Pardon Me While The Dust Settles On My Blog

So, mid-terms are due Monday, and I've got 3 classes' worth of essay tests to grade.  (Oh, the life of an English teacher!  Wait.  Scratch that.  We don't HAVE lives; we grade papers.)  Then next week brings us parent-teacher conferences, the single most loathsome thing about teaching, which will suck up two full evenings.  And, the most recent proof of Brigid arrived a few days ago.  While I'm happy to say that -- at half-way through the book -- I've only found ONE real error (a missing word, caused by an earlier copy-and-paste rearrangement of a sentence), I'm still smoothing things (like having the sun set an hour too early in one scene.  oops!).  I need to get this book ready ASAP!!  So every moment I'm not grading must be spent on editing.
Folks, there's just no time for blogging right now.  Really.
Sorry.

Please Forgive The Lull In Posting This Week

It's the end of the term.  I'm swamped with grading.

Holy Cow! Sorry About The Posting Problem!

Okay, so I tried to post some humorous tweets from Twitter tonight --- and the "publish" button on blogger went on the fritz!!!
When I tried to check the post, it had multiplied itself as fast as Fibonacci's famous sequence, but not one of the posts actually worked.  All the images were superimposed over each other.
As I result, I have probably filled you "blogs you follow" listings with numerous repetitions of a post you'll never see.
Ouch.  Sorry about that.
I have no freakin' clue how I did it or what happened.

One Year Anniversary For The Blog

... was apparently yesterday.  And I missed it.  Oops.
Oh well.
One year. 317 posts (some of which got pulled-- sorry 'bout that). 14516 pageviews. 71 followers. 1290 comments.
And one book published.
Okay.  Not a bad beginning.
Onward!

Brigid Kemmerer's Got Lots Of Irons In The Fire This Month

Brigid Kemmerer and I have been blog buddies for 5 or 6 years now, as I've moved from blog to blog, and as she has become more and more famous.
But this is a big month for Brigid, and I'd like to take a little blog space to promote her.
She's got a series out called Elementals, which deals with a town full of kids who can control the elements.  It centers on one family of not-particularly likable brothers, each of whom can call on one of the four traditional elements (which would be earth, fire, wind, and water).
The first story out was an e-book, a prequel which centers on the oldest brother Michael and his element, earth.

Personally, I found this one just  a touch confusing, so I'd recommend either reading it after Storm, or else being ready to read Storm immediately after finishing Elemental.
Now, Storm is really the first book in the series, and it's been out since April.

This first full-length novel tells the story of Chris, the youngest brother, who controls the air.

Fortunately, both Brigid and her publishers realize what so many publishers don't seem to get: readers lose interest in a series if they have to wait too long in between books.
So, out TODAY is another e-book novella: Fearless.

Now, I haven't read this one yet, but I do know it tells the tale of an important side character, Hunter, who has some unusual abilities of his own.

And, by the end of the month, you can buy Spark, which is Gabriel's story; he's one of the twin middle brothers, and his element is obviously fire.

Of course, since Brigid is all that super awesome, she sent me a copy of Spark a week ago (neener, neener, I have it and you don't!), and I can assure you it's the best of the bundle that I've read.
She is SO nailing in-depth characterization!!  Look, these brothers have ISSUES.  They have had a rough past, and the nasty folks are out to get them, and they are not exactly nice little Harry Potters about it.  They have bad tempers and huge communication problems.  They're stubborn.  You probably won't like any of them.  I don't.
But here's the catch:  how cool is it when an author can make nasty characters that you just HAVE to keep reading about???  Because the plot is just THAT good?  And because you've just GOT to stick with it and figure these people out???
Bronte's Heathcliff is like that.  And Catherine, too.
And Shelley's Viktor Frankenstein is hugely unlikeable, but you just have to stick with him.
Stevenson's Dr. Jeckyll is loathable -- even when he's not Mr. Hyde.  But he captures the imagination.
This is what Brigid Kemmerer does with these brothers; she makes them fascinatingly awful -- so you just are compelled to find out what happens to them.
Plus, her pacing is awesome!  There are just no dull moments anywhere.
So, are you ready to try one?  I know you are.  Click one of my links above and buy a book.  You'll be back to thank me for telling you about them.  :)

Things I Don't Understand About Blogging And Twitter

How did someone end up at my blog this week after searching for "books in the library"?
Why do my newest Twitter followers include a site for scotch drinkers (I don't drink), SLC Golf (I'm athletically retarded), and a self-described restauranteur/astrologist?  Do these people actually think I have anything in common with them?  Why would I follow back if we share absolutely NO interests?
And why has an autism activist been following me for months?
Oh, and on Pinterest, I got an invite to join a board on pet protection.  What the heck?  Like I'm going to join a society that encourages people to get more dogs -- yeah, right.  *eye roll*
My favorite what-the-heck Twitter follower, however, has been following me for weeks.  It's this one:

Crop circles ‏ @CropCircles_012

Latest crop circles videos, photos and news!

