Is the Blogging World Going Downhill?

Blogging is hard. I've always known that. You have to really love it in order to keep up with it. I've loved using my blog to discuss reading and writing in depth, but now I'm noticing a new trend. The blogging world is quickly becoming less active. Blogs are becoming inactive, readers aren't pouring over sites like they used to, and it seems like gaining followers is harder than ever.

I follow a lot of different blogs. Some are by well-known authors who have thousands of followers. Even last year it seemed like with every post they would get fifty comments. Now they're lucky if they get fifteen. It's not that their posts aren't as high quality or that their blogs have changed, they just aren't being read anymore.

So where is everyone? Are there just too many blogs right now? I feel like I get a lot more interaction from readers and writers on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. What do you think? Is the blogging world going downhill?

The Siren's Secret Blog Tour

Hey everyone, 

my blog tour for The Siren's Secret is coming up! It will kick off on May 1st and lead into a whole month filled with fun giveaways, interviews, and plenty of sirens. Make sure and check back here to stay updated on the tour details!

Lair Of The Serpent by T. Lynn Adams

Recently I was lucky enough to review T. Lynn Adams' newest book, Lair Of The Serpent. This action packed novel is fantastic, and I was happy to endorse it. If you look on the back cover you can see my quote about the novel, and on the front you'll see an endorsement from the Associate Producer of Life of Pi, Kevin Buxbaum. He's also worked on Moulin Rouge, and Avatar (That's pretty awesome). Here's what he said about Lair Of The Serpent: "A young adult series destined to become Hollywood's next major motion picture trilogy. A must read."

 I just wanted to share the happy news with you, and I hope you check out Lair Of The Serpent coming out this summer!

There will be human sacrifice but whose life is on the line?

Follow Jonathon and Severino to Cambodia, where they fight to reclaim Severino's sister before she is lost forever to the maze of human trafficking. There, in the thick jungles of western Cambodia, they discover that only the theft of a powerful ancient jewel will free her. Now the pair must enter the world of international artifact theft to save Deliah's life.

T. Lynn Adam's site: www.tlynnadams.com

Werecats and Sirens

I love writing about werecats and sirens. One of my readers named Anastasia sent me this picture she drew of a siren meeting Julia in werecat form. I have the coolest readers ever! Thank you for sending this Anastasia, you are so talented!

Win a copy of PWNED

My friend Shannen Camp is having a giveaway for her new novel Pwned. You can enter to win a signed copy below! 

Reagan West has a perfect life. She’s at the top of the high school food chain as co-captain of the cheerleading squad and she’s best friends with the most evil girl in Albany, Tawny Perez, which means she’s never on the receiving end of her wrath. The only trouble in Reagan’s perfect life comes from the constant threat of her dirty little secret leaking to her fellow classmates and casting her into a lifetime of ridicule. 

Reagan West is a closet gamer and hates her role as the evil cheerleader.

But, as any well versed teenager knows, it’s better to suppress your own nerdy tendencies than to submit to a lifetime of being shoved into lockers and so, Reagan bravely soldiers through life as a reluctant bully… until a boy from her guild moves to her school and becomes Tawny’s next target. The newcomer threatens to reveal Reagan’s nerdy little secret and force her to come to terms with who she truly is. Now Reagan has to decide if she’s going to defend her fellow geeks, or if she’ll continue to be a total troll.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interview for Amuse Me Write Now

Hey everyone, 

I was interviewed by Valerie Dircks for her blog: Amuse Me Write Now. We talked about reading, writing, and some family pranks ;) 

Here's a little preview of the interview: 

Valerie: Who are some of your favorite authors/what kind of books do you like to read?

Heather: I love fantasy with all my heart, but I’m also a sucker for happy, lighthearted middle grade novels. Some of my favorites include Ella Enchanted, Harry Potter, The Series of Unfortunate Events, and anything from C.S. Lewis.

Valerie: Most of the blurbs about you talk about you having a “rambunctiously entertaining family.” Can you expound upon this for us? Tell us about them. Come on we want some stories.

Heather: Haha. I have a lot of siblings, and sometimes we weren't very well behaved  We would play pranks all the time. One time we threw a life-size doll off the side of our house and yelled to my aunt that a child had jumped off the roof. She didn't think it was very funny…

Many times we dressed up like cowboys or superheroes and would go to stores trying to stay in character, but would burst out laughing anyway.

One time we put a mannequin head on the front of our car where the old hood ornament used to be. The mannequin’s head was creepy with huge eyes. We would drive really slowly behind people in parking lots. When they finally turned around, there would be a creepy mannequin head right behind them!

You can read the rest of the interview at valeriedircks.blogspot.com

Romance Podcast with Authors' Think Tank

Hey everyone! Sorry I've disappeared from the blogging world. This week I'm doing my FINAL edit for my sequel before it goes to press, so I've been dedicating my time to that. However, I did want to pop in and post the link to my podcast with Authors' Think Tank. In this episode we talk about romance and author Shirly Bahlman has some great things to say. We also touch briefly on the subject of sparkly shapeshifters ;)

Here's the link:
www.foreverwriters.com

Enjoy! And now I have to get back to editing...