This post isn’t really about cats, but I couldn’t think of anything relevant to rhyme with stats and my brain is rather tired. However, I love cats very much. I love them a lot more than stats.

Season’s greetings – I’ll be back soon with my traditional end-of year posts: favourite reads, films I watched, and plans for next year.

I am not at all keen on this feature. I’ve seen some false information in AI Overviews for various topics and it’s all very well to say in the small print that AI can make mistakes, it begs the question of why bother to have this feature if it can’t be trusted. It’s also treating non-factual pieces as information you should rely upon; I’m pleased if readers are finding my blog posts useful, but I’m not saying that it’s absolute truth, particularly with literary topics. Just one of many ways in which AI is being foisted upon us unnecessarily. Don’t get me started on all the other ways…

My third version is less image-heavy, with a focus on words, which after all is what I’m about! I updated the theme (the templates for displaying the blog) and suddenly realised I had switched from the easy-to-use Classic Editor to the rather confusing Block Editor. I think I’m starting to get the hang of this new, more complicated way, but if anything now looks a bit peculiar on my posts, it’s because I’m still learning. I have gone for a purple colour scheme, because I love purple! As I’m cross-genre and have varied interests, I avoided a design that favoured one thing over another. I expect I’ll tweak it and there are still things I haven’t worked out how to do yet (such as adding WordPress Follow and social sharing buttons). I realise the blog won’t look much different if you use WordPress Reader or you subscribe to the blog by email. However, the majority of my views are via search engines, so those readers will go directly to my website.

Wishing you a happy New Year.

Poems. I don’t pretend to be a great poet, but I have been inspired to write verse about subjects such as AI authors, tomatoes, 2020 and button-less cardigans.

Stories. My trademark short story is weird, a bit sinister, sometimes funny, with a twist. Check out The Good Clown, Dinosaur Party, Oak William and She Dreams of Diggers. They are all exclusive to this blog.

Critical reviews of hyped books, because I rarely like what everyone else seems to. Some examples are Hamnet, The Appeal, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and Normal People.

Obscure book choices. My reading taste has been described as eclectic and I do like variety. Here are reviews of The Rainbow Goblins, Temples of Convenience and Chambers of Delight, A Pink Front Door and The Land Where Lemons Grow.

Film / book comparisons. These are somewhat of an obsession and I publish one every month. Some of the many ‘film of the book’ posts include The Shining, Bridget Jones’s Diary, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Pinocchio.

Gig reviews. Every so often, I like to attend a concert and try my hand at music journalism. Here are reviews of Crowded House, Gary Numan Acoustic, Franz Ferdinand and Turin Brakes.

Fun posts when I’ve seemingly had nothing else to do but put together something amusing. Check out my fictional holidays from hell, writing tips with a little help from 90s pop music, obscure children’s TV comedies and the 10 types of book reviewer.

Thoughtful posts on bookish topics, such as the definition of classic books, whether a film adaptation can be better than the book, what literary fiction is and why I re-read books.

There is of course a lot more to explore and you can find other posts on my blog by selecting a category or using the search box (to the right of the screen, or at the bottom, depending on your screen size), or navigating the pages for writing and reading for a selection of posts.

Thank you to everyone who has read, shared, liked, commented or subscribed to the blog over the years.

Firstly, how do I keep track of my blog posts? Nothing fancy, just a basic spreadsheet in which I list all the dates I want to publish posts. I use it to plan what goes where, to note what I’ve already scheduled and what I want to write in the future. It then becomes a record for every post I’ve ever published. The schedule is not set in stone. I frequently change things around to ensure a variety of posts or to prioritise new posts which have a bearing on current events.

Secondly, how do I ensure I don’t run out of content? Well, I’ve always got at least one book on the go. I read an average of eight per month. As I review the vast majority of the books I read, there are always reviews to schedule. I also have regular features such as ‘film of the book’ and various discussion posts which I write whenever the topics are fresh in my mind. I can then space them out, so I might have, for example, three book reviews, followed by a post that’s something different. If I’m reviewing a live event, I’ll schedule it for as soon as possible, in case other people are searching for reviews of it. I do have a broad range of interests and an enquiring mind, so I never run out of topics. Blogging should be fun, in my opinion, so if I’m not feeling it, then I don’t force myself to write.

Thirdly, how do I get the time to write and schedule all of these posts? Some people who are not bloggers have assumed that every post is actually written and published on the day. This is very rarely so! Almost everything is scheduled in advance. I get as many posts done as I can whenever I have a block of time and I’m in the mood. My posts usually take less than half an hour to write but it depends on what I’m writing about. Sometimes I have a post saved in the drafts because it’s something that needs adding to now and again, not being the kind of post I can write in one sitting.

Fourthly, how do I decide how often to post? Some bloggers post every day without fail, others post weekly or just whenever they feel like it. The reason for my decision to post every 2 days (ish) is now lost in the mists of time, but looking at the early days of my spreadsheet, I can see that the frequency of posts increased at the beginning of 2019, which was a few months after starting the blog. I suspect that I just fell into the current pattern of posting because I like to be consistent. Hopefully the subscribers appreciate that, as they will know what to expect. Posting often and frequently seems to work well, as I usually gain more subscribers with every post and my monthly views are increasing.

