Giveaway prize winners

The giveaway finished on Friday afternoon, but due to work and other stuff (I edited and submitted a short story last night), I didn't get around to picking the winners until just a moment ago.

Drum roll please...

(BTW this draw had pictorial evidence, but Blogger wouldn't let me upload them!)

Cat and The Dreamer... Miriam Drori
Miriam was the only person to choose Cat, so there's only one winner.

That Sadie Thing... Hilary Melton-Butcher and Gwen Tolios

Our Beautiful Child... Michelle Wallace and Murees Dupe.

I will be contacting all the winners (within the next half an hour, so I don't miss Doctor Who).

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway.

Ooh, look at that... this is post 501!

500 posts!

On Monday 26th July 2010, I wrote my first ever blog post - a post which, sadly, received no comments.

I'd been reading some blogs by my favourite authors, and decided I'd like to have a go. If nothing else, I thought, at least I'd have a record of my journey towards my Man Booker-winning novel in 2030...

And today, I am writing my 500th post.

I've been pretty active, writing-wise, in those five years and three months - I've had three books published, with another on the way next year. I've written a novel which I'm currently submitting, and I'm writing some short stories for a new collection.

But most of all, I've met lots of wonderful writers, many of whom I call friends.

I've been writing for a very long time (my first two short stories were published 21 years ago, which makes me sound very old, even though I'm not!) and in those days prior to the internet, writing was a lonely business. Indeed, authors were remote and awe-inducing because you couldn't just phone them up for a chat, or read about their daily lives - connections on Facebook and Twitter mean you now can. How brilliant is that!

As a thank you for reading my blog - new and old alike - I'm giving away two copies of each of my books. Cat and The Dreamer is an ebook, but the others are available in paperback too. Just comment with the book and format you'd like - I'll choose winners at random next Friday, 23rd October.

Check them out on Goodreads first, if you're unfamiliar with them

  

Reflecting on the A-Z

I did it! I completed the whole month! I put up 26 vignettes, some of which I wasn't completely happy with, but I got wonderful comments anyway, so...

Thank you for visiting my blog this April!!

I decided on taking part in February, because I'd started to stagnate with my blog - I wasn't sure what I was doing with it or whether I was enjoying it any more. I chose to write vignettes because I'd spent the previous few months writing them for a competition entry and really enjoyed them - capturing scenes and moments in time without explanation or back story really suits me.

And, best of all, I've come away from the month teeming with ideas - not only for more vignettes and short pieces, but another novella (possibly just flipping over into novel-length territory).

The Good

• I met some brand new bloggers that I'm really looking forward to getting to know better
• I reconnected with some bloggers I've lost touch with
• I was organised enough to visit and comment on other blogs - although I still have replies to write to the people who visited me
• I didn't eat as much chocolate as I thought I would
• The dog wasn't neglected
• My kids still recognise me!

The Not-So Good

• I started with the intention of visiting a lot of new blogs, working my way down the linky list, but as the month went on, I just didn't have time for as many new blogs as I hoped for.
• I managed to completely ignore some of the blogs I've followed for years, in some cases not even realising they were taking part! I am so sorry if that was you.
• I got so tired, and when I get tired I get grumpy... So I got grumpy too... oops!

And now, I'm looking forward to getting back to normal, to pulling out my WIP and having a few computer-free, coffee shop writing sessions.

How about you? How was your month?

Did you take part in the challenge, or sit back and read other people's efforts?

A giant thank you and shout out

This week 19 bloggers cam to my aid, at very short notice. So today I'm sharing their blogs! If you haven't met these amazing people yet, please visit them and discover what you've been missing out on..

Medeia Sharif has just released her new YA book Snip, Snip, Revenge. I love that title!

Rachel Schieffelbein, author of several YA books with gorgeous covers. She's just released Don't Fall, but you knew that, didn't you?

Suzanne Furness is hard at work on a YA fantasy. She recently finished the first draft of book 2.

Kyra Lennon, an amazing friend, who drags me to see heavy metal bands who I subsequently fall in love with. Her Game On series is brilliant - have you read it?

Nick Wilford, a blogger who's willing to help everyone out! And he edits too, if you need one.

