My publicist, Paula Margulies, explained the importance of blogging in this brave new world of digital publishing for launching a novel, establishing a brand, and building an audience. It takes time and persistence, she said. Truthfully, I wasn't enthused and thought I'd be long finished with it by now. That was more than two years ago.
Now, after over 40,000 hits and 200 posts on a variety of subjects, I've graduated to the rank of cybernaut. I actually enjoy the routine of writing a post every week and the immediate gratification of instant publishing.
Content is king and despite some of the dark and sordid subject matter in some of my posts, many others deal with lighter topics. Several of them talk about blogging and writing like this one does.
Forty of my posts deal with the topic of John Norman Collins and the Washtenaw County, Michigan murders of the late 1960s. Blogging has allowed me to focus on bits and pieces of the larger story, which will be woven into whole cloth when my true crime history of these murders comes out late next year. The Rainy Day Murders will be the culmination of three years of intensive research into these matters and forty-five years of thinking about them.
As well as raising awareness of the topic, Fornology has also been a vehicle for people to come forward with information about John Norman Collins, their personal connection regarding these tragic murders, or their knowledge of the victims.
Some people still support Collins and maintain that he is innocent, but they never contribute any evidence to support their claims. Then there are the people who need to tell their story. Some of these stories don't always pass the sniff test, but many of them do. We try to corroborate every story before we use it.
Blogging is helping me create an audience for The Rainy Day Murders project
while I finish writing it. I am astounded at the global reach of my blog and often wonder who my readers are on the world wide web and how many of you are regulars.
Recently, it has come to my attention that Fornology has a new fan. Not a fan so much as a critic - John Norman Collins no less.
Prisoners don't have unrestricted access to the internet, but they can send emails, write and receive written or typed letters, and make collect phone calls to landlines.
Collins has heard about some of my posts from people who write to him and even from some of the prison guards. He may not have internet services, but nonetheless, John Norman Collins has one Hell of a grapevine.
