Read In Bed!

…you know those celebrities who don’t allow pictures of themselves unless they’re looking their absolute best?

I’m not one of them.

Yeah, I was out and about, someone gave me the hat. It had three corners. We don’t need to discuss what was going on. A picture’s worth a thousand words, blah blah, and all that.

M

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I’ve been journaling online for awhile now. Not as long as many bloggers, but long enough to have tried out a few different forums. I made my way to Wordpress for a few reasons, one of them being I wanted an easy-to-use and track forum to blog about my writing and professional life. I’m not sure how “personal” this blog is going to be…to be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever written an entry on any of my various journals that I considered too personal. If I’m putting it out there, it’s not too private. I don’t comment much about my family life; my spouse or children. I on rare occasion post photos of my spouse and children or family, but mostly…this online thing is all about me.

Why?

Well, because what I choose to share about myself is my business. What I choose to share about someone else is not. My spouse and children are not public figures (and I’m not entirely sure I am, either) and they don’t have to be part of my online, professional “persona.”

I am a wife and mother but I am also a working writer. Can’t they all coincide? Sure, but for me, they overlap all the time, and I still have the choice of making public myself and keeping more private the ones whose lives share mine.

So if my online journal seems narcissistic and self-centered, that’s partially true. I am an Aries, after all. But there’s more to it that than that. I can share my life and thoughts and experiences however I choose, but it’s not my right to give away those belonging to anyone else.

As far as blogs go, I don’t read many. I’m notoriously bad even about reading and commenting on the blogs of my friends. I don’t have much time to go trawling the internet looking for blogs of interest — I could too easily get swept up in the many many blogs that would tickle my fancy. I don’t have time to spend finding out the places where anyone’s talking about me (if anyone is) — because generally, if someone’s talking about me, someone else usually tells me about it. But drive-by commenting is rarely my style. I have, a few times, popped up unexpectedly on someone’s blog when I’ve been pointed there, but it usually makes me feel icky and I just decided I’m not going to do it.

That doesn’t mean I don’t like to hear from readers, though. I love it, in fact. I always answer emails as promptly as I can. Always. If someone takes the time to let me know what they think of my work, I always make sure to give them the courtesy of a reply. I’ve been on the other side of sending notes to authors or others whose work I admire. I remember the ones who took the time to respond. And I remember those who didn’t. :) As long as I possibly can, I’m going to be sure to reply to those who honored me with their time.

I can tell this blog’s getting a fair number of hits but the comments are coming from my friends. People I already know. And that’s okay. It can be intimidating to start commenting to someone you don’t know, particularly in a forum that feels sort of intimate, like a blog. It’s a little like showing up at a party to which you *think* you were invited, but you’re not really sure. Yes, you’re holding the guacamole dip and the chips, but where do you put them?

So here’s my open invitation — whatever reason you’ve decided to stop by, please feel free to speak up. This is my “professional” home, so if you want to ask questions about writing, or about my work, here’s the place to do it. I might not know the answers, but if I don’t, I’ll be honest and tell you. If you want to chat about something I posted about, great. I’m glad to have you here! If you want me to check out your blog, and you comment, chances are good I’m going to stop on over to see who you are and what you’re about, and who knows, it could end up being a beautiful thing!

I guess my point is…this blog is mostly for me, but I understand that there are other people reading it. I hope I can post articles of interest and encouragement. I hope this will be a place where readers can come to learn about what’s going on with me and my work, and a place where we can connect. I really do love hearing from people and making new friends and exanding my horizons…I’m just damned lazy and intimidated, sometimes, by being the first to extend the hand.

I do have other online journals, and if you’re really, really, REALLY interested it’s no big deal for you to seek them out. I’m not sure you’ll find a lot of different stuff at any of the others, but if you feel the need, you’re welcome to visit me at those places, too!

To anyone stopping by, thanks for your time.

M

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