HAPPY NEW YEAR, FRIENDS!
Yes, I have returned to the Blogosphere. Please, don’t everybody applaud at once. 😉
Seems I lost my blogging mojo awhile back (last September!), but that creative urge has now returned.
What’s been going on in the meantime? Well…..
A few years ago, I wrote a short memoir (approx. 4600 words), about my year in a Swiss boarding school.
It received many favourable comments and people suggested I should publish it. Last fall seemed like a good time, but of course it needed editing. My perfectionist self still isn’t happy with it and I won’t submit anything sub par. The other hurdle was, I knew absolutely nothing about the mechanics of self-publishing, so embarked on an intensive quest to learn all I could in the shortest time possible. As usual, I went a little crazy and completely overwhelmed myself, so a step back and a deep breath is what’s needed at this point. 😛
Same thing happened when I first attempted the switch to a self-hosted website. Fortunately, everything fell nicely into place a few months later, and, here we are! The book will happen, but I’m not going to stress over when. Those days of worrying about deadlines are long over. Good or bad, I’ve evolved into an impulsive, “do what you like, when you like” sort of person. Hubby, the offline dog business (which has become more active lately) and life in general often interfere with the best intentions, along with my penchant for procrastination. I did the fun part and designed a cover though! 😀 I know, I know – get back to editing!!! (I can hear you, Corinne Rodrigues! 😉 )
Changing the subject now, it’s always interesting to read the year-end site reports issued by WordPress.com and Jetpack for WordPress.org. The Den fared well, considering it was only active for the first 9 months.
PRESENTING……..
▼
This is exactly the same number of views as 2013.
Not bad, considering the site has been on hiatus since September!
Using the “Revive Old Post” plug-in (for self-hosted WordPress) keeps your previously published material in the public eye. Check it out HERE.
I had NO idea that Stumbleupon would be the top referrer!
While it does increase viewership, it’s been said that it also inflates bounce rate,
which would explain why mine is higher than it should be. Time to get rid of that share option, methinks. (Should have heeded that warning when it was first mentioned on Inspire to Thrive!)
This proves the point about Stumbleupon.
The number one post gets the most views from there (2815 to date),
but the least interaction – only 8 comments!
Nice to see that some other posts have longevity with decent engagement.
A big THANK YOU to everyone who takes the time to leave comments. ♥
These are like gold and give bloggers the incentive to create more great content.
Check out these fabulous bloggers mentioned above:
Carol Sammy Michele Nabanita Laurel
Short list; needs to be expanded! Thanks also to these frequent commenters:
Mike Corina Harleena Bren Cathy Kathy Paul Lisa Rajlakshmi
Apart from commenting, my gratitude extends to Corinne and Vidya of Write Tribe, for (occasionally) getting me off my ass to write something profound and meaningful. Both wonderful talents!
Also to Adrienne Smith for her invaluable insights, particularly in regard to building online relationships.
Last but NOT least, HEARTFELT THANKS and virtual ((HUGS)) to my non-blogging friends for your continued interest in these rampant ramblings.
You know who your are: Bianca, Gina, Glenda, Jody, Joseph, Joy, Larry, Linda, Lisa, Mike, Vickie…et al
It feels good to be back! Did you miss me?
😀
Looking forward to your comments.
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Dog Mom and (retired) Canine Innkeeper in suburban Toronto, Canada, known as The Doglady. Former corporate workaholic. Writer, photographer, digital creator. Animal lover, music fanatic, inveterate traveller. Eternal hippie/rockchick. History, literature and cinema buff. Hockey and soccer fan. Dedicated night owl. German/Canadian binational, multilingual. Let me entertain you!
27 thoughts on “NEW YEAR, NEW CREATIONS”
This is a cool post and I always learn so much, Love the statistics by wordpress. I wish blogger would do it too!
I had been wondering why I was not seeing more of your posts, now I know about the hiatus!
Welcome back!
Yes, the year-end statistics are always interesting. Thanks for the welcome back, Inderpreet, it’s nice to be here. 😀
Yay! Glad you’re back in the blogosphere… you were missed! Looking forward to seeing you more. 🙂
Thank you Laurel. It’s nice to be missed! 🙂
Great to see you back posting and commenting after your hiatus, Debbie. I did miss you!
Way to go with your memoir and how you persevered with it! Go, Girl! All the best with it!
