Happy New Year, Everyone! 😀

I went through some difficult things in 2018, burnout being the hardest hitting. But I'm looking forward to a calmer, healthier 2019! 🙂 One of the new things I'm going to try is – to stop trying so hard. I have spent several years learning all the best techniques for running and marketing an online business. Not all of it works for a writing business, but the biggest problem is that it's difficult to do anything consistently when you move a lot.

But it looks like we won't be moving for the foreseeable future! YAY!! So while I'm going to ease back into trying to rebuild my business, I'm also going to make some changes that may not only take the pressure off me but also help me to truly connect with YOU better! 😀

One of those changes is to stop worrying about blogging “correctly” – taking time to come up with a catchy headline, working out the SEO in the post and the headline, getting a good image or two on every post, etc. As you can see from the last year, choosing to only blog “correctly” or not at all made me choose not to blog much at all. That's not a very friendly thing to do! Haha!

So I'm going to try using the blog to actually communicate with you! What a concept! Haha!!

The posts may be short or long, five days a week or one (but I'm aiming for more shorter posts rather than fewer longer ones), with or without pictures, maybe sometimes they'll even be video posts instead of written posts! They'll probably have lots of exclamation points and smiley faces!! 😀  (Neither of which is professional, but they are ME!)

And hopefully we'll actually get to know each other better. 🙂

Where did this idea come from? I listened to the audiobook of Amanda Palmer's The Art of Asking a couple weeks ago, and it really made me rethink how I communicate with my readers and fans. Not everyone will like my new approach. It's going to be way too much information for some people, and that's understandable.

But the people who really get me and my writing will probably love it – and if that's YOU, YOU are why I'm doing this! 😀 I want us to get to know each other better, and I want to help you understand where my ideas come from and why I write the way I do. Some people think what I write is weird – too many Christian characters for some, too many swear words for others. But if you know where I'm coming from, it may make a lot more sense to you.

I'm also going to sometimes post about things that don't matter AT ALL in the big picture. For instance, today I am so excited because IT'S SUNNY OUT and I have a hair appointment!! LOL! Why post this? Because this is what friends talk about – things that are making them happy in the moment. 😀

Okay, gotta run. I have some things I have to finish (or START – like my next book!) before I get my hair cut today. I'll talk to you more again soon!

Love and hugs! 😀