I've been tagged...is that even legal?

I've been tagged. When I heard that I started looking for some graffiti on me somewhere. Finding myself free of spray paint, I thought perhaps there was someone I should be chasing. No one seemed to be running. So, then I thought maybe I should just slap the next person I saw and shout, "Tag!" Let's just say that didn't go over very well -- my dog just gave me a funny look and left the room.

Next I looked around and decided that I wasn't on the baseball field, so I didn't think I was out. There were no labels slapped on me or name tags stuck on me anywhere. I realized that I wasn't quite getting what this tagging was all about.

Eventually, I figured out that being tagged had nothing to do with any of the rest of that stuff. The idea of this meme is to answer the tagger’s ten questions and then pass on ten of your own to ten more bloggers. It’s a fun way to keep in touch with your friends in the blogging realm. Here's the grilling -- err, I mean questions -- I received from S.E. Lane on her blog, Writing Belle.


 What is your favorite book to movie adaptation?  

 This is a tough call. There have been a number of book adaptations that I enjoyed for various reasons most of them for various reasons of how they aren't like the book. I'm going to pick the Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger as one of my top picks. I loved the story and while I thought the time travel part might make it difficult to translate to film with the same intensity, it was well done. I still cry at the end whenever I read the book or watch the movie.

Who is your top book boyfriend/girlfriend?

  My top book boyfriend is another one with so many choices based on genre and mood. However, the first guy that pops into my mind is still one Jericho Z. Barrons from Karen Marie Moning's Fever Series. He's the bad boy of all bad boys. Of course, I'd never call him a boy to his face. He's definitely all man. He also has the tall, dark and deadly market cornered.

What actor or actress do you think most resembles that character? 

This topic was much discussed around my house when rumors surfaced of a movie of the Fever Series. All sorts of names were tossed out and most often rejected. I settled on Clive Owen as my fit for a good Barrons. Yummy.

If you could jump into any genre, what would it be and why? 

A genre that I've love to jump into would be fantasy. I love the whole concept of knights, dragons, elves and epic adventure and quests. Not to mention since it's fantasy, I can just imagine anything I'd like. The sky -- or universe -- is the limit.

Do you prefer to read fiction or non-fiction?

I read fiction. Occasionally, I'll pick up a non-fiction book but only for a specific reason. The last non-fiction I read was Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell about SEAL Team 10. It's another book that I made me cry.


Pertaining to your sex, would you rather read a book with a male or a female protagonist?

 I seem to read more books with a female protagonist, but it seems to be more a factor of the genre than choice. I've been reading more paranormal romance and romantic suspense. When I get more into fantasy I tend to read more male protagonists.


Why do you love to blog?

I'm not sure I'd say I love to blog. I haven't been blogging for very long, but it has been a great way to express ideas and share my opinions. Most of my blogging is done about my experiences writing and it's great getting the feedback and finding out all those crazy things happen to other people too.

Do you love books with a sense of humor, or do you prefer something more dramatic?

Drama is great, but I love books that can bring a sense of humor into the story. It doesn't have to be the focus, but it's great if you can find something to laugh about.


Have you ever met a famous author?

Not in person, but thanks to the internet I've been able to exchange some messages and meet some really great independent authors.


Where is your favorite place to read - and when? 

My favorite place to read is stretched out in bed. I usually read before bed, but I can get lost in a book anytime and anywhere. If it's a book I just can't seem to put down, I'll carry it around the house and read during commercials while watching TV.

Now you've gotten a glimpse of what it's like to be me. Here are my ten questions:

1. What made you decide to start a blog?
2. What is your favorite genre and why?
3. What book hasn't been made into a movie yet, but that you'd like to see on the big screen?
4. If you're going to see a movie based on a book, do you want to read the book first?
5. Do you like to read more than one book at a time?
6. Who is your most favorite book character and why?
7. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could pick only three books to have with you what would they be?
8. If you had to become either a vampire or a werewolf which would you choose?
9. What got you started reading?
10. What are your favorite pizza toppings?

And here's the ten blogs I'm tagging:

Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile
A Book-lovers' Review
Getting Attwood Published
A Pocket Full of Books
Morgan Shamy - Inner thoughts of a redhead writer
Books Are Better - Fantasy Book Reviews
Georgina Anne Taylor - Gothic Fiction and Fairy Tales
We Fancy Books
Liv Rancourt
Ann Cory

You're all it!

