For some time now, I've promised, threatened, and solemnly pledged to myself that yes, I WILL start a blog, and I will start it NOW.
But then there's the recruiting of and working for clients...the needs of the family and minor child...the withering plants on my windowsill. And all the good intentions are swept away - by the spring rain, the summer winds, the autumn gloom, the winter chill.
My clarion call came in May, at the NGS Conference in Charleston, SC. I attended a workshop on how to monetize your blog, hosted by a great fellow named Mark Olsen of Family Link. He was brilliant, and quick - too quick! My addled brain could not keep up with the machinations of changing HTML code and the highlights of dealing with Google AdSense.
It didn't help that I'd walked in my customary ten minutes late, either.
In the end, Mark graciously offered to email a summary of the course to us poor, confused souls.
Not much of what he said that day stuck with me, but one thing did. Allow me to paraphrase his wise words:
"If you don't have a blog, start one now. Just start it! My brother always wants to take the long road. He says, wait Mark, I need to design a logo. I need to figure out the message and the target audience.
I say, don't worry about it! You can always add that stuff later! Just WRITE something, and put yourself OUT there!"
So - here I am. No custom colors, no logo, no profile pic - not yet. I broke all of my own rules, and just decided to start writing about what I absolutely, passionately love to do - solving historic mysteries.
Hence the title: Unsolved Histories.
Now I've done it. And there's no going back.
Mark, I don't know if I'll ever be able to dabble in HTML code.
But thank you, Mark Olsen. This one's for you.