I’m thinking about changing up how I blog. A great thing about the internet is that it is this ever-changeable, figure-it-out -as -you -go -along type of medium.  It’s one place where change is easy.

I started this blog as a way to connect with readers and writers, and a way to write about my first novel learning process. Now that my first novel (well, both my first novels, since I wrote two) are done, I think it might be time to change things up a bit. I’m thinking shorter, more frequent  posts. 

Blogs are funny, because you get stats that go along with them. And from my stats, I can tell that when I blog about a book that I’ve read, the post gets found by students who are writing papers about that book. I can tell by the search engine terms and the student research paper sites that link to my blog.  And it gets on my nerves. I went to school before the internet and had to write my own damn papers.

When I blog a bit about a book, and more about what is happening in my writing life, I connect with the people I want to connect with. Readers and writers and friends. So, that is what I will do more of, and more often.

Right now I am reading Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd and it is breaking my heart. Seriously. I feel so sad reading it, because when I finish, there will only be two other books by Siobhan Dowd that I can read. I love this writer. An amazing writer, and from everything I have read, an amazing woman. I wish I could have met her.

Bog Child is a young adult book that does not flinch at challenging themes. Teens will appreciate the straight-up tone. No pandering here. And adults, if you didn’t know it was YA, you wouldn’t know it was YA.

 There are four main story lines, each of which is significant enough to have been a novel in and of itself. And it’s a mystery. A beautifully written mystery.

Read it. Or better yet buy it and read it. All proceeds are going into a trust, which will support reading for disadvantaged youth.

Writing life news… there is lots of that. I’ve had a full manuscript request for my children’s novel, and from a publisher that I really like. So, another brown envelope goes out in the mail this week.

And, April 22 is the day of the shortlist announcement for the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Awards. My adult crime manuscript  is longlisted in the “Best Unpublished” category.

Fingers and toes crossed folks! Until sooner.