MySpace and Facebook

Tonight I'm talking to the lovely Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter about MySpace and Facebook - the lingo, how to promote and network, and how not to get too bogged down by it all.

I use them as the lazy way to keep in touch with friends (for some reason it seems much easier to leave a comment on their page than send an e-mail). I have a seperate writing profile on MySpace, but I never use it anymore. It got much too overwhelming. Most of my friends on that profile are other authors and I get a constant flow of bulletin entries and comments announcing new releases, guest blogs, online chats, etc. Plus all the surveys people fill out. It might not be as overwhelming to someone who has a mix of personal friends, writers, musicians, etc.

When I get home I'll be frantically reading more of The Dream-Hunter by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I got a couple books from this series through a book club I was in, a couple of years ago. But they sat and sat on my shelves, I never felt inspired to pick them up. I tend to lean toward lighter, humerous books and judging by the cover and cover copy - I got the feeling that these books were on the darker side of the spectrum.

A fellow writer gave me a couple of them to borrow, insisting that they were fabulous. We liked a lot of the same paranormal books, so I told myself I'd give it a try. I had those for a while, but never picked them up. Then another friend gave me a third book from the series that she had just read. She said it was ok, but that it was tough to follow the world - but that the Greek mythology was interesting. Her and I both love Greek mythology. I eventually picked up one of the books when I was desperate for something to read. It was too late at night to go to the store to buy a new book, and I'd either read everything else or had no desire to read it. So I picked up a Dark Hunter book.

Holy cow it was incredible.

I devoured it that night, reading into the wee hours of the morning. I slept for a few hours, then picked up the next one. I couldn't believe these books had been sitting on my shelves for so long! I was so upset with myself. I had about half of the series already, between books I owned and ones I had borrowed. I read them all within a week. I also hit up bookstores buying the ones I didn't have (and could find).

I enjoy the Dark Hunter stories a bit more than the Dream Hunters, the "species" just appeals to me a bit more. But Sherrilyn Kenyon is amazing. Now I understand the fanatic response at RWA book signings, the huge lines.

Her books combine history, paranormal elements and pop culture so well. It's amazing. I've read all but 1 or 2 I think. I read Acheron already, it was fabulous. I was just missing The Dream-Hunter, so I'm reading that one now. I'm only about 60 pages in, but I love how the hero and heroine meet. It's going to be a great book, I got the feelin'.

Once I pull myself from the book I'm going to get back to crafting. I worked on my necklaces last night. Hopefully I'll have a big batch done by the end of the week to put on my new Etsy shop. I'm still experimenting with the right finish to use, when is the best time to put in the holes for the jump rings, etc. But once I get it down, the process will be much smoother.

Long enough break

Well it's been over a year since I posted last. I think that's a long enough break, don't you? I have been completely away from the world 'o blogs except for blogging on the fabulous Mid-Willamette Valley RWA blog. And I lurk on a couple of other blogs, but haven't been much of a commenter.

It's about time to change that. So here I am, a spiffy redesign courtesy of blogger templates and some pink infusion. One of these days when I actually finish designing my Web sites, I'll do a "real" blogger redesign.

This past year has been pretty crazy, but in a fabulous way. I started taking classes in anthropology last fall, to earn another bachelor's degree. I'm hoping that grad school in bioarchaeology is in my future :) I will be talking lots more about anthropology on the blog, especially once classes start back up in a few weeks. I spent July in southern Italy participating in a bioarchaeology field school, excavating Roman burials.

It. Was. Awesome. I'm sure I'll be talking more about that as I fall into mini-depressions wishing I were still there, haha!

I'm excited about my job. I've worked here for a few years, but one of my best friends got promoted to the director of the department. I'm so thrilled for her! And she's going to do wonderful things. We also moved to the cutest building on campus and my office is amazing. And we're getting somewhat caught up on 21st Century technology, which will make my job much more interesting and rewarding.

I adopted a Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier last summer, Rufus. He is the most amazing dog. He's loving, affectionate, kind, and polite! It may seem odd to say those qualities about a dog, but if you knew him, you'd understand. Yes, he really is polite. It's sort of weird, but cute!

My most recent venture is another dip into the world of crafts. I'm always trying to find my "thing." I think I may have found it this time, making cool jewelry and keychains. I'm still trying out techniques, but I've opened up an Etsy shop to see how it goes.

I'm working on a book that I'm excited about. Still working through the kinks and redoing some of the hero's story - but I'm taking an online workshop for Discovering Story Magic and it's been such a help. The one-on-one responses have been beyond beneficial to me. It's daunting to realize I'm going to nearly have to start over with this book, but at least it will be more solid.

I'm going to finish up some things at work so I can head out to Jo-Ann's and Michaels for some shopping! Woooo!