Headin' toward the finish line...

Whew, our list is almost complete! Have we convinced you how important a Web site is? Have you had fun browsing our sites? We hope so!

The list continues...
(Yeah, yeah, we know it's the weekend, and a holiday weekend at that, but we just can't help ourselves.)


A site leads to opportunities.
Well, believe it or not, both my book of poems and my anthology were directly related to having a blog. The book of poems was solicited by a small press that was run by a blogger who read my daily rants, and the anthology came from the same blog: http://jewishyirishy/. (It's an anthology of essays about growing up a child of Jewish intermarriage).
~Laurel Snyder, Author of Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains, http://www.laurelsnyder.com


Web sites get readers in contact with authors.
I think websites are a fantastic way for readers to be able to contact authors. That’s one of the things I’m most looking forward to—getting mail and email from children and teens who’ve read my books.
~Jenny Meyerhoff, Author of Third Grade Baby, http://www.jennymeyerhoff.com


Readers look for insider-info on a Web site.
When I go to schools, I’m always happy when the class has checked me out on the Internet first. Based on a few pictures of me as a child that I have on my site, the students ask questions like: “Was that your first bike? Why was your hair cut so short? How long were a Girl Scout?” My site is my introduction, my ice-breaker; kids feel like they know a little about me even before I’ve stepped into the room, and I love that!
~Nancy Viau, Author of Samantha Hansen Has Rocks In Her Head, http://www.nancyviau.com


Web sites answer readers' questions.
I love visiting author Web sites! After reading a story that knocks my socks off, I want to know more: Where is the author from? Why did she/he write the book? What other books has she/he written? Web sites allow readers to hear the “why” and “how” a story came to life. Quite often, the stories behind the story are just as fascinating!
~Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, Author of Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different,
http://www.creativefreelancewriting.com/


A Web site can whisk you away to a creative place.
When you write books and even short stories, you can still have ideas that don’t find a home anywhere. Glimpses of half scenes or a bit of homeless setting. Maybe some wayward thoughts on the craft, or a lonely paragraph.

Usually they stick to your journal page, but once in a while they lift free and take wing. That’s when I find my Web site fun. Because like random thoughts that link to other thoughts that build into words and sentences and then a page, that Web site links—not to my blog—but to a blog I’m lucky enough to be part of, one where I’m invited to se my brainstorms down.

“Through the Tollbooth” came about thanks to Tami Lewis Brown (Soar, Elinor, Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Melanie Kroupa Books, 2010) who gathered nine willing authors with MFAs in Writing from Vermont College to talk about craft.

We wanted a collaborative conversation with real muscle. As a result, I learn from reading these posts. I also learn by writing my own. Now only about why we write and what it takes, but about the joys of mopping up some of those creative spills and putting them to use.

I know, a minute ago, we were on the wing and now we’re in a puddle! But isn’t that what makes writing fun? Skipping through metaphors, playing around a bit. Seeing what comes out and if you can make a go of it. Finding yourself with a Web site and following a link…
~Zu Vincent, Author of The Lucky Place, www.zuvincent.com