The I Miss You Blogfest...and More!

Welcome to the I Miss You Blogfest,

hosted by

Alex J. Cavanaugh, Matthew MacNish, and Andrew Leon

Here’s the rundown:

The bloggers we really miss…
and the ones we would really miss!

Do you have a couple blogger buddies who aren’t posting as often? Those who’ve pulled back and seem absent from the blogging world? Do you have blogger buddies you are grateful they are still around and would miss if they vanished? Now is your chance to show your appreciation and spotlight them!

On November 16, list one to three bloggers you really miss and one to three bloggers you would miss if they stopped blogging. Then go leave a comment on those blogs.

Our blogger friends are special – time to let them know! 

I only blog on Mondays, my day to post and make the rounds, but there are a couple of blogs I visit every day or every day I know there’ll be a new post.  And while I follow and love so many blogs, and most of them are active, there are a couple of bloggers who don’t post as much as I would like.

First, two I miss because they don’t post as often as they used to:

Jennifer Hillier at The Serial Killer Files – Jenny’s a big time author now with two incredibly popular books, her 2011 debut, Creep, and this year’s follow-up, Freak, plus she’s working on a new novel, so it’s no wonder she doesn’t post as often.  But I really, really miss her, especially since she moved away from Seattle almost a year ago.  Lucky for me, we chat via text, email, Facebook, and phone calls so I never truly lose touch.

Janet Reid’s Query Shark – Yes, I know, Ms. Reid has her own regular blog here, but I really love Query Shark.  I’ve learned so much from that blog.  But she hasn’t posted since September 30^th, and for months before that, her posts were sporadic, at best.  I miss waking up on Sunday mornings and tuning in to read how The Shark has ripped to shreds yet another query written and submitted by someone who’s failed to read all the other queries, as directed.  Better still, I miss those few queries that hit it spot on the very first time, even when they break all the rules—like the query for Josin Mcquein’s Premeditated.  I realize I’m past this query stage, but I still learn a lot from reading them. 

Which brings me to a blog I would miss if it were to ever disappear:  In fact, when this blogger took a short break earlier this year, I found out just how much I did miss it.  And him.  And that blogger is…

Matthew MacNish at The QQQE or The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment – Much like Janet Reid, Matt has serious skills when it comes to dissecting and analyzing queries and determining what works and what doesn’t then suggesting ways in which to fix it.  So if you have a query you are thinking of submitting to agents, send it to Matt first.  The man knows what he’s talking about.  And his commenters help a lot, too.

And finally, the one blog I never, and I mean NEVER, EVER miss, is your friend and mine…

Alex J. Cavanaugh - There are very few bloggers out there who are as consistently and truly inspiring, relentlessly selfless, and remarkably entertaining as Alex.  He is the highlight of my Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.  In fact, I typically read his posts before I even get out of bed in the morning.  So if Alex’s blog were to ever cease to exist, I would be crushed.  He is a lesson to us all on how to be humble and pay it forward.  And what's more, I've met most of my Blogger friends through Alex, so he's kind of a matchmaker of sorts.  Many thanks and cheers to you, Alex!

With less than 3 weeks until the December 6^th launch of Lisa Regan’s debut novel, I’d like to share with you her book trailer for Finding Claire Fletcher.  So without further ado…

    

In the News Today...

Although today is my regular day to post, I’m gonna hold off on anything major until Friday,

when three of my favorite guys,

Alex J. Cavanaugh, Matthew MacNish, and Andrew Leon, host the 

I Miss You Blogfest.

The bloggers we really miss…
and the ones we would really miss!

Do you have a couple blogger buddies who aren’t posting as often? Those who’ve pulled back and seem absent from the blogging world? Do you have blogger buddies you are grateful they are still around and would miss if they vanished? Now is your chance to show your appreciation and spotlight them!

On November 16, list one to three bloggers you really miss and one to three bloggers you would miss if they stopped blogging. Then go leave a comment on those blogs.

Our blogger friends are special – time to let them know! 

So drop by and sign up if you haven’t already.

Also in the news...

Blogging buddies Stephen Tremp, Mary Pax, C. M. Brown, and Christine Rains have put together a new group called Writers4Writers.  This group is all about promoting authors and their books.  Here’s their mission:

• Help writers bring awareness of their book(s) to tens of thousands of new people

• Help writers reach Amazon Top 100 in at least one category (suspense, free, whatever)

• Increase sales of their book(s) after the promo is over

• Drive new traffic to their blog and increase following

• Create verbal and viral buzz.

