In Which Mandy opens herself up to humiliation....

One of the hardest things with author blogs is deciding how much to put out there, and what your blog's "brand" will be. Some blogs are personal, some focus on the business news, some share pictures from jet-setting author tours.

I started this blog in 2005, with one main goal: Honesty.

I wanted to be myself and I wanted to be real, and I wanted to show everything-- the ups and downs and dips and curves. And I've been incredibly lucky that my roller-coaster has finally started climbing.