Happy New Year! And a thought on Blogging

Hi, peeps!

Wishing everyone a healthy HAPPY NEW YEAR--even if I am several weeks late. :)

But I'm sure I caught several of you through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Which brings me to my New Year's thoughts on my blog...

No, I have not abandoned by blog. Not entirely. I will continue to post a little update about myself or writing once a month. But that's all I'm afraid.

With so many other social media platforms out there, blogging (for me) doesn't hold the appeal as it once had several years ago. I've made great friends and met awesome writers through blogging, but now I follow them on other outlets so I don't always feel the draw to catch up with them by blog now.

Plus, it's a time thing, really. ROI. (Return on Investment) How much time I put into blogging vs outcome. And I can say, other social media venues take MUCH less time (for me) and I get back MUCH more in return.
What is "Return"? It can be engagement with readers/writers or just plain sales.

The web and the whole writing environment is constantly changing, so for me, I need to change too.

So why blog at all? you might ask.

Well, a few reasons:
1) I have my blog listed on my website. Some new readers who find me might be interested in something I'm saying or have said.
2) My blog is listed and seen on Goodreads, where readers can get information.
3) My blog still has a following on blog sites and new people are still discovering it through Google and the tags I've listed in my posts.

So that's all from me. Until next month...

Jennifer

Almost Forgot to Come Back!

Hey, all!

I know summer isn't technically over, but I hope everyone had a nice summer.

I had a REALLY good one.
Too good.
So good, I couldn't wait for it to end because I thought it was going to kill me. LOL

But because of my complete frolicking and fun, I did not write ONE WORD.

Huh?

Because of my complete frolicking and fun, I also BARELY READ.

What the?

I know, right? I really don't know what happened to me except that I needed some time off to do other things besides read and write. I also didn't want to be a slave to blogging or Facebook. I wanted to do it when I wanted to do it, not because I had to.

It was quite liberating.

However, it's time to blog again. One of the things that I do love about blogging (besides the people)is the accountability. And I find there is a correlation between writing and blogging. When I blog, I'm more plugged into what's going on in the writing world and more likely to be motivated to write.

It's a sort of catch-22.
It takes time away from writing to blog, yet if I don't blog, I write less anyway. :)

Anyway,I'm back! Remember me?

So nice to see you again!


Anyone feel the way I do about blogging and writing, too?

Misc Monday

Happy post Mother's Day to all you moms out there!!

                          A few things on the Misc Monday:

1) I'm at The Hot Pink Typewriter today.
In keeping with the Mother's Day holiday, I'm talking about this:

"Five Reasons Why Moms Make the Best Heroines"

True dat. But stop by and see why anyway.

 please

 

2) Also, in case you haven't seen my other group blog, you should stop by Through Heart Shaped Glasses. 

We have monthly themed blog topics and have a monthly giveaway to a random commenter. In May, our topic is "firsts" and we're giving away a $10 Amazon e-card.

Check it out!

 

3) And lastly, in case you missed my social media blitz campaign (AKA, my big mouth), my sweet romance SUNNY DAYS FOR SAM is a Golden Quill Finalist in the Desert Rose RWA contest for best traditional romance. (Yay!!)

 

Here is the list of all the awesome and talented finalists: 2013 Golden Quill

And that's it for me.

Have a great week!

What about you? Any news to share?

Yes, I'm still alive

Hey, Happy Monday!

Thanks for all the GREAT reading suggestions! I'm actually starting with Life of Pi because I just happened to see that at the library. Then I think I'll be going to Stephen King.
In case you were curious. :)

Now, onto my scrambled brain.

Do you remember the anti-drug commercials where the speaker would hold up an egg and say, "This is your brain" and then crack the egg in the frypan and say, "This is your brain on drugs"?

Yeah. Well, I'm changing that to "this is your brain on a double blog tour".

And put a side order of toast with that.

I've been so busy with other blogs that I haven't felt like blogging here. Nothing personal. It's the fried brain. But fear not, I have some things to say coming up soon about blog tours, writing, and reviews. So have patience.

In the meantime, a few things:

1) I have the lovely Justine Dell stopping by my blog on Friday. She has a new romance out and will be hosting a double giveaway of sorts.
You'll have to stop by then to figure out what I mean. :)

and

2) I'm at Reading, Writing and Raising Boys today. I have a fun little interview going on there and I hope you stop by!

I think that's it.

So I'll leave you with my kitchen picture because I finally got window treatments and it is now officially DONE. Yay!

Have a great week!

985 and other things

IN THE NEWS: An inebriated moose trying to get more fermenting apples apparently lost its balance and ended up stuck in an apple tree in Sweden. Read more HERE.

Why 985?

It's a nice number.

Well, that and...I'm on blog post 985!!!!
Thank you, thank you. Hold the applause.
(Actually, now that I think about it, this is blog post 986. But I digress...)

Wow, so many blog posts, so many rambles, so close to 1,000. Hmm...I feel as if I should do some sort of blog post celebration giveaway--ya know, due to my prolificness. Will need to think on this...

On another note, I wanted to give a big shout-out to fellow author Adelle Laudan, who put together a sweet (literally and figuratively) cookbook called Sweet Sunshine: Baking Sweet Memories.

This is a Charity Cookbook, with all proceeds going to the Sunshine Foundation of Canada http://www.sunshine.ca/ Within these pages, several featured authors (including ME) have shared a childhood memory, some pictures of us as little kids, recipes, and a few have written a story, complete with artwork and coloring pages. Recipes include; Cookies, Cakes, Pies, Desserts, Fudge & Smoothies!

It's really a nice cook book. So much so that I plan on doing a giveaway of this around the holidays because I think it'll make a great Christmas gift. So stay tuned!

Before I close out this week, I have to ask, what is your favorite thing to win on blogs? Books, gift certificates, food items, jewelery, or fun gift baskets? Have you won anything on a blog?

Blogging Challenge: A to Z!

Hey, all!

Yes, I've joined the bandwagon for the A to Z Blogging Challenge for the month of April! Don't know about it?

1. For more info on it go HERE.


2. April is usually a busy time for me so I never got to participate last year. Unfortunately, nothing has changed this year--aside from my sanity--and I'm doing it anyway.

Sometimes you just need a change. :-)

I have no rhyme or reason or plan for my posts. I joined late so I'm just winging it. Yep. Because that's the way I roll...

(Actually, that's not true.) I very close to a Type A personality so this is REALLY different for me.

Anyhew, and away I roll...

A: A is for American Girl.

Guess what? I'm going to the American Girl Doll Store in New York City on Saturday! I'm very excited because I've never been! (Actually, my mom and the kiddo are going too) We ALL have never been.

My mom got this brochure from a travel agency and they happened to be having a bus trip there that includes lunch. So considering it's the kiddo's birthday Saturday, we thought it would be the perfect gift. My kiddo already picked out the outfit for her doll:

Snazzy, huh? I want a leopard coat like that.

I never had an American Girl doll growing up. I don't even know if they were around back then! But as expensive as the dolls are, they really are nice and the books they put out are even nicer.

I can't wait to go!

How about you? Have you ever been to an American Girl Doll store? Any tips? Did you have an American Girl Doll growing up?