Blogosphere and quick book picks

[alanajoli]

I got an e-mail from someone in a completely different part of my life that referenced my blog. This is really the first time that's happened--when someone who I know who I didn't know was reading my blog actually talked to me about it. It was pretty startling (and also embarrassing--he smacked me down oh but good based on the recent posts about my overtendency to express via the eyes). I hear by give a point to Christian. Well done sir.

For you other bloggers out there--has that happened to you? If so, how did you react?

--

I just got asked for staff picks at the part time job, so I thought I'd share them here, with the addition that I'm linking to the author's live journals:

Inda. The first of the new fantasy series by Sherwood Smith (sartorias)is a coming of age story for not only the hero, Inda, but for a number of the young men and women who surround him. Smith uses an omniscient narration that shifts from one perspective smoothly into the next, providing multiple viewpoints on every occurrence. This makes the novel a challenging, but extremely worthwhile, read. Fans of fantasy shouldn't miss it!

Damsel under Stress. It's here! The newest of Shanna Swendson's (shanna_s) series about Katie Chandler, who is immune to magic and working for the largest magic development company in the world, housed right in New York City, has arrived! When we left off, Katie had finally admitted her crush to the man of her dreams and found it returned--which means, of course, that in Damsel under Stress, there are rocks ahead: the villains are threatening to reveal magic to the world. What's a girl to do?

Comments

[jenlyn-b.livejournal.com]

This happens to me all the time. Sometimes, I'll be running an experiment, and the participant will be like, "I googled you and read your blog." And some of my friends from college read and then reference things I've said, and it always takes me off guard. Same goes for family members, friends of my parents... and yesterday, I was being interviewed for a film on autism, and after they were done filming, the director was all, "I saw your website... and your blog."

The way I deal with it is just to be sure that I feel comfortable with anyone and everyone reading everything I post on my blog. If I'm proud of my entries, then it doesn't matter who sees them, even if it is a little startling.

[chrisinpm.livejournal.com]

... um... sorry? I hope I didn't put you off or freak you out or anything. You had a link on a public site to your blog, so I didn't think anything of reading it.

I've had a job interview where the manager googled my name. He came in and said, "I googled you, and I got so many hits I was convinced you'd killed someone. What is 'Living Greyhawk,' anyway?" To say that caught me off-guard was an understatement (probably had the same look on my face that you did, come to think of it). I guess it's a good icebreaker?

[dmoonfire.livejournal.com]

Actually, I got that yesterday. After my rejection from Steam Punk Magazine, I got an email back that said "I saw on your blog you wanted more critiques, would you like me give you some of what I liked and don't like?" I said "oh yes!" but I was actually surprised that someone reads my journal.

Actually, I'm just excited when anyone responds to my blog or tells me they read it. :)

The other person who surprised me by reading it was, of all people, my wife. I honestly didn't think she read it, but she occasionally wanders over and reads it. Not enough to count on, but just enough to say in the middle of a question, "Is that what you were blogging about?"

Surprises the hell out of me sometimes.

I also had a customer compliment because of my current work. They were trying to find information on Complete Clothier and they found my blog, which occasionally is a development blog. They said it was fascinating to read, which was a nice compliment that got passed on me. Specially since it was in the middle of a tech support call. :)

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

Oh, no apologies necessary! I thought the whole conversation was hilarious--I laughed out loud and made Tom read the exchange, too. I wasn't at all freaked out, just surprised, and a little bit flattered, actually.

I hope it was a job interview where practically ruling a universe was helpful to your credentials... ;)

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

I think it's great that the folks from Steam Punk offered that to you. And extra impressive that they took the time to find your blog!

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

I try to focus on that comfort level in everything I write, because with blogging, I really have no idea who my target audience is. Taking pride in my blog? I don't think I'm there yet, but now that you've put it that way, I think it's an excellent goal!