Author: Elizabeth Spann Craig

Tomorrow I’m running my Twitterific post, as usual, but I thought I’d run a post that has my top retweets listed.

For non—Twitterers, followers retweet tweets that they find interesting to their followers, who sometimes retweet the link to their followers. Clear as mud, right? :) Basically, the link or the tweet goes viral.

And it’s interesting to me when it happens—some posts are clearly excellent and they get retweeted right away. Some of the links that have a lot of retweets really surprise me.

These are the links that my Twitter followers have found most interesting since June 1:

Writing Proposals – A Great Way To Get A Grasp On A Book: http://dld.bz/fuFr

A Collection of Favorite Tweets For Writers This Week (May 24 to May 30, 2010): http://dld.bz/f6Tr

21 Tips for Writers of All Ilks– http://dld.bz/f4Dw

10 things (not) to do before you write: http://dld.bz/fD8G

Best Articles This Week for Writers– http://dld.bz/fXK5

10 Lies Agents & Editors Tell You. And Why. http://dld.bz/fKn2

An Author’s Plan for Social Media– 21 tips: http://dld.bz/fXDy

The thing about literary agents… http://dld.bz/fKrJ

An agent on developing the one-sentence summary: http://dld.bz/fKy2

Writer’s block? Or is it more of a writer’s hesitation? http://dld.bz/gbYs

Top Ten Signs of a Writer– http://dld.bz/fUE6

So, What’s Really Killing Fiction? http://dld.bz/fUHF

For a writer, no time is ever wasted– http://dld.bz/fUKH

5 Elements that Make Fantasy Fiction Feel Real : http://dld.bz/fXJ7

Authors Take Note: Yet Another “How Not to Get Published” Story: http://dld.bz/fXJZ

Where Do Writers Write? (Huff Post): http://dld.bz/gy66

The cycle of blogging–how life is different at 10 followers vs. 1000 followers: http://dld.bz/gzAr

Nice collection of self-editing links : http://dld.bz/g942

Writing Tutorial: The Synopsis. http://dld.bz/gwkA

Writers and Twitter: Yes, it’s a Good Thing! http://dld.bz/gwkU

Enough with the Eyebrows: Showing Emotion– http://dld.bz/gMvS

Listen up: writing project asks authors to eavesdrop and tell (Guardian): http://dld.bz/gyzK

So, you want to write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? http://dld.bz/gy26

Your Online Persona – Writers, Stay Consistent: http://dld.bz/gy3n

25 Ways to Make Social Media Work For You– http://dld.bz/gy3z

An agent explains the stuff you pay for as an author: http://dld.bz/msrx

How to Massively Improve Reader Participation on Your Blog: http://dld.bz/mssu

“I Write Like” Program Compares Your Writing to Famous Authors: http://dld.bz/mrnC

How to be a wacky, eccentric writer: http://dld.bz/kWvN

3 ways relationships can reveal your characters: http://bit.ly/cn3cMy

For the worn out writer: 21 Easy Ways to Boost and Replenish Your Energy: http://dld.bz/kJDZ

Beware of Book Publishing Spam: http://dld.bz/kmyV

Busted!—Stephenie Meyer caught doing something right: http://dld.bz/kjhf

“10 Things My Creative Writing MFA Taught Me NOT To Do” (Writer’s Digest): http://dld.bz/jXSq

An agent explains what happens when an agency can’t sell your book: http://dld.bz/jHpc

How to pick the right point of view for your novel: http://bit.ly/pTumh

Does Twitter Sell Books? Yes, It Does (Huff Post): http://dld.bz/kaNu

5 Reasons Why You Should Respond to Every Comment: http://dld.bz/jrft

Fun with Oblivious Bad Writers: http://dld.bz/jhaP

What can ‘Family Guy’ teach you about self-publishing? http://dld.bz/jhaz

An editor explains why the 1st page of your ms. is so important: http://dld.bz/jgr3

When Hiring a Publicist (Huff Post): http://dld.bz/jHpY

5 ways to drive your spouse crazy with your writing: http://dld.bz/jAy9

Why smart characters make dumb mistakes: http://bit.ly/901DPQ

Dude, you write books? The 3 classic reactions: http://dld.bz/jkpc

20 Warning Signs That Your Blog Content Sucks: http://dld.bz/hUC8

Why I Don’t Care About Grammar (and Why You Should Stop Worrying)–Writer’s Digest: http://dld.bz/hU5H

Hooking the reader: how Rowling and others pulled it off– http://dld.bz/hHjj

Tips for writing realistic sex scenes: http://dld.bz/hUhZ

The 3 main reasons why published authors are struggling right now: http://dld.bz/hD2z

The Secret to Getting Published– http://dld.bz/h7E2

What I learned from the query process– http://dld.bz/h3DQ

40 Twitter Hashtags for Writers: http://dld.bz/gZsU

Write what you love, not what the market wants: http://dld.bz/gZs7

If It Hurts, You’re Doing Something Right: 3 Ideas About the Pain of Writing– http://dld.bz/gMvJ

A day in the life of a writer: http://dld.bz/g4BY

Hope you’ll check back in tomorrow when I run my usual linkfest, Twitterific. :)

I went, reluctantly, to Walmart this morning. It’s possibly my most un-favorite place on Earth, but there are some things I’ve just got to get there.

One of those things is sunflower seeds for the birdfeeders in our back yard. I can get one huge bag there and it’ll last for nearly a season.

Usually I get a 30ish pound bag but today I got greedy and pulled out—with some difficulty—a 50 pound bag. I could barely move it off the shelf! Finally I just shoved it onto the bottom of the shopping buggy and proceeded to checkout.

