The New AndraWatkins.com is Live!

Please check it out HERE.

http://andrawatkins.com/2015/01/06/welcome-to-the-new-andrawatkins-com/

Some purchase links won’t go anywhere until the books launch. Please let me know if you have trouble subscribing or commenting.

When You Can’t Stand the Sound of Your Own Voice, Stop Listening

I may finally be a certifiable geek. No, I'm not tech savvy. Not by those standards.

But I've learned more about recording audio tracks in the past couple of weeks than I ever wanted to know. I even made my dim brain read acres and acres of instructions in forums. I trained my blind eye to online tutorials. I took notes.

And I recorded Not Without My Father.

TWICE.

A Special Toy for 2015

"What's this?" I eyed MTM over a square box. Maybe I blushed at the picture on the front.

Maybe.

Curved handle. Multi-speed buttons. Attachments for that "special place." Tubes of "accessories." A charging cradle.

"It's waterproof," I squealed. "You mean, I can even use it in the shower???"

MTM whipped out his most indulgent pose.

You guys know the one.

Being the Change I Want to See

If 2014 taught me one thing, it’s this: Life = Change. Planned changes, like closing my consulting firm after a decade. In 2015, when someone asks me what I do, will it still feel weird to say, “I’m a writer!”??

Unplanned changes are the ones that get us. I mean, right? MTM shattered his collarbone in a freak accident. I am microscopically regaining sight in my right eye.

I planned time for things that didn’t materialize, surprised by how I mourned them. Letting go isn’t always easy, even when we know it’s time.

And that’s kind of how I feel about this space as I greet you today.

I’ve been blogging here since 2010. I’ve made friends, met my people. Shared Life in all its crazy iterations. Somehow, I became a writer.

And writers need official websites. (At least, that’s what the marketers keep telling me.)

So.

One week from today, January 5, 2015, my new author website will debut at andrawatkins.com!!!!! A slick repository for my writing, public appearances, photography, and yes, this blog. Robust enough to handle professional video with almost limitless plug-ins to showcase my work. I really hope you like it.

But that means Life = Change.

If you’re subscribed in the WordPress.com reader, my posts will still appear via a service called JetPack. Email subscribers will have to re-subscribe for new posts. I’ll remind you again – several times – but please take a second and make a note to resubscribe one week from today.

I’m looking forward to 2015. To meeting more of you. To seeing some of you again. To hearing about the memories you’re inspired to make during the Make a Memory campaign. To calling myself a writer and knowing I’m all in.

Slammed by Sibilance

Sibilance. For those of us who know nothing about the mysterious world of audio recording, it's a thing that happens. Listening devices emit searing static, usually when the vocalist speaks the letters S, C and sometimes T.

And I have the most sibilant voice on the planet, Dear Reader.

I've recorded my entire book.

And it's FULL of sibilance.