A blogging friend described my blog as “like sitting on the porch having a hilarious conversation with a long time friend.” I like that description. When friends get together, they talk about anything and everything. I talk about whatever comes into my head at 4:30 in the morning. Every day is a surprise (not just to the reader, but to me). That’s why I used the word “eclectic” in the title.
Defining my blog is difficult, because I am not a niche blogger. It’s not a “journal” or a “how to” blog. Right now you will find many posts about a charity for cancer children, because we have a goal to meet. That’s only a fraction of the subjects I cover. In most of my posts, I “talk” in story form, with a lot of Texas sass thrown into the pot, trying to touch a universal chord and to get people to “talk back.”

Blogging is my “obsession.” My “real” job, if you want to call it that, is as a professional storyteller. I go to schools, libraries, and festivals to perform ghost stories, fairy tales, folk tales and the like. I also sometimes take my spinning wheel and weaving loom for programs and spin yarn while I “spin yarns.”

As I said, I don’t have a specific topic. I jokingly tell people that I started blogging to cure my addiction to computerized Mahjongg. I’m only partly joking. If I have to give you an intelligent sounding answer, I’d say that I blog about things that make me curious (and almost everything does). I blog for the interaction with a “community.” I blog to move people to action. I blog to get people to think and to remember. I blog, therefore I am.

I had been thinking about starting a blog in November of last year, but have no technological skills. In January, I decided to get my feet wet with a Blogger blog and decided that blogging wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. By April 2nd, I was feeling confident in my abilities. With the help of a web designer, I switched to a Word Press blog with my own dot com. I quickly discovered I had gotten too big for my britches. I still have no technological skill!

The number of visitors a day fluctuates according to no real pattern that I can discern. When I began, I was delighted if my Big Bubba, my best friend, and my husband looked at it. Then, I started getting 30 visitors a day and got all excited about having an audience. One post of mine that was humorous got “Stumbled,” and I got 1,050 visitors that day. Since then, the count ranges between 350-550 unique visitors, with 150-250 readers in feed. I just celebrated my 20,000 visitor since April 2nd, so I’m content.

Please don’t make me laugh. I know it isn’t a fairy tale that there are people who make money blogging, but I have not discovered the key to unlock the treasury. I’m blind to ads on other blogs, so I imagine that most other people are, as well. I’m reluctant to try pay per post, because I don’t want to lose my credibility (such as it is). Yes, I dream that one day I will be “discovered” and become a “dooce.” It’s good to have a dream.

My readers are a wide mix of “types.” Anyone who enjoys “story” would find something of interest. My posts are long, so a reader has to have an attention span longer than that of a gnat.

That isn’t a fair question, because my husband might read this interview. Then, he will know the truth about why I didn’t get the laundry done and he has no clean underwear.

I’m told that some days I’m pretty funny; other days I wrench people’s hearts. Usually, I try to evoke memories and promote conversation. I promote a lot of other bloggers I enjoy, so there is a great likelihood that by visiting “my house” you will meet some other like-minded bloggers who will become your regular readers. There are a lot of interesting folks who come to visit.

There are a lot of definitions of “success.” If you are planning on getting rich blogging, don’t quit your day job. Success, to me, is having people come back to read another post. That begins with good writing about a subject that you enjoy. You can’t engage an audience if you are writing about something you don’t like. To get those readers, you can’t sit back and wait for them. Go out and read other blogs and make intelligent comments (don’t spam!). I didn’t get readers until I joined the Thursday Thirteen meme. When people do come to visit, reply to their comments as quickly as you can, and go back to visit them.

This blog can be visited at http://www.thiseclecticlife.com

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