I’m a writer. I write 5 blogs that share my personal opinions and experience. In no way do I set out to hurt anyone and I do not ever blog anything that is untrue.  That would be fiction. 

In writing for both Relationships and Dating Dames, which is what Relationships used to be, I have spoken about various current and past relationships. One particular person that I wrote about was aware that I was writing about him during the course of our relationship (I never used his full name and he has a very common first name).

I told him that I wrote about us and I even sent him links to posts that I wrote. Either he did not read the posts or he is forgetting that this happened.

He and I had a relationship in which the terms were clear - committed, long-term, exclusive.  Things did not work out and eventually the relationship sort of faded away. I later found out from a third party that my ex had been not living up to those terms while we were together. He, the ex, contacted me and apologized. I was hurt, angry, and embarrassed, but I had a new man and I was moving on.

I wrote about it some and another person, someone we grew up with, took offense at me writing about my life and wrote me a lengthy message about doing so.

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Among some of the enjoyable creative work I’ve done during a writing career has been producing cooking columns for newspapers, magazines and online.  I’ve even contributed to cookbooks. 

Image: sxc.hu

 This career began rather unexpectedly after I finished a 2-year correspondence course in journalism (comparable to an online class today).  Many people ask me how they can get started, too.

 Study other columns and write some yourself.

 Take a column writing class.  As mentioned above, I did this via a correspondence course.  I now teach column writing classes online.

 Make sure you’re serious about column writing and have ideas enough to keep going.  Writing a weekly column (I’ve done both weekly and monthly), takes persistence and continual idea gathering.  Some people get started, then after 6 weeks run out of ideas.  An editor is depending on you…and you are if you want to get paid.

 You may have begin writing for very low or no pay for the first few columns to convince the editor it will be a good column for that publication.  (Some writers say this isn’t a good idea, but sometimes you must get started somewhere if you’ve never written a column for publication before.  However, it’s advisable to do it for an agreed upon limited time.)

Be enthusiastic about the material you write.  It will show through in your writing.

From the cooking column, which I still write today, I’ve gone on to write columns about gardening, local history, quiltmaking, arts and crafts, travel, children’s books, and family history.  Today, column writing has evolved into blog writing for many authors.

Blogging has become a great way to establish yourself in the arts and crafts world.  Whether you’re developing an income producing business based on your craft(s) or simply desire to become better known in your particular field, establishing a blog will help you.

Blogging also can be an enjoyable experience as you share with others some details of your crafting world.

• A blog is a place to display your work and photos.
• You can call attention to your web site or sales site like Etsy.
• Daily or periodic posts on your blog help your fans keep up with your projects.
• You might describe classes and workshops you teach.
• Host other craftspeople on your blog.  Their followers then will visit your blog to learn more about them.
• Monetize your craft blog so that you can earn an incidental income.  (Visit my Home Biz Notes post, Learn from Lindsay’s Writing for Your Wealth Blog, to discover more about this.)

How has blogging helped you?

(Amazon image )

“How did you get started writing about quilts?” I’m frequently asked by readers of my quilting articles, blogs and my book, The Magic of Patchwork.

Since I’m a writer by profession, as well as quiltmaker interested in quilt history, it seemed natural to combine these interests.  I first began mentioning quilts, patchwork items, and crafts in my weekly newspaper column, “Country Kitchen.” From there, I decided to find other outlets for my writing about these topics.

Image: sxc.hu

When I was involved in a home-based quiltmaking business, I approached a magazine about writing on the business aspects.  This lasted for eight years until the magazine was discontinued.  Then I wrote a business column for another quilting magazine for two years.

Researching these columns opened up the door for interviewing quiltmakers, attending shows, and writing about them for the magazines.  I often wrote about quilt related topics other than for my columns.

From this evolved my book, The Magic of Patchwork, talks to quilt groups and historical societies, teaching classes, and eventually blogging about quilts and crafts.

Whether you desire to write about quiltmaking or some other craft, start keeping a journal of thoughts and projects that come to mind.  Make notes about topics to include in articles, blogging posts, and columns.

