Blogs That Work - Dollybelle's Peep Show

A little preface about me and my tastes: I like just about everything. As long as it makes me think, laugh or feel good, and it's well written, I like it. Even if it's pink and girly or dark and gritty or fancy and literary. Ok? Here we go.

I'm wild about this month's Blog That Works. I met this sparkly blogger at one of my Blog to Book workshops but had the pleasure of reviewing her blog before the event, so I could get a good feel for what she was trying to accomplish with her online platform so far. And I was not disappointed. This former agent wished for a split second she was signing writers again - really, I would have nabbed her right then and there and figured out the finer details later - Ms. Christine Rose Elle's, Dollybelle's Peep Show delivered a well organized and visually stimulating blog package in pink. With ruffles and polka dots. Not only was the delivery stimulating (my inner 7 year old felt like she was in the middle of the Barbie aisle at Target!), but the content was fun, fresh and absolutely delightful.

Here's how the daily peep show rolls out, thematically: Candyman Monday; Sweet Treat Tuesday; Well-being Wednesday; Flirty Thursday; and La Femme Friday. All with a very feminine angle but also with humor, thought, heart and keen attention to detail (Christine has an impressive background in fashion and costume design in LA and San Francisco and worked for over a decade for Betsy Johnson). She covers everything from Dita Von Teese to literature's more handsome fellas to listening to your inner Lovey Howell (yes, the classy lady from Gilligan's Island).

Bottom line: the whole package from the fun and sparkly visuals, to the organization of the posts, to Christine's unique voice and fresh perspective and modern take on feminism, to her professional background, hooked me. 

And now she's launched a new ezine, Belle Femme Gazette, which cross references/publishes content from DPS along with original contributions from other writers. Way to build that platform, Christine!

Here's my interview with Christine Rose Elle, creator of Dollybelle's Peep Show (and Belle Femme Gazette):

What inspired you to create Dollybelle’s Peep Show?

CRE: "I started Dollybelle’s Peepshow when I moved to Rome Italy so that I would have a way to share with my friends and family all the wonderful experiences I thought I might have.  The posts I did from Italy were all very visual and inspiration based. I don’t think my family actually read my blog that much, but it seemed to resonate with ladies like me who love culture and beauty."

How have the daily posts inspired your writing?

CRE: "For me one of the main benefits of posting daily, in addition to getting really creative with content, is that it has forced me to deal with my “perfectionism.” I consider perfectionism a terrible malady for creating because when our standards and expectations are stringent and impossibly high, we tend not to share our thoughts, ideas and creativity because it isn’t quite up to our standards yet. Only it never will be.  So I learned that the health of my productivity is dependent on the notion that I don’t have to be perfect. I do my best, and then put it out there."

You write a lot about the idea of “radiance" - it's a big part of your hook. Tell us a little bit about what you mean by living radiantly. How does your blog help us to be mindful of radiant living?

CRE: "We all know radiant people when we see them, and there is something about them that is so inspiring. People, who cherish themselves so deeply, become masterful at self-care and nurturing. They know that this is the one precious life that we have, and they follow their bliss accordingly. Radiant people are not perfect, they just can see the big picture and know how to fit into it with self-confidence and self-love. This is their gift to others.

My blog is about the pursuit of this radiance. How can we get more mindful of our daily actions, cherish ourselves and this life, and hopefully inspire others to do the same.

My particular pursuit of radiance comes out of my love for style, glamour and femininity. I feel like my best self when I have a pretty dress on and cute shoes. Like so many other women, one of my icons is Audrey Hepburn. She had radiance in spades. It wasn’t just her outer beauty that people loved so much, but her sweet and generous heart."

If you had to choose a favorite day to post, which would it be?

CRE: "I live for Well-being Wednesday. Those are the posts that I think really reflect who I am. I am always on a quest for a more mindful life. These are the posts that just flow out of me. I don’t even know where half of them come from.  But I know that I so deeply and sincerely want the well being for all women. And this quest begins with nurturing self, and feeling confident that this self-love will spill out and inspire others."

And just for fun, given your background (and because I love clothes), if your life could be personified as a fashion item, what would it be?

CRE: "I think my life used to be a tightly laced corset. Terribly beautiful on the outside, but constricting and suffocating.

When I began my quest for well-being, my life turned into that perfect vintage pink polka dot dress. Fitted to perfection, glamorous, comfortable, a few flaws, and the most delicious flowey, twirly skirt. Perfect for the creative adventures of a lady with much to do, but who makes time to smell the roses too."

