So Long, Farewell...

I hope you know how to spell the rest of that because I sure don't, even though it's one of my favorite songs from The Sound of Music. I will no longer be updating this blog as of today, but I hope you'll decide to wander over to The Book Connection and follow me there, where I will be posting about books, my works in progress, my new articles, and anything else pertaining to my writing or the writing of others.

In leaving, I want to remind you that you have the power to make your dreams come true, if you only use it. If you dream of being a writer, find a way to make it happen. I'm living my dream. Isn't it time you lived yours?

Thanks for all the support over the years. See you at The Book Connection!

Moving to The Book Connection

Well, after a poll that only received three votes on this site and the other, I have decided that I will be moving this site to The Book Connection as of December 1st.

I will maintain my other two blogs, Book Tours and More and Laura's Little Houses--a blog dedicated to Laura Ingalls Wilder, her books and the movies and shows based upon them.

I hope you will become followers of The Book Connection if you aren't already, and enjoy reading more about my journey from aspiring author to published author at that blog.

Thank you for your support.

Cheryl

NaNoWriMo Update

Well, National Blog Posting Month over at The Book Connection is certainly going better than National Novel Writing Month. I should be over halfway to my goal of 50,000 words and I barely have over 6,000. I am slightly bummed, but I am writing every chance I get. Work and family life have made writing a challenge, as did many of the unexpected things that have popped up this month.

I'll be busy all weekend, so I don't know how much I will get to write, but we'll see what happens. At least I am further ahead than when I started.

A New Year Brings Changes

Every year around this time I begin thinking of what changes I can make in the new year that will lead to me being more productive. An idea I am pondering is consolidating this blog and making it part of The Book Connection.

I've always tried my best to keep my book promotion work and my own writing separate, but it is becoming harder and harder. I also don't feel it's fair to those of you who check in from time to time to find this blog not updated as frequently as it should.

If I simply maintain The Book Connection as my personal and book blog, then I could still post motivational quotes on the weekends because I only host clients on weekdays. In addition, I could really work on branding The Book Connection when I don't have to split time with another blog.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this and feel free to vote in my survey in the sidebar. Thanks you for your support.

Cheryl

Should WordPress Be Able to Suspend Your Blog without an Investigation?

As my readers know, we branched off The Book Connection's children's and teen books onto a new site on WordPress and called the new blog, The Kid's Book Connection.

I wandered out to this blog today to post a review and found it had been suspended.

Why you ask?

Well, it seems that a woman paid WordPress to use the http://thekidsbookconnection.com/ to sell Usborne books and she feels that my blog--though it doesn't sell anything--takes business away from her. This is the comment she left on my blog on October 27th:

"DO you know or care your using another person domain name? your doing a free one on wordpress when others PAY to do theirs the right way PAYING for the domain name and hosting -How sad you choose to do this to another person who is just a work at home mom with a disbled husband trying to make extra money. WHY the need to do this instad of doing it the right way??????"

I deleted the comment, but retained it in my dashboard. I then explained in an email sent from a form I found on her site that my using http://thekidsbookconnection.wordpress.com was not done intentionally to steal her business--after all I don't sell anything on that blog. I merely chose a URL that made sense and flowed well with The Book Connection. I also told her I didn't appreciate her littering my blog with that comment and attacking me for all the world to see.

I have integrity and I would never do something as low as trying to steal business from someone else. The only thing I could be guilty of is not being smart enough to check to see if The Kids Book Connection was already being used on WordPress, and if I had, I wouldn't use it anyway because I don't want something close enough to anyone else's site to cause confusion.

I get this in return:

"Hello
I put NO comments on your blog at aLL id did was to view it only and ask some freinds who this can be allowed
I did not litter anything esp your blog trust me there as I am not the kind of person to do that
What words where as I di dnot do any!

When you sign up for a blog it offers to have you buy the domain name and you choose not to as it is already owned had you looked and tried to buy it

You say "" troublesome to you, "" well it is as a work at home mom I find this so sad!!
tryingto make a few dollars on line with a domain name and website which I PAY for both of them and then comes someone using it for free -SIgh! How sad!..."

Okay, so first she denies leaving the comment on my blog--which I have--and again, she's angry that I got something for free that she paid for, keeping in mind however, that "wordpress" appears in my URL and not in hers.

Today, I wander out to The Kids Book Connection to post a review and guess what--my blog has been suspended. Gee, is that a coincidence? I think not.

After reviewing their Terms and Conditions, I honestly don't see where WordPress has just cause to do that; but what worries me more is that any Tom, Dick or Harry can report your WordPress blog and it is immediately suspensed without warning and without sending you an email to let you know there has been a complaint issued.

So, I am asking you, my readers, is that fair? Do you think it's right that your ex-boyfriend could get ticked at you and report your blog and have all your work be held up in limbo without any type of investigation performed first?

I was considering a move to WordPress for all my blogs because Goggle has recently placed a limit on the number of labels your blog can use, but I definitely won't do that now.

I usually pride myself on keeping emotion out of my writing, but today I failed miserably. I can't believe another human being would do that to someone, and that all that work of mine might have to be recreated just because an Usborne sales representative is angry that she paid for a blog she could have gotten for free. I am totally beside myself and I certainly won't be buying anything from or recommending any products from Usborne in the near future if these are the type of people they employ.

Marta Stephens Gives Tips to Writers

The following is an excerpt from another of Pump Up Your Book Promotion's December clients. Marta Stephens if the author of Silenced Cry and The Devil Can Wait--the latter of which I will review at The Book Connection on December 10th.

You can find Marta on the web at www.martastephens-author.com.

"You’ve written an amazingly brilliant novel. Your tension is excellent, the suspense is fantastic, your subplots are beautifully woven together--every word, every phrase is sheer perfection.

In the begin, the reaction from your friends and family to your writing may range from curious amusement to mild enthusiasm. Months pass, your family begins referring to you in past tense. You friends call less frequently -- eventually they quit, your kids stop setting your place at the table, and dog you’ve raised as a pup begins to bark and growl every time you shuffle your feet from your desk into the kitchen for another cup of coffee. The only television you “watch” are the infomercials at two in the morning only because you’re so wound up from working out complex plots that you can’t go to sleep. But that’s okay, because this is your goal, right? You’ve raised the bar a notch higher and now you have to roll with the punches. You have no choice but to push yourself to the brink of exhaustion and push you will!"

To read the rest of this article, please visit The Writer's Life.