On July 30, 2007...

I wrote my first post at Writer on the Side. That's nearly seven years ago. At the time, I was writing plays, not novels. I had no agent, no book deal. My youngest son was not yet two. I hadn't skied on any run that wasn't green.

In the seven years since I started chronicling my writing journey, I've achieved some writing goals, survived two rounds of driver's ed, seen my eldest off to college, taught, choreographed, and skied a black diamond. The requirement that authors have an internet presence to support book sales has gone from "give it a try" to "you must" to "kind of optional unless you've a YouTube channel, a Tumblr, and a kazillion Twitter followers since the rest of you struggling author types are pretty much white noise."

I've watched some book bloggers succeed marvelously, some give up, and some become authors in their own right. I've seen some authors have great success, some flame out, and some continue to tread the waters of the midlist, like me.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Sound of Letting Go

by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Giveaway ends August 09, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

So, why am I still blogging? Do I have some great revelation to share? Nope. But this blog is a nice memento. A kind of public personal journal. And, for what it's worth, here are a few micro-insights:

• Blogging helps you figure out your internet presence and is an inexpensive online "home base" for authors who aren't super tech-savvy
• It's up to you whether you want to be snarky and political, or peace-loving and rather neutral. I've seen authors succeed both ways but it's best to choose and not flip-flop
• Goodreads Giveaways are effective and generally well-subscribed (I'm running one above, see?!).
• Rafflecopter giveaways on your own blog are not worth the cost of prize mailing UNLESS you engage the help of other bloggers to publicize your giveaway.
• The blogger community is amazing and blog tours for books are tremendously helpful for getting the word out about your books but don't overdo it--the community is fab but insular
• Make peace with who you are as a writer, self-marketer, and PERSON-OUTSIDE-OF-THE-WRITING/BLOGGING-WORLD. Your family needs you, too. Probably more than your computer :)
• Don't blog at the expense of writing your books!

The Blogger's Bully Pulpit

I try to keep my opinions to myself. My blog is supposed to be about the writing life NOT politics and religion. Sometimes I think it's silly to worry about this since I have only 468 followers. As is often noted in social media, I don't really have a platform--a bully pulpit (love that phrase--Wikipedia says it was coined by Teddy Roosevelt)--just the ILLUSION of one. Everyone with a Twitter or Facebook account enjoys this illusion at some level these days.

So, why do I maintain a standard for opinion-sharing online? I suppose I haven't wanted to offend even my marginal numbers of blog and Twitter followers, and FB author page "like-rs".

Well, it doesn't matter anymore because today something happened that taught me the limit of my self-imposed restriction. The vice principal at my son's school was told he had to resign (or he'd be fired) because he married a man. Seriously. In the 21st century. I found out because (I am proud to say) my son texted to tell me he was not in class but, instead, protesting the administration's action.

To quote Seuss (THE LORAX) "...I got mad. I got terribly mad." I hopped aboard Twitter and Facebook, worries about offending aside--wry realization that my pulpit is not "bully" but "baby-sized" ignored.

I spoke up. I'm not sorry. And, though your numbers weren't huge, to the people who have replied, retweeted, and joined me in speaking up: Thank you.

Maybe a bunch of "baby pulpits" joined together can make a bully difference!

Writing, Blogging, Books and Balance

For years, most of my Thursday posts have featured books I have read and enjoyed. While I have loved giving shout-outs to titles and authors whose work I enjoy, the burden of reading and writing this material for the blog has gotten overwhelming. Meanwhile (for all of you other author-bloggers out there), I have not seen any measurable return in terms of my own book sales. 

Lately, I've also been struggling more than usual with balancing promotion of my upcoming novel with completion of my next manuscript. Maybe it's the unusual amount of freelance work I've picked up this fall. Maybe it's missing my eldest son, off to college. (Tuition bills are one reason I tend to accept all the aforementioned freelance work, btw!) Regardless of the "why," I still have to try to realign the scales.

So, for the fall, the "how" is going to be a commitment to just once-weekly blogging (Mondays) and to allow myself to just read for fun at night without the self-imposed pressure of having to write about books. Meanwhile, I full intent to FINISH the book I am writing by October 25th. New deadline. The first, missed, date was August 30th.

Here's hoping the second deadline is the charm. Are you doing any realigning this fall? Got any good advice? Spill, okay?

