Jayne Drinks One Last Toast to SquawkRadio
By now I'm sure most of you have heard the sad news but for those who have been out of the loop, I regret to report that a disaster of monumental proportions has occurred in blogland. The chicks at www.squawkradio.com have pulled the plug on their blog.
Yes, no less an insider than the infamous reporter, Kitty Kuttlestone, tells me that those fabulous authors who created what came to be known as The Destination Author Blog -- Christina Dodd, Eloisa James, Lisa Kleypas, Teresa Medeiros, Elizabeth Bevarly, and Connie Brockway -- have flown the coop. Seems like they want to spend more time writing their books. (Gee, now there's a concept).
The thing is, these folks pretty much wrote the book (or at least an article in Romance Writers Report) on how to create a successful author blog. They created something very special over there at squawk radio and we Quills never hesitated to, uh, borrow their ideas whenever possible.
Sure, the Quills had a few issues with the Chicks. There was that awkward week when they tried to take over RWQ and we were forced to retaliate. And there was that notorious squawk soiree at the annual Romance Writers of America conference last summer. Yes, the Quills did crash the party and it is true that we were not in formal attire. And of course there was that unfortunate incident involving the Green Ghost Margaritas. But, really, you can't blame us for getting Kitty Kuttlestone drunk. Let's be honest, she arrived for the interview already three sheets to the wind.
Still, there are some good memories and we here at RWQ will miss the Squawkers, although I understand that they will still pop into their old blog on occasion to keep folks up to date on their new releases, of which I guess there will be a lot more since they will now have more time to write books. (Gee, now there's a concept).
And so, we here in Quill Land are drinking one last Green Ghost Margarita toast to the Squawkers. We wish them lots of freed-up writing time so that they can create more wonderful books. (Gee, now there's a concept).
Interestingly, this is not the first high profile blog to go down in recent weeks. It is all enough to make one wonder if perhaps author blogs are no longer the next "new thing". Things evolve fast with authors and readers on the Internet. Two years ago, for example, there were very few book "trailers" at authors' websites. Now lots of authors offer them. And remember the old author bulletin boards? A lot of those have disappeared.
So the question becomes, what will be the next "new thing" designed to create author-reader communities online? Any ideas? As noted above, we Quills are always happy to borrow new ideas, regardless of the source.
Yes, no less an insider than the infamous reporter, Kitty Kuttlestone, tells me that those fabulous authors who created what came to be known as The Destination Author Blog -- Christina Dodd, Eloisa James, Lisa Kleypas, Teresa Medeiros, Elizabeth Bevarly, and Connie Brockway -- have flown the coop. Seems like they want to spend more time writing their books. (Gee, now there's a concept).
The thing is, these folks pretty much wrote the book (or at least an article in Romance Writers Report) on how to create a successful author blog. They created something very special over there at squawk radio and we Quills never hesitated to, uh, borrow their ideas whenever possible.
Sure, the Quills had a few issues with the Chicks. There was that awkward week when they tried to take over RWQ and we were forced to retaliate. And there was that notorious squawk soiree at the annual Romance Writers of America conference last summer. Yes, the Quills did crash the party and it is true that we were not in formal attire. And of course there was that unfortunate incident involving the Green Ghost Margaritas. But, really, you can't blame us for getting Kitty Kuttlestone drunk. Let's be honest, she arrived for the interview already three sheets to the wind.
Still, there are some good memories and we here at RWQ will miss the Squawkers, although I understand that they will still pop into their old blog on occasion to keep folks up to date on their new releases, of which I guess there will be a lot more since they will now have more time to write books. (Gee, now there's a concept).
And so, we here in Quill Land are drinking one last Green Ghost Margarita toast to the Squawkers. We wish them lots of freed-up writing time so that they can create more wonderful books. (Gee, now there's a concept).
Interestingly, this is not the first high profile blog to go down in recent weeks. It is all enough to make one wonder if perhaps author blogs are no longer the next "new thing". Things evolve fast with authors and readers on the Internet. Two years ago, for example, there were very few book "trailers" at authors' websites. Now lots of authors offer them. And remember the old author bulletin boards? A lot of those have disappeared.
So the question becomes, what will be the next "new thing" designed to create author-reader communities online? Any ideas? As noted above, we Quills are always happy to borrow new ideas, regardless of the source.
--Jayne
posted at 4:13 PM