*shakes head in wonderment*

Sixty!

Sixty blog followers as of today!
I needed that, as the rest of the day's been a bit of a downer.

Let Me Introduce You To A Fellow Blogger/Author: R. Mac Wheeler

The first thing I noticed when visiting Mac's blog is the incredible volume of what he has written.  It seems like every time I drop over to see what's happening on his blog, he's got a new novel ready.  (Okay, that was hyperbole, but still....)
The second thing I noticed is that he takes lots of photos.
Naturally, as I'm always stressed for time, I had to wonder how he fit all of this in.  So I asked.  And he responded in a mini-interview:

 can't help but notice that you enjoy photography, and I think some of your photos are really very well framed and artistic.  Does this way of looking at the world (through a lens, framing scenes) influence your writing style at all?  And if so, how?

I’ll frame this thusly *laugh* My anal personality (former nit picking project manager) most influences my eye and writing. I figure we don’t build the view and sense of the reader/viewer. It is our detail that enables the reader/viewer to create that for herself. Even if she doesn’t notice the detail manipulated into the fabric of our creation, we are successful if the reader/viewer can sense being there.

Also, you seem to find time for family, dogs, photos, blogging, and writing LOTS of books.  I am very impressed with the amount of writing you do.  Do you schedule your writing time?  Or do you merely snatch moments of it whenever possible?  Put another way, how on earth do you find time to write so much?  

I’m a fulltime writer. I treat it as a seven to five job. I’ve cut back. It used to be seven to midnight. All of my activities are holistic to my sanity. My three pups take turns under my desk. I schedule outings to keep them young (and by default gives me some exercise). The blogging and photography is embedded in the evolution of my brand, and it interrupts my creativity just enough to keep me fresh.

If that hasn't caught your curiosity yet, how about some of his vibrant new covers?

Here's a link to his blog.  Go on over, admire his dog pics, look at his books, and then go buy one.  :)

I Just Joined Twitter!

Yes, I'm going to try yet another way to avoid grading papers spend time online.  (Maybe someday I'll even join facebook -- but their lack of security bothers me.)
At any rate, if you'd like to follow me on twitter, I'm @lisamshafer.

Lovely Blog Award

Jennifer has kindly bestowed the One Lovely Blog Award upon me.
Here are the rules:
The rules are:
1. Link back to the person that bestowed the award upon you.
2. Follow the person that bestowed the award upon you.
3. Pass along to 15 Lovely Bloggers!
And I will now attempt to comply (at least partially) by inviting a few other bloggers to claim their blog awards.
1. Karen at Twin Cities Blather because she has so many fun photos.
2. Gilly for the same reason.
3. Cassandra because she's new.
4. Martin because he's given me so many little awards and memes.
5. And Max because his was the first blog I ever started reading, way back in the dark ages.
My apologies to the guys for how girly-looking this award is.  I didn't design it.  I suppose you get to tune in to your feminine side here for this.

Fifty Followers!

Yea!  Fifty followers as of today!
And twelve of you are new since the weekend.  :)
Welcome aboard, everyone.  I hope you'll stop by and play tomorrow's writers' game with us.

I'm A Skunk!

No, it's not the year of the skunk (because there isn't one), but Martin, one of my loyal readers, has honored me with another award, this one for "people who make us feel and smell better."
Here is my award:

I'm supposed to tell one thing I like about myself and then pass on the award.
Okay, I've always liked my intelligence.  Even as far back as elementary school, I realized that I thought it was better to be smart than to be pretty because being smart lasted longer.  :)
I'll pass this on to Max and to Tempppo, as both have been my real-life buddies for a long time, Tempppo especially.  (Do you realize you've been my friend for almost half my life now?  Wow.  And for you, of course, the percentage is higher.)

On The Fickle Nature Of Blog Readers

So weird.
I had 370 blog visits yesterday.
Today I've had 0.

And I KNOW This One Wasn't Just Spam.....

So today, someone ended up on this post of my blog by googling "meat dress translate Spanish."

This made me laugh.

