Hello, my name is Lisabea, and I am a blogger.

For those of you who don’t know this already, LB Gregg is a pen name for another pen name, (Lisabea or LBea), blogging gal from over at Nose In A Book. Yes, that means some of y’all would like to strangle me, or throw tomatoes at me, but, I am who I am.

I started writing through blogging. At first I was a lurker, too intimidated to type “hello” (it’s true!!), then as I grew more bold, I became a commenter, and finally, with so very much to say all the friggin time, I started my own digs. Things got a bit out of hand ::cough:: and not only did the blog gain some reasonable success, I made a heaping load of friends who were gobs of fun, smart, and supportive.

Blogging. It’s hobby. It’s a passion. It’s an addiction. It’s an em-effing compulsion.

And it’s totally fun.

About 8 months ago, my friend Sarah (Rain on the Roof) sent me this link.

LOOK! For those of you who are tentative about posting, or are intimidated by the process, it’s a very easy, liberating, creative way to express yourself. Here’s a great list to follow for success.

What I love about these ridiculous instructions is that it takes what we do intuitively and it simplifies the process. For a while, I had this taped to my computer. No Kidding.

For those of you who know my blog, “try not to be a dick” is pretty high on my list of what people should to strive to do. I can be an ass (often, and loudly) but I’m not a dick and neither are my friends. We’re obsessive readers, we enjoy talking to each other, we hope for clarity, and everyday, we get better.

S’all good. Easy peasy, this blogging thing.

Last spring, my pals encouraged me to start writing romances.

I’m sure that there are plenty of folks who would state I should have kept to blogging, but it seemed to me that writing m/m romance was a natural progression–instead of talking about books and blabbing with my pals (still fun!), I thought I’d write books for my pals to blab about. It worked out, sorta.

Writing. Let me assure you all that there is NOTHING I find easy about this process. Good God. No.

Any way, one morning a few weeks back, I checked my email (as I do every morning, multiple times, per hour) and a pal had sent me this link. OK maybe you’re not a link clicker (I’m not, either), so I’ll just post the content here:

HOW TO REALLY WRITE! (LBea: At last! All shall be revealed!)

So simple a monkey could do it.

Not so fast, fellow readers, because the indefinable things missing from this in depth How To are many. Talent, perseverance, a grasp of the literary process, determination, blood, sweat, and tears. Heart. Chutzpah. Fear. Fearlessness. Patience. Obsession. Discipline. Fortitude. A willingness to eat ramen noodles. And a thick, thick skin.

There’s a huge difference to me in putting oneself ‘out there’ as a blogger (yes there’s ridicule and idiocy) and putting oneself out there as an author. Holy Macaroni, it’s a huge leap into the abys of trust and faith and hope and shame. It’s just…invigorating. An adreline rush for the couch potato.

And while it ain’t easy (even though it looks it) it’s a hell of a ride, and I’d do it all over again. Oh. Wait. I am!

I am a self-professed nerd. Not as bad as I used to be, though. These days I’m far less into building my own computers and switching things around every time some new gadget or software comes along. No, these days I’m more willing to let that pass me by, but old habits die hard. I still find things that are new and shiny and must try them out. I think that’s why blogging has caught my fancy. Except, I fancy it for perhaps different reasons than my fellow authors here. Oh, it’s a fascinating tool for promotion, one that I happen to find enjoyable on both sides of the post, but I’m even more intrigued by the site itself. What’s there? What does it all do? How does it all link together? Can you find it on Google? How many people have visited? Why have they visited? These are my questions.

Perhaps that’s why I volunteered to be the webmistress. The idea of an author blog was bandied around MLR for awhile and I suddenly thought “well, why not?”. I don’t do terribly much tweaking to my own site anymore. That’s a working site and needs to stay working. The tweaks there are relatively small and most of what I do is news and maintenance. But a brand new site can be so much fun. So much play (well, for me). And the gorgeous artwork that MLR provided for me to work with was a treat, since I’m also somewhat graphically minded.

But now the bulk of that initial fun is done, as it must always be. The site is live and out for people to visit. I think it came out rather well, visually and navigationally  speaking. Now comes the real test. It’s left up to our authors to bring interested readers and for you, the readers, to see if you like it or not. I hope that you do and that you come by often!