Every month, one to three spotlighted authors will choose a social media avenue such as Twitter or Facebook (or both).  On the selected day, the authors will post pre-written Tweets on their blogs.  At your convenience, simply copy and paste Tweets into Twitter. Or go to #W4WS on Twitter and Retweet other Tweets. 

And for Facebook, the authors will also post an image of their book along with a short blurb and a link to Kindle on their blog. Visitors simply click the Facebook page then share the link with their FB friends and Writers Groups.

That’s an incredibly large new audiences the author could not reach on their own.  Imagine, a hundred bloggers over a few days Tweeting and sharing links for new books and reaching potentially tens of thousands of new people!

As an author with a new release, this is super exciting.  But what’s even more thrilling is that I am their first featured author!  Can you imagine how delighted I was to be asked to kick-off such an amazing new project?  

If you’re interested, go to the hosts’ websites and signup using the Linky Tools.  And if you're on Facebook, click here to like their page.  I’d love to have your help in not only promoting my new novel, but many others, as well.  And when the time comes, you may be asked to be a featured author, too. 

Talk about paying it forward!

And last, but not least, one of my five blog tour runner-up winners of an ebook copy of The Mistaken asked that I award it to someone who actually owns an e-reader.  So, on behalf of Gary Pennick at Klahanie, the winner chosen by Random.org is #33...

Rachel Morgan  

Rachel, if you’re interested, please email me at acadia1997@msn.com.  I’ll also email you directly.         

Interested in the I Miss You Blogfest?

Wanna join Writers4Writers and help promote other authors?

Have any other news to share?

THE MISTAKEN Blog Tour: Day Six

Oh boy, Day 6, the halfway mark of my tour.  I’m trying really hard to pace myself, but I’m super excited.  Today, I have someone special hosting me over on his blog—Matthew MacNish at The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment.  (Don't you love that pic of Matt?  He looks too cool!)      

For my guest post, Matt asked me to write about organized crime since it’s up front and center in my novel.  Matthew operates an awesome blog where he critiques agent queries, and man, is he madly successful at this difficult task.  In fact, Matthew helped me with my final query, the one that got me a request and ultimately a book deal with my publisher.  He’s gentle and kind, but he’ll thoroughly pick apart your query and tell you where it works, where it doesn’t, and why.  If you think you’re ready to query for an agent, do not proceed without first submitting it to Matt at The QQQE.  Seriously.  Don’t.  He’s that good.         

I hope you all know by now, every follower who comments here during my tour will be entered into a drawing for an ARC of The Mistaken and a bookmark.  Plus, 5 runner-up winners will each receive an ebook copy.  Winners will be determined using Random.org and notified via email.   

Tomorrow for Day 7, I visit LG Smith’s Bards and Prophets where I discuss killing off major characters.  Sounds like fun, right?  Oh yeah!

__________

THE MISTAKEN  ~  the hell of revenge, the hope of redemption

Available at:
Kindle   Barnes and Noble   Nook   Amazon   Kobo   iBooks

Coming soon to Sony, Diesel Bookstore, and Baker & Taylor.

Next stops on The Mistaken Blog Tour:

10/25:  Discussion on organized crime in literature at Matthew MacNish’s The QQQE

10/26:  Killing off major characters at LG Smith’s Bards & Prophets

10/27:  Some one-on-one with Aimee Jodoin at A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman

10/29:  Compromising on content at Heather M. Gardner’s The Waiting is the Hardest Part

10/30:  Learn why I chose the Russian mafia as my antagonists over at Lisa Regan’s

           Find out more about where I live at Falling For Fiction

10/31   My thoughts on villains over at Jennifer Hillier's The Serial Killer Files

11/1:    Why building a platform is so important at Livia Peterson’s Leave It to Livia

            Another author spotlight and excerpt at Angela Orlowski-Peart’s

11/19:  Arlee Bird’s Tossing It Out for a follow-up on my launch and tour.

Matthew is a super popular blogger, and we all know him, but have you ever used his query expertise?  What have you learned from reading his critiques?    

THE MISTAKEN Blog Tour: Day Five

It’s Day 5 and I’m all warmed up and ready to go!  Today, I’ve got three stops lined up.

