Monday, April 2, 2012

A little help

The writing process can be a lonely, solitary business. But beyond penning out the words to your story, it's not. Think about it. There's your critique partners that look over you book, helping with grammar, flow, plot help and beyond. An extra pair of eyes is helpful, to point out things you may not see. Of course there's editing, beta reading, you know, the list goes on.

Then the book gets published. Whether you self publish, go through a small epub, independent press, or one of the New York publishers. The readers are the ones that buy the books, there's reviewers that give their opinion about the books. Then there's the new world of blogging. So many book tours are virtual nowadays. New book blogs are popping up left and right, each one different but yet they all have the same goal. The bloggers set up their blogs to share their love of books, to help unknown writers get a little press and promotion. Bloggers can help each other, too. They can learn from one another, get advice, etc. Just like writers too.

I believe that supporting other bloggers is a good thing. There's so many different kids, and there's such a wide variety of readers that there's plenty for everyone.

I wear many hats- I'm an aspiring writer, I'm a wife and a mother, I run my online bookstore, I am an avid but inexperienced photographer, and I'm a blogger. I've been here on NN for almost a year and a half, and I've also done reviews for other sites, one of them coming up on two years. All of those combinations inspired me to also start my own blog, which in August of last year, i took the plunge. Storm Goddess Book Reviews & More was born. I jumped in at a hectic time in my life. We were trying to purchase a house,my son, who is delayed in speech started his therapy at home, we had two extra house guests, there was a death in the family that we ended up taking care of the arrangements for, but in the midst of all that craziness, being able to help others, even if it was just reviewing a book, or showcasing then on my blog got me through some of the stress. I wasn't getting much of my own writing done, which pained me, but I filled my days with promoting blog posts in between occupying my son, who is at home with me during the day.

I enjoy blogging. It's sometimes hard to juggle, and I want to review almost every book that is offered to me, it's hard to turn it down, but right now, Storm Goddess Reviews is a solo act. I've posted a few requests to take on reviewers, but so far no takers. But I'm still trying, I know that I can eventually reach a wider audience.

It just all makes me realize that so many things involve teamwork, involve helping out, and it may be a small thing to us, but could really make someone's day. When I get thank you emails from authors about my reviews, it seems to really make them happy, which in turn makes me feel good. All i did was read a great book and write my feelings on it, yet it's a big deal to the person that spend long hours and grueling edits and drafts to create that story. It's a long process, but with the support of so many people, these things grow.

I'd like to post a link to my blog. www.stormgoddessbookreviews.blogspot.com

I wish there were more hours in a day. I would visit every blog post that shows up in my email, on Facebook, etc. There are so many things I do each day that I can't find time for everything. I wish I could. I've come across so many neat blogs and great people that I've met and networked with. I found a great community to belong in. So much of my life revolves around books, and I love that I am able to do that.

I'm hard at work on a WIP that in four days I've penned over 11,000 words. I'm proud of myself for having that much progress, and I'm pushing myself to write at LEAST one thousand words a day. So far, I've met that goal. a couple days ago, i had 3600 words written in one day! My internal editor has been bound and gagged, and I told my husband and brother in law not to unleash her from the shed. She is to stay there until this MS is done.

I just want to say I'm glad to be in this journey with many of you. Writers, bloggers, readers. This is an amazing experience and I hope to have so much more in the coming year(S)

That's my topic for today. Thanks for listening to my rambles. Happy April!

-Nikki

1 comment:

Toni Kelly said...

Nikki, great post and thanks for the reminder. Writing sometimes feels solitary but there are a lot of hands in the pot helping us make our works better and get our stories out there.