Hello, loyal followers,

When I started this blog six (!) years ago, I did so because all the writing experts at the time claimed that having a blog was necessary for writing success. The world of platform-building was largely unexplored at the time, but most experts agreed that participating in social media was the most important way to gain readers and therefore sales of whatever product you were trying to sell via online outlets. And let’s face it, writing is a product just as much as widgets, doohickeys, and thingamabobs that someone crafts in their factories or basements.

But I’ve been a reluctant blogger, mainly because I feel most of us don’t have a lot to say. Why waste it on a steady stream of blog posts that do very little if anything to improve the human condition or make the world a better place? I soon figured out that most blogs would unceremoniously fade into oblivion and very few would survive long-term because let’s face, writing is hard to do well, and writing well on a regular basis is even more difficult. Most of us aren’t accomplished wordsmiths.

But I stuck with my blogging, albeit only about a post a month, and I tried to have something worthwhile, useful, thought-provoking, or humorous to say.

Whether I succeeded, only you can judge. I also stuck with my fiction writing, took classes, went to conferences, read writing books, studied bestselling writers, and polished my work. I entered contests, submitted to agents, did everything one is supposed to do to get published. Lo and behold, I sold a couple of articles to the Boundary Waters Journal and began writing regularly in the freelance world, mainly web content and blog posts.

I also learned a lot about the book publishing business and how it has rapidly evolved thanks to the impact of e-books and improved self-publishing (I prefer the term “independent publishing” because there ain’t no way a single “self” can be that talented and efficient in all the necessary disciplines to produce a truly fine piece of writing in an attractive, professional-looking package.)

Encourage by my learning and experience, I took the plunge and independently published my first novel, Castle Danger. I am proud and excited to announce it is available in print form as of April 15 from Booklocker.com, Amazon.com, and on order from your local bookstore. For some reason, BarnesandNoble.com is dragging their feet about listing Castle Danger in their online catalog. E-book versions will become available in the near future.

So I’m CELEBRATING a huge milestone in my life!

Nothing special party-wise, since the real celebration was several months ago when I finished the manuscript and said,”I have written a complete, articulate, and high-quality work of fiction!” That’s where the real joy comes.  The satisfaction of completing a task, reaching a goal, achieving something that didn’t seem achievable so many years ago. I popped a cork for that moment.

I invite you all to check out Castle Danger on my new website, chrisnorbury.com. I also am announcing plans to transition to that website and incorporate this blog site into the new website. It will become more fiction-oriented, but I’ll try to keep it interesting. I’ll reserve this blog for more personal posts like political rants and other topics not related to writing.

To those who’ve been long time readers and occasional participants in discussions, thanks for letting me know that someone, anyone, actually read my words. To everyone else, I hope I’ve brightened your day at least once or twice with my writing. The core belief of any activity I do, especially writing, is to always approach it from the angle of trying to make the world a better place in some small way at best, and do no harm to the world at worst. If you come to that conclusion, then I’m a huge success.

I hope to see you all at chrisnorbury.com and even more hopefully would love to have you read Castle Danger and leave feedback to me via the website and give feedback to the world via online reviews. Of course, positive reviews would be the best, but as long as your review is honest and non-personal (don’t attack me, just the writing), I’m just fine with negative reviews too.

Best wishes for your success in your chosen life path,

Chris