Four Continents Yesterday!

I still don't get all that many visitors yet on this blog, but I sure get a variety.  Last week, the German visitors outnumbered those from the US.  And the Russians are here every day.  (Hello, Russian people!  Do make a comment sometime!  I'd love to hear from you.)
Yesterday, I got four continents represented, with visitors from the US, Russia, Australia, the UK, Malaysia, and the Philippines.  I don't really expect Antarctica, but hey, somewhere in South America ought to be possible.
Still, it's a good day when I can get four continents.  :)

Six Countries Today

This is still a very new blog, so it doesn't get more than 50 hits a day just yet.  But today we set a new record for this blog: visitors from 6 different countries: the US, Japan, Russia (I get views from Russia every single day on this blog.  Hi there to whoever you Russians are!  Thanks for dropping by.  Leave a comment sometime.), Canada, Germany, and the UK.
Not a bad round up for such a new little blog.  :)

One Month

One month at this blog.
Ten followers.
Fourteen posts.
Three hundred eighty-two views.
Nine countries, on three continents and three islands.
Six browsers and seven operating systems.
Fifty-six profile views.
Ten books sold with no advertising except this blog  (Books sold after 8/24/11 only.).

Hey, it's a start.

Famous Blog Follower

This is not my first blog; I've had several under pseudonyms for other purposes than writing.  Thus, I'm used to the whole business of attracting and keeping followers.  I know a blog as new as this one (not yet a month old) is not too likely to have dozens of followers right away.  But today I picked up a famous follower: Lisa Rosenberg of Smacksy.com.  Wow.
Let me put this in perspective for you: She's follower number seven on this blog.  I'm follower number 652 on hers.  She gets hundreds of views a day.  This blog has yet to top 30 views in one day.
And she signed up to follow me before I signed up to follow her (although I've lurked for months on her blog).
Gee, I feel like the cool little freshman who just got smiled at by the student-body president.

The only other blog I follow that has more little faces and avatars lined up as followers on it is Tonya Ricucci's at lazygalquilting, which has 770 followers (as of right now -- it'll have more by tomorrow).  But even if Tonya dropped over here to follow this blog, it wouldn't be quite the same.  After all, I've known Tonya since we were both 12; we were good buddies for years.  But I've never met Lisa Rosenberg except through her blog.
Well, this just brightened up my Monday for sure!

A New Page!

I've added a new page or tab to the top of the blog today.  I thought it'd be nice to show my WsIP.
My current "to do" list for writing is as follows:
1) Publish Half-Vampire and the prologue as e-books (tomorrow!).
2) Publish Half-Vampire as a physical book (we'll work on that tomorrow).
3) Revise and edit Brigid (only part of the ms has been returned by my latest beta reader buddy who's been touching up the overly-wordy spots for me and having a look at the antagonist).
4) Get Brigid out for copy editing (I have a victim volunteer in mind for this).
5) Publish Brigid as an e-book and as a paperback.
6) Revise Half-Vampire Family.
7) Finish Nerissa MacKay.
8) Edit Half-Vampire Family.
9) Revise Nerissa and get beta readers.
10) Begin sequel to Nerissa.
11) Copy edit Family.
12) Publish Family as e-book and paperback.
13) Continue work on Nerissa.

Yeah, I know.  That's pretty ambitious.  But that's the PLAN.  To be honest, I'm just hoping everything goes well tomorrow when Max and I try to format the first book.

The Mysteries Of Blogging

I'm not new to blogging, even though this is a brand spanking new blog.  I have several other blogs, and I've been doing this for years.  As you long-time blogger users know, the "stats" tab is only about a year old.  And some of the things about the stats still mystify and/or amuse me greatly.
This particular blog, for example, was made public at 6:00 PM Sunday evening, approximately 38 hours ago.  This morning, the stats tab shows my first international views, one from Germany and one from Indonesia.  And one of those people got here from this link.
Okay.  Sure.  Because, uh, the connection of this blog and a Dallas Cowboys website is so, uh, clear and obvious.  Right.
Last spring, one of my older blogs kept getting traffic from a  porn site in Asia.  (No, I didn't click through. The link's URL had words in it that made it clear what type of site it was.)  And last year, my personal blog had months of traffic from a golf website.  (Folks, I don't golf.  And none of my blogs have ever had anything to do with either porn or golf.  Or the Dallas Cowboys.)
So, well, uh, hello to Germany and Indonesia this morning.  I have no idea how you found this blog from a football news link, but, hey, c'mon back often!