CSFF Blog Tour, Day 2: Making the Most of the Blog Tour

Today I think I will blog a little about the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy blog tour itself. Even before I started this particular blog, I started participating in the CSFF blog tour. It was how I got the first readers for the blog I had at that time (which was named 'Moreover the Dog went with them',an obscure reference to the even more obscure Biblical book of Tobit), and after I deleted that blog, how I got readers for this one.

For the author--- or would-be writer--- who begins a blog, the CSFF blog tour is a chance to gain a few readers for your blog. I always tend to notice, on the tour, some of the blogs on the tour that don't seem to have blog readers yet, the bloggers who are just beginning to learn how to blog effectively.... I think participating in the tour can really help that.

The Visiting Round
One of the best parts of the blog tour is visiting the blogs on the list of blog participants. You don't have to be an official participant of the blog tour to do this. If you've accidentally found this blog post and never even heard of the CSFF blog tour before, perhaps you've never realized there was such a thing as Christian science fiction and fantasy before, you can still visit the blogs on the participant list.

Commenting is the most important thing about the Visiting Round. After you've read the blog post, it's good to say SOMETHING. It can be really hard to think up a good comment sometimes. But, hey, it's a blog tour. Just saying hello and telling the blogger you are visiting the blogs on the tour list is a good beginning for a comment. Then make a remark that relates to the post. Even if you have a bad case of 'commenters' block' and can't think of anything to say that doesn't resort to the word 'interesting', your comment will be encouraging to the blogger. And most bloggers these days are wise enough to visit their commenters' blogs and comment back.

Meeting the Author is an exciting aspect of the blog tour. The featured author has a blog and also participates in the tour. Not ALL blog tour authors make the rounds of the participating blogs, but most do. This month's author Robert Treskillard started making the rounds of the participants early in the day on day one. It's very exciting to have a real, traditionally-published author commenting on my blog! While visiting Robert's blog, I found out how to connect with him on social media, and so now have another author on my 'authors I kind of know but not really' list.

Robert Treskillard links:
*Merlin’s Shadow -  http://www.amazon.com/Merlins-Shadow-Merlin-Spiral-Treskillard/dp/0310735084/
Author Website - http://www.KingArthur.org.uk
Author Blog - http://www.epictales.org/blog/robertblog.php  

Following blogs is another thing you can do while doing the Visiting Round. I nearly always click on the 'follow' widget if it's the Blogger one. There are also other 'follow' widgets you can find on blogs, NetworkedBlogs being the next most popular after the Blogger one. I find that if I follow ten new blogs, I will get about 3 or 4 blogs to follow me back. Sadly, the Blogger widget only allows you to follow 300 blogs though some blogs have thousands of followers, which is kind of hard on the reciprocal-following concept. But you can follow from a widget when you are above the 300-blog limit, which is one good reason to provide a 'follow' widget if you have a Blogger blog.

The Link List:
This is your Big Opportunity to visit blogs and build more traffic for your own blog. Use it well.

Red Bissell Thomas Clayton Booher Beckie Burnham Jeff Chapman Pauline Creeden April Erwin Victor Gentile Ryan Heart Timothy Hicks Jason Joyner Carol Keen Jennette Mbewe Amber McCallister Shannon McDermott Meagan @ Blooming with Books Rebecca LuElla Miller Joan Nienhuis Nissa Jalynn Patterson Writer Rani Nathan Reimer Chawna Schroeder Jacque Stengl Jojo Sutis Robert Treskillard Steve Trower Shane Werlinger Phyllis Wheeler Deborah Wilson


My Facebook writing page:
http://www.facebook.com/NissaAnnakindt

CSFF Blog Tour, Day 1: Robert Treskillard

The Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy blog tour is here once again and we are featuring Merlin's Blade by Robert Treskillard, the second book in the Merlin Spiral trilogy. Now, normally I hate trilogies with only three books in them, but, hey, we're only on the second book, Treskillard can write lots more if we give him the proper encouragement!


Our first day's post is dedicated to the man behind the book. Robert Treskillard is a software designer, Celtic enthusiast, graphic artist and sometime bladesmith. He has a B.A. in Biblical & Theological Studies from Bethel University, a school sponsored by the Baptist General Conference. So, alas, he's probably not Catholic. :(

He and his wife have three children and live in the country outside Saint Louis, MO. Which makes me wonder: does he raise goats? Chickens? Guinea hens? Does he want to? Does he know I have some guinea hens I'm willing to unload, cheap?

Here are some internet places to meet Robert Treskillard:

His web site: http://www.kingarthur.org.uk
His blog: http://www.epictales.org/blog/robertblog.php

His Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/treskillard
The Merlin Spiral on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EpicTales.org

Merlin's Shadow on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Merlins-Shadow-Merlin-Spiral-Treskillard/dp/0310735084/

The Fun Part of the blog tour is to visit the blogs of the other participants and comment. See which ones have posted their blog tour posts early and which are waiting for the last minute. See who has something exciting to say and who is afraid their blog tour posts are dull. And, there may be kitten pictures! This is the internet after all. So go and visit the blogs on this list and say hey.

