I'm not a seasoned pro at blogging, but I've done some of it in the past.  And it didn't take me long to get bored with it either.  The internet can be vicious at times, rewarding at other times, but just sort of dull most of the time.  Some bloggers are fireball advocates of one thing or another, and sometimes they're fun to read.  Some are bitchers and moaners, whiners and complainers, and some are looking to generate interest in something.  That's me, the blogger looking to draw attention to something.  In my case, that is the other things I write, the books. 

I've been a writer most of my life, but I've never done it with commerce in mind.  In short, I didn't give a damn about publishing . . . until recently.  And my sudden surge of interest in getting my work in print isn't motivated by dreams of financial reward.  Some extra income would be welcome, but that's not what I'm up to.  I finally got to the point where I needed to see my work between the covers of a book, and I've long since given up on dealing with publishers.  I've played that game in the past, even as a young man - that irritating and frustrating game of trying to get a publisher interested in your work.  I even had an agent once, and a good one at that.  He worked his tail off for a while trying to market my books, and I think he believed he could.  He got some interest from major publishers, but they wouldn't come up with a good enough offer for him to accept them.  And he finally gave up, and that was fine with me.  By then, I'd given up on dealing with the big market press.  My stuff was too regional, they said, not main stream enough.  And, they were right.

Things have changed a lot since I first started trying to get published.  For one thing, I'm a much better writer now than I was back then.  And, I'm no longer concerned about the success of what I put on the market. If it flies, fine . . . if not, so be it.  I'm not everyone's cup of tea because I don't mind stepping on toes . . . or because I just don't write about what some readers are interested in.  When it gets right down to it, I write for me, to entertain myself.  I'm a hard guy to entertain, so I work hard at
making what I write readable.  Sometimes it works, but sometimes it comes up short.  That's when I have to go back and rework it.  There's at least one benefit in letting something you've written lie around for a long time before getting it in print.  You have time to think about it, mull things over, and make changes.  I don't usually change much, but some changes are always made.

Over the years I've developed several different voices, pseudonymns, pen names.  I use the D. Paz Dalton voice to write my borderlands stories and a few others.  He's my hit man, my go after the bad guys voice who tells it like it is.  He's oblivious to political correctness (or any other kind of correctness), doesn't mince words, and is often critical of our system of government and the society we all live in.  Cletus Duhon is my cowboy voice.  He's responsible for my Altos Cuentos Trails stories, and a few other books.  He's down home, folksy, practical, and funny.  Philip Martin Cawlfield - well, that's me.  I write the more stories that need an academicians touch, but that doesn't mean they're not at times humorous.  Regardless of what voice I use, I always try to work in some humor.  Sometimes my words might generate only a smile, a chuckle perhaps, but that's better than lots of other emotions they might bring about.  Smile, pardner . . . then say anything you want.