Monday, April 28, 2014

A Change of Pace.

It's almost May of 2014 and I have been debating as to what to do with this blog. Originally, I started writing online in order to post my responses to Daily Writing Prompts. I did this for almost a year before I began attending college classes, then my opportunities to write became limited. At the end of the day, completed works changed from what I wanted to write to what I had to write for those classes. Slowly, my attempts to complete the daily writing prompts dwindled to nothing and therefore I had nothing to post.

In 2013, I attempted to bring the site back by writing about mythical creatures. Mythology has always been a love of mine and so writing about it should have been easy. However, I found that I could easily get caught up in my research and often jumped from topic to topic. Before I knew it, the day was over and although I had read extensively and learned a lot, I had not written anything.  I also found that not as many people commented on my mythology writings. Interest among the people who visited my site was apparently not very high, so it was a lot of work for little to no pay off.

I turned to book reviews to fill the space. The trouble with that is, there are a ton of really great blogs for book reviews and I don't want to do the same thing everyone else has been doing. You can only ask the same question so many ways, and as a book reviewer there is a lot of reading that needs to be done each day. Could I make that kind of commitment and keep up with my other responsibilities?

I decided No.

I wanted to do something different, something I could make that would be my own creation.  I think I have finally found that "Niche", that something different. Taking the site in a new direction has a lot of positives.  The ones listed below are probably the most noteworthy of a rather long list.

1) I will be spending time with my family.

2) I will not be chained to my computer desk, what I plan on doing forces me to leave the house.

3) There is research involved, so I will still have the opportunity to visit my library while the children are at school and while I'm out, I can conduct interviews with the locals.

4) My camera will get a lot more use and with a little persistence I may even have the opportunity to get a new one. 

5) I'll still have time to work on Sakura Secrets, the middle grade story I have been writing. Hopefully, being out and around young people again will allow me to observe middle school age children, which brings insight to their interests and will increase the accuracy of my book.  

So, with that being said, what is the new direction in which I am taking the blog?  Wandering Florida will be about exactly that, Wandering Florida. My main focus will be West-Central Florida which is commonly referred to as The Nature Coast. Counties that will be included are Pasco, Hernando and Citrus; with occasional trips to Levy, Marion, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Orange Counties.


What can you expect to see on the site? Town History, Businesses, Attractions, Odd Laws and Interesting Facts, Local Lore, Birds, Fish and other Animals, Plants, Art, Beaches, Festivals and Local Events. I'll be writing about all manner of things taking place here in my community and providing pictures when possible.

Although this new turn of events may limit my readership, it is the direction of my journey. I grew up in the Spring Hill, Brooksville, Weeki Wachee area and have lived here for almost 40 years. I've seen a lot of change.. Some good, some bad, but all worth talking about.