- A packed week updating and learning social media. Set up Instagram (nice), but fought tooth and nail with Facebook setting up an author page separate from my personal page. It works about 50% of the time when I go to post (defaulting mostly to my personal account). A pain....
- Joined some teen twitter and author sites. I'm not fond of Twitter but found this easy to do, so big YAY!
- Set up an author page in Blogspot. Blogger is such a jewel. Click on page link to see and let me know what you think.
- Need to seriously think about doing a Cover Reveal. June? I don't have any dates yet, but would anyone be interested in posting my new cover when the time comes?
- Was among 20 volunteers asked to judge kids in grades 5-8 on public speaking. What fun! I also met the school's librarian who had learned I'd written a YA and did book reviews. She invited me to come back. Wow!
- Hence, zero writing done on any book projects, so decided to try some Object Flash Fiction to keep the writing juices going...
The new elephant was obvious. It was the only one without layers of dust. Aunt Mil had found a spot on the window sill squeezed in next to a dozen or so more in various shapes and sizes. The black ceramic giant stared back at Marcie in defiance, as if to say it had every right to remain.
"I know you kids think I should stop, but I couldn't resist. I found it at Pat's Antiques," Aunt Mil said.
Marcie sighed as her eyes circled around her aunt's tiny living room and down the hall. There had to be a hundred or more elephants in the home. It was a miracle she'd found any space at all.
Aunt Mil slowly got up and hobbled off toward the kitchen to make some tea, insisting she was fine when Marcie offered to help. "Now just stay put and enjoy the view," she said over her shoulder.
Marcie swallowed the words churning inside she had come to say. Moving Aunt Mil to the community home wouldn't be easy. They could wait one more day. The time would come soon enough.
Have a Wonderful Weekend!
"Come celebrate with us"
Co-hosts are: L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog
Sharon M. Himsl
Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011.
Published with Evernight Teen:
~~The Shells of Mersing
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog
Sharon M. Himsl
Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011.
Published with Evernight Teen:
~~The Shells of Mersing
Goodness, you have been busy! Yes, I prefer Blogger. Don't even get me started on my experiences with Wordpress and everyone seems to be moving there. I had fun and games commenting on Wordpress blogs during the A to Z Challenge, had to use my Twitter account or it would have made me sign as Raventracks, my Wordpress handle from when I was trying to set up a Wordpress blog.
ReplyDeleteWhere is the link to your other blog? And congrats on your sale!
Hi Sue. Check links above this post on page bar for Author Page. As for Blogger, Wow, I agree. I have a WordPress friend who left Blogger and just went back. Blogger is more user friendly and doesn't cost either!
DeleteOh, okay. I took a look. I think it will be a nice, simple, readable page when you have filled in the blanks. But you'll need to post regularly, as you do with this one. A lot of writers have a professional page with a blog link. But those aren't a lot of use until you've done enough books to make it worth the bother. I've come across many an author page that is a disappointment because it's just a page to advertise a single book or series with links to Amazon or whoever is selling their work.
DeleteThank you, Sue! That's really helpful. I have a lot to learn. My thought was to link both ways. My blog is geared toward older readers, not teens, which should be my audience. Main blog also has good traffic, so need to keep in mind. So much to consider! What a headache.
DeleteWhat a busy bee you've been. I used to have a FaceBoook account but found it too much. Perhpas I ought to re-set it up again.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful post to read Sharon, enjoy your week-end.
Yvonne.
Thanks, Yvonne. I haven't given up on Facebook, just frustrated at the moment!
DeleteAs an artist, I've been planning on starting a Tumblr account, but haven't gotten around to doing it yet. I heard that it has the "like" and "share" features that Blogger doesn't. Otherwise, I like Blogger.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how to use Twitter, but I recently followed a lot of comedians in the hopes that I would get a lot of funny things in my feed. Laughter brings positivity and good things, I think.
Congrats on your accomplishments this week!
I'm not familiar with Tumbler. Actually Blogger does have a 'like' and 'share' feature. You access from Layout, and then edit the Blog post box. I like your thoughts on laughter. We need more. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou're doing great getting all the social media stuff in order. It will pay off well when this book and others come out. I don't do cover reveals, but I'd be happy to feature your book when it releases!
ReplyDeleteI hope it works. I've spent so much time on it this week my brain is one big blur. Thank you Lexa for your offer to feature my book on release! I appreciate your help so much. You and other bloggers are my inspiration :) Have a great weekend!
DeleteYour blog posts for the A-Z Challenges have made for wonderful reading so I'm not surprised you have several books waiting to come out. I too found Wordpress frustrating compared to Blogger and struggle with posting only to my Facebook PAGE for promotions. I notice you are a member of the IWSG and so probably know Yvonne Ventresca already http://yvonneventresca.com - she always seems to have very good advice on her blog and appears very helpful so she might be worth talking with if you haven't already?
