My Blog Engage Bonanza

It is with both sheer joy and a bit of sadness that I must announce that I will not be playing in the giveaway world as much as I have been for the past year.  The reason is that I’ve been offered a position on the staff at BlogEngage.com.  Though I’ve known about this bit of awesomeness for a while now, I wasn’t able to announce it until the site owner, Brian Belfitt, made it official on the site.  The new Staff Announcement went live today and I am now the Chief Editing Officer and Content Manager for the site.  I’m as happy as a catfish in a mud hole.  LOL

But, with this being a pretty big deal, I’ll be spending a lot of time one the site.  This isn’t just some site needing someone to keep up with things, this is an actual paying gig that requires me to do some actual work.  I can dig it.  That means no more playing around with the giveaway girls, or at least not as much.  I’ll still be checking out some of my more favoritest places and of course, keeping up with the book stuff and talking about fiction.  I still have a book to finish for Heather Cashman, which by the was has made me cry 3 different times and I just over half way done.

For those wh0 have never heard of Blog Engage, it’s an amazing place where bloggers come together and check out each others posts.  Blog posts are submitted to the site and other members vote on them.  If a post gets 11 or more votes, it becomes a published piece and that’s where everyone wants to be.  It’s fun and it can bring a lot of traffic to your blog.  The site also has their own blog, which is where I’ll be doing my thing.  There’s a lot of valuable information on this site, all geared toward helping our fellow bloggers.

And don’t worry, I won’t be giving up on giveaways altogether.  I would have a meltdown if I could enter a book giveaway or 2.  I’ll keep you all up to date and I still have my own sites to run.  Won’t be giving up on those either.  So stick around and see what we can cook up.  This is going to be a fun and bumpy ride, but that’s what makes it so interesting.

Accentuate Writers Forum

I’m always talking about the fun side of being a fiction writer, or just being any kind of writer, but there is a down side.  The times when you realize you’re all alone.  We writers talked to our characters all the time, we talk to ourselves as we create our worlds, and we talk to the people in our own homes when we come out of hiding.  But there are times when we need someone else who knows what we’re going through.  And that place is the Accentuate Writer’s Forum.

This is a wonderful resource for writers of all genre.  There are places where fiction writers can sit and discuss their upcoming books, places for non-fiction writers to discuss the topics of the day, and a place where they can all hang out together.  There are links to various paying writing jobs, links to writing contests, and links to places about grants and awards.  If it’s got anything to do with writing, it can be found on this forum.

The gorgeous lady behind AWF is one of the very first writers I had the pleasure of meeting online, Michelle Devon.  She is an amazingly talented woman and has a killer sense of humor.  Michy (Michelle) refers to herself as a freelance writer, author, poet, and professional dreamer and I think that last one is something we can all relate to.

If you’ve been looking for a place to hang out with other writers who’ve been where you are, and are where you once were, this is the place to go.  Even if you’re tired of talking about writing and just want to hang out, there’s plenty of room at the Accentuate Writers Forum.

Write Out Of Life

Ever have one of those days where you wish you could write a whole new chapter to your real world life?  I’m having one of those days.  I hate Mondays!!!  The nice thing about being a writer is that we can create entire worlds that have nothing to do with the realities of our own existences.  In my fictional world, I’m a goddess who can fix any problem that occurs on my computer.  In the real world, I’m ready to throw it out the window.

As you sit and try to come up with various story ideas, think about your real life.  Not the good parts where everything comes together as it should, but the parts that just totally suck.  Use them as fodder for your story lines.  So you didn’t get the promotion at work you wanted and it went to the guy who never seems to know what’s going on.  Use that as a base for a story.  Why does he always come out smelling like a rose?  Why did he get the promotion?  What are the forces behind his odd behavior?  Don’t stop to think about plot, just write and go for it.

This can be applied to just about any aspect of our lives.  We all know that sometimes, life just sucks.  But rather than hold it in or take it out on those around us, use it to your advantage.  Write out a story where you win and the rest of the world loses.  For a change you could be the one who gets the promotion, the guy/girl, and an award winning story in the end.