Blogging for Dummies & Murphy's Law

It seems like sometimes change comes all at once in your life. We can go years with life stagnating, and than suddenly everything starts to turn all at once. I start my new job on Monday, Jesse's at a job interview right now, and we may be moving in the next couple of months. It's funny how God puts these U-turns in our lives. These are opportunities that fell into our laps, but they are things we've been praying about for some time. It's amazing how He works. Even if none of the changes occur, I feel blessed that I can see His hand in my life.

Blogging for Dummies by Brad Hill is a terrific resource for new to moderate bloggers. I’ve been blogging for almost six months, but I learned an enormous amount of information from Hill’s book. His writing is irreverent and witty and full of what you need to know to really make your blog stand out from the crowd. I still have to figure out how to shrink a picture to 50k, but once I get that down, there’ll be no stopping me! The book covers Blogger.com, TypePad, Yahoo360, MSN, and several other sites in detail so a new user can jump write in and get a great site going. His instructions are basic and easy to follow, and he addresses the pros and cons of each site well with pictured examples. It had great info for me to get moving, but I think I’ll end up purchasing this book, because he has a great deal of info inside for more experienced bloggers who want more control over their sites.

Murphy’s Law by Rhys Bowen is the first book in the Molly Murphy mystery series. After accidentally killing a land owner, Molly Murphy must flee Ireland to avoid the gallows. She soon finds herself caught up with another family on their way to America, but once at Ellis Island, she’s suspected of being involved with another murder, and the only way to clear her name is by finding the real killer. Bowen keeps things simple without extraneous detail, but her descriptions still shine, and Molly is a real character. There are no pretensions in Miss Murphy: she wants to live the good life, and she’s not afraid to break a few rules to find it. I find Daniel Sullivan, the police detective in charge of the case, a little too good to be true, but future books will prove his worthiness for Molly. Molly is not a great detective, constantly putting herself in danger, leaping before looking, making all sorts of assumptions, but she’s always entertaining. Check out Bowen's blog with other female mystery writers at The Lady Killers.

I'm currently reading Crunchy Cons by Ron Dreher. This is a lifestyle and a life-view I want to know more about and explore. Check it out! Have a wonderful weekend!