Released on = August 17, 2006, 10:55 am

Press Release Author = Gail Sideman

Industry = Media

Press Release Summary = From blog to book: Branley shares tips to sensational blogging

Press Release Body = BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. ---- The word 'blog' found its way
into Merriam-Webster's lexicon in 1999, but it wasn't until the last two years that
blogging - a word that combines the 'web' and 'log' - became a national pastime.
At age 50, Bill Branley, a New Orleans native who has lived on Bainbridge
Island for two years, is older than the average blogger according to a recently
published report from the Pew Research Center. His creation of the serial web
log, 'Peggy Finds a Friend' and converting it to the novel 'Sea Changes' (One
Sock Press, ISBN 0-9778561-0-0, July 2006, $14.95) also sets him apart from the
other 56 million adults who read or document their thoughts and experiences
online.
His exercise is a success-in-progress. On the heels of 'Sea Changes' rolling
off the presses, Foreword Magazine named it a 2006 Beach Read.
Branley now speaks to others about how to develop characters and their stories
via web log. His top five tips to create an entertaining blog are:
1) Establish a main character.
2) Create a simple, straightforward storyline.
3) Write something interesting in each episode.
4) Use humor and suspense.
5) Get ideas from real life.
"The No. 1 cool thing about writing serialized fiction as a blog is that you
can reach readers directly," said Branley, who began his blog in May of 2005 as
a writing exercise while he traveled by ferry to work in Seattle each morning.
"There are no publishers or agents or bookstores sitting between you and the
reader. I decided to take the leap from safe writers' environments such as
writing groups and workshops with 'Peggy Finds A Friend' because I had been in
several and wanted to see if I could appeal to the public at large as a
writer."

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Web Site = http://www.seachangesnovel.com

Contact Details = Gail Sideman, PUBLISIDE; 8832 N. Port Washington Road; Milwaukee,
WI 53217; bookpublicist@publiside.com; (262) 240-7433