The End Of Road: Time to Retire This Blog

Southeastern Utah: My logo for the Easy-Writer blog since the beginning.
Symbolic of the writer's path.

Today, the sky is blue, and in the horizon there are few clouds. Beneath my tires is well worn asphalt. I've driven through cities, red rock canyons, along streams and rivers. And finally, I have come to a fork in the road.

Since March of 2006, it's been a good ride, but it's time to put this blog into mothballs for a long while. I've already moved onto other topics, and in doing so have stepped into a much different world. This isn't to say that literature and books have been left behind, rather I've taken them with me. Since 2008, I've been working with this new pastiche over here.

There are many terrific pieces here that I'm proud to have written. I have to thank the Los Angeles Times Pressmen for giving me my start as a blogger. It was an appreciation I wrote for Otis Chandler, which kicked off this blog. The Easy-Writer blog led to the creation of several others about writing: The Writerly Pause, which hosted a writing group and also held author interviews and reviewed ARC's. Writer Impossible, is an ongoing collection of my articles on writing. I also posted my poetry on a separate blog. I even started The Literary Fashionista, which took on fashion week, and earned the appreciation of designers and publicists.

But like a book, even blogs must have a final chapter, and this one has been in the writing since 2008 when I started to lose interest. Good writing shouldn't be a struggle, and yet writing across the blogosphere trying to keep all things separate has proven to be untenable.

My reasons for keeping things separate is I knew most who inhabit literary circles and read this blog, had no interest in anything military. In the worst sense I was pandering to them. They didn't want to hear about war, a few disagreed with it passionately, and didn't want to read about soldiers. I never forced it, even though I wrote some fine posts, and gave a viewpoint of war that was unique.

But my world has changed, and it's natural to reflect this. Besides, writers have to be a part of the world, and I'm grateful for the door that opened onto this new terrain.

If a blog is a reflection of who the writer is, then certainly everything should go onto one blog. Those who can't take the variety, will leave. I'm not looking for big numbers or accolades. No, if I can have my preconceived notions blasted away, learn something and grow, then that's the real payoff. Hence, I'm turning onto the road that leads to my permanent digs, The Kitchen Dispatch. I've found the military community broad enough it can handle my ramblings on writing and also my stuff on yoga. This blog shall remain. People can hunt and peck on the archives. I feel it's far better to write a final farewell post than to just abandon it without any indication of what has happened. This has been a terrific blog, and it deserves a graceful farewell.

I'm thanking all the readers who have supported me over the years. So join me on The Kitchen Dispatch. You can even click on the little "Follow Me" button and get it onto your feed.
Same me, only more.
Keep writing, keep editing, keep submitting. The dream is very much still alive. A writer never stops writing. They just go onto finishing other books.