It feels like a homecoming of sorts this return to blogging—a great love that got lost in the minutiae of the last couple of years. So let me welcome you back, invite you to follow along, and tell you what to expect. But first, I guess I should account for my absence. I doubt it has caused the same stir as Agatha Christy’s sudden disappearance in 1926, but just so you know.

You may remember that I have been a reader of great literature from a very early age, and by 15 or so discovered I was also a writer. Over the years, my writing has had to struggle to get air time, thanks to things like raising three boys and making a living. I was well into my 60s before I got my second Bachelors (in Literature and Creative Writing) and followed that with an MFA.

I published a book (WRANGLE) based on my uncle’s quarter horse ranch of the 1970s, won a Will Rogers Medallion for western writing, and then dropped into oblivion while I nursed my dad through his final years. A little later, I taught literature and composition at our local college. I was still teaching when I began this blog.

By now, I have aged into my mid-80s and have found that just managing my own health takes up a fair amount of time, and because of various time constraints I stopped writing for a while. For a writer, that’s like saying “I stopped breathing for a while.”

But never daunted, only delayed–in the past year, I have started a book club that suits me, written a serial bio in my 2025 Facebook posts, and now have resurrected this blog! I am so glad to be back and hope you will join in my homecoming.

I am again going to write about those things that move me. I will definitely include my thoughts as to literature (old and new), as well as other comments on the human condition. I’ve been around for a lot of decades, so I am sure I will share some of my experiences and beliefs. I will try really, really hard NOT to rant about politics.

I will post every Saturday morning, and in the next post, will introduce you to my book club (A Novel Approach) along with its first year’s set of great reads. I so hope you will come along and add your insights. You don’t have to mark your Saturday calendar to remember if you take a moment and sign up below. By magic I will show up each Saturday via your inbox.

JONNIE MARTIN

(Graphic by Hiroko Nishimura courtesy Unsplash).