When I lost my email connection last week, it reinforced how much I rely on email, and, in particular, how much I look forward to the automatic arrival of several blogs I’ve signed up to receive.
Given that we were buffeted by gale force winds and heavy rain, I expected a power outage. I pulled out some candles, brought in wood for the fire, backed up obsessively and hunkered down. The wind blew for days it seemed, but the lights – and my computer – stayed on. We made a pot of Mulligatawny soup, reminded ourselves that it was January and, considering what our friends and relatives to the east were experiencing, we were just fine.
A few days later, my email stopped. Nothing came in or went out for more than a day. When it came back up, it was sporadic at best for another twelve hours. It had nothing to do with the weather; it was an issue with my service provider. I wasn’t the only one with the problem either according to the live (and cranky) tweets on their site. Luckily I have a second email address on a different server so I quickly fired off emails to a couple of editors to let them know I was still at the keyboard.
All was fine. Until Passive Guy didn’t show up in my inbox as he usually does. Nor did Writer Unboxed or Live, Write, Thrive.
I survived. In the same way I’ll survive when door-to-door mail service stops a few years from now. But the thing is, I like hearing that metallic slam of my mailbox when the letter carrier brings news (even if Team Sheltie doesn’t). I love the ping of email hitting my in box. I’ve gotten attached to some great writing blogs too. I don’t need to subscribe – I know that – but I happen to like home delivery. Half the time if I don’t sign up, I forget to pop over and check things out. Here are a few of my favorites:
The Passive Voice http://www.thepassivevoice.com/ Subscribe and receive a daily round up of publishing news and views from the Passive Guy. It hits my in box every day around lunch and I usually read it while I eat my salad.
Writer UnBoxed http://writerunboxed.com/ is there when I first check email in the morning and I read it with my first cup of coffee. What I love about this blog is the range – a different writer every day and a ton of different topics.
Live, Write, Thrive http://www.livewritethrive.com/ Another early morning arrival and becoming a favorite. Posts by author/editor C.S. Lakin who publishes both traditionally and independently in e and audio form. Great blend of craft, business and all round inspiration.
There are other blogs I love too:
Chuck Wendig’s http://terribleminds.com/
Rachelle Gardner’s Books & Such Blog: http://www.rachellegardner.com/
The always informative Kristine Kathryn Rusch: http://kriswrites.com/
And last but not least: http://writersinnerjourney.com/
What writing blogs are on your must read list?
