A Page in the Life - Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

Today I welcome Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy. She maintains more than one blog so I'm going to run through them quickly to let you get a feel for each one. The first, which she pointed me to in our introductions, is A Page in the Life. Here she shares excerpts from her novels and relates them to current events (like the Queen's Jubilee). SeanachieStories is her Tuesday Tales blog where she posts weekly fiction pieces. Sometimes these are associated with fellow writers, using the same prompts. The Dirty Dozen was where she would post a dozen lines from one of her works. And finally, there is Author In The House where she features and interviews other Authors.


Is Lee Ann busy? Did you really have to ask?


As if all that weren't enough, she regularly guests on other blogs, including Sundays on Pop Culture Diva. Somehow, she found a few minutes to answer my questions. 


Most of your posts on A Page in the Life seem to be participation in blog hops. How do you find these hops? Do you have any other planned in the next month or two?

On "A Page In The Life" I do participate in a lot of blog hops. I love them because they draw traffic and find new readers. I pick up a lot from various author groups I belong to on FB and Yahoo groups. I also occasionally find them by a Google search.

Starts her handy memo program. Search blog hops on Google.

Upcoming I'll be participating in the Lovestruck Giveaway Hop June 15-22, a blog hop for Rebel authors on Long And Short Romance Reviews, June 1-8, a huge Independence Day Blog Hop July 1-4, the Cocked and Loaded Shooting Stars blog hop July 5-11, and Kharisma Rhayne's Birthday Blog Hop July 14-20. Between blog hops I write a variety of posts, everything from some of my memories to author advice for would-be writers, spotlights on my books, etc. Sometimes I put up a little original fiction or recipes. Sometimes I host an author on both Author In The House and A Page In The Life.

Wow, that's a LOT of blog hops. I'm slated for one so far.... blush You guest on many blogs for each genre/sub-genre. Do you find readers between them? How often do you post to each?

Tantalizing Tuesday-Buying Freedom

Stephanie ran from the man gripping her arm. Her jacket came off in hands, but she didn't look back.

"Let me see what you're hiding under there," he had said, making her shiver and her stomach turn with fear. She was racing away through puddle-lined streets, desperate to escape. The weather was unusual. Summers were dry and hot, but today was overcast with patches of rain scattered over the city.

She didn't stop running. The exertion made her blood hot, burned away the fear, kept her warm. Breaking free of the city, she found herself in a field outside, flowers blooming brightly and hills in every direction. The rain had stopped as she ran and single beams of sunlight shone through.

Was she safe? Would Luke try to catch her again? Her step-father was a horrible man, one she would be glad to see for the last time on her eighteenth birthday. Then she would get her share of her father's estate and leave forever. She would buy a farmhouse and never be crowded by buildings or men again.


The clouds parted for Stephanie and she danced through the field, the sun warm on her skin.

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For more Tantalizing Tuesday pieces, follow the links!

Naomi Shaw
Bonni Sansom
Molly Synthia
Muffy Wilson
Leann Mitchell
Sherry Palmer
Kharisma Rhayne
Julez S Morbius
Venus Cahill
Cyril J. Michael
Havan Fellows
Don Abdul
Benjamin Russell
ER Pierce
Lee Brazil
Dianne Hartsock
Gemma Parkes
Ray Sostre

#5MinuteFiction - Nicole Wolverton

Welcome Nicole Wolverton host of Five Minute Fiction! Yes, Nicole is another in my growing number of FlashFiction bloggers. Five Minute Fiction is a little different from the others. It lacks a word limit, has only one prompt, but is the shortest with the fastest deadline of all, Five Minutes.

Five Minute Fiction was originally started by Leah Petersen. Does she still have any connection to the challenge?

Leah felt like she had to find 5 Minute Fiction a new home because her debut novel, Fighting Gravity, was going to be coming out, and it takes a lot of time to properly market and be available for promotion opportunities. Even though she handed it off to me, Leah is still involved as her schedule allows. She participates from time to time as a writer, and she served as a judge on May 22.

