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emaginings: Life Off the Grid

May 16, 2014 by Linda McLaughlin in category The Romance Journey by Linda Mclaughlin tagged as 21st century, emaginings, Linda McLaughlin, reading, technology

I’ve been hiding out at the beach this week to stay out of the worst of the heat, but I didn’t plan on losing cable TV & Internet for the better part of two days. It reminded me of what life was like before the advent of the worldwide web. In some ways, it was even more retro than that, since we’re in a near dead zone here. Broadcast TV consists of three San Diego digital stations, when we can pick them up on the antenna. The iPad cellular connection is so bad here, it’s like going back to modem service. I mean sloooow. The most reliable technology we had was the radio. Turned out a cable guy had come into the neighborhood to hook up a new customer and somehow disconnected us in the process. My husband muttered about sabotage, but I reminded him that one should never assume malice until incompetence has been completely ruled out.

Now I’m done complaining, I have to admit it wasn’t all bad, because for the first time in quite a while, I sat and read. I’d picked up Naamah’s Kiss by Jacqueline Carey, a big hard cover fantasy novel on Sunday, expecting it would take weeks to read it. But without the distraction of the Internet, I grabbed the book, curled up in the recliner and real. It was pure bliss. (And yes, I know I could have been writing!) It was kind of odd to be reading print again. Late at night I was wishing I could make the font bigger. But it was good to relax and enjoy a big book, reminiscent of the long hot summers of my teen years in Azusa that I spent devouring every library book I could get my hands on.

The previous month was a pretty hectic one for me. I’m working on setting up a new blog and website, so I’ve been learning how to create WordPress pages and set up a nav system, and so on. I hope to have the new site ready before next month’s blog. I also took our own Elena Dillon’s awesome online class Social Media for the Dazed and Confused. I’m still dazed by all the information she threw at us, but maybe a little less confused. Seriously, if you have a chance to take a class from her, jump at it.

Life in this 21st century is a lot more complicated than it was way back in the 20th century, but believe me, we’ll miss all this technological interconnectedness if it ever goes away. And if you’re interested in a little nostalgia, check out this post about 10 Concepts That Didn’t Exist 10 Years Ago. (She’s right about nine of them. I’ve been reading e-books longer than that.)

Which piece of 21st century technology would you miss most? Your smart phone, iPad, laptop, flat screen TV? There are so many choices, I’m not sure.

Linda McLaughlin / Lyndi Lamont

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Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ – Oh My, Oh My, Oh My!!

May 2, 2014 by Jann Ryan in category Jann says . . . tagged as Azalea March Mysteries, Beth Yarnall, Elena Dillon, Facebook, Google+, Jann Audiss, Jann Ryan, romantic suspense, Social Media, The Misadventures of Maggie Mae, The Pleasure at Home Series, Twitter, YA

I’m technology challenged. When it comes to the social media world I’m plain scared. Just the thought of posting something incorrectly has stopped me dipping my toe into the water for years. My goal is to break through the fear. When OCC announced its Online Class schedule I was thrilled. There it was– April’s class–Social Media for the Confused and Terrified presented by Elena Dillon. No more excuses by golly. I signed up.

Week 1 – The class started with Facebook, and for four days straight I had my desktop and laptop computers running side by side. Reading lessons and asking questions on one, doing class assignments on the other. I was learning about personal pages and author pages, friending and liking. Even though I’ve had a personal FB page for several years, I’ve never really interacted on it. I had started an author page (Jann Ryan), but hadn’t made it public to the world because I’m not a published author. Well, I hit the published button and it’s now live. To support my fellow classmates (which are a terrific group), I’m friending and liking and trying to comment on posts.

By the fourth day, I was on Facebook overload. I needed a bit of a break, so I thought I would start going through a couple of my file boxes filled with years of writing paraphernalia (handouts, conference stuff, articles and pages of stories.) It was suggested by a good friend to scan what I wanted to keep and toss the rest. I DIDN’T COME OUT OF THE ROOM FOR 4 DAYS! I was scanning and tossing from morning till way into the night. My determination to master FB was transferred to cleaning out paper. I couldn’t stop myself. From the file boxes, I moved to the bookshelves, then back to the file boxes. I was obsessed.

