M.L. Chesley's Blog, page 37

Insecure Writers Support Group...

Insecure Writers Support Group or IWSG is brought to you by the Ninja Captain himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh. You can find the list of other participants here.

Don't forget to sign up for my Followers Blog-stock. You can also get the details there as well.

I tell you what. I've had some good luck for the past few weeks and then of course had to get my mother lode of badness to go with it. Medical. Details need to be withheld for a bit. Bills are stacking up, but this isn't what I want to post about. It does bring up a valid insecurity, though.

Writing while stressed. Sounds like something the police could pull you over for, right?

I've had several cool opening sentences pop into my brain. I'm dying to write. However, I'm so focused on the current issues of my life, I can't focus very well on writing.

Am I the only one who has this issue?

Then my train of thought starts to skip down the razor blade path of: "How many other authors just go ahead and write their way through their stress?" "Does this make me a bad writer?" "Am I dedicated enough?"

I know I'm not alone in this. I know I can write through this if I really put my mind to it. I'm not a bad writer and I AM dedicated. But this is my insecurity for the month. It's the one at the forefront of my mind, currently, at least.

How do you work through stress? Do you wait until the crisis passes? Do you just write anyway?

Details For Followers Blog Hop...

Hey everyone! Hope you're all refreshed and rested from the weekend.

As promised, this post today is about the Followers Blog Hop I'm hosting. Pardon my lack of creativity, I haven't named it yet. But for some reason, the song, "Ballroom Blitz" keeps playing in my head and I've changed the words to "Follow Blitz", but that sounds kinda stupid. So the name of this hop may just remain Follow-Fest or maybe Blog-Stock.

Okay, on to the details!

Below, on the Linky list, you'll need to add your information. You can grab the code and add the Linky list to your blog post on the 10th to make it a bit easier for people to hop around to all those who've signed up. That's the easy part.

Now, for the blog post itself on Monday, June 10th! Here are the guidelines for those of you looking for followers (Now referred to as LFFs) and since some of you are new to blogging, I'm giving you instructions. Those of you who know this can just skip over some of this:

LFFs:

~ If you're just looking for followers for your blog, then just make sure you post that day. However, two VERY IMPORTANT things need to be done on your BLOG. ONE is to make sure you have a VISIBLE "Follow" button. When you first log into blogger, you have a little list off to the left. Look for the one titled "Layouts". Once there, click on "Add a Gadget" and find the one for the "Follow Button". Mine is titled "Cool People", because, well, you're all cool in my book! You can move that around once you have it set up, so place it near the top so people don't have to scroll down. You'll also find a "Google+ Followers" button. If you are on Google+, by all means, add that. Same if you use a blog reader such as "Blog Lovin'". (Note: If you use Blog Lovin' you'll have to log in to your account to get the code for the button. Then in Blogger, add it as an HTML gadget and paste the code in there.) Whatever you choose, make it visible. Even if you just want people to subscribe by e-mail.

The SECOND thing you need to do is turn OFF the comment captcha. Seriously. I know you don't want spammers and such. That's awesome, neither do I! However, if you go back to that list on the left, click on "Settings" and then on "Posts and Comments". You'll now see where you have the captcha set up for comments. I want you to click on "Registered User". Now only people who have a registered account will be allowed to leave a comment. They can use Google+, OpenID, things like that. If they are ANONYMOUS they CANNOT leave a comment and therefore, you, my friend, are not plagued with SPAM!!  Woot! And if it makes you feel a little more secure, click on "Always" under comment moderation.  But when doing a blog hop, the last thing you want to do is fight with a captcha. That's the best way to LOSE followers. If you're truly interested in what people have to say about your posts, be nice to them!

Onward!

~ If you are looking for followers for your blog AND other social media: make sure you provide links! I'll be looking for people to follow me on Twitter, so I'm going to include my Twitter handle in a link like this: Follow me on Twitter. I also want followers for my FaceBook Author Page and Book Page, so I'll leave links for those, as well as a couple other places.

