Hacked off with Hackers

I think I've been pretty lucky so far in blogland. Most of the people visiting to check out my chatty chat are genuine readers, those who are interested in what I have to say, or at the very least, who want to know what will be happening next to my characters. But there are a growing number of comments from clearly less well intentioned types.
To start with I replied to some of these smartly messaged comments. They sounded pretty legit, things like
"I am really enjoying the theme/design of your website. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A number of my blog readers have complained about my website not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any tips to help fix this issue?" Or even more perfectly tailored to get me interested "Amazing blog! Do you have any tips and hints for aspiring writers? I'm hoping to start my own website soon but I'm a little lost on everything. Would you recommend starting with a free platform like Wordpress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I'm completely confused .. Any suggestions? Bless you!"
Sound pretty on topic don't you think? As one so new to the world of romance writing, I want to both encourage readers and writers to interact with me, and I love chatting via comments on other blogs and twitter. But with the links to these commentators own blogs consistently for shoes, website sales tools or just plain gobbledegook, I got wise pretty quick that though the comments about my writing and blogging being flawless might be flattering, they sure weren't legit.
Now, I don't want to discourage people from stopping by here, so I haven't turned up my security settings full blast. But I have made it a touch harder for a non human to bombard me with notes on nothing. If you're a real commenter, I apologize if that makes things take slightly longer, but I'm hoping that a wee burst of this and things will settle down again. Maybe I'll drop off that spam alert database in the sky, or at least, things will go back to a manageble level.
In the mean time, let me know how you deal with spam, on blogs or otherwise. And as always, happy reading!
xMichele

Image from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

The mojo thief

This is what she looks like isn't it? Warts, curled talons, a hump, red soul-stealing eyes? I haven't pondered the looks of the mojo thief before, but with the progress of this latest book I wonder if she has come a calling. It doesn't help of course that the sun has been sneaking in through my office doors and beckoning me outside. Or that Mr. One and a half has become more insistent when he physically pushes me away from the keyboard (smart little monkey). It's not even that I don't want to be immersed in this book. I love my characters. They genuinely crack me up when I get down to pulling their dialogue out. In fact, when I banish Miss Anti-Mojo into the naughty corner, the words don't have much trouble tumbling out onto the page.
Happily the contract for this one allows me plenty of time to make sure that when I do turn up to the page, the words that come out are good ones, not fiercely whispered "just get on with it" verbs and adjectives destined for the edit cut pile.
I'm not sure I've solved my mojo issue. But sometimes just admitting you have a problem helps resolve it ;-) doesn't it? Although that doesn't seem to have helped with my chocolate addiction.
At least the novel is still coming. I finished the central chapter today, you know, that one where the characters finally catch a glimmer of their love for one another as it runs, like a scared hair, through their minds. Of course my hero hasn't quite got that love rabbit by the short and curlies yet. He's got a ways to go before he realizes that the glimpse is what he's been looking for a long time.
So, my mojo thief put into her corner for the day, I'm going to go crack chapter eight now. Phew. I feel better already.
And what about you? Any tips on breaking your writers block? Do you like to spill your woes and clear your mind with a good vent? Or do you let your mojo thief fester until she fair explodes under the weight of all those warts ;-)
Thanks for stopping by, happy reading.
x Michele

Image courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net