Lately you may have noticed some other authors appearing here in the RoW Studios. Well you wouldn’t be wrong. I have gotten caught up in this new (to me) phenomenon of blog swapping. Now if you’re at all like me, the term “swapping” makes you cringe a bit. Honestly I think the creators of the television show Wife Swap must be too young to remember the 70s. Either way the name gives me the willies.

However, when I received my first “blog swap” request, I have to admit it was a bit titillating. I guess I am not as monogamous with my writing as I am with my spouse. Go figure.

So I did swap. And then I did it again. And you know what? It has been great for traffic! Both mine and the, uh, swapees.

(It also gives new meaning to the expression “pimping your blog”.)

Brotherhood of the Black Cap

Anyway, the reason I am really bringing this up (other than to point out the merits of blog swapping) is to announce two upcoming swaps that may interest you. Tomorrow I am exchanging wits with one of my favorite tweeps in the known Twitterverse, Bert Carson. Bert and I have a cool relationship, excepting the fact that he obsesses over my old Twitter avatar—to the point of dressing like me when he runs through his town in Alabama (apparently the R.S. Guthrie fans there can turn into quite the adoring mob). You can read about our Brotherhood of the Black Cap (and also witness some of my own Photoshop prowess) over on his blog here.

Tomorrow Bert and I will be trading thoughts on why we write. Don’t worry, for those of you who miss me when I’m gone I will be providing a nice clean link to my post over on the Bert Carson Blog.

Writer Cinta Garcia of Spain

Then, in a little under two weeks (and this one has me really excited and humbled), I have a very special Valentine’s Day swap planned with the incredible Cinta Garcia! What’s better (for YOU) is that Cinta and I are exchanging NEW FICTION that will in one way or another include the theme of (yes, you guessed it) LOVE! I say YOU are in for a treat because you all are going to experience the Austenesque writing talent of my gifted Spanish friend—I promise you, you won’t be disappointed by her eloquence! I just hope her readers are a forgiving lot—I will be finding out just how many Romance chops I actually do have (with forthcoming apologies to the master, C.K. Gray, I’m sure)…want to check out some of Cinta’s writing? Read a recent Austenesque short she posted right here!

So if you are a reader, please click on over tomorrow and on Tuesday February 14th for some more really fun blog swaps. And if you are (also) a blogger and you haven’t yet discovered the rejuvenation of the blog swap, there’s no better time than the present!

Oh, and one of the coolest things about blog swapping?

The blogs really don’t have to be attracted to each other at all.

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The blank page is dead…long live the blank page.

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Author known to use spontaneous satire, sarcasm, and unannounced injections of pith or witticisms which may not be suitable for humorless or otherwise jest-challenged individuals. (Witticisms not guaranteed to be witty, funny, comical, hilarious, clever, scintillating, whimsical, wise, endearing, keen, savvy, sagacious, penetrating, fanciful, or otherwise enjoyable. The Surgeon General has determined through laboratory testing that sarcasm can be dangerous, even in small amounts, and should not be ingested by those who are serious, somber, pensive, weighty, funereal, unsmiling, poker-faced, sober, or pregnant.)