For Followers:

Okay, for those of you who are participating, you'll all be hopping around the blogosphere to reciprocate those who have graciously dropped by your blog to follow you. We want to make this easy peasy, right? Absolutely. So, if you're participating in this hop and you click the Linky List to go check people out, PLEASE leave a COMMENT stating that you are now following them and they can follow you back. But here's the kicker. You need to leave a link in the comments. (Well, you don't NEED to if your name is on the list, but it'd be nice.)

How do you do such a thing?

Easiest way is this (I'm going to build you a template): Copy and past the first part with the red and blue lettering into a new document or on your notepad. Remove red lettering and parenthesis. Change the word dot to a . and change the blue lettering to your information. Then follow the instructions below that.

Mel at bracket(<) a href equals(=) quote(") http colon(:) back slash(/) back slash(/) caledonialass dot blogspot dot com close quotes(") close bracket(>) Writings Musings and Other Such Nonsense bracket(<) back slash(/) a close bracket(>)

There should be NO SPACES between the first bracket and the "a" (no space
between href and the = sign (href=) and no space between the equals and the quotes (="). No space between the quotes and the http ("http) or the http, colon and two back slashes (just like the beginning of a web address) and the beginning of your web address for your blog (://caledonialass). No space in the web address, either, of course. No space between the dot com, close quote and close bracket (dot com">) or between the very last bracket (<), back slash (/), 'a' and close bracket (>).
Hope that helped.

So again, make sure you make it easy for people to follow your blog. Any other social media, it's just a button click. And during this hop, you want to use your social graces and follow those who have followed you. Give them a chance! Not everyone clicks, in real life or on the internet, and maybe you're not really interested in everyone on the Linky list. That's quite all right. But use your Netiquette. People taking the time to follow you like to be followed in return. I'll be posting more this week and will make sure to keep the Linky List at the bottom of each post. Thanks everyone for your patience and participation!

From Across The Sea...

Hey everyone! I'm going to be incorporating some new stuff into my blog. As always, feedback is appreciated. I'll be doing some more posts to help out anyone who has news. Giveaways, free books/ebooks, guest posts, blog hops, all of it. Just drop me a message.

So let's begin! No time like the present.

A friend of mine, Steve Bargdill, is looking for some reviews. He has a 'Wasteland' series out. You can find the ebooks here.

B. C. Brown has a blog that could use a little lovin'. And there are giveaways by authors who guest post. That's over here.

Joseph Lallo, author of 'The Book of Deacon' (one of my faves!) has revealed a new cover to his latest, 'The Rise of the Red Shadow'. You can go check it out over here.

Allyson Lindt is looking for reviewers for her book, 'Holding Her Close'. Those details can be found on her blog.

So that's it for now. I'll be posting as regularly as I can with this. Again, send me your news and I'll do my best to post it up for you. Have an awesome rest of the weekend!

Friday Funnies & Faves...

Friday posts are getting a little tweak. That's all right, you're just worried about the funnies. I know you!

So for faves today, I have to confess that Neverwinter 2 is becoming my overall favorite game to play now. The ease of the game, meaning all I have to do is put my target over the enemy and hold down my mouse button, heck yeah! Totally easy to play. I do like a challenge, trust me. But my poor old keyboards get worn out so quickly when I'm macro mashing in World of Warcraft.

Seriously.

I also have to say, in light of the Get Healthy blog hop that bounced around, my favorite things to put in my juices so far is... (believe it or not) sweet potatoes and beets. I normally can't stand them!! But to put them in a juice. OMG! Divine!

Also, don't forget to check out this post here to get geared up for the Follow Fest of a blog hop.

All right, you're just sitting there waiting impatiently now. You want the funnies, doncha? Okay, okay... pushy!

Here you go! You'll get these first two if you've ever watched "How I Met Your Mother". Enjoy and I hope you have a great weekend.

Who Wants More Followers?...

It could be for your blog, your Twitter or even your FaceBook 'Like' page. Doesn't matter. I'd like to host an event here for anyone interested.

