Category: The Writing Life

What is a Conversion Habit and Do I Need One?

I received an e-mail on May 4 from ProBlogger.com with a link to a blog post about conversion habits. I’m not a theology student. I didn’t have a clue what “conversion habits” were or if I needed to try to work them into my life. I didn’t know if a conversion habit was a good habit or a bad habit. ProBlogger.com is a trusted source, so I clicked on the link to learn more.

https://problogger.com/the-9-conversion-habits-of-the-worlds-most-successful-bloggers/

The blog was written by a guest blogger, John Stevens. Mr. Stevens, according to the blog, “is the CEO of Hosting Facts, a startup that helps consumers make data-backed decisions when choosing web hosts. He is also a frequent contributor to WebsiteSetup where he helps businesses set up their website.”

Used by the world’s greatest bloggers

The best I could tell, conversion habits are practices the world’s greatest bloggers use to convert a blog reader into a customer. Since I have nothing to sell at the moment, other than copies of my vintage postcard book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, three Morrison genealogies compiled by my sister and me, and several privately-printed-on-demand booklets I wrote about Rocky River Presbyterian Church history, I don’t think I need to expend my limited energy working on conversion habits. It’s not like I’m trying to get my books on the New York Times Bestseller List!

I didn’t really need anything to add to my “to-do” list, so I was relieved that I don’t need to be bothered with conversion habits – at least for now.

(Warning:  shameless plug — Incidentally, if you’re interested in purchasing one of my books, visit https://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com or visit your favorite independent bookstore.)

Mt. trip Dec.11-14,2014 031
The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina on the shelf at Lake Junaluska Bookstore.

That didn’t mean I didn’t keep reading the blog post, though. I am a curious person, and the post’s title promised me nine conversion habits. I got down to the ninth habit, thinking I was almost finished. I could delete the e-mail and go to bed. But no. The ninth conversion habit was, “They use prominent CTAs.”

What the heck is a prominent CTA?

Turn the light back on. There will be no sleeping tonight until I figure out what a prominent CTA is. I read on. The first sentence asked me what color my CTAs were. That sounded like a personal question to me, and I felt myself blush. Never fear! I surmised that you want your CTA to be a contrasting color to that of your logo.

The blog post went on to talk about the Von Restorff effect, which is also called the “isolation effect.” Not being a student of marketing, I wasn’t familiar with that effect. Mr. Stevens explained it as follows:  “this principle states that when confronted with multiple stimuli (in our case, CTAs), the stimuli that stand out the most wins our attention.”

Regaining my composure, I kept reading. The next sentence informed me that “your CTAs have a big impact on your conversion rates.” Since I don’t feel the need for conversion rates, I’m once again tempted to delete the e-mail and call it a night. I keep reading, though, because I still don’t have a clue what a CTA is, and I try to learn something new every day – even if it appears to be useless information. I read on.

Higher CTR

Mr. Stevens continued with, “Since your CTAs lead visitors to subscribe to your newsletter, download your eBooks or buy your courses, it makes sense to optimize it for higher CTR.” I don’t know what a CTR is, but it’s far too late in the evening to chase after that rabbit. After all, I need something to do tomorrow, right? (No – I’m too curious. Google search. CTR is currency transaction report. That’s all I need to know about that.)

Study results

I learned that a study revealed that changing the color of CTAs resulted in an increase of 21% in a blog’s conversion rate. That sounded impressive, so I looked at the illustrations. The best I could tell, a CTA is a clickable button that says something like, “Get started now!”

But what is a CTA?

A search on Google, “What is a CTA?” brought up the definition of a computed tomography angiography. I wasn’t just in the wrong pew, I was in the wrong church! Another search choice was “What is a CTA on a website?” Bingo!

The answer that popped up when I clicked on that option was, “In web design, a CTA may be a banner, button, or some type of graphic or text on a website meant to prompt a user to click it, and continue down a conversion funnel.”

That’s all?

My response to that explanation was, “That’s all?” (Peggy Lee should be singing, “Is That All There Is?” right about now! For those of you who don’t know who Peggy Lee was, that song was a big hit for her in 1969.) I just spent 10 minutes trying to learn what a CTA is and it’s just a button? I can see why they call it a CTA. That’s a lot more impressive than “button.”

