Our special guest today is Madeline Drake, author of
Faery's Bargain.
Start With A Question: How to Write A Blog Post that Engages Your Readers by Madeline Drake
When my debut story,
Blood Hero, was accepted for publication in March 2010, the release date was set for January 2011. Oh good, I thought.
I'll spend the next few months reading books about promotion and platform-building, and then I'll still have half a year to come up with a plan and get started.
At the end of May 2010, my editor emailed me with good news. A hole in the schedule had opened up, and
Blood Hero would release in July 2010 instead. "Woohoo!" I exclaimed to the ceiling fan as I did my happy dance. "My first story is coming out in just six weeks!"
It wasn't until I said it out loud until that the panic set in. My first story was going to come out in just six weeks—and I hadn't started on a promotion plan yet. I hadn't even finished reading the book on how to create a promotion plan, for goodness sake.
The thing that scared me most about promoting was blogging. I love writing stories, but blog posts are like little essays, and while I got good grades on my essays at schools, I was writing for a captive audience of one. Blog posts can't just be accurate or persuasive, they have to be entertaining, too. How could I be smart or funny or interesting enough to write weekly essays that other people would actually want to read?
I googled "how to write a blog" and found Darren Rowse's ProBlogger site (
http://www.problogger.net/). While Darren's focus is on blogging for nonfiction writers (especially non-fiction writers who are using their blog to promote a business), he had a number of excellent articles on how to generate ideas. I printed out the most useful articles, and sat down on the couch to brainstorm—and voila, I had several dozen ideas for posts.
But when I thought about how much research I was going to have to do for each one, my heart sank. If I spent the time I needed to write the definitive essay on the history of vampires, I'd need to spend days researching for that one blog post—I'd have to give up writing my next story in order to promote my current one.
In desperation, I went to one of the blogs that I wanted to approach for a guest spot, and began reading old posts, hoping that inspiration would strike. As I read what other people had written and noted the comments that their audience had left behind, I realized that I was approaching blogging in the wrong way. I was thinking of it as a form of education.
The way I should have been looking at it was as a way to start a conversation. I didn't have to know everything on the topic I was presenting to my readers; I just needed to know enough to spark a discussion.
So I looked at my list of topics, and I generated a bunch of questions based on them—questions that I thought my readers would have strong opinions about. What was the first vampire book you've ever read and what did you think of it? Who's your favorite vampire and why? Why can't vampires and werewolves get along? What's your favorite thing about urban fantasy? If you could be a Greek god, which one would you be?
I put the question at the end of the blog post, and then answered that question myself as the body of the blog post, doing whatever research I needed to do illustrate what I was saying.
I couldn't have been happier with the results. Not only did readers leave comments on my posts, but many of them got actively engaged in the conversation—debating with each other, recommending books and movies, and contributing their own knowledge of the mythology being discussed. The conversations happening in the comments section were as interesting as my blog post (if not more so), and some of those readers began to follow me from blog to blog. One started contributing information from her own research into Chinese culture, another shared a wealth of information about Eastern European folklore. I may never meet these people in real life, but I treasure the conversations I've had with them online.
How do you come up with ideas for blog posts? What approaches have you found effective for engaging your readers?
Madeleine Drake writes feisty, fast-paced paranormal romance and erotica that spans the space-time continuum. Raised by a pride of cats, a friendly mutt, and the Sonoma County library system, she loves to read about ancient history and mythology, anthropology, gender roles, and sexual archetypes. Her published work includes Blood Hero (Excessica), Faery's Bargain (Cobblestone Press) and First Date (AllRomanceEbooks, in the Just One Bite vol 3 anthology.)
Her homeworld is located out past the constellation Orion, but she currently resides in Texas. You can find her online at http://www.madeleinedrake.com/.
FAERY'S BARGAIN
A witch gets more than she bargains for when she lends her magic to a Fae warrior
Tara's witchcraft has failed to save her naga-bitten nephew: the only cure is a rare Faery herb, impossible for a human to obtain.
Kane, a warrior of the Morrigan tribe, is bound to a baigh-duil. He needs a witch to help him send the soul-devouring monster back to its own realm, and he's willing to bargain.
It seems like a fair trade--the herb for help with a single spell. But what will Tara do when she realizes Kane can only perform sex magic and death magic?
Available from Cobblestone Press:
http://cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/faerysbargain.htm
Read an excerpt from Faery's Bargain!
Warning: Rated NC-17
First time in a thousand years the oracle's been wrong, and it's my question she blows. Kane glowered at the occult shop across the street -- a refurbished Victorian painted lemon-drop yellow and trimmed in white, with all the hand-carved flourishes picked out in gilt. Its windows swarmed with faceted crystals that sparkled like drunken pixies in the San Francisco sunlight.
It was too damned cheerful for a woman reputed to have faced down a naga in its own lair.
He stomped down his frustration, focusing on the cool air against his face and the scents of the ocean and car exhaust. The witch inside that candy house might not be the one he sought, but Kane had to admit she was skilled for a human. He could feel the thick, electric buzz of her wards even from across the street. She'd layered the shielding into the walls and powered it with the ley line that ran right beneath the building. Clever, but also dangerous. Tapping straight into the line for spell-work was like drinking from a fire hose. It required excruciating precision to siphon off just the amount you needed without drowning and heroic strength of will to resist the temptation to drink too deep. Kane had seen a mage lose control of a ley line in mid-spell once. The mage had suffered an agonizing death, and the damage wreaked by the botched spell had taken weeks to clean up.
