Showing posts with label why blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label why blog. Show all posts

Monday, March 27, 2017

Thank You, Dear Readers: On the Occasion of Madam Mayo Blog's Eleventh Anniversary

Images courtesy of Pulp-o-Mizer
Methuselah of Blogdom here. Why am I still blogging? I am heartened to say, dear readers, that I know you're there, more of you each year, and I appreciate your visits and your comments (as always, I welcome comments via email.) As for the granular whys and wherefores of this blog, I wouldn't say much that I didn't say last year, on its tenth anniversary, which echoed much of what I had to say on its eighth anniversary. The latter link goes to my talk for the 2014 AWP Conference panel on "Homesteading on the Digital Frontier: Writer's Blogs." To quote from that:
"Madam Mayo" is not so much my so-called "platform," but rather, a net that catches certain special fish— the readers who care about the things I care to write about. 
As ever, I aim to provide posts on a variety of topics that might be, in turn, of use and/or interest for my writing workshop students, and/or for Mexicophiles, and/or for Far West Texasphiles (is that a word?), adventurous readers, and myself. 

 One of my many motivations for blogging is to iron out my own thoughts, especially on subjects that tend to come up in my correspondence with other writers and in my writing workshops, for example:
(What do you mean, "reading as a writer"?)
One Simple Yet Powerful Practice in Reading as a Writer

(How do you keep up with email?)
Email Ninjerie in the Theater of Space-Time

(Where do you find the time to write?)
Thirty Deadly-Effective Ways to Free Up Bits, Drips & 

 (What do you think about social media?)


You will also find posts on my work in-progress and anything relevant to it (at present, a book about Far West Texas):






Once in a zera-striped-chartreuse moon of Pluto I touch on nonwriterly topics:
Yet one more reason to check in with this blog is for announcements about my publications and interviews:
To share my talks and podcasts:





And, something I especially relish, to learn about and celebrate the work of other writers:




> More interviews here.

P.S. For those of you who are writers / bloggers, herewith the top five things I would have done differently back in 2006 had I known what I know now:
1. Use WordPress
2. Post once per week, something verily crunchy, otherwise take a vacation;
3. Post interviews with other writers more often;
4. Maybe tweet the link to a post once or twice; otherwise do not waste time with social media;
5. When possible and when there is substantive content, upload the bulk of that content to the webpage, not the blog itself (because of those scraper sites).

 (Your comments are especially welcome on this subject. Write to me here.)
P.P.S. Yep, one of these days I will move the whole enchilada over to WordPress. It's still on my to-do list... [UPDATE JANUARY 2019: This blog is now on self-hosted WordPress at www.madam-mayo.com]

> Your comments are always welcome. Write to me here.





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Monday, April 11, 2016

With a Ker-thunking Clash of Gamelan Puggy Hooha: On 10 (TEN!) Years of Blogging

[Newspaper clipping courtesy of www.fodey.com]
The 10 year anniversary of this blog, long looming on the horizon, has arrived with a ker-thunking clash of gamelan hooha. At least in my own mind! And whether you've been with me this long or surfed in a split-second ago, my thanks to you, dear reader.

 A shout-out to a few of my blogging friends who've been at this along with me lo these many (or almost these many) years-- you're on my blog roll and in my heart. (I'm waving at you especially, E. Ethelbert Miller and Leslie Pietrzyk.) 

 Alas, most of the blogs that started back when have gone silent. What has kept me motivated for 10 years? To get a sense of what it's all about, draw some conclusions, and look to the future, in recent weeks I've been posting year-by-year lists of top original-to-this-blog content. (2015; 2014; 2013; 2012; 2011; 2010; 2009; 2008; 2007; and 2006.) And now, at last, I've arrived at five conclusions and aims going forward.
Five Conclusions and Aims for 2016 & Beyond

 1. I started "Madam Mayo" blog in 2006 primarily to serve as a platform to announce and link to my work available in-print or elsewhere on the web. Such frankness may not sound too tewwibly chahming, I know. It's sort of like waving a wand over the top hat, then snatching away the silk handkerchief to reveal... a bean burrito. Not that my writing isn't yummy, if I do say so myself! But clearly, it would behoove me to jazz up ye olde blog up with, say, more pugs. Oh! Here's a GIF of Uliberto Quetzalpugtl (b. 2014). I asked him if he wanted a bean burrito.


This still seems like a fine idea, I mean, both using my blog to point to my books and other writing available elsewhere, and to bring on the pugs. 



Katherine Dunn says she is "not sure pugs are real dogs, they are mystical little beasts." Here, here. And here's a video of my mystical little beasts Uliberto Quetzalpugtl and his little sister Washingtoniana Quetzalpugalotl:





And here are some of my books, all of which have to do with Mexico, two of which have a lot brown in their covers, and all which do happen to mention Mexican cuisine (but not bean burritos):




(P.S. If you're new to this blog and wondering why my books are all about Mexico, click here for the "secrets and surprises".)

