Status Check

I haven't been writing as much this month simply because I have been writing the short stories.  It's taxing to write new characters every day, to come up with new conflicts and new endings every day.  This is day 13 and I'm really starting to feel it.

I've now been writing this blog for three and a half years.  There have been a lot of flame wars, a lot of praise, a lot of new ideas come and gone and most of them implemented into my world.  I think I am at last settling into a good rhythm.  I notice I've written more blog posts this year - by far - than either 2009 or 2010.  The posts don't get any shorter and I still enjoy writing them.

Judging by the words I'm getting back from my subscribers, the newest adventure - which I couldn't help noticing got me the cold shoulder from a good deal of the community - is proving good.  I've gotten some excellent notices on the material, but I haven't bothered to print them because, well, this is the net and who's to say I haven't just made it up?  I don't expect any endorsements will carry much weight if they're not video posted on youtube.  And I won't ask any of the subscribers to do that.

Regarding traffic to the blog, it is beyond my wildest dreams.  It is a rare day I don't get more than 500 pageviews, and that's always a day I don't post.  From the stats, I'd have to say at least three quarters of those are people who come direct from a link on their computers, and more than 80% of the remainder come from Google.  I get such a tiny number from other blogs, I have to assume I'm quite divorced now from the rest of the community and that most of my readers don't give a damn.

Choosing to moderate my comments was a brilliant stroke.  I get less comments, but what I do get tends to be at least a hundred words in length, with deep, meaningful, on-topic insights.  I love these comments when I get them, gentle readers, and I enjoy that you've taken the time to really say something.  It's all I could ask for.

I go on vacation in a few days, and I will probably post a lot less the second half of December (though I mean to keep fighting on with the stories day by day).  But as a cord from the computer is virtually plugged straight into my arm, I'll still be watching for ideas that would inspire another post.  I hope people manage to have a happy holiday this year.  Remember, Linus was wrong - though I will always love him - and it really isn't about the birth of a religion.  It's really about the sun taking a turn, and the days getting longer again, and celebrating that we'll manage to live through another winter.