Embarrassing Halloweens (We've all been there, right?)

Are you ready for a treat? Entangled kicked off a Halloween blog hop with awesome prizes, tons of swag, and, let’s not forget, great posts! Please read mine and leave a comment to enter to win a $25 Amazon GC, which I’ll draw October 31, and then keep on hopping for more fun!

Embarrassing Halloweens (We’ve all been there, right?)

2003

It was my first week at my new job, and my first week in the United States, fresh from Brazil. I became super excited when work informed me that they were throwing a party for the employees.

I went to Party City, but the check-out line was huge, so I ended up buying a costume from a small, thrift store in downtown Austin. This store was crowded too, so I grabbed this long, purple number from the  sale rack without trying it on. A quick glance assured me that it looked decent—long and purple. How can anyone ever go wrong with purple, right?

Well, one could go very wrong. As I removed it from the box just before the party, I realized that my purple dress turned into a cheap, shiny fabric when the light hit it and had a V-neck deeper than the Grand Canyon. It was tight, oh so tight. When I walked, it was like every stitch was gripping my skin. Oh, and the high slit. How did that go unnoticed?

Well, I wouldn’t be the first person to dress slutty for Halloween, right? It was a work function, but it was still Halloween. I remember all those B-movies from the States I watched growing up. Hollywood couldn’t be wrong (by the way, writing this post, I came up with my costume for this year: Self-Denial Queen), could it?

Just in case, the good Catholic girl inside me (synonym for smothering Catholic guilt) pinned the V-neck so my girls would stick together and be covered. I realized that if I walked slowly, the high slit wouldn’t make an appearance, and if it did, those black fishnets would cover my legs. Classy, I know. 

So, not having time to buy another costume (I didn’t have a car yet), I ventured to the party as Spider Witch.

As I faced the fluorescent lights and the family-oriented costume-wearing crowd, my heart froze—non-alcoholic fruit punch and tons of clowns, superheroes, presidents, and Wizard of Oz witches greeted me. Some of my colleagues gave me a once over and frowned; others offered a sympathetic half smile. I didn’t know which was worse, being judged or being patronized. To be honest, I still don’t know.

I spotted the buffet, and the table with the cold cuts seemed like an oasis of understanding, of escape, and it called my name. When food calls your name, it’s rude not to answer, so I rushed to find solace in crispy chips and spicy salsa.  Or so I hoped.

On my way, I slipped on the hem of my dress and lost balance, and BAM! I fell on my butt on the polished, lemon-scented hardwood floor. I started to move to get to my feet and felt rather than heard the back of my dress rip a bit while my dignity shredded exponentially.

I surged to my feet and cleared my throat.

“Are you okay?” a sympathetic voice asked behind me.

I smothered laughter. Oh crap! How can a slutty witch not be okay on Halloween?

Do you have any embarrassing Halloween stories to tell? Is there anything you find cringe-worthy? J Share your thoughts and good luck! 

To Blog or Not to Blog…

Dear friends,

I’m sorry for neglecting this blog. I’m starting to feel like that aunt who you only see at a family gathering every four years or so. Well, hopefully I will be cool Aunt Emma, with an iPad and a string of former lovers, and someone you want to meet for lunch. I’ll try not to be like Aunt Bertha. You know – the one who complains you never write or call or email, even though she doesn’t own a computer. Yes. Let’s pretend I’m Aunt Emma.

Truth is, I’m worried I’ll run out of subjects to blog about. As it turns out, once you are a published author, people invite you to guest blog on their sites. It’s super cool, but also a huge responsibility. After all, I don’t want to bore readers to tears.

                So basically, I will try to come up with some cool, totally original things to blog and write them down, to be one step ahead of everyone. *snorts* One step ahead…who am I kidding?

            Let’s start with last week. I went to Vegas for a couple of days and met with other Entangled authors and editors, and it was such a positive experience. How lucky was I to be amongst such high-caliber authors and professionals? There were networking and presentations, and I even attended Annie Seaton’s book signing.

