Ouch, that hurts. While our politics and backgrounds are worlds apart , Ed has always been a friendly and helpful blogger colleague – if there is such a thing – to me since I started this blog. I wish him well in his future endeavors and will try to get my technical act together so I can listen to more of his podcasts on my MP3 player.
I can relate to his decision to give up the blog aspect of his site. Like I Ed, I am now a freelance writer – although I have one main gig as a consultant and write true freelance stuff when I can. I also started blogging when I had a sometimes dull day job. This past year I quit that job and took a job in Austin thinking it was the next step in my career. But then decided that it wasn’t the best thing for my family, so I made the decision return to Columbus. It was difficult decision and time. I ended up writing online as an independent consultant for a web site and working out of the house.
Not surprisingly, this – and having another child – has had an impact on my blogging and I have often wondered if it is worth keeping this site going. But unlike Ed, fiction or book reviews are not the main focus of my work. So this blog is a way to do something different and to explore my love of books. With the new job – working at home with a three year old and a three month year old – I don’t have the time I would like to surf the literary blogosphere and engage in debate and discussion like I used to. But Ed’s place was one of the few I checked out regularly. His great links and sharp wit always made reading a pleasure. I will miss it.
As for me, come the new year I want to focus on writing better and more thoughtfully about the books I read. I know I can’t be a prolific lit blogger with the latest links or news – and I don’t have any inside information on the world of publishing – but with Jeff, and now Moe, pitching in it is my hope that the site will have enough quality content to be worth the pixels.
But enough about me, I want to again wish Ed all the best as he endeavors to take his career to the next level or in a new direction. I also want to thank him for the courtesy and kindness he has shown me over the years. His podcasts are an inspiration and a valuable addition to the online discussion of books. I look forward to reading his reviews and essays wherever they appear. And I look forward to seeing the novel in book form someday.
