Tag: a message to my readers

Running on Empty

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

3,050 Sleeping Lizard Images, Stock Photos & Vectors | Shutterstock

I’ve reached that point where all the nooze stories coalesce into one swirling, stinking chaos. Or to put it another way, my morale is hurting.

My book, Behold!, should have been out by now. But there’s a paper shortage. Things don’t work very well, since SloJo’s in the White House.

The sun is shining, for a change. My wife is after me to go out and get some exercise. I’d like to find that magic post that brings back the 100-plus readers that I’ve lost per day, but I have yet to discover what that is.

All right, I’ll take a hike. I don’t know what I want to write about this morning, anyway.

Here goes…

‘Ozias, Prince in Peril’–Nearing the Finish Line

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1,449 Child Armor Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images

Will King Ozias finally claim his throne? How hard will Maressa fight him for it?

I don’t know if I can do it in a week, but I’m this close to finding out. Traitors have been betrayed, civil war looms, and I know how the story ends but of course I dare not tell you. I’m working hard to get there.

I offer a tip of the hat to Thomas B. Costain, whose histories of the rise and fall of the Plantagenet dynasty have guided me along the way; and to Jack Pullman and his brilliant screenplay for I, Claudius. Edgar Rice Burroughs taught me how to keep the chapters flowing.

The lesson for aspiring writers is easily stated: read. The more you read, the more you can write. I’d be here all day if I saluted all the writers whose work has inspired my own.

‘The Stories I Don’t Cover’ (2018)

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See the source image

Christ Pantokrator–Ruler of All

My excuse is that I couldn’t possibly cover all the stories that have a bearing on our case, no matter how I tried. The ones I do report on are bad enough.

The Stories I Don’t Cover

Ezekiel sometimes protested that people wouldn’t listen to him, why bother? God told him, Never mind–if they listen and mend their ways, good; if they won’t, then whatever happens to them, it’s not your fault. I’ll only blame you if you don’t warn them.

Not that any blogger can claim to be a prophet. But it does worry me sometimes: “Did I do wrong, not writing up the latest Democrat abomination just because it made me sick?” No–everybody else has already covered it.

And besides, there’s always popular demand…

 

A Wee Snow Break?

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Yeah, sure, I’ve got stuff to write, no shortage of it–but would you mind if I had my cigar and took a snow break? I’d like to enjoy the snowflakes while they’re here. So much more enjoyable than nuisance phone calls.

(What’s with the lizard?)

Oh, I just love these little guys–green anoles, aka pet-store chameleons. The head-bobbing and the strawberry throat fan are threat displays, warning the human with the camera to back off if he knows what’s good for him. As pets, they get very tame and you can have a lot of fun with them. But they won’t do threat displays anymore… except to each other, now and then. Maybe they’re just keeping in practice.

Gotta Get This Book Finished!

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Medieval Knight on His Horse Galloping Editorial Photo - Image of people, forces: 21641741

It’s raining again, it always rains, and I have got to finish Ozias, Prince in Peril. 

I’ve got the ending. What I don’t have is the logistics. It’s a matter of getting the characters into the places where they have to be to end this story and in position to start the next–Ozias, Prince Enthroned.

It’s not easy. I’ve got to get this character out of Lintum Forest, this one into the city, these others out of the city, etc., etc. I’ve got a civil war to stop before it gets going, villains to thwart, heroes to uphold, a queen to rescue–and I’ve got to get it all done in no more than three or four more chapters. Then I can collapse.

I hope Prince Ozias appreciates it!

 

It’s Just A Mess At My End

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

House of cards falling hi-res stock photography and images - Alamy

I know there are some readers who aren’t happy with the service around here. You want to post Likes, and you can’t. You want to post a comment, and you can’t. I assure you–it’s just as big a mess at my end.

I’ve tried to get help from WordPress, but all I ever get out of them is a lot of techno doubletalk and snow jobs. They think everyone’s a computer expert.

So far this month, except for the sole exception of Jan. 1, I’ve been losing at least a hundred views a day, every day. It’s extremely frustrating. I don’t know what causes it, so I don’t know how to fix it. Thank you, God, that I’m on a salary! Because the whole idea of this blog was based on eventually lots of people reading it. They’re not–they’re fleeing the scene, like congregants fleeing out of a Far Left church.

I’m working as hard as ever, but it’s like the boat just keeps filling up with water no matter how fast I bail it out.

Any insights, out there? They’d be appreciated.

Please Hit the Freakin’ ‘Like’ Button

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Ask Dr. Dumb: Robot Shorts! — Mark Remy's DumbRunner.com

I am told that it would somehow help me, as a blogger, if more of my readers pressed the “Like” button. I don’t know how that’s supposed to work, but people who know much more about such things assure me that it does. If no one hits your Like Button, a robot exiles you to the fringes of the galaxy.

Could we do this as an experiment? Everybody hits the like button, and see what happens after two weeks of this, or so. I’m not asking you for money. Or votes. Just a second or two of hardly noticeable effort.

Can we at least try this? In advance, thank you (whether it works or not).

Is This Blog Broken?

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

Wooden rowboat in warm evening light partly filled with water Stock Photo by ©Hans_Chr 115063732

Recently Joe Scott and Mark Simone, two names much bigger than mine, publicly wondered why they seemed to be losing so many readers and viewers lately.

Here at leeduigon.com, this blog is making like a rowboat with a football-sized hole in the bottom. Except for New Year’s, I’ve lost at least 100 views a day so far this month. And of course all I get out of WordPress is “Nope, nothin’ wrong here.”

Was it something I said? Or didn’t say? Or have I got only a tiny piece of a problem now widespread across the social media? Maybe people are disgusted and just don’t want to hear anymore.

And maybe it’s just more of the happy hormads in Big Tech doing their thing of suppressing conservative blogs, helping SloJo with his mass censorship project.

Wish I knew what to do about it.

What’ll I Blog Today?

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

Saugus woman rescued after getting stuck in mud

Why do I think the nooze landscape looks like this?

The various items in the nooze more and more all seem part of the same big, dreary, tedious story–which makes it rather hard to write them up.

Is this blog broken? I can’t get any explanation out of WordPress. It’s been months since any new followers were added, and the daily viewership has sunk back down to 2015-ish levels. Was it something I said? Or should’ve said, but didn’t? Some of you have blogs of your own. How are yours doing?

Anyway, I’m going to try to get through the weekend without taxing my patience or yours with redundant nooze reports featuring wicked idiots.

Let’s see if this approach does any good.

Our Weather Is Not PDGAA

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

Bad road conditions: snow, ice and mud on a country road ...

At the start of the week it was brutally cold. Then the temperature shot up to near 70 and it rained a lot. Now the temperature is plummeting again, the sky looks like cement, and supposedly we’re gonna get snow tomorrow night… probably followed by rain, for a typical New Jersey slush-and-mud fest. As my wife says, “If you can live in New Jersey, you can live anywhere.”

You may have noticed I have not weighed in on the Speaker of the House brouhaha. I’ll give you an opinion if you ask me for it, but on the whole, probably nobody needs me to report on this exhaustively-covered story. You’d think nothing else was happening.

So… no nooze if I can help it. I stand ready to post your hymn and prayer requests, and if I see a good laugh trying to sneak past, I’ll pounce on it.

Let’s see what happens while I’m having my cigar.

P.S.–I was taking it for granted that everybody knows what “PDGAA” (or “pdgaa”) means. Maybe I can use it as click bait.