My Speech On Whether Or Not Authors Should Blog

I've found a way to squelch my nerves before speaking in public: Tylenol! On Wednesday I stayed home sick from work because I had a headache, so I was mega-dosing Tylenol all day long. When it came time to give my presentation to the Tampa Writers Alliance Wednesday night, I did a good job, if I do say so myself. I explained what blogging is, listed some of the different types of blogs, gave examples of authors who blog and what they blog about, listed the pros and cons of blogging, and discussed some online marketing tips. Blogging is my second-favorite subject to talk about (myself being No. 1, of course). I also turned in my TWA membership application, so now I'm an Official Writer and everything. In addition to seeing the usual suspects Skip Allen (who showed me the artwork for the cover of his new book), S.L. Juers (who gave me some insight into how he came up with the main character in his book Eternally Yours) and TWA president Sandra Kischuk (who is an absolute dear), I had a chance to meet: Kathy Astl, TWA secretary, paralegal and legal textbook author (which means she's way smarter than the rest of us); K.L. (Kathy) Nappier, author of Full Wolf Moon, who sat in the back of the room directly in my line of sight and helped me out a lot by nodding occasionally, which was very encouraging; Chris Jackson, author of Deathmask and a fellow blogger, whose website I've only had time to glance at so far, but plan on going back to because he's written some very interesting sci-fi and fantasy stuff (plus he was a super nice guy); and Michael Darling, author of Hoplite Renegades, who gave me a copy of his book before getting lost in the library with me as we tried to find our way back to the parking garage. With his interest in military history and science fiction, he reminded me a lot of The Husband, but with a long ponytail. When I told The Husband that I proudly told Michael that I recognized the word "hoplite" he told me that I was wrong: "hoplite" refers to the shield the ancient Greeks used and not to their clothing, like I thought. Michael was polite, though, and didn't correct me. He was ... a darling (sorry, couldn't resist). I met several other TWA members also, but without their business cards to refer to, I'm afraid that their names escape me at the moment. All in all, it was a good night. To blog or not to blog: that is the question!