Why Do I Blog? Good Question! (Writer's Workshop/Back2Blogging Day 5)

I ask myself this question a lot lately because I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by Linky deadlines and the feeling that I should visit all the other links but just don't have the time and if I did, why would I want to spend all day and evening on the computer?  I guess I'm just addicted to blogging now but do get pleasure out of posting things people find funny or interesting, but this SITS Back2Blogging Challenge has really put the pressure on and tuckered me out—talk about time-consuming! 

So, why do I blog? 

• We learn a lot through blogging—tips, places, needs of others and new things like blogging pets! 
• I enjoy writing over talking.
• It’s fun to read about thoughts, views, lifestyles and experiences of others, including the cats and dogs.
• Sharing with others is just something I like to do.
• We have made some new friends through blogging through exchanging comments.
• I find blogging challenging and I like a challenge.

What if we all stopped?  I know I would miss blogging now that I’ve been bitten by the blogging bug.  We would have so much more time though to do other things such as:  Watch TV, clean, get to know our neighbors, go places, read more books, visit people face-to-face, exercise, play more with my pets and talk more with my husband.  What would you do if you didn’t blog.  I think I would get bored after awhile.

Here’s my blogging challenge:  Let’s everyone stop blogging completely for two weeks—no posting, no scheduling posts, no commenting or reading others blogs.  If everyone stopped at the same time, we wouldn’t be missing anything.  I think it is a great idea!  Everyone may come back refreshed with lots of ideas and anxious to do it some more.  On the other hand, we may find that we really don’t miss it and could get on with other things in our life.  Now, which two weeks should the blogosphere take a vacation?  I’m thinking maybe November.  We have to plan it far enough ahead to get the word out.  Who’s with me on this?  Leave your suggestions in the comments.  What do you think?

This post is in response to Day 5 of SITS Back2Blogging  and Mama Kat's Writer’s Workshop prompt:  Why do you blog? What purpose does it serve you and how have you benefited from sharing a piece of yourself online this way?  Here are links to my other posts I wrote for this challenge--Whew!



Day 1--The First Blog Post I Ever Wrote
Day 2--Lenore, The Love of His Life
Day 3--A Title I Am Proud Of:  Why Wash Your Car
Day 4--Inspired By Marva Collins

Over at SITS there is a giveaway going on in connection with "Back To Blogging." The giveaway is a washer and dryer from sponsors, Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances.

This is part of Saturday Samplings at Half Past Kissin' Time.

Teaser Tuesday Sept. 14: "Where Are You Now?" and "Freedom"

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought I would play for fun! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.

Karen's:

And that made me think of my father's anxiety when Mack disappeared and the anxiety Leesey Andrew's father must be feeling now.  Last night on the eleven o'clock news, holding back tears, Dr. Andrews had held up his daughter's picture and pleaded for assistance in finding her. 

From p. 76 of Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark

Gerard's:

As he began to feel the heat of the flames outside and inside, even through all the water raining down on him, the killing machine entered his safe room and unfolded both sword blades with swift precision.  The bike was stained with cooked blood and charred flesh.

From p. 12 of Freedom (The sequel to the national bestseller Daemon) by Daniel Suarez. See Gerard's review of Daemon.

Teaser Tuesday: One Non-fiction and Two Teen Books

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Click on any of the links below to see our reviews.

Karen's books:

Part of me is Mary.  I want to worship extravagantly.  I want to sit at his feet.
But part of me is Martha--and there's just so much to do!

From p. 7 of Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver.

Mama's body seems to stiffen.  "I have cancer."
The word pounds me like a tidal wave.  I feel myself drowning.  I take a deep breath, trying to stay above the water.

From p. 51 of Never Blame the Umpire by Gene Fehler. (Teen)

Gerard's:

"He's been diagnosed so many freaken' times, I can't keep it straight.  There's the ADHD.  And they think he has attachment disorder.  And sometimes they put him on the autism spectrum."

From p. 76 of The Snowball Effect by Holly Nicole Hoxter. (Teen)

Teaser Tuesday: romance, inspirational, YA

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Gerard's:

"When you say it is nothing, I know it is something. But maybe something you do not want your husband to know."
Anna stifled a giggle as he lightly nipped her jaw."

From p. 134 of The Endearment by Lavyrle Spencer
(Yes, I got Gerard to read this book!)

Karen's:

Instead of looking for the best, we assume the worst. And we're not in the least surprised when the worst finds us.

From Having a MARY Heart in a MARTHA World by Joanna Weaver

Our plan was that once we got our flocks settled, maybe we'd try to add on, if we could convince Henry's mom to let them get more hens. Me, I had to check with my dad to see if I could get some chickens in the first place.

From p. 59 of Chicken Boy by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Whatcha Reading Wednesday?

 This week's Whatcha Reading Wednesday Teaser works like this:

Type in the FIFTH sentence of the SECOND chapter.

Remember to alert any Spoilers

You can participate by leaving your WRW teaser in a comment below, or you can make a post on your own blog and link back to Busy Moms Who Love to Read.

 

Gerards:  From Innocent by Scott Turow:

People said he was dramatically altered, joking all the time about where he hid the genie and the magic lamp.

Karen's:  From Pray For Silence by Linda Castillo:

  Skid says there's been a shooting out at the Plank farm.

Teaser Tuesday: Aug. 24--Two Books

h

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here are ours (click the links to see our reviews):

Gerard's--from pg. 66 of One Dog at a Time--Saving the Strays of Afghanistan by Pen Farthing (non-fiction)

For the next half hour or so we sat quietly in he dark waiting to make sure the Taliban we had fired upon were indeed dead.  I desperately wanted to check on Nowzad, but I couldn't risk the Taliban kicking off again while I wasn't where I should be.

