It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a… Blog?
My friend Gracen has a last name that I literally cannot pronounce and a firm opinion that I should start a blog. Thanks to encouragement from her (plus a few others) and the stupidly expensive annual fee that hit my bank account last week reminding me that I already have a website, I’m just gonna do it.
I love the beach, rock climb when I can, and save earthworms off the sidewalk when they get stuck after it rains. I stand by the Oxford comma, so if you’re in the camp that wants to kill it, you are welcome here, but you may not like it. I am a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, a feat that took way longer than expected as I kept flunking out due to undiagnosed (at the time) mental illness. I have self-published a children's book (which you can purchase on the Shop page), and the absolute dream is to support myself with writing full-time. However, self-discipline and consistency are not my strong suits, and part of the reason I am starting this blog is to hold myself accountable and get some words on a page every once in a while. I am coming to realize that to achieve a career as a writer, I’ll actually have to, you know... Write something.
I am obsessed with books and words, and if I had to label this blog with a theme, I’d give it about 75% book nerd content and 25% adventures in mental illness, my ongoing struggle to keep a goldfish alive, my opinions on pigeons, and all the layers in between. I’d say, if you’re looking for a blog about books, you’ve found one! Just don’t be alarmed by bunny trails into the other random stuff I’ve got going on.
According to the nice blog experts on the internet, this is the part where I tell you the goals of the blog. So here they are:
1. I would like this to be a motivation and opportunity to write consistently and explore concepts more deeply with input from readers. I want this blog to be a conversation between me and you, the reader, and keep myself motivated to continue writing and sharing because that’s my responsibility as a conversationalist; to share and respond promptly and thoroughly.
2. It is becoming more and more apparent that an online presence could mean the difference between getting published or not. While that may not be the sentimental reason you were looking for, it’s the truth. The book publishing industry is changing, and agents, publishers, and other industry professionals are becoming more and more expectant that writers don’t just come with good writing but with a built-in marketing base. I am pretty ambivalent about that, but sometimes working within the system is more effective than working against it. Sometimes. This is not the only reason or even the main reason for starting this, but as an overarching theme of this blog is honesty, I feel it is worth mentioning.
3. This is the important one. For the most part, I meander through my life figuring it out, failing, achieving, backsliding, freaking out, getting back up, having a snack, reading a book, starting over, and thinking that my story only has anything to do with me. What I am learning (and still have to convince myself of a lot of the time) is that my story is bigger than just me. If a single person comes here to read about why I don’t like Harry Potter (yes, I know, you’re probably mad, but that’s a blog for another day) and finds a post about how I am dealing with my depressive low that week and is encouraged to keep going, this whole thing is worth it. That’s the primary goal of this blog; to be honest and genuine and share things that are hard to talk about so that it is apparent that you are not the only one trying to navigate your latest identity crisis. Also, to talk about books... A lot.
I’m excited to share my funny, sad, embarrassing, hare-brained, ill-planned moments with you. And I’m more excited that somebody somewhere might find something in my fumbling through life that speaks to them. I don’t have the answers, but I’m walking through this just like you guys, and there’s no reason we can’t laugh and share and walk it out together.
I am excited to invite you into my brain. I’m excited to share things I’ve been too afraid to speak of, my theories on why I can’t keep a plant alive (#1: I don’t water them), books I gave up on, the book I just finished, the thoughts I have when I feel a depressive episode coming on, and everything else that goes on in there. I hope that my neurotic tomfoolery keeps you entertained, comforted, and encouraged and that you never, ever feel alone in your existential weirdness.
Be that you are my best friend or a stranger, two readers or two thousand:
I’m thrilled that you’re here.
(And if you happen to be considering publishing me, I’m really thrilled that you’re here.)
I’ll be here every two weeks (-ish, like I said, I’m working on the consistency thing), and I hope to see you again then.
Congratulations, Gracen, on your upcoming nuptials. I can definitely pronounce Robinson.
ooxxooXoXXx