Joanne Faries is the author of one of my favourite flash fiction collections, Wordsplash Flash. Her blog is also full of book and film reviews.

Mac Wheeler has just released his 24th book! I am in awe and stunned by that.

Steve Symes, a paranormal blog from a paranormal writer!

Elizabeth Seckman, writer of the Coulter Men series, has a new book out soon. (I've had a sneak peek - it's fabulous!) 

Michelle Wallace has short stories in several compilations, and is super supportive of all bloggers. 

Murees Dupe is working hard on her first novel, and navigating all the pitfalls of the publishing world.  

D Biswas writes short stories, and created an ebook from her A-Z challenge posts a couple of years ago.

Brinda Berry, YA and NA writer, who opens up her blog to some fantastic authors.

Syndey Aailyah's book Another New Life is available right now!

Cathrina Constantine is the author of books with the most amazing covers.

Linda King, another blog friend who I've known almost since I started blogging - the author of many short stories, and is working on a novel.

Melissa Maygrove has just released her debut novel Come Back. 


L. Diane Wolfe is a constant source of help on all aspects of the publishing industry.

Charity Bradford is a science fiction and fastasy writer. Her first book, The Magic Wakes, was published last year.

To all these bloggers, THANK YOU!

This wonderful group - an IWSG post

Scroll down to the bottom for
the linky list!

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month, and therefore my IWSG offering.

I had this post all written last week, and then I received Alex's email reminding us that the IWSG has reached it's 2nd anniversary, and it's still going strong. I think I've managed to post every single month, too, which is an achievement for me. 

Two years ago, my blog was small and had very little traffic; I had a couple of novellas that I'd given up trying to publish; and it had been almost a year since my last short story was published via a competition. Was I feeling insecure? You bet I was. But then I started reading about everyone else's insecurities, and realised that everyone feels the same, no matter what stage of the process they're at. Everyone thinks their current draft is rubbish, everyone thinks their last novel will be their last because this one's just not going right. And everyone can step up and tell other's that they felt like that last month, and it will pass, and we're all in this together.

Writing is such a lonely business, if you're not careful. I started writing before the internet was born, and I can tell you I was very lonely - none of my friends wrote, only a few of them loved books as much as me, and none of them had to be persuaded to open the next present on Christmas Day because they were too engrossed in their last (book) present..

Today, it's hard to feel insecure - I've published two Kindle books, gained some fantastic friends from all around the world, taken risks and shared parts of my life with people who really know what I'm feeling. The encouragement I've been given, and seeing the success of others, really helped me to take my goals to the next level.

Of course, Alex (the guy who doesn't even need a link) deserves a huge standing ovation for having this brilliant idea in the first place, for continually promoting fellow authors, for always visiting our blogs, and for apparently never working, eating or sleeping to be able to manage all this blogging time. I'm so glad to be part of this group, and for meeting you all.

Have you been part of the group from the start? Have you just joined? Has it helped you as much as it's helped me?

Having a break...

It's got to that time of the school holidays where I've realised I can't do it all. So, I'm going to take a break from my blog for a little while. I'm not going anywhere, so feel free to say hi on Facebook, tweet me, email me, or even send your homing pigeon in search of me. All my contact details can be found here.

Having said that, I have one post scheduled for next week - I'm hosting the lovely T.F. Walsh who is currently on her Cloaked in Fur virtual book tour on Tuesday.

I'll catch up with you all again soon!

I am three!

Okay, not me, but my blog is three today!

It started with this post here (in case you're interested).

I can't believe I'm still blogging - according to my first post, I didn't expect to stay the course. Although, to be honest, it's all down to you guys - the way you keep coming back and reading my writerly ramblings.

And, of course, I love reading your blogs. I couldn't imagine having a mid-writing session cuppa without clicking on a couple of new blog posts. I mean, what do normal people do when they've got a spare ten minutes?





So, my plans for the next three years, I hear you ask?

• Publishing three more books - two written, one a mere glimmer in my eye at the moment
• Submitting and winning some competitions... some big ones!
• Writing some new short stories, and submitting to established literary magazines, like Granta
• Getting a fluke review that causes everyone talk about me (okay, that one's slightly out of my control)
• Getting some professional photos taken where I actually look half-way normal (yes, it'll probably take me all three years to summon the courage)
• Earning enough per year to give up the day job (I only work part time, so this could be achievable)

I think that's enough to be going on with.

