Have I Lost the Blogger/Twitter Love?

I really had to force myself to write this post today. I'm finding that this feeling is becoming much more prevalent with all of my social networking, including Twitter and Facebook. Well, I never really got into Facebook that much but Twitter and doing my blog posts I enjoyed. Just … not so much anymore.

I could just be feeling social networking exhaustion. I could, after almost 3 years of blogging have nothing more to say. More likely, with how busy my life has been lately, I just don't have the time and energy to create a blog every week. I used to blog three times a week, then I went down to two and now I'm down to once a week. That worked for a while but even that once a week posting seems an effort now. So, if I'm not seeing someone as much as I used to, doesn't that tell me something?

I'm also not finding anything new or fabulous out in the internet world these days. Even Twitter seems to be filled with people I haven't had a chance to get to know and, in my attempts to be a good, polite Twitter follower, I've perhaps followed too many people just because they followed me first. A lot of them seem to be using Twitter as an ongoing advertisement for their books. Which is fine. I just don't want to read about it every time I'm on line. Similarly, I used to love Google and would always have a pile of searches on various topics (mostly writing related) that would keep me happily entertained for hours. But it feels like I'm seeing the same old subjects being talked about by a few different people and nothing new is being discussed. Have I really read it all or am I just burnt out and need to step away from the computer for awhile?

I'm hoping it is the latter. Because I don't want to stop after all this time. But stopping cold turkey just makes it all the harder to step back into it when you do decide to come back. For example, I have (had?) an online friend who was very active for a time on blogger and Twitter and then she just dropped out. For over a year I didn't hear from her and then there was a brief little email to a few of her online friends that said 'Hey, how's everything? Hope to hear from you" but, honestly, I didn't feel the connection anymore because of that separation. That's what I feel will happen to me if I step away completely. But I may have to do that. Keeping up with it all is just way too much sometimes.

Am I the only one feeling this fatigue? If you're feeling it, did it hit you all of a sudden or has it been building slowly and what have you decided to do about it?

And the winner is ...

Well, it was looking to be like a tough battle. Twitter was heating up with Cynthia Reese, Elizabeth Ryann, Linda Grimes, and Patty Blount all arm wrestling to get the copy. A last minute contender, Andre Zollers (mtgoldeneagle on Twitter), with an interesting strategy to use the Golden Retriever card to get an edge in on the arm wrestling crowd, popped in to keep things guessing. But, in the end, it was the quiet, stay-in-the-background strategy of Tory Minus who ended up winning the day. That's right, The Boy pulled Tory's name out of the hat! Congratulations, Tory!! I'll be contacting you today by Direct Message to get your address and deets to send you your free copy of ILLEGALLY BLONDE.

I must say, all the participants have made my first contest extremely fun. I wish I could send each and every one of you a copy. Alas, I am only a lowly writer, not a miracle worker. But check out the miracle workers that are your neighbourhood librarians and see if they can conjure up a copy.

Now with the excitement of the contest over I'm not sure what to do with myself. I do have a couple of interviews coming up with fellow torkidlit writers Claudia Osmond and Debbie Ohi (Inkygirl on Twitter) so I'll keep you posted on those. In the meantime, here's a fun interview I did with the main character, Alya, of Jill Murray's Rythm and Blues. I'm hoping to interview Alya's creator Jill in an upcoming blog post soon (although she's heading off to Ethiopia soon! How cool is that??. Jill's another amazing member of torkidlit as well as the brains behind Y-eh! a blog tour of Canadian authors.

Thanks again for playing everyone! You all make Blogland and the Twitterverse a better place.

A Contest! Just because...

Well, not just because. I've been meaning to have a contest for a while because, well, that's what you do to celebrate the release of a book. Or if you have a blog anniversary or if you hit 300 followers on Twitter (like I just did!) or if you just want to give away a free copy of a book you actually you know, like, wrote for absolutely no reason at all.

So, in honour of all those things and just because I think it'll be fun and just because I've never had a contest before and just because I'd like to share ILLEGALLY BLONDE with someone who might want to read it and just because it's been a hoot having a blog and being on Twitter and meeting so many fabulous people here's my first contest: If anyone would like a copy of ILLEGALLY BLONDE just leave a comment on the blog here before next Tuesday morning (that's June 15th)one of my kids will pick the name out of a hat and we'll ship a copy off to you pronto.

Thanks for playing and thanks for visiting!

