Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Reading Update and Blogging in General

Well, I’m back home and my reading has slowed again. So has my posting, apparently. Ha!

I’m debating on whether or not to keep blogging as it is. Or at least rethink what I want my blog to do. Could it be blogging is just plain dying? I went through the list of blogs I follow (over there on the sidebar) and was surprised at how many were gone. And how many haven’t been active in FOUR YEARS! I guess everyone is over on Facebook or Twitter or even Instagram. I’m learning how to use Instagram now, but do I want to give up my blog? That is an answer I need to make, probably sometime this year. Kind of silly to be blogging if no one is reading.

Here’s what I read since my last update:

Book #1

Dates read: December 22 – January 3
Title: The Haunting of a Duke
Year of publication: 2016
Author: Chasity Bowlin
Genre: Historical romance
Series:  The Dark Regency Series, Book One
# of Pages: 220
Paper or plastic: Nook
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from Goodreads:. Facing danger from both sides of the grave, will two souls merge to find a love that conquers all?
    Communing with spirits has been both gift and curse to Emme Walters. Now it's made her a killer's target. Emme knows why the Dowager Duchess of Briarleigh invited her to a house party—to investigate whether the duke, Rhys Brammel, murdered his wife years ago. But Emme never imagined she would fall in love with the brooding duke.
    Branded by society as a possible killer, Rhys is suspicious of Emme and her alleged "gift." Then a late night encounter creates awareness of her other, more attractive, aspects. When Emme's life is threatened, Rhys becomes her protector.
    Emme and Rhys find passion and peril as they join forces to solve the mysteries at Briarleigh. She made him believe in spirits, but can she make him believe in love?
My thoughts: I started reading this book a year or two ago and stopped because the head-hopping was getting to me. Because, frankly, there is waaaaay too much of it going on in this novel for my tastes. But, I really wanted to read about the story, so I put that distaste in a corner and just read it for the story. And I enjoyed the story. Enjoyed the little twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. Still hated the head-hopping, which it made it hard for ME to really get into the character’s head. But if that kind of stuff doesn’t bother you, and you like to read stories with ghosts, then you’ll probably enjoy this way more than I did. FYI: my Nook version had some formatting mistakes (Chapters 13 and 16 were the same and there were two identical Epilogues), but I’ve been told these have been corrected when formatted for Kindle Unlimited (which is the only way you can get this book now).

So … Why do you blog? Why do you read blogs? I read blogs because I felt connected to someone (writing can be very isolating) or because I was learning how to be a better writer. Most of the writing blogs have gone away, though (at least the ones I followed). And even those blogs I read for fun are dwindling. Because, let’s face it: blogging is HARD. It’s hard to come up with something to blog about. Well … at least it is for me.

Happy Reading!

Stacy

9 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'm reading!
A lot have stopped blogging, but there are still many who do. Every IWSG post day, I'm reminded how many of us connect on this day. I will continue to blog for years to come.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Thanks for reading, Alex!

Maria Zannini said...

I read a lot of blogs on a wide range of topics. While writing blogs have disappeared, lifestyle and finance blogs have a huge readership.
But writing blogs have virtually vanished. There might be 4 left on my reader where there used to be dozens.

Maybe you're better off using Facebook as your base?

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

I started blogging because a number of agents and editors recommended it as a way to establish a so-called "platform." I've stuck with it because of all the wonderful people I've met. It's still surprising to me that it's possible to forge such tight bonds with people you've never met face-to-face. (And they hold up when you're fortunate enough to meet some of them in person!)

You're right. A lot of bloggers have thrown in the blogging towel in favor of some other more trendy form of social media. You're also right that it isn't always easy to come up with a post topic. Even so, I plan to stick with it as long as I can. I hope you do, too. If you're disheartened at the low number of visitors you're getting, make a point of visiting more blogs and leaving thoughtful comments. To receive visits and comments, you've gotta make 'em.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Maria - I am on FB a lot.

Susan - I visit blogs, but most of them don't ask questions, so I don't feel the need to say anything. I need prompts!! :D

Jennette Marie Powell said...

I vastly prefer blogs to other forms of social media, probably because I prefer longer-form writing in general. I've seen the same thing as Maria in that there are fewer active fiction writers' blogs, but tons in the personal finance arena. And yes, I have more PF bloggers in my reader now than fiction writers! The other thing to remember about Facebook and the like is that we don't own those platforms and can't control them. Anyone can be locked out of FB for seemingly no reason, and there's no way to tell who it will show our posts to. People have been saying blogging is dead for over 10 years, but I don't see that. However, I will agree with you that it's hard to come up with topics to blog about!

Stacy McKitrick said...

Jennette - Don't know how safe our stuff is with Blogger, either, but I do have a fairly good record of what I posted when (since I usually draft my posts on Word and save them because I can!).

Unknown said...

Stacy, I blog pretty frequently (using the MFRW 52-week challenge helps with topics), and mostly because I see it (rightly or wrongly) as a way to get my name and my website out there. It's debatable how successful that is, but like chicken soup, it can't hurt, right? And how long does it take in a week? Not much, for the possibility of a good return.

I'm following you now, so I will be back with comments!

Another way I'm trying to increase visibility of the Nomad Authors blog is to feature authors for interviews or book releases, or whatever. If you are interested, just let me know!

Stacy McKitrick said...

Thanks, Nomad Authors! I'll keep that in mind.