Bling-blang-blog

Posted by: Karen Duvall
Currently Working On: A steampunk urban fantasy novel that’s the first in a new series and is called Mystic Taxi (love this title! I pray I get to keep it).
Mood: Stressed out because I still haven't finished the PowerPoint presentation for a writers' workshop I'll be giving in Denver next week. Aargh!

The topic this month is favorite romance blogs, but I'm sad to say I don't really have any. Not romance blogs, anyway. But I admit to being a blog-a-holic. Ahem.

The Internet is all about information, and when it comes to blogs you get the best of two worlds: info and personality. Every blog you read conveys the personality of the blogger. It can't be helped. It's like reading someone's diary.

I really enjoy group blogs, like our Rose City Romance Writers, where you get to read viewpoints from a variety of bloggers and not just one. I like Witchy Chicks, Magical Musings, Fangs, Fur & Fey, The League of Extraordinary Adults, and of course, the ultra-fabulous Mid Willamette Valley chapter blog . This last one is the best. You must visit.

I'm especially fond of several agent blogs, if they're not overly promotional, because they highlight the literary agent's part in the industry. I have an agent, but the dear woman doesn't blog, so I have to fulfill my needs elsewhere. I absolutely love Janet Reid's blog because she's so damn honest and tells it like it is. Rumor has it she's the original Miss Snark. For reals!

I've made Bookends and Pub Rants a daily habit. There are more, but you can visit just about any agent blog and see all the other agent blog links listed on the side.

For romance news and real gossip starters, you can't go wrong with Smart Bitches Read Trashy Books.

As for individual blogs, I'm partial to Lynn Viehl and I get such a kick out of Jackson Pearse. Jackson is a twenty-four-year-old writer who's amazingly talented and reminds me a bit of my youngest daughter. And she's hysterically funny; her life is like a sitcom. Jackson writes young adult and just got a contract for her first YA fantasy novel that was sold at auction. She's now buying her first condo. I adore success stories.

My two favorite industry blogs are Writer Unboxed and Writer Beware. The former because of the fabulous author, agent and editor interviews, and the latter for keeping writers up-to-date on scammers. What would we ever do without Victoria Straus and Ann Crispin? They are true life heroes for the writer community.

Okay, just by writing this post I've spent a few hours getting caught up in reading the blogs I made links to. Sigh. That's the danger of the Interenet. It can often be too tempting and too interesting to ignore. Happy surfing!