Sorry about the missed day, guys. I regret it on several levels, but honestly, when it comes down to it: no one pays me to write this blog. Fiction? That I get paid for. And I just can't publish all the fiction here, as I write it, because then I can't sell it. So when the fiction is hot, the blog posts drop a notch in my priority list, and the end where stuff falls off into the abyss is pretty darn close these days.
On the other hand, this is a great way for me to promote when I do actually get to the point where I've written something I want to sell. On another hand, readership has dipped, drastically, since farcebook decided not to play ball with small creators any more, and doesn't allow auto-sharing of blog posts unless you pay to play. *shrugs* Again, I don't get paid anything for this blog. It is primarily a marketing platform. Don't get me wrong, I love all of you who read this, on a regular basis or not-so-often. You may not realize it, but comments are a boost for me. People sharing my blog 'in the wild' when I run across that, it's a boost for me. I wrote something good enough you not only chose to interact with me, but you wanted to share it with friends and family so they could enjoy it, too. Like reviews on books, that not only makes me feel good, it helps the readership increase. You make me feel like a real writer.
On yet another hand (I'm a mother. They issue more with each baby. Some of them have special attachments, like the Diaper-O-Matic, or the Mom-Hand-O-Doom) there's a family who need me more than ever as I now have three kids in college (buy my books, please!) and a middle schooler who wants to get involved in an extra-curricular with heavy up-front costs. Woo. it's all good, though, I'm just running around like a crazy lady. And trying to work on art and fiction while I'm waiting on them at various locations so I can keep the income up to support their educations. Not to mention eking out some time for my First Reader to keep our relationship strong and healthy. Those things, and the day job where I get to be not-very-Mad Scientist, are top priority on any list I'm making.
So I'll miss a day from time to time. As I was discussing earlier this week, I can guilt myself into immobility when I don't get everything on my to-do list done, or I can be flexible and adjust when my day's plans go off the rails. They go off more days than not, just some are more, um, adventurous than others. I'm trying to model flexibility for my children, who tend to get upset when things don't go the way they had them planned in their heads. Life throws curve balls at you - you have to be ready to duck and then to use the experience to learn and grow. My motto for them recently has been "we'll make it work."
Which is exactly what I plan to do with the blog. I'll make it work. It might not be weighty, lengthy posts, but I'll keep writing as long as there are some of you willing to read out there. And when I publish fiction, I'll put it here and hopefully it'll be worthy of some hard-earned luxury dollars. That's what it's about, yes? I promise an escape from the humdrum of daily life for a little. Something to make your brain work. Some story to make you feel good. A window into another world where dreams come to life and act their play out on the mental screen of your brain.
There's ups and downs in all our lives. And this blog has them, too. Thanks for coming along on the ride.