The letdown

I feel like I’ve been on a wild goose chase. Tomorrow will I still remember what conversion habits and CTAs are? It makes me wonder if universities now offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Blogging. Are such courses as Conversion Habits 101 and CTAs 101 included in the required curriculum? Can one minor in CTR?

This stuff gives me a headache. All I want to do is write my novel and finish reading my current library book so I can start reading the next one.

All jokes aside, Mr. Stevens received wonderful comments and praise for his blog post. It was well-written, well-illustrated, and apparently contained useful information for people who are in the business of selling a product through their blog. I’m just not there yet. I highly recommend the blog post to anyone who is marketing a tangible product or something intangible such as a writing course.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. If you’re a writer, I hope you have productive writing time.

Janet

Z is for Zilch!

Zilch is what I’ve accomplished toward starting over to write my first historical novel. I have successfully completed the 2017 A to Z Blog Challenge by writing a post today that has something to do with the letter “Z.” I enjoyed parts of the challenge, but I’m glad English only has 26 letters! It was interesting and I picked up some new followers, but I don’t think I’ll do it again. Beginning on Tuesday, May 2, I plan to return to my former routine of blogging on Tuesdays and Fridays.

2017 A to Z Challenge Badge
Blogging from A to Z Challenge Badge 2017

With this blog challenge finished

I look forward to having more time to delve back into the various resources available to me as I keep researching the facts surrounding the core event in The Spanish Coin manuscript. Several more books are coming from two public library systems, so you know what I’ll be doing next week.

What happened to The Spanish Coin?

I revealed in my “H is for Historical Fiction” blog post on April 10, 2017 (H is for Historical Fiction) that I had discovered some pertinent information about the core of my story that necessitated my starting over. Several years (actually a decade) and 96,000 words later, I’m back to having a blank page.

My options

Since April 10 I have done a lot of thinking and reading. I’ll need to do a little more work on the research end of things and then determine how to rewrite The Spanish Coin. It might not survive with that working title. Or I might be able to salvage that title and change the circumstances of its importance. Or I might just take the spark of the true story as my inspiration and write a totally new story.

When I figure out which option to settle on, I’ll let you know.

With the A to Z Blog Challenge Finished

I look forward to having time to read more books. My current “Books I Want to Read” list is so long I fear I won’t live long enough to read all of them. With new books being released every month, the list just keeps growing.

Until my next blog (which should be on May 2)

I hope you have a good book to read. I’m enjoying Small Great Things, by Jodi Picoult, World of Toil and Strife: Community Transformation in Backcountry South Carolina, 1750-1805, by Peter N. Moore, and The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction, by James Alexander Thom. I have to take note and reread parts of Mr. Thom’s book occasionally. The bibliography in Mr. Moore’s book has already led me to more books I need to read before I figure out the verdict for The Spanish Coin.

If you’re a writer, I hope you have productive writing time. I hope you’ve gotten past the blank page stage on your first novel.

Janet

W is for Wufoo.com

I’m feeling my age today, after going up into the attic on Tuesday. Not a good idea for someone of my age with CFS/ME and fibromyalgia. That said, Wednesday wasn’t a good day for me to try to figure out something new on the computer. There’s really not a good day for me to do that. I should only attempt such tasks when I’m at the top of my game. With no such days on the horizon and needing to blog about something starting with the letter “W,” I forged ahead.

What starts with W?

On the 23rd day of the 2017 A to Z Blog Challenge, the featured letter is “W.” I’ve struggled over what to write about today. There are so many possibilities, including Why I Write, Writing, Webinars I’ve Attended, Wufoo.com, or the Where Writers Win website.

W is for Wufoo.com

Wednesday was the day I could finally sit down at the computer and try to figure out how Wufoo.com could integrate with MailChimp on WordPress.com so I could have a mailing list. In the event I ever want to announce something to my readers before or without making a public announcement, I need an e-mail mailing list.

Other bloggers have such lists, so how difficult can it be, right?

