Contest | Cathy C. Hall Writes

The time has come, says Cathy C. , to talk of many things. Of blogs, and comments, posts and such, and cabbages and kings.

I’ve been doing a bit of blog surfing lately, reading interviews, interesting posts, and commenting when I see something I like. So, I’ve gathered a few suggestions for blogging etiquette (and such).

Firstly, when someone comes by and leaves a comment, try to remember posting a simple “thanks for stopping by.” Treat your guests royally, especially if your guest is new to the blog neighborhood. And most especially if your guest has left a comment so nice, you feel like a King (or Queen)!

Secondly, don’t make it too difficult for a visitor to post a comment. It’s one thing when a guest has to decipher the squiggly letter thingie. It’s another thing entirely when a guest has to sign up with a server, fill out a half-page form, remember a new password, and promise the first born child before posting the teensiest comment. I know it’s important to keep the bad old spammers away, but seriously? You don’t want to keep the good guys away, too. Especially if you’re hosting a blog tour-and the blog hostee can’t post!

Thirdly, you might want to consider visiting a commenter who’s visited you. Tit for tat, blog-speaking. It only takes a moment to share a little blog love.

I think that’s it. Except for working cabbages in here, somehow. I’ve just always liked that part of Lewis Carroll’s The Walrus and the Carpenter… Oh, I know! Leave me a comment with the word “cabbages” in it. Making relative sense, mind you. And I’ll pick one of the comment writers to get the latest writing book I finished (Query Letters That Rock! It’s autographed, and it’s full of good query info).

Update: You have till the end of March to post your lovely cabbages comment. And I should probably add that Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell penned the prize, Query Letters That Rock. You can read more of their fab tips if you visit The Renegade Writers (see my Favorite Detours). Those Renegade Writers Rock like Cabbages! (I just made that up-do you think it will catch on?)

Found some interesting things this week, so no time to dilly-dally about…

A big Thanks and shout out to my techno-genius bud, Bill Elder, who told me about Daily Booth. It’s a social network that prompts you to catalog your life, one day at a time, through pictures of your face. That’s right, your face. Kind of like the picture booths you see in the malls, only it’s online and allows you to hook up and network with other Daily Boothers and their faces. I have a fantabulous idea for this application, sort of with my face, but not exactly with my face (because even though I am cute as a button (see my face), it takes work to get me looking this cute. Who’s got time for that every day?) So stay tuned! And check out Daily Booth if you just can’t get enough of yourself.

But if you’re not so much into pictures, you should check out Ralan’s, a fantabulous site filled with markets, contests, anthologies and such. I used to check Ralan’s on a regular basis, but then my computer went AWOL (Is she still harping about that? Yes, she is.) and I lost all my bookmarks. Slowly but surely, I’m getting them back where they belong. And thank goodness I remembered Ralan’s, ’cause the markets and such are of the speculative fiction variety (one of my faves for short stories) AND the humor variety (Coincidentally, another big fave). So, if humor and spec fiction is on your Writing To Do List, then zip over to Ralan’s.

And finally, I came across a little tidbit about President Obama and his tweetin’ while he was on the campaign trail. Really? The President on Twitter? Seriously? With all that man has to worry about and he’s busy coming up with 140 character tweets??? Wonder if he’s still tweetin’? ‘Cause if he is, I’m definitely signing up with Twitter.

Then I can say, “Oh, yeah. Me and the President…we’re like this (picture my face, cheek to cheek with you-know-who).”