Call For #FabulousFridayGuestBlogger

March 22, 2016 / Marcia Meara / 12 Comments

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This picture has nothing whatsoever to do with this post.
I just have a feeling it’s going to be one of THOSE days!
~~~

As of today, I have plenty of Fridays (like all of them!) open for guest bloggers. If you’d like to be one, please contact me, and let’s pick a date for your post. Remember, you can write about anything you wish, humorous or serious, with the only exceptions being no politics, no religion, and nothing overtly erotic. (I try to keep this a safe place for everyone.)

We have had some fabulous posts, indeed, over the past months, and we’d love for yours to be added to the archives. And don’t forget, you’ll have space for your book covers and buy links, and your bio, whether your post is about your writing or not. So, let me hear from you, folks. We’ll share your post with the immediate world! I promise.

Deltona Authors’ Fair & Other Events

March 21, 2016March 21, 2016 / Marcia Meara / 6 Comments

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Just a reminder that Saturday, April 2, there will be an author’s book fair at the Deltona Library. It’s a great chance to meet authors, get signed books from them, and support the library. I’ll be there, so if you get a chance to stop by, come say hi!

Also coming up for me, a “Self-Publishing for Beginners” workshop (reservation only) at DeBary Hall, on Saturday, 4/23, from 1:00 to 4:00, and a Power Point Presentation at the Heritage Museum in Enterprise Florida, entitled “Swamp Ghosts: Using the Wildlife and Rivers of Central Florida as the Setting for a Romantic Suspense Novel.” The presentation will start at 1:00pm. Hope to see you at some of these events. 🙂

Poster with Speakers

New Posters: SO sorry!

February 6, 2016February 6, 2016 / Marcia Meara / 6 Comments

I no longer receive notices when comments are waiting to be approved, so I sometimes don’t discover them for a bit. SO sorry to all you wonderful folks who commented on Judith’s guest blog yesterday. I did NOT mean to ignore any of you, honest. I think everyone has been approved now, including Judith’s responses. (Ooops.) I’ll try to do better next time, I promise!

Off for a day of fun, long overdue, with my good friend and Graphics Goddess, Nicki Forde, who does my fabulous covers for me, and my good friend and Beta reader extraordinaire, Dian. Lunch at the Cotillion Café in Wildwood (the inspiration for my Southern Comfort Café in my Riverbend series). Pictures MIGHT be forthcoming later, if we can tear ourselves away from fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits, and Rhett Butler cake long enough to take them. 😀

Happy Saturn’s Day, everyone!

#Twitter Work-Out from 30 mins A Day #Bloggers #Writers #Authors @rosieamber1

January 22, 2016 / Rosie Amber / 14 Comments

TWITTER Work-out From just 30 minutes a day.

Recently I’ve been working hard to increase my readership and Twitter following, here is what has been working for me.

Blog – When you write a blog post add Hashtags and Twitter @ Handles in the title, it makes them SUPER easy to share.

Twitter– When you write your tweets always use Hashtags and Twitter Handles.

Search for an author/guest twitter Handle on Twitter, or Goodreads (under their Author info) or Amazon bio.

TIP – Authors, make your Twitter handle easy to find, make it as close to your pen-name as possible, make sure you have a profile on Goodreads and Amazon (Profiles need to be added to each different Amazon site you wish to be found on)

SHARING IS CARING – Building your audience and your platform requires SHARING. Make every tweet and share WORK. ADD Hashtags and Twitter handles to ALL the posts YOU share. YES is takes a little effort but get into a routine and it becomes easier. Others will then share your Tweets. In RETURN you must start sharing more, aim for 10-20 shares each time you go on social media.

Tip – when possible work from a computer where you can have several tabs open at once then you can search Twitter or Goodreads for the info you need easily.

One step further – For everyone who directly shares your post or tweet on twitter, go share one of theirs, often they have a tweet pinned to the top of their profile page, share this one.

Pinned Tweets – Keep your profile pinned tweet FRESH – seeing a pin with a date which is six months old is boring. Change them weekly at least.

