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:

“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’Brien, New 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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