Week 2 – Monday, I came up for air only to be confronted with the next week’s class–TWITTER. I hadn’t conquered Facebook, now I was facing the Twitter monster with its hashtags, retweets and Tweet chats. Thanks to the wonderful instruction and guidance from my teacher Elena, I marched into the Twitter world. I installed Tweetdeck and selected people to follow. I was fortunate to see meet up Beth Yarnall, author of the Azalea March Mysteries, The Misadventures of Maggie Mae and the Pleasure at Home Series, who gave me some hands-on instructions. Check out her website http://www.bethyarnall.com/ . I’m still feeling awkward with Twitter, but I know I’ll be Twittering up a storm soon.

Week 3 – My Waterloo is Google+. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been receiving great instructions, but I realize I need hands on instructions when walking into the unknown. I get the overall idea, but just can’t seem to figure it all out. I need to spend more time on my lessons and work with it more, but life is getting in the way this week. It’s similar to FB, but now I Hangout with a Circle of Friends (actually, I’m not hanging anywhere yet).

I have one more week to go and one more social media item to learn. Heaven help me.

All that being said, I’m happy I ventured into this new world. I have some wonderful classmates and a great teacher, Young Adult Romantic Suspense author Elena Dillon. Stop by her website http://elenadillon.com/.

Go forth and conquer!

Jann Ryan grew up with the smell of orange blossoms in Orange County in sunny Southern California, where she has lived her entire life and dreamed up stories since she was a young girl. Never an avid reader, she was in her thirties when she picked up her first romance quite by accident. She fell in love with happily ever after and has been reading romances ever since.

Wanting to put pen to paper, Jann joined Romance Writers of America. Currently, she is working on a romantic suspense series set in Stellar Bay, a fictitious town along the California central coast to fulfill her publishing dream.

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Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

April 6, 2014 by Linda O. Johnston in category Events, Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as A Superstition Mystery, Harlequin Nocturne. Linda O. Johnston, Midnight Ink, Pet Rescue Mysteries

by Linda O. Johnston

I’m sorry to say I won’t be at the OCC meeting this month. But I’m happy to say that the reason is an event I really enjoy: the L.A. Times Festival of Books.

The LATFOB is a two-day event. This year, those two days are Saturday, April 12, and Sunday, April 13. I’ll be there both days, which means no OCC meeting, and, as it turns out, no Los Angeles Romance Authors meeting either, since it was changed to the second Sunday of the month rather than its usual third Sunday, which this month happens to be Easter.

I often try to schedule everything I want to do at the LATFOB on the same day, but that didn’t work out this year. I’ll be signing at two mystery booths and helping to staff the Mystery Writers of America booth, and the schedule worked best for me to do some on Saturday and some on Sunday.

Fortunately, I live not far from a Metro stop, so I can take the subway and train to the USC campus, where the festival is now held. It was at the UCLA campus for many years but that changed a few years ago.

I keep hoping for more of a romance presence there, too, but sponsoring booths is expensive. Harlequin had a presence last year but I don’t see them on the list of exhibitors this year. I know there was some talk of a bunch of us contributing to sponsor a booth, but I don’t think that materialized, at least not this year.

Even if you’ll be at OCC this month, come to the USC campus on Sunday and say hi and check out the many wonderful booths. There are also speakers, although you generally have to sign up in advance for those programs. But why not plan ahead? And, yes, there is a romance panel on Saturday that includes some OCC members!

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Convesations with Barb and Jann

April 2, 2014 by Jann Ryan in category Jann says . . . tagged as Barb Delong, Jann Ryan, Jann Says...

Au naturel

Most of you probably don’t have this issue, but I know many do. We will not go out in public without makeup, perfect hair and the right clothes. Now, I’ve been known to occasionally leave the house to pick up a quick item hiding under big sunglasses, my Sedona hat and wearing a pair of slightly worn sweats, but today I woke up with a different attitude.

