Over here, Look at me...

Time for a wee rock on one of my hobby horses - here is a blog posting from the Urban Muse on 'why writers should blog' (thanks to Janet Reid for the link). The influence of the internet is increasing all the time. One of the hardest things about being writers is getting people to sit up and take notice of us and our work. Blogging is just another form of me standing up and waving my arms around and saying, OVER HERE. LOOK AT ME. Of course, the greatest benefit is that I can do it in my jammies and slippers with a pimple on my chin and no one will know except for anyone who reads that last bit. Oh well. Now you know. The other benefit is that this is a medium that utilises one of my better skills. And I can post when I want, and edit it at will. The alternative is public appearances and I get nervous and a little tongue-tied speaking to a group of strangers. And it is unlikely that I could ever reach such a wide audience through public appearances. My blog has been checked out by people from the US, Australia, the UK, Canada, Tonga and all over New Zealand(hi there!). And did I mention, it can actually be fun, and I don't get interrupted, and there aren't any awkward silences (well maybe there are but I am blissfully ignorant of them). You might look at the internet and think but I'm just going to get lost amongst ALL of that information, more of which is being added every second. Okay you do need to be a little savvy and make sure your name and/or book title are in your blog title and blog address and are mentioned as much as possible but I can confirm that people are finding me. And yes sometimes that's by accident, but other folk are finding me and my books on purpose and although my books aren't on bookshelves around the world yet, if I didn't have an online presence you might not know about me at all. And that would be a shame because I think you'd like my books. But I have a blog and some of my books are popping up on Amazon and places like Fantastic Fiction in the UK. See how cool this is? The internet is not a hard tool to use. And using it, I believe, gives me an advantage. Okay enough rocking, I'm getting off now.

But before I go I just want to say congratulations to the Kiwi's, who against the odds and expectations, beat their biggest rivals the Kangaroos to win the Rugby League World Cup on the weekend. And by a healthy margin too :)