in your room you might pick up something short.

For writers, a lot of them are short story artists, sometimes never going over a certain word count or if they do write a long novel length it isn’t very often. Besides that, perhaps the author is a newbie and still developing their craft. That’s where you’d put me and the fellow muses.

As we learn more from editors and fellow writers all the releases have either been in an anthology with other authors or short stories below one hundred pages. Is there anything wrong with this? In my opinion, no. When sitting down to write a story especially when you’re a panster, the characters might only have so much to tell. Other times however, the story needed more and we didn’t recognize till after it was done.

I know this has happened to other writers too and they've either decided to feed their muse or characters with a full book like Michael is doing with True Meaning of Love and Vertigo or you can turn it into a series like what BL is doing in You Don’t Ask. Hers has more characters though that all have their own stories. Sure that might’ve been able to be released all in one book but something tells me it works better as standalones.

Either way, the author must do the job to tell the complete story. Did the characters achieve their goal and did we satisfy them and the person who might read it. Hopefully so with whatever way we decided to write the story.

Still, I enjoy a quick read especially a collection of them to find authors I’m not familiar with. Is there any shorts under 100 pages you’ve enjoyed. Leave your thoughts.

Your Author Blog is Your Home

Good morning! This is Shar blogging and not Michael once again. First of all thank you to all the lovely people who commented on my blog yesterday. I am floored! Wish I could win the Kindle but ah well, another story for another day. *grins*

The Authors Blog

Author Sharita Lira

So much has been written and talked about when it comes to your blog. Whether it’s how often, how it should look, the do’s and don’ts as well as the content you should have and how it’s presented. In my opinion there’s no right or wrong way. Think what makes you happy first what you think is feasible to maintain.

Now, I’m not saying throw anything up there, meaning blogging about your visit to the vet or to the dentist, nor am I advocating filling the blog with, ahem, interesting pictures. Just keep in mind when you do make a blog, it’s is in a sense your home. What you but out there is visible to the world. You’re allowing your audience to visit you completely unannounced. Is it tidy? Is it a place where everyone can feel welcome?

Let me preface this by saying in no way shape or form am I an expert. I’m only stating my opinion so here it goes. Again, let’s use the analogy of your house since the blog is essentially an author’s home base.

Is it tidy? When you invite people into your home, you don’t like to leave clothes strewn about or empty food boxes, etc. In blogging sense what about the links on your blog. If they are images do they work? If they are covers to your books do they lead to the best place to purchase it? I know I‘ve done some cleaning on mine since one of my pubs recently updated their website. Tidiness can also mean is it updated? A lot of people say everyday it should have SOMETHING up there to tell the readers and our followers that you’re still writing. With the holiday just passing, I’m sure a lot of us didn’t update a whole hell of a lot. I know I didn’t. So I did that these last couple of days. Updated, said happy new year, welcomed a guest. In truth, I believe your blog should have something new up everyday even if you have nothing to say. How about a picture? A blog about your WIP? I have a schedule so even when I don’t have a guest, something is up from the previous day or two at least. This I something to think about when you create yours.

The appearance? In your home, you put very inviting things up. Vases full of flowers, pictures of your family, etc. Now this is touchy because I love a saucy blog. Pictures of love in its many forms, especially of the m/m variety are such turn on’s and on my blog Menspirations, I try updating everyday with some very saucy pics but I had to think, on my writer’s blogs, I might want to tone down the sidebars just a tad and even on my Wow Wednesday, I moved it to Menspirations and I have a pic that leads to it from Taboo on most days. When it comes to being an m/m writer we have to think about the people who visit. They might not be fans of gayporn.  To some, this might be disturbing. Still, I’m all about free speech and when you want to showcase your favorite pics don’t let them dictate what you put up but just keep in mind, you might have some people who will either not come back or take it a step further and report you. I won’t because I love it all. Along with the pics, I wonder about promotion on the sidebars. At Michael’s, I have every cover Michael has been associated with so far. I think that will change since I’m sure Michael will have many more. Will I put up every single one? No. On BL’s I have hers up too. She has more books coming as well. I’ll keep hers up for now but when she gets past six, it might be time for it all to go. How about a blogroll which is a list of your fave blogs, some promo for your fellow authors? I have the book I’m reading now with a buylink. This leads me to my next point.