After over forty years of avoiding au naturel in public, I decided to do the unthinkable. I got up, showered, dressed in yoga pants and T-shirt, tossed my hair around, grabbed my laptop and headed to Corner Bakery to write. I didn’t want to stop the freeing feeling I was experiencing of just get up and go. I didn’t want to take an hour to get ready, read emails or answer questions from family that would start a “to do list” and clutter my mind before I even got out the door.

So, I arrived, no sunglasses or hat, casually dressed. People in the parking lot and patio area outside CB didnâ€™t turn into stone, leaving a garden of statues in my wake, as I made my way to the entrance. I was shocked. Customers inside didn’t gather together to point and whisper. The girl at the counter didn’t look at me with sympathy wondering why I didn’t look in the mirror before I left home. Instead, I ordered my coffee, found my perfect place to settle in (with electrical plug close by) and got started. My mind free and clear – open for inspiration. It was a beautiful day outside and I felt the same way myself.

Have a beautiful day,

Jann Ryan

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emaginings: To Blog or Not To Blog? @LyndiLamont

March 16, 2014 by Lyndi Lamont in category The Romance Journey by Linda Mclaughlin tagged as #RLFblog, blogging, emaginings, Kayelle Allen, Kristen Lamb, Marketing For Romance Writers, Rise of the Machines, Triberr, Twitter

To Blog or Not To Blog? That is one question every writer must ponder.

I have a love/hate relationship with blogging. It’s not that I mind doing it, but I resent the time involved that takes me away from writing, and I’m not sure blogging has been worth my while. What I am sure is that I haven’t gone about it in a very systematic or effective way, though I try.

My big project for this year is to launch a new website and blog combining both of my writing names into one site, for easier maintenance. In the meantime, I’m still learning as much as I can about author branding, platforms and the use of blogs.

In January, I read Rise of the Machines: Human Authors in a Digital World by Kristen Lamb, the well-known blogger and social media maven. The first chapter, The Changing Paradigm, was fascinating. She talks a lot about technological change in general, often quoting from Neil Postman, author of several books, including Technopoly. His contention was that technological change isn’t “addictive or subtractive but ecological”. Advances in technology change everything, including the way humans think, certainly changes the way we talk and write. Hashtags, emoticons, text speak… You all know what I’m talking about, like the changes or not.

Lamb is a big proponent of blogging, and while I value her advice, I’m not sure I can manage to do everything she recommends. But after reading her book, I think I have a better notion of what to do and, perhaps more importantly, what not to do. Some of her advice includes:

Be present on social media, at least some of the time; don’t automate everything.

Your name is your brand; use it in some version. Don’t tweet with a silly handle that no one will recognize.

Be careful what you share, esp. where politics and religion are concerned.

I wish her book had been available eight years ago when I started blogging, but as Kitty Bucholtz said in her time management class, it’s never too late to hit the Restart button. I’m hoping to do better when I get the new, better blog later this year, and I’d love to take a branding class from her some day.

In the meantime I have finally joined Triberr, the “Home of Influencers.” If you’re not familiar with Triberr, it’s a blog amplifier. Bloggers ban together in tribes and tweet each other’s blog posts, giving everyone an enhanced range. Since I joined, my blogs are getting tweeted more often, my page stats have shot up, and I’ve picked up new followers at Twitter. I’m still not getting a lot of comments, but I think that’s somewhat normal. Unless there’s a giveaway or a controversy, people are not inclined to comment a lot, esp. where the dreaded Capcha is involved. Personally, I hate those things. So does Kristen Lamb.

For more information on Triberr and how it interacts with Twitter, check out this post by Kayelle Allen, founder of Marketing For Romance Writers and another Social Media maven:

Blog Titles Matter in Triberr: Tips for Authors by Kayelle Allen #RLFblog #author

So to blog or not to blog? What is your answer. Leave a comment if you can get past the Capcha!

And if social media generally has you befuddled, OCC’s own Elena Dillon will be teaching an online class on Social Media for the Confused and Terrified from April 14 â€“ May 11, 2014. I’m not terrified, but I often find myself confused, so I’ll be taking the class.

Linda McLaughlin / Lyndi Lamont

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