Something borrowed, something new

If you've gone to my website in recent days you saw the Under Construction sign. After six years of pretending I knew what I was doing, I've turned the job over to a brilliant graphic designer and website professional. I may not be totally objective since he's my son, but I'm confident the results will be a great improvement over my haphazard attempts.

Below the Under Construction sign is an invitation to visit my Blog. I accepted that invitation and realized I hadn't added a new post in over a year. Chalk it up to my innate laziness, though I prefer to call it exhaustion caused by excessive multi-tasking. The truth is that last year I switched to sending out a monthly e-newsletter to my readers, but it got me to thinking about what authors do to keep their name alive in the minds of their readers. It reminded me of Billy Joel's song, The Entertainer. In his plaintive testament to the price of fame, he wails,

But if I go cold, I won't be sold.

I'll get put in the back in the discount rack

like another can of beans.

Most authors I know may not be able to relate to Billy Joel's fame, but we certainly understand his message. Before my first Windrusher book was published in 2004, I attended a writer's conference and heard one author say "a book had the shelf life of a banana." If those black-spotted fruit in my kitchen are any indication, that means they won't be around as long as that can of beans.

Which brings me back to my first blog post since February of 2009. With my new website, I promise to make a renewed effort to post regularly, speaking on all things writerly, on the changes in the publishing industry, and introducing you to other authors. And I'd love to hear from you. Offer me your insights, suggestions, comments. preferably written on the back of a ten dollar bill, but please respond either way. It's a brave new world out there for authors and book lovers. Let's enjoy it together.