Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We’re back with another guest on Help From My Friends Friday. Author Debra H. Goldstein joins us today to discuss, what else? Blogging! Please welcome Debra H. Goldstein. ~ Donnell
Why I Write the Different Blogs I Write
By Debra H. Goldstein
Author Debra H. Goldstein
When I sold my first book, Maze in Blue, a mystery set onthe University of Michigan’s campus, I was told I needed to establish a social media presence – the antithesis of my life as a judge. So be it. I was determined to do everything recommended for newly published authors.
My son opened my Facebook account and after several keystrokes announced I had six friends. When I looked over his shoulder and saw one was the now grown little boy from across the street, I raised an eyebrow in my son’s direction. His comment: “Ben always liked you, Mom. Besides, you never know if he or someone he knows might want to read your book.” (his mother did)
Dutifully, I opened a Twitter account and created a Linked In profile. I also started a personal blog, It’s Not Always a Mystery. Its title encompassed what I hoped, and still hope, for the blog to accomplish every other Monday – letting people learn my ideas and thoughts aren’t always mystery related and that the different guest I feature every month may or may not be a famous author, but is someone whose writings my blog followers might enjoy reading.
My social media career was started, but my first book was
orphaned. I was told to write something different. A year or so later, having written and sold, Should Have Played Poker, I was invited to write a blog for The Stiletto Gang, a group of romance and mystery writers. The diversity of the writers intrigued me. The Gang’s blogs, mine is on second Friday of each month, usually have a direct tie-in to writing. The blog we write as a group on the first Wednesday of every month is particularly interesting because we invariably answer the same question differently. My expanded social media family and the other Stiletto Gang members comforted me when my second publisher decided to discontinue its mystery line.
Told again to write something new, I pitched and sold the Sarah Blair mystery series to Kensington. It features a protagonist who finds being in the kitchen more frightening than murder. She was married at eighteen, divorced by twenty-eight. The only thing she got out of the marriage was her Siamese cat, RahRah. Through my blogs, readers have become familiar with the first two award winning books, One Taste Too Many and Two Bites Two Many. The third book in the series, Three Treats Too Many, was released in August 2020. A new contract guarantees books in 2021 (May – Four Cuts Too Many – available for pre-order) and 2022.
At the time I sold the Sarah Blair series, I was given an opportunity to join Writers Who Kill. Although everyone on this blog is a crime fiction writer, our varied backgrounds and experiences result in our addressing our craft from different perspectives. My posts are featured on the third Monday of each month.
Last year, even though I swore I was writing enough blogs, I joined Booklovers Bench – Where Readers Are Winners. The tagline says it all. Not only are there monthly giveaways from this blog, but six seasoned writers alternate writing a weekly “Let’s Talk” column. Whether they come for our words of wisdom or the freebies, a new audience.
Some people argue blogs are going out of style (Instagram is preferred by one age group, Facebook by another, and don’t forget about newsletters), but to me blogs are windows into the soul of authors. Personally, they allow an intimate peak behind my author façade while broadening the base of exposure for me and my Sarah Blair series. That’s a win-win situation. It’s also goes to the reason that besides the four blogs I’m associated with, I subscribe to several written by other authors. Those subscriptions allow me to learn and grow.
I’d love to have you interact with me through my blogging and other social media outlets. Find links to all via my website: https://www.DebraHGoldstein.com . For a chance to win a free copy of Three Treats Too Many (U.S. only), tell me, what do you think about blogs?
About the Author: Judge Debra H. Goldstein writes Kensington’s Sarah Blair mystery series (Four Cuts Too Many (May 2021), Three Treats Too Many, Two Bites Too Many, One Taste Many). She also authored Should Have Played Poker and IPPY Award winning Maze in Blue. Her short stories, which have been named Agatha, Anthony, and Derringer finalists, have appeared in numerous periodicals and anthologies including Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Mystery Magazine, and Mystery Weekly. Debra serves on the national board of Mystery Writers of America and is president of SEMWA. She recently concluded five years on the national board of Sisters in Crime and is a past president of SinC’s Guppy Chapter. Find out more about Debra at www.DebraHGoldstein.com
Thank you for having me as a guest today. I’m curious what other authors and readers think.
Good morning, Debra, thank YOU for being my guest. I am amazed at all your productivity. I admire all the blogs you participate on. I enjoy having a blog because, like you, it keeps me connected. Must learn all about Sarah Blair series. I was hooked on her Siamese cat, RahRah. I had one named Sha Sha 🙂 Best wishes.
Good morning, Debra! What a great blog about blogs. Ha, I giggled typing that. 🙂 I have to admit, I’m firmly in the category of authors with a huge dislike for writing blogs. However, I loved your insight. Yes, blogs are a “window into the souls of authors.” I never really thought about it that way. What a great reframing. Thank you! Your Sarah Blair series sounds amazing! Off to buy…
Thanks for stopping by Renee! You do write great blogs, however!
Debra, I’m checking in as a fan of blogs. I enjoy yours, and I enjoy writing my almost-daily one. I’ve found readers are often more interested in my adventures with my dog (she is most independent) and my cooking escapades. I started my blog years ago to be a mix of writing, cooking, and grandmothering–“Judy’s Stew,” the name suggested by a DIL. But it has evolved into a chatty account of what’s going on in my world. Only occasionally I am spurred to take on politics, but my view is pretty obvious throughout. I never touch on religion. I have some dedicated followers, some random readers. I sincerely hope blogs don’t go away.
Judy, your cooking blog sounds fantastic. I know how much research you’ve put into your chef course. I hope I get to take it some day!