Blogiversary - Reflections on a Year of Being 'Out There'

My first blog post was a year ago - February 6, 2009 to be exact. I had absolutely no clue as to what I was doing. Lots of writers I admired had been writing blogs for years. Had been writing wonderful, supportive, informative, reflective, funny, motivational posts that I loved to read, learn from and apply their advice to my own writing and publishing journey. So what was the point in starting my own blog, I thought? Really, what did I have to say, who was I saying it to and what could I possibly add? What I learned after a year of doing a blog is this: Those questions don't matter. The only question that matters is: Do you want to make connections with others and learn more about yourself - as a writer and a person - along the way?

I had no conscious thought about the direction of this blog when I started it. I first titled it Unpublished. Unfazed. Undaunted. But then, after I got my contract, I retitled it to "About to be published! About time. About the journey." I thought that's what I'd mostly write about - the rejections, the ups and downs, the waiting, the stops and starts on the writing path. And I did - and do - write about those things. But the name of the blog is "Out of the Wordwork" and I named it that because that's what I needed to start doing. I needed to get out of the word work. I'd spent years working on the words but had stayed very insular in terms of my reaching out to others in the writing community. Yes, I'd joined fabulous writers spaces like Verla Kay's Blueboards and had been a member of the Toronto Romance Writers for years. I'd taken various writer's courses and attended conferences. But I never felt comfortable sharing my thoughts on writing with more than one or two people at a time. I was definitely a fly on the writing wall of life. But as I started putting thought into what I should write for blog posts, I started to realize things about myself that I never consciously faced before. I thought I was a pessimist - but because of writing I realize I'm more of an optimist (you have to be in this business!). I never realized how persistent I was - until I started writing about how important persistance was to a writer. I never thought to see anybody stopping by to read my blog and was astounded and amazed by the people I've met through this medium. I never thought I'd ever follow blogging by also joining Twitter but I think having dipped my foot into one 'out there' pool, it was a lot easier to dip my toe into an even bigger pool. And I learned the two of them are very complimentary/supportive of each other. At least the people involved in them are.

And, by far, that has been my biggest revelation: how much writers support each other through blogs and Twitter simply by making comments like "Yay! Good for you!" or "I've been through that…" or "Hey, thanks, I learned something…" or "So happy for you…" I would never have known any of that support was out there if I hadn't put myself 'out there'.

So, if you are hesitating about starting a blog or joining Twitter or any other scary social media out there right now all I have to say is "If I can do it, you can too." Go on. Put yourself out there. You'll be amazed about what you discover about yourself and other people along the way.

We Live Who We Believe We Are

http://tonyrobbinstraining.com/468/new-year-new-life-2

A wonderful thing about Twitter - you get sent these terrific links that you'd probably never come across otherwise. The amazing Michelle Rowen retweeted this Tony Robbins link to a free video on his website that was so insipirational (duh - what else would it be. It's Tony Robbins!) - I had to write about it in a blog post.

There were dozens of quotes in this video that made me finally understand why Tony Robbins is such a force in the change your life, be who you want to be world. Yeah, there are so many "power of positive thinking" speakers and writers out there but I finally got what makes Tony Robbins different. He doesn't just say "Think and it will be" it's more like "Work at what you want to become". That message is much more empowering to me than just thinking about something.

The most important message in this video to me was about Raising Your Standards. You are only as good as what you think you are or want to do. But it's not just about raising standards. You have to back up standards with rituals. Visions need rituals. THAT's where the power is - it's the little things you do every day that help you succeed. You want to write a book? It's not enough to say that. You have to write - every day or whatever your ritual will be - to accomplish it. You want to write a better book than the last one? Raise Your Standards and figure out what will make the next book bigger, better, and stronger. The only thing that will make you happy is if you step up - always progress.

There were so many quotes to get inspiration from but here are just a choice few that resonated with me:

People are rewarded in public for what they do in private.

Great ideas don't interrupt you - you have to chase them.

Success and failure are not giant events. Failure comes from the little things we DON'T do.

There is the pain of discipline and there is the pain of regret. Which do you think is worse?

Demand more from yourself than anybody else.

It's not what we get that makes us happy - it's who we become.

So on the day that's supposed to be the most depressing day of the year, I am instead feeling hopeful, motivated and inspired. And it doesn't hurt that all the amazing writing awards like the William C. Morris, Newberry, Printz etc. were awarded to some awesome writers. Writers that are also an inspiration.

Live who you believe you are. All the rest will follow...

2009 - A Year of Writerly Firsts

I don't usually spend a lot of time looking into the past - I'm definitely a go forward girl myself. But this past year has been so personally eventful for me and so filled with firsts that as 2010 looms ahead I do feel the need to look back. I feel very much like I'm approaching a cliff after running at full speed for many, many miles. So before I take the big leap into 2010 (more like fall into the great unknown) I want to pay homage to the year that was and see the past year (and decade) that was the big lead up to what I hope will be even more interesting writerly first experiences.