The numbers indicate the blogs I have personally visited and commented on during the tour. 1 is for first-day posts, 2 is for second-day, and so on.

Red Bissell
Thomas Clayton Booher: 1
Beckie Burnham: 1
Jeff Chapman 1
Pauline Creeden: 1
April Erwin
Victor Gentile 1
Ryan Heart
Timothy Hicks: 1
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Jennette Mbewe: 1
Amber McCallister 1
Shannon McDermott 1
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller 1
Joan Nienhuis
Nissa Annakindt  YOU ARE HERE.
Jalynn Patterson
Writer Rani
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder 2
Jacque Stengl
Jojo Sutis 2
Robert Treskillard:(Our Featured Author) 1 2
Steve Trower
Shane Werlinger
Phyllis Wheeler 2
Deborah Wilson

My Facebook writing page:
http://www.facebook.com/NissaAnnakindt

The Realms Thereunder by Ross Lawhead

As young teens, Daniel Tully and Freya Reynolds went missing and discovered a world few know is real. After returning, life went on, but they were not left unmarked. Freya, a university student, has symptoms of OCD. Daniel is now homeless. And the strange world they once shared is bleeding into our own in dangerous ways....

Aftermath

How many books have I read where young people are whisked off into strange and dangerous worlds, and then come home with no aftereffects? I've always been interested in the effect of adventures on the adventurers. As a child I'd make up stories based on the aftermath of Star Trek episodes, and how the crew were traumatized by such things as the death of a redshirt.

The Realms Thereunder starts with two characters who have already had a big adventure and are marked by it. I like that. It shows that actions have consequences. Very realistic.

The Realms Thereunder also has a rune poem in it. Next time, if there is a next time, I will compare it to the traditional rune poems that I learned back when I was a Norse Pagan.

Routine government-demanded disclaimer:
I did NOT receive a review copy of this book, but bought a Kindle copy out of my own very tiny money supply. Even if I HAD received a review copy, the First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees that I am under no obligation to mention it.

Write a Christian Poem for Lent!
Not a poet? Only a beginning writer? No matter! You are still invited to show your love for Jesus by writing a Christian poem this Lent. You don't have to be from a church that does Lent to qualify---- Protestants, Catholics, Evangelicals, Latter Day Saints and other followers of Christ are welcome.

Any style of poem is accepted, modern, traditional, words picked out of hats..... Contest is open NOW, for more details see Opium Cactus: Write a Christian Poem for Lent contest.

Book link -  http://www.amazon.com/Realms-Thereunder-Ancient-Earth/dp/1595549099/ (or some other link of your choice)
Author’s Web site  -  http://www.rosslawhead.com/blog/

Visit the blog tour links and find the many strange hidden objects I have placed on other tour members' blogs:

Gillian Adams V
Red Bissell
Keanan Brand V
Beckie Burnham V
Melissa Carswell
Jeff Chapman Niðergeard
CSFF Blog Tour
Theresa Dunlap
Emmalyn Edwards
April Erwin
Victor Gentile
Tori Greene
Nikole Hahn
Ryan Heart
Bruce Hennigan V
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Rebekah Loper
Marzabeth
Shannon McDermott
Rebecca LuElla Miller V
Mirriam Neal
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
John W. Otte
Donita K. Paul
Joan Nienhuis
Crista Richey
Sarah Sawyer
Chawna Schroeder V
Kathleen Smith
Donna Swanson
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Fred Warren V
Dona Watson
Shane Werlinger
Nicole White
Rachel Wyant
Thomas Clayton Booher
Janeen Ippolito V

Isolated and In Peril: Kathryn Mackel's Vanished

An author's first duty is to make life miserable for her characters, and in this month's CSFF blog tour book, Vanished by Kathryn Mackel, the author has certainly done her duty. Her poor characters have been subjected to a terrorist attack, and are now cut off from the outside world by a strange mist. Beyond the mist is---- something scary, I don't know what.....

This book has been compared to the television series 'Lost'. I've never seen 'Lost', though my stalker is evidently quite fond of the show. (Maybe the reason I never watched is that it's emotionally unhealthy to take recommendations from people who threaten your life and call you rude names....)

Another comparison is to Eric Flint's Ring of Fire series. In that story, a small town in West Virginia is uprooted and sent back in time to Germany in 1632. Those characters don't have a terrorist bomber on their hands, but they do wind up in the middle of a war zone. (If you would like to read the first 2 books in the Ring of Fire series for free, they are in Baen's Free Library in ebook form. They are: 1632 and 1633.

A third comparison which I found at Sci Fi Catholic is to Roy Rockwood's 'On a Torn-Away World'. Roy Rockwood was a pen name used by authors of boys' adventure books. 'On a Torn-Away World', published in 1913, is described thus:

Jack and Mark build an airship and head North, hoping to find a rare plant that grows only in Alaska. But a freak earthquake causes a chunk of the Earth, along with our protagonists, to fly into outer space.

