Happy Birthday, SlingWords

I've been in deep lurk as I've been writing my new book.

Hurray! Yes, all you readers who have waited for Book 2 of All Brides Are Beautiful, that time is finally at hand.

(I'll write more about that later and do a cover reveal for Second Chance Bride which is now in its final edit.)

I've been so engrossed in writing and meeting my needed word quota each day that I missed the anniversary of my first blog post 13 years ago.

Celebrating 13 Years of SlingWords

That's right. SlingWords debuted on April 12, 2005. To date, counting today's post, there have been 2,972 posts published here. Every post from the beginning can be found in The Archives. To keep the blog looking fresh, I've changed the theme 4 times.

I've written about books; the art, craft, and business of writing; authors; reviews of music, television, movies, books, videos, and software; humor; all things Texas; history; trivia; video book trailers; and occasionally a truly personal post.

Blogging Frequency

Once I blogged every day which is why SlingWords grew in popularity. Readers always want new content.

For the last few years, real life has prevented my maintaining that consistency. However, my goal remains to provide content that's interesting, informative, and entertaining.

I've always seen my blog as a way to pass on what I've learned, and I've always written it informally--like a conversation with friends.

I've particularly enjoyed hosting  hundreds of authors on the blog. It's always interesting to hear what they have to say about their own books.

A Look Back

The first post I wrote was entitled, Japanese Proverb, and I wrote it to encourage a friend who had suffered a series of setbacks. Here's that first post in its entirety.

There's an old Japanese proverb--perhaps old is redundant since, I guess, all proverbs are old--but I'm digressing. This proverb is about how to succeed.

Fall down 7 times; stand up 8.

Ah, if only success were that easy! By that I mean, if we only had to fall 7 times. Too often that 7 is multiplied by a hundred or more. I've been falling regularly of late. The interesting thing though is that with each fall, it hurts less. I mean if you're already covered in bruises, one more isn't going to matter.

I added the Takeaway Truth at the end of each post about a year later. If I were to add that to the first post above, it would be: So keep trying. The next time you stand up may be the time you go on to win the day.

Takeaway Truth

Writing this blog has been a joy and sometimes the only thing that kept me producing words. I thank you for reading and hope to keep you as a member of the audience for SlingWords.