Were any changes made to 5MinuteFiction when you took over?

#ThursThreads - Siobhan Muir

Have I covered enough flash fiction contests? Nope. Barely scratched the surface. Thursday Threads is a little different from most. It integrates the previous winner's entry into the next week. You can trace all the 100-250 word winners together through one weaving thread. Cool? I think so. I'm pretty sure Siobhan thinks so. It was her idea.

You've been hosting Thursday Threads for a number of months. What made you decide to host a flash fiction contest?

Actually, it was a friend of mine in the Flashfiction circles begged me to put together a challenge for Thursdays to round out the week. At the time, there were challenges on every other day and she's a flashfiction addict, so she needed her fix on Thursday. I wasn't sure I'd make a very good host, but we talked about what kind of challenge to post and went from there. So far, it has been a great success and it has brought new writers in each week.

I've noticed there's something nearly every day. I'm missing Wednesday... I heard about a Humpday challenge, but haven't seen anything on that recently. If you host or participate in a Wednesday flash fiction challenge, please tell me in the comments!

How do you select your judges? Do you have a roster planned in advance?

Tuesday Tales - Glitterword - Stevie McCoy

Today I get to host another Flash Fiction blogger, Stevie McCoy! Can you tell I like participating in these? There really is one for every day of the week. So, Stevie, how did you start Tuesday Tales? What inspired it?

I was inspired by the other #flashfiction contests out there and for some reason, either by pencils in my eyes or shotty Lasik surgery I just couldn't find a contest on Tuesday... and most of the other days of the week were just too busy for me to participate in every week. Soooo the birthing of #tuesdaytales was popped from my vines like a hott tomata in summer. But if you are asking what inspired me to start my blog in general, that would be my desire to build my writer group because without a group of writers to support you in your journey you're as good as wood pulp, unrefined and not ready to become paper for the ink to flow on. Fellow writers are your support team cheering you on and smacking your face to stand back up when you fall down. We are writers... Hear us type. I wouldn't have my first manuscript draft completed without them. I <3 you crazy writers.

I <3 the crazy writers too! Do you choose the word or does the judge?

Always Hope - April Marquette

Today, I'm happy to host the first person to ask to be on my blog! I've tweeted often that I'm looking for bloggers to interview, but April was the first to take me up on it. (If you were wondering, I found the other blogs through twitter and invited the bloggers through the same medium.) April has released a trilogy of erotic novels as well as a few others, but what I really want to know about is her blog.Do you have a schedule for your blog posts? Do you ever write them in advance?

I do have a schedule for my blog posts. I try to get them up each Friday before noon. I actually write most of them in advance, on Thursday. To get motivated, I tell myself that's the day they must go up. Then on Friday before I publish, I check for mistakes or necessary revision.

That last minute check can be so important. What do you do to prompt yourself to post in quiet times, between big news events?

I like to write about the books that I have written. I tell readers about the things other readers have written to me. I really want my readers to know that whenever I write an article, a blog post or a book, I have them in mind. I know they want good, juicy, informative stuff! So I try to give it to them. So far, they haven't complained.

Writing to your reader. I think that's Blog Tip #1 for writers. Too many of us (myself included) write for other writers/bloggers. That's not going to stop me!! blush How did you build your audience? Do you feel they are mostly fellow writers, readers, others?

Rambling and Reviews - LM Preston

Today I have LM Preston with us to tell us about her blog. She is a YA SciFi author with a number of books under her belt. The first question that came to my mind was, do young adults read your blog?

My blog audience is more adult focused. My facebook audience is younger but a mix of adults and teens.


She doesn't mince words, does she? So, my suspicion is correct. In that case, how did you build your audience? Where did most of your followers find you?

I built my audience by doing blog hops, posting on www.bookbloggers.ning.com and twitter.

I like that you're straight to business. Do you write your posts in advance?

About 50% of the time I write them in advance, but if a thought inspires me, I write it then. I typically post twice a week. Either on Monday/Tuesday and Thursday.

You review a lot of material on your blog. How do you choose which movies and books to review?