I spent a couple of hours on Wednesday afternoon working my way through the simple instructions on Wufoo.com trying to set up a way for me to add a sign-up form on my blog for a mailing list. As often happens, the list of “do this and you will see that” suckered me into thinking I could do. I improvised when I “did this and I didn’t see that.” I set up an account. I created a form. I filled in blanks. I wrote little notes to my readers telling them I would never share their information with anyone. I marked the parts of the form that are not optional. I went to WordPress.com and cut and pasted the Wufoo code so it would show up as the third widget down in my blog’s sidebar. I thought I had everything accomplished, but on Wednesday night as I schedule this blog post for 6:50 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, April 27, no such sign-up form has appeared on my blog.

It’s my fault

I in no way blame Wufoo.com for this. It is obviously an error on my part. It has been another frustrating day in the life of someone who is technologically-challenged and just wants to be a writer.

“I’d rather do it myself!”

One day I will have to give up on setting this mailing list up myself, but I will not give up on the mailing list. I’m trying not to bother my niece’s husband with this request. He set up my website, and I’m sure he can do this for me, too. I am reminded that as a very small child, one of my favorite things to say was, “I’d rather do it myself!” Apparently, that’s still true.

A to Z Blog Challenge

I’m delighted to note that there are only three days remaining in the A to Z Blog Challenge. Topics for “Y” and “Z” are still up for grabs, in case anyone has any suggestions for me. I’m looking for words starting with “Y” and “Z” that have something to do with writing for my blog on April 29 and 30, 2017.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. If you’re a writer, I hope you have productive writing time.

Janet

V is for Vocabulary and Voice

On this 22nd day of the 2017 A to Z Blog Challenge, the featured letter is “V.” Two options came to mind as I considered “V” words that have something to do with writing. Not able to decide which one to go with, I am writing about both:  Vocabulary and Voice.

V is for Vocabulary

As I do on a fairly regular basis, I’m going to show my ignorance. One of the things I like about reading books on my Kindle Fire is that I can simply rest my finger on a word I’m not familiar with and its definition pops up on the screen. I even find myself doing that while reading a traditional book! I laugh at myself and reach for a dictionary.

When contemplating today’s post early in April, my first thought was to blog about “V is for Vocabulary.” I started jotting down new words that I was learning.

Bildungsroman

Since Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville, North Carolina agreed to sell my vintage postcard book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina in 2014, I’ve been on the independent bookstore’s mailing list. I receive e-mail invitations to author events hosted by the shop. On April 6, the e-mail announced that Jackson County author David Joy would discuss his new novel, The Weight of This World, on April 22 at 3:00 p.m.

I’ve read about David Joy and his debut novel, Where All Light Tends to Go, but I haven’t gotten around to reading it. It picks up on the widespread drug problem that plagues the mountains in western North Carolina just as it does the rest of the United States. (Bear with me. I promise to get to Bildungsroman soon.)

Here it is two years later, and Mr. Joy’s second novel has been published. I was not able to go to Waynesville on April 22 to hear Mr. Joy speak but I plan to read one of his books the first chance I get.

Getting back to “V is for Vocabulary,” it was when I visited the website for the Cabarrus County Public Library system that I discovered that the genre in which Where All the Light Tends to Go is categorized as Bildungsroman. I didn’t have a clue what that meant.

Since I was at my computer, I took advantage of Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary. I learned that Bildungsroman is the combination of two German words: Bildung, meaning “education,” and Roman, meaning “novel.”

Hence, according to www.merriam-webster.com, a Bildungsroman “is a novel that deals with the formative years of the main character – in particular, his or her psychological development and moral education. The bildungsroman usually ends on a positive note with the hero’s foolish mistakes and painful disappointments over and a life of usefulness ahead.”

Anaphora

Ironically, later that same day, I read a post on JstinsonINK.com about the word anaphora. Quoting from Jonathan’s post, “Anaphora – This is a form of repetition where you repeat the beginning of a phrase multiple times in succession. Think the quote from The Help:  ‘You is smart. You is kind. You is important.’”

I talk to my dog, sometimes to the point that he gets up and walks away. He is a rescue dog, so he has self-confidence issues. I often say to him, “You is smart. You is kind. You is important.” Until three weeks ago, I had no idea that what I was doing was an anaphora.

I don’t regret majoring in political science in college but, if I’d known I would someday be a writer, I would have taken more English classes. It seems a shame to be my age and just now learn the meanings of Bildungsroman and Anaphora.

