When literally two-and-a-half years separate your two most recent blog posts, it seems almost ridiculous to say, “a lot has happened since….” No, wait…it actually would be ridiculous. But I’m back! And I promised you an explanation…
Between October 2018 and May 2019, I was, of course, writing, editing, and polishing my manuscript. I was also playing babysitter to a feisty little Irish rose named Wren two to three times per week while my daughter and her fiancé grew their fine art printing business, leaving me little time to keep up with the blog.
Things only got more “interesting” between May 2019 and mid-June 2020 when they actually moved in with us, instantly transforming our “empty nest” into a household of four adults, a toddler, an English Bull Terrier, three cats, and home to a thriving printing business–yes, that included all of us being locked down in one house for over four months! Just when none of us was sure we’d survive any more “quality family time,” they bought their first home together and moved to mid-coast Maine. Whew! Life returned to something resembling normal. If you don’t count the whole coronavirus thing, that is. On that score, we’re all still waiting on “normal,” aren’t we?
In November, I took my website offline in anticipation of a long overdue update. I wanted it to be fresh and shiny and new when I launched my book this spring. Long story short, I was taken for a torturously long and infuriating ride by my former hosting company, which had promised far more than they could deliver. The end result: the PHP was not updated as promised, none of my years’ worth of content was migrated, and, in fact, all my old blog posts–some of which were very personal and could never be replicated, the original emotions behind them now residing in the distant past–were apparently lost forever. I had absolutely no website presence for six long months while I tried every which way to get the hosting company to live up to their promises. Ultimately, I had to change hosts and move on–and write off the nearly $1,000 they are refusing to refund.
Adding insult to injury, I still had none of my old content. I’d be starting from scratch. A Facebook friend I have literally never met saved me from jumping into Frenchman Bay by turning me on to a site called the Wayback Machine, where (nearly) everything I’d ever written was archived. It was like discovering the Holy Grail! I was able to retrieve all but one blog post (there’s always one, isn’t there??) and reconstruct my blog. (BTW, if you ever need a web developer specializing in high-end WordPress websites, please be sure to check out her services here. Denise Griffitts is absolutely tops in her field, and I can’t recommend her highly enough!) There’s no way to restore the wonderful comments people posted on those old blog posts, of course, but I do have copies of them from the Wayback Machine archive, and I treasure them.
So, yes, I’m back. And my book is launching in mere weeks! The website is still a work in progress (hey, I’m a writer…that’s how we think of everything!), but I hope you enjoy what’s here so far and will check in periodically to see what’s new. You can also subscribe to receive email notifications when there’s a new blog post. I promise not to make you wait two-and-a-half years this time. 😉
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