What are your plans for the next three years?

IWSG - I'm a co-host!

It's the first Wednesday of the month, and you all know what that means by now. Even if you don't take part yourself, you'll have seen this badge all over blogs you visit.

It's a huge honour to be selected to co-host this month's IWSG alongside Julie and Elise.

And co-hosting actually fits in very well with my insecurity this month...

Do I do enough to support my fellow bloggers/writers?

Alex does... everything. Arlee Bird founded the A-Z Challenge that many of you are taking part in - and he has many co-hosts helping, and this year the co-hosts have minions (love that word!), so there are many 70 or so people helping out there. Misha Gericke has her Paying Forward awards, and some fantastic people offering prizes for the winners. Livia Peterson bounced into bloggyland relatively recently and blasted through it all (and she's co-hosting the A-Z Challenge in her very first year of taking part). So many more of you constantly host cover reveals and blog hops and book launches and tours, as well as beta reading for each other and giving random shout outs and book reviews.

I've been on the receiving end of so much good will over the life of my blog, especially once I started having my books published. But I wonder whether I give enough back. Could I do more? 

To everyone who has ever helped me out, let me visit their blog, revealed a cover, interviewed me and reviewed my books...

Thank You - you are awesome, and I'll try harder!

(PS. Before I go I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who visited my interview on Dan O'Brien's blog. I had a glance down at the other interviews he's done, and they maybe garner one or two comments, or sometimes none at all. You guys have left 13 - as of Tuesday morning, when I wrote this! That's awesome, and completely proves that I belong to the most supportive group of writers/bloggers!)

IWSG - Thank you

Trust me to take part in two blog-hops in the week that I'm very busy and not able to spend much time at my computer! As a result, I'm way behind on visiting the 'And you are...?' participants, but I'm planning a pyjama day on Thursday when I will read posts for that blog-hop and for this one!



I'm actually writing this post on Monday morning this week and scheduling it, because on Wednesday morning I'm probably be going to be very tired after an epic evening with Kyra Lennon!

Kyra is a wonderful person to know, and I love having her as a friend. She phoned me up and couple of months ago and said 'Let's have an epic evening at a Fozzy concert' and I said yes.

It occurred to me, that if it hadn't been for my blog I'd never have met such a great person, and she definitely wouldn't be sleeping in my dining room right now (or - as I'm writing this on Monday and don't really know - we may already be drinking our first cuppa and talking about how epic our evening was).

Isn't that the weirdest thing to think about? Just think for a moment of all the things that may not have happened if you'd chosen to stay in one evening, popped to the shop before work one morning, fallen over on the ice one winter, not fallen over on the ice.

All the things that happen in our lives are connected to other things that at the time seemed completely innocuous.

If I hadn't created my blog, a couple of years ago, I'd never have met Kyra or a host of other supportive people. Until that point, I'd never had any writer friends. I had friends who like to read, and would read my work - and they would normally read it as though it was the end product and declare it brilliant (note: I love comments like that, by the way!) - and I have friends who don't read at all, and I'm sure they think I'm a bit weird. Having people around that I can talk about the writing process, about problems with my characters or the choice between first and third person has been a god-send for me.

So this post is a huge thank you to everyone who follows this blog and takes their time to comment. I'd like to highlight a few people who were my earliest followers and the ones who've been the most supportive:

LindaC at Excuse Me While I Note That Down...
Gwen Tolios at Fulfilling Dreams
Murees Dupé at DAILY DRAMA OF AN ASPIRING WRITER
Suze at Subliminal Coffee.
J.A. Bennett
Patsy Collins
Melissa Ann Goodwin, Storyteller
Elizabeth Seckman at Use Your Words...
Misha Gericke at My First Book
Marta Szemik
Kate N at The Suddenly Kate Show
Teresa F Morgan at The Wittering Woman ...
Rebecca Bradley 

The only problem I have with listing people is I'm sure I forget people, but - like I said - these are some of the people who have been with me the longest and/or comment regularly. Thanks to everyone reading this, you're all awesome - and please take the time to check out the blogs above, if you don't already know them!

You can find all the other participants to the IWSG listed on Alex's blog here.

