5 reasons you shouldn’t be blogging.

I'm addressing the writers or wanna be writers in the group today.  I've seen a lot of posts about blogging to get your name, and your book out, into the world of social media.  I've been on a blog tour for two new releases since mid-April.  I may be grumpy as I write this.  Usually I love blogging. Maybe a bit too much.  So bear with me as I list out the top five reasons you shouldn't be blogging.

Reason #1- Blogging is Facebook or Twitter on Crack.  If you can say something in 140 characters or a short Facebook post, why spend 350 words or more waxing nostalgic about your high school prom memories? 

Reason #2 – Blogging is not writing your manuscript.  On deadline? You’re better off using that time to slough you way out of the dreaded middle of a book where you’re certain you totally suck as an author.  (Breathe, you don’t really suck.)

Reason #3 – Blogging in a group isn't going to earn you more readers. Well, it might. If you have a quality book out there for people to buy. Blogging gives news readers a chance to see you in action.  Remember that when you decide to blow off your scheduled blog day. Your actions are speaking volumes.

Reason #4 – Blogging is fun. It’s easy. Blogging is spending your Saturday at a local food festival. It doesn't seem like work. Writing is work. And writing is the work you need to be doing.

Reasons #5 – Blogging is not a one way conversation or a lecture. If you’re blogging, you should watch your comments and respond. The commenter’s took the time to write to you, it’s only polite to write back. Think of it as having a lot of mini-pen pals. I work a day job where I may or may not be able to drop into a blog to comment. I’m not ignoring you, but you may have reached me during a time when I had my imaginary do not disturb sign posted on my door.

Michael Hauge - responds to comments at a St. Louis event.

So, to blog or not to blog, that is the question.  For me, the answer always comes down to my WIP. If words are flowing there, then I can give myself permission to blog. Many of my blog posts are written during my lunch hour. That way, I feel like I've moved forward without trying to get into a story only to have to quit a few minutes later.

Do you blog? Are you a faithful blog reader?

Lynn

April Showers

As I write this, I'm listening to the cars splashing through the rain running down the sides of our streets. Alby River, my husband calls it. I'm drawn to stories that depict weather. Maybe not as another character, like Twister or The Day After Tomorrow, but as a part of the feel of the story.

Torrential rain isn't just for the tropics. The rain here in the Midwest sometimes comes down so hard, it's impossible to see the roads. Driving on days like that, I just stay in what I believe to be the middle of the road. And hope the storm passes soon. I always scoffed at the history stories about the mud the wagon trains had to deal with after a rain storm. I was wrong.

Life's a little like those torrential rain storms. In your face destructive. Then, once it's calmed down, the apologies come. I didn't realize you were scared, or on deadline, or really trying to put your own spin on things.

And yet, sometimes, a gentle rain is a blessing. Farmers bless the powers that be for giving the crops a much needed soaking. The rain clears out the pollen and pollutants, giving us sweet, clean air to breath. A little rain in your life can make you focus on the things that are really important, or see things clearer.

"It was a dark and stormy night" sets the reader up for a certain type of story, just like the bright sunny day, gives the impression of a different type. But what if you switch the mood?

In Shawnee Holiday, A Bull Rider Novella, the storm that hits town early causes all kinds of havoc. But it's where we find ourselves after the storm that makes the difference to us, and our characters.

Cash Dillon, former pro-football player and owner of The Pancake House, is hours away from paradise. A week on a Mexican beach–no responsibility, no worries, and no schedule. When his delivery driver is stuck on another run, Cash takes one last delivery up the mountain.

June Palmer is home visiting her grandmother, but when her high school crush delivers their meal, it feels more like a Shawnee reunion. When Cash crashes his truck minutes after leaving her cabin, she has to figure out a way to get him down the mountain and to safety without revealing her hidden feelings.

Exclusively available at Amazon

When the Air is Soft

So when does spring arrive at your neck of the world? 

Back when I worked at the Department of Health and Welfare, Region IV, our manager, Tresa, planned an annual half day off at a local bar.  Years before, they’d take a weekend and camp in the Idaho mountains, but over the years, they moved the party from the campgrounds down the road to this remote watering hole.

The bar’s claim to fame, besides being on the way to the national forest above Boise, was their bucket of clams.

Which were pretty amazing.

When we’d ask about the outing, Tresa would shake her head. “Not time yet. We’ll go when the air is soft.”

I knew what she meant.  Sitting outside on a picnic table on a warm, but not too warm, day, the air tends to welcome you back from the harsh winter indoors.

