In Other Words: Season 2, Episode 17

Reading Time: 2 minutes
Red rhododendrons bloom in Southbury, Connecticut, May 18, 2021. By Howard Fielding. Offered under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

This blog hit two records late in the week: As of Friday, it had received more visitors than in all of 2022 or any previous year. And sometime this weekend it will have had more views by those visitors than in any previous year.

Not that I’m shooting for records here. I’m letting the blog speak for itself without promoting it. It is finding its own audience, albeit small. Most of you are family and friends; others are strangers who have found it through WordPress Reader or some other source. To all of you, many thanks! Having an audience is its own reward.

At some point late this year or early next, I hope to have one or more books ready to go into production. I’ve been working on those in the background when I can carve out large blocks of work time. I expect to have more of those days coming up this summer, but meanwhile Real Life intervenes. Even so, I’m starting to conquer my procrastination by managing to write every day, even if it’s just short entries that I can turn around in an hour or so for the blog.

I’m behind on my Lessons from 1979 series just when it’s starting to get interesting, so I’ve been posting every day until I catch up with the corresponding dates in 1979. After that, probably the best pace is about three posts a week. I wouldn’t want to wear out my welcome.

Next week: I continue my first “big story” — even though in retrospect it seems rather small — and begin to suffer burnout as I juggle a work life and try to freelance, both for an entertainment publication and on speculation.

Oh, and I’ll have one new, contemporary post, on the 23rd of May. Until then, don’t buy the liverwurst!

In case you missed it

  • Puff and fluff, 1979

    Puff and fluff, 1979

    Reading Time: 2 minutes Any local news editor understands the delicate balance between what readers and advertisers expect and what you think is important.

  • In Other Words … Season 2, Episode 19

    In Other Words … Season 2, Episode 19

    Reading Time: 2 minutes Many people don’t even have the time or focus for an entire book. The culture of short videos and podcasts has taken over, to our detriment.

  • Top-of-the-head inventory, 1979

    Top-of-the-head inventory, 1979

    Reading Time: 2 minutes “Items in Stock” was, in truth, a misnomer. Some were complete, or ready for a final draft or a rewrite. Others were ideas or characters in search of a plot.

  • Award-winning coverage? (1979)

    Award-winning coverage? (1979)

    Reading Time: 3 minutes Newspapers have associations, which sponsor competitions. But it’s a long trip from “thinking of sending it” to actually receiving an award.

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