1 | Cathy C. Hall Writes

As you know, I closed shop on my website. And you may recall that Gladys the Goose (aka The Muse) was a tad miffed to find out she’d been dismissed without so much as a by your leave.

Never mind that I was preparing a place of honor for her at the new and improved Cathy C. Hall writing home. She ran away from home home (without so much as a by your leave, I might add). But I got up bright and early this morning to track her down. Because neither a leaking pipe (which I found in the basement) nor HUGE spider webs (which I found in the other part of the basement), nor stinky shoes (which I found in the closet) could keep me from my appointed er, appointment with Gladys.

Finally, I looked outside and found Gladys plopped in the garden (Granted, it’s not much of a garden. But then I’m not much of a gardener). Apparently, Gladys had decided she would be better appreciated in the garden, as a “ScareGoose”, rather than in my office as a Muse.

And I don’t suppose I need to tell you who was out there, egging her on? Cathy-on-a-Stick, that’s who.

Despite my pleas, Gladys refused to budge– and I had a luncheon date. But as soon as I returned, I tromped back outside to the garden to try again. Whereupon I found Gladys (and Cathy-on-a-Stick) up to entirely new shenanigans (I suspected all along that garden gig wouldn’t last).

Can you imagine? Where they found that magazine, I’ll never know. (But I suspect that the Beneficent Mr. Hall was somehow involved. He has always had a soft spot for plastic animals.)

Well, I gave Gladys a firm talking to. “Gladys,” I said, “if you want to be a Muse, you have to show up every day. Every day, Gladys. Not just when you feel like it. You can’t go getting your feelings hurt everytime things don’t work out the way you want them to go. Writing is a tough business,” I said. “But when the going gets tough, the tough get going! So, who’s with me?”

(I was pretty much stealing Bluto’s Big Speech from Animal House, minus the expletives, of course.)

That Gladys is one heckuva muse. When I came back from the bathroom, guess where I found her?

And then I found Miss Cathy-on-a-Stick.

Shame, shame, Cathy-on-a-Stick.

I know people who redecorate their homes constantly–and those (like my mom) who fix it up once, dust off their hands, and never look back. I’m sort of in the middle when it comes to decorating. Mostly, because as time goes by, my taste changes.

When it comes to my writing home, I’ll do a make-over as well. Not so much because my taste changes but because what I want my blog to do changes.

These days, I need my blog to serve the same purpose as my website did–giving my credentials–and using the page function works perfectly to that end. So I spruced up those pages a bit. And it’s easy to add (or take away) information whenever I like.

I wanted to keep my blog relevant and continue to add content that might be helpful to my faithful readers. So I made the front page my blog posts. But I started thinking about new folks who might visit and what I wanted them to see when they landed on my front page.

Well, obviously I want them to be completely enamored with Cathy C. Hall! But since that’s a stretch, even for the Beneficent Mr. Hall, I figured I’d settle for “interested enough in Cathy C. Hall to want to keep up with her.” So I made sure that I had plenty of ways for new readers to do just that (Facebook, Twitter, SCBWI, email).

I’m still tweaking because I’m still thinking about what I want my writing home to be. What about you? When was the last time you looked at your writing home with a discerning eye? Are you getting the most bang for your buck?

If you’re like me, you’ve put a lot of hard work into your blog (or website), so it’s worth the effort to make it home, sweet writing home. And honestly, it’s way easier than stripping that 80’s wallpaper.