Next Monday, June 3rd, (my mom's b-day!) I'll have a Linky sign-up. We'll take a week to get everyone signed up who wants to be a part of this event. So help me spread the word, please! I know you will, because you're all awesome that way.

Then, on June 10th (that's a Monday) here is what your blog post will need to include:

 * Any and ALL links where you want the followers. Create links to make it easy for people to follow you.

For example, I want people to 'Like' my Facebook author page, my book page and my Smashwords page. So I'll make sure I have links for all of that. PLUS, I would like more followers on my Twitter, so I'll link to that in the body of the blog post.

 * Share the Linky link in the blog post, so that everyone can visit everyone else involved. (Make sure to try and follow as many people on the list.)

This is important! If you want people to follow you, you'll have to reciprocate. Don't be a selfish noob! I know there are some people out there who won't be interested in my fantasy book or posts relating to it, such as the ones where I post tips about world building. But I do book reviews and I also try to help promote my fellow authors, so even if you don't read or comment on every single post, I'm cool with that. I can honestly say, with me, that'll be a two way street! I won't like everything you have to say, either.

What? I'm being honest!

And last but not least:

 * YOU MUST have a FOLLOW BUTTON in a highly visible place on your BLOG!!!! Don't make people search for it. It can be the Blogger button, the Google Reader button or even the BlogLovin' or whatever kind of BUTTON. But you MUST have it. Seriously. And, it would be nice if you would turn off word verification for the day. (If not forever, which, would be epic... Just sayin')

Oooh, maybe I'll even make a banner. I'm getting a little better with GIMP.

So there you go. We'll spend a week building up our follow list with Linky and then we'll spend the day following everyone. What do you say? Are you in? Do you want/need/CRAVE followers? Well then, hop on, man! (Erm, woman... not trying to be gender-biased here!)

Shout Out For Juli D. Revezzo...

A little while back, I did a review for one of Juli's short stories, 'House of Cards'. I love her writing style!

Yesterday, Juli hung out with me on Twitter and answered a question and chatted with me. Which was totally fun! Today, she has a book up on Smashwords for free and it is also available for 99 cents if you'd like to forgo that ... well, geez, what even costs 99 cents these days? It's a drop in the bucket!

Okay, so here is her book, 'Caitlin's Book of Shadows':

Something terrifying stalks Caitlin and her beloved Trevor. Something the bits and pieces she left claimed she had to make sense of–or so legend says. When the curator of their collection finds Caitlin’s long forgotten diary, she wonders will it tell the whole tale? Will it tell why Caitlin seemed so determined to tell the difference between reality and nightmare even as she continued the fight to defend her family from evil? Will it explain why she thought her world twisted? If she really became a witch?
Perhaps the answer lies between the lines of her story, one of lessons, struggles, and the hopes she carried like a warrior’s shield.

This is a side (or supplemental, if you will) story in the Antique Magic series, a companion to The Artist’s Inheritance (Antique Magic, Book One).

Okay, so you have the free link for Smashwords up there and the 99 cents link goes to Amazon. You can also get it here at Barnes & Noble for 99 cents as well. And if you would like to check out Juli's blog, drop by here.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go pick up this book myself!

A Reminder To New Authors...

First of all, let me just say, don't act like you're big man on campus. Or girl. Depending. I'm saying this, because recently I came across a situation where someone was asking for help.

Now, you all KNOW me. I like to help, especially when it concerns FANTASY or better yet, WORLD BUILDING!

Duh.

I have a bad habit of telling people, "Hey, you can go here for this, this and this..." and then I offer up the solution to whatever issue they've got. I can't help it. I do offer up the link for them to maybe bookmark later on if they don't have the time right then and there to go check it out.

I was told I was redundant for doing that.

Um. Okaaaay...

Not even a thank you. Even if my advice/help did NOT help them, they could have at least said, "Thanks, but that isn't what I'm looking for." Right? Am I being too picky about this? What. The. Hell? Not only that, but I had just joined this group and was just trying to show I can be helpful. I totally felt like it was a slap in the face. Kind of hard not to.

