As friends and family have been pointing out over the last few weeks, 60 Days of Halloween is about to commence for the sixth year. Six years! What started out of an obvious love of the Samhain season (as well as a commitment to make myself write every day for two months) has definitely taken on a life of its own over the previous few years.
So in that spirit, it’s time for some changes, starting with the very page that you’re reading right now. I’ve moved this year’s posts to a WordPress platform. This will hopefully make it quicker and easier to upload pictures and update daily blogs. Key word, hopefully. I’ll wait and see. I’ve loved the WordPress platform for my author blog, so I’m optimistic that it will work fine for this site too.
As for the regular site, it’s a complete and utter mess right now. (I blame McQueen, whose catnip-crazed face appears above and as the main image on the site at the moment.) Okay, fine, it’s not that scamp of a feline’s fault; it’s mine. I’m archiving previous years, and trying to wrangle them into some semblance of order. Hopefully, by the end of October, I’ll be able to get those organized in some halfway decent manner, and readers will be able to sort through past events and crafts by category, rather than just scrolling endlessly through former posts. Again, we’ll see.
And finally (and this is quite a case of burying the lede, but whatever), there will be another very major change to the site. The official 60 Days celebration will span the eponymous 60 days starting today and ending on Halloween, but I’m probably not going to be posting every day. Yeah, believe me, I know: it’s a total ripoff. The site’s called 60 Days of Halloween, after all. But on a positive note, my fiction writing career is taking up much more of my time than in past years, so I need to keep my primary focus there. I have a number of solicited short stories that I need to write (including one that I’m polishing up RIGHT NOW), and that’s in addition to a novel to finish, and a novella and a collection to promote. My editors—all of whom I truly adore, because in a cruel publishing world, I have somehow managed against all odds to find the best editors ever—are wonderfully patient people, but when there are deadlines looming, I can’t let them down. So if a pumpkin has to wait to be carved, or an autumnal recipe needs to be put off until the next day, that’s what this crazy little writer is going to do.
So what exactly does that mean? Moreover, it will be the same old, same old here. I will be posting here tons between now and October 31st. If all goes well, we’ll be brunching with owls, visiting a candlelit island by boat, taking a class on how to paint a creepy and famous cat, attending a bewitching trick or treat at a zoo, and of course, failing at plenty of crafts and recipes! So mostly, it will be like every other year, just with breathers here and there for Bill and me to not lose our minds. My goal is at least 30 days of posts, and I will probably break down and post more than that. But I do need that flexibility this year. Think of it as a “Best of 60 Days” rather than the stricter 60 Days of Halloween format from the past.
There is probably not one single person who is as disappointed in this choice as me. I’ve wrestled for months with my lack of time (and honestly, my lack of good time management skills), and this is the only way that I could do it this year. But there will still be Halloween shenanigans galore, and that’s good for anyone who actually reads this blog. Like you, whoever you are, fair reader!
I appreciate the support of those who do frequent this blog, and I hope to bring you plenty of ghoulish, fun antics in 2017, the same as previous years! Here’s to fall and pumpkins and general creepiness! Hooray!