Back to Business: TWEET, TUMBLE, STUMBLE...

As a follow-up to my "vintage" social media post of last week, here are my reflections today.

Ahhhhhh, social media. The ultimate THING TO DO WHEN YOU WANT TO FEEL LIKE YOU
ARE GETTING SOMETHING DONE BUT DON'T WANT TO THINK TOO MUCH. Plus, it somehow makes you feel simultaneously lonelier and less lonely (or is that only me?).

@SWKEHOE

Is all this tweeting, facebooking, etc., useful to authors? Does it come "naturally" to anyone? Has anyone figured out how to do it without it being a ginormous time suck?
WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM is best / most effective / most efficient?
WHAT ABOUT the new MYSPACE, INSTAGRAM, REDDIT?

Whether you like it or not, with Amazon's power in online book sales, the increasing use of e-books, competition from self-published books with low price points, and the fact that B&N (the barely hanging-on brick-and-mortar bookstore) is shelving a dwindling percentage of new hard copy releases, some level on online self-promotion is a must.

IN FACT, I THINK THAT MANY AUTHORS DO ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY ONLINE SELF-PROMOTION. Can we weigh in on this? Do we think it's true?

Two years down the line from my adorable early social media post, I still have more questions than answers. Can't imagine that this is a good thing!

WROTE BUT NEVER POSTED, 1st EDITION

Batman, age 2.

In the midst of a few hours of desk- and online- cleaning, I discovered half a dozen reflections that never made it from draft to posting. Some were written before I sold my first novel. Before any of my kids had driver's licenses. Back when I was an in-the-trenches mom-with-a-dream, a true writer-on-the-side. Some are kind of cute and fun so, over the course of the summer, I'll share them with you. Here's the first...

Before I drop in my tracks each night, I try to read a few pages of Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. It is a diverting book, both wryly funny and insightful. A good bedtime read for a writer. The problem is that, as with all writing craft books, they are written by people who have, by definition, got book contracts. The result for me—journeywoman writer of marketing materials, jacket copy, and educational books—can be a subtle textual layer of smug, occasional name-dropping self-satisfaction that taints the works’ instructive qualities. Maybe I am simply revealing my exquisitely petty nature, but I am HUGELY JEALOUS that Stephen King plays in an amateur rock band with the likes of Amy Tan and it’s hard to get past this to see what he says about WRITING. All you housewives-and-writers out there will likely point to notable exceptions to the above observation. In particular I must point out Anne Lamott’s beautiful Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. I keep this volume right next to Strunk & White’s Elements of Style and W. Somerset Maugham’s A Writer’s Notebook.

What do the how-to books on your shelves reveal about you, your dreams and the places you’ve been. Who are the heroes whose biographies you keep? What skill or talent do you want to develop? What cosmic notions are you struggling to understand? And how old do your kids have to be before you can tell them to clean their own bathroom? (That's an important question, too, you know!)
 

Back to Business: FREEBIES & GIVEAWAYS

A few months ago, I wrote a post entitled "I'm Not Gonna Give It to You," in which I reflected on the way I have begun to perceive the explosion of give-aways and contests as so much virtual white noise. As an author, the time and expense required to post, publicize, process entries, contact a winner and mail a prize (book or whatever) far outweigh any benefits gleaned from the project. Personally, I no longer enter contests. If I want a book, I support the author by buying it and if I were to win a book and then didn't read it and post about it, I'd feel terrible guilt (maybe that's another issue entirely but, whatever, we'll leave Dr. Freud out of it for now).

THAT SAID (and, boy, do I overuse this phrase in blogging)...

With apologies for the secrecy there is this a COOL ITEM that plays a role in my upcoming novel that I would like to use as a theme for a giveaway because I think it would be awesome fun.

This, of course, would make me a total hypocrite and invalidate my promise in the aforementioned "Not Gonna..." post. (Although not too badly as I'd start the giveaway in November, probably, so almost 2014.)

This thing is NOT A BOOK.
It is sorta ONE-OF-A-KIND.

So, now I am wondering, is there anything out there worth giving away anymore? Is there anything people really want to WIN? If you genuinely have something special you'd like to share, is there a way to create a giveaway that doesn't get lost in the sea of rafflecopters swirling through the web?

Questions. Not answers. I know. HAVE YOU GOT ONE (an answer, I mean)?

