Why Are We Here, and Other Existentialist Musings

The other day, I came across a blog post by my pal Colleen Gleason that had me scratching my head. In it, she posits that I run a writing blog:

Some writers blog with an audience of other writers (published or not) in mind. They blog on topics of interest to people who are trying to get published or to find an agent, and about their own writing and publishing experiences. (Diana Peterfreund comes to mind, and so does this very blog.)

“Do I do that?” I wondered. So I looked over my last few weeks worth of posts.

5 Posts about Writing (and not so much straight advice as “This is what I’ve noticed about writing my books, killer uniforms, etc.)
6 Promo Posts (Hey, I had a book out garnering reviews and another starting to!)
3 Life Posts
12 Posts about Books (by other people, ones I’ve liked, etc.)

By that count, I’m clearly a reader blog.

Just kidding. The point is, I don’t really see this as a blog about writing, not like some people. Sometimes I talk about writing. But I always talk about whatever is on my mind. Usually, because I’m at this job all day long, every day, writing and publishing are what is on my mind. If writers read the blog, great! If fans read the blog, great, too! I know there are both. Though this doesn’t jibe well with Colleen’s thesis, I don’t spend a lot of time wondering which audience a particular post will appeal to. Kind of like my books, I write about what I want to read about, whether it’s killer uniforms or visiting the Library of Congress.

The “Life” posts have been a bit thin on the ground of late, it’s true. I think that’s mostly because I’m probably in my busiest professional time ever. I’m in a totally new situation, having one book out, one book in the production stage, and one book in the writing stage. I’m really enjoying it, but it definitely makes me a bit of a boring dinner date. If it’s not making sure I’ve got all my killer unicorns in a row, it’s thinking about the release of Rites of Spring (Break) and how to carry the atmosphere from the end of that book into the new one.

I’m living in Bookworld, full time. My parents call and ask what’s up, and all I can talk about is my three books. I got out with my friends, and in the back of my head, I’m thinking about scenes or plot.

There’s a reason Sailor Boy stole me away to the Caribbean last weekend.

I live a pretty quiet life. No kids, no dating disasters, and I don’t even have TV. The monkeys are inside this summer, so I don’t even have that escape. We play some Rockband, and it’s fun, and I finally hit 70 on my World of Warcraft character. (I’m not quite sure what to do with her now.) Our friends are amazing, extraordinary people, who want to be profiled on the internet about as much as Sailor Boy does. I don’t want to blog about politics or house hunting. I’m doing some massive explorations in the culinary field, but there are much better blogs to read if you’re interested in food, or you know, butchering chickens. I read a lot, and I love to talk about books. So I blog about that, and I blog about my job, which happens to dovetail nicely with the whole book discussion.

Hopefully, that adds up to a blog that you, dear reader, enjoy.