Armchair BEA - Blogger Development & Genre Fiction

Design credit: Sarah of Puss Reboots

We are already at day 3 of the Armchair BEA. Today the discussion is about blogger development & genre fiction.

Blog Development - I don't have all the answers, but this works for me. This blog has been operational since 2002. At the start I wasn't too sure what to do with a blog, but then I discovered several things

1. Confidence - to share what I would tell anyone if they were standing with me. To be open and honest. If someone does not like what I write, well they don't have to read it!
2. Get involved - Blog hops  & book tours - not just book specific, but those relating to genealogy too. The book blog community and the geneablogger communities are very friendly and welcoming. For those researching their ancestry - Geneabloggers is fabulous with daily prompts.
3. Interaction - online friends & companions - people that share the same interests and the friendships that develop along the way. Comment on blogs and participate. 

I have embraced social media. Firstly, I allowed people to follow my blog via email or RSS feed. I also added Twitter. More recently I added Facebook page.

I share bits about me, books I liked (or not) and why. Genealogy and ancestry related posts. I take part in a few weekly memes - usually library loot and weekend cooking. I often share pictures as part of Sepia Saturday. I also do a rambling from my desk post every now and again. 

I try and write a blog post everyday or at least 3 times each week. The readers need to know that you are coming back and having fresh content helps. I very often schedule posts and to keep structured I bought a cheap diary which lives on my desk. That way I can ensure that posts I have promised to deliver such as book tours are kept.

I contribute to several other blogs  - Historical Tapestry and Smitten by Britain. I also write a monthly genealogical column for a digi magazine called The In-Depth Genealogist.

I blog and write because I enjoy it. It allows me interaction with others, people that I know and new people that I meet along the way. By interacting with others it is effectively an open door. You can read and become inspired and challenged to do things such as reading challenges or read-a-longs. My reading list has never been longer!

Genre Fiction - I read all sorts - I love history, so I often read a mixture of non fiction and fiction. I am often inspired by what I read and find that I often need to jot things down because I wonder if one of my ancestors did that, or because what I read reminds me to look something up, perhaps there is a name of an author, a quote or phrase. 

I also read literary fiction and enjoy reading books from authors such as Jennifer Chiaverini, who writes about a fictional group of Quilters. I am not into reading science fictions, about vampires or aliens. I like a degree of realism or fictional realism at least, yet I love the series of books by Diana Gabaldon, set in Scotland, I guess they can be described as mystical & historical - The Outlander Series. I also read cozy mysteries  - by such authors as Cleo Coyle