Pain seared through him. The amulet tucked under his shirt flared hot against his skin, its fiery glow visible through the fabric. He hissed out a cantrip, repeating the chant until the pain dulled and the amulet cooled. I won't be able to maintain the binding much longer.
If the witch in the lemon-drop house couldn't help him, he was dead.
* * * * *
Time-yellowed pages slithered against each other as Tara folded the grimoire closed, letting her fingers explore the arcane symbols embossed on the cracked leather cover. Another ancient tome, another chunk out of her rapidly dwindling savings, another dead end. Meanwhile, Jimi continued to weaken under the care of his confused doctors. She didn't blame them, of course. Even if she could make them believe her, what could they do? My nephew was bitten by a half-man, half-snake monster straight out of Hindu mythology. What do you mean you don't have the right anti-venin?
Even more frustrating, she'd found a cure for the naga's poison -- crith-siol, a plant rumored to be cultivated by the Tribes of the Fae -- but it had proven impossible to get. For the last three months, she'd scoured book after book, hoping to find a substitute for the faery herb. As she searched, Jimi grew weaker. Tara had snatched the boy out of the naga's coils before the monster could eat him, but she hadn't saved him. She'd merely postponed the inevitable, and now she could do nothing but watch her nephew deteriorate, his body shutting down one system at a time. The last doctor had given Jimi a couple of months more, at best.
I wish Gran was alive. Gran would have found a cure by now. Or she'd have found a way to get the crith-siol, no matter what it cost.
Gran wouldn't have let Jimi get caught by the naga in the first place.
The brassy jangle of bells signaled the arrival of a customer. The jangle was cut short by a loud thump and a metallic crash -- the front door slamming shut. An impatient customer. Tara sighed, caught between irritation at the interruption and guilty relief for the distraction. She stepped into the front room of her shop.
The man in the black leather duster frowned at a rack of hand-crafted candles as if he found the colorful cylinders of beeswax offensive. He was tall, dark, and too beautiful to be called handsome. His long black hair was pulled back into a sleek braid, the severity of the hairstyle contrasting with the sensual planes of his face -- sloping cheekbones, amber-brown eyes under upswept brows, and a wide, full-lipped mouth over a strong chin. He was the sexiest man she'd met in ages, and if the humming in her head was any indication, a powerful mage. That delicious hum reverberated down her spine, lighting up her nerves as it went.
He looked up, and his frown evaporated in the flash-fire of another emotion -- something so intense it made Tara want to squirm.
Can I help you? she meant to ask. But when she opened her mouth, what came out was, "Mine."
Horrified, she barely managed to stop herself from clapping her hand over her mouth. Mine? Where did that come from? It had been a long time since she'd dated, but was she so lonely that the mere presence of an attractive man was enough to scramble her brains?
Apparently so.
The corner of his mouth twitched as if he were fighting the urge to laugh.
Tara flushed. "I mean, I make them. The candles."
He licked his lips, a deliberate, sensual motion, and Tara found herself mirroring the action before she could stop herself. What's wrong with me?
"Um." She cleared her throat and tried again. "Can I help you?"
The stranger smiled. "I believe you can, Bandraoi."
* * * * *
The oracle had been right after all. The witch's aura had responded to him at once, flaring in intoxicating reds and purples the moment she'd emerged from the back room. Her eyes widened with surprise, and the power he sensed sleeping within her stirred, brushing against his aura like a curious cat. He fisted his hands against the near-overwhelming urge to reach out and pet her. She had a touch of the Tribes in her. His body's reaction to it was sharper than a knife to the heart and hotter than a Beltane bonfire. It was like his first fight and his first orgasm squeezed into one frenzied moment.
His witch was short and curvy, and she'd wrapped her luscious figure in a clingy black dress that emphasized her hourglass shape. When she pursed her lips, his cock expanded as his imagination burst open, spilling one wicked fantasy after another into his brain. He pictured her moss-green eyes half-shut with delight, sweat gleaming on her skin, while her wavy gold hair clung to her bare shoulders. He imagined all that power crackling through him as she trembled in the throes of it, her silken voice raw with ardor.
She'd sensed the rousing of her Fae nature; he could tell by the slight quiver of her shoulders, the heat that bled over her cheeks, the pink tip of her tongue wetting her bottom lip. She was perfect -- except for the wariness that glimmered across her face when he'd addressed her by her proper title. Surely she knew Bandraoi was a term of respect among the Tribes? Or hadn't she recognized him for what he was yet?
* * * * *
UPDATED at 5:26 PM (EST)
So, your friendly neighborhood blogger dropped the ball when she posted this last night. I realized after the long day with shopping and kids (they are home for the second day thanks to the snowstorm that dumped over 20 inches of snow on us), that I was supposed to run a giveaway for a copy of
Faery's Bargain.
So, here are the details:
1) You must be a follower of The Book Connection to win.
2) Leave a comment on this post between 12:00 AM (EST) on January 13, 2011 and 11:59 PM (EST) on January 16, 2011.
3) Winner will be announced on Monday, January 17, 2011. Check The Boook Connection to see if you've won. You will not be notified by email!
4) The winner has 72 hours to contact me with a valid email address. If I have not heard from the winner within that time frame, I will select a new winner.
Good luck to all who enter!
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