A Change of Pace

I recently informed the readers of my e-mail newsletter, The Brand Spankin' News,that I had decided to call it quits. My decision is disappointing to some of you "neighbors" - it was not an easy decision for me. We've been together for a long, long time. It wasn't the writing as much as the format; the years of enduring e-mail glitches, manually updating birthday, anniversary and address lists, the cutting and pasting, the working under my self-imposed schedule and deadline, having to split my address list into smaller portions to keep from exceeding the sending limit of my provider, resending e-mail to recipients who hadn't received it, etc. It seemed that the more I tried to streamline the process, the more it tended to encroach on the rest of my day.

E-mail is an good way to communicate; I'm hoping that this blog will be even better. We never learn until we try new things - so this is my change of pace and I invite you to join me.

I don't intend to publish on a schedule but only as the urge hits. I can post to a blog whether I'm at home or traveling and I don't have to keep an everchanging e-mail address lists current on more than one computer. It seems that it will be easier for all of you to keep track of one of me than for one of me to keep track of all of you.

When I add new posts, I welcome you to add your comments below them. You need not comment on the original topic, but may ramble as you please. If you neighbors accept this format, I will invite additional authors (for example, the regular contributors to the Brand Spankin' News and other volunteers) to post original contributions directly to the blog. That way it can keep active without my involvement.

Although I haven't tested it, I understand that if you subscribe to this blog then an alert will be sent to you when a new posting or comment has been published.

If you look on the lower right column of this blog, you will see this link "My Bunkhouse Website." It's a website that I began long ago but never got around to improving. Nevertheless, it includes all of the "Story Writing 101" assignments that we wrote several years back. Click around and you should find them if you want to reread them. There is also a link at the website to get you back to this blog.

If you would like to comment about this new proposed approach but have difficulty leaving one below this post, please contact me via E-mail.

The Brand Spankin' News was not about me it was about us. If there is anyone who wants to take on the challenge of being "bossman" in an e-mail newsletter, I will certainly encourage them to give it a go. A fresh approach is always a good thing.