V is for Voice

A writer’s voice is his personality. It’s the way she expresses herself. Every writer has a unique voice.

Liebster Award

Since being nominated by Philip Craddock (philipcraddockwriter.wordpress.com) for the Liebster Award last April, I have found my voice on my blog. A criteria after being nominated for the Liebster Award is that you have to open up about yourself. It was then, in my April 6, 2016 blog post, that I “admitted” I have an illness that has my circadian clock off by about six hours, but I didn’t reveal the name of the illness. (I’ve always been a “night person,” but now I’m a “middle of the night person.”)

In my blog post on April 11, 2016, I listed 10 random facts about myself – which was required as a nominee for the Liebster Award. I explained that I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) as it’s known in the United States. In the rest of the world it is called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), so some of my readers in other countries might be familiar with it at ME.

My reticence

I was reticent to reveal this about myself because I didn’t want sympathy. I wanted people to read my blog because they liked what I had to say. I thought being open about my illness would hurt my chances of being represented by a literary agent and getting my work published.

Found:  My Voice!

What I discovered, though, was that sharing those very personal details about myself gave me the freedom to write more from my heart. I had found my voice!

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. If you’re a writer, I hope you have productive writing time.

Janet

U is for Unquote

The purpose of my blog is to share my journey as a writer. I share my successes, my discoveries, and my mistakes. I want you to know that I am human. (Those of you who know me personally, stop laughing!) Today I share a discovery about a mistake I have made numerous times.

This is the 21st day of the 2017 A to Z Blog Challenge, which bring us to the letter “U.”

I have always thought it was correct, when speaking, to frame a quote with “quote” and “end quote.” I stand corrected. I saw the word “unquote” in print a few days ago and wondered what it meant. I surprised to find out!

It seems that, although “end quote” sounds right and is still used by many of us, “unquote” has been in use for a century and “end quote” is not considered standard English in the United States. Learning the art and craft of writing has brought me many surprises. It’s amazing how many words I thought I used properly that I have discovered not to be the case when I stopped to look them up.

The next time I’m asked to speak about my vintage postcard book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, or at sometime in the future when I might be asked to speak about my hoped-to-be first novel, I will be well-served to remember to say “unquote” and not “end quote,” when reading a selection from my book.

My computer is making a racket (not a good sign!) so I’ll cut this post short. I hope I’ll be able to blog through the rest of the alphabet this week and successfully complete this A to Z Blog Challenge. It would be a shame if I got this far and had to quit!

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. If you’re a writer, I hope you have quality writing time.

Janet

P is for a Paragraph I Liked

This is the 16th day of the A to Z Blog Challenge, so today’s letter is “P.” I chose to write about a paragraph I liked in a novel I read, Prayers the Devil Answers, by Sharyn McCrumb. The following is in narrative form, as opposed to dialogue, and is from the point of view of Albert’s wife:

“Back when Albert was still awake, when I had no inkling of what was to come, I did not try to talk to him about anything other than how he felt and whether he wanted to eat or sleep. Later on I wished I had thought to ask him bigger questions, but that would have meant admitting to myself and to him that he was not coming back. As bad as I needed to know things, I could not have done that. Taken away his hope of surviving – I could not have done that.”

prayers-the-devil-answers-9781476772813_lg
Prayers the Devil Answers, A novel by Sharyn McCrumb

Albert in Prayers the Devil Answers was dying, but his wife could not bring herself to say anything to Albert that would make him know that he was dying.

That was the way I felt as my father was dying when I was 24 years old. No one that close to me had ever died. It was new territory for me. When I was a little older and wiser, I realized that he surely knew that death was near.

So many questions I never asked. So many things I left unsaid.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. (I finished reading In Order to Live:  A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom, by Yeonmi Park, last night. I highly recommend it!)

If you are a writer, I hope you have productive writing time.

Janet

O is for Outline, or Are you a Pantser?

On this 15th day of the 2017 A to Z Blog Challenge, I’m charged with writing about the letter “O.” When thinking of the letter in terms of writing, two things come to mind:  outline and Oxford comma. Only an English teacher or writer could find either of those topics interesting. At the risk of losing all my blog followers, today I will write about outlining. This will be short and, hopefully, somewhat humorous.

