Blog Housekeeping Updates

I'm such a small fish that I rarely do housekeeping-style posts, but I made some changes recently that I felt were worth detailing in an "official" blog post.

First, the minor update.  For a brief moment in time I had a "store" over at Amazon, which was linked in the menu bar underneath my fabulous blog header.  Amazon is doing away with the personalized storefronts, so I'm experimenting with a more traditional ad space in the sidebar.  It's minimal enough that I don't think it will be too annoying - and if you have an ad blocker or read this blog in some sort of feed reader, you'll likely never be bothered by it at all.  At this point I have no immediate plans to embed ads into my posts (mostly because I find those annoying).

Now, the more major update.  After several years I have decided that I need to let go of my Upcoming Historical Romance wiki.  I'm sorry to disappoint the three of you (ha!) who liked to visit that page, but keeping it updated has been a struggle for, at least, the past two years - and looking at the page now?  Well, I've totally fallen off a cliff.  I don't really talk much about the intricacies of my Real Life Day Job - but suffice it to say in the 14 years I've been blogging I have steadily moved up the ladder of responsibility in my career.  And as I've moved up that ladder, I've had to learn to prioritize my "down time."  So...bye-bye wiki.

For historical fans, a reminder that I am still writing my Unusual Historicals column for Heroes & Heartbreakers every month.  So I'm not completely abandoning you or the sub genre.

Alice Walker: Blog Advisor

Undoubtedly best known for The Color Purple, which won her both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award (wowzers!), Alice Walker has the kind of career I suspect a lot of writers would sell their souls for. Which was probably just one of the many reasons why Writer's Digest approached her for an interview, which can be found in their October 2010 issue. She has a lot of interesting things to say, but this is what (naturally) jumped up and bit me:

WD: Now that you've been blogging for a while, how do you feel about the format?

AW: Well, I like it, I think. It's hard to know who's reading, or whether it's being read. Which is fine, because my responsibility is actually just to put it there. ....I also like it that it's free. I love that part. I've always wanted to offer what I offer freely, and I would like to do that as long as I can.

Yeah, this.

I used to get the occasional e-mails from wee lil' baby bloggers looking for advice, to which I am convinced I was no help at all. My expert advice? Jump in head first, and figure it out as you go along. It's your Internet wall, throw a bunch of "stuff" up against it and see what ends up sticking. Some people will like it, some people won't. Some of it will get read, and some of it won't. Blogging for me has always been a way for me to hear myself talk type. Mostly I'm doing it to amuse myself. To sort of throw up on my "Internet wall" whatever is rattling around in my 2 cent head. Connecting with other readers who share similar interests? A major bonus, and honestly the best part about this whole blogging exercise.

Is my blog ever going to be considered "important," "vital," or even "noteworthy?"

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! ::wiping tears::

Um, no. But you know what? That's OK. Because it's mine. My shiny pretty private bubble. An oasis away from...well...whatever I'm fretting about at any given time. And I'm a middle child, so you know I can be a champion fretter.

There's no right or wrong way to blog. Honest, there isn't. There's no secret handshake, no golden ticket, no secret formula, and the joy of blogging is that everybody does it differently. My three golden rules have always been 1) Be consistent 2) Be passionate and 3) Entertain yourself. I figure if I'm doing those three things, my tiny private blogging bubble will continue to float merrily along the Internet waterways. Others would probably argue with me that it's more complex than that - to which I say, "Uh, no. Not really." Be yourself. Find your voice. And blog about whatever the heck you want.

All this from an Alice Walker interview. If she knew I existed, I'm sure she'd be slightly mortified. Heh.