I am a blogger and loved reading this. I use my blog to promote authors. I met you virtually when I read and Reviewed your Sarah series for the Great Escapes Tour. I loved this post and will check out the others you mentioned. Is the neighbor boy still your friend? I would love a chance to win. Best Wishes a blogger who promotes.
Sherry, I wondered the same thing. I wanted to know all about the neighbor boy and Debra’s son. Doesn’t he sound like a great son, helping his mom into this minefield of social media 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
I’m disappointed when I find an author I like who blogs like crazy for a time and then posts get fewer and fewer until the blog fades away. Even though the writer continues to publish. It’s like sharing with the reader is no longer important.
You are everywhere, Debra! While I occasionally blog from my own website, the Stiletto Gang is my first group posting, and I feel honored to be with you.
Donnell,
Well, I’m sure Sha Sha and RahRah would have gotten along famously. Some day, I’ll tell you how RahRah got his name… if you tell me how ShaSha was named.
Renee,
Hope you enjoy becoming familiar with the series and that you loved the reframing of my concept of blogs. Although some of my blogs require a tie-in to writing, on It’s Not Always a Mystery, I can delve into other subjects, too. That’s what I think is great about blogs… it is a snapshot in time of the way the writer is thinking. Tanks for stopping by today.
Judy,
I love how you mix mystery, your tv background, and cooking(your newest book with a culinary tie-in), but that you can do the same in your blog posts. If one doesn’t stress and let’s it flow, it is as you say a chatty way of sharing with regulars and those who drop by here and there.
Sherry,
I appreciated you welcoming me during the Great Escapes Tour. What Lori does for cozy authors with that tour is a blessing. … as are those who let us stop by and chat. Yes, that boy not only remains a friend on Facebook, one of many now, but he also is one of my son’s best friends to this day. I try not to befriend my children’s friends, unless they either befriend me or mention in conversation that they’d like to be part of my social media connections… but I do enjoy it when they tie-in with me.
Thanks again for leaving a message today.
Wesley,
That was my reaction when I was still a reader when blogs I followed ran hot and then dried up. That’s why when I started my own, I only made it an every other Monday posting (I post once a month and introduce a guest on the other Monday)… so I didn’t burn out and the readers didn’t either. Similarly, on the blogs I post on, I only do one day a month and on one put together the group post. The different blogs let me interact with different writers and audiences and allows me to explore a range of topics. As an author, I very much appreciae my readers. That’s why, I want to share with them via blogs and my newsletter, but I don’t want to overburden them, either.
Gay,
I’m delighted to have you as a blog mate. I still remember meeting you at Killer Nashville, deciding I liked the look of your book after hearing you talk about it, buying it but because you were busy with someone and I never mind if it is autographed or not in that kind of situation, I went up to pay for it and your husband interrupted you to tell you I’d just bought your book… it was one of the cuter situations. BTW, I enjoyed the book. dhg
Thank you all for your comments. I admire you all so much for keeping up with blogs. I love my Friday blog while I write book two of my cold case series. Chief Wesley Harris, I understand what you’re saying about connecting with someone and then they disappear. Wishing everyone health and happiness. Thanks Debra, for being my guest today. I think you’re safe to say your blogs are working. Let me know if you ever need a guest stand in 🙂 xo ~ Donnell
I enjoy blogs and subscribe to several for the reasons you stated, but I’m also one of those who has let her blog lapse for weeks if not months at a time. I’m coming back to it now and hope to keep it going more regularly. Blogs are for me a great opportunity to think about ideas related to writing as well as living that I can’t talk about elsewhere. People offer such a variety of perspectives on them that I’m always learning something and expect to continue reading them.
Susan Oleksiw, guilty as charged, which is why I enjoy Help From My Friends Friday. I’m working on a complex novel, and with all the distractions in the world (there are a few) it’s hard to develop tunnel vision into our imaginary worlds. While we want to reach readers, we also have to produce. Blogs fill so much of what we’re trying to accomplish; it also distracts from what we’re trying to achieve. I salute Debra for her high IQ and ability to do so. Next weeks blog is an author who his a writer and homeschooling her children during COVID…. I have nothing to complain about! Have a great weekend.
Donnell, I join the chorus of authors who wonder about the effectiveness of blogging—and puzzle over what readers want from blogs. I don’t read many blogs BC they’re often too often (!), too long or inconsequential. And focused on selling, The key to a good one, like yours? Writing a blog post I myself would read: Short, preppy, non-preachy, and keyed to what interests me. That would be a peephole into my life, and into my slightly crazy writer’s mind. In other words, what makes me/my books tick.
Wait! I feel a blog post jostling for attention…
Susan,
You’ve had other distractions this year…. good reason to let your blog lapse at times. When I used to teach new judges, my team always noted that no matter how much we knew the material, as we interacted with the students, we always learned something new. I feel the same way interacting with authors and readers on blogs or other social media — and of course in person or during virtual interaction.
Carole,
Hope to have an opportunity to read the blog you have ticking in your mind. That’s the key of a good blog … letting it out…. dhg
Thank you for leaving your comments and thoughts. Using a random number selector, the winner of Three Treats Too Many is Sherry L. Legan. Sherry please send me an e-mail at DHG@DebraHGoldstein.com telling me where to send your book.
Thank you for this blog. Like you, I got the message about social media presence before I published my first book. Started out weekly but after a couple years tapered off and now it’s once a month with an occasional extra week. I signed up for your blog as well, and know I’m looking forward to a peek into your soul.