Been camping

Almost as soon as I wrote the last post about my goals, we packed up for a couple of days of camping. Wet camping... wet and dull, in my sleeping bag by 9pm because it was so wet and dull camping. Please tell me you've had camping trips like that! I really don't want to be the only one. Except, I know I wasn't - there was a field full of other weirdos who thought camping in England in August would be a great idea!

One of my goals, you might remember, is to avoid the internet two days a week. Having coming back from camping and only having my mobile to keep in touch (not very easily, because I find it awkward to comment and reply to emails), I've come back to loads of blog comments, loads of emails... At least I know that my two days should not be consecutive.

So, that explains why I haven't replied to any of your comments from the previous post. I'm off to do that now. But first I wanted to draw your attention to Misha Gericke's blog where she interviews me. In fact, we did a double interview with each other at the same time, which was great fun. I posted the interview I did with Misha a little while ago, but it's here if you want another look.

Are you nuts like me, and go camping even when every fibre of your body tells you you're daft?

Friday Guest: Alex J Cavanuagh

It's a total honour to welcome Alex to my blog today. I came across Alex's blog some time in late 2011, I think. I'd seen his comments on so many blogs that I checked him out. At first, I was too intimidated to comment myself, but I finally did, and his blog opened my eyes to wonderful blogfests and even more wonderful people. In May this year, I managed to comment first on one of his posts! For those of you who follow Alex, you'll understand my joy at this :-)

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According to Annalisa, my blog is popular. (When did that happen?) She wanted to know how it became so popular. While I’m still not exactly sure, I think I can sum it up in one word - friendships.

In two and a half years of blogging, I’ve made a lot of friends. With close to1600 followers, I can’t keep up with everyone. But I’ve tried to cultivate and maintain as many friendships as possible.

I follow a lot of blogs and comment on my regulars often. (Not to scare anyone, but I visit over a hundred blogs a day.) With those I’ve made a connection, I’ve gotten to know them better. I know what they write, what movies they like, what music they enjoy, and what they like to do in the real world. I get to know their families, the events in their lives, and how they feel about life. None of that would be possible if I didn’t visit them on a regular basis.

I also try to celebrate with my blogger buddies when they achieve success. The Ninja News has become a regular feature on my blog and there is always so much good news to announce, such as book deals, awards, and new novels. I enjoy having guests on my blog several times a month so they can share their excitement with the rest of my Ninja Army.

A couple times a year I host blogfests and I’m a co-host of the A to Z Challenge. Those events really spur a sense of community. Probably the greatest thing that’s happened came from the launch of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group last September. We post the first Wednesday of every month and hundreds have signed up to participate. Reading those posts and encouraging comments has been a total blessing. And I’ve received many comments and emails of appreciation for starting the group.

It’s not the followers or hits that make a blog - it’s the friendships. Genuine friendship is something that can’t be faked, either. It’s maintaining relationships, supporting others, and making sure one’s blog is a safe and fun place to visit. That’s all I’ve ever tried to do.

I know mine isn’t the normal author’s blog, but I’m blessed and honored to have so many online friends!

 

Alex J. Cavanaugh

http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/AlexJCavanaugh  

Alex J. Cavanaugh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and works in web design and graphics. He is experienced in technical editing and worked with an adult literacy program for several years. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. Online he is the Ninja Captain and founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The author of Amazon Best Sellers, CassaStar and CassaFire, he lives in the Carolinas with his wife.

Changing my mind!

Just over five weeks ago I decided to create a schedule for this blog. It was a trial, because I'd seen other blogs work well with a schedule, and I saw a post about how it was the professional thing to do. But it didn't work for me - I haven't enjoyed it, so I'm not doing it anymore!

I've got interviews and guest posts scheduled for the next few Fridays, which I'll obviously still be posting, and I won't stop having guest posts and interviews, because that bit I've really enjoyed - it just won't be every week.

So, what went wrong?

