A Hiatus for My Blog

The blog, "Pack Mule for the New School," is going on an indefinite short-term hold as of late July 2011. Taking a break from writing this blog is a decision that comes from several factors.

The first of those factors is the ample workload that I have right now. I have the book, You Can't Know Where You're Going, to work on, as well as a few scholarly articles to revise and place with magazines or journals. I have some professional development work to do for my 12th grade English (British literature) class and some preparation to do for the creative writing magnet's upcoming year. I'm determined to give much better attention to my job of education/outreach committee chairman for the Alabama Book Festival's planning committee. The Children of the Changing South book is also in production with McFarland & Co., so I'm assuming that its release will necessitate some promotional efforts, too.

The second factor that prompts me to take a break is my suspicion over the steady traffic coming to this blog from countries all over the world, some of which is being linked from pornography websites. I've heard about "bots" and other tricks to hijack or misdirect illegal or illicit web traffic, and I have strong feelings that this international attention may relate to that kind of activity. Maybe if I play dead for a while, that foolishness will go away.

The third factor involves my lack of certainty about the effectiveness of writing for new media like blogging or tweeting. Although I've jumped on the new media bandwagon like every other fool who wants attention, I have trouble interpreting how useful these tools really are. Of course, for price, blogging and tweeting are far superior to the old ways of flyers, mail-outs and telemarketing, making them accessible for more self-promoters . . . like me.  However, I wonder how many people I am actually reaching. Later on, I'll get back to treading water in the cyber-sea, trying once again not to drown. What I really want to know is: is anybody out there?

I am not canceling or closing this blog, just taking a break. In the meantime, for any updates on what I'm up to, check my website. I will return to writing for "Pack Mule for the New School" later in the fall.