Look, ma, I'm blogging!

It might seem that it takes a lot of audacity, or arrogance, to be a committed blogger - but then it takes a lot of audacity and arrogance to be a writer of any sort. You have to be of the opinion that you have something to say that someone, somewhere might want to read. But then that’s what being a writer is about. Is it audacity, arrogance, self-indulgence, or the belief that each of us comes to the world with something to accomplish and having one’s say is a part of that?

I am told to be taken seriously as a blogger one must blog every day. That seems an onerous task and yet there is rarely a day when I am not thinking about something that I imagine someone else might relate to. So, I’ll blog. We’ll see how it goes.

First a few words about the things I will most likely spend my time blogging about - writing, art, design, knitting and textiles/sewing. Other things will come up, too, of course but those seem to be the things I spend a lot of time thinking about.

I earn my living as a graphic artist/web designer so art and design are every day parts of my life. I learned to knit and sew as a kid and have never stopped. More about those at another time. Today, I’ll talk about writing.

I don’t remember NOT writing. As a kid I wrote plays which were performed by the neighborhood kids in our garage. I was on my high school newspaper and editor of my college literary magazine yet resisted the urge to major in anything having to do with writing. I always wanted it to be a pleasure - something I did because I loved doing it, not because I had to.

My publication credits are, until recently, all non-fiction. Articles about art have appeared in national magazines, columns about the aesthetics of living were regular features in the local newspaper for several years. I always wrote fiction - I just never had the courage to do anything with it. Last year, I published my first short story, “Asa” in Level Best Books’ Riptide: An Anthology of Crime Stories by New England Writers. It was fun but I wasn’t quite prepared for the variety of feedback it would generate.

This October Level Best’s second anthology, Wind Chill, will feature my short story “Home-made Pie and Sausage” which I wrote specifically for that anthology. It was the first time I ever purposefully set out to write a crime story and that is a story unto itself. My first novel, The Old Mermaid’s Tale, has been making the rounds of literary agents and publishing houses. My second novel, tentatively titled Triad, is languishing in a purple file folder under my desk awaiting revision. Currently I am at work on a collection of short stories titled My Last Romance and Other Passions which I hope to finish by the end of summer.

Supporting other writers in their efforts is a natural outgrowth of my own love of writing. Last November I served as publisher for a book of poetry, Split-Image Focus by Gloucester poet Lila Swift Monell. That was an exciting undertaking! Currently I am editing several books for writer including one I’m very enthusiastic about, F/V Black Sheep, written by Gloucester lobsterman Mark S. Williams.

All of these will serve as topics for blog entries in the weeks ahead. It remains to be seen how daunting a task it is to put my thoughts out there every day and take whatever comes as a result. My fisherman, Mark, tells me that if you aren’t willing to risk your very essence you have no business being a writer.

Thanks for reading.