New beginnings and spring cleaning

It’s spring here where I live and everything is blooming, even the cactus plants with their lethal thorns—beauty and danger. Bees are gathering pollen and animals are mating. New beginnings abound. All of this has a way of making me feel like getting out and getting things done—inside and outside the house. I feel rejuvenated and motivated to set new goals and clean.

Beauty among dangerous thorns.

In full bloom, our Palo Verde tree is filled with buzzing bees.

 

I wonder if this is where the term ‘spring cleaning’ came from, so I looked it up. It’s possible the origins of this date back to the Persian New Year, which falls on the first day of spring when everything in the house is thoroughly cleaned--"khooneh tekouni" means shaking the house.  The Scottish tradition of New Year’s cleaning on Hogmanay (Dec. 31) is also believed to be related to this. The origin of spring cleaning can also be traced to the ancient Jewish practice of cleaning before Passover.

Happy spring, everyone!

“Yes.” He rubbed the dark stubble on his chin. “I cannot bring you unclothed into a village full of lusty centaurs.”

The Bear Goddess

Kindle Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P74X0WY

Trade Paperback Buy Link on amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Goddess-Book-Arcadia/dp/1502982684/ref=asap_B002BMOQ3C_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415503605&sr=1-7

 

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Another year gone

Well, I made it through another year, pretty much unscathed. As usual, I didn’t get everything accomplished that I wanted to finish before the end of the year, including book projects. I never finish everything I want to, so I wonder why I even bother making New Year’s resolutions. Does anyone ever keep their resolutions?

Curious about the tradition of making resolutions, I looked up the origin of New Year’s resolutions and this is what I found:

The ancient Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts.

The Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January is named.

In the Medieval era, the knights took the "peacock vow" at the end of the Christmas season each year to re-affirm their commitment to chivalry.

At watchnight services, many Christians prepare for the year ahead by praying and making these resolutions.

I suppose it can’t hurt to make goals for the year. It gives us something to look forward to each new year. But maybe we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves if we can’t finish these goals.

This year I am going to try my best to write/publish as many books as I possibly can. Plus, I am re-launching my dead blog, hoping to breathe some life back into it.

Maybe I didn’t make all my goals for 2013, but I did make it through the year and that should count for something.

Happy New Year!

 

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Two mortals are caught in the midst of the battle between the Titans and Olympian gods.

http://kelleyheckart.com/daughter_of_night.html

Why Care About SEO

The creepy crawlers are coming. They've been up in your junk already. I write of the spiders and crawlers, those creeping tools the search engines use to catalog your web content. They make decisions we never see, which is why SEO is critical.

What is SEO?
It's an acronym for Search Engine Optimization. If you write paranormal romance, you probably want your site listed as high as possible when a potential reader googles "paranormal romance." But if you haven't signaled to the search engines that you write in that genre by mentioning the keywords on your site frequently, then good luck. Here are a few simple tricks to optimize your web presence.

SEO is Simple
Labels and tags can do the trick somewhat, but the actual content of your posts and web copy must include clues to help the engines. You don't want to make your writing sound fake or awkward, but mentioning a keyword three times in three paragraphs can improve your chances of being discovered. Using the keywords in a heading also helps.

Keep It Fresh
If you don't blog but have a website, change the copy on the site at least once a month, more if you can stand it. Incorporate your blog with your website or start an Updates/News section. Search engines look for changes when they send the crawlers out to find content. If your site hasn't changed in a while, your place in searches drops and the crawlers come back less frequently. It actually makes sense because there are a gazillion sites on the web that are abandoned or irrelevant. Don't become one by default.

Search for SEO Examples
If you want to drive traffic to sell your erotic steampunk high-concept novel, google the keywords first and see what the competition is doing. You can learn from others about what works in searches.


Find an Expert
Or ebook. Or website on SEO. Tons of info is available for free. This post is a tiny push to get you started and myself started, too. I'm learning as I go, and advice helps. Good luck making your site SEO friendly.

Jennifer Fulford
@jmfwriter
www.livingonink.com

Why I Love the 'Sagging Middle'

Hello and welcome to Tabby’s Nocturnal Nights blog!  This month I am blogging about one of my favorite parts of writing.  I’m sure most of you have heard of ‘the sagging middle’.  It’s where most writers lose their story.  They get stuck in the transition between beginning and end. 

                The beginning is always fun.  It’s when the story is fresh and new and we have yet to really meet our characters and plot.  I consider it the ‘fireworks’ stage of my writing.  Before everything gets complacent and known.  The beginning of the relationship, if you will. 

                The end is almost as exciting as the beginning because you get to tie up all those loose ends, go through the Big Black Moment when everything is lost, and pull it back together.  How exciting is it to blow the story to pieces and put it back together? 

                Then there’s the middle.  The characters now know each other, the plot is moving along, it’s too early to tie up loose ends or break it apart.  So where does that leave you?  For me, the most exciting part of the book!  I tend to suck at beginnings.  I begin writing with a scene, a character, and not much planning.  Usually, I write three chapters then go back and take notes on who my characters are, where the plot is going.  Most often I end up rewriting the beginning many, many times.  In my current WIP I rewrote the beginning seven times before I got it right.  But, I’m okay with that. 

                As for endings, equally as bad for me.  I can tie things up, blow things apart, but just seem to lose steam in the end.  So, I’m not good at beginnings and I’m even worse at endings.  But, I love the middle.  For me that is a time of discovery.  That is the fireworks stage for me.  It’s when I really dig into character GMC’s—Goal, Motivation, Conflict.  The part where my characters are learning each other, keeping secrets, revealing secrets, and tension is high.  It’s where the plot begins to come clear and the villain starts to put the screws to my hero/heroine.  For me, the middle is all about the characters.  Where they must face their biggest fears and risk their goals, where the reader gets to really know the people they are investing time in. 

                So, that’s why I love ‘the sagging middle’.  How about you?  What is your favorite part?  The beginning, middle, or end? 

                Thanks for dropping by and have a great day!

Jennifer Kamptner

w/a Jennifer Lowery

2006 Golden Heart Finalist

Mid-Michigan Mirror Editor

Twitter @JLoweryauthor

http://jenniferloweryauthor.wordpress.com/

Facebook @ Jennifer Lowery~Author