Hubris, I have plenty. I’m not lacking things to say. I have a great editor who has come to terms with my use of commas and, finally, people encourage me. I rarely listened to or read other bloggers (although that’s changing as I spend more and more time on WordPress).
How did it start? My publisher was looking for various marketing strategies. However, COVID destroyed any hope of a book-signing event. T-shirts and coffee mugs went on sale, but that kind of merchandising wasn’t in my wheelhouse or under my control. She suggested writing a blog.
I own that I started my blog for suspect motives. I wanted people to read my books. I still want people to read my books. I want someone to publish my novel. It’s just that now I also want people to read my blog.
My blog has no particular focus, although it does have a consistent perspective—left of center. Rarely do I choose the topic; rather, inspiration springs from some experience or bit of news picked up in the day. Sometimes a story comes to me quite randomly. In any case, I’m a long way from my days of writing on yellow legal pads and jotting down notes on scraps of paper. Decades ago, the advent of email allowed me to write a monthly group newsletter, called Dear Martha White, chronicling daily life and my misadventures. That email was my tether to friends and family whom I often had to leave behind as I moved from one place to another. Blogging is my tether to strangers.
What’s the point of this blog? Only that life provides endless stories of shared experiences filtered through individual perspectives. Sharing those stories and views connect us, adding to our understanding of the people who inhabit this planet. Write on.
Carole J. Garrison 