A New Feature

I am enjoying preparing posts featuring the mostly vegetarian and vegan dishes our household and guests have been enjoying. I also very much enjoy participating in Song Lyric Sunday each week, which brings some music to my site. But I have been pondering whether I was going to run out of steam with regards to my drinks reviews. I still have lots of drinks reviews scheduled for 2023, and I have barely touched the realm of cocktails so I do realized there is plenty of potential there. Yet for some reason, I am slightly less enthusiastic about the drinks reviews.

I met my very good friend and I suppose WordPress mentor Melody Finch for a coffee in Elys recently and among the many subjects we talked about the topic of content came up. While Mel says she is rather a free spirit with her own writing, I am afraid I need some sort of plan, a structure and a regular source of inspiration to motivate me.

We considered a few ideas, but eventually we concentrated on how I could incorporate book reviews into my regular features. I was a little uncertain because I like my WordPress site to be separate from work. I have to read, critique, edit, proof-read the content other people have produced, and I have to write, edit, re-write, proof-read my own content. I have been doing that for the past twenty years, and I cannot face the idea of doing it for fun or for free during my relaxation time. In addition, I actually left the book club I had bee in for years as I have become much more selective over the kind of content I want to read.

Melody convinced me that I could make it something enjoyable though. Rather than just reviewing books that have recently arrived on the market place or feeling compelled to read and review content that is really not my cup of tea, Mel suggested that I feature recommendations and if possible the work of other WordPress writers, many of whom publish independently. This could work. I am going to experiment and find a format that works for me. I have never approved of stars or scores for books. Currently I am going to start with a modest estimate of my ability to produce a regular book recommendation/review series. It will appear on the last Friday of each month (my drinks reviews will continue on other Fridays).

Next month…I am going to start off the series with a book I would absolutely recommend, one of Melody’s!