breaking the silence

October has always been my favorite month, so it seems fitting that this is also an awareness month for a cause close to my heart. October is National Bullying Prevention Month. (For information about the evolution of NBPM and how you can get involved, please follow the links at the very end of this post.)

i’ve done several guest blog posts recently about bullying. it’s somewhat comical, considering how much i’ve avoided talking about bullying here on my own blog, but i suppose it’s natural to be asked about it, since it’s a subject i write about. and there’s no time like my dear October to break the silent streak.

so here are the links to those posts:
At Uniquely Moi Books, I tell the true story of an encounter with a bully.
At The Book Life, I talk about bullies and bystanders.
At Bibliophilic Book Blog, I was asked about cyber bullying.

that last post is what made me want to continue the discussion. in that post, i was also asked whether bullying was on the rise or whether it’s just getting more attention as a cause. i’ve been giving that a LOT of thought, and i’m crafting a new blog post all about the explosion of bullying awareness and how it could backfire.
so i’ll be back next week to explain why i think “Bully” has become a buzzword.

in the meantime,
Click here to read about how Nat’l Bullying Prevention Month came to be.
And click here for the organization that started it all.

so much social media

this post is a call for opinions!

i've seen a lot of chatter lately about the eventual demise of facebook and the apparent slow-down in blogging and blog commenting. i've also noticed some of that chatter includes guesses about what will be the next "big thing."

it's not really a secret that i am a reluctant participant in social media.
it all started for me a few years ago, when i got a call from my good friend Julia telling me to get on MySpace. i had heard of it, but i wasn't interested.
No, she insisted. You don't have to make a page. You can just sign up and SPY ON PEOPLE!
well hello! that sounded like fun!

and it was. MySpace was the beginning of social spying - looking up people you hadn't seen in forever. online voyeurism wasn't new, but keeping tabs on people you actually knew? - that was still a pretty fresh idea.
of course, the spying got old fast, and i ended up making a page.
that was my gateway to social media.

these days, i am far from a social media expert, but sure, i play.
and now, as an author looking to connect with readers and other writers, i'm conscious of what is the hot spot of the moment. so i'm looking for opinions.
where are you all gathering online these days?

i'm here:
blog
twitter
personal facebook (mostly private and non-writing-related stuff)

should i also be here?:
tumblr
google+
formspring
linked in (i quit this, losing all of my links in the process. maybe that was a bad idea?)
professional facebook (separate author page - something more public?)

if you could only pick 3 social media to participate in, which 3 would you choose and why?
in your opinion - What's Next?

what a difference a year makes

i declare this holiday blogging break officially over!

we're running up on the new year here in just a few days, and it got me thinking about just how much has changed in the last 12 months.

it's hard to believe at this time last year, i'd never queried an agent or sent a manuscript to a beta reader.
it's hard to believe i was a blog lurker and a die-hard twitter hold out instead of a blogger and tweeter.
it's hard to believe Butter was still unfinished, and Billy D was barely a twinkle of an idea.

i never would have guessed that by now i'd have an agent, a publisher, a new manuscript and best of all - friends online i can truly confide in.

we always say publishing is slow, but maybe it only looks that way from the front end. i think sometimes when you look back, it's easier to see how things move pretty damn fast, actually.

i'm glad i started seriously down the path to publishing this year, but i'm mostly glad i took the plunge and joined the online writing community. from blogs to tweets, public forums to private emails, i've had a blast making friends and following other writers. you are all made of awesome.

here's to another fun year in the blogosphere.

fave features

i suspect the infrequent posting on the blog here might continue through the end of November, as i have not yet failed at NaNoWriMo. (one reason - choosing to write instead of blog)

but i don't want to be one of those bloggers who apologizes for my long silences, so i decided to be more productive than that and give you some places to visit when you find my blog dark for a few days at a time.

this is a collection of my favorite features in the blogosphere. they are either weekly or very regular, so you'll probably get addicted and keep checking back for them every day, just like i do. if you visit, be sure to leave comments and tell the bloggers who sent ya! :)

(the links are in green. click 'em!)

*my current fave feature and my go-to place for covers is at Naomi's inkcrush blog. her Cover Comparisons are so much fun to examine. she pulls covers from all over the globe for a single book and puts them all in one place, so you can study the subtle - or sometimes completely obvious - differences. i have no idea where she finds them all.

*Kate Hart's Field Trip Friday posts must take her forever to put together. she provides a collection of writing, publishing and otherwise entertaining tweets from the week. i used to love following this feature even before i caved and joined twitter. it's a great way to feel connected if you're not ready to start tweeting... and a great way to get caught up if you just haven't had time to tweet!

*i am loving the Trailer Talk on E.J. Wesley's blog. he shares two book trailers, generally very different from each other, then gives some insight into why they win or fail. it's been educational, as trailers are a total mystery to me. (says the girl who works in TV. haha.)