I must admit all your stats went way over my head as I am not much with numbers and can barely remember my age or what the date is. That’s enough numbers for me to handle! Good for you being so up and knowledgeable about such things. It all looks impressive even if I don’t totally understand it.
Nice to have you back!
The encouragement is much appreciated, Cathy. 🙂 I’m suffering from information overload at the moment and felt the need to take a breather. It will happen though, like the website happened after a couple of false starts. It feels good to be posting again – just not sure how frequent it will be. As for the stats, what stood out for me was, the blog received pretty good traffic, even though it lay dormant for over three months. Thanks for visiting and have a good weekend.
Your writing is worth waiting for””…… take your time, to take care of other things in Your life that are also………priorities……. Much the better for.. All Of you………, and when the time is Right’…….. I’m here””””’ when-ever you are Ready….. Take care, stay safe and warm””” My friend'”” Smilin”
Happy New Year, Glenda. 🙂 Thanks and yes, it will all fall into place when the time is right, just like this website did. Nice to know you’ll be around for the great unveiling.
LOL. Loved the picture. Welcome back. It’s wonderful when we get re-inspired, get creative, and jump back in. I remember your blog well, although my visits were probably only a few. But glad you’re back.
Happy New Year, Silvia. 🙂 Hahaha! That picture was an accurate reflection of my mood at the time. Thanks for the warm welcome back.
Looks like we both returned from our hiatus at the same time. Hope your holidays were wonderful and memorable. I had too many bucket list things going on and had to step back from blogging. Looking forward to hearing more about your memoirs.
Happy New Year, Neva. 🙂 What a coincidence that we both ramped up again at the same time. I was so wrapped up in trying to learn too many things at once, plus editing, that my blogging mojo petered out. 😛
I will get back to the project soon, but needed to regroup. In the meantime, the Blogosphere beckons. I’m looking forward to reading about your bucket list activities. Thanks for visiting today.
Gosh, it is great to have you back. Glad you made progress on your book. Life is good.
Haha! Not a whole lot of progress, Myke, but plenty of frustration and information overload. I’m going to de-stress about it, for now. Thanks for the warm welcome. 🙂 Will try to catch up soon. Cheers!
Congratulatioms on your new site and a warm welcome back. Looking forward to seeing more of you.
Thank you so much! Same old site though – I have just had it on “auto-pilot” for the last 3 1/2 months. 🙂 It’s good to be back in “action” now.
Glad to see you back in action my friend!
Thanks Bren! 🙂 It feels good to be back. Congratulations on your new site – I’ll be checking it out shortly. Cheers!
Your return has been anticipated, and welcome, Debbie. You were VERY much missed, but I’m glad you took the time to sort out priorities. Creativity cannot be put on a timeline, as much as we’d like that to happen. Your evolution…taking things as they come…. opens the door for a free-flowing mind, and it’s comforting when I see people submit to this. It’s the difference between enjoying your creativity, and being completely stressed out by it. You WILL get there, and not under duress, but in your own time.Let’s see what 2015 brings!
Thank you, Gina. It’s good to be back and yes, I always manage to stress myself out with information overload when attempting something new. “Free flowing” (love that expression!) is definitely the way to go. Great advice, as usual. Cheers!
Wow, so much information, and it’s all interesting! I’m so glad TV is so boring in Germany… all the more time to read and enjoy blogs. Happy New Year to you too. Maybe I’ll see you at my blog. I created a new video on Croatia. Sending happy greetings from Germany, Angelika
So, TV is still boring in Germany? I remember it that way too, except I always loved the Eurovision singing contest. 🙂 Yes, of course I will stop by your blog and thanks so much for your interest in mine, Angelika. Tschüß
WELCOME BACK DEBBIE!!! Good to see you again! We’ve missed you. Thanks for sharing what you’ve been up to lately. Love the book cover design! And thanks for mentioning me: I’m honored to be one of your commenters 🙂 Looking forward to what you’ll be bringing us in this new year! Good to have you back in action, Girl!
Thanks Michele! 😀 It’s good to be back. Not sure how active just yet, but the enthusiasm has returned and that’s the main thing.
Heck YES. You know I missed you and NOW you are back! YEAH. This post was a great idea and it was awesome that you mentioned ‘lil ole me. Thank you — looking forward to many good posts and also some late night chats!
Hi Carol; I have missed you, too! 😀 It feels good to be back, even though what I started isn’t finished yet. I’ll get there. Thanks for being my first commenter. Happy New Year!