What Is It?

 

I really need to update my photo. One of these days.

 

I’ve been reading the blogs written by others for quite some time now. Every once in a while someone writes a post about blogging. How many times a month should you blog? How do you find subjects to write about? Should they be personal or impersonal? What, exactly, is a blog?

I found this in the Business Dictionary: “A website, similar to an online journal, that includes chronological entries made by individuals…. Blogs typically focus on a specific subject… and provide users with forums (or a comment area) to talk about each posting. Many people use blogs as they would a personal journal or diary.”

A diary? I never looked at it that way, and I’ve been blogging since 2010. Personally, I think it’s all in your intent. I definitely don’t consider my blogs to be a journal, but more like articles. For me, and this is just me, a blog should entertain or inform the reader. I believe it’s a place where authors can showcase their writing styles and let the reader know a little about themselves in the process. Unfortunately, if you’ve read all of my blogs, you probably know more about me than you ever wanted to know. (I actually called myself eccentric in one of my blogs.)

Going back to take a quick peek at blogs I’ve written in the past, I see that I’ve written about everything from dark and stormy nights to marketing and promoting to writing humor, and everything in between. I’ve written about authors who’ve entertained me with their books, and I’ve been entertained by guest authors who promote themselves and let you learn a little about themselves. I’ve done some blatant self-promotion, but after all, I’m trying to encourage people to read my books.

I’ve written about some of the How To’s of writing, and used silly examples to make a point, making at least a few people laugh in the process. I’ve discussed holidays, put up banners supporting our troops from time to time, and usually tried to keep it light.

So why am I blogging about blogging when I could be writing about so many other subjects? I have no idea. Maybe reading other blogs about this topic made the thought attach itself to my little pea brain.

Blogging should help an author get their name “out there.” I sometimes wonder if it works. If you went to a social event and someone introduced you to a little blonde lady named Marja McGraw, would the name sound familiar to you? Would it make you think of books? Or would you say, “Nice to meet you,” and leave to hit the snack table? I’d probably be waving my hand after you, yelling, “Hey, I’m really a nice person and I’d love to talk books. I write them, you know. Yoo hoo.” If only my mother had named me Mary Higgins Clark or Rhys Bowen or Janet Evanovich. (I’m sighing, by the way.)

After all is said and done, I blog once a week. I figure that’s all I should subject anyone to because… I’m not being honest. I’m afraid that if I blog more than once a week I’ll run out of subjects or I’ll start repeating myself. Actually, I’ve already started repeating myself. Some of my posts are updated and reposted.

My daughter tells me that will never happen. You see, I make her read each blog before I post it. She thinks her mother is prolific. I appreciate my daughter because she’s honest. She’ll either tell me it works, or she’ll tell me it stinks. After that, it’s all up to you, the readers, to decide if it’s worth coming back again for another visit. (Thankfully, if I repost an old blog, she doesn’t remember it and I hope you don’t either.)

So far, so good, and thank you so much for dropping by every week. You really have no idea how much I appreciate each of you.

Until next time, I hope you have a great week. You can probably find a blog about any subject you’re interested in, so have fun reading some posts.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

I mentioned self-promotion, so let me give you an example.

One Adventure Too Many –A Sandi Webster Mystery, is funny, mysterious and a charmer.

Taking a vacation can lead to an unexpected case for private eye Sandi Webster-Goldberg. Taking a vacation with your menopausal mother, an eccentric aunt, a pregnant friend and her husband, and a flustered husband can lead to total chaos.

Pete Goldberg and Stanley Hawks take a leisurely walk in the country, only to discover an abandoned house. When Sandi, her mother, Livvie, and her Aunt Martha decide to explore, they discover that the house isn’t quite as abandoned as previously thought.

A young woman and her baby are hiding out from unknown danger. She needs help, and the three women are more than happy to oblige her.

A Different Kind of Memorial Day Story

First, a posthumous thank you to those military people who are no longer with us.

A few years ago my aunt and I were talking and she asked if she’d ever told me the story about how she and my uncle met. No, I hadn’t heard the story, but I wanted to.

Going back to the forties, my grandmother ran a USO in Monterey Park, California. One day my then sixteen-year-old aunt wanted to go to the beach with her friends, but she had to ask her mother’s permission. One of her friends drove her to the USO where her mother was working.

She asked for permission and her mother told her that no, she could not go with her friends. She made an odd request of her daughter. She asked that she go into the other room and listen to a young man who was playing the piano. Grudgingly, she dragged herself to the room. (I can see a sixteen-year-old dragging her feet because she wanted to go to the beach.)

There sat a young soldier, playing boogie woogie with flare. Interestingly, he couldn’t read a note, and yet he was pounding those keys with ease. Not knowing that he couldn't read music, my aunt walked over and started turning the pages to music that sat on the piano. He kept his eyes on her hands while she flipped pages.

My aunt watched him. He finally looked up into her big blue eyes. It was, as they say, love at first sight. Some things are just meant to be, and this was one of those times.

My aunt glanced toward the doorway and there stood her mother, grinning from ear to ear. My grandmother wasn’t the type of woman who enjoyed matchmaking, but there was something about this young man that caught her attention. He was twenty and my aunt was sixteen, which could have been a deal-breaker for my grandmother, but she was fine with it.

My Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Scotty were married in 1944 and had 59 wonderful years together before we lost him. They had two children, and I adore the entire family.

We can always use a little romance in our lives, right? I hope you’ve all found your Elizabeth or your Scotty.

Remember all of those who’ve gone before us. They had a hand in making us who we are.

Until next time, go listen to some boogie woogie. You’ll find that you can’t sit quietly and simply listen. Here’s a sample for both listening and watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWDfxgngrNc

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Prudy's Back! - A Sandi Webster Mystery involves both a woman who became a P.I. when her husband was killed in WWII and a crime from that same time period. Can Sandi solve it after all these years?

Thank You!

This post is coming to you from Marja the Reader, not Marja the Writer.

Every once in a while I feel the need to say thank you, and this is one of those moments. There are so many writers who have given me so much pleasure, and you all need to be thanked and acknowledged.

There are times when we all (readers) need an escape, and your writing offers that opportunity. There are times when we need a good laugh, and many of you provide that, too. Of course, there are moments when we just want to read about people we can relate to, and authors never let us down. Drama can take us away. I’ve heard many people say they can relate to a character in a book or the situation a character is going through and it’s given them a different perspective to things in their own lives.

I know people who’ve been through some tough times, and books have been their salvation. People who are going through health issues have used books to sooth their minds and fears, if not their pain.

I’m applying this to all genres, even those I don’t read, because if you’re not entertaining me, at least you’re entertaining someone.

I know from experience how difficult writing can be. You have to come up with an idea, and then you have to follow through with your idea to come up with an entire story. We stumble over moments in a story that can take different paths with different outcomes. Sometimes just trying to think of a particular word or phrase can stump us. The end result is someone who reads a book and sets it down with a sigh of contentment.

I once heard that if you sing a happy song to yourself in the morning, and find other ones to sing throughout the day, you’ll discover a joy you hadn’t expected. The same can be said of reading a book. (By the way, if your singing voice is anything like mine, you might want to think about humming. There are times, in church, when I simply mouth the words because I don’t want to clear the place out.)

Short post today, but I’m offering a huge Thank You to each and every one of you.

Keep those stories coming because you offer so much to so many.

Until next week, read a good book, sing (or hum) a happy song and enjoy your week.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com