First, another one of my original friends here in Bloggyland,

Donna Weaver over at Weaving a Tale or Two.  

Donna allowed me to write a guest post on voice and writing a first-person narrative from multiple points of view.  Not an easy essay, let me tell you.  I love Donna because she never fails to drop by with a kind word of encouragement.  And did you know, she just landed and agent!  Yes, she is a talented lady.

Melissa Maygrove is also playing generous host to me today.  She wanted all the juicy stuff on my book:  a blurb, an excerpt, and even a little bio on me.  I may not have known Melissa as long as some of my other friends, but she has proven herself to be so gracious and helpful, a true friend!

New to the tour, Hope Roberson.  Besides being drop dead gorgeous, she's also original and asked me a whole round of questions you haven't heard anywhere else. I hope you stop by and say hi. 

If you’re interested, every follower who comments here during my tour will be entered into a drawing for an ARC of The Mistaken and a bookmark.  Plus, 5 runner-up winners will each receive an ebook copy.  Winners will be determined using Random.org and notified via email.   

Tomorrow for Day 6, the magnificent Matthew MacNish over at The QQQE.  

Do you know Donna, Melissa, or Hope?  If not, what are you waiting for?  They're awesome! 

__________

THE MISTAKEN  ~  the hell of revenge, the hope of redemption

Available at:
Kindle   Barnes and Noble   Nook   Amazon   Kobo   iBooks

Coming soon to Sony, Diesel Bookstore, and Baker & Taylor.

Next stops The Mistaken Blog Tour:

10/24:  Voice, 1^st person perspective & multiple POVs at Weaving a Tale or Two

An author spotlight & an excerpt at Melissa Maygrove’s

And some SSP over at Hope Roberson’s Writing With Hope

10/25:  Discussion on organized crime in literature at Matthew MacNish’s The QQQE

10/26:  Killing off major characters at LG Smith’s Bards & Prophets

10/27:  Some one-on-one with Aimee Jodoin at A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman

10/29:  Compromising on content at Heather M. Gardner’s The Waiting is the Hardest Part

10/30:  Learn why I chose the Russian mafia as my antagonists over at Lisa Regan’s

           Find out more about where I live at Falling For Fiction

10/31   My thoughts on villains over at Jennifer Hillier's The Serial Killer Files

11/1:    Why building a platform is so important at Livia Peterson’s Leave It to Livia

            Another author spotlight and excerpt at Angela Orlowski-Peart’s

11/19:  Arlee Bird’s Tossing It Out for a follow-up on my launch and tour.  

IWSG: What Gives?

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, time for Alex Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group.  I’ve been participating in this group since its inception, and have written of my many frustrations and insecurities.  After last month’s post, I asked myself, “Do I complain too much?”  I thought I probably did and planned on writing about that today, but once again, I found myself discouraged by events, or the lack thereof.  So if you’ll be so kind as to indulge me, I’d like to get something off my chest.

As a writer with a novel ready to go, I’ve been busy polishing my query.  It’s been a while since I actually queried any agents, but that’s because I still have a few requests pending.  But even though I’ve emailed the agents who are currently reading my novel, I haven’t heard back.  And that’s discouraging.

I figure it’s because my story is not quite ready yet, not quite there.  If it was, wouldn’t they have called me by now?  So, since sending out those requests, I’ve further revised my manuscript based on feedback from other agents.  I feel pretty confident now, because I’ve been busy reading and studying books on craft.  The most recent two, The Fire in Fiction and Writing the Breakout Novel, were written by literary agent Donald Maass.  After reading them, I noted all the important factors that make a novel great, and I can honestly say, I’ve included most of those, at least the ones appropriate for my genre.  But even though I’ve made some important revisions, those factors were already in there, before my last round of requests.  So what’s the problem then?

I have a premise and plot that are plausible with inherent conflict and gut emotional appeal, and with my unusual twist, it’s pretty original.  It has high personal stakes that continually escalate, and I believe the reader can sympathize with the strong protagonist, who while is sometimes dark, he also has inner conflict, self-regard, and strong relationships with the other characters.  The voice is authoritative, clearly articulating a personal belief system through dialogue that snaps with tension and immediacy, and the setting is linked with emotional details.  And most importantly, from the word go, it’s filled with constant tension.