Time for the bullying to stop

For those of you who might not know, I'm a huge fan of the site Goodreads. It is a wonderful place for both readers and authors to gather together. There are groups on a wide range of topics. You can discuss individual books, authors, genres, blogging, reviewing, marketing -- well, you get the idea. It has been a terrific source for support and a gold mine of information for a new self-published author like myself.

My experiences with Goodreads has been nothing but positive. I've met some really awesome people on the site and found a lot of support as a self-published author. As an author, it is always pointed out that you must tread lightly in some groups. Goodreads was created as a place for avid readers to share their love of reading, but where the readers gather so too will the authors flock. As many of us know, readers don't like getting spammed to buy a book, but it happens. There will always be that person that thinks the rules of society, the group or the individual never apply to them.

On Goodreads, the etiquette for authors has been for them to become a part of the community and share more than just your book.Let's face it, most of authors are readers as well and you can talk about the genre you read and share thoughts on the books you've read. It's not hard. The idea being that if people get to know you, find your posts interesting, then they might be open to reading what you have written.

I've tried to follow that philosophy and seem to be successful in at least avoiding any backlash from readers, so far. However, there have been several authors from Goodreads that have been the targets of bullying. Now, I can't say for certain that all of these authors avoided spam or were innocent in their dealings with the groups and individuals they encountered problems with. What I can say is that bullying in any form is unacceptable behavior.

The internet makes it too easy at times for people to engage in bad behavior because they aren't forced to look a person in the eye as they spout their hate. However the feelings are still real and the names on our screens connect back to real people. Bullying in any way, shape or form is wrong. There is a new group on Goodreads that is dedicated to standing up to the bullies. Whether you are a part of that group or not, I think it is important that when you see someone getting bullied take a stand. Be sure to make it clear that whether you are a reader or an author that personal attacks, hate speak and rants are not acceptable forms of communication.

No one is always going to like what we say, what we post or what we think. Everyone is entitled to share their opinions and have that opinion respected even if it isn't agreed with. Let us all keep our eyes open for incidents where someone crosses that line and be there to say that we don't tolerate that action.

When it rains...it pours!

Wow!

I just found out that I received another blogger award. I'm so excited. This time the award is The Liebster Award (“Liebster” is the German word for friend or love) originated in Germany.


A huge thank you goes out to Danielle Smiley for this honor. Her blog Known to Read is a great place to find excellent book reviews. If you just can't decide what to read next, I recommend taking a look at her selections. She's got some great books out there just waiting to find a new reader.

In accepting the Liebster Blog Award, the recipient agrees to:
*Thank the person who gave them the award and link back to that person’s blog
*Copy and paste the award to their blog
*Reveal the 5 blogs they have chosen to award, commenting on their blog to break the news!
*Hope those people in turn pay it forward by accepting and awarding “The Liebster Blog Award” to bloggers they would like to honor.

My blog winners are:

Georgina Anne Taylor - Gothic Fiction and Fairy Tales

Bitch Can Write a Book

Hoplessly Devoted Bibliophile

The Lovely Books

Tana Rae Reads - Book Reviews/Favorite Books I've Read


It is so great to see so many people sharing great books, great blogs and great advice. Being new to blogging, I know that I still have a lot to learn, but each new blog I discover teaches me just a little bit more. I hope to continue to grow and share what I have learned with those just starting out as well.

A great big thanks to everyone that stops by and leaves me a comment or just follows what I have to say. It's nice to know that someone is out there listening or reading or both! Keep up the great work everyone!

Me? Nominated? Award? What?

Now this is the way to start a week, no Monday blahs this time! I sat down to check my email and do all that Monday-type stuff, when I find out I was nominated by Christine Benson for The Versatile Blogger Award! I was surprised, I'm still very new to blogging and learning the ropes. It's great to see that I'm at least headed in the right direction with plenty of room to continue to improve.

The idea behind The Versatile Blogger Award nominations is to use these nominations to make other bloggers aware of other great blogs, as I’m are doing here. Rules for The Versatile Blogger Award.


1. In a post on your, blog, nominate 15 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.
2. In the same post, Add The Versatile Blogger Award.
3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.
5. In the same post, include this set of rules.
6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.