ManyBooks.net, a source of free ebooks, has 'On a Torn-Away World' and other Roy Rockwood books.
Isolating the characters from their normal world and sources of help heightens the drama of the story. The characters will have to face challenges they've never faced in their ordinary, mundane lives. Will they rise to the challenge, or utterly freak out?

Questions:
What other novels and short stories isolate their characters in similar ways?
If you were writing a similar story, how would you isolate your characters?
Answer in a comment at the bottom of the post, please.
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CSFF blog tour must-post stuff:

Kathryn Mackel's Vanished at Amazon.com
Blog tour participants:
Brandon Barr Justin Boyer Jackie Castle CSFF Blog Tour Gene Curtis D. G. D. Davidson Jeff Draper April Erwin Karina Fabian Beth Goddard Andrea Graham Todd Michael Greene Katie Hart Christopher Hopper Joleen Howell Jason Joyner Carol Keen Mike Lynch Terri Main Margaret Shannon McNear Melissa Meeks Rebecca LuElla Miller John W. Otte Deena Peterson Rachelle Steve Rice Ashley Rutherford Mirtika or Mir's Here Chawna Schroeder Stuart Stockton Steve Trower Speculative Faith Linda Wichman Laura Williams Timothy Wise

Vanished by Kathryn Mackel

Vanished is book 1 of a new series by author Kathryn Mackel. The author, as well as many of the reviewers on Amazon.com, liken the book to the television series 'Lost'. The book's genre is described as 'adult supernatural suspense' on the CSFF blog tour web site

I haven't been able to afford the book yet, but from the reviews on Amazon.com, it's something I'm hoping to get soon. The story starts out with a terrorist bombing in a working-class neighbourhood in Massachusetts--- and then it gets weird. The community is cut off from the outside world by a strange mist. Beyond the mist is a terrifying alternate world. The people must put aside their differences and work to survive.
The book, being part of a series, does not wrap up the loose ends at the end of the story, and evidently some readers wanted more closure from it.

If this book sounds intriguing to you, buy the book--- and check out some of the blog tour participants on the list below, and see what others have to say about the book.

Vanished at Amazon.com

Vanished is not available in ebook form at any of the usual ebook stores, nor are other books by Kathryn Mackel.

Kathryn Mackel's web site
Kathryn Mackel's blog
Kathryn Mackel at Wikipedia

July's CSFF blog tour book is DragonLight by Donita Paul. It's available at Amazon.com in both print and Kindle ebook format. It's also available in ebook form at MobipocketPalm ebook store, Fictionwise eBooks, Books on Board (you can rate book and download a free Mobipocket format sample) and Memoware PDA bookstore

CSFF blog tour participants, click on names to visit their blogs:
An '*' means I have already visited the blog and they have something interesting/relevant up.

* Brandon Barr on multiple point-of-view fiction

Justin Boyer

* Jackie Castle relates things about author Kathryn Mackel I didn't know before

CSFF Blog Tour

Gene Curtis

* D. G. D. Davidson - contains a unique definition of what a 'Christian Chiller' is.

* Jeff Draper is Christian horror fiction possible?

April Erwin

Karina Fabian

Beth Goddard

Andrea Graham

* Todd Michael Greene I can't remember what I was going to say about this blog

Katie Hart

Christopher Hopper

* Joleen Howell good book review that gets to the heart of the story

Jason Joyner

Carol Keen

Mike Lynch

Terri Main

Margaret

Shannon McNear

Melissa Meeks

Rebecca LuElla Miller

* John W. Otte a nice book review

Deena Peterson

Rachelle

Steve Rice

Ashley Rutherford

Mirtika Mir's Here

Chawna Schroeder

Stuart Stockton

Steve Trower

Speculative Faith

Linda Wichman

Laura Williams

Timothy Wise


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Kathryn Mackel
CSFF
Vanished

CSFF February Blog Tour

I really should be doing something else right now.
Like working on my novel.
Or writing a blog entry for my other blog.
Or doing the laundry.
Or sleeping.

But instead I am writing about the CSFF blog tour for this month. February tour for Chris Walley’s book Shadow and Night (book 1 of The Lamb Among the Stars series) is scheduled for February 18-20.

I already have the book and have even read the first few pages. Let's hope I can finish it before the blog tour.

To find out more about the blog tour, go to: http://csffblogtour.com/

Last month, I was going to blog about the blog-tour's book 3 times on my main blog and at least once here, but I only managed to do it one time on the main blog. Better than nothing I guess. And I did visit a number of blogs on the blog tour. I made little asterisks after the ones I'd done so I could visualize my progress.

The point of doing the blog tour is to connect with authors and would-be writers and people who love books. Or else the point is to find another thing to do instead of working on my novel, doing laundry or sleeping.