Blog Envy

Posted by Kate

I admit I’m a little obsessed with blogging right now. I had just started doing it on my own when I was honored and thrilled to be dragged into this fabulous group and, well, okay, I’m feeling the stress. I’ve promised myself I'll produce four or five blog entries a week and I don’t know if I can do it! I’ve got a life, you know! Things to do! Like, I’ve got a manuscript that’s waiting for a new chapter, and there’s the dreaded day job I’m supposed to show up for every damn day, and—who is that man insisting I join him for dinner? Oh, husband. Right. I’ve got one of those.

But lately I’ve been spending most of my time checking out other group blogs, looking for helpful hints and interesting styles of blogging—for instance, do we all blog a little every day? Do we each have our own day? Do we comment on each other’s entries? I know I’ll snap out of it and get back to living a normal life, but right now, I’m on a mission. And I must say, I’m impressed with all the group blogs out there, and while I certainly have found a number of helpful hints on how to do this group blog thing, what I’ve mostly came away with is...blog envy.

For one thing, some of them have very cool names. My current favorite name is The Good Girls Kill for Money Club, a group blog featuring five female mystery writers. I also really like their layout and their glam author photos. And one of the members regularly posts a new cocktail recipe. I’m so jealous! If I start reciting cocktail recipes, we’ll just blame it on the fact that my husband is a bartender and not on my pathetic need to be as sophisticated as the Good Girls.

Some have the coolest contributors. You’re blog people. You know who they are. Word Wenches, Squawk Radio, Running with Quills. We’re talking Superstars. I’m such a fan! And if you’re into mystery, you probably check out The Lipstick Chronicles and The Outfit and Murderati on a regular basis. I particularly enjoy some mystery writer group blogs because everyone seems so hip and intellectual. Just an aside—it took me four tries to type “intellectual” correctly, so no, I won’t be a guest blogger on those sites anytime soon.

And with some group blogs, well, I just wish I were a member of the group. Like Babes in Bookland, Murder She Writes, The Writers Vibe. All very cool people in these groups, and I want to be blogging with them, too. But who has time? And they didn’t ask me! That’s okay, I love them, and someday we’ll all hold hands and blog together. Although…difficult to type holding hands. So okay, maybe we’ll just think good thoughts.

Next week, I’ll share more of my obsession with group blog names. Take for instance, The Writers Vibe. Do you think that’s the first name they came up with or did they originally call themselves “Three Hot Brunettes?” And Squawk Radio? Brilliant yet disturbing! What does it mean? More about that later. Right now, my husband is insisting I join him for dinner. Such a demanding man. In the meantime, I’m curious. What do you think of group blogging? Which ones are your favorites? Do you like short entries or long stories? And do you like them aimed toward writers or readers?