Of course, the biggest and most monumental 'First' was getting an offer on ILLEGALLY BLONDE. That happened in February. Kind of hard to beat that! But even though the next 'firsts' I'm going to list aren't as climactic as that one they are still very personally important to me on a number of levels.

2nd 'First' - I started this blog. Seriously, that was a biggie for me. I'd never really put myself out there 'publicly' and making a commitment to write about my writing journey was very scary. It's helped me connect with writers I would never have had the chance to meet and made me really think about my writing process and what I've learned - and still have to learn - about writing novels, the book publishing industry and being 'out there' for people to read. For a fairly private person like me this was a very big first.

3rd 'First' - having my name appear in Publisher's Marketplace. I dreamed about this as I learned the craft over the last seven years. Seeing my name and the name of my novel appear in the publishing industry's main source of information made my heart race and my palms sweaty. The dream made real.

4th 'First' - Working through edits with my first real editor! Hi Anita!! I had no idea what to expect and was so relieved to have Anita to guide me and support me through this very big first.

5th 'First' - Meeting so many amazing writers in Toronto who I've learned from and admire so much.

The Torkidlit authors group: Helene Boudreau, Cheryl Rainfield, Debbie Ohi, Claudia Osmond, Deborah Kerbel, Adrienne Kress, Marina Cohen, Mahtab Narsimhan, Megan Crewe, Maureen McGowan, Bev Katz Rosenbaum are all amazing writers and wonderful people.

Anthony De Sa: a Toronto born and bred Portuguese-Canadian author who wrote Barnacle Love about the Portuguese immigrant experience with such compassion, honesty and beauty. I was thrilled to meet him and even more thrilled to discover how lovely, supportive and encouraging he is in person.

6th 'First' - Joining Twitter. I would never have done this if not for Debbie Ohi and her positive encouragement. It's turned out to be a wealth of information and a place where writers have created a wonderful community.

I'm sure there are a whole slew of other firsts that I can put down but those are the biggies for me. As 2010 - the Year of the Tiger and I'm a Tiger! - approaches I know there will be other firsts to experience. All will be equally scary and exciting, I'm sure. The first decade of the new millenium was a big one for me once I discovered my passion for writing. I really hope the next ten years will be filled with as many wonderful firsts as I've had the priviledge to experience over the last few years.

I wish for all of you only one thing as the new year and the new decade approaches: Discover what you love to do. Then proceed to nurture it with the intensity of a first love. Only good things - and remarkable firsts - can follow.

Happy New Year!

Positivity

One of the things I like about Twitter is getting to know new people and links to their blogs. One of the people I follow on Twitter shared a blog post from this site

www.positivityblog.com

(sorry I can't seem to make the link work yet. I'll keep trying)

A blog on how to be positive! I so needed to find this resource. I struggle on a daily basis to try and curb my natural tendency towards cynicism. Looking on the bright side is one of the harder things to achieve in my life but when I do succeed it makes a total difference in my life and my family's life.

So that's why I'm highly recommending this blog and sending positive vibes to all who strive for seeing the up side in life! Besides, any blogger who has a post on What Bruce Springsteen Can Teach You About Life has definite cred with me.

Blogging on Borrowed Time

I just lost the post I was writing about blogging on borrowed time. Figures. Our computers at home are going haywire and I'm never sure when I'm going to lose the chance to twitter or blog or even visit my favourite writer's boards - Verla Kay's.
So all this has caused me massive anxiety as I think, "Oh, no! I haven't blogged in five days!" or "Ack! I haven't tweeted in over 24 hours!"

Seriously, Nelsa, who cares?

I'm thinking I should blog. Should tweet. Well, who says I should? All this talk about networking, getting your name out there, becoming part of a writer's community, yes it's all important but, honestly, when did I start to worry more about these things than the writing?

I'm starting a new book on November 1st (no, not Nanowrimo but coinciding with many who are doing that challenge). My challenge isn't a book in a month. I'm giving myself 3 months to complete a first draft. So if I don't blog as much over the next 3 months is it a crime? No. And while I do recognize that all of these things are important I also acknowledge that these blogs and tweets and interactions on writer's boards are not the most important thing. The writing's the thing. I need to write and write well. Whatever happens beyond that is out of my control to a certain extent. I'm not the best blogger, never will be. I'm never going to be a full convert to twitter. But trying to become the best writer I can personally be? Now that is something I can commit to.