Welcome! This Blog's For You

I am the last writer in America to start a blog. I’ve resisted for a variety of reasons. Mainly, because blogs take work. At least good blogs do. And … well, I’ve been working. You know, writing books, the other day job.

I’m also about as low-tech as they come. You should see my cell phone: all you can do with it is phone people. What do I know about blogs?

But a few things began to break down my resistance.

To begin with, I started actually meeting you—the good folks who read my books—and I like you. This startling revelation comes from an introvert who doesn’t normally like people very much. But you, you’re different. You’re smart. You’re funny. You’ve got a sly sense of humor. And, mostly, you care about this world. You ask big questions. You care about your family and friends, and you know there’s got to be something more to life besides the bowl of bran flakes you had this morning.

So I wanted to start a blog where we could talk. I envisioned us hanging out in a rec room together watching TV. We’d talk about deep subjects, about what we don’t know, as much as what we do. We’d talk when the commercials came on. Sheesh, I hate it when people talk when I’m trying to watch TV.

Another big reason for this blog was that the good folks over at Heritage Builders* made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

“Come syndicate with us,” they said. “We won’t pay you anything, but we’ll give you exposure.”

Exposure—you had me at exposure. An author who has exposure is an author who has everything.

“Uh, how much exposure?” I asked.

“Dozens of hits,” they promised. “Our blog page is just getting started. But stick with us, we’re going to be huge.”

Dozens of hits. Well, Rupert Murdock, look out.

I had one more question.

“You’re sort of a conservative, faith-based organization, aren’t you?” I said. “Nothing against anybody who thinks this way, but a lot of my readers are blatant liberal atheists. And I like them, too. How can I write a blog for you guys and them, as well as everybody in the middle?”

“Find the common ground,” they said.

So, I liked that approach. No matter who you are, no matter what you believe, you’re welcome to read this blog.

We hemmed and hawed about