 Karen's--from pg. 4 of Pray For Silence by Linda Castille

Zimmerman pointed toward the farmhouse, his hand shaking like a flag in a gale.  "Amos Plank.  The children.  There is blood.  They are dead!"

Our reviews will be up in a couple days.

Whatcha Reading Wednesday-Aug. 18

This week's Whatcha Reading Wednesday Teaser works like this:

Type in the last sentence of the eighth chapter.

Remember to alert any Spoilers

You can participate by leaving your WRW teaser in a comment below, or you can make a post on your own blog and link back to this post in the linky below. Feel free to use the WRW graphic, just please be sure to link back to Busy Moms Who Love to Read. 

 

Karen's quote from Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer by John Grisham:

Omar Cheepe was sitting directly behind him, and Julio did not know he was being observed.

 Gerard's quote from The Passage by Justin Cronin:

Neither of them noticed the man--the off-duty Oklahoma state trooper who, two hours before, had seen the wire report on a girl kidnapped by two Caucasian males at the Memphis Zoo, before clocking out and heading off to the high school to meet his wife and watch his kids ride the bumper cars--following them with his eyes. 

Teaser Tuesdays--3 Books We Are Reading

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought I would play for fun! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser. 

Click the links below for our reviews.
Karen's:

The loss of her only child, Natalie Raines, had left her more bewildered than bitter.  How could he do that to her? was the question she asked herself over and over again during the day, and haunted her at night.

From pg. 21 of Just Take My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark

She ate tuna from the can for supper, barely tasting it. There were no shades at the windows, and she felt exposed to whatever or whoever might be lurking in the woods.

From pg. 102 of The Secret Life CeeCee Wilkes (click link to read my Book Club post) Here's my review of the whole book

Here's Gerard's:

The death of Tommy Braham was the only thing that still weighed on her. She needed to talk to a lawyer about how to handle things with the county, but she wasn't going to fight them.

From pg. 288 of Broken by Karin Slaughter

Whatcha Reading Wednesdays--Aug. 11?

This is how "Whatcha Reading Wednesdays" works this week...

Type in the first two sentences of the second chapter of the book you are currently reading. 

If it is a spoiler at all be sure to put **Spoiler Alert** at the top of your comment (like if the selection announces the death of an integral character or something).

Here are ours for this week: 

 Gerard's:  In my mind, President Snow should be viewed in front of marble pillars hung with oversized flags.  It's jarring to see him surrounded by the ordinary objects in the room. --Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

 Karen's:  "I saw Irving in a pet store window on Columbus Avenue," remember Margaret.  "There were several other kittens but he sat to one side on his own. --Cat People by Michael & Margaret Korda

This is part of Busy Mom's Who Love To Read blog hop. 

Whatcha Reading Wednesday Aug. 4 Blog Hop

This is how "Whatcha Reading Wednesdays" works this week...

Type in the first two sentences of the fourth chapter of your current book.

If it is a spoiler at all be sure to put **Spoiler Alert** at the top of your comment (like if the selection announces the death of an integral character or something).

Here is mine for this week: 

Margaret Frawley folded her hands around the steaming cup of tea.  She was so cold.

I'm currently reading Two Little Girls in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark.  This is a very good book about Margaret's twin girls being kidnapped.   I'll have a review up by the end of this week!

This is sponsored by Outnumbered Mama

 

Whatcha Reading Wednesday--July 28

Busy Mom's Who Love To Read is sponsoring this so visit there and link up.

This is how "Whatcha Reading Wednesdays" works this week...

Pick up the book you are currently reading. Go to page 100 and type that very last complete sentence on the page.  

If it is a spoiler at all be sure to put **Spoiler Alert** at the top of your comment (like if the selection announces the death of an integral character or something).

Here is mine for this week: 

"You said that after the first two killings he chose victims he could

pull beneath the surface without notice."

 Echo Park by Michael Connelly

Dishing It Party--Summer Reads

Hey, join in the party! Here are the questions you get to write a post about and then link up at Serenity Now--A Mommy's Solution to Staying Sane. Be sure to visit other blogs that have joined the party too!

~Give us your list of top 5 picks for summer reading.
1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. House Rules by Jodi Picoult
3. Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber
4. Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein
5. Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper

~What genre of literature makes you want to pick up a book and read (biographies, chick lit, Christian fiction, historical fiction, etc.)?
Gerard best likes books about dogs and events that happened that he doesn't know a lot about. He likes books on war and sports as well as books about Christianity. He prefers non-fiction and likes memoirs or biographies.

I like a wide variety and just depends on what mood I'm in as to what I choose. I like both fiction and non-fiction, some historical fiction, biographies/autobiographies, some young adult fiction, sometimes romance, sometimes suspense or books involving teachers.

~What are your favorite magazines?
Gerard's are Newsweek, Time and Sports Illustrated. I don't read magazines.

~If you had to be stuck on a desert island with any fictional character, who would you choose? Definitely Katniss from The Hunger Games because she is a survivor and knows how to cook, hunt and fish.

~How do you make time to escape into a good book?
We read during our lunch and breaks and Gerard reads some in the evenings. I like reading at the library garden on my lunch hour in downtown Cleveland. I read on the bus to and from work and sometimes on the porch or by a window in the evenings.

~What's your favorite place to get your books?
The library. If I want own a book, I check http://paperbackswap.com (they have more than paperbacks).

~What's next on your "to-read" list?
See our header on this blog. Those are the books we are reading next.