Fifthly, do I recycle my blog posts? I’m all for recycling to help the environment, but when it comes to blog content, I keep it original. I may refer to previous posts or write sequels to them, but I won’t just re-use the same content and pretend it’s new. It’s possible that in the future I might re-read a book I’ve already reviewed on the blog, in which case I might quote my original review and then add some extra commentary. My review style has also changed over the years – it’s a bit more efficient now – so I wouldn’t want to use much older material anyway.

Lastly, do I ever take a break?! Well, I do sometimes take a few days’ break from writing and scheduling posts, if I’m writing my next bestseller, on holiday, having technology issues or just busy with life. But unless there is anything preventing it, there will be posts scheduled for that period, so there is always something new for subscribers to read. I also get a lot of hits from search engine results now, so I hope that those visitors might stick around if they see that the blog is updated often.

First and foremost, I blog for myself. It can’t be denied that having an audience does help me to refine my writing style, but the blog is here for me to pour my thoughts and experiences into. Would I write so much if it was all in a private notebook or electronic file not intended to be shared online? I highly doubt it. As for engagement, I appreciate it when people comment on my blog posts, share them and are up for discussions. It’s true that engagement seems to be declining, for which there could be a variety of reasons. However, I get many visits to my blog and I gain more subscribers almost every day, so I know for sure that people are reading the blog and hopefully gaining knowledge or entertainment from the content.

I originally set up my blog in 2018, intending it to be a promotional tool for when I became a published author (finally achieving this purpose in 2021 with my first novel) but as a book fanatic I wanted a place to share my honest reviews and which I could personalise. Not limiting myself to book reviews, bookish features and updates on my literary career, I also blog about films, music, research and random things. I love having my own blog and I think there is something special about having one’s own little website which, although part of a community of blogs (WordPress) is not merely a snippet to be swiped on a social media app along with millions of others. I use social media to promote the blog, not the other way around. I fear that our attention spans in general are becoming shorter and that contemporary technology is to blame. Why read a thousand word blog post when you could scroll through video clips instead? Media everywhere is becoming increasingly audio-visual, making blocks of written text seem rather old-fashioned and not worth expending brain-power on. Or is that the appeal? Not everyone wants to watch and listen. They want to read the words on the page.

That’s all I’m saying about blogging for now. Now, back to the book reviewing…

I consider if a book is a debut. It’s well-known that debut novels are usually followed by even better novels, as authors are becoming more practised and developing their styles. If I’m reviewing a debut and I have mixed feelings about it, I emphasise the aspects I enjoyed and possibly be open to reading the author’s next book. I think authors have a peculiar fondness for their first book. It’s like your first home after moving out of your parents’ place – it’s not perfect, you know you’ll move on to a better one, but at least it’s your own space.

I tend to be more understanding when reviewing independently published authors, as they haven’t had access to the many services which traditionally published authors benefit from. As I know from experience, writing, editing, formatting, publishing and marketing a book on your own is very hard work indeed! That said, I’m still honest in my reviews, particularly if I think the book needed improvements in editing, proofreading and formatting. I aim for constructive criticism and I hope the authors appreciate that.

I always assume that translated books are best experienced in the original language. Therefore, I take into account that the book is a translation. If the writing style seems a bit off, or there are strange word choices, I might suggest that the translator is responsible. However, it must be very challenging to make a book understandable for an English readership while ensuring the writing flows. I don’t think translators are given enough credit, so I make sure to mention them.

I prefer to separate art from the artist, although there are exceptions, such as autobiographies, autobiographical fiction and personal manifestos. Distancing myself from the author’s life and opinions allows me to focus on the book. Unfortunately this is the era of ‘call-out culture’, a toxic and vicious aspect of social media. It seems that no moderately famous person can do anything or have an opinion without their actions or beliefs (sometimes from a long time ago) being dissected and served up for the trolls to feast on.

I will mention the use of language and stereotypes that would be considered offensive by today’s standards. It’s an advance warning and shouldn’t be considered the sole reason to avoid that book. Such usage is generally consistent with the context in which the book was written. As I have said before in my post about ‘outdated cultural depictions’, the further we go back in time, the more likely we are to encounter these in all kinds of media. Instead of censorship, it’s wiser to let people make their own minds up.

I don’t let myself be swayed by pretty book covers. If the cover is nice, I might say so, but I won’t give a more positive review just because of that. Interior illustrations are a different matter and I’m likely to mention how they contribute to the reading experience. One thing I don’t have to worry about is giving a book a more positive review because I was gifted a lovely finished print copy and would feel guilty for saying anything negative – I rarely get sent these! But if I did receive stacks of pristine free books through the post every week, I’d have to be wary of this issue.

That’s all for now, although don’t be surprised if a ‘part 3’ materialises in another three years.