I encourage you to stop by Dollybelle's Peep Show and have a look at this well branded blog. After reading some of the posts and feasting your eyes on the visuals, you'll feel like you've had a nice chat with your best girlfriend in her pink vintage kitchen. Enjoy!

Blogs That Work - The Girlfriends Book Club

This month's Blog That Works is The Girlfriends Book Club - a collaborative author blog that succeeds in bringing loads of great tips, stories and perspective about the writer's life to new and seasoned writers as well as providing women's fiction authors a supportive community to share and creatively promote their work while connecting authors to their readers.

The Girlfriends Book Club is a blog I've been following for several months. Author Karin Neches (who has contributed to TLCG) directs an impressive roster of best selling, award-winning and notable women's fiction authors through daily posts organized by a monthly theme (this month has been all about process).

I chose Girlfriends Book Club as this month's BTW because of its collaborative nature, organization and great posts by an impressive list of authors (like Ellen Meister, Wendy Tokunaga, Lauren Baratz-Logsted and many more). I gladly support all the authors on GBC because of their contribution to the writing community and commitment to their readers.

I asked Karin Neches a few questions about The Girlfriends Book Club:

TLC: How did The Girlfriend's Book Club develop?

KN: The Girlfriends Book Club came out of a virtual tour group called the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit, started back in 2004. Members used to host and promote girlfriends books on their individual blogs. We were one of the first groups to do virtual tours and, as a result, got shout-outs in the Village Voice and NY Times.

But after a while everyone started getting a little blog weary. It’s tough to keep up a personal blogs for years so, one of our members , noticing the success of group author blogs like Murderati and Lipstick Chronicles, suggested we start a group blog for women fiction authors. Now we only have to blog every ninety days or so although some members still maintain personal blogs.

TLC: Are there requirements for authors to become a member of the blog?

KN: You have to be a female, traditionally published author of women’s fiction and we usually only take on new authors when someone leaves. However we love guest bloggers so any authors of women fiction are welcome to pitch a blog. Just email me Karin Gillespie at karin_gillespie (@) gmail.com

TLC: How important do you feel collaboration is in today's book selling climate?

KN: I’ve always been big on collaboration, whether it be the GBC or touring with other authors. Marketing people will claim that collaboration can dilute the author brand, but I don’t give a fig. It’s lonely being a writer and it’s great to chum up with thirty some odd “girlfriends.” Privately we solicit each other’s advice and support each other’s new releases on Facebook and Twitter. It’s truly an old girlfriend network.

I can't think of a better resource for writers than a supportive community. And I agree with Karin, there is strength in numbers - the writing process is lonely enough. Check out Girlfriends Book Club, subscribe, book mark it, do whatever you need to be in the loop. I never miss a post.

TLC

Blogs That Work - Lisa Rivero's Writing Life

This month's Blog That Works is Writing Life hosted by author, teacher and speaker, Lisa Rivero. I first became familiar with Lisa when she began following my blog and making regular comments here on TLCG so I of course had to check out her blog...and I'm so glad I did! Writing Life is one of the few blogs I subscribe to and always enjoy. Lisa's thoughtful posts on the creative life always capture my full attention and leave me with something to think about for the rest of the day, or more.

What I find especially intriguing are her "Flash Narratives" or micro short stories about her great-aunt Hattie, who lived on the Great Plains and kept a diary of her experiences from 1920-1957. Lisa is in the middle of crafting a book around Hattie's pioneer-like life and uses Flash Narrative as a tool to not only capture her audience but inspire her writing in the larger work.

I had a chance to speak with Lisa about her bog and the larger piece. Here's what she had to say:

TLC: We spoke a bit about how sharing Hattie's story online has affected your storytelling on the page. Could you share a bit more about that?

LR: Something I've learned through my teaching of creative thinking is that creativity often needs boundaries in order to thrive. Before I began writing the flash narratives on my blog, I sometimes felt overwhelmed by Hattie's life and story. She wrote daily entries from January 1, 1920 through the first months of 1957--nearly seventy volumes. Not only did she change a lot in that time, but the world around her changed as well. Another question I had was whether Hattie's life would be interesting to anyone outside of my family.

By giving myself a word limit and writing about specific incidents or experiences, I've been able to explore different aspects of the diaries without having to commit to a voice or tense or perspective. I've found that, week by week, I'm becoming a better storyteller. I tend to get too wrapped up in the nuances of language when I write, but writing flash pieces forces me to tell a story succinctly, without unnecessary embellishment.

