500

Ladies and gentlemen, you are reading my 500th blog post. While that accomplishment may not compare to Hank Aaron's 755 home runs or the number of times Larry King has been married, I still think it is noteworthy. While many of my older posts are painfully awkward and many others are barely readable, some are of a high enough quality that revised versions have made their way into my book Naked Snow Angels. But how did it all begin?

My friend Paul Shields started his own blog back in 2004 and immediately I recognized the potential of this new medium. Paul held photo contests, haiku contests, and provided his friends with a means to exchange witty barbs--almost always at his expense. The result was comedy gold. Paul even wrote some original songs using material gleaned from reader contributions to his blog. (He now has a fan page on facebook and on myspace under his stage name of "Paul & the Violent Farmers" which you should check out--when children are not in the room.)

If you go back through the archives of my blog, you will see the evolution of a writer from a blogger to a bona fide author. At times I have written angry tirades, humorous observations, and melancholy lamentations. I've dabbled in philosophy, politics, satire, and sports. If you have some free time, I welcome you to go back to the beginning and re-live this writing journey with me. The payoff? You will have a unique perspective of Travis Naughton the author when my book finally gets published. Naked Snow Angels is a reflection and culmination of all of the different forms my blog has taken over the years. I now have two final chapters outlined that are ready to be written in order to complete my manuscript. Hopefully, it will be published sometime in 2011. When I'm internationally famous and you see me on TV during Oprah's final season, you'll be able to say, "I've been reading that incredibly handsome young man's work since he was a blogger. Now he's a celebrity and I want to have his babies." (Men, you may say, "I'd like to have a frothy, malted beverage with that handsome and clever fellow!")

Thank you for all your support and encouragement over the years. My readers and fans, afterall, are the ones who are really to blame for unleashing me upon the literary world. Just wait'll Oprah gets a load o' me!