So needless to say, I'm ignoring any more posts from that certain individual.

What do you think? Have you ever been chastised for your help? What do you do? Or say?

My Ask Me Anything Answer Day...

I had a blast with my Ask Me Anything project! I want to thank everyone who asked me a question and participated. I got a couple new followers on Twitter, did some promos for people and basically just had some fun. I think I'll spend some quality time on Twitter from now on.  Anyway, I wanted to share all the questions and answers with you here. I know lots of people don't do Twitter, it's all good.


Q: How does it feel to be a grandmother?
A: I don't think it's quite sunk in, but I'm so happy I could burst!
Q: Has the baby inspired any writing?
A: No, not really. I am just basking in her cuteness.
Q: What do you do to get into the 'writing zone'? Do you have a special setup, certain time of day, any pre-writing requirements (must have mug of coffee etc.)?
A: A: I don't have a 'start' routine. Even if I am not 'in the mood', I just start writing and before too long, my muse takes over. Used to be soda, but don't need much of anything to get going.
Q: Do you have a summer project lined up?
A: A: Not really, my main priority right now is to get book two revised and edited. But I did just have a cool idea for a story recently.
Q: Do you put any special thought into things like the first words or last words in a book?
A: I never used to, but with book two and three, oh yeah, I am totally planning that!
Q: What topics have you researched for your stories?
A: Mostly medieval history. The time of the Middle Ages, armor, weapons, hierarchies.
Q: What do you think makes your style unique?
A:  I try to write my stories as if you are part of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. If you're a gamer, you know what I mean! I try to pull you in and make that movie in your head begin so you don't want to put down the book.
Q:  What was your greatest inspiration and motivation to write 'Adversarius'?
A: The fact that I had a story I wanted to share with people, that was the biggest motivation/inspiration. Something I knew people would like, if they like fantasy. I was more motivated after being compared to Tolkien. Even if I didn't see it, someone else did and that inspired me to no end!
Q: If you couldn't write, what would you do?
A: I think I'd end up in a padded cell. The voices in my head wouldn't leave me alone! Either that or I'd just sit and drool.
Q: What is your favorite writing place?
A: I write at my desk, but usually it's late at night when everyone is asleep and no one can bother me!

Time To Ask Me Anything...

It's that time! And yes, I do realize this is a holiday weekend. So when you're done grillin', chillin' and drinkin', come ask me anything.

I've got some very good questions from people on FaceBook and, of course, here. If you haven't left me a question, you can still do so. I'll be hanging out on Twitter today, answering questions and doing some promo. So, if you have anything you want me to share, drop me a link for it as well.

Also, some news:

Michael Brookes over at The Cult of Me is having a Short Fiction Contest. Details are listed and Michael hopes to have a contest every month, featuring a new picture to act as the writing prompt. You could win an Amazon gift card. So go check it out!

All right. If you're on Twitter and you've got some spare time today, come hang out with me. You can follow me: @MLChesley

Besides, I need more followers. I can't follow any more cool people because I'm maxed out and I hate doing the whole "follow/unfollow" thing to get there.

See you all later and PLEASE have a safe holiday!

Friday Funnies & Favorites...

Gah! Better late than never. I was going to work on this post last night, but ended up getting home late and all sorts of stuff. Oh well, here we go now!

So favorites... I'd like to do something different today. I'm going to list a couple of my favorite games.

Risk: An oldie, but a goodie. I love Risk and have discovered an online version at Pogo.com. I remember playing Risk with my brother. He'd take over a country and flick the pieces off the board. Ha!

Hand Over Foot: A card game my mom taught me last time she visited. I love playing card games, but this quickly became my favorite.

Neverwinter Nights 2: Love, LOVE this game! I've forsaken World of Warcraft to play this game for awhile. I know, *gasp!* right?

Alright, enough of that. On with the funnies!





Alright! Have a great weekend!