• I don't normally schedule anything, apart from coffee with friends. I don't even have a regular day to wash the floors. I liked the A-Z Challenge (which is the reason I thought I'd enjoy having a schedule in the first place) but probably because it was a novelty, not because I had a sudden yearning to have my blogging week mapped out.
• I started focusing on the posts much more than I've done in the past. Rather than having an oh that would be good to write about thought, I was having what the heck can I write now thoughts. And that was quite stressful!
• I've wanted to write about things that haven't fitted with my general themes.
• I've wanted to write things on a Tuesday!
• Because I was posting so frequently, I thought it was only fair that I visited other blogs more. You can't post a lot and not visit anyone, can you? Therefore, I was either writing posts or reading posts or commenting on posts... and then it was time to write another post again.

So, there you have it, folks. Normal service is resumed. And to celebrate, I have no idea when my next post will be or what it will be about. I feel liberated!

So, how are you today?

(PS. What I do know is I'll be interviewing YA author Tony Talbot on Friday!)
 

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Did you know Stephen Tremp's novel Breakthrough: The Adventures of Chase Manhattan is available to download free from Amazon.com today and tomorrow? Go straight there, or stop off at Stephen's blog first.

7x7 Link Award

One of my brand new blogger friends, Michael Abayomi, has tagged me in the 7x7 Link Award. I love reading his blog, so if you haven't met Michael, please stop by and say hello.

Now, I've seen other people taking part in this tag, and I've been itching to re-visit some of my older posts too, so I was really happy to be tagged.

The idea of the award is to link to existing blog posts that fall into seven categories...
 
Most Beautiful Piece
Goodbye 2011. I've linked to this post before, but I think it fits this category, so please forgive me.

Most Helpful Piece
Too hard. I couldn't find anything that fits here, so I'm going to pretend this one doesn't exist!

Most Popular Piece 
I'll tumble 4 ya blogfest. Of course, it probably helped that it featured Morten Harket!

Most Controversial Piece
Save Our Libraries Day. I know this doesn't look overtly controversial because there are no comments on the post, but as I used to work in a library I know lots of librarians, and they told me face-to-face how controversial they found it! I hope this doesn't open old wounds...

Most Surprisingly Successful Piece
Spellings and Misspellings. At a time when I was only getting two or three visitors to my blog, this post has had 98 views. I have no idea why - it must have been caught in a popular search term, but I never worked out what term people were using.

Most Underrated Piece
Curious incidents with mirrors. Five page views, no comments... that's pretty underrated, isn't it? Although to be fair, it was before I discovered the fun of joining blogfests and following great people.

Most Pride-Worthy Piece
I'm not sure how to interpret this category, so I'm going for Welcome, where I proudly announce that I have 13 followers.


And now I'm going to choose seven people to tag...

Suze at Analog Breakfast
DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude 2.0
Rena at Doctor Faerie Godmother
Allison at Geek Banter
Rebecca Bradley at Life in Clarity
Teresa F Morgan at The Wittering Woman
Marta Szemik at Marta Szemik

Feel free not to take part if you've done it already or simply don't want to!

Making changes

Being involved with the A-Z Challenge recently has made me realise I quite liked the structure of knowing what I needed to post next.

So far, this blog has been pretty ad hoc. Which I love. But I'm also aware that my followers (I gained 46 during the challege and another 7 afterwards - thank you so much!) might prefer a regular idea of what to expect. So I'm going to try for a... deep breath... schedule! (I'm already breaking out in a cold sweat - does that word remind you of school too?)

The reason I've avoided a schedule so far is that in an ideal world I would have no structure. I love being able to just write a random blog at four o'clock in the afternoon, or at midnight, about anything that happens to pop into my head. After the Challenge though, and having a firm idea of what my posts were going to be - and knowing what was expected of me - I'm at a bit of a loss to remember how my blog felt before April.

So here's my schedule:

Monday: Recommending books (and films). My theme for the challenge seemed quite popular, so I'm going to continue with that. I will highlight books I love, although they won't necessarily be new releases. These posts may contain books published in the last century, or even the one before that! They will be books that maybe you've overlooked, or have meant to read but never got around to it. I was really struck by how many people bumped up books on their TBR list because of one of my posts!

Wednesday: All about Me, Me, Me! A round-up of my writing, problems, progress on current WIPs, news about Cat and The Dreamer, and - hopefully - sharing new writing successes.

