I am so glad that Nancy is once again conducting her summer blog challenge because, as the photo above may have intimated, I have been in a bit of a dry spell when it comes to writing. So while this won’t unfortunately stem from whatever creativity I may — or may once — have possessed, at least I am writing. So many thanks, Nancy.

1. Who are you? Tell us your genre, how long you’ve been at it, who or what inspires you or whatever you want us to know. All great questions, of course. Who am I? I wish I knew. Can I come back to that one — possibly in the 2023 or 2024 summer blog challenge? I doubt I will have a complete answer by then, but maybe at least some ideas. In terms of genre, is cancer a genre? If so, then I guess that is it. My sub-genre, if that is a thing, is complaining about — hopefully humorously — trying to co-exist with cancer. In terms of inspiration, that one actually is easy: It’s all the others out there who are also afflicted with this rather inconvenient unrelenting disease but keep on writing and posting and blogging. They help me keep going (even if I don’t give them the due they deserve.) I also find British mysteries on Netflix — and some on Prime — to serve as a reason to get up in the mornings.
2. What’s been your biggest blogging roadblock this year and did you come up with a way to get around it? I have found that this year, since I have been working much more at a paying job (law — yuck) that it is really interfereing with my blogging. Not just because it is a huge time suck, which is what happens when one gets paid by the quarter/tenth of an hour, but also as it just erodes all creativity within me. I am just not that artistic I guess as I find that reviewing contracts and negotiating financing documents really does not inspire me to say anything witty.
3. What’s something you accomplished with your blog this year that you’re proud of? Well, despite the lack of creative output lamented above, I still sometimes get an occasional view or even a “Like”. That always surprises me. But I do like surprises (not really, but those are good).
4. What are a couple of your best blogging tips? This may seem trite, but probably the best one is just to keep at it. Just keep typing away. One never knows where it will take a person. And at least for me, despite my paucity of postings, it always makes me feel better, more grounded and more connected. (Can that count as more than one tip?)
5. How do you handle negative feedback or comments? I immediately delete any such criticism. How dare those people! To be truthful, though, I try to stick to my own rather personal experiences, but which I believe to be rather universally trying. Thus I usually don’t get any negative feedback. Or maybe people just aren’t reading them.
6. Share a link to a favorite post you’ve written RECENTLY (since last year’s challenge perhaps) that you want more people to read. Given my lack of productivity, Nancy is not leaving me with much to chose from. But one that does qualify — and which I liked (but maybe am the only one who did) is this one: https://itsinmyblood.blog/2020/11/19/otherwise/.