Sunday

Post on a Sunday and make sure your blog title contains the Hashtag #SundayBlogShare this is a big blog share day and gets lots of views. Tweet your post with the Hashtag, re-share other posts you have done throughout the week and add this Hashtag too.

Remember to search and share 10- 20 other posts you like which use the Hashtag. Twitter is all about the Re-Tweet.

Tip – follow those who share your post and follow those whose new posts you choose to share

#WeekendBlogHop #WeekendBlogShare are also useful.

Monday

Monday posts can use the #MondayBlogs if your post is about writing, BUT you are asked not to use it for any book promotion, be it reviews, cover reveals offers etc

Tuesday

Use #TuesdayBookBlog (created by the Rosie’s Book Review Team) for all your Tuesday BLOG posts about books, all we ask is that it isn’t a straight link to the Amazon page, it must be from a blog post which includes more than the book cover, book description and buying links. It can be reviews, interviews, guest posts etc. We help share relevant posts.

Wednesday

Use #wwwblogs (Women writing Wednesday) for blog posts written or about women.

Thursday

Thursday can be a quiet day, I use #IndieThursday for book reviews from Indie authors.

Friday

I use #FridayReads to share books I’m reading, have read or am going to read, plus I share book posts from others and add this hashtag.

Saturday

Saturdays can be used for #ArchiveDay any post you’ve posted previously can be re-shared using this Hashtag today.

Also #WeekendBlogHop and #WeekendBlogShare can be used and shared from today.

Your time is valuable – make it work, don’t get bogged down and distracted by non-relevant posts and Tweets in your 30 min work-out. Make a note of any of interest and return later in your leisure time.

Find me @rosieamber1

#New at #TheWriteStuff

January 11, 2016 / Marcia Meara / 19 Comments

sharing

I promised you guys some new ideas would becoming this month, and I’m finally ready to roll out a couple of them. Hope you’ll find them fun, and will participate wherever you can, especially by sharing with the Immediate World. 🙂

First, I’d like to bring back our #TWSWritingPrompt. I will try to post a prompt on the first (or very close to it) of each month, and you have the entire month to contribute something fun. It can be interpreted in any way you like, in any genre you enjoy. The point is just to have a fun writing exercise each month, with no restrictions on length or subject matter (other than the ones that always apply on this site–no religion or politics). As soon as I finish with this post, I’m going to put up the prompt for January, even though we’ve lost the first 11 days. I think most of you can still write a paragraph or two, if you’d like to participate, and I hope you will.

Secondly, it’s time to get going again with our #FabulousFridayGuestBlogger feature, so you folks who would like to be spotlighted this week, email me please at mmeara@cfl.rr.com and let me know. I’ll fill you in on the details. If this week’s spot is taken by the time I hear from you, we’ll pick another Friday. So give a holler! We’ll ask everyone to share your guest post, including your Buy Links, Bio, and Cover photos.

Third, I’m planning to start a new feature next week called #MondayMeme. Just what it sounds like. Memes, humorous or not, but mostly book, writing, or reading related. Just to get your week off to a good start.

#WodinsDaySmile is moving to Thor’s Day. Why? Because I like Thor better than Wodin. 😀 So starting in two days, keep an eye out for #ThorsDaySmile. This doesn’t mean you can’t share jokes, cartoons, memes or other fun things on other days. Just that I’ll be sharing one for sure on Thor’s Day.

On the other hand, Wednesday will now become My #MidWeekPOV. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, and it will be my chance to chat about things on my mind. Most will be book or reading related, though I can’t guarantee that all will. Hope you’ll enjoy my ramblings and will share them, as well.

I haven’t made up my mind about the remaining days of the week, yet. I thought maybe I’d try these things out, and see if I had the energy to throw in any more or not. 😉 And of course, we will continue to schedule regular #ExcerptWeek events, and anything else fun that comes to my mind.

