This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2024 the theme is a personal retrospective that I call "I Coulda Been" which is in reference to my job and career arc over my lifetime. I'll be looking at all sorts of occupations that I have done or could have done. Maybe you've done some of these too!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Hear Me Roar! --Nancy S. Thompson Guest Post

             Some of the most visited posts on my blog and some of your blogs have been those dealing with blogging.  Can you imagine that!   We love blogging so much that we even love to read about it.  Today we get some more thoughts about blogging from Nancy S. Thompson.   Nancy recently released her book The Mistaken which has been getting very favorable reviews.   You can visit Nancy at her own blog


Hear Me Roar!


Thanks for having me back, Arlee.  While trying to come up with a topic we’re all interested in, I was made to consider what we all have in common.  Many of us are writers.  And we blog.  We do this for many reasons, but we all probably started for the same one, because, as writers seeking publication, we were told we needed to build a platform.

But what’s the point of that platform?  Is it simply a means to have your voice heard and hopefully get noticed?  Well, sure, that’s part of it, of course—a large part, no doubt.  But more than that, blogging is about sharing information.  Yeah, we can all Google just about anything imaginable and come up with some article or website, but blogging is more about sharing our personal experiences.  It’s really just an online diary, but one meant for public consumption.

We all use various forms of social networking—Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, whatever—and they’re each good for their own brand of information.  But blogs are better suited to our purpose of making our voices heard in that it puts more than just a face to who we are as writers and, more importantly, as human beings.  It gives us heart, creates a fabric woven with threads of our accomplishments and failures, our dreams and expectations, our needs and losses, and, more than anything, our desire to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, something that needs us just as much as we need it.  A community. 


Facebook, Twitter, and all the rest, they just give our audience a tiny glimpse of who we are, single frames in a two-hour movie.  Our blogs are more of a bridge that leads to the very essence of who we are and what we value most.  It’s a place to employ creativity, exhibit perseverance, and build trust through consistent, honest content that both educates and entertains.

While relevance is always important, I think, as far as our blogs are concerned, it’s less about cosmic relevance and more about how we’re relevant to each other, one on one.  I read other blogs to learn what worked for that writer, where he got hung up on his journey, how she found the best way to write a query, if traditional publishing is the only legitimate path, and all sorts of other things.  Yet for each person, the answer is completely unique, and I am made to consider how their choice might, or might not, work for me.

Through it all, blogging has led me to—and made me a part of—a community like no other.  Though wholly virtual, the relationships are authentic and absolute, and that is the very heart of blogging, to be able to touch and affect those you cannot see, yet still hold in the highest regard.   

        How has community been valuable to you from a blogging standpoint?   Why do you blog?    What unexpected rewards have you received from blogging?    Do you feel that you have built that all important "platform" that is recommended for writers or those in a specialized field?




Praise for The Mistaken:

The Mistaken“A deliciously slow burn that builds to a ferocious crescendo, Nancy S. Thompson's THE MISTAKEN kept me riveted until the very last page. Tyler Karras is a complex and flawed protagonist, and his redemptive journey makes him the perfect anti-hero. This psychological suspense is a standout, and I can't wait for Thompson's next book.”
~ Jennifer Hillier, author of  CREEP and FREAK

“Nancy S. Thompson's debut novel, The Mistaken, is a first-rate thriller full of hair-raising twists and turns.  Pursued by the police and the Russian mafia in San Francisco, brothers Tyler and Nick Karras are fascinating, fully-drawn, desperate characters.  The action is non-stop.  Thompson's taut, intriguing tale of revenge, mistaken identity, kidnapping and murder will keep you enthralled and entertained.” 
~Kevin O’BrienNew York Times Bestselling Author of DISTURBED and TERRIFIED

“Fast-paced and emotionally gripping - once the ride begins, you won't stop reading until it ends."  ~Alex J. Cavanaugh, author of CASSAFIRE and CASSASTAR

http://nancysthompson.blogspot.com/


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18 comments:

  1. Nancy rocks and so does her book!!!!
    I started blogging so I could promote my books. I continued blogging because of the friends I made online. The community has been so supportive of me and I want to give back - and now I'm in a position to do it effectively.