Start your blog about the topic you desire to cover. You never know where this might lead you in the writing field if you stay alert for opportunities.

For all you b5media fans and readers - b5media will be at Blog World Expo November 7th, 8th and 9th. As a special feature, b5media is going to be hosting some special games during event. The b5media Poker Game! And, if you happen to be a winner at poker, you’ll walk away with some pretty grand prizes such as iphones, wiis, ipods and xbox’s.

Here’s how it’s going to work –

Attendees of BlogWorld Expo can collect b5 chips throughout the conference in several ways:

Be seen wearing a b5media T-shirt - $1000 chip
Answer b5media trivia - $500 chip
Tell us our secret password - $500 chip
Awesome swag trade - (depends on how good the swag is ;-))
Drop business card in box - $250 chip
Use your chips to play poker and win (or lose) even more!
Beat b5media’s CEO - Jeremy Wright - DOUBLE your chances

Each day, b5 will have an auction in our booth (at 2:30 Thursday and Friday) and attendees can use their chips to bid on the prizes. As noted, we will be doing a secret password. You can find these passwords in various b5media blogs (Psst…see below for the first secret password!). Participants only need to approach someone in the b5media booth with the password and they will get a token.

b5media’s booth number is 309.

So, if you’re going to the Expo - and you’d like to get a $500 chip to start with (so you can bid on our fabulous prizes), the first secret password is: “b5alicious”.

Watch for more secret passwords scattered about b5media. And, don’t forget to let me know if you win any of the b5 prizes - I’d love to hear details since I won’t be able to attend this year.

If you are going, have a safe trip and bring plenty of stories back with you. Not everything that happens in Vegas has to stay in Vegas

I’m pretty depressed at the moment as my hubby packs up the mini-van to prepare to drive home tomorrow morning. That’s 24 hours in the car at best, 36 at worst.

It all depends on Zack. He’s good during the naps and then maybe an hour-and-a-half after that. Then there is just angry yelling. Not crying. Just yelling. My husband can sleep through the yelling, I can not. I’d rather be driving than being the poor sucker trying to make peek-a-boo fun in the 26th hour.

I suppose there are worse things in life . . . Having to unpack and do laundry when we get home. That could be worse. Getting back on the scale at the gym after eating whatever I want and getting virtually no exercise. That could be worse. Going back to the hot humid summer of East Texas where the air is simply unfit for breathing. That could be worse.

 Ah, but as I tell my daughter, we’ll just be extremely grateful that we got to come at all. We’ll remember the aquarium, natural history museum, Temple Square, the water symphony at the outdoor mall, the professional soccer game and all the great family time we got all the way home.

I’ve been a blog slacker this week, but I’ll get back on track by Tuesdayish.

I was tagged in a blogger game or memed by Julie Q at The JQ Lounge.
Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write their own blog with their 7 things as well as these rules. You need to tag 7 others and list their names on your blog. Remember to leave a comment for them letting them know they have been tagged and to read your blog.