Friday: Interviews and guest posts. Yep, something new for me, and where I need your help. I've dabbled with interviews and really enjoyed it, so... if you'd like to be interviewed or have an idea for a guest post, please contact me: annalisacrawford [dot] writer [at] gmail [dot] com!

Having said that, next Monday - 14th May - I'll be taking part in the First Loves Blogfest, so I'm already breaking my schedule. And also, I currently have no one lined up for any Friday posts - because I literally made this up as I wrote - so I'll be winging that until I find people to fill it up!

B.A.D

Being at home during the day - writing and working very hard, obviously! - I sometimes catch the BBC daytime soap Doctors. It's a bit silly, and the acting can be a bit dodgy, but you can tell the writers have had a great time - I imagine them sitting around saying, "they'll never let us get away with this," and invariably, they do. (Today they even managed to squeeze in quite a rude joke by cutting away at the final word of the punchline!)

A current storyline is about a doctor called Freya who has a blog. But, worse than that, one of her nurse colleagues has decided Freya has Blogging Addiction Disorder (B.A.D). I found this very funny - not least because they dipicted how out of hand Freya's blogging was becoming by having her blog about a meeting she was currently in!

I found this even more than funny; in fact, I thought it was made up - and this post was going to ask: is anyone out there B.A.D?

But then, I casually googled the term, and discovered it's real! Uh, I thought, how about that? It had never occurred to me that blogging could be an addiction, let alone be a recognised addiction.

So, is anyone out there B.A.D?

Don't forget - nine days until the A-Z Challenge? Are you ready? Have you signed up yet? Click the logo below! (Hmmm, blogging every day for 26 days... anyone feeling a little addicted? lol)

Lucky 7 meme... and some other stuff

Caitin at All About Growing Up and Becoming a Famous Author tagged me in this meme, which I've been following around bloggerland and really enjoying. I love the title of Caitin's blog - it reminds me of all the dreams I had as a child.

Here are the rules:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS.
2. Go to line 7.
3. Copy down the next 7 lines - sentences or paragraphs - and post them as they're written. No cheating.
4. Tag 7 authors.
5. Let them know.


I'm currently working on a collection of novellas, so I put them all together to figure out which one was page 77.

He edges forward. My breath is shallow, constricted. My face is warm. Why did he have to bring this up? Why couldn’t we just go off into the sunset, happily ever after? In years to come, once we’d settled down and had five children and a dog and a farmhouse in Yorkshire, he could turn round and say, I know it was you.

I move closer and bow my head. My tears are real. They fall down my face in single file. Murray reaches to touch my shoulder. I can’t think straight.

“Did you do it?” he asks hesitantly, barely audible. He draws deep, slow breaths.

This excerpt is quite near the end of the second story. It's lucky I didn't have to paste a page later - it would have given away the ending!

I'm going to cheat slightly, and not tag anyone. I know this is naughty, and that if no one passed the tag on, there wouldn't be a game. But I've read so many, that I know a lot of people have already done this. And I hate missing anyone out of the fun. So, if you want to play, consider yourself tagged. And you're welcome to call me a cheat!

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And now for the other stuff. I rely on email notifications to keep me returning to blogs I've commented on, but I've noticed that on the pop-up comments box that a lot of blogs use, the option to be emailed has disappeared. I just wanted to say, officially - because this has been bothering me for a few days - that I'm not ignoring you. I'd love to know if you replied to my comment, I just haven't figured out a way to remember which blogs I commented on!

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Even as I type, I'm not sure if I want to do this, but here's one of the pictures from my recent photo shoot, which I mentioned in my last post. I'd prefer not to have any comments about it, because I really don't think I come out well. This is the picture Hubby thinks is the nicest.

I had hoped to have my photo taken next to Smeaton's Tower, but workmen were putting the scaffolding up  for its annual clean. Perhaps that's why the day felt so wrong - the image I had in mind wasn't possible.

Anyway... this is Smeaton's Tower...
 

100 awesome people!

Thanks so much to all my new followers, and thanks to all my long-standing followers too. You are all awesome!

So, as promised, now I'm coming to end of my blog tour (one more guest post in a couple of weeks time), I'm going to giveaway two copies of my ebook.

All you need to do is tell me in the comments below that you want to be included in the draw.

