I had been blogging for about a year when I was first approached by someone asking if they could send me a book to review. My first thought was "Free books!" My second thought was, "What do they want in return?" I hemmed and hawed and decided to reply by saying while I would be interested in the book I could not promise that I would give a good review and if I didn't like it I'd say as much on my blog. They protested that of course they didn't expect a good review, so I took the plunge and I've been lucky. I've been drama-less. Other bloggers have not been so fortunate in that regard. It seems some authors expect puppies, roses and most importantly a good review in exchange for a free book.

Sometimes when you are writing--whether it is a blog post, a book or just in your own personal journal-- you have to just throw things out there and see what sticks.  Today I am throwing this out there betting many of you can relate.Writing?  It is hard.

Three years of reading blogs seems to have changed the way I relate to books, especially autobiographies.  I've been riveted this week by a book called We Took To the Woods.  It was written over 50 years ago by Louise Dickinson Rich.  It's a smart, funny and conversational read, the story of a woman who, with her husband and children, simply packed up and headed to the remotest corner of rural of Main

Barnes & Noble is bringing books by BlogHers to their mini-bookstore in the Yahoo! Internet Cafe on the third floor fo the meeting center, and we're lucky enough to have a bunch of BlogHer authors on hand to do signings. Here's the schedule. Find your blog hero, buy their book and get their sure-to-be-highly-valuable signature!