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  2. Excellent point, Nancy! We start out making it about platform and end up making it about friends and colleagues. That's what happened to me and I wouldn't trade the relationships for uber popularity. ;)

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  3. Very nice post, Nancy. I think the idea of blog as 'platform' for fiction writers is perhaps a bit overrated, though there's no doubt a popular blogger and savvy user of social media bumps her chances of being noticed when her book is published. For me, it's really been about the relationships built, and I've been quite fortunate in connecting with some great people.

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  4. I am definitely one of those who started my blog because I had read around the place that writers should have an online platform. But never did I imagine I'd find what I have found, this amazing community :)

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  5. Great post Nancy. I started blogging for the same reason as Trisha--to have an online platform. It's been a way to help promote middle grade and YA authors, especially debut ones.

    I really like the blogging for the reasons you've said. We can say so much more here than in other forms of social media. I hope it doesn't go away.

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  6. I'm yupping on the Nancy comments. Me? I started blogging because I constantly write things that have no where to go and are great for blog posts. It also helps for building a platform.

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  7. Well said, Nancy. I was once a part of 25 social networks at the height of my YA series, but pared it back down to a couple, and blogging is one I will always keep.

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  8. Great post Nancy, your book sounds pretty awesome indeed to me! Thanks for stopping by to write for us, personally I was surprised as to how many friends I've made from blogging, it's crazy and I've been blessed to meet some truly awesome people such as Lee who I'd never have met if it wasn't for this form of medium. Blogging has it's uses for raising awareness too, honestly I'd not have half the Twitter followers if it wasn't for Blogger, that's part of the reason why I love it so much.

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  9. Great post, Nancy. The writer-blogger community is awesome. :)

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  10. Forget the platform; I'm building a dais!

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  11. I adore Nancy... and blogging has been so much more beneficial to me than other social networks... it's because it seems *real* ... our voices are being heard better. Great post.

    And thanks, Arlee for signing up for the Cheers, Cavanaugh BlogFest!

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  12. The relevance that bloggers have to each other is a valuable aspect of reading blogs by other writers or those in your field. That's one of the many ways to learn how to reach a certain goal that someone else has already reached or how to avoid a certain pitfall that someone else has already experienced.

    Yes, a blogging community has been valuable to me -- if it weren't for many bloggers, I would have never met the bloggers that I am in touch with today and I would have never learned about blogathons or information that I utilize today.

    I blog to bring attention to independent films, the filmmakers behind them and aspects of the making of motion pictures that people may not be familiar with...including my own. Connections with published authors and opportunities to attend events in my field are some of the unexpected rewards that I have received from blogging -- including books and event passes. I feel that I've build a platform that is in a position to grow and be recommended to people who are fascinated with all that goes into creating a film as well as people who are making films themselves.


    ~Nicole
    Blog: The Madlab Post
    @MadlabPost on Twitter

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  13. The blogosphere is a kind of home away from home. It can also be a form of group therapy.

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  14. As I am getting 3 or 4 comments at most on my blog I can't even dream of joining these ranks!

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  15. agreed...hoping for a great support line, and so far, friends come out of the woodwork. love it!

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  16. Hi Lee - great guest post by Nancy.

    I learn from everyone - and as I trust my blogger friends I can 'feel' their level of experience and absorb the parts that I need .. the things I don't do, but will move into next year .. FB, Twitter etc etc ..

    It's a great community - and we have a voice ..

    I love the support, friendliness and understanding from friends in the blogosphere - it is a wonderful community ... exactly as you mention that authenticity and absoluteness of bloggers -

    There's always someone to help, or someone with the knowledge that we're looking for ..

    I blogged for me and so I'd have something to chat to my mother and uncle about while they were alive - this has educated me, brought me many friends and showed me that I can write ... something that was never apparent in the previous decades!!

    Your post is excellent ... Happy Thanksgiving to all in the States .. cheers Hilary

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  17. I like to write essays, but hoping for more of a conversation, like having a chat over a cup of coffee in an imagined cyber cafe--in a different local--France, the South, etc. I am not a real writer, not having written a book except for one using a stuffed lion as the writer. But I do enjoy blogging, especially seeing the little world globe whirl around, checking my stats and seeing hits from around the world, Russia, Dubai, exciting!

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  18. I had no idea what to expect when I started blogging. I never would have if I hadn't accidently started publishing books! But I love the serendipity in all of this. I've written more than I ever expected to write. I've meet more wonderful and interesting people than I ever expected to meet. And I've learned more than I ever expected to learn. Guess blogging paid off for me.

    BTW You're one of the "wonderful, interesting people" that I've met on this journey.

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