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I seem to be on a blogging spree this month, and while it's lots of fun (it's like calling a friend and talking about whatever topic is on your mind that morning) and I think it provides a modicum of publicity, it sure does eat into my writing time. My email used to do that. That's one of the reasons I invested in a second computer, so that I could keep my writing and online stuff separate, and not have that distraction so easily at hand. (okay, so the virus and computer crashing and losing most of a manuscript was the #1 reason I wanted to keep things separate! 
)
So what are the advantages to blogging? (well, for me, anyway)
1. Writing is a lonely business. I spend days/weeks/months shut up in my office at my computer. Blogging is a way to connect with others out there in the world. My friends are respectful of my writing time, and we call or meet around my daily schedule. But some days you just need to get in touch with the outside world.
2. My editor and others at professional workshops have told me time and again that one of the best things an author can do to promote herself these days is to have a presence on the web. Taking part in a blog allows for instant online interaction vs. the monthly updates on my website. Plus, it's a forum to discuss a variety of things that couldn't possibly all fit on my site without overcrowding it.
3. Blogging allows me to connect with more readers, allowing me to get some timely feedback on what works or doesn't in a book, as well as what they might like to see in upcoming books. IOW, it's like market research, and can be a useful tool in my writing.
4. It's fun. And there's a lot to be said for having fun in life. All work and no play... 
5. Sometimes, you run across a wonderful comment that can make a writer's day/week/month, and be especially uplifting on a day when I feel my writing sucks. 
And the disadvantages?
1. They take time. Time away from writing. They can be a fun indulgence that eats up more time than I realize some days.
2. You occasionally get a negative/spiteful/even hateful comment that hurts and drags me down for a day/week/month or more. I had a college professor tell me that once--it takes something like 10 positive comments to counteract the effect of 1 negative comment--the negative stays with you longer and harder than positive reinforcement.
3. Time. Again. Sigh.
So, what are your positives and negatives about blogging? How do you find the right balance for you?
And, in case you want to help me use up my blogging time, I blog here on eHarlequin on most Mondays. I'm blogging at the Intrigue Authors site today (and again next month a couple of times during the Sizzling Summer Blog Blitz at the Intrigue Authors site). And I'm blogging June 24 at the Pink Hearts Society blog--where it's all about series romance.
Hopefully, in between, I'll be getting lots of writing done!
Happy Reading,
Julie
KANSAS CITY CHRISTMAS (Edward's story)--Intrigue--Nov. 08
OUT OF CONTROL--Blaze Series Spotlight--April 2009
Find the latest news, contests and releases at www.juliemiller.org
Hey Julie - I sympathise with the lack of time, everybody seems
to have that problem at the moment
Can't understand why you'd go through moment when you think your writing sucks, but then you're like most of my favourite authors, we just can't seem to convince you that we love everything you write
Methinks I'll just have to keep trying to convince you
Any news of a Blaze or two in the near future?
cause I like your Intrigues and we're doing reasonably okay on that front, but a Blaze or two to look forward to would be nice too (methinks there are too many homonyms in that sentence 
)
I like it that you keep up with us and drop in on our blogs when we blog your books, have fun BICHOKing
Hugs
Sadhbh
Dream Team 2008 Challenge blogs
No more excuses, just READ!
Hey, Sadhbh! Thanks for
Hey, Sadhbh! Thanks for the pep talk. Yes, most days I think I know what I'm doing. Occasionally I'll have a day when I think I'm just all that with my writing.
And some days, it's true, it's like, what was I thinking? Me? A writer? 
Sometimes, I think when I'm just too close to a story--bearing down on a deadline, for example--it's just too hard to step back and see that it ain't half bad.
But I do greatly appreciate your reassurances.
And yes, as a matter of fact, I'm working on a Blaze right now. It's part of a trilogy called "0-60" that will be out in March/April/May of 2009 with Alison Kent and Jennifer LaBrecque. (I'm in April) The title is a double play on words--the trilogy is set in and around a fictitious speedway where they do drag racing, AND, it's a big to-do to help Harlequin celebrate its 60th birthday next year! My story (called THE RIDE OF HIS LIFE right now) features an undercover cop posing as a racer trying to make a comeback. The heroine is a sexy lady mechanic with an undercover agenda of her own. And you know how undercover tensions can lead to under-the-cover tensions in a Blaze.
So yes, while I have 4 Intrigues out this year, you can look forward to that Blaze fairly early in 2009!
Thanks,
Julie
KANSAS CITY CHRISTMAS (Edward's story)--Intrigue--Nov. 08
OUT OF CONTROL--Blaze Series Spotlight--April 2009
Find the latest news, contests and releases at www.juliemiller.org