voxomnia2022@gmail.com
Taking another shot at my blog. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Back in 2009 the company I’d worked at for 13 years- Virgin Megastores- was shuttered when that sketchy Englishman decided he wanted to go to space… physically. Finding myself with a whole lot of time on my hands I started catching up on my reading. Working at the biggest retail store in the world garnered me a lot of exposure to all kinds of things I’d never even considered as well as introduced me to the internetz… and, of course, Amazon. I did a lot of deep diving into Amazon’s reviews- back when they were really meant something- for my book recs so I decided to take the plunge myself, kind of a way of giving back.
As a young, wide eyed innocent first time reviewer, I actually did pretty well with it. Worked my way up the Amazon ranks into the Top 1000 and even became a Vine Voice! And those Forums- damn, fam! Candace Sams, Amos Lassen, Dougie Brimson, Sgt. Stargate, Carroll Bryant, Laurell Hamilton, Goodreads, Hacker Hunter, Kevin Weinberg, STGRB- those were the days!!! I knew I was legit when Anne Rice singled me out and sicced her People of the Page on me. Had no choice but to take it higher and start a blog- staking out my own corner of the internet.
My first, best page- Illuminite Caliginosus, a Spark of Light Within the Gloom- had a decent following, garnered some praise and a few write-ups. Got noticed and met some interesting folks. I was building my brand as a blogger/reviewer and everything was good. Even had business cards and shit.
Then WordPress Admin decided out of the blue that I was spamming because I’d posted a bunch of book promotions. Nevermind the entire body of work that preceded it; a few days of promos and suddenly my site was gone- not even a warning that I’d done something wrong or even a chance to save my posts. Years of blood, sweat, tears, laughs, reviews, links, drama, trolling… Gone. I was getting a little burned out anyways, but that just…
After I calmed down I took it as a sign and moved on. Every so often I would get that itch and one day decided to try again. But wasn’t really feeling it and it was a whole lotta nothing. Felt kinda embarrassed by it, tbh.
Now I’m older, wiser and fired up to get back into the game. Hell, Amazon even brought me back into their Vine program- if that ain’t mana from Heaven, I don’t know what is!
So, it’s on again. Music, movies, books, politics, sports, random thoughts, jokes, food, beer- it’ll all be here for you.
Oh yeah- almost forgot.
Middle aged male. Born in the sixties, lifelong resident of Brooklyn. Black and Proud. Ex-marine. Aspiring author. Digs all four major sports: Baseball- Mets. Football- Cowboys. Basketball- Lakers. Hockey- Devils. Ambient/New Age music is my shit. Wagner opera fan. Registered as Independent- because if you’ve been paying any kind of attention, we need more than two parties over here.
Thanks for stopping by. Holla and I’ll holla back.
Vox Omnia et Nihil 