Would You Read On? by Diana Flegal

Welcome to the newest, Would You Read On? submission. Today's first page is a Fantasy title.

Aiden breathed in the crisp autumn air and the scent of dewed leaves as he glided on the back of his commonlear dragon. She smoothly and swiftly flew him to the meeting place where a test to transform the brotherhood of squires into knights soon would begin.

“The brotherhood” as they called it, was an impenetrable bond between the three boys. It was Samuel’s idea. When they were twelve years old, they were the only ones in the entire kingdom to begin squire training that year. From that time on, they were inseparable.

Aiden was the youngest by several months, yet many assumed he was the oldest—by at least a year. He had always been tall, muscular and mature for his age. He also had a competitive spirit, which helped ignite their bond. It was this competitive spirit that prompted Aiden to challenge Aeric and Samuel to make this more than a test. It had to be a race.

Sir Zachariah stood with one hand on his hip and the other hand shielding the rising sun from his eyes as his head tilted skyward toward the incoming squire, his face clearly indicating his eager anticipation of the arrival of the three boys. Zachariah’s long grey cloak and beard, the two almost matching in color, whisked in the breeze as Lucy soared gracefully into the landing, grounding her rider close to the other commonlear, Cameron, and his squire, Aeric.

“Good to see you,” Zachariah greeted with a warm smile.

“Good morning, Sir Zachariah,” Aiden said. “Good to see you, too.” Aeric walked over with his arms folded and head cocked.

“Still up to the challenge?” He asked with a bold smirk.

“Of course,” Aiden replied with buoyancy as he dismounted Lucy.

“Good,” Aeric said. “You know, we haven’t discussed what the loser will owe the winner. How about good old fashioned humiliation?”

Would you read on?

Last weeks First page generated a lot of discussion and I must confess I left off the introduction. I will not do that again, I feel I did a disservice to the authors first page. The book, Your 100 Day Prayer is scheduled for release September 15th by Thomas Nelson Publishers. It is authored by John I Snyder. I do hope you will check it out further.

Happy reading!

The Issue with Ghost Blogging by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

As with Ghost Writing the practice of Ghost Blogging is becoming an increasing phenomenon these days--especially in the corporate world.

What is it?

It's when someone hires another blogger or writer to write their blogs for them and they slap their name on it as if they wrote it themselves.

Many people feel this is deceptive and and unethical.

I believe it is expected in the corporate world where many CEO's don't even answer their own email and phone calls and haven't written their own letters for years. It's "understood" that their Secretary or Administrative Assistant is writing their letters, emails, and responses.

The issue with blogging is that it's suppose to be a modern tool for transparency and a way to personally connect with one's readers--whether those readers are clients, patients, customers, students, or fans. Busy people claim they don't have the time to blog like clockwork on a regular schedule. Yet, they feel "obligated" to blog because everyone else is doing it, like their competitors, and it truly is a great promotional tool if utilized effectively.

So what about authors? Is okay for us to Ghost Blog or are we deceiving our readers? Shouldn't we be spending our time writing those great novels that our readers can't wait to read next? Don't we have an obligation to meet the deadlines looming over us like a big fat cloud that is turning darker by every minute we don't get something written? The temptation could be great for some of us--especially if we just need to get past a deadline for a short month or two.

I believe an author should carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages--and Christian writers should seriously pray about it. I have made my personal decision not to hire Ghost Bloggers on my personal blog--my main blog, but I do have guest bloggers who use their own name to blog. However, I wouldn't think twice about hiring a Ghost Blogger for my Today in Carolina History Blog, which is no longer active, since all I do is post historical events that took place on that day. I'm not really writing. I'm not giving writing tips, marketing tips, opinions or any insight into my personality or life--only stating facts.

If you do decide to hire a Guest Blogger, I would like to caution that if your readers find out, you may risk them feeling betrayed or deceived. You also risk losing them as readers on both your blog and your books. A certain amount of trust in you as a leader, as well as your knowledge and authority in authorship could be broken.

What are your thoughts? How do you feel about Ghost Blogging?