I’ve been ruminating on why I’m so drawn to social media and on what I hope to get out of using it. We writers are continually being told by those in publishing who know about these things that we should build our “platforms,” cultivate our audience, even before we have a book to sell. Certainly … Continue reading Why blog? Why tweet?
OK, so it's been about a month rather than a week since my last Book a Week post. What can I say, it's summer. Sandra Beasley first came to my attention because of the awesome title of her blog, Chicks Dig Poetry. Isn't that great? I discovered her right around the time her memoir, Don't Kill … Continue reading Book a Week: I Was the Jukebox, by Sandra Beasley
Over the past year, I've thought a lot about what direction I'd like to take with my writing. Why do I write? What are my goals? One topic that kept coming up is the role creative people play in society, how they often use their art--whether it's painting or photography, writing or music--to give voice to … Continue reading Why Talking About Adoption Feels Like Coming Out
Since it's Friday and I'm in the mood to slack off, I took some time today to try out Facebook's new Timeline feature on my personal profile. I approached the Big Change with fear and trepidation, expecting to be outraged by how much of my life was now available to my (not-always-so-close) friends. Instead I … Continue reading Facebook Timeline Might Be A Good Thing
I've been thinking a lot about platform. We writers are told all the time that we need to build a platform, literally the soapbox we plan to stand on to grab the attention of readers. Platform comes naturally to nonfiction writers. They're writing in the first place to communicate a particular idea or philosopy, or … Continue reading A Life’s Work
Karen Pickell: Between 