Saturday Sundries – Look at what I did! (and my first writing nightmare O.O)
So, I’ve been playing around with the blog a lot lately, but I’ll go into that in a bit.
First, I’m going to tell you about my nightmare.
Boy, was it a nightmare.
See, I’m getting close to the point my writing ‘career’ (I’m speaking in faith here, people!) where there’s a good possibility (if I get my editing and rewriting done in a timely manner!) that I’ll be pitching to and querying agents in the next 3-6 months.
I can do public speaking, but I’ve never been comfortable with marketing myself. This blog has been a huge help to me in that area, but I still have quite a way to go. Combine “public speaking” and “marketing myself” and you’ve got the perfect ingredients for a nightmare for me.
Yup. Last night, I dreamed that I had to pitch my story “Weeping Willow” to an agent.
It was such a strange dream – the setting as reminiscent of my grandmother’s dining room, and there were about 10 agents all sitting around it (yes, my grandmother’s dining table is really that big), and there was a line of writers waiting for a turn with an agent. That line moved VERY quickly.
And suddenly, I found myself sitting in front of an agent, with no actual pitch prepared, and trying to tell what exactly Weeping Willow was about. My strategy ended up being to close my eyes and insert “um” every other word.
It did not impress the agent (who looked like the tall, dark, brawny guy that seems to grace the cover of every cheesy romance novel). But he did give me his business card and told me to look him up when I was really prepared to market my book.
Don’t ask me where that dream came from, cause I really don’t know.
Now on to the REAL post . . .
I’ve been doing some updating here on the blog. Some rearranging, adding some things, though the theme is staying the same. I’m going try not to change it sporadically every month or so anymore.
Let’s go on a tour!
Starting at the top, you’ll see (underneath the blog title) the different pages I have on my blog. These all contain content now, though some are still works in progress. Some link to more than one page, so there are *squee* DROP DOWN MENUS.
I hope you all know where the home button goes. If you don’t just click it and you’ll easily find out.
There are two pages under About – the about me personally page, and the about the blog page. About Rebekah is where you’ll find the nitty gritty (okay, not so much) on me, and I’ll list my writing award(s) there. About Black & Dark Night is where you’ll find my posting schedule.
Awards is where I’ve listed all the blog awards I’ve received. If you’ve given me an award that is not already listed there, let me know. Sometimes I lose track of things.
Blogs is where my blogroll is now listed. I follow 200+ blogs on Google Reader, and that was getting to be a ridiculous length to post in the sidebar, so it’s all located there now. I’m still adding links in there, so it’s definitely in progress.
Contact Me is where you can . . . well . . . contact me! If you have a question that you don’t want to air in a comment, or if you have a suggestion, or want me to do an interview or guest post somewhere, this is the place to go! I’ll also take suggestions for future blog posts 🙂
For Writers will be my wealth of resources – as I find them, anyway. Just poke around through there and see what you find! Be warned, it is still in progress!
Link Exchange – I’m a firm believer in giving back/paying it forward (in a good way). While I can’t promise to follow back every blogger who follows me, I will post a link back in my blogroll to everyone who posts my link in their website/blog. All you have to do is fill out the handy form on that page.
My Writings is a link to what I’ve written that aren’t just regular blog posts. It’s divided up into fiction and non-fiction. So, go ahead and do a little reading! Eventually, I’ll add pages for all my WIPs, but that’ll be when I have time.
Now, moving on to the sidebar . . .
I feel like this got a LOT neater by moving the blogroll to its own page. The social media part (Keep Up With Me) has been updated to include all my current ‘memberships’. I’m not completely happy with this part yet, so I’ll be working on it more later. FYI, the part labeled “My Random Musings” is my twitter feed.
“I’m Doing . . .” are blogfests/campaigns/etc. that I am currently participating in, or will be participating in. Also included is my GoodReads Reading Challenge graph.
Scrolling further down is “What I’ve Said”, which is the different categories I organize my blog posts under.
Next is my blog archive, where you can view posts by month.
And last, but most certainly NOT least, is my copyright notice. Just please be aware that it is there. And let me know if you discover any violations of my ownership on other websites.
I love it!!!!!! there’s something very comforting about the blue… Nicely done!
Thank you! I’m finally pleased with how it looks, and think I’ll be happy with it for the long-term 🙂
I’m really liking how everything looks! It’s very clean and nicely organized.
So, having nightmares about writing, huh? I haven’t actually had any before that I can remember. But that means that even your subconscious wants you to be prepared for the writing world, which in the end is a good thing, right?
Thanks, Brenna!
Yes, being prepared is definitely a good thing. After that dream, though, I’m definitely going to be making reading the Pitch University blog a priority!
Your blog looks great so I wouldn’t worry about that. I’ve never had a dream about pitching my book to anyone but it sounds like fun. Treat it as the dress-rehearsal. The real one will be fine. And probably not with people sat around your grandmother’s dining table! 🙂
Oh goodness, if that was the dress rehearsal, it was a disaster! But yeah, it probably won’t be around my grandmother’s dining room table, hehe.
Blog page looks nicely organized with lots of relevant information. But personally I think you should move you Blogging from A to Z badge to the top of the sidebar. Then again maybe I’m just biased.
Lee
An A to Z Co-Host
Tossing It Out
Twitter: @AprilA2Z
#atozchallenge
lol, the badges were put in the order of when they’re happening, so since I’m doing the CSFF Tour and #writemotivation currently, they’re up first :). Don’t worry, Blogging from A to Z will make it up there soon 😉
Wowzers! The blog looks great and I love love love your drop down menus (a bit jealous, actually as I have no idea how to do that!). Don’t sweat the nightmare, you’ll figure out the networking, marketing thing and someday you’ll think it’s funny you were ever worried. (This is the mantra I tell myself everyday. So far, it’s working!)
The drop down menus – I don’t know if it works with your theme or not, but all that I had to do was set what I wanted to be the parent page under “attributes”, and it automatically made the drop down menu :).
Okay, “Don’t Sweat” is my new mantra, haha. I better buy a lot more deodorant . . .