ReplyDeleteI am quite happy to help in anyway I can to promote your book so could do a cover reveal and write a book review as I have for others in the past.
Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace
The a-z has been a wonderful outlet for me as a frustrated writer, and I suspect for others too. As a non-published (fiction) writer, it gave me the satisfaction of having something published (i.e. free on my blog). We have Arlee to thank for this wonderful writing outlet and opportunity. Some have gone on to publish e-books.
DeleteThank you so much for your willingness to help me promote my book. I'm so excited to finally tell Callie's story. I'll be in touch!!
Did not know this about Yvonne, but I'm not surprised. So many in the IWSG group have been phenomenal examples to me and others. What a lucky find that was linking up with this group. Thank you Alex! We need to keep spreading the word.
Thank you for your kind words! I do have some posts about book marketing on my blog. :) You can find them here: http://yvonneventresca.com/blog/category/book%20marketing
DeleteI'm not great at social media stuff! I have my blog (still with blogger which for me works great) and Twitter, but don't bother with the other outlets but then I am not promoting, it may well be a different story if and when I am! Hope all goes well with the upcoming release.
ReplyDeleteJoin the club, Suzanne, but I find I'm slowly getting better....which as you point out is so important in book promotion. Hopefully, I'll be one of the experts down the road. Thanks for your encouragement!
DeleteI still find basic social media a wonder. Sounds like you're really getting into the swing of things! Good luck with the upcoming release. If you need extra shout-outs, let me know.
ReplyDeleteI hope I'm getting the hang of things. FB still has me baffled. Thank you for offering to do an extra shout out!!
DeleteI collect elephants, too. But not as many as Aunt Mil!
ReplyDeleteActually, I do too, but I grew up knowing a friend of my grandparents who had collected probably a hundred or more. There was a huge article about him in the Tacoma, WA newspaper. I've been fascinated with elephants ever since!
DeleteSharon,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have many reasons to celebrate, hooray for you! Poor Aunt Mil, my heart aches for her! It's gonna feel so displaced in unfamiliar surroundings. I hope she can take her elephant collection with her. :(
Thanks for stopping by to visit my A2Z Reflections post on Saturday!
Did you get your weekly Rx giggles last week with my latest edition of Friday Sillies? Or maybe you just wanna boogie, are you ready to hit the dance floor with the Monday Mewsic Moves Me crew? ;)
Come join the fun with Curious as a Cathy!
Hi Cathy. Afraid I didn't do a Reflections post. I commented several places and in a Celebration post. I did the a-z survey, which I felt was important. For now I'm prepared to forego the a-z, until I can launch my writing career. One book is only a small beginning! Friday Sillies sounds fun. I may stop by. I've resigned myself to blogging on Fridays only, with exceptions of course. I'll do the IWSG once a month post as well. Thanks so much for visiting my a-z and here. I enjoyed your drawings and hope you can finish your brother's book. That would be so cool :)
DeleteWould be more than happy to help out with your cover reveal! Feel free to contact me anytime.
ReplyDeleteAlso, love your flash fiction piece. Aunt Mil's love of elephants reminds me of a teacher I once had...
Heather, your offer is wonderful. Thank you so much!! I'll be in touch when I know more. I'm still waiting for edits, which I understand is a two week affair once I receive. I assume a cover comes about that time too. Learning the ropes as I go. Excited and scared, yet happy beyond belief...an odd mix of emotions! Have been meeting some of the other Evernight Teen authors....all have been extraordinary to say the least :)
DeleteWhat a wonderful week you had! I especially love how you work with some young adults. I bet it felt good to be asked to return. :)
ReplyDeleteIt definitely felt good to do. Sometimes we think we are too busy to volunteer. So glad I worked it in! The pay off was wonderful. Thanks for visiting :)
DeleteI'd be happy to help with your cover reveal. Let me know when you are ready.
ReplyDeletetamara (dot) narayan (at) gmail (dot) com
Hi Tamara! Thanks so much for offering to do a cover reveal. You have been so supportive :) I'll be in touch!!
DeleteIf I collected any kind of figurines, it might be elephants. We have enough stuff around our house now. I've been thinking of where to start downsizing. Someday I can imagine moving and probably that would mean to a smaller place. Nicely written story about a relevant topic.
ReplyDeleteArlee Bird
Tossing It Out
I've done my share of downsizing with all the moves we've made, but I've added to the clutter again. Looking around, I could get rid of a lot! I'm glad you liked the story. Thank you! I see myself going down that path someday but would like to make it easier on my relatives. My mom spends a lot of time losing stuff these days, and part of it is due to clutter. But it's hard getting rid of stuff that holds sentimental value so I don't blame her.
Delete