The First Daybook Entry – 2010

I began my blog, the Oysterville Daybook on March 30, 2010.  I thought I might be able to write a daily entry for a year or two about life in this tiny hamlet on the bay.  It would interlace the past with the present, my family with the neighbors, and take a look at the greater community now and then.

My purpose was straightforward: to sell more books.  “Raise your profile,” advised my webmaster.  “Try blogging.”  I don’t think I was even very clear about what a blog was exactly.  Certainly I had no idea what I could write about.  “Write what you know,” advised my inner voice said.  (Actually, it was the voice of my eighth grade teacher Mrs. Barnes, I think.)

2,331 blogs later, I don’t know if my purpose has been accomplished.  It’s hard to quantify book sales.  But it’s the other things that have happened along the way that have kept me going –the people I’ve ‘met’ through their comments and questions; the blog fans who have come to the house to introduce themselves; the bits and pieces of history I’ve learned along the way.  The Daybook has definitely taken on a life of its own.

Apple Harvest -2015

Yesterday, I began the process of culling through those several thousand blogs with another book in mind.  At the urging of my readers, I’m trying to figure out if I can “cherry pick” through all those entries and do a composite year-long Oysterville Daybook.  I’m quite sure the material is there.  Farmer Nyel and the chicken blogs alone are a no-brainer.  And there are dozens of stories and anecdotes about Oysterville past and present.  Plus the stories about people – their contributions, their idiosyncrasies and the ways in which they enrich village life.

Yes – tons of material, some of it fairly well written, too.  But, how to put it together?  What does a composite year look like?   Do I use the actual day/month that things happened but jump around year-wise– February 28 (2013) followed by February 29 (2016) and March 1 (2010)?  Or just use days and months and never mind if those are really when stuff happened – Monday, February 28; Tuesday, February 29^th etc. and put the actual date at the foot of each blog.

Chicken Production – 3013

And what about sequencing the events themselves? Or the dates that seem to be more ‘popular’?  January 11^th for instance had great entries in 2012, 2014, and 2016.  And August 27^th 2011 and 2015 are keepers. How to choose?  Or do I fake it with a disclaimer in the foreword?

So far, a composite Daybook is a logistics challenge for sure.  Maybe it will come together; maybe not.  Meanwhile, it’s a good trip down memory lane.  And, besides, the two other books that have been on my back burner were sent off to potential publishers on Wednesday.  Woot!  Woot!