From blog to print to blog

I’ve been offline for a while and it’s been gratifying to have people ask me when I was thinking of posting again. “Don’t you eat anymore?” one reader enquired. “No more bulls?” asked another.

There’s a simple reason why I’ve slowed down on the blog front. Time, that most valuable of commodities for anyone who makes a living writing. I don't have any to spare. It’s been one of those months. Nonstop, too much going on, not enough hours in the day. And not enough energy either. Who wants to sit down and write about food after a day covering a murder, or reporting on an armed robbery, or writing about a complicated fraud case, or a session in parliament, a village fete… That’s what my month’s been like.

I do have some exciting blog-related news to report though. In between all the rushing, I’ve started writing a monthly column on food for a local magazine, the aptly titled Gibraltar Magazine. It’s colourful, it’s glossy and it’s very gratifying. I long ago stopped keeping cuttings of all my articles. After 16 years working on daily newspapers, the thrill of seeing your name in print wears off. But this is different, not least because it’s about food. I was like a newbie when I picked up the edition with my first column. What a buzz!

Which takes me full circle back to some thoughts on blogging. My first blog was about current affairs in Gibraltar. It was called Letters from Gibraltar – it’s still up and running, if anyone’s interested, though I haven't posted there for ages – and it did quite well in terms of traffic for a while. I enjoyed it, but slowly it started to feel like work. It was, in effect, an extension of my daily grind, one where I allowed myself the luxury of an opinion or two, something I would never do in print. But it felt too much like a slog.

So I killed Letters and started this one, mainly because it relaxed me to write about food. But guess what? Slowly, the Diet became like work too. I just couldn’t find the time or the focus to write the sort of post I wanted to see on the blog. I’m not into short, anodyne posts, written off the cuff and with little thought. I like a little research, a little legwork to prop things up. That takes effort. I marvel at some of the bloggers I like to read, people like Alfonso at On the Wine Trail in Italy, or Joumana at Taste of Beirut, Peter at Kalofagas, Fouad at The Food Blog and Diana at A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa. How they keep the momentum up, God only knows.

After several weeks off the radar, I’m inspired to get up and running again. I like seeing my blog posts make their way into print. I like the thought that people miss me when I don't write. I like feeling like part of an online community of wordsmiths pumping out a regular stream of material, for whatever it's worth.

And so, I’m going to aim for a post a week. This is my 50th post on this blog, a landmark of sorts, and there's more to come. Some will be long and well researched. Others will be quickies. If I miss a week, please don’t hold it against me. And don’t fret, I’ll be back.

p.s. Some of you used to receive email alerts every time I posted. Well, bad news. My laptop died on me, and with it loads of data including my email lists. So, if you want receive those alerts again, use the tab at the left of this screen to sign up.