Back-to-Business Monday: WRITERS WHO DON'T NEED ME

I love being part of the Bookanistas, an awesome writer-blogger collective celebrating the books its members love.  I also love some authors who don’t need me, like Lauren Oliver and John Green, Markus Zusak and Suzanne Collins. Don’t get me wrong. I buy their books. I read their books. I learn from their books. I admire their books. But I don’t often blog about them.

Why? Because they just don’t need me. When I started blogging as “Writer on the Side,” I was an in-the-trenches book marketing gumby with dreams of publishing a novel. Now, I’m an in-the-trenches writer. Not a best-seller. Not a highly-paid speaker. Just someone who can’t go a day without writing down some words, who would do it even if no one ever paid her. My community is largely made up of people like me: Living, breathing, learning writers. Sure, a few of us have hit the jackpot with the fat advances and movie deals but, for the most part, we struggle every day with “will I ever be able to quit the day job” kinds of questions.

This is really an irrelevant picture.
Oh, I could make something up about writers being like princesses & ms's being like frogs
But really, it's just an oldie of the hubs and me.
I did make the costumes, though!

I believe writing is an important act whether or not you’re on the NYT-best-seller list—whether or not you ever become a published writer at all. As a blogger and all around book nerd, my goals continue to be to celebrate the value of the writing process and to help bring to light some of the amazing work that might not be right in the middle of the spotlight.

I’d be lying if I said I never dreamed of sharing the stage with some of those writers who don’t need me. Meanwhile, it is with joy and pride and a kind of writerly faith that I present to you each week, the great work so many writers at all levels (not-yet-published, debuts, stunning sophomore novelists, midlist marvels, and the occasional NYTimesy type) are doing.

Back-to-Business: ABOUT THAT POSTING SCHEDULE

Awhile back, I shared some thoughts about my ever-evolving relationship to blogging and "plan to make a new plan" for posting.

Buried under reading, writing and freelance deadlines throughout this lovely holiday season, I've decided to post on Mondays only through January with the occasional ad hoc additional post if I'm really inspired.

On February 1, I'll return to Monday-Business and Thursday-Bookish posts.  I've loaded up my Kindle and stacked my bookshelf with arcs and look forward to some cozy fireside reading this month that will find their way into book reviews soon. And, as I now scurry back to my manuscript, I'll leave you with this crafty word of encouragement (at least, it feels encouraging to me)!

"Nothing you write, if you hope to be good, will ever come out as you first hoped."

-- Lillian Hellman

I'M NOT GONNA GIVE IT TO YOU (or, the evolution of the blogger-author)

Over the years, I've posted several times about the evolving relationship between blogger and blog. I started blogging before I even had an agent and was anxious about discussing the writing process (it just felt so personal). However I'd been working for years on the marketing side of children's publishing. So I blogged about what to charge for author visits, how to schedule a book tour, stuff like that. Then, I sold my first novel and the blog focus shifted toward the debut-author experience.

Now working on my sophomore novel for Viking, I see that my postings have again become unfocused. I am not posting my weekly Bookanista reviews, have not featured "Back to Business" on Mondays. I've proposed some topics and themes to explore and never explored them. And, I've gotten behind on my prize, etc., correspondence.

Besides work overload, a big reason for my failures is that I have become uncertain about the blogosphere.  While I adore the online reader-writer community in many ways, I am tired of the "rat race" to glean followers.  The insanity that is arc collecting was achingly illuminated when I attended BEA and saw staff handing out tickets to teen attendees so they wouldn't just grab as many arcs as they could. I've stopped signing up for arcs myself as I feel guilty warehousing books I won't read for (at best) months. Via FB, Twitter, and the blogosphere, I am eternally reading about give-aways and prizes, being invited to events thousands of miles away, and being informed that this-or-that title is now on shelves or available for order. It's overwhelming.

Don't get me wrong. I continue to read articles and reviews at some of my favorite blogs (websites?), including Stacked, Good Books and Good Wine, Adventures in Children's Publishing, YA Fresh and The Bookshelf Muse. But, visiting publisher sites? Who has the time? Reading individual author blogs like my own? Hardly ever. Signing up for contests that require anything more than a single click? Nope.

So, I have made a "policy decision." For 2013, there'll be no book prizes. No more trying to glean followers.  What I'll be diligently trying to share are industry and craft insights AND will HAPPILY email a personal response to anyone interested in communicating with me directly via the "contact me" link above or HERE.

