The jury is still out on this mystery.

In the publishing industry it's now de rigueur for writers to have a blog. The marketing geniuses at the publishing houses think that readers want to read a daily post from their favorite novelists about their spouses, pets, the publishing industry, their next book signing . . . .

That's nonsense, of course. But I have found great value in blogging. It is teaching me to write it right the first time, like a journalist, instead of relying on the miracle of word-processing to permit me to endlessly revise my work.

Blogging has another great advantage: no editors. There's no time to pass my blog posts by a nitpicker.

Since I'm in the process of seeking an agent and publisher, I've had to "listen" to a lot of criticism of my writing lately. After years of being told to join a writers' critique group, to join writer's organizations to "learn from the pros," to hire a freelance editor to read everything, I've finally realized that this is a conspiracy of non-writers to make a living off of writers.

I know how to write. I know what I like to read, and I'm not so arrogant as to think I'm the only person smart enough to like to read good stuff (so there are other readers out there who will like what I write).

BTW: The most-viewed post on this blog is the one about computer forensics and junk science. With that as a hint at what you are interested in reading, I plan to do some further research and post more on this topic soon.