Damn it Bob!
I blame Bob Ross for today’s post. (I know. I know. It’s cowardly to blame the dead guy. But I was watching his painting show when I had my thought for this post!)
There are two major things happening that I need to talk about:
- How the Forever Mountain Publishing blog and my new Substack interact.
- What’s going on with Sally Port Magazine?
So, here we go!
Blogs and subtacks! Oh my…
Back in the bad old days, there was just Words Mean Stuff(WMS). Then the FMP blog came along. WMS became my “life stuff” blog, and FMP became my writing blog. It worked. But I was still talking about writing at WMS because it’s a major part of my life. And the FMP blog felt like it wasn’t working. (It wasn’t. Not in the way I wanted it to.) I started my Substack recently for several reasons. But the separations weren’t as clear as I’d like. I needed more.
And then Bob Ross came on and my wife and I started discussing creativity…
The creative world can be divided into two parts:
- The business end: where final products and making a profit matter.
- The creative process: the reason a lot of us got into, and persist in, writing and making things.
They’re two different items. One is focused on the bottom line and the result. The other is about the journey and has rewards that don’t show up well on a balance sheet.
And there was the answer…
Here at the FMP blog, we’ll focus on the business side of writing and creativity. The making the numbers work part. The part that keeps us going to do what we love.
At my Substack, we’ll talk about the creative journey and process. The why part. The part that we’d still do if the money wasn’t there (at least we’d try to…). Two clear streams of thought and one less identity crisis.
So yeah. That’s where we’re going.
Sally Port Magazine: the future vs. the present.
I’ve been hard at work on picking stories for the July issue. So much so, that I forgot the what was in the April issue!
And there is fun stuff in our April 2025 Sudden Turns! Issue.
- Stories and adventures that don’t go as expected.
- How-to material on making your own sudden turns.
- And our ongoing discussion of making your own language. (Your very own may to make those turns happen!)
The issue will be live in a little over a week (April 2025) but there’s already information up at the website. (link)
So check it out.
That’s it for this one. Check out the latest at the Substack and website. Write great stuff. And I’ll see you next post.