Seven random things about myself are:

• I love horror movies. One could say I'm addicted, I'll watch even a bad horror movie because I enjoy them so much.
• I'm a softie when it comes to animals and I nearly cry every time one of the ASPCA commercials comes on TV. I want to rush out and bring all those poor animals home.
• I watch a lot of CNN. It's not that I'm a news junkie, I just started watching CNN during 9/11 and now I can't stop. I can't stop even when I get political overload or they run a story into the ground. Maybe I am a junkie?
• My biggest passion in life is a love of baseball. I enjoy sports in general, watching as I am a completely uncoordinated. However, baseball is life. I learned to keep score at age nine and was the official scorekeeper for a independent minor league baseball team for a summer.
• I like cold pizza for breakfast. It's better the second day.
• I'm hopeless addicted to Pepsi. It's the best soda in the world.
• When I was in the fourth grade, I broke my wrist roller skating during a game of red light, green light. I had to learn to play video games one handed when I got ColecoVision for my birthday. (Boy did I just date myself with that one!)

My nominations:

1. Ron Leighton - The Tales of the Shining Lands
2. TK Rayford - TK Rayford's Blog
3. Beth Gray - Author Beth Gray
4. Morgan Shamy - Morgan Shamy
5. The Indelibles
6. Making Connections
7. Mark Ruckledge - Mark's Blog
8. Karen Dales - Karen Dales, Author
9. Colleen Cross - Colleen Cross, Author
10. Lili Tufel - Lili Tufel writes Romantic Thrillers
11. L.J. Kentowski - L.J. Writes
12. Marion Sipe - Visions and Revisions
13. Lisamarie Lamb - The Moonlit Door
14. Hey, Tara!
15. Emily Goodwin - Emily Goodwin

I'm so grateful to have been nominated. I hope that you find some great new blogs to follow.

About Reviews

There have been a few different incidents that I've come across lately that bring reviews to mind. The first is my own continual struggle as to how best to go about garnering reviews. I have a personal feeling that asking someone for a review is putting pressure on the reviewer. I know there are many, many bloggers and reviewers alike that are professional and requesting that they take the time to review my book wouldn't seem inappropriate.

Perhaps I am naive in thinking that I want someone to read my book and simply give it a review because they enjoyed it or hated it. In the huge market of indie books, I know that a great many readers don't want to waste time on a book they don't know is even well written, let alone a story that they will enjoy. So reviews of any kind can get someone to give your book a chance or pass it up for one that has reviews.

My book has only been out since the end of October 2011, and so far it has four unsolicited reviews on Amazon.com. I am proud that while not raving, the criticisms are mostly personal preferences by each reader and not a lot of complaints about bad spelling, terrible grammar or a complete failure to develop a story. Those were my nightmare review points that continue to haunt me. I know eventually, I will run into someone that will rip into my work. Even the authors we all consider successful find someone that dislikes what they write. I am preparing for that ugly review by continually reminding myself that you can't please everyone, and remembering that while not all in review form, I have gotten compliments on the book from readers.

This leads me to the second incident that brings reviews to mind. I was on Twitter and stumbled into the middle of an author rant-book reviewer drama. Some of you might know of the incident, but since I never did quite get the entire story, I am not going to mention anything specific. Instead, I wanted to talk about the overall incident as an author.

I know I have a quick temper and when someone says or does something to me, my first reaction is to fight back. Apparently, the author in question felt that the book blogger's review of their book was more of a personal attack rather than a critique of the work. I know there are many "reviewers" that often give out poor reviews for little or no reason. I can understand the author feeling angry enough to want to respond.

Unless requested, I think it is bad form to respond to any review, especially a negative one. No matter what the reviewer might have written, I think as an author we come off looking bad in any of these exchanges. Instead, I think we all  have to trust that readers will see the review for what it is. I know myself, a bad review that I felt was unwarranted often prompted me to read the book rather than turn me away.

I found a link and read the review that apparently sparked the drama. I didn't think the blogger said anything personal about the author. The blogger simply didn't find the book to her liking for several reasons and listed those reasons. Could any author really ask for more? At least it wasn't a bad rating with a simple, "This book sucks" comment.

In these days of social media, where it is so easy to take to the internet and vent our anger, I think as authors, we really need to take a step back. Before we ever sit down to criticize someone for their opinion, we need to think how it will look to other readers. Most bloggers are simply readers that share their views on what they read. I don't know if this is someone who asks for a free copy to review a book. By creating a rant in Twitter, Facebook or even our own blog, we run the risk of alienating other readers and other bloggers.

We should also remember that what we rant online in anger, stays out there forever. We can't take it back once we've hit send, publish or post. As we'd hope that reviewers take an open minded approach to our books, can we not give the reviewers and bloggers the same benefit?