IT'S ABOUT TIME...

Since I’ve let three post-less months pass without so much as a lame or cryptic explanation, it might be appropriate to offer some form of clarification. 

Why did I start writing a blog in the first place?

After four and a half years of research, writing, and editing Nature’s Ambassador: The Legacy of Thornton W. Burgess, my book was published in 2013. Then another process began: publicizing it. "You have to get on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Goodreads!" advised fellow writers, book sellers, and the consultant my dear children hired. "You have to write a blog!" Ok, ok, ok. So I dipped my toes into the murky, unknown waters of social media.

And?

I’ve discovered I actually like writing blog posts. But it’s a time thing. Some bloggers can post one paragraph and be done with it, but for me they become small, time-consuming, carefully considered essays. Maybe I’ll shorten them in the future. Maybe not. You say what you want when you want how you want. That approach may not collect thousands of followers, but still, for a writer who works six or seven days a week, the pressure is off.  I’ve enjoyed blogging about poetry, children, friends, the Migratory Bird Treaty, November, coastal erosion, and of course the extraordinary naturalist and children’s author Thornton Burgess.  But I still haven’t devoted much space to another favorite subject: the art and craft of writing. 

So?

Writing has always made sense to me. Words and sentences were the microscope with which to examine life when I was 10, reporting on recess, my Citizenship grade, after-school softball games, and James Vick, Gary Crawford and the other cute boys at Oakton Elementary School in Virginia. (Those colorful diaries in the "Said and Done" heading are mine.) For years, however, I worked as a stringer with a byline in a daily newspaper without considering myself “a Writer.”  I wrote. But that didn’t make me a Writer.  After I got assignments with national magazines and Fodor’s Travel Guides, that inherently changed.  I was and have remained a Writer.

It occurs to me that, similarly, although I have written a blog for three years, that activity does not make me a Blogger. Perhaps that too will change, but my Writerly Persona apparently has fairly demanding standards. 

What’s my plan?

For a year and a half I’ve been researching material for a new book, a tremendously exciting authorized biography on a scientist widely known as the father of nautical, or underwater, archaeology. As I continue working on this project, I'll put up some posts on it. I’ll continue posting about Thornton Burgess, children, etc. Watch for some articles on the writing life and process. I'll try for more consistency.  

Consider “Said and Done: A Writer’s Blog” to be a work in progress.

And THANK YOU for reading it!  –   Christie