Seriously, though, over the years I have come to see this blog as more than a mere platform. As I wrote on the eighth anniversary of this blog, I think of "Madam Mayo" not so much as a "platform" but as "a net that catches certain special fish-- the readers who care about the things I care to write about." 


 2. Over the past decade the "top list-worthy" posts for this blog were the ones I wrote as exercises in clarifying my own thinking. Sometimes I was working out ideas that would appear in my books (as with this book review and this book review and this mash-up on Francisco Madero and Dr. Krumm-Heller); other times such posts were for my workshop students or just for myself. 

 My personal favorite is this post. I reread it now and again, and try to take my own advice. 

 So: I aim to continue blogging to clarify my own thinking... and to take my own advice. Hence, herewith another pug GIF! This one is of my writing assistant / aka mystical little beast Picadou (2000-2014) and her doting godfather, Mexican actor and James Dean-channeler Fernando Catorri. 




3. Several of the posts that made it into my top annual lists were written in a spirit of helpfulness and also, I confess, to save time with email. For example, after three writer friends asked me how I made my Kindles, I posted this; and after three asked me about editing their manuscript, I posted this and this; after three asked me about how to format a book I posted this. Yep, three's the charm. 

 The thing is, when three people ask me the same question, I can probably expect more of the same, and when my best answer is a more than a little bit lengthy, opinionated, and technical, the easiest thing for all concerned is for me to send my correspondent the link to my blog post. And of course I am delighted if any one else finds said posts of use and/or interest. Like I said, they were written in a spirit of helpfulness.

Since I've already tackled just about every question I can about writing and publishing, I aim to write more travel articles because the one question I keep getting is, what is there to see and do in Mexico City? (I do wish more people would ask me about Far West Texas.) 

 (Why don't I publish more often in magazines and newspapers such as LA Times and WSJ as in days of yore? That's another post.)

 4. Over the past decade I started up then phased out guest-blogs that followed what I called my super-simple "5 link format." A chubasco of lotus jpegs upon y'all, dear fabulously talented guest-bloggers! (See the archive of "Madam Mayo" guest-blogs here). But alas, it was too much trouble to seek them out, then edit and format them, so, sorry, dear reader, you will just have to settle for guest-appearances by my mystical little beasts. Here is Uliberto Quetzalpugtl demonstrating the Orphic Journey:




But seriously, albeit not via guest-blog posts, I aim to continue seeking out and featuring other writers whose work I admire. Over the past couple of years, and especially since 2014, I started running infrequent Q & As such as this one with historian Carolina Castillo Crimm and this one with historian Paul Cool and this one with writer and editor Michele Orwin. These are far more work to prepare, yet far more satisfying for me, for the other writer, and for my readers (so I am told). It's hard to say how often I'll feel comfortable doing these Q & As, but my guess is, probably every other month or so. 

 (Yes, I am still running my Conversations with Other Writers podcast, but it's an unholy amount of work to edit audio, so for now I plan to post those on a more or less one-podcast-a-year basis.) 

 5. Another type of post I started up and then phased out was what I call "cyberflanerie." In 2016 I'll let other blogs, such as Swiss Miss, Brain Pickings, and Marginal Revolution natter around with that sort of browsing and curating, fascinating fun as that is. My aim for 2016 is to fry the monster.


 Five Things You Can Expect to Stay the Same at "Madam Mayo" in 2016

 1. Look for posts every Monday, except when not, and oftentimes more often. 
2. Your emailed comments are ever and always welcome. But no, I won't be publishing comments on the blog itself. 
3. Look for occasional Q & As, book reviews and, at year-end, my top 10+ books read list.
4. Look for more posts about Texas, Far West Texas, and literary travel writing-- may this be the year I finish the draft of the book.
5.  My philosophy of blogging, that it is not so much a platform (although, yeah, it is) but "a kind of net, to catch the readers who care about what I care to write about" remains essentially unchanged from a couple of years ago. See Writers' Blogs (and My Blog Blog): Eight Conclusions After 8 years of Blogging, my talk for a panel on writers blogs at the 2014 Associated Writers Conference. 

 And finally, know that you have my appreciation, dear reader. 








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Monday, June 07, 2010

Ron Hogan on Book Blogs (The Meaning of it All)

Ron Hogan, host of the book blog beatrice.com (for which I recently contributed this guest-blog), gave a fascinating speech at the Bloggers Convention at Book Expo America. Tune in here. More anon.
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Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Why Blog? Ergo Phizmiz, Seth Godin, and Alice's Tulip Analogy

Why blog? After four years of steady blogging, I still get this question almost every day. (OK, I exaggerate. But not much.) What amazes me is the number of people (and interestingly, how all of them are older than Yours Truly) who cannot see the point--- especially if the writer isn't raking in some pile of clams. But must money come into every equation? Madam Mayo thinks not.

