Fencing…
I can’t believe that almost a week has passed since I posted on the blog. Does it really matter, I ask myself? Probably not.
Which prompts me to ask what is my blog actually for.
I was out to coffee with a dear friend yesterday and she asked me who were the three people I most desired to meet. It was an easy choice for me. Oprah Winfrey because of her social conscience. The Dalai Lama because of his wisdom and humour. And JK Rowling because she singlehandedly reconfigured the reading world for the youth of today.
*Title of post based on an iconic Australian tourism ad.*
Have you noticed I haven’t been round for a few days? You’re supposed to chorus with relieved tones: ‘Yes, where the b****y hell’ve you been?’
The idea of holding a blog event would have sounded quite odd to me twelve months ago. 
That long ago I was only just coming to terms with Facebook and LinkedIn, followed by the dreaded 140 characters of Twitter. But on the lookout for ways in which to reach a readership, I came across ‘how to make a book-trailer’ on Nathan Bransford’s blog. Of course I couldn’t on my own, because technology and I don’t speak in the same language and so my brother (who runs a production house) did it to my brief. After that I felt ‘challenge’ biting at my heels and on reading all my favourite historical fiction blogs, came across the amaaaaazzzing vvb32 who seems to run brilliant events on a weekly basis.
When my first book was released in December of 2008, I had a vague idea that as a complete unknown I would be responsible for a large proportion of my own widening profile. I had no idea that in 12 months it would have covered such a lengthy ride over a vast techno-landscape.
There was a great blog today from a guest blogger on Nathan Bransford:
http://blog.nathanbransford.com
Worth reading because it lists all the excuses people use not to write. I know I’m a victim of the ‘but’ days. There’s too much housework, I need to do some cooking, I’m needed on the farm, or worst of all . . . I can’t be bothered today!
My vision of tweeting and blogging is of little words flying around in techno-space, rather like the Golden Snitch, and someone as fast as a Seeker has to scoop up a word and make sense of it. If the Seeker misses, then your words continue to fly around . . . unread, unappreciated and with no followers. When a word is caught and a comment is left on the blog, its like a point being scored in the afore-mentioned match of quidditch. Its all about synchronicity I guess. You go seeking for the right words just as I put them up. And with luck and good hand-eye coordination, you catch them in your hands and read and enjoy. This is what I want to happen when I write my books . . . that you the quidditch player will catch my Snitch words and score a goal!