Recapping:

(Weekly)
Monday: #MondayMeme
Wednesday: My #MidWeekPOV
Thursday: #ThorsDaySmile
Friday: #FabulousFridayGuestBlogger

(Monthly)
#TWSWritingPrompt

(Whenever)
#ExcerptWeek

So there you have at least the start of some new things. I hope you’ll enjoy taking part when you can, and sharing with others. Now stay tuned for this month’s writing prompt. And happy Moon’s Day night. Hope all is well in your part of the world.

Another Road Trip!

November 27, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 8 Comments

Good Morning, All!

Hope you each had a wonderful day yesterday, either celebrating Thanksgiving with your friends and families, or simply celebrating a beautiful Thursday in November! There is ALWAYS something to celebrate!

Today, I’ll be running around like a crazy person, getting ready for my trip to Charleston tomorrow. My daughter & family have just bought a new home, and moved in a week ago today, and I’m planning to do my Granny thing, keeping two-year old Kaelen busy while his parents continue the huge job of unpacking and setting up house. It’s 5+ hour drive from here, but my payoff is this:

Definitely worth the drive, wouldn’t you say? 🙂

I’ll be back Wednesday afternoon, so play amongst yourselves until then. I will have my tablet and, of course, my iPhone, with me, and I’ll do my best to check in with you guys each night. But I can’t promise.

And before I forget, Carmen’s #FabulousFridayGuestBlogger post will be the last for the year, unless someone contacts me, desperate to post between now and January, or unless I decided to become my OWN guest poster between now and then, ha! The posts WILL start up again in the new year, so be thinking about what YOU’D like to write about. 😀

Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you soon!

Road Trip!

November 17, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 5 Comments

Me, Ready to Have Fun!

Off to Solivita Retirement Community, about an hour and a half south of me, below Kissimmee, for those who know Florida. (Pronounced Ki-SIM-me, for those who don’t. 😀 ) These good folks have a 200 member book circle spread throughout their very large community, though I’m sure there won’t be THAT many attending my presentation today. But it still has the potential to be the largest group I’ve talked to, so far, and I’m very excited about the opportunity.

My dear friend, Nicki Forde, is coming along for the event, and nothing makes me happier than a Road Trip with Nicki. She’s responsible for my beautiful covers, if you don’t already know that, and is a Graphics Goddess! We’re going to have a wonderful day! I’m always happy to talk about Florida wildlife, writing in general, and my writing, specifically, so it’s going to be fun, even if only one person shows up.

Off to load up the car. See you guys when I get back. Play nice. 😀 And post ’em if you got ’em…things to share that is.

I…am…outta here!

Yesterday’s Guest Blog BooBoo

October 3, 2015October 3, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 3 Comments

This picture is apropos of nothing.
But who doesn’t love a good dancing bulldog photo?

Hi, folks! Just wanted to let you know that due to the vagaries of cyberspace, Deborah Jay’s REAL Fabulous Friday Guest Blogger post didn’t make it. She sent it to me, but it didn’t arrive. What I got was a link to her recent guest interview with Fiona Mcvie. Due to the time difference between central Florida, where I am, and England, where Deb is, I wasn’t able to contact her, so I went ahead and posted the interview–because 1) it was a great, all-encompassing interview, and 2) it was what I had.

I have since received the post that was supposed to run yesterday, and it’s LOVELY, so it will run next Friday, October 9. You’ll really enjoy it, I know, and I’ll remind you on Thursday that it’s coming. Deb has been a great source of support and encouragement over these last months at TWS, and I’m so grateful to her for taking the time to write such a super piece. (No, I’m not even going to give you a hint. Tune in, and check it out. You’ll be glad you did.) 😀

As you were, folks. Have a great weekend!!

Coming Tomorrow…

September 24, 2015 / Marcia Meara / Leave a comment

Our first ever Fabulous Friday Guest Blogger! Tomorrow’s guest will be Callum McLaughlin, and I know you’ll enjoy his post as he kicks off this new feature of The Write Stuff. Spread the word, in traditional TWS style, so all sorts of people can get to know a bit about Callum and his work.

If I haven’t yet written you, and you’d like to be a featured Fabulous Friday Guest Blogger, please email me, and we’ll schedule something. (You can reach me at mmeara@cfl.rr.com )