I'll be accepting entries until 8pm on Sunday 4th March, when names will be pulled out of the hat

3001 and a few other things

I've just had my 3001st page view! Thank you to everyone who follows me, or who has stopped by occasionally through the Insecure Writers Support Group. It's been fun meeting you all, and your advice and support have been invaluable.

If you're one of those observant types, you might have noticed a new page at the top of this blog. My novella has its own page. It doesn't say much at the moment, but... well, I was bored, and I realised I'd superstitiously not mentioned its name. So now I have: it's called 'Cat and the Dreamer'. I hope the title stays - especially now I've announced it - because I really like it.

I'd like to drawn your attention to a blog challenge for April. The Blogging from A-Z April Challenge does exactly what it says on the tin. You post each day, inspired by the letters of the alphabet. Even though the challenge doesn't start for a few months, the blog is buzzing with lots of hints and tips for taking part, and also some pre-challenges which unfortunately I'll be too busy to take part in. You can sign up from the end of January, and the organisers are trying to exceed the 1300 blogger count of last year.

I'm already coming up with themes and ideas!

And I've just signed up to this blogfest, I'll Tumble 4 Ya! where you have to confess/celebrate your 80s crush. If you're too young, think of people who are still around today - an example given is Jon Bon Jovi (ooh yeah!)

Marketing yourself

There's a self-publisher living close to me. I know this, because yesterday I came home to find a bookmark-sized card on my doormat announcing his new novel. I thought this was a pretty nifty piece of advertising, because it made me check out the web site as soon as I was online.

However, I think in this case, the author is missing a trick. The web site is a single page on the printer's site. And it's pretty basic. It gives the briefest of blurbs and ways to buy. It does link to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Again, unfortunately, another trick missed. The Twitter account is the printer's account, not the author's; and the same with LinkedIn. The Facebook account is the author's private account, so there's no information unless you befriend him. If you list Facebook, then you should at least make it public, or set up a completely new page for your novel.

I was particularly interested in this because soon I'm going to have to think of my own marketing ploys, and I realised how easy it is to not go the full hog. It sounds easy, I suppose, when you're thinking about all the things you could do, but actually getting around to doing them takes time. It's also easy to fall into the trap of thinking your work will speak for itself which hopefully for this author it will - but before that, readers have to know that this work is out there. The bookmark drop was good for my area, but how far out did he go?

I'm lucky that I have this blog, with a good selection of followers. I'm thinking about the design of a dedicated page here, and also a new page on Facebook. I'm not on Twitter, and I think signing up just to say 'buy my book' wouldn't go down well, so I'm probably not going to follow that route. After that, though, I'm stumped. What else can I do?

Like I said, the bookmark drop is a fantastic idea, but sadly someone beat me to it.

Running out of words

Before I start this post properly, I've recently realised that Blogger doesn't show me all the blogs I follow, and if I refresh the page, it shows me a different selection. This means that, unfortunately, I sometimes miss new posts, and therefore don't read and comment on them. I try to make an effort to read and comment on as many posts as possible, because you are all so wonderful at reading my posts, so I felt really bad when I realised I was missing some. I can't see a way around it. I don't want to go through the hassle of de-camping to another blogging site - I'm used to the features on here, so for the moment I'm staying put. I just wanted to explain.

So - back on topic - I've run out of words. I used them all up on my 'novel' of 45,000 words, and now I'm reading it over and supposedly making notes for the next draft, and I'm stuck - no words. I can see where I need a lot of work - I've managed to scribble Major Rewrite! over quite a few of the pages, but I couldn't see how to start, how to change it. My failsafe tecnique is to lie in bed at night and let my mind drift as I go to sleep. On a good night, I have to turn on the light and scribble notes - sometimes, full sections of text - before lying back down and repeating the process. Even that's not working.

Okay, I thought to myself, no biggie. I'll write a short story instead... No words. I have a blank page. I have a pen. But my imagination isn't playing.

I even did the ironing. Voluntarily. That's how bad it is.

The problem is, this has happened before, after finishing a long piece of work. I didn't write anything for six months. No re-drafting, no new work. Nothing. Last time, I didn't have a blog. This time, I do! I'm hoping that if I keep writing here, evenutally I'll find some words and kick-start myself a lot quicker. Otherwise, I might be forced to take in other people's ironing.