My mother always said you couldn't plant your potatoes until after the snow left Shaffer Butte.  Even if we’d had weeks of warm weather in the valley, she’d hold off transplanting her garden plants from her sunny kitchen table to the warm soil of the garden. It seemed to work for her, she never had to cover the garden because of a late frost. Or buy the wall of water forms for the tomato plants to safeguard them from the freeze.

That's my mom and big brother celebrating her birthday.

Some people mark the start of spring with a calendar or the Easter holiday. For me, it’s all about the feel of the air.  We don’t have a mountain like Shaffer Butte where I live by the mighty Mississippi, so I leave the garden schedule up to my husband. You’ll find me on the deck with a long neck and a book.

What are your signs of spring?

Lynn

Oh, and just because, let's do a cover reveal - Here's Mission to Murder - available now for Pre-order -Releasing July 31st. 

The Stranger Within Me...My Fascination with Serial Killers

Is it just me who loves a good serial killer plot? I seem to be drawn to the stories of these people. 

Ted Bundy grabbed some of his victims by pretending to be injured. A broken winged bird, leading his prey away from the crowd. I think of Ann Rule working next to the charmer, and never knowing his true identity.

I think of all the times I did something really stupid hanging out in bars, meeting new people, and making horrible choices. I was the girl in the slasher movies that decides to go to the basement to check out the creaking noises that has to be an open window letting in the rain. But it’s not in the movies. Thankfully the window was causing the sound in real life.

I’m too young to tell you where I was when Kennedy was shot; instead, I know when they arrested Jeffrey Dahmer. It was the morning after I had gall bladder surgery.

When I visited my sister in coastal California, driving the week away trying to figure out what I was going to do with my newly divorced life, a serial killer was stalking and killing women in the exact area where I took long walks, alone.

He, too, was visiting from Idaho – after they arrested him in California, local law enforcement dug up what appeared to be his first kills on a farm in a small town north of my home.

Maybe I’ve outgrown my fascination with these villains. Now, I rarely watch the news, tired of hearing about the shootings and drug related crimes. Now, I like my murder off the page. Like in a cozy mystery.

What about you? True Crime or cozy mystery? Or somewhere in between?

Lynn

Writing out of Season

I like writing short stories.  They give me a break from the longer projects and a way to feel like I’m accomplishing something, even when my WIP won’t move out of the muddled middle.

The problem with writing (and submitting) shorts, is the one’s I’m writing now, in the dead of winter, will be considered for publication in mid-summer. Instead of focusing on the snow that’s scheduled to arrive tomorrow and keep me from driving to the day job, I have to be thinking of fun, sun, and maybe a little sand.

My feet are freezing even in my heavy socks and winter boots. The thought of flip flops makes me shiver.

But my character needs to be in shorts and a t-shirt, ready to run into the surf at a moment’s notice. Or enjoying a warm summer night with the new love of her life.  Not cuddled in sweats and blankets watching movies, baking brownies, and whipping up a new soup. (Stuffed Green Pepper soup is a-maz-ing – by the way.)

If I was more organized, I’d write winter stories in the winter and summer stories in the summer and just hold off submitting.  My fear is I’d never submit because I’d lose the story or, worse, totally forget about it.

Instead, I’m firing up the barbecue under the carport and drinking a frozen margarita tonight. 

I’ll be back after my fingers unfreeze.

What about you – do you read out of season? Are you devouring hot summer romances while the wind drifts the snow outside your door? 

Lynn

Small town Shawnee isn't where Cash Dillon planned on spending his vacation, even after his short reunion with June Palmer, the girl who got away in high school. But Cash learns sometimes, living in the moment, isn't half bad.

Shawnee Holiday now available for your Kindle - 

Cover Reveal Time - Guidebook to Murder

It's finally becoming real. After selling my cozy series in April of this year, I have a cover to show for the first release April 17th - 2014.

And since I'm still on deadline for book three - I'll leave you to enjoy.

Lynn

Guidebook to Murder: A Tourist Trap Mystery

In the gentle coastal town of South Cove, California, all Jill Gardner wants is to keep her store--Coffee, Books, and More--open and running. So why is she caught up in the business of murder?

When Jill's elderly friend, Miss Emily, calls in a fit of pique, she already knows the city council is trying to force Emily to sell her dilapidated old house. But Emily's gumption goes for naught when she dies unexpectedly and leaves the house to Jill--along with all of her problems. . .and her enemies. Convinced her friend was murdered, Jill is finding the list of suspects longer than the list of repairs needed on the house. But Jill is determined to uncover the culprit--especially if it gets her closer to South Cove's finest, Detective Greg King. Problem is, the killer knows she's on the case--and is determined to close the book on Jill permanently. . .

http://www.amazon.com/Guidebook-Murder-Tourist-Trap-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00FY54N72