Outlines when a student

When I look back on my years as a student, one of the assignments that never failed to strike fear in my heart was the outline. Looking back on those dreaded outlines, I know what caused them to make my brain freeze up. It was the rigid structure of the outline. It was the Roman numerals. It was the perfect symmetry that was required. Nothing squelches creativity faster than a set of rules.

When I was in school, an outline had to take the form of Roman numerals, capital letters, Arabic numerals, and lower case letters. Every part of the outline had to balance or be in perfect symmetry with every other part of the outline. It was that perfect symmetry that always tripped me up.

Sort of like poetry

The only assignment worse than “Make an outline” was “Write a poem.” Poems had rigid rules, too, and I didn’t have a lyrical bone in my body. I still remember the assignment one day in elementary school:  “Go home tonight and write a poem about a bird.” I sweated bullets over that assignment, but I digress.

Do you outline, or are you a pantser?

Writers fall into two camps:  those who outline and those who write by the seat of their pants. Many successful and respected authors say they never outline. They sit down at the computer and just let the story come to them. Other successful and respected authors always write with an outline. They say they need that road map to keep them on track with the story line.

I’m not a successful or respected writer, but I always outline. That is just bizarre, considering my background in outline hatred. Let me clarify, though. Outlining as a writer has looser rules than the ones I had to make in school. I don’t have to turn in the outline for a grade. My outline will not be seen or critiqued by anyone, unless I so choose.

Scenic plot outline

Where I hit my stride in writing now is when I get past the basic outline and move on to the scenic plot outline. In a scenic plot outline, I divide each chapter into scenes. I make enough notes about each scene so I can recall what I had in mind days or weeks later when I get around to writing that scene. My scenic plot outline is made up of single words, phrases, and sentences – whatever I think I’ll need later to remind me of what I had in mind as I thought through the plot. I rely on the scenic plot outline when it’s time to flesh out the scene in the rough draft.

Where I am today

All that said, the word “outline” still scares me. Today I find myself at a place of decision in light of the fact that I concluded a week ago that I needed to start over on my novel in progress. If I’m going to pursue the writing of a historical novel based on the 1771 event I want to work with, I need to do additional research before I can outline the story. That lets me off the hook for a little while, but the day will come – and it won’t be long – when I have to patch together something that resembles an outline.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. And whether you are outline or you’re a pantser, If you’re a writer, I hope you have productive writing time.

Janet

M is for MailChimp

On this the 13th day of the 2017 A to Z Blog Challenge, the featured letter is “M.” (13 letters down, 13 to go!) I had planned to write about my experience in setting up a way for people to subscribe to my e-newsletter. From what I’ve read by other bloggers, MailChimp seems to be the vehicle of choice. My plan was to write about how I had, without assistance, been able to accomplish this.

Best laid plans

Alas! I have failed. Since my blog is about my journey as a writer, I share my successes and my failures. As you can see in the sidebar to the left, my “Subscribe to Janet’s e-Newsletter” widget is not working. This is due to operator error.

I will not be deterred!

I will continue to work on this. As I write this blog post at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), the widget is not clickable. If I get the problem figured out in the next hour or so, I will correct it and perhaps it will be operable by the time this post is published at 6:50 a.m. EDT. (But I doubt it.)

Janet Morrison Books Newsletter

There is no newsletter yet, but I wanted to start developing a mailing list for the day I get my act together enough to write one. So, never fear! You are not going to miss my first newsletter. It has not been written. It might be months or years before I have anything newsworthy to put in a newsletter. It is another one of those things that writers are encouraged to have.

If anyone out there can help me

I will joyfully accept any assistance you are able and willing to offer me. Like I have stated many times before on my blog, I am technologically challenged. I am out of my comfort zone when it comes to all things electronic.

I read about a hack

I read about a hack for getting MailChimp to work on WordPress.com, but it was beyond my capabilities. It involved designing a sign up form on MailChimp, taking a picture of it, cropping the photo, and uploading it into WordPress.com. If I could do all that, I wouldn’t be asking for help in setting it up in the first place!

WordPress.com bloggers

I know you’re out there. Any idea what I’m doing wrong? Any idea what I need to do to get this to work? Feel free to leave advice in the comments section below. (Remember, I need directions in layman’s terms – no technical terms, please.)

