Oct 21, 2012 |
You’ve seen it. Every website you visit has that little box enticing you to leave your email address so you can get great content delivered to your inbox. Well, here at Frankly, My Dear… it’s no different (sorry).
Just recently I signed up with MailChimp to format and deliver newsletters.
This is more than just posting on the Blog each day. These newsletters will be filled with updates, recipes, and content not always posted on Frankly, My Dear… of course, they will highlight some of our more popular posts as well.
Next month’s issue is already being planned. You and your friends won’t want to miss it! I hope you’ll spread the word and be a growing part of our growing Blog. If you don’t already subscribe by email, it’s easy! Just enter your email in this box, and you’re all set!
You’ll get an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Please do so. This makes it easier for the Blog to reach you.
We promise not to spam you with newsletters everyday… maybe just once or twice a month. Wanna see what it’s about? Click here to see our THANK YOU to you (and to subscribe only to the newsletter).
As always,
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Sep 22, 2012 |
You know those Blog changes I’ve been talking about? Well, some of the behind-the-scenes ones are already in the works. (Thanks, Webmaster!)
I’m visiting many other Blogs to get aesthetic ideas as well. I’m hoping to streamline my many tabs, have a better design (to tie in with New Inklings Press), and just make it look more professional as well as be easier for you to manage.
One of the changes I was not counting on was losing my email subscribers through a Feedburner glitch.
That’s right: I’m not even sure any of you are still getting my posts by email. [Although, technically, I am, because I’m also a subscriber…]
I logged in to my Feedburner stats (a fancy tracker through Google that compiles information from my daily clicks. Tells me how popular I am often you view Frankly, My Dear…
Tonight I see that I’ve had no subscriber data for three days. I panicked. I thought perhaps those behind-the-scene changes may have had something to do with it. Thankfully, they didn’t. (I trust you, Webmaster!) But the internet scuttlebutt is that Feedburner will cease to exist as of October 20.
What does that mean? I’m not really sure. Except as soon as I get the stats back (general consensus is it takes a few days), I’ll definitely save the Feed List and sell it to the highest bidder protect your privacy and if/when the Feedburner change happens, I’ll let you know and sign up with a different email subscription service.
In the meantime, if you subscribe by email and are still getting these posts, please let me know. You can leave me a comment, stop by my Facebook or twitter profiles, or send me an email.
And thanks for being a valued and valuable reader.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Nov 17, 2011 |
I’ve known Claudia for years. What I didn’t know, until I started blogging last year, is that she also likes to write. Accordingly, she likes to read. And, bonus!, she likes to read my blog.
Recently, she sent me this email:
“Blogging everyday is impressive, and it’s also one of the reasons I enjoy your blog. I subscribe to a few others, but posts often are few and far between so I lose interest. I like that yours comes everyday, and the funny thing is that your title alone makes me happy. I love that you call it “Frankly, my dear…” You don’t finish the phrase, which is probably a good thing, but I kind of always like that you write what you write and you do this without seemingly caring about our response. That’s refreshing. I don’t read your blogs everyday even though they come, but I always skim them to see if I might enjoy reading. A lot of times I do just skim, but then every now and then you’ll write something that really connects with me. I guess those random jewels mixed in with all the rest are why I take the time to skim…just in case :)”
When I first started my blog, I did a weekly Comment Commentary; where I’d respond to each and every comment. Sure, that was fine when my comments were one or two per post.
But as the blog grows, the comments increase. I couldn’t keep up with a personal reply to each and every comment (although I really do read them all, and wish I had the time to keep responding!).
When I got this email from Claudia tonight, it just made me feel special. She gets it. She gets what and why I write. She just gets it.
In her short email, she summarized my intent and belief for my blog: “you write what you write and you do this without seemingly caring about our response”. The code word there is “seemingly”. Because I do care. I care that what I write is accepted, promoted, and appreciated. It’s never my intent to offend, but just to offer light hearted daily life stories (and some great recipes!).
It’s a great blend of dreams, imagination, true life, and my observations of all of the above. And it can be work, at times, to make it seem effortless; to not let my current emotions color my posts (lucky you to never seldom hear me rant!) but that’s my job. You’re not a shrink, and I’m not a patient. This isn’t my way of finding healing through vicarious living. This isn’t a narcissistic attempt to gain attention.
It’s just me. Mixing up all the ingredients of life, and sharing them with you.
The comments are just icing on this delicious cake.
Thanks, Claudia.
Oct 29, 2011 |
by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy
Okay, I’m not one to go all in about spirits and things. I believe there are supernatural forces, but as a Christian, and a scaredy-cat, I ignore; nay, resist, such topics.
Most of the time.
Just over two weeks ago, I journaled about the death of my mentor.
We weren’t that close. He was someone I respected as a writer and creator. He encouraged and inspired me to continue in my own writing endeavors. Big words for what boils down to: I like what he said and did, and he saw potential in me.
And then he died.
I don’t know what to do with this void. Do I write about my personal loss? What personal loss? It was a peripheral relationship. So why let others in on my tears? Because he told me to. He told me to write. Every day. No matter what. In joy. In pain. On vacation. Write. Every day.
But for a few days of mourning, I stopped.
I guess that didn’t make him happy. I guess I still have potential. Because in the middle of the night, during a rare thunderstorm no less, I received an email from him. Last night. Two and a half weeks after his death.
I’m not joking.
The interesting thing is, it was the very first email he ever sent me. From years ago. I’d asked his advice as a writer, never thinking he’d respond. But he did. And so our writer’s relationship began. I’d had it saved on hard copy. Saved in my email inbox. And suddenly it pops up on my blackberry like a brand new message.
“Molly Jo… I will give you an answer which is the absolute answer. Write every day and write for at least a couple hours. … What you have to do is make writing a very high priority in your life … Writing is like weightlifting. The more you do it, the stronger you’ll get. … That’s the best advice I can give. If you want to be a writer, you gotta write.”
So. Here I am. Still feeling silly about being affected by the loss of someone who was not yet a dear friend. Still wondering what I could possibly have to write about. Thinking of my unfinished projects.
And in the middle of the night, the heavens opened to wash away my clouds; and he reminded me of what’s important. I write because I am a writer.
True story.
“I write for the same reason I breathe. Because if I didn’t, I would die.” ~Isaac Asimov
This is more than just posting on the Blog each day. These newsletters will be filled with updates, recipes, and content not always posted on Frankly, My Dear… of course, they will highlight some of our more popular posts as well.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
