National Novel Writing Month

I was recently contacted by Bob Clary from Webucator about answering some questions about writing as part of National Novel Writing Month. I thought it was a great idea, especially since I've been pretty bad about blogging recently. So here are my answers to his questions.

-  What were your goals when you started writing?

I honestly didn't have a lot of goals when I started, I mostly wrote for fun. At one point, I decided to try and write a novel and my goals progressed from there.

- What are your goals now?

I'm working on another novel, so my goal is to get that finished and hopefully published someday.

- What pays the bills now?

I have an office job working for a long term pharmacy.

- Assuming writing doesn't pay the bills, what motivated you to keep writing?

A love of writing. Even if I knew I would never publish another thing in my life, I would still write, because it's something I love to do.

- What advice would you give young authors hoping to make a career out of writing?

To not give up. There's a lot of rejection an red tape to get through in writing. The publishing world is changing so quickly that people can barely keep up. I think it's easy to get caught up in that world, so staying focused on actually writing can be difficult. Keep at it, even if it's a slow process. Someday all that hard work might pay off.

A Quick Update

I haven't posted an update in awhile and wanted to check in and say hello. I've been really busy lately with work and have been doing a bit of traveling as well. I've also started a new writing project which has been taking up some of my free time. I hope all of you guys have been doing well. I haven't been spending as much time on Blogger lately and I definitely miss all my Blogging friends! Hopefully, the next time I post on here I'll have actual news or at least something interesting to say.

Lots of love to you all!

Alyson

Book Review: Green Kitty

I was recently Approached by an author about doing a book review of her children' book, Green Kitty. I don't do book reviews on here very often, but after reading a bit about the book, I realized the book was about Alzheimer's disease and dementia, which I have a soft spot for since I lost my grandfather to it. So I decided to check out the story and give it a review here.

I have sort of mixed feelings about the book. It's basically a collection of animal stories told from the perspective of a family member who is suffering from dementia. I really liked the premise, the illustrations were lovely and some of the stories were hilarious. There were also places where the writing was really passive, though and it slowed down the pace of the book. It took me awhile to really be able to enjoy the story. I would have liked to have seen the stories be a bit more connected to each other. Each chapter was like its own short story. I did enjoy the ending (though I won't give anything away.)

So overall, I have to give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

If you are interested in learning more about it, here is the Green Kitty website.

Guest Post

Jennifer Jackson was nice enough to invite me to do a guest post over at her blog. Everything it & Tales. She's also giving away a digital copy of Nightfire to one winner. Check it out here!

Fallen

I've been busy finishing up my latest WIP, but I thought I'd post another poem on here for the time being. This is one of my older ones.

Fallen

I can still remember the snowflakes
that fell
the night
I fell
for you
landing in my eyelashes
while you kissed me
on your porch
saying goodbye.
The stars hung
so clearly
in the sky above us
so pure
sure to fall from the sky.

Happy New Year!

I'm just posting to wish everyone a happy New Year. I haven't posted much here lately, but I will try and do better with it next year! Do you have any New Years resolutions?

Blogging Tips

Today I thought I’d share a few tips for my blogger friends. I’ve been blogging for almost two years now and I’ve learned a lot since I first started. Here are a few tips I've picked up on!

1. Register your blog with google. If you blog long enough, eventually Google does this on its own. But if you are just starting out, it can help drive traffic your way more quickly. Here’s the link to submit. You can also submit to other search engines as well.
2. Give your blog a title that’s at the beginning of the alphabet. This pushes your blog to the top of everyone’s readers and gives you a little more visibility. You can also add *** in front of your title-this also pushes you to the top.
3. Title blog posts in the form of a question. When people search for something, they often type things in the form of a question-this will lead them directly to you.
4. Turn off captchas. Blogger sets them automatically. Turning them off will lead to more comments. My phone can’t read them, so I frequently find myself wanting to comment on blogs I’ve read and not being able to do so. No captchas=more comments.
5. Don’t forget to be yourself. If you come off too formal or spend a lot of time talking about things that don’t really interest you, people will be able to tell.

Do you have any good blogging tips? I'm always looking to learn something new!