Speaking of the gift econonomy, I recently found a fantastic website of open source music over at www.freemusicarchive.org--- and I've become a big fan of one of the contributing musician / composers, the wackily prolific Ergo Phizmiz. Click here for his freemusicarchive.org discography, which includes the "EarBallet- Don Quixote" and the punkily nasty "Neighbors" (the idea is, you blast it at those who deserve it). Some of his other tunes: "Lonely Flea in Antarctica" and "Like a Mantelpiece, the Sea.". And from his website, here's his video of a song for chickens and children, "Chicken Trees":



Seth Godin, whose book, Lynchpin, I'll be blogging about asap, has this recent post about "Santa Math" and, as ever, I refer y'all (as well as clam-oriented others) to Alice's Tulip Analogy.

But all that said, do buy my book! The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire is out in paperback, officially, tomorrow. More anon.
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Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Ten Reflections on the Occasion of "Madam Mayo" Blog's Fourth Anniversary

The fourth anniversary of this blog has just slipped past... It was March 31st. So, I've been blogging steadily for longer than I imagined, and it looks like I won't be giving it up any time soon. What have I learned / concluded, and what do I continue to ponder? A quick ten items:

1. Blogging is whatever you want it to be. And that morphs. I don't worry about this so much as I once did. I just blog.

2. Thanks to the robots (search engines, web-crawlers), when regularly added to, over time, a blog becomes an increasingly powerful magnet for web traffic. Translation: though there are readers following this blog via RSS feed, and more recently, google blogs and facebook networked blogs, many if not most of my readers on any given day happen upon "Madam Mayo" via a search. This blog gets hits almost daily for ancient posts such as "what to feed your dog" (2007), "Pug Discovers Crop Circle in Carpet" (2008) and "Michael Talbot's Holographic Universe" (2009). I also get several hits a day for Catherine Mansell Carstens-- a name I haven't written under for more than 10 years.

3. But blogging isn't necesarily all writing; it can integrate video, photos, widgets, hypertext-- the genre is getting rich, soupy, and ever-morphingly fascinating. So what does it mean to be a writer? Not what it did, I know that much.

4. Many more writers are beginning to understand the power of blogging. Bless 'em. (But would you all newbies please blog about something besides your new book?)

5. Integrating facebook and twitter does help boost traffic, yes.
Follow the tweets @madammayo
@cmmayo1

6. I'm finding it increasingly less interesting to even think about querying newspapers and magazines. I've written for the LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Mexico, Inside Mexico, and the like, and until I started my blog, I assumed I would continue to do so. But I prefer to put my effort into writing books (long form) and blogging (short form). Maybe I'll rethink this. Sometime.

7. On several occasions, when pressed for time, and wanting to spend more on my fiction writing, I considered quitting the blog. But then I remembered point #1 (see above).
P.S. My personal mantra: THERE IS NO WHITE-BEARDED COMMITTEE IN THE SKY.

8. Because its archive of posts is so easily searchable, a blog can also be a cabinet of curiosities. I sometimes post links (such as 11 Cool Beans and Blogs Noted) just to I know I'll have them handy later. Yes, I could just "bookmark" them, but it's fun to think someone else might enjoy seeing them, too.

9. A really good blog is, alas, rarer than I had hoped. Here are a few of the few I've been following regularly for more than a year:

Apifera Farm
Donkeys, pie & art (and lots of lambs & lavender, too) by artist / farmer Katherine Dunn.

Buzz, Balls & Hype
Ruminations and more about the publishing biz by M.K. Rose advertising guru and author of potboilers (and owner of a very cute little white lapdog).

Christine Boyka Kluge
Gorgeous poetry blog.

Clusterfuck Nation
By James Howard Kunstler. His posts are sometimes a bit much of a curmudgeony downer, but for the zippy zingers, halleluja.

El vino y la hiel
By Mexican poet and writer Agustin Cadena.

Seth Godin
Squiblets du jour by an angel of art and compassion disguised as shiny-headed marketing guru.

David Lida
Photos and more about (mostly) Mexico City.

Phronesisiacal
Founded by a DC area professor of political philosophy; very eclectic; love the fruit pix; could skip the torture parts, though.

Real Delia
By Delia Lloyd, political scientist turned generalist. "Tips for Adulthood" and more. An especially intelligent blog, and rich with links.

Right Reading
Eclectic, aesthetic & amusing, by California-based translator, writer, editor, designer Tom Christensen.

Derek Sivers
By the founder of CD Baby. A music business outside-the-box thinker.

Swiss Miss
By a New York-based Swiss designer. Astonishing fun, like a daily jelly bean in a wierdly yummy flavor.

Work in Progress
Announcements, guest-blogs, advice, reflections both practical and personal, by my amiga novelist Leslie Pietrzyk.

10. More anon.
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