Last week, I updated my old story blog. I avoided it for about two months while I worked on this whole publishing thing, getting the hang of this roller coaster and figuring out my limits.

I shouldn’t have waited so long. Sharing stories online is a joy like no other. The culture that has developed on the blog makes me happier than a five star review.

Brandon and Jimmy burying Mary

The people who read my story trust me as a storyteller. They never doubt that I know what I’m doing and they rarely question it. Likewise, I trust them as readers. I trust that they are stopping by because they really like to. They aren’t just stopping by because they’re my friends, though many have become my friends outside of the blog.

And what we share is magic. For a short while, the story really lives. We talk about it as if it were a living thing and these people exist somewhere outside of my own head. That is precious. That is the best gift anyone can give a writer.

It’s like my own little book group. I joked on a friend’s blog that I wanted someone to tell me I was wrong about my own character. Well, silly me, that’s already happened on the story blog. And the person who commented used the text to support her opinion.

I shouldn’t have avoided posting on that blog for so long. I’m determined to get back into it and finish more stories and start posting up other random ones that will probably never be published but take place in the same world.

It’s reminded me exactly why I like sharing stories and given me the strength to continue doing more. I have a list of stories I’d like to write, and yesterday I just dove right in with nothing more than a pen and a notebook.

So here’s my one bit of writerly advice: Do what you really love to do. Posting online and using a game to take pictures, that must appear so unseemly to some of the more traditionalists. (And I believe most writers, especially those with degrees are much more traditionalist than some of them admit.) Especially since these stories are tied into books I’m publishing now. But that’s sort of the point of self-publishing for me– break the mold and trying something new.

I’ve posted the link before, but I’m not going to post the link now. Mainly because that’s sort of my little sanctuary. But if anyone is curious you can always email me. I’d only ask that you respect the culture of that story blog. It’s not for critiquing. It’s meant for diving into my world and sharing it with me.

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