Category Archives: Author

Author, Author website, Sharon C. Williams

My website: Sharon C. Williams

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Coming up with content for a blog comes and goes. How often does one post? On what? How long should it be? How do you set up your site so it is pleasing to the reader? So many things to consider when creating and maintaining a website. I’ve been keeping a small notebook on topics I can write on during any given week. It is getting a little lengthy, but that’s okay. I probably won’t use all the ideas but it is nice to have backups.

What photos do you use? Are you sure they are not copyrighted? The videos can be also include in this. I try to use photos of my own, and I do recycle pictures. I try to be careful on what I place up here. When I use videos, the majority are created by me.

What do you decide to reveal? What is to much and what is to little? What sidebars do you use? What menus can you create that makes you shine? It all depends on what you are willing to share with the world. It took me a while to feel comfortable in having myself out there. But once my book was picked up, for it to do well, I had to make a big leap of faith.

I try to mix it up a bit between:

-My books and journey as a writer

-Talk about things that just interest me

-Cross promote with other writers

-And just recently, place book reviews on the site. I do have another website strictly for book reviews.

I been telling a few of my writer friends in town they need to get a blog and any other social media that they are comfortable with. They really aren’t listening. I been working on my social platform for a few years now, it took a lot of time. Oh my gosh it took a lot of time and energy to pull it up to where now it is just maintenance. Well until the next new big thing in social media comes out. I will decide then whether to learn it or not. But once you have it a working copy that you are happy with, the maintenance is minimal, at least for me it has been. It is worth the effort. It gives you a voice regardless of how many members you have.

This is my place and I welcome people in with a smile as they pull up a chair to chat.

Author, Book Review, Stephen King

The Colorado Kid

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The review for today is “The Colorado Kid” by Stephen King. The genre is crime fiction.

The basis of this story is set in Maine. Two old newspaper men and a young woman who is interning at their paper start discussing unsolved mysteries from the area. The Colorado Kid is a story that has never been solved, it leaves more questions than answers.

A man leaves for work in Colorado and ends up dead on a beach in Maine a few hours later. There are little clues to the journalist who are interested in the case. The dead man has no relatives or any apparent connection to the area. So why did he travel to the island? And what exactly killed him?

This short novel is 178 pages. Being a King fan and also of the show Haven, which is based on this book, made me pick up the book for my book club. I’m not sure I like the ending for there is no clear solution to the mystery. While not every book will end in the way that is acceptable to you, I wanted answered for this one. You get none. It’s a mystery that can only be solved in one’s own mind.

Author, Literary Grant, Writing

Literary Grant

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Last Fall I applied for a literary grant and learned afterwards I’d won. The grant was open to everyone from the county. I was one of the seven who were rewarded with a grant. My thinking was, all they can say is no. Seriously that was the worse they could say to me was my thinking as I filled out the forms needed to apply. I received the check this week, 80% of it that is. Once I finish the project and show the council the receipts they will reimburse me for the remaining 20%.

But now I get to spend other people’s money without having to pay it back. That is amazing as I get to be a writer in a store of supplies where the only limits is one’s imagination.

What I included in my proposal:

-Membership in the SCBWI

-Membership in the NCWN

-Upgrade of my website

The physical aspect involved me getting a smart pen which I am so excited to purchase and receive. For someone who writes all their stories by hand and then retyping it, this is huge. It will save me the time and energy of having to type all over again. With the smart pen I will purchase just about every accessory that one can possible get.

For someone who has tried the Dragon program repeatedly this is gold. The more I tried to train the program the more it hung and paused basically thinking, “What the heck did she just say?” I talk fast and I mean fast. Plus my Northern and now Southern accent does not help. So the next best thing short of having someone sit here and type as I speak, is this pen.

This grant will help me move my career and brand forward with the contacts from the two organizations and being able to bring more of my stories to text. I plan to apply for more grants when time permits.

To the people who told me I was wasting my time and that I did not fit the requirements for it, I’m glad I didn’t listen. I’m glad I stuck to my guns and my mantra of, “All they can say is no.”