Ed Lynskey's Blog: Cracked Rearview Mirror - Posts Tagged "blogs"

Hey, fellow mystery readers and fans, I posted a weekend guest blog brought to you by the good folks like Sandra and Julia at Poe's Deadly Daughters. Drop by and tap out a comment, if you so wish. As always, thanks for your interest.

http://tiny.cc/hpt6i

Ed Lynskey
@edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles and Quiet Anchorage

When I kicked off my Cracked Rearview Mirror weblog, I picked up on how it'd only be successful if eyeballs read it.

So, I googled "weblogs" and dug out some strategies to attract readers. Among the ideas were to blog about the edgy, controversial topics. Politics, sex, religion, race--you get the general idea.

That's not for me. I'll save my edgy, outspoken words for my hardboiled and noir fiction. That's where it belongs.

So, it's six months later, and I still don't have the foggiest idea what makes for a good blog.

Ed Lynskey
@edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles

If you're like me, you're still fairly new at this little thing called "social media." You know: Blogs, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Librarything, Myspace (?), Google X, etc. I'm trying to learn the ins and outs, doing this and doing that. I'm seeing what works (5%) and what doesn't (95%).

Anyway, I'm keeping close tabs on my social media work because it can be a time hog if I let it. It's easy to spend an hour writing a blog entry. Do you know how challenging it is to come up with fresh content? Or I'm lured off to use Twitter and that eats up another hour.

So, time management is essential. Since I write novels, most of my productive day goes into that endeavor. That means I fit social media around my writing, not vice-versa. Or at least that's how I've got it figured out right now. Who knows? Next week may have me realigning my schedule.

Happy reading to you and yours!

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"Satisfying."
The Rap Sheet/Kirkus Reviews

To be blunt: yes, it is. At least that's my reply after I've written more than a dozen novels, and kept this weblog perking for a mere six months. The aim is to keep your blog sounding congenial, engaging, and laconic.

The third aim--laconic--is becoming harder for me to do. So, I have to compress and end things faster. One advantage about a novel is you can revise it any number of times before it goes live. A blog is a few words you toss off the cuff, and hit the PUBLISH button. Presto! My words enter cyberspace.

I'll let you in on a secret: I have to revise my blogs before I release them to inflict on the world.

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"Nice addition to anyone’s summer beach reading schedule."
Florida Times-Union

Suppose I decided one morning to make a change to my blog's programming format by becoming controversial and provocative? Would doing so drive more traffic to read my blog? Or less? Would I grow rich and infamous?

What if I said I supported abortion? Or if I said all the gun nuts should be shot on sight? Or if I made a heart-wrenching confession I'd dallied with a prostitute? Suppose I tossed around slurs and expletives like a salad? What if I swapped trying to be thoughtful and intelligent for strident and sarcastic?

How many new followers might I attract? How many comments would my blogs stir up? Of course, I have no such plans. Simply put, that ain't me by a long shot. I'm just saying what if it was me.

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"I had a blast."
Barnes & Noble Mystery Blog

Right, it's that time again. I've got five books up in the air again like a juggler, and it's been tricky to keep them all moving. It's still premature for me to make any announcements. Four of the projects are ones that were in the pipeline for some time, so it's last edits and polishes being done on them.

But I have been reading before turning in at night. Under the Dog Star by Sandra Parshall is a taut mystery takes place in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. Last night I started Motor City Shakedown by D.E. Johnson, a gritty crime novel set in 1911 mobster Detroit.

Happy reading to you and yours!

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"Nice addition to anyone’s reading schedule."
Florida Times-Union

The holidays are the most opportune time to take the family photos. Everybody is assembled, and out come the cameras, digital or film. A photo is a photo.

Interestingly, if you later view the photos, you can see the changes to your extended family. Who got divorced. Who died. Who picked up weight. Who got grayer. Who smiled. Who frowned. Who yawned.

A photo is a snapshot in time. How true. But there's more than the visual that meets the eye. Photos evoke a gamut of emotions in us. Nostalgia. Sadness. Cheer. Anger. For that reason, writers love to look at old photos and feed off the memories they bring.

So, here's to hoping your photos this holiday season are all happy ones.

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Ask the Dice (Newest Stand Alone Washington, D.C. Crime Noir)



The Zinc Zoo (Newest P.I. Frank Johnson Mystery)

Every once in a while, I like to reassess where I am with my Cracked Rearview Mirror Weblog. One thing I look at is how I generate my blogging ideas. Since I write novels and read books, those are the predominant topics. I also like to free range with my blog posts if just to introduce a little variety and change up things. I scan the current newspaper headlines for triggering my blog ideas although I do that a lot less now. I know one area I haven't blogged much about is my enjoyment of listening to jazz music, so I might keep that little-used topic in my "tickler file." Since I like to watch movies, I have written short reviews on them, both current films and films noir which are my guilty pleasure. I blog on Tuesdays about the Forgotten/Overlooked Films. I may have to cut back on my film reviews and start up my reading novels. We all go through cycles in our different whims and interests. I also keep a few blog posts in reserve, often just with a title that I can expand later into a full-fledged blog post. Of course, when a new book comes out, I blog about it as I get out the word. Thanks for reading my words.

Google's Blogger includes the metrics to see which nations' viewers have looked at your blog post. I don't know enough about how the feature works or even how accurate it is. For some reason, the viewers in Russia and China show up sometimes. What is up with that? I wonder. It probably doesn't mean anything, since my readership never exceeds any large number. Plus the United States is always the largest block of viewers which is what I'd expect to find to be the case. Canada or Great Britain would be the next places, since English is also spoken there as the official language. I don't check my metrics often enough to spot any trends or patterns. I suppose it might be another example of how the world is getting to be a smaller and smaller place.

While taking my daily walks around our Northern Virginian suburb, I tend see more "FOR SALE" signs put out in the yards now during the spring than at any other time of the year. I've heard the real estate rule that says the spring is the best time to sell your house. Maybe the kids are getting out of school for the summer then, and the families are ready to relocate. I often see the real estate agents bringing out the prospective home buyers to look at the properties.

When I created the sleuthing married couple Piper & Bill Robins in my new cozy mystery series, I cast the Robinses as the "old timers" living in their suburban neighborhood, which is similar to the one where I reside. The Robinses feel a strong attachment to Beverly Park, and they know many of their neighbors by first name. Their caring about their neighbors is one reason why the Robinses turn to sleuthing.

You can now read a preview of The Corpse Wore Gingham at Goodreads. Just click on the new "Preview" features button located under the front cover art on the book page. Thanks for checking out and sampling from Piper and Bill's first sleuthing caper. THE CORPSE WORE POPLIN will be the second title in their cozy mystery series out sometime late this year or late in '016.