Back to Blogger

Just a quick introduction and a reason as to why I've started a blogger website.

An old photo. I look even worse now.

Hello and welcome to Aelfwine. I am a prospective author of speculative fiction, and an amateur photographer based in the South of Essex. This is my new site. Welcome!

I'm not sure I can get away from the fact that writing an introduction for a personal blog will always feel awkward and narcissistic. I am nobody important and you have no real need to give a rat's arse about me, my projects or what I have to say about the world. I have a sneaking suspicion that I will be the only person who ever reads this, which is... fair. In that case, I accept the fact an introduction like this serves nobody but myself. If for no other reason, it may give me the psychological kick up the arse to stick to it and not let it fester and die like most other projects do.

For the oddball who is reading this, you may be wondering why anyone would start a Blogspot site in this current age...

Well, to make a very long (and no doubt familiar) story short, I am utterly frazzled by modern social media and its business model which is designed to consume your soul and all of your time as users chase an ever diminishing return with regards to the 'discovery' it garners. Frankly, I don't want to 'play the game' any longer. I don't have it in me to compete with the rage bait on Twitter, the toxic positivity on Substack or arbitrary community standards on Reddit.

I am done with it all. It is all performative bollocks.

So I'm back on the original platform that formed in those halcyon days before social media had really formed. Personally, I haven't really used blogger in over a decade but I like it here. It's simple. Homely, even.

Is it visually appealing? No. Does it look professional? Absolutely not. Does it allow me to just quickly post an update and move on with my life without getting sucked into watching three hours of short form videos showing scantily clad women and casual street violence? Absolutely.

Now, how I use this blog to capture a returning audience for free marketing on future published titles, that is the real challenge. But to be honest, I'm far more likely to have a product to market if I don't get sucked into growing an audience on Twitter or Substack all day long. It's a catch-twenty-two situation. I feel a weight has lifted off of my shoulders just by dropping the obsession with metrics. It's good to be here, and if you're here too, it's good to have you here, too.