The Porpoise Driven Blog

Been pondering the purpose behind this whole Blogging thing.

It's hurtin' my brain.

Great post today on Copyblogger by Laura Roeder - I'll insert part of it here along with my own notes:


Lesson #1 - Find your blog's core purpose.

I've been searching - no answers yet.

Here’s a question that never seems to go away: what is a blog?

Feel free to answer this one for me.

 Is it a public journal? An online magazine? An extended way to connect with friends and family?

Good questions to which I offer all no answers

And the answer is . . . a blog is whatever your audience needs it to be.

Oh great! I don't know that I have an audience that needs anything from me!!! That's the problem!

Whatever your topic, you need to get crystal clear on why people are there.

Yay!!! Here we go again, back to square one. This is annoying.

Is it to read the hilarious details of your personal life?

My personal life stays pretty personal (though it's often hilarious).

Watch detailed how-to videos on watercolor painting?

I don't know how to add videos to the blog. Did place 1st for a watercolor that I did - in 10th grade!

Hear your latest celebrity rant?

Puhleeze - I avoid anything celebrity - I don't want to hear their self-important rants.

It doesn’t matter what it is, only that you know it ............

This is lookin' more like a circle. Toldja -  I don't know nuttin'!

I'm not the next Mark Twain, so me offering writing tips would be ( ____ ) fill in blank.


Don't know all there is to know about publishing or book sales - no help there.  


A daily/weekly infomercial on BAD LATITUDE or RECKLESS ENDEAVOR - THAT would be a drag.

So really - What's the _______________??? (hint below)






I've met some seriously awesome (& helpful) folks (now friends) through blogging, learned quite a bit, even sold some books, but I can visit & comment without actually posting (& needlessly torturing readers).


So.... when you stop by to visit JaxPop - Whaddya expectin' to find? What would y'all want to hear or (hah!) learn about? What would make it a worthwhile stop as a reader - besides Debs pictures?
(BTW - Today's pics are from the Internet.)


I dunno - so I'm throwin' these questions out there for feedback. Any ideas, complaints, suggestions???


Hmmmmm????

.... and the award goes to....

Sometimes, like right now, life gets totally outta control crazy. Not bad stuff - just too much to do, not enough time to do it. Trying to cram 32 hours into 24 with limited sleep. Having to make budget numbers work on a logistically impossible project, get ready for another out of town assignment (without knowing when I'll have to leave) all while keeping pace with Micky Muse, 'cause I'm havin' so much fun writing RECKLESS ENDEAVOR, the sequel to BAD LATITUDE.

Normally I'm pretty skilled at staying upbeat, or maybe I should say looking upbeat. Other than one week in Atlanta, I've been more or less trapped in the office, feeling rather confined, for most of the last three months. {Hint: I normally visit the office only once a month, every other if I can get away with it.} Tuesday I was in a kind of bummed out mood. Not grouchy, just kinda ... okay, grouchy. As I sat with my office door closed, wondering if an overdose of subcontractor stupidity could be fatal, I got an email from my friend, author Joylene Butler, saying she thought my blog deserved The Kreativ Blogger Award. Whoa! Really? I looked around to make sure Kanye West wasn't nearby to interrupt my acceptance click, then clicked onto Joylene's blog & BANG - there it was. Me myself & I - suddenly keeping company with Joylene Butler, Pat Bertram & Katherine Neff Perry. Know what? I wasn't grouchy after that. Instead I was totally humble, grateful & .... wondering what the heck was Joy thinkin' 'bout with this!!! I mean, really, Joy -You, Pat & Katt can flat out write. It's like I'm puttin' on my high school basketball uniform (keep dreamin' Dave) & runnin' onto the court with the Boston Celtics. Anyway - I'm flattered - though I think it's Deb's pics that draw the big crowds, all holding their lighters over their heads chanting 'Freebird'. 

So now it's my turn to pass the baton to a couple of way cool writing blogs, though I have no idea how to properly include links within a post without writing them out. Someday I'll learn. Maybe?

Rebecca Ramsey is the author of FRENCH BY HEART. It's the true story of the Ramsey clan, southerners to the core (with their barefoot savages), & their adventures living in France. It's a great read, very funny. I've wondered how the French language sounds mixed with a thick South Carolina accent. Becky's blog, Wonders Never Cease is one of the first blogs I followed regularly - & still do. It's very KREATIV & worth a visit (Caution: Habit Forming) as well as The KREATIV BLOGGER AWARD. (Aaagh... Becky's mongrel - Tanner the slobber dog just swiped the solid gold trophy & swallowed it. Oh well.) Congrats. Visit Becky at http://rebeccasramsey.blogspot.com/ watch Andy Griffith 'cause her hometown reminds me of Mayberry.

Next is Cheryl Pickett @ http://www.publishinganswers.blogspot.com/ She has a new book out called PUBLISHING POSSIBILITIES & has been running a series on her blog lately about publicity, marketing, & distribution. Cheryl has been a big help to me (& other writers). In fact, she gave me some great info that helped me avoid a HAYOOGE mistake. Thanks to her, I ended up working with some really great folks from Maine & my 1st book turned out exactly the way I envisioned (& is selling well, thank you very much). Her advice is always honest, practical & down to earth. Gotta go visit her blog & website. Thanks Cheryl!

So there you have it. Thanks again Joylene (author of DEAD WITNESS check it out ASAP & visit her all the way up in British Columbia at   http://cluculzwriter.blogspot.com/  where the weather is much cooler but, geez, she lives on a lake surrounded by bears & eagles.... )

PS - I probably won't post anything else 'til I return from Delray Beach - short trip early next week.