Also, I've greatly enjoyed getting feedback from other readers! Knowing what parts of the stories are meaningful (and which are not) is invaluable as I move forward. We are living in a time when these handwritten records of past lives are more precious than ever.

TLC: Could you tell us a bit about what led you to this process of flash narrative?

LR: My friend and fellow Wisconsin writer Christi Craig had been posting weekly flash fiction pieces on her blog (http://writingunderpressure.wordpress.com/) and was featured earlier this year on a local radio program, where she read a flash work. She suggested I consider submitting a piece based on my Hattie project, and I immediately knew that writing short, focused stories based on the diaries would be the perfect way not only to share my project (without sharing too much in the way of lengthy excerpts) but also to practice my story-telling.

TLC: As more and more writers feel the pressure to join the great online community to blog, most don't know where to start. The most successful bloggers have compelling content, attractive looking blogs, bells and whistles, etc. . . . but how to get there? By planning and always keeping your content fresh and original. For those writers who would like to blog but don't want to share their personal opinions/thoughts, etc., flash narrative might be a great place to start. It's certainly an effective way to capture an audience without spending months of time submitting to literary journals (which you should also do, don't get me wrong), not to mention hone your craft.

Thanks to Lisa Rivero for sharing her blog with us today. I encourage you to check it out. I'm totally hooked.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

TLC

About the Blogger:

Lisa Rivero lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she is a writer, teacher, indexer, and speaker. Her professional and writing interests include gifted education, home education, creativity, literature and the humanities, and the challenges faced by all families in this fast-paced and often perplexing 21st-century life. Her published books include Creative Home Schooling (Great Potential Press, 2002), The Homeschooling Option (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Teens (Great Potential Press, 2010), and The Smart Teens’ Guide to Living with Intensity (Great Potential Press, 2010). She is currently writing a novel based on the Great Plains diaries of Harriet E. Whitcher, and has written a middle grade historical novel about the life of homesteader and film maker Oscar Micheaux.

Blogs That Work - Leo Adam Biga, Cultural Journalist

The best blogs serve a purpose greater than sharing miscellaneous tid bits about the blogger's day - they educate, inform, inspire, humor, enlighten - they share a unique perspective.

Today's Blog That Works spotlight shines on Leo Adam Biga, Omaha's most prolific award-winning cultural journalist. Biga's eclectic body of work spans from Omaha filmmaker Alexander Payne (Sideways; About Schmidt) to fashion and film making to Warren Buffett and just about everything in between. Rather than collect his published pieces in files, unexposed to new readers, Biga collected his published work and archived them on his blog. Why? To gain new readers and showcase his body of work to prospective clients.

Here's what Biga had to say:

"My blog is primarily intended as a showcase of my cultural journalism. I want the visitor to the site to experience it the way they would a gallery featuring my work. This exhibition or sampling quickly reveals my brand -- "I write stories about people, their passions, and their magnificent obsessions" -- as well as the scope of my work within that brand, which is quite broad and eclectic. The home page features 10 of my stories, each in their entirety, and those front page stories, which change every few days or weeks, consistently reflect the wide range of interests, subjects, and themes found on the blog. The blog is set up so that whether the visitor is on the home page or clicks on to any page featuring an individual story the entire inventory or index of stories on the blog is always accessible, organized by tags, categories, et cetera. Visitors can also search the site by using key words.

The blog is not monetized. So why do I repurpose my work in this way? Well, every writer likes to have his or her work read, therefore on one level I do it in order to find a new, perhaps larger audience for the stories. The blog is an excellent way for me to have an expanded Web presence. In addition to it, I have a LinkedIn site, a Google site, and a Facebook site, among others, most of them linked to each other. I also use the blog as a portfolio I refer contacts and prospective clients to."

And Leo tells me showcasing his body of work blog style has allowed those interested in hiring Biga for new writing gigs to get a good feel for his writing. He's received more offers to write than if he hadn't set up the blog as his massive online writing brochure.

Leo goes on to say, "The real satisfaction I suppose comes in having a public gallery of my work, even if it only is a small sampling of it, that I can refer or direct people to or that people can discover all on their own. In fact, it appears as if the vast majority of visitors to my site end up there by virtue of Web searches they do and their finding links to my blog as part of the search results that come up. Because I have so many stories out there on so many different topics my blog shows up as part of an endless variety of searches. It's also kind of fun to have people I wrote about, in some cases years ago, find stories I did about them and contact me, reliving old times or bringing me up to date with what they're doing today. "

Check out Leo's blog. There really is something for every reader.