            I met Annie Seaton through New Voices last year, and since then I’ve been bugging her. She’s helped me as an editor, webpage designer, friend, virtual soundboard…and in person, she’s even nicer. :D I also loved meeting Ann Harrison, who is a lady full of spunk and charisma. Both very talented Aussie authors.

            Liz Pelletier’s presentations are always sharp and funny. She probably thinks I’m an Aunt Bertha for sure, because I think so highly of her that I act nothing like Aunt Emma around her.

            Well, that’s it for today. I just wanted to drop by and say hello. J

            Stay tuned – the talented and lovely Michele de Winton will guest blog on here this week!

           Until later,

           Carmen :)

             

Having dinner with authors Kate Evangelista, Ann Harrison, Mary Lindsey & Annie Seaton :)

Fake it until you make it – Part 2: Social Branding

I realize how terribly ironic this is, since I haven’t posted on this blog for over three weeks!

So, let’s talk about important things for the writer in the making: things I wished I had a clue about before I got picked up; decisions that should have been made, or would have made my life easier if they had been made by the time I got the call.

Here they are, tah-dah:

Name– Your brand begins with your name. If you'll use a pen name, start thinking about it. At the very least, come up with a couple of options. If you want to be aggressive, find a pen name that suits you and get the website domain.

Twitter – Follow published authors. Follow aspiring writers, editors, and avid readers. Don’t just make it about yourself. Retweet things that you believe other followers will enjoy. Make comments on people’s tweets. Share.

Facebook – Same as Twitter. Honestly, I used to prefer FB to Twitter because it seemed impossible to me to condense things and make them interesting at the 240-character limit. Nowadays, though, I have to say I love Twitter. But FB makes it easier to share pictures and write longer posts. Another issue with Facebook that I see with upcoming authors is privacy. A lot of them have a private FB page and the author page. Or sometimes they have one profile for family and another for everyone else. Or you can have everyone bundled on the same profile. I guess the question is – how personal do you want to get? Are you willing to share politics and personal points of view on a profile to which hundreds or thousands of potential readers will have access? Do you want to take the chance of losing some of those readers due to things that shouldn’t interfere with your craft as a writer?

Blog – I’m late getting on the blogging bandwagon. You are supposed to be consistent, blog often, and write about things people care about. I’m honestly having a problem with all three. But I’ve made myself a promise to blog at least a couple of times a month and take it from there. It’s not ideal by any means, but it’s what I can do right now. Another great resource the blog brings is the exposure you get when you comment on someone else’s post.

Establish a fan base – If you think about it, social networking is the easiest, cheapest, and most accessible way to find online writers’ communities, critique partners, and contacts. You don’t have to leave work early to attend your local chapter of the RWA (although that’s cool, too) and you don’t have to spend money to buy a ticket halfway across the country to attend a big writers’ conference (all in good time). It’s right there at your fingertips.

Website – I know it seems over the top, but it really isn’t. Competition is fierce. When I got my contract, I was lucky to find a domain with my name still available. Yes, because my name is super popular anyway, right? But, moving on, I’m always amazed to see a lot of aspiring authors with very cool websites. I think that’s great because it sets them apart. A lot of times, the website can also be a more complete version of your blog, still designed by you or a professional. Or you can go all out and have a www.yourname.com 

Pinterest – Though new, it has been growing exponentially. It’s a virtual pin board that’s more addictive than most candy bars (trust me on this, I’m a carboholic). You can connect it with your Facebook or Twitter, and it’s a great way to create boards that hint at your writing style or books. A lot of times, authors post their inspirations for their heroes and locations. It’s also a great way for people to get to know you and even relate to the things you like or dislike.

Well, these are just some of them. I was already a part of FB and Twitter before my contract, but I was naïve. I didn’t consider these social networking sites to be a platform to reach out to potential readers. It all comes down to being professional and cutting corners — is it really worth having four different FB profiles/author pages? You may have 700 followers on Twitter, but how many of them include your target readers? Should you start branding your pen name now so you’ll get known immediately or wait for the big moment to make the switch?

Please feel free to comment on your experiences below. :)