For a time, I didn't cross-post my entries, but I started to. Why not? There might be folks who only read what I have to say on one site and not the other. When I noticed the two anniversaries approaching, I made sure the two streams crossed today.
Ten years ago this summer, Steve Weddle invited me to join his venture. Since I was the only guy without a published book, I got the Saturday slot. I believe I had landed on the radars of both Steve and Jay Stringer via my own blog posts starting in 2007. I was putting myself through what I called the Self Education of Crime and Mystery Fiction. In checking the number of posts I made in 2008 (248), you can see how much I had written.
I enjoyed the idea of a weekly column. Still do. For a decade now, my family knows that if I haven't penned anything by Friday night, I'll excuse myself to bang out a post. If I'm traveling, I write the blog post ahead of time and schedule it to drop on Saturday. I cannot remember a time when I've missed a post, so that's ten years of consecutively writing a Saturday column, minus the end-of-year breaks.
It's been fun. Really, really fun. I've gone from a guy who thought he knew what he wanted to write about to someone tangentially different. I've gone from a guy who looked to traditional publishing as the only road to an independent author/entrepreneur running my own business. Never would have saw that coming. Hat tip to James Reasoner for putting that idea in my head.
Some weeks I don't know what to write. Others, I write a lot. This thing I've been doing all 2019--Year of an Indie Writer--is one way always to have something about which to write. I've enjoyed it, and I suspect I'll collect all these posts into a book one day. It would be an interesting exercise to add up all the words I've written just to have the number. I'm proud of both anniversaries today.
A decade is a long time, and 1,000 posts is a lot of words. I'm glad folks still read what I have to say and join in the conversation along the way. It's been a blast. There are exciting things in store I have planned, and I'll be writing about it all the way.
Now, onto the future...
Blog Post of the Week
BTW, did you read returning columnist Kristi Belcamino's column yesterday about her adventures in indie publishing? Why not? Do it now. Follow what she does because she's laid out a path for any indie writer to follow.
Discovery of the Week: Halestorm
On Thursday night here in Houston, I went to see Alice Cooper. I knew his show would be good. Had no clue about the opening band, Halestorm.
Holy cow! Blew me away!
Here's just the Halestorm part of my larger post.
Last night, I went from "Who the heck is Halestorm?" to "Holy cow, you've got to listen to Halestorm!"
Sure, I could have looked up their music ahead of time, but I wanted their show to be new on the spot. So glad I did. This four-piece band is led by a charismatic lead singer/rhythm guitarist named Lzzy Hale. It's not everyday you see a female-fronted rock band that is this damn good. She, however, is incredible. Her singing voice is a unique mixture of gravel and clear, depending on what she wants to do with it. Her guitar playing keeps the band's music humming, but she can cut a solo pretty darn good. More importantly, she was having an absolute blast. Sure, she's snarl on some songs, but more often than not, when she'd leave the mic, she was grinning, like "Can you believe this is my job?"
The opening tunes were good, but by the end, I was sold. Heck, that last song, with its extended guitar solos, all but morphed into the chord pattern and rhythm of Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4." My ears may have been hearing what I wanted to hear, but I could have sworn part of the lead guitarists notes were homages to Terry Kath.
Check out Halestorm live if you can. You'll be standing and cheering by the end of their set.
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