Do you agree?
Well, that's the name of a blog I find in my inbox every morning. I love that title. It leaves the content wide open to whatever the participating authors want to discuss. Sometimes poignant, sometimes hilarious, usually something to think about.
That got me thinking about what makes a blog worth reading and why readers/subscribers keep coming back to a site. I have a long list of bookmarked blogs: Killer Characters, Mystery Lovers Kitchen Type M for murder, Writers Who Kill, One Woman Crime Wave, Mystery Writing is Murder, Cozy Chicks, Meanderings & Muses, The Stiletto Gang...and one that just a whole lot of fun -- My Book, The Movie. These are just a few on that long list.
After checking that the correct blog has been posted on Mystery Maven Canada, or writing it, I always check Killer Characters. That's because Erika Chase is part of the contributing group of mainly cosy writers. And also, because it's enjoyable. Then I read at least one of the other bookmarked blogs. I have a long list and not enough hours in the day to do more than that.
It's an effective way to keep up with what's happening in the writing world and possibly a validation that my ramblings are not all that unusual. Because it's often hard to come up with topics. That's no surprise. The fall season is upon us and that means a bumper crop of new mysteries on the scene (I'll do that blog next week). However, in other areas, the publishing world is in maintenance mode. No startling revelations, no bankruptcies, no closing of stores or distributors. All this is great...but not much fodder for a blogger.
So, I'm asking you -- reader, writer, blogger -- what do you find interesting in a blog? What brings you back to the site? What are some of your favourites? I'm serious -- I really want to know. This could be the start of another blog.
Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
A Killer Read, coming April, 2012
from Berkley Prime Crime