I am going to spend December figuring out a MANAGEABLE BLOGGING SCHEDULE that involves Business, Craft, and the Author Experience, including a serious exploration of the most effective, efficient, NON-INVASIVE ways to create buzz for my next book. I'll let you know what I learn.

Meanwhile, if I've owed your something via mail or email, please CONTACT ME as I'd really like to get all caught up!

Back to Business: THOUGHTS ON BLOG TOURS

May I begin by saying that I love blogging. 
I LOVE BLOG TOURS.
I love connecting with book bloggers who are so passionate about the YA genre.  I love getting to answer questions about my craft, my characters, my chocolate-versus-chips preferences. I love winning swag :)

However, of late I've spoken with several authors who are having difficulty setting up blog tours. Some bloggers who used to set up tours are so booked they're no longer adding titles to their roster. And so many blogger/reviewers (myself included) are overwhelmed with arcs, debut and otherwise.

Don't get me wrong. There's great fun to be had at  GReads (check out her fantabulous Blogger-Behind-the-Book and TGIF features), at Chick Loves Lit (luurve the Fun Five Interviews), at Novel Novice (projects and features galore plus great content for educators), and many more incredible sites.

But I'm just wondering if anyone out there has any thoughts on blog tours of late in terms of theme, duration, giveaways, who coordinates them, how to do the best work for your publisher, and so on.

Please share your thoughts.

Getting Naked (Metaphorically) on the Blog

Recently, I have been engaged in a very cathartic (and occasionally curse-laden) email string with some awesomely wonderful wish-they-were-my-sisters writer friends in which I have confessed my growing urge to be "more myself" in the cyberverse. And by "myself," I mean, lifting the veil on the often dark writer me and the very cynical book-marketer me. Saying the stuff I usually reserve for rants to the hubs. (I first alluded to this topic online here.)  I even went so far as to write and then deleted a couple of rather earthy blog posts. Several friends admitted that they, too, have drafted very forthright blog entries which they may never post.

While, I am clearly still a chicken-heart in terms of being "me" on the internet, I will say that expectations for today's authors (especially new and debut) are that they will make a strong effort to help promote their work, especially online. You know, get yourself a blog, a twitter, a fb, a tumblr... build yourself an online "persona," maybe a "platform" (yeah--me either), and embark on a blog tour. I, frankly, love the internet (perhaps too much) and so none of this worried me. In fact, I started multiple websites, organized a group author tour, blogged, gave stuff away and on and on.  I learned a ton and wouldn't necesarily change what I did, but impact on sales...?

The thing is, we all know how many books are being published every week and pretty much every author is doing some variation of all this stuff. It's almost become static--elevator music. There's little data to show whether any of this stuff directly moves a significant number of "units" (aka books)--unless you're, er, already in the limelight via television celebrity or significant success in another industry. And everybody's working so hard to create this type of content while NOT WRITING ANY MORE BOOKS!!!

I truly love my writing community and want to build writers up. So my question for all of us is: How does one stand out admist all this virtual white noise? Are snark, cynicism and controversy the only styles that will engender blog hits (that, again, arguably don't sell books anyway)? Will we be reduced to Lindsay Lohans and forced to bare our, er, souls? Should we even try?

The Words I Never Write

As a writer, the delete button is an escape, a necessary evil and, often, a friend.  When I write in verse, economy of words, paring away the unneccesary, the obvious, is essential. Despite this, I think I edit myself less as a novelist than I do as an "author" and blogger.  When I write a novel, I'm writing in the voice of my characters. But when I make a statement as an author-of-books, when I post an opinion on my blog, that's just me.

If you've met me at a cocktail party, or know me from the neighborhood, you know that I'm kind of an opinionated broad.  And, while I'm happy to chat about ALMOST anything over wine, I usually have a sober second thought before putting these opinions in print.  Where they'll never go away.  And could, possibly, become fodder for one of those angry Twitter strings.

Here just a few of the topics about which I've drafted and deleted blog posts...