TLC

Next on The Lit Coach's Guide

Join me next week in welcoming author of the about to be released novel, Coffins of Little Hope (Unbridled Books, 2011), Timothy Schaffert to TLCG. Timothy will be discussing the hows and whys of (downtown) omaha lit fest and its role in Omaha's literary community...as we wrap up this month's focus, Getting to Know Your Literary Neighbors.

...and by the way, big congratulations to Timothy for the starred review in Publisher's Weekly for Coffins of Little Hope - the novel comes out next month.

Also next week, I'll highlight a new blog for Blogs That Work and answer reader questions with another round of Q&A with The Lit Coach.

Wishing you a fruitful, creative weekend!

TLC

Blogs That Work: "Writing in the Margins," by Maria Clara Paulino

Welcome to the first installment of Blogs That Work! As I mentioned in an earlier post, this monthly segment is meant to highlight blogs from unpublished authors who focus on bringing their readers compelling, focused content, consistently. What's compelling content? Writing that's crisp, thoughtful, and delivers to the reader an interesting perspective.

So let's dig in!

Clara Paulino and I met last summer through She Writes. I became familiar with her creative work and was immediately drawn to a few stories in her blog, Writing in the Margins. I was intrigued by her "musings on a home in-between places, languages, ways of seeing" because it alluded to me that Clara picked up those delicious details from everyday life most people leave behind corners and under the rug. I was not disappointed.

The first blog I read, I think, was "Atmospheric adventures and the fate of the cucumber," where Clara introduced me to her seaside home in Porto, Portugal, where she is from and is a visiting professor at the university (she's spent years in the US and throughout Europe). She also introduced me to Ms. Maria, a local 80-something vegetable peddler who has worn nothing but all black from head to foot for the past thirty years and blames what's going on up in space (due to the USA space program) for the change in her cucumbers. Through rich imagery, expert photography and near perfect use of dialog, Clara captures the essence of a life in-between in Porto.

I've considered breaking up the dialog Paulino uses in her post to illustrate what I mean, but it's impossible for me to find a good place to break in - the scene is seamless, which is the mark of a blog that works.

I fell in love with Ms. Maria and Clara's seaside city, but Clara was unsure of what else to write, how else to direct her blog. Sometimes she liked to post poetry and other times thoughts on the creative life. I advised her to keep bringing us stories just like Ms. Maria because she clearly had a brilliant way of capturing her city and its people.

Since I began reading this blog, I've learned a lot about Portugal's not-so-distant fascist history and how passports and an education could get you in trouble; why the Portuguese don't take the word LOVE lightly and how a daughter could learn more about her mother through how she is remembered and presented by others.

Why does this blog work? As I said, some of the best dialog economically written; rich material; and though Clara is the author and it's through her perspective that we're able to experience the story, it's not "ME" driven. She is a generous, brilliant storyteller who considers her audience.

Success! Clara's nonfiction piece, Twice The River Flows is featured in the March issue of LOST Magazine (another must-read online creative writing source). Her piece, Blue Sunday was an editor's pick on Open Salon and A British Melody in Portugal was featured on Krista Tippet's On Being blog.

In the words of one of my friends who follows the blog as well, "I feel my life is richer for having read it." I couldn't agree more!

I hope you love it, too! Dig in and enjoy.

TLC

Introducing, Blogs That Work!

Blogs That Work is a new monthly segment on The Lit Coach's Guide that will feature one must-read blog from an unpublished writer. The goal of this segment is to spotlight compelling, thoughtful content with a clear direction from writers who are seeking publication (regardless of format or routes to get there).

Here's what I'm looking for:

COMPELLING writing!
CONSISTENCY of voice and posting
VISUAL elements that enhance the material


Here's a list of elements that are great blog features but don't factor into my decision of what blogs are worth reading:

HUGE following
ZILLIONS of links
INTERACTIVE features
AWARDS bestowed

Again, having an interactive blog with a big following is great and important to your platform building, but this is an effort to focus on clarity and consistency of content and the blog's overall value to the writing community. It's about a writer's creative discipline and focus.

I welcome all suggestions through email as long as the content is clean (I'll allow a few naughty words); and your attempt to promote your blog is in earnest (not spammy). I can't guarantee I'll showcase every blog that's suggested to me, but I'll consider it. And of course, every blog highlighted will have the author's permission.

Look for the new Blogs That Work post this weekend! I've got a few great ones lined up.

Have a great weekend, writers!

TLC