tomeubanks.com

    Being new to this blogging business, I'm researching other blogs.  Since I write what I know, I should blog the same way.  I'm learning how to blog, which, I'm finding out, is different than writing a blog.  I'm seeking an audience, a one-on-one audience, not a group.  This isn't a classroom.  I want it to be like you and me, sitting over a tall Pike at Starbucks talking about stuff that interests us both.  And laughing.  And saying things like, "That's great!  I never thought of that!"  Or: "That's great!  I've thought the same thing!  Thanks for joining me!"  And: "That's a funny way of looking at that!"

    Here's the "top 10 blogs for writers," according to one blogger:

    http://www.copyblogger.com/the-top-10-blogs-for-writers/

    Copyblogger reported these on its blog, I suppose, because they were touted to be Numero Uno.  I wasn't  impressed, because it was a blog aimed at copywriters.    

    What I'm finding is that many of these writer-bloggers are copywriters; they write ad copy.  They make money at it.  But to me it's boring, boring, boring, and they make what they do important only because they can say that everyone buys stuff.  Big deal.  Everyone takes a crap, too.

    I'm interested in fiction.  I like stories and characters.  I'm searching for bloggers who write about this topic and, so far, I've found a couple of lady bloggers who write romance stuff, so I'll keep looking.  I need a male role-model blogger.   Can I Google that?  Male role-model blogger.  Or how about just testosterone blogger; man blog; give me meat blogger; or chauvinist pig blogger.

    I've learned from reading other writers' blogs that images are good in a blog.  But what I'm finding is a whole bunch of Google ads.  I'm looking into it only because it's how some of these professional bloggers make money.  Writing and making money.  Hm.  That's a new concept for me, so I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around it.  But images strategically placed are supposed to enhance the blog and break up the  

text.

    Images are supposed to be something pertinent and timely to what I am writing in the blog.  So here's my thinking about the picture I've chosen for this blog.  It's from my vacation last year to Makaha on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.  It was about NOT working.  It was about spending time with FEMALES: my wife and daughters.  My son-in-law was there, but he plays classical guitar, so he doesn't count.  The point is this:  my purpose now is in direct opposition to what this picture represents for me in my memory.  Work.  Male role-model blogger.

    And for those of you who don't write, I want to keep you as a reader, too.  So I will write for non-writers but from the perspective of a writer.  I want it to be be a unique experience for you non-writers.  See it like this: you don't fly but you get the same thrill by sitting in the cockpit next to the pilot.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not elevating myself (lovely pun) to the heights (another lovely pun) of flying a 747, but you get the idea.

    Reading my blog may not feel like soaring with eagles, but it should at least get you off the ground.  And, please, let me know how your flight is.