• PIPA & SOPA
• Childrens Book Reviews in the Wall Street Journal
• Why Google should pay ME
• Tolling on the 520 bridge and Seattle politics in general
• Blogger...ahhhh, Blogger
• The trouble with defining the YA NOVEL today

Honestly, I've even edited this LIST.  Sometimes I get frustrated because I think hope I have a few interesting ideas to share--ideas that might spark productive conversations. And, in truth, with my paltry 1,000 Twitter followers and 370 blog members, I don't have a large enough bully pulpit to rock the world like, say, Miley Cyrus (heehee!). Still, I have this weird hesitation about editorializing on the interwebs.

Anybody else???

FIND ME SOME FUNNY

Sometimes when my to-do list becomes overwhelming, I spend a few hours minutes refreshing my emails and hopping around the blogosphere.  In doing so, I realize two things:

1. Most people are better at blog design, button-making and all the html stuff than I am.

2. I wish I were good at the funny.

There are some amazing blogs out there full of sly snarkitude or savvy silliness (okay I AM good at consonance) that make me absolutely LAUGH OUT LOUD.  They tend to be my go-to blogs on mornings that are, well, not-so-awesome.  You'll find some in my blogroll.

I WISH I could provide a steady dose of the funny to my fantastic followers and random hoppers-by.  Instead you have to settle for the occasional giggle bookended by posts of the overly earnest variety (I tend to be a bit hyper-focused).  If I ever find the funny, though, you'll be the first to know.  (See, there's an internal rhyme in that sentence, so you're not hopping away entirely empty-handed.)

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE LOL BLOG????

Oh, I'm feeling so overwhelmed--please leave a comment and connect me to some funny!

I did make the button above using Cool Text. Perhaps it's a wee bit pathetic but at least it's a jolly color.

Back-to-Business Monday: Ready, Set...AUDITION!

Now that my lovely book cover is out in the world, and my author website is up and running, I'm moving along with my next exciting project:

A YEAR OF AUDITIONS

The premise of this new blog is to create an online home for audition stories.  Writers and performers, adults and teens, can share anecdotes of auditions that taught them something, made them laugh (at the time or later) or maybe even changed their lives.  Along with that, there'll be audition tips, wrap-ups of the arts on tv, and even some silly YouTube stuff.  IF YOU'VE GOT AN AUDITION STORY OR MEMORY TO SHARE, PLEASE DO CLICK ON OVER!

Meanwhile, a question: How does one maintain multiple blogs without going insane or letting virtual buddies down?  I have some hypotheses I'll be testing out but I'll have to let you know if they work sometime later down the line.  For now...

EXCEL IS MY BEST FRIEND.   And sleep is not!

Back-to-Business Monday: DID YOU GUESS? AND BLOG EVOLUTION

GUESS WHAT I'VE SEEN?

The COVER of AUDITION!

 

(Did you guess from my shiny-paper hints on Friday?)

I cannot wait to share it.  The final jpeg is coming from my editor this week.

So hang in there.  SOON!

MEANWHILE, a bit of bloggy pondering...

Since starting (pathetically) to blog in 2007, I've gotten new freelance clients, an agent, and a book deal. I've joined a critique group and some writer-blogger collectives. My blog has morphed to reflect these evolutions. Now,

--I am approaching the six-months-before-publication marker.

--My spankin' new author website will go live next month.

--I am launching a new, related blog, called A YEAR OF AUDITIONS (more on this soon).

I imaging my blog will evolve some more.  Do you find your blogging has changed as your relationship with the writing world has changed?

BLOGGIESTA WEEKEND updated 12:08 PM Friday

I'll return to Fiction Friday in February but this weekend is dedicated to Maw Books' Bloggiesta!

Here's the beginning of my to-do list. I'll be updating this post throughout the weekend as my work continues.  I'll also be Tweeting my progress at #bloggiesta.

First two items?

1. Writing reviews for XVI by Julia Karr and THE LIAR SOCIETY by Lisa & Laura Roecker (arc).

2. Sorting and editing my list of performer-writer contacts to invite them to guest post at A YEAR OF AUDITIONS blog starting in March.

And away we go...

As of 12:08 PM Friday, I've written the XVI review and started outline of ideas for guest posts.  Now ready to start

3. Drafting invitation letter to send to guest posters. 
4. Learning how to make buttons for my blog!!!!

Hope all you other Bloggiesta-ers are having success out there!




 

Back-to-Business Monday: BLOGGIESTA

Is improving your blog on your list of New Year's resolutions?  Head on over to Maw Books for the 4th Edition of ...

