Reviewing My Observations

A new blog,

A new year,

A new opportunity to write, to learn and hopefully to make a difference.

I originally chose the title josobservations because I envisioned this blog to be about a wide variety of issues, not just about reading and writing (although those are my favorite subjects).

There are so many things I want to write about and so little time. I get frustrated. However, when trying to decide what to write about for this blog, I decided to review my past blogging history and see if I accomplished this. Some topics explored were:

Books: Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Tina Sankovitch

The Extreme Novelist by Kathryn Johnson

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande

The Great Detective by Zack Dundas

Last One Home by Debbie Macomber

Why We Write, edited by Meredith Maran

Unthink, rediscover your creative genius by erik wahl

Write Small, Stylize: A Slightly Obsessive History of Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style by Mark Garvey

Spunk & Bite: A writer’s guide to punchier, more engaging language & style by Arthur Plotnik

Perfect Bound by Katherine Pickett

What Price Eden by Dean Minnich

Christmas Carroll by Carroll County Writers

Author Tom Glenn

Writers have featured prominently in my blogs: John Steinbeck, Jeanne Adams, Tom Glenn, Dani Pettrey, Lucia St Clair Robson, Loree Lough, Doug Norton, D L Wilson, Julie Castillo, Lois Szymanski, Laura Bowers, Michele “Wojo” Wojciechowski, Mona Kirby, Fernando Quijano, B. Morrison, Jack Downs, Kerry Peresta, P J Wetzel, Betsy Riley, Alix Moore, Ally Machate and others.

 Other Topics included art featuring Jeffrey Kent, funny Christmas songs, and poetry in a blog about flying and my chapbook blog.

My writer friends and I enjoy sharing information about writing and promoting other writers. So, many of my blogs are about communication, such as writing prompts, how to get ideas, publicity and promotion, local, state and national writing groups, writing conferences, book festivals and challenges such as Nanowrimo.

Joelle Jarvis and Kerry Peresta at an
author event

Looking back, there is plenty of variety and there will be more in the future. I plan to discuss more books. Since I love to read and there are so many good books, this gives me an excuse to read even more. I think my blogs have improved and hopefully that trend will continue.

I want to write more about social issues, education, and interesting people and want to add more humor to my writing.

One of the main reasons I loved being a reporter was because of the variety. Now, this blog gives me the opportunity to write about books, events and interesting people. I find, hope you will find these interesting and enjoyable.

I welcome questions, comments and suggestions for future blogs.