An author friend discouraged me from going to a literary festival. She was a top selling author with one of the big well known publishers. She had clout. She said the money I was spending to go overseas and take part in a queer book conference would be better spent buying truckloads of my own …
Playing author for the long haul
I started this journey well over a decade ago. My first novel was redrafted eight times and after many rejection letters, was first published in 2012. For various reasons it is now with its third publisher. In the early days I tried all the tricks authors are told by bloggers on how to succeed. Start …
Book Review – Desperately Seeking Spinach by Petrina Binney
As the cover says, this is a short story. It is cheap or free depending on your relationship with Amazon. Petrina Binney read the opening of her story during the IQARUS online book conference, and on hearing it, I needed to download it. This is a tongue in cheek take on celebrity and obsession. The …
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Time to rethink my work in progress
I'm writing this during Covid lockdown. The date is the 9th of July 2021 and due to the Delta variant, we're not allowed to leave our homes here in Sydney unless totally necessary. As I've often mentioned in my blogs, I can't write unless I'm alone without distractions. My husband is home with me and …
Writing a dystopian novel in an ever changing world.
I've just finished editing an early draft of Virtual Insanity. This is the sequel to Social Media Central. I was surprised most of it needed few amendments. The chapters where the action takes off and continues to the end of the novel are much more polished than I thought. A few other chapters, not so …
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In isolation but not online much
My husband closed down his Facebook account. He did so early this year and doesn't regret it. It's something I can't do because as an author, I need to have a presence in cyberspace. But since isolation, I drift into my socials, take a quick look, then exit. I've been enjoying a different life since …
Would you consider a hashtag to promote your most personal novel?
I was thinking about this in a spare moment, of which there are many. I've often written about what real life influences are weaved into my novels, but I haven't always talked about the storylines that come from more personal experiences. For example, one of my novels has a storyline that reflects feelings I had …
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Authors and algorithms
A Twitter post popped up recently about how interactions have diminished. I responded saying that I've noticed this too. Recently I asked #WritingCommunity if they've noted Twitter is behaving like Facebook (i.e. the same small number of regulars reacting to what you've posted). One person responded. For an author, this is not good. I already …
Living without Social Media
Today, Greg Wikstrom offers us an insight into why he ditched his socials. He's a friend of mine who lives in Zurich, and not long ago he let us all know via Facebook that the online world has become a toxic place. He continued to say that he would be leaving that space. So, to …
Social Media Tips for Authors
It's the start of the year and I'm writing this blog, but something has become apparent to me all over again as I review my social media. Algorithms are in charge. In some ways they work with us, giving us a validated experience by showing us popular posts and keeping conversations going with the peeps …
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