Bloggiesta!

I've been doing quite a bit of blog maintenance lately, but I'm thinking the Bloggiesta will give me the kick I need to really ramp things up.  Things I'm considering for my Bloggiesta to-do list:

1. Enhance connections.  Joined Elevensies, YALITCHAT and some other cool groups but haven't effectively connected them to the blog.  Going to learn more and make this happen.

2. With my new Kindle at the ready, recommitting to making every Fiction Friday about a newly-read (mostly newly in-print) book.

3. Similarly, refocusing back-to-business Mondays to share more information from my decade-plus of experience working in Education/Library marketing for various trade publishers.

4. Contests...contest...CONTESTS.  Adding at least one contest per month to the blog.

5. Readying A YEAR OF AUDITIONS blog--a sort of forum for writer-performers to share their stories--in conjunction with my author website launch (coming in March).  This includes taking on a few blog partners--hopefully writers with arts backgrounds (LET ME KNOW IF YOU'RE INTERESTED).

Gonna join me?  What's your plan?  Leave a comment AND never hesitate to share some advice!

Fiction Friday: PLOT OR CHARACTER (a "hoppin'" question)

Hopping along this holiday season with Crazy-for-Books' Book Blogger Hop.  The topic this week, straight from Geek on the Brink, is (drumroll please)...

What do you consider the most important in a story: the plot or the characters?


This is a great question.  I feel that character is at the center of every novel.  This is not to say that I don't want a good story but, for me, an excellent story means that the main character behaves in an authentic way at every turn.  Each twist of the plot comes from a choice the character makes and I need to believe completely in that choice--that this is the action s/he would take at that moment--to continue to be drawn forward into the story.

Agree?  Disagree?  Feel like joining along in the hop?  Lots of places to click above or comment below.

Happy Friday!

Wordy Wednesday: VERIFICATION

First, as I've been assigning myself weekly blog maintenance tasks, I may be getting carried away.  Do let me know if you like the new layout (added L & R columns, search box, my name in the subhead, and a "grown-up" profile pic).

Now, on to more serious matters...I am such a word nerd that I've actually been tracking the un-words I've had to type in the process of posting comments on blogs?  Has it struck you that frequently, the un-words feel almost like real words? Searching the web for images to illustrate this point, I found hilarious pictures of verification words that named historical villains, described amorous activities, and even accidentally wished you well.  In moments of astonishing procrastination, I play stupid wordgames like this one in which I make up definitions for verification pseudo-words.

bundly - A state of being well-dressed for cold weather

badmer - Opposite of a goodmer, which would be interesting if "mer" meant anything in English.  Well, it is a prefix referring to the sea, so "bad sea," perhaps in the vicinity of a BP oil rig.

eulgab - When a person goes on too long while delivering a euology

creeing - Rhymes with... (okay, my ten-year-old suggested this one)

smsist  -  No, you tiny virtual person, I "sim-sist"!

frostsom  - When the grass on your front lawn is covered with frost, the yard looks frostsom

Seen any funnies lately?  Got better definitions?  Been gifted with a "kindly" or "fudgy" verification word lately? Know a more insanely, time-wasting web game?  Think I should take a break from the blogosphere?  Drop a comment!

BACK TO BUSINESS MONDAY: Labels & Plans

Happy Monday-After-Thanksgiving!  The day on which we avoid scales and pray we never see a slice of turkey again in our lives.  Also the day on which the panic over Christmas preparations sets in.

Between writing and holiday plans, I am worried about keeping up with my cyber-presence (ahem, note that tardiness of this Monday's post).  And, I've got a lot to do to get the website live by my March 1 deadline. In conversation with fellow writers and website folks, I've come to realize that a good website requires a great deal of thought and planning.  And, as I consider some of the issues which have been pointed out to me, I realize both shortcomings of this blog and things I want to do so that what I share here makes sense and connects to my main author website.  A LOT to ponder. So, to avoid feeling completely overwhelmed, I have decided to give myself a number of clear, quantifiable (e.g., I'll know when I'm finished) tasks to get this blog in maximum good shape between now and Christmas.

This week: BLOG LABELS.  I am going to go back through at least six months of blog posts and add labels so the blog is searchable.  Anyone want to join me?  Or are you all blog-efficient smarties who label as you go?  (If so, I am very jealous of you right now!)