Maintenance: Calico in Transition

So. I’ve had an idea in mind for a while now, but it only became more urgent this past year, when I was thisclose to getting a publishing deal. Whenever I get published, I want to let you all know about it. Oh, I know: most of you won’t give a fig, and that’s fine. But some of you will.

However, this blog is associated with my real name, and I may publish under a pen name. I’ve known for a while that I’d want some distance between my book blogging activities and myself as a professional author (indeed, I’ve also known that once I’m a professional author, my book blogging activities will definitely cease, if they haven’t already), and therein lies the crutch: how can I promote myself as an author to you when I don’t want my real name attached to my pen name (at least, not right away)?

I’ve made no decisions on a pen name. Hell, when it’s all said and done I might just go with the real name and be done with it. But I need time and space to decide, and in the meantime, I want to get back to regular blogging. Not focusing on book reviews or other entertainment reviews. Just regular blogging where I talk about what interests me (admittedly, books and entertainment) as well as whatever else pops up in my life. I want to practice so that when I’m a Real! Author!, my author blog won’t be filled with nothing but promotional crap. I’ll know what I want to talk about and how to balance it. Like John Scalzi. Or Seanan McGuire. Or Jim Hines. Or Cherie Priest. Or any other author who maintains a solid blog that’s more than a marketing tool for their latest published effort.

So I’ve started a new blog. No, it’s not on LJ. Yes, it’s on Word Press and yes, you can subscribe via email or RSS feed. No, I’m not going to put a gun to your head and make you read it, and yes, I understand that for many of you on LJ, leaving the comfort of LJ is not something you’re willing to do. But I have no illusions: most of you are here for the book reviews, and that’s cool.

But if you want to hear me talk about my writing, about trying to get published and all the fears I have about it, if you want to hear me talk about real life and the things that interest me that aren’t always entertainment-related, I invite you to visit Calico In Transition.

Some of you may be wondering: what do you mean? Transition from what to where? I’ve mostly explained that, so what I think you’re really asking is: what’s going to happen to Calico Reaction, the book blog?

Well, for starters, I’m not up and quitting. That doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about it, and that I haven’t been thinking about it for a while. I opened this blog on LJ back in 2005, and there’d be something wonderful if I could keep it up through my ten-year anniversary before retiring this blog to Archive status. But that’s three years away, and at this point, I can make no promises. Book blogging is a lot of work, and there are some weekends where I spend every minute of my free time on this blog: preparing reviews and articles, planning things ahead so there’s a nice variety for my readers and everybody gets a little something of what they want. But that means there’s stuff I want to talk about that I don’t have time for, and that’s one of the reasons I want to get back to regular blogging.

Also, I’m tired. So I’m not sure I’m going to last three years. In my personal life, there are some potential employment changes coming my way, changes that will take a lot of time and energy and will leave my free time limited. When that happens, I’m not sure I’m going to want to do much of anything that isn’t casual in some way. Casual reading. Casual blogging. No need to maintain a schedule or feel like my voice has to somehow represent the genre.

So no, I’m not quitting the book blog. Yet. After all, the new blog is about me transitioning, and that gives you the opportunity to get to know me outside of a book blog and decide if I’m someone you really want to follow or not. You get to do that before I make any final decisions about book blogging.

But while I’m not quitting, I realize I am going to have to make some changes. There are a lot of regular posts that I’m thisclose to cutting, so that when it’s all said and done, all you will get HERE are book reviews, and the occasional discussion about a movie or television show. Cutting may include Weekend Updates (of both varieties). It may include Monthly Round-ups, Book Bags, and community cross-posting. I may, depending on my mood, stop posting reviews at Goodreads and LibraryThing, or I may even get REALLY crazy and delete one of the blogs (likely WP, since that’s the youngest version) so that there’s only one out there for archive purposes.

We’ll see. But it’s time to make some changes, and it’s time for me to pursue other, if somewhat related, hobbies. Casual blogging is one of them, but I also really need to devote some time to writing and researching agents and submitting my poor manuscript around to see if there are any takers.

In the end, though, all today’s post is about is to say, “Hey! I have a new blog! It’s about personal stuff! And other stuff!” and give you the opportunity to follow it if you want (*hint*Calico In Transition*hint*). There’s only one entry there now, but there will be more, and that one entry is a bit of a repeat of what I said here, but with one more thing: Calico’s the name. Many of you know my real name, even if it’s only my first, and I’m asking that if you’re one of those people to please refrain from using my name in comments. That’s it!

So, if you’re interested in the life and times and imagination of Calico, then check out Calico In Transition. If not, that’s cool, feel free to stick around for book reviews. The blog’s still open, and I’m still reviewing. It’s just all in transition.