So what gives?  I can only surmise it’s the writing, though I’ve been told by my critique partners that it’s pretty darn good.  But is that enough?  Hmm, I wonder.  Maybe it’s just the timing and the fact that adult thrillers aren’t selling like they used to.  I keep thinking, if I just had more agents reading it, someone is bound to love it as much as I do, as much as my beloved and talented critique partner, Lisa Regan does. 

But to do that, I have to have a kickass query.  After Matthew MacNish critiqued my query last week, I worked every day to fine tune those points he and his followers commented on.  I feel I clarified those key questions and am now ready to go.  Of course, now it the holiday season, so I’d be crazy to start querying before New Year’s.  It’s just one more thing to frustrate me.  But I suppose, if I’ve learned one thing in the last twenty months, it’s patience. 

What about you?  What frustrates you about writing, querying, and publishing?  And what have you learned from your frustrations?                

The Maid's Here & She's Biting Her Nails

She looks just like me!

So normally you wouldn’t be hearing from me until Monday, but I have a few items I need to take care of, and I won’t be posting again until Wednesday, December 7^th, which, as the first Wednesday of the month, is reserved for Alex Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. 

____________

So I’ve done something crazy:  I gave my new query to Matthew MacNish at the Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment.  He posted it yesterday, December 1^st, and critiqued it today.  You might be wondering why I would put myself through that.  Well, I participated in a query blogfest last July, but the query that blogfest produced garnered not a single request, so obviously I needed to revise it.  I came up with a formula for a new one and sent the new query to literary agent Suzie Townsend last month.  She offered a critique as a form of celebration for her recent move to Nancy Coffey’s agency.  For one hour on November 1^st, she accepted all queries via email with a specific subject line.  Then she spent a couple of weeks critiquing those lucky few.  I was one of them, and she gave me some great feedback.  That revised query is now up for  critique on Matthew’s blog.  I have further revised my query after reading Matthew's comments and those of his followers.  You can find that version here on my blog under the tab marked The Query.  And feel free to comment.  I can only improve with feedback.

____________

On December 16^th, Nicole Ducleroir,  Lydia Kang, D L Hammons, and Katie Mills are hosting the Déjà Vu Blogfest, which gives participants the chance to resubmit their best posts for the benefit of all those who might have missed it the first time around.  After all, it’s easy to miss some awesome posts when you’re away or simply unable to keep up.  Joining this bloghop will instantly connect you to many others who are interested in your writing.  So go to Nicole’s site and sign up using the convenient Mr. Linky’s Magical Widget.  104 bloggers have signed up so far.  Don’t miss out on meeting some fantastic new bloggers and the chance to gain a few new followers of your own. 

____________

And lastly, Murees Dupe at Daily Drama of an Aspiring Writer has bestowed the Liebster Award on me.  And while I have received this award a few times, I never miss the opportunity to spread the word and introduce a few bloggers with less than 200 followers.  So go visit these wonderful folks and follow:

1.                    The hilariously cheeky Al Penwasser

2.                    My best friend and talented cohort Lisa L. Regan

3.                    The brilliant and insightful, Lora Rivera

4.                    The always fun and kind Carrie Butler

5.                    The brave and compassionate Julius Cicero

____________

That’s it for now.  I’ll be back on Wednesday for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

Pay It Forward

Today, awesomely cool bloggers Alex Cavanaugh and Matthew MacNish are hosting the Pay It Forward Blogfest.  The idea is to introduce all of us to everyone else, to meet and follow as many other bloggers as we like. In our posts, participants are to list, describe, and link to three blogs that we enjoy reading and believe others would enjoy, as well. 

Hmmm…only three blogs, huh?  That might be a bit of a problem, but I’ll try to contain myself.

1. Lisa L. Regan – Okay, for those of you who already know me, this is a given.  After all, she’s my very best friend and confidant, my number one critique partner, and a fellow thriller writer.  And while Lisa is a fantastic agented writer with two books currently on submission, she also has a lot to offer other writers.  Both her new blog and web page are filled with juicy bits of wisdom as she’s journeyed farther than most of us toward publication.  And what’s more, and possibly most important, is the fact that both she and her agent, Jeanie Pantelakis of the Sullivan Maxx Literary Agency, have teamed up to host a variety of book contests with a reading of the winner’s full manuscript as the grand prize!  That’s right!  No querying needed.  Just enter the appropriate genre contest and you have a good chance of having her agent request your full manuscript.