*finally, a great feature for readers on the run! check out Debra Garfinkle's Book Review Haikus. the link takes you to her blog's home page. if you scroll down her page, you'll see several of the haiku entries. they are indispensable for a reader who doesn't have time to read lots of long reviews. i think she always does 5 books... and you'll have her honest opinion on all of them in less than 5 seconds.

happy blog bouncing!

the trouble with twitter

i am always one step behind when it comes to social media.

i was late to the MySpace party – like, so late that by the time i got there everyone had already switched to Facebook.

i resisted FB because, geez, i had just found my way around myspace and posted all these pictures and found a cool background and made friends and OMG WHY IS EVERYONE LEAVING ME??
i finally made the switch in protest. i hated FB at first, with its non-user-friendly interface and its no-frills design, but that’s where the party was, so i went. eventually, i warmed up to its merits. hey! i haven’t seen that guy since high school! whoa! my BFF from 10 years ago! my aunt! my cousins! Facebook is the best!!

i’m less gung-ho now, but i still use it to share photos with folks who are far away and to keep up with people i otherwise would lose touch with. mostly, i use it much like folks use Twitter – to say something really quick on the move or to post a quick link or pic.

so why am i so resistant to the ACTUAL Twitter site?
well, for starters, the first and only time i ever tried Twitter was a disaster. how am i supposed to find people i know with all these crazy handles? who are these people following me when my account is 5 seconds old? and OMFG HOW DO I MAKE MY CELL PHONE STOP TWEETING ME EVERY 16 SECONDS??!

account delete.

that experience put me off Twitter for quite awhile. in the meantime, i took up blogging.
this was a game i could play. blogging was the first online medium i fully embraced from the beginning. no pressure to post every day, let alone every 5 minutes. when i have something to say, i can actually say something, without trying to keep it to 140 characters. for the most part, i can limit my blog to writing about writing instead of feeling so pressured to say something – anything – that i end up telling everyone i’m wearing my Monday panties on Thursday or that the chorizo burrito i just ate made me spend 20 minutes in the bathroom.

seriously. these are the things i’m afraid i would tweet if tweeted. twatted?
anyway.

my fear of Twitter is partly due to something i know about myself – i’m not going to half-ass it. if i join the Twitter ranks, i will feel compelled to fully participate – to build a following, to post multiple times a day, to keep up with my fellow tweeters.
and that is a time suck.

i abandoned MySpace a long time ago, but i still maintain my blog and my Facebook (which means spending time reading the other blogs and facebook pages I’m connected to). those things, combined with keeping up with all my favorite threads and friends on the Absolute Write forums, probably suck up one or two hours of my day… almost every. single. day. i can only imagine the time i would invest in Twitter.

and that is time not spent writing, which needs to be my focus. So for now i am staying off Twitter.
now that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tweet. quite the opposite! the more people on Twitter, the more writers and pub peeps for me to stalk follow. i check Twitter daily to see what people are talking about in #askagent and #yalitchat. i’m learning about hashtags and tiny urls. i’m observing how others successfully use Twitter to network and promote and just keep up with their buddies in general.

so when (not if, but when) i join Twitter, i will be ready to jump in with both feet. it’s just a matter of time.

summer blues

and bonus! a few more "best lines" from the book i read on 4th of july by the pool. those lines in a moment, but first:

is it just me, or is the blogosphere slowing down for summer? a handful of blogs i follow are on hiatus for various reasons - summer events like vacations or internships - summer family time, etc..
it also sounds like quite a few people are taking a break from writing right now.
finally, with agents and editors taking their own vacations or preparing for summer conferences, it seems news about deals and signings is a little slow too.

it's giving me the blues, because i felt like i had a lot of momentum going this winter, and now that my own path to publishing has slowed down, i don't even have as many other folks to live through vicariously. le sigh.
looking forward to fall when things get hopping again!

NOW... about those best lines.
last weekend, i read Rebecca Stead's award-winning "When You Reach Me."
i was half done with the book before i thought to start earmarking pages for quotes. it just reads so fast and smooth you almost don't notice the amazing one-liners, because you feel like you're living the book instead of reading it. (or maybe that's just fan-girl me)

so much of this book is about discovery as you go, so there are many many great lines i can't quote here, because they would give away something in the story. however, these two are spoiler-free and just as lovely:

"It soaked into me like water into sand, fast and heavy-making."

"Sometimes I wanted to squeeze Colin's cheeks until his teeth fell out."

love love love those lines.

vloooooog!!!

here goes nuthin'...

side effects

creative urges driving you crazy?
itching to put pen to paper?
infected with words and need to purge?

for so many of us, the only cure for these maladies is to write.

writing sooths our souls, scratches that itch and empties our brains before we go mad with ideas.
i popped the writing pill, and now i'm addicted. hopelessly.

it's too late for me, but i'm here to tell the rest of you: writing should come with a warning label, because there are side effects... serious side effects.

WARNING:

Writing has been known to cause ailments, including, but not limited to:

Insomnia

Shooting pains in the wrist

Back aches

(please consult your doctor about ergonomically designed chairs)

Mood swings

Obsessive-Compulsive behavior

Severe side effects may include:

Hearing voices

Loss of time/Daydreams bordering on blackouts

Psychotic rambling

If you experience one or more of these severe adverse effects, please consult your manuscript and increase your writing dosage until all the voices in your head bleed out onto the page.

....or maybe that's just me. ;)

speaking of side effects, i have discovered one awesome side effect of interviewing the most impressive YA blogger around -- HOLY BLOG TRAFFIC, BATMAN!

my hits for yesterday's interview with the fabulous T.H. Mafi have been off the charts.

and better yet - i found some new friends!

Welcome, new followers:

Meredith, Angela, Helena, Matthew, MBW and "Writing Again" !!!!!

welcome as well to:
Vic, EJ, Jamie, Kara and Julie - also recent additions! :)

i believe i mentioned something recently about doing a vlog post if my followers hit 25. guess i'll have to make good on that promise sometime in the next week.
how about this -- when i hit "send" on the email to Agent Almost with my new manuscript, that will be the day i vlog.

i would say, "don't hold your breath," but go ahead and hold it - because i promised him i'd have it in his inbox early next week.

YIKES! guess i should get to work!