Blogging Reflections

When I started this blog last October, I really didn’t know what to expect. Nor was I sure how long I’d want to keep it going. Suffice to say that it’s been a terrific experience, which, if I’d had any particular expectations, would certainly have exceeded them by far.

Blogging has put me in touch with a wide range of people both in the UK and much further afield, whose comments and support I much appreciate. I’ve been directed to good books and films, for instance, that I might never otherwise have bothered with. And some of the most exciting developments have come entirely out of the blue.

To take just one example, my post about the artist Bren Unwin, whose print ‘The Arsenic Labyrinth’ I bought from a gallery in distant Falmouth about eighteen months ago, has led to my getting into contact with Bren, and acquiring from her another wonderful arsenic labyrinth print (pictured)– personally inscribed, this time! She's explained to me that it's an etching and carborundum print; the image was etched onto copper with Ferric Chloride and then worked on further with carborundum (grit that allows the ink to hold between its particles.) She'd had no idea, of course, that the first print had helped me create the mindset and atmosphere necessary for writing the key parts of The Arsenic Labyrinth - but thanks to the blog, she knows it now (what she makes of it once she's read the book is a different matter, I'm sure...)

There’s definitely something addictive about the blogosphere. I’ve found it both fascinating and terrific fun. Of course, I’m conscious that, potentially, it’s a distraction from the actual business of novel writing. But I’m sure it’s possible to strike a sensible balance between the two, even if I haven’t quite managed it yet myself. I’d like to comment more on other people’s blogs than I do, and I really need to do a bit more on my current novel than I’ve achieved so far.

So what does the future hold for this blog? Well, I plan to keep it going indefinitely, and I think the mix will continue much as before. Maybe a little bit more about true crime cases, but still plenty about other crime writers, films, an occasional mention of music and so on.

Thanks again to everyone who has encouraged me - I'm very grateful. And have a very good Easter.