2. Jennifer Hillier of The Serial Killer Files – I know Jenny is already well-known in the blogosphere, but if you haven’t trolled through her blog archives, you’re really missing something.  Not only has Jenny written a novel, she’s successfully landed an agent and sold her first book, Creep, which, I must say, I’ve read twice now and think it’s freakin’ fantastic!  I know I’m partial.  She’s also a fellow writer of psychological thrillers.  Her second novel, Freak, already sold, by the way, is due out sometime next year.  On a personal note, I’ve become personal friends with this lovely lady and I can’t say enough good things about her.  I owe her BIG TIME!  So here’s a tiny little bit of payback, Jenny!

3. Julie Musil – There’s a reason Julie has so many followers and that reason is wisdom.  I swear, every time I tune into her blog, she teaches me something new.  Her archives are a virtual treasure trove of valuable literary insight.  She shares tip after tip on her blog.  I’ve taken to copying each one and compiling into a file I call “Great Writing Advice.”  And what’s even better than all that, if that’s not enough already, is that Julie personally replies to every comment I make on her blog.  She cares and takes the time to reach out and touch her followers.  In a word, Julie is amazing!

See, I knew I couldn’t keep it to just 3.  But I’ll make this honorable mention brief…er.

4. Jami Gold – Now, I don’t know Jami like I know the ladies listed above, but what I do know is that this writer is smart as hell and gifted beyond all get-out.  Her posts hit on what every writer wants to know or really, really should know.  This gal does her research and delves deep into the issues that concern us writers the most.  And damn if she doesn’t manage pull shit out of me in my comments that I swore I would never talk about.  Like I said, it’s a gift.   

I love each and every blog I follow closely.  Why else would I list them on my blog roll?  If you’re a Pay It Forward Blogfest blogger who is new to my neck of the woods, scroll through the left sidebar of my blog.  They are all worth a look and a follow. 

Like me, once you follow them, they follow you right back.   

We Interrupt This Program...

            Monday is my normal day to post here, but I’m holding out ‘til Wednesday so I can participate in Alex Cavanaugh’s.Insecure Writers Support Group.  Today I just wanted to go over a few brief items.

            First off, did anyone catch Rachelle Gardner’s post today About Author Platform?  If not, I suggest you go check it out.  Then take a gander at those benchmark statistics for Facebook and blog followers and visits.  Yikes!  Really?  We should shoot for 500 Facebook fans and 15,000 monthly pageviews to our blogs?  Well, that all sounds good, and I’d certainly love to have those stats, but they seem a tad unrealistic for the majority of writers who blog, most of whom are still unpublished.  I’m jumping for joy to have 700 pageviews a month.  And maybe someday, when I am agented and on the road to being published, I will have an author page on Facebook, but right now I’m keeping my friends limited to around 125 or so.  Personally, I can’t manage much more than that and I won’t simply collect friends for the benefit of …well, collecting friends.  That seems a bit insincere to me.  All right, you can clearly see the insecure writer in me, huh?     

            Anyway, moving on…Alex Cavanaugh, along with Matthew MacNish at QQQE, have a new blogfest called the Pay It Forward Blogfest scheduled for October 14^th.  This blogfest is designed to help introduce us to the many other bloggers out there.  Here’s how Alex and Matthew describe it:  

“We want this to be an easy post that allows you to meet and follow as many other bloggers as you can. In your post, we would like you to please list, describe, and link to three blogs that you enjoy reading, but that you suspect may fly under the radar of a lot of other bloggers. Or they can be famous blogs, as long as they're awesome.

But don't stop there! Certainly visit and follow all the blogs that are featured in people's posts the day of the blogfest, but those don't have to be the only blogs you visit. You can visit everyone who enters in on the fun, and signs up on the linky list. In the interest of time you don't even have to leave comment. You can just follow, and come back another time.”    

            So go to either Matthew or Alex’s blogs linked above and sign up on the Linky List to get your blog listed in the blogfest then participate on October 14th.  This should be another good one!

            Lastly, I would love to thank all of my followers who commented on my post last week about blogging vs. writing vs. life.  It seems I really struck a chord common among writers who blog.  I know it’s helped me just to know I am not alone and that others feel the exact same way.  Well, that’s it for today.  I’ll be back on Wednesday with a post for Alex Cavanaugh’s.Insecure Writers Support Group