I'm sitting here checking e-mail and reading the blogs of my friends (and some "famous" authors who I wish were my friends!) and wondering if blogs really work. I don't know.

One of my friends is a mystery writer under one name and an erotic romance author under another. She blogs under her mystery name regularly and was able to guest blog under the other name. How do you do that? Does it help sales? Does it just keep you from the WIP you should be writing?

In my pre-author life, I did public relations for a large company in much need of PR work. My "day-to-day" job was to write and edit the company newsletter. Consequently, I know the value of a good editorial. It's uplifting to the reader and therapeutic for the writer. A good editorial can assemble the masses and be a valuable tool for the company.

Isn't a blog the same thing? Doesn't it keep the writers name in the public eye (or at least on a Google search)? Doesn't it allow those of us who don't take social stands in our work a forum to speak about topics which are important to us? (On a side note, I just finished Betty Webb's "Desert Wives." FANTASTIC book!!)

So how should those of us just starting out use a blog? I hope my friends will read and want to comment, but will a post like this get my name out? Or is it just a therapeutic outlet for me? Or just something to write since I'm mildly stuck at a plot point in Ghost Mountain and have no external deadline to finish the novel by? Should I be looking for a group of people to blog with, like my mystery/romance buddy mentioned earlier? Does anyone else write paranormal mysteries who would want to start a blog?

What do you think? Is a blog helpful at this point in my career? Or am I just avoiding the work?