Tag Archives: birthday

Happy Birthday!

Posted on October 1, 2011 | 11 Comments

The baby blog is a year old! Last October, I was in a state of near-panic because my E-Pub professor wanted us to create writer’s websites for ourselves. It was the midterm, and I barely knew any HTML (and still don’t–I keep meaning to, but there are so many beautiful books I want to read instead!), and making a website was going to be a disaster.

Then WordPress came along. I actually already had a WordPress blog, which I have abandoned utterly. The thing is that I love the idea of blogging, but I am really wary about doing one of those diary-like, personal blogs. More information than I want about myself on the Internet. But a writing blog, with book reviews and thoughts about my relationship with words, fit much better. I’ve even been brave enough to branch out and share personal news on certain special occasions.

Far from being a disaster, running this blogsite has pushed me in a couple directions I definitely wouldn’t have gone without it. I’ve got over 50 posts here, which means I’ve been writing, on average, at least once a week. I’ve really written more frequently than that for a while now (the first few months here were very slow). I’ve done guest posts, and I’m now officially signed on as a regular contributor for another blog. I’ve even had two articles featured on Dumb Little Man, and I assure you that writing blog posts played a large part in teaching me how to write articles for the Web.

What this blog really is, though, is a constant reminder to myself to be a writer. I hold myself accountable here: to submit, to finish stories, to read thoughtfully. I’ve written a modest handful of stories and mini-essays without the push of class deadlines this year, and I am hoping to increase that number (hi, NaNo). I am delighted every time someone subscribes or comments, but much as I love the fact that I have some readers, I love that this blog helps me write.

I’ve added a few birthday features. You’ll notice a new, “Popular” page, containing links to the posts and stories here with the most hits. Most surprising one for me? Months after I wrote it, I’m still getting a regular trickle of hits for Nick and Sheila Pye.

Another feature is upcoming: Beginning this October, I’m stealing another blogger’s idea and doing Flash Fridays. Every week (I hope I hope), I will post an ultra-brief story.

So many thanks if you read what I have to say on this site, and here’s to another year! Have an e-cupcake, on me.

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A Birthday Present and a Door

Posted on May 9, 2011 | 1 Comment

So I got a Kindle for my birthday, which is awesome because a. with the life and career I’m trying to make for myself, I can’t justify not having one and b. I was genuinely more excited about this present than my family expected. Most of my life, you see, I’ve been the old-fashioned one by far when it comes to the technological. My mom sometimes spins it kindly and calls me an “old soul.” My sisters just shake their heads at the fact that even now I send a text maybe once a week. When Kindle first came out, I was one of those people who started talking about the magic of holding a book, smelling the paper, etc.

So what happened? I was on the Metro one day, people-watching for a moment, and realized that all these people on the car with me with their heads bent over a screen were reading. And it didn’t matter at all whether they turned a page or swiped the screen with one finger, because it was the same story. Lizzie rolled her eyes when I told her that (“You mean you changed your mind about Kindle because you were pleased that society was reading? I thought it would have been the weight, how many books you have access to…”), but it’s true. What matters to me is people reading, is stories making it to people who might be entertained or educated or changed by them. That matters to me more than any feature, although I’m sure as I play with my Kindle I’ll start to pick up some excitement about those, too.

My mom and I ended up getting into a whole conversation about the publishing process and what e-publishing means. How I could get involved in it. Sometimes I focus so narrowly on my day-to-day to keep from getting overwhelmed by my schedule that I forget to remind myself that I’m not in this to be a clerk at a law firm forever. I need to keep looking at the bigger world of what I want to do, and let myself get excited, and maybe even take a leap. Maybe I do need to consider putting together something to publish myself, in addition to sending manuscripts and queries the traditional way. Maybe I use the design knowledge I’ve picked up in classes and internships to help other people make their work stand out. Who knows? In any case, I’m excited about what I want to do again, which is just what I needed to start another year in my life.

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Posted in Breaking Boundaries, Goals, Publishing, Writing

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