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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Why Do I Blog All the Time? My Top Reasons

by Chautona Havig · 2 Comments

While drunks demanded pancakes and bourbon chicken skillets, the woman slid my open planner toward her and skimmed the entries. Yes, she asked before she did, and I didn’t care. I mean, it’s just my editorial calendar—the books that are on sale, the upcoming releases, books I have to ship, social media I need to update—all that jazz. And blog posts. All the blog posts.

Of course, that was the item that generated the most interest.

“Why do you have to write blog posts?”

You know it wasn’t the first time—won’t be the last. When the subject of blogging comes up, people often ask why I “waste my time” with it. Shouldn’t I be writing my next book? After all, that’s what I am, right? A novelist?

Well, definitely. I mean, if I had to choose one or the other, I’d choose the books. But there are several reasons I write blog posts.

Since this week’s prompt is “My blogging inspirations,” I thought I’d share a couple.

Why Do I Blog All the Time? My Top Reasons

Note: links may be affiliates that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

For several years, when we had a sale, I’d write a blog post about how it was on sale, here’s where you could get it, and here’s how you could share. I had dozens of those things. Literally dozens.

But when a visitor came to my site, if they scrolled through the blog posts, it was almost all sale or giveaway information—nothing about what I write, why I write it, what’s coming, my writing process—you know, all those questions that people ask me when they first meet me or get to know my books.

So, the first reason I write them is that it’s one way for readers to get to know me!

Making new friends is always nice!

For those of you who’ve been reading for a while, you’ll notice I changed that a couple of years ago. It’s been going rather well.

Instead of just posting “Corner Booth is on sale. AGAIN…” I write about something related to Corner Booth in some way. Maybe it’s a character nuance—perhaps a lesson I learned in writing it. I did one that was a call to single women, pleading with them not to settle for a man who would mistreat them simply because he’s a man. I want to do one on how Dean unintentionally imitated Jesus in how he interacted with Carlie and some of her foolishness.

Yes, it means for a bit of a read for folks to get to the sale information, but my newsletter folks get a heads-up about the sales in the newsletter. So when they click, if they don’t want to read my extra stuff, they can just scroll to the bottom, click, and move along.

But for those who are interested in the book process or what the Lord is teaching me, it’s a great way for them to see it. It’s also nice for those who already have the book! They don’t get yet another blog post in their feed or inbox that has no relevance for them.

In other words, another reason is so people can understand my characters and books—where the stories come from and where they’re going.

And you know, those blogs spark new ideas. It’s amazing how that happens. I think one of the reasons it works that way is because blogging is a different kind of writing—it’s almost a combination of journaling and instruction. And, like I said in THIS post, sometimes just working on something else is all it takes for me to get inspired in fresh ways on my current WIP (work in progress).

So, yes. Sometimes I just like to blog to stir up those creative juices.

There you have it. Authors have many reasons for blogging, but those are my top ones.

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Comments

  1. Esther Filbrun says

    January 8, 2018 at 7:07 pm

    I’m glad you blog. I almost always read your posts, and enjoy hearing what you have to share! (Although, judging from the amount I comment, I’d probably label myself more as a stalker than a reader. 🙂 )

    But just out of curiosity, where do you get your blogging prompts? Do you come up with them yourself, or find them elsewhere?

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      January 8, 2018 at 7:14 pm

      I look for them constantly. Some I got from a blog post about how to ask authors more interesting interview questions. I figured that would be a good one. Those will be coming in 2018 for sure. I’m still doing a few from 2017 in some romance writers’ thing. I tended to get creative with them because I didn’t always like the prompt. Like they had one about what my pet peeves are. Well, frankly, I didn’t think people cared if I ranted about myself like that. And I really try not to feed my peeves. I don’t want to take them for walks! I want them to go away! So… I changed it into my post on how pet peeves coudl have sparked popular novels. Another prompt was where I saw myself in 10 years. I wrote a whole thing about every 10 years of my life… what I would have hoped for at each age. And I went. “BLECH.” So, I scrapped it and did the Cassie short story about her 10 years from now.

      But Pinterest is full of lots of great blog prompts, so I’d plug in the question there and see what you come up with! And tell me what you want for prompts (about books and loving them, about … what? I can give you a dozen just to get those juices flowing!

      Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 215: A Chat with Henry O. Arnold
byChautona Havig

I had a chat with actor and author Henry O. Arnold a while back, and boy did we have a lot of fun. His Song of Prophets and Kings series features the advent of Israel’s kings from Samuel’s birth through David hiding from Saul (so far) and onward. Listen in as we chat about his most recent release, The Singer of Israel.

 

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

What Made David Such a Man after God’s Heart?

I think this series will show us. I love that Henry O. Arnold started back at Samuel’s story to prepare us for the story of arguably the most influential king of Israel. Yes, Solomon was the wisest and richest, but David offered something that Solomon didn’t have. He was an average guy—a shepherd, no less—chosen by God to lead his country.

In a sense, it’s kind of the ancient Jewish version of a poor, everyday guy growing up to become President of the United States. If you know what I mean.

This five-book series is available as an eBook, in print, and as an audiobook, too! Henry read a snippet of it to us, and boy you get a feel for his love of Scripture and God’s people as he reads.

And if that wasn’t enough, he even gave us a hint of his upcoming Christian suspense/thriller “series. He says he has two books planned for sure, so… at least a duology, but maybe we can talk him into a trilogy at least? Get those odd numbers and everything?

The Singer of Israel by Henry O. Arnold

A singer’s voice inspires a troubled nation…A shepherd’s courage vanquishes a giant

The last official act of the prophet of Yahweh was to secretly anoint a replacement for the king of Israel who has been brought low by an unbalanced mind. The great prophet of Israel lives in fear of the wrath of the king. Then out of the hills of Bethlehem emerges the last-born son of a family of shepherds to become the unforeseen hero of Israel.

When David sings of the glory of Yahweh, this shepherd wins the hearts of the royal family and restores King Saul’s troubled mind. But when the singer/shepherd defeats the champion of the Philistines in single combat, David becomes forever known as “the giant slayer.” Saul quickly sees that David is now a threat to his kingdom and secretly plots to have him killed.

David may be the champion of the people of Israel, but he must live under the constant threat of Saul’s wrath until he is finally forced to flee for his life.

The Singer of Israel is a tale of triumph and tribulation, deepest love, and burning rivalries; the new epoch is given a voice…and it is The Song of Prophets and Kings.

You can learn more about Henry on this WEBSITE.

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