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. If you’re a writer, I hope you have quality writing time.

Janet

Disclaimer:  This is in no way an endorsement of MailChimp. Nor is it my intent to present MailChimp in a bad light. I have used MailChimp to subscribe to other writers’ newsletter and the process was seamless. Eventually, I’m sure you will be able to subscribe to my newsletter just as easily.

J is for Jot

“J” is the featured letter on this the 10th day of the 2017 A to Z Blog Challenge. There were many options. Among them were jelly, jacket, jazz, jackpot, junk, justice, judge, jagged, jolly, jokes, jury, jiggle, and jalopy.

2017 A to Z Challenge Badge
Blogging from A to Z Challenge Badge 2017

I was about to give up finding a “J” word that had something to do with writing, when I saw a word that intrigued me. At the risk of running off all my blog readers, I have chosen to write about the word “jot.” Pretty exciting stuff, eh?

Jot as a noun or a verb

To my surprise, when I checked for the official dictionary definition, I discovered that jot is not only a verb and a noun but it’s a noun in two ways.

Jot as a verb

One jots down a quick note. That is what comes to my mind when I hear the word. It is a word I don’t hear as much as I used to. I suppose in this day of texting, people don’t “jot” as much as they used to. Then, the phrase from the Bible, “one jot or one tittle” came to mind, and I realized it is also a noun.

Jot as two nouns

In fact, it has two meanings as a noun. Jot can mean (1) a slight but appreciable amount or (2) a note that is jotted down.

Jot as a small amount

The King James Version of the New Testament Book of Matthew, chapter five, verse 18 reads as follows:  “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

The King James Version of the Bible was the one in general use when I was a child, so “one jot and one tittle” was familiar to me from many years ago. I read more modern translations of the Bible now, so it has been a while since I’ve read those particular words.

What’s a tittle?

The archaic definition of the word “tittle,” in case you’re wondering, was a small printed stroke or dot. It was used to signify an omitted letter or letters in a word. I guess it’s what we call an apostrophe. The modern definition is essentially the same as the definition of a jot.

Jot as a note

I don’t recall ever hearing jot used to mean a note that is jotted down. If I jot down a note or list, I think of it as a note or a list. I’ve never thought about it as a jot. I’ve learned something.

Useless information?

When I told my sister that I was blogging about the word jot, she made some snide comment about this being useless information. Maybe it is, unless you are a wordsmith and have a great memory for definitions.

Until my next blog

I have 24 hours to come up with a word that starts with the letter “k” that has something to do with writing. I’m beginning to wonder why I committed to this blog challenge!

I hope you have a good book to read. (I’m reading Bittersweet, by Colleen McCullough and The Source, by James A. Michener.)

If you’re a writer, I hope you have productive writing time and that you aren’t as confused as I am about what to do with the novel I’ve worked on off and on for a decade.

Janet

I is for Irony

For the ninth day of the A to Z Blog Challenge, I chose to write about the word, “irony.” I selected it because it was one of only a few i-words I could think of that has something to do with writing.

Irony can be thought of in several terms. Irony can mean a paradox. Irony can mean sarcasm or mockery. Dramatic irony is a technique used in literature through which the reader or audience knows something about the character that the character doesn’t know about himself. Dramatic irony has its roots in the Greek tragedies.

I had planned to write about dramatic irony today, but after what happened to me over the weekend I feel compelled to write about just plain irony. That’s ironic.

If you haven’t already done so, you might want to pause here and read my blog post from yesterday, “H is for Historical Fiction.” The irony of my situation yesterday was that I had thought a blog post about historical fiction would be easy to write, but it turned out to be difficult.

I mentioned author James Alexander Thom in yesterday’s blog post. Ironically, I found a comment by Mr. Thom about irony on his website (www.jamesalexanderthom.com) today. Six of his historical novels, including Follow the River, are available in electronic form.

followlg

I found the following statement and quote on the website:

“The author finds the news good, but ironic, musing, ‘I use every bit of my skill and imagination to take my readers hundreds of years into the past – and now they’ll visit those old days through the screen of an electronic gizmo.’”

That’s irony.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. If you’re an author, I hope you have quality writing time.

Janet