I noticed there was a sort of dragging sound going on as I pushed the cart. I figured this meant the bag was dragging on the floor, but I chose to ignore that fact—I really wasn’t sure if I could move the bag into a better position and I sure couldn’t put it inside the cart. Maybe at the registers, someone could give me a hand with it.

Finally a man stopped me. “Ma’am. The bag is going to break open and that seed is going to fly all over creation.” I looked over at checkout—just 25 yards away. He repeated sternly, “Ma’am, it’s going to break. And they’re going to make you pay for it and it’s going to be all over the store.”

Oh. Well there was that. He helped me move the bag a little.

I bring this up because this same sort of thing happened last week to me with my manuscript. I’m a fan of just bolting through the first draft and fix the mess later.

But something was wrong. I couldn’t put my finger on it and didn’t really want to analyze the dragging sound coming from the text because I was in a hurry to get the draft done.

Then I stopped myself and thought about the manuscript as a whole—the individual characters and the plot itself (without flipping through the story, which makes me want to do a major edit.)

Finally I figured it out. The murder victim was a problem. Something wasn’t right. And after I shoved some things around in the story for a few minutes, she was much better. For one thing, I realized she wasn’t the right age. She needed to be younger. For another, I realized that there was an angle with her relationship with her daughter that needed to be played up more—the motivation for her actions didn’t ring true and it was trickling through the plot.

Figuring out the problem? Ten minutes. Fixing the age of the character and creating some motivation for a relationship issue? Ten minutes. And now I don’t have to worry about the problem getting worse as I head out to checkout with my manuscript.

Have you done a manuscript check-up lately?

Please come back by Hart Johnson’s Confessions of a Watery Tart for a review of Delicious and Suspicious. Thanks Hart!

I also wanted to give a shout-out to Michele Emrath who so kindly featured my book on her blog, Southern City Mysteries today. Thanks!

For most of us, promo is the least favorite part of the writing process, even ranking under revision and agent pitches. For me, there’s really nothing that comes naturally about selling—so I’ve had to work at it. Publishers expect it, and with the competitive nature of the book market today, it’s really a necessity if you want to keep your books on the shelf.

I’ve promoted books from tiny publishers to very large ones. For a list of tips, please pop over to Hart Johnson’s blog, Confessions of a Watery Tart. :) Yes, the tour rolls on!

I’ll also have an interview up on Fresh Fiction today, where Sharon Galligar Chance interviewed me for Sharon’s Cozy Corner there.

And I had some exciting news from my editor yesterday. Delicious and Suspicious hit #29 on Bookscan’s mystery list, #31 Borders Group (BGI) Mystery list and #15 for the Barnes and Noble Mystery List, making the book a national bestseller. Thanks so much for all the support I’ve gotten here and at the bookstore, y’all!

The inspiration of this post comes from the fact that I got up this morning and looked at my calendar, thinking, “Okay. It’s Wednesday.  Where am I blog touring today?”

And today was a day I hadn’t scheduled a tour stop. :)

My calendar is in the picture. It’s a disaster area.  It has to-do lists and the entire agenda for the family—whether it’s the kids’ scouting stuff, dental appointments,  manuscript deadlines, the dog’s heartworm pill reminder—whatever.

I’d like to say that my memory has gotten bad because of all the things I’ve stuffed inside my head to remember and do. But this really wouldn’t be true—I was born with a defective memory. (Thanks, Daddy!) :)

And a couple of you know that when I screw up and forget something, it’s in pretty spectacular fashion.  And you can’t drop hints that I’ve forgotten something—I don’t pick up on tips…I’m really completely oblivious.  No, you need to tell me outright so I can make some kind of reparations.

These are some of my lines of defense to prevent memory-fail on my part:

Calendar.   I have to check it several times a day.  And I have to figure out what day of the week it is—in the summer, it’s hard to tell.

Phone.  This is for really big reminders of extremely important things.  Because the phone scares me to death when calendar alarms go off.

Computer.  I have Google calendar reminders and Outlook reminders.  I pretty much do what my computer tells me to do every day.

To do lists.  Everything goes on these lists—from vacuuming, to phone calls I need to make, to grooming appointments for the dog. The list is updated every day and prioritized.

Other people.  I usually ask blog hosts, etc., to give me a reminder a week out if possible.  It makes me feel more secure that I won’t forget.

Manuscript-related.  I have reminders each morning for where I need to pick up the story from the day before.  This way I won’t reread material I wrote the previous day (and try to edit it instead of moving forward with my writing.)

Series bibles.  I do have cheat-sheets since I have a couple of series I’m working on.  These cheat sheets remind me what secondary characters look like, their backgrounds, etc.

Talking points for interviews.  These keep me from rambling and keep me on task for talking about my book or my writing process.  I do the same thing for any workshops or panels I do.

Children.  They’re good to remember that they haven’t had lunch yet. :)  And that I promised to take them somewhere.

Friends.  I’ve confided in them that I have memory issues and to remind me of things we’re supposed to do.  My good friends know that hints are totally lost on me…they have to say, “Elizabeth?  I’m at the deli right now.  Are you on your way over?  Because we’re supposed to be having lunch.”  Nebulous statements like “Wow. I could really use a sandwich right now…oh look! I’m right here at a deli.  Think I’ll go in…” will not make any kind of an impact on me at all. 

So I’m curious.  How do y’all keep from dropping the ball?  I can always use new arsenal in my battle against memory loss. :)

Hope y’all will pop over and visit me at Terry’s Place where I’m posting on working around an uncooperative muse.

I was also interviewed for a Memphis food blog, Hungry Memphis, about Delicious and Suspicious if you’re interested at taking a peek. :)