AFB: Gloria Weber

Welcome to April’s Featured Blog, something I’ll be posting here on Lit and Scribbles most of the month to introduce all of you to perhaps some new future friends and get to know a little more about your blogging community.

Let’s get to chatting with Gloria Weber, author of GASLIGHT DEMONS and contributor to THE GHOST IS THE MACHINE as well as several other stories (check out the list here). She also writes on the blog Gloria Weber and is a big participant in Row80. Tell us who you are Gloria!

GW: I live in Ohio with my husband, son, and daughter.  My family has three dogs, all of which were adopted as adults.  I’ve been writing for publication since March 2006.  Morbidgames Publishing released my novel GASLIGHT DEMONS in 2009.

J: When did you first start blogging and what is your blog about?

GW: Originally? No clue. I think when I first tried my hand at blogging and covering my writing life it was through MySpace… You know, back in the square wheel days when it was popular.  However, while I can’t figure out the original, I know when my current blog found roots: August 2011.

As for what my blog is about, I can’t rightly say there’s a solid concept.  About 80% is things I can (after a one hour presentation, three flow charts, use of a laser pointer, and a demonstration involving a toaster oven) vaguely link to writing and the writer life. The other 20% is- OH! SHINY! Me likey.  Let me show you the pretty.

J: Which of your posts was the most fun to write and why?

GW: After my publishers release my work, I like to do a post on what inspired the story.  These, obviously, don’t happen that often.  But, I like letting people peek into my brain.  The most recent one was written last year, about my story ETERNAL SERVICE.

J: What type of stories do you write?

GW: My last two published works have been Steampunk.  However, that’s not the genre I feel most at home in.  I’m definitely a Fantasy kind of gal. As for target audience age, I don’t have a preferred one.

J: Protagonist excluded, which of your characters is your favorite?

GW: Let’s cover this, first: I suck at favorites. I was a junior in high school when I finally picked my favorite color. So, ask me this on any other day and it might change. 

Today’s answer?  The dog in my flash fiction piece ONE WINTER DAY.  The piece is based on the painting THE HUNTERS IN THE SNOW and it was the dogs in that picture that drew my attention first.  He was the reason I wrote it, even though he wasn’t the main character.

J: Who are your favorite authors?

GW: There’s that word again… Let’s just say, if I see any of the following author’s names, I always pick up the book and check the blurb:  J. K. Rowling, Terry Pratchett, Terry Brooks, Amanda Quick (or her other pen name: Jayne Castle), and Ray Bradbury. 

5000 and counting!

I can’t believe how my lil Lit and Scribbles is getting all grown up and viewed. I know the 5000 mark happened a couple of weeks ago, but dang people, it was going to be the end of the world. I might never have reached 6000. Anything could have happened!

Either way, welcome to the 5000 celebration!

So it got me thinking. What could I do for a 5000 hits party? 5000 things of awesomeness? I don’t have 5000 followers or blog posts—yet. Well, since the trend lately has been animated gifs, I thought why not mix that with 5 of the biggest events make one, because one is hard enough while linking to the 5 biggest events that have happened while I’ve been on the blogosphere.

NUMBER 5

I went to the Backspace Writers Conference and posted all of my notes. There I met a lot of new friends, including the ladies over at Mystic Cooking. It certainly was a lot of fun to go back to NYC again, check out a few sites and eat very well. I learned a lot at the conference too, some of it hard to swallow at first, but it made me do a major rewrite on SHADE that probably helped me win at other things that happened later in the year.