Jeffrey Beelser's Spell of Entrapment Blog Tour

Today I'd like to welcome self-publishing author Jeffrey Beesler onto my blog, as part of his Spell of Entrapment Blog Tour. Over to you, Jeffrey:

Thanks for hosting me today, Ellie! This has been a wonderful blog tour, and it’s great to have the support I’ve gotten over the past few days in promoting my debut fantasy novel, Spell of Entrapment. When I set out writing the novel, I spent countless hours alone at my keyboard, trying to get the right words down on the screen. To the casual observer, it seemed like a lonesome activity.

I will not contest that the act of writing is one-sided. To apply words to the page, you have only yourself involved in the act, at least when it comes to the rough draft. As you go along with revisions and final drafts, you’ll certainly seek out others to help you out. An editor or a beta reader can go a long way to helping you out, even in the self-publishing journey.

But writers are not the only ones who take a seemingly lonely journey. Our characters also go through such plights. Take for example the protagonist in Spell of Entrapment, Embekah Mare. She’s spent twenty years in exile, her social life completely obliterated, just to avoid capture for a crime no greater than affiliating herself with a thieves’ guild that’s now defunct. The only companion she has at the novel’s onset is her pet toad, Halscrad. 

Yet Embekah doesn’t let her lack of friends keep her from living her life as near close to fulfilling as it can get under the circumstances. And sometimes the business of the day forces her to go to town, too. At least, until a certain spell is cast…

Bio: Jeffrey Beesler was born on May 2^nd, 1978. In addition to self-publishing his debut novel, Spell of Entrapment, he has had a short fantasy story published in Abandoned Towers #4, The Broken Pipes of Drei City.  He is a graduate of the LongRidge Writers Group correspondence course, Breaking into Print. His book can be purchased here:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

Blurb:

When a knight, Sir Patrew of Trava, infiltrates sorceress Embekah Mare’s home, a magical backlash renders her unconscious. She awakens to discover a spell of entrapment binding them both inside the manor’s walls. Now forced to live with him after twenty years of solitude and exile, she must navigate her way through alternating feelings of distrust and attraction.

As the weeks pass with no end in sight of the hex, a shape-shifting spirit arrives inside the magical barrier’s walls to target Embekah specifically. When she seeks out Patrew’s help against this new threat, she uncovers a secret in his past that could very well destroy her future. With the help of her trusty toad Halscrad, Embekah must see through the deceit and find something long lost to her.

But not everything is as it seems. With lies all around her, Embekah finds the truth to be more elusive than the freedom right outside her manor. Can she survive long enough to figure out what’s real and what isn’t?

Thank you Jeffrey. That was a fascinating insight into your writing journey and self-publication. Don't forget to check out the rest of his blog tour.

Dear Agent . . .

I thought I'd go for something a little light-hearted today. Have fun.

Dear Agent,

Thank you for reading my manuscript, which you eloquently described as __________________________. No-one else, not even my critique partner and beta-readers, warmed to it. Why couldn't they understand ____________________________? One of them described it as '__________________________'! But you got it, dear agent, and that is why __________________.

Whilst I am emailing, I wanted to let you know my idea for the cover. I think it should have ______________________ and ___________________, and possibly ___________________. Let me know what you think.

Well, that is it for the moment. Please, please reply to this email, and include __________________ if possible.

Love as always,
____________


Just fill in the blanks.

Are You A Blogger Or A Writer?

In last Thursday's post, Dead Tired Writer, I talked about being overwhelmed by everything happening in my life right now, and how I felt like I was constantly behind. It seemed as if I had only enough time to blog or write, not both.

As if by some prophetic coincidence, the latest copy of Mslexia (Issue 53) arrived in the post that day, containing an article that really made me stop and think. In Blogaholic (pages 16/17), Kona Macphee asks, 'Is it possible to be a poet and a blogger at the same time?'.

Macphee details her blogging journey from posting daily about her thoughts from December 2010 to April 2011, to almost nothing by July 2011. In her words, she explains how she over-blogged, having started with a 'ridiculous expectation of how much content I could/should be able to produce whilst still maintaining my core creative life as a poet.' What really hit home for me was how as a perfectionist her blog eventually became a 'punitive regime' rather than a simple outlet for her thoughts. How blogging got in the way of doing all the things which inspired her creativity - reading, enjoying music, visiting inspriational places.

How many of us started our blogs with unrealistic blogging expectations? I certainly did. Back in May 2010 I believed I could blog three or four times a week, and I did. What I quickly learnt was that along with blog posts came followers and their comments, which is a good thing - after all, we all want a core base of followers to read and help promote our books once they are published. We also find friendship and support in sharing our followers journeys. But keeping up blogging etiquette (responding to comments and visiting followers blogs) takes time. Lots of it. And if you are a perfectionist like me, you constantly worry about what you haven't done.

So, what is the answer?

Macphee goes on to make an important point. If you are a career blogger - your blog is a valuable source of income - regular posts and increasing/maintaining your following is important. But if you are a writer, and your blog is secondary to that writing, maintaining your blog really doesn't matter.  What matters is your writing, first and foremost.

I'm not sure I agree with her one hundred per cent - if you are a published writer, then your blog is a shop window to your books and you, so it does matter. However, if you're like me, still chasing that elusive publication dream, it's about prioritising. At this moment in time what is more important - maintaining your blog or your writing? I know which mine should be. What it has to be if I'm ever going to finish my book.

How about you?

An aside: as of writing this post I have read all the comments to last Thursday's post, just not responded to them yet. Do I feel guilty about that? Of course. Could I have found the time? Maybe. But then I haven't read or written either.