Where's that platform?

My efforts to keep my blog current fall way short. However, I do want this as part of my platform. You know. So I can impress agents and publishers that I have an on-line presence. The most important part, I keep hearing, is to be consistent. I'm trying to do that and still have time to smooth out that first draft. Smoked drives me most days. The pre-marketing I should be doing nags me while I'm working. And vice versa. If I were more disciplined, this book would be out there looking for readers already. Still, I hear other writers talk about their work schedules, and they teach me that everyone does it however they can. So, what I find that is important to me is just to keep going however I can get it done. What has been your experience?

Speaking of discipline. Mary Fletcher, Smoked's female protagonist, has a fetish for chocolate. She keeps a stash in her desk drawer at work, and turns to the dark bitter-sweet confection whenever she feels anxious. In fact, at one point, her yen for chocolate puts her in harms way at least once in this book. When she's in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound, someone on her bad side brings her flowers, she remarks that it would have been better to bring dark chocolate cherries. That person learns from that faux paux and brings the prized chocolates as part of a campaign to regain her favor. Mary's tough, but she's got her weakness.

So, when I go out to sell Smoked, I'll be sure to take along some chocolates to butter up the audience.