1. I was raised a Mormon Military Brat. We moved a lot, as a result I could pick up and go at any second. For a job or out of boredom I have sold everything I owed to relocate as an adult four times already. I am only 33-years-old.
2. I am a journalist by profession. I resent my previous employers for not allowing me to work from home when I became a mother. I am a writer and since the invention of e-mail there is really no reason to make me come to the newsroom 40 hrs a week. I think it’s “motherism” as my employer allowed a man to work out of his home but denied my request. I’ve not found my female employers any more supportive of working from home than my male bosses. But, I do resent them more.
3. I got married when I was 17-years-old. That was a stupid thing to do. I totally believe in divorce and thank God every day that by 19 I was smart enough not to make my childish mistake a permanent one. I didn’t marry again until 27.
4. After my child-bride experience I found that I was unwilling to change my name back to my father’s name and unwilling to keep my ex-husband’s name and unwilling to take any future husband’s name. I went to court and dropped all the last names that made my identity relational to the men in my life. I decided to have an identity that did not change with my marital status. My given name at birth was Tracee Sue and I thought Sioux would look better in print – well, I AM a writer so it DOES matter how marketable my name is. I was only 19 when I divorced so it seemed inevitable that I would eventually get married and have kids again. But, it did not seam reasonable at all to change my identity in any way, including my last name. So, I am Tracee Sioux. Legally now and forever. It is not a nom deplum – Sioux is my legal last name and it is who I am.
5. I witnessed 9-11 when I was 8 months pregnant with my first child. I was on my way to work. What strikes me now about the experience is that as a reporter my first instinct was to buy a disposable camera and report on it. I got a shot of the second plane hitting the building. I wasn’t close enough for anyone to buy the shot. The second thing that sticks with me is how worried I was that I was going to be late for work and how my boss might be annoyed with me – as if for the first few hours the shock was so complete that I didn’t understand the magnitude at all and went about my normal business like buying a chocolate donut.
6. I went to Lithuania after college to teach English, I wanted to travel and had been a political science major with an interest in the breakdown of the Soviet Union. Lithuania was a brand new democracy.
7. I’m grateful beyond belief for my current opportunity to work from home blogging. I feel like this is a “calling” for me. I’m pretty intensely spiritual about my So Sioux Me website and my work at b5media writing BlogFabulous to empower people and especially women. It’s my path, my personal legend, my way of being part of the soul of the world, my way to affect the collective consciousness.

So I’m tagging Therapydoc at Everyone Needs Therapy, Steve at Inside Fatherhood, Karen at Thrifty Mommy, Cory and Kerri at Marriage Actually, Kate at Babylune, Karen at Live the Power and Courtney at Courtney Tuttle. Consider yourselves Memed by Tracee Sioux at So Sioux Me and BlogFabulous.

It might seem apparent to readers of Blog Fabulous, that I am new to this form of communication, known as blogging.

I’ve learned quite a lot since I joined b5media.com, but I am such a neophyte compared to so many of my colleagues here.

To start and maintain a successful blog takes a ton of work. And also, some people seem to have a knack for it and some, well…not so much.

I can tell you that if you write about movie stars your traffic rates and Page Per Views will explode off the charts. (See don’t I know what I’m talking about?)

The title of Margaret Mason’s book annoyingly reminds me that I have such a loooong way to go.

No One Cares What You Had For Lunch offers imaginative ideas and tips about how to make one’s post more interesting and useful to readers. And I mean beyond your immediate family or your dog.

A couple of how-tos from the book:

• Write a serial novel
• Conduct unnecessary experiments
• Creating your autobiography
• Public eavesdropping

Public eavesdropping? You know you do it too.

If you write a blog or are thinking of starting one…I would check out Ms. Mason’s book. And who knows? You could end up being the next Perez Hilton.

As for me, I am NOT going to tell you about my Turkey On Triscuits (TOTs) that I had for lunch today.

I know, way to kill the whole New Year’s Eve party buzz, right?

New York Times style writer Bog Morris has perfectly captured exactly how I feel about the world right now.

If it isn’t 2007 in your neck of the world at the moment, do check out Morris’ hilarious list of what OTHER people might start thinking about in the new year.

I would add…celebrities think about shopping for some Hanes…and tv chefs get some manners and stop chewing with your mouth full on camera…it’s not appetizing looking, it’s gross.

p.s. Mr. Morris’ thoughts about blogging are just harsh. :).

Happy New Year To All.

Within the large b5.media house are many rooms, in which reside many family members.

Blog Fabulous has recently been added with open blogs, to the Famliy and Relationships room.

The topics covered there shed light on many of life’s difficult, intriguing and sensitive issues, and I’m glad to now be among these fabulous writing architects:

• Kate at Baby Lune.
• Mike at Career and Kids.
• Gayla at Dating Dames.
• Elizabeth at Gen Between
• Steve at Inside Fatherhood.
• Robyn at Inside Motherhood.
• Christine at Our One Heart.
• Jay at Parents Behaving Badly.
• Hsien at Play Library.
• Christina at Solo Mother.
• Karen and Kelley at Thrifty Mommy.
• SP Bragg at Weary Parent.
• Anna at Widows Quest.

I hope my new family will appreciate my decorating, and I thank all at b5.media.com for this new space.

Image: flicker.com