On Monday, I asked you to convince me to follow your blog. I promised to pick ten, but instead I came up with fifteen! I couldn’t narrow it down, and I also followed more of you than I listed here today. I looked at every comment and every blog. Some of you caught my eye... Continue Reading →
I’ve reached 20,000 followers, and although that makes my blog seem “big,” the truth is that my stats and actual page views are much lower. I get an average of 300 to 400 views a day, with slightly fewer unique visitors. All 20,000 of you are not reading or visiting my blog, but that’s okay.... Continue Reading →
As many of you know, last week I was invited to be on Katie Couric’s television show. (Click here to see the post about how this happened.) What an experience! I have never done anything like it before, and I don’t know if the opportunity will ever arise again. I’m so glad I did it,... Continue Reading →
What better way to celebrate the new year than to post a link to a summary of my blog statistics! Sounds boring, right? But I find these year-end summaries quite fascinating, and I love seeing what has been going on behind the scenes at my favorite bloggers' sites. I hope you enjoy looking at mine!... Continue Reading →
We hear a lot about the writing process, how it’s different for everybody and how it is a process, rather than a magical one-off or a product. I teach a lot of this in my English 1010 courses, and I’ve also enjoyed reading about it in essays for that course and in literature. One of... Continue Reading →
I’ve noticed on blogs, Goodreads, and other book review sites that the reviewers often try to avoid spoiling the plot or giving away big chunks of the twists and turns. They do this by simply not writing about it or by giving a warning that they are about to do so and that those uninterested... Continue Reading →
Have you ever noticed that once your favorite blog gets Freshly Pressed, the posts stop coming? I’ve seen this happen with several blogs, particularly those that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed and loved. There was one particular blog that I found in my early days of blogging, back in the first part of 2012. I absolutely loved... Continue Reading →
I wrote this post a while ago, and as I reread it in anticipation of posting it, I sensed an in-your-face tone. Sorry about that. Maybe it was my attempt to be funny while writing this. I’m not sure. But I do want to share some of what I’ve learned over the last year and... Continue Reading →
A few years back, when it was still on television, Desperate Housewives was one of my favorite shows. (I know, I know.) But I do enjoy a good prime-time soap opera. Because of this, I’m excited to announce a new collaborative series on my blog: Literary Wives. My friend and blogger Ariel noticed that many... Continue Reading →
Jaron Lanier, in his manifesto titled You Are Not A Gadget (2010), makes the claim that at one time, he was sitting in the most interesting room in the world. He was helping to design a video game, and while I appreciate his experiences in Silicon Valley and his contributions to the wonderful web of... Continue Reading →
The Bookshelf of Emily J. 