Guests? You like people to come to your house, right? When they come they stay awhile, they eat with you, etc. I hope you’re not a person who doesn’t like to have guests by. With blogging, in my opinion you should like to have guests on a regular basis. I try to have them come over twice a week. Michael and Rawiya are on a set schedule. BL has her own set of saucy questions but I also invite Cassandre Dayne over every other week. Rawiya has Xakara over twice a month for ménage Monday and Michael has a fan, Sheila G, do a monthly post, usually at the beginning and a monthly author spotlight. Some might say this is too much but I like paying it forward. So many people welcomed me into their “homes” when I first started even when I was a nobody. *laughs* I’m still fairly new but I’ve done the same to authors well known or not. How about blog tours? On the day I’m writing this, I’m part of a blog tour which has garnered about 50 comments so far. Wow, I’m floored. Surely the giveaway, a Kindle Fire, has something to do with it but just the contribution I made resulted in new followers and I don’t have the views but it has to be many. What about the wonderful things like Six Sentence, Weekend Dirty Dozen, Flash Fiction? All things that can draw traffic. Only a few things but hopefully they’ll help. I know they have for me.

Advertisement? Okay this is an odd one. When you have people over, do you have things about your books all over the place? Do you bombard the guests who come by with your news? Is that all you have to talk about? *laughs* Hopefully not. We don’t want to bombard our readers with our latest book on every post. Wip’s are good, free reads, yes they are good as well, something to look forward to. What about a topic related to your writing? Mine is the men I use in stories or the music I write to. Rawiya has the best one. Titillating Tuesday is her picture day and Wind Down Wednesday is her or the guests inspiration. Her blog is still new so I’m testing things to see if they work before I invite guests to do them as well. They get a lot of views so far so that tells me they might be good ideas to continue. As I stated earlier, I love pictures. Michael’s Wow leads to Menspirations where more saucier pictures are shown. Just pics, no words. I also occasionally do Thursday 13 when I have a topic and on Saturday’s all the muses do a Saturday Sip of a book or WIP if they aren’t doing WDD or FFF. On the flipside of that, I don’t get overly personal either. I don’t talk about my kids or family or even what I’ve done outside of writing too much unless it relates to the topic. Think about what you want out there on the web my friends. *smiles*

Those are only a few things I could think about. The color scheme, music on the blogs, the text, all things totally up to you as the author but just think about the message you’re sending as the writer to the world. I know with the pictures, I’ve been very stubborn. It’s my blog, don’t like it, leave. It’s still my attitude to an extent but I had to think about it. As much as I like the porn, others may not like it. Now, funny thing is, my Menspirations blog has more hits than all my writer’s blogs combined, so the Google stats say and it’s really risqué but I rarely promo there. There’s a blogroll, a link to my others, and that’s it. Really, if people knew who I am, they might not know I actually run it. LMAO but I do.

The bottom line is our blogs contribute to our brand. There are no numbers to support it but your blog will help your sales. People want to get to know you as an author, so open your home, keep it tidy and looking good. Most of all updated. Try for a weekly post, set a schedule of friends to come by or regular things just so something goes up. You might be surprised at how many will follow you. I know I’m floored by this when I show up at places like Goddess Fish and or TRS. They show up in the follow link and their names look familiar when I go to those other blogs.

Hate to blog? C’mon it’s not that bad. Learn to love it. It is a part of your writer’s life after all. Leave your thoughts.

Thursday Thought

Good morning!

Asking for a little audience participation here.

Should I continue with the same story I did last week 

Or should we go for a new fic with a new pic. I'm on a cowboy kick for some reason. 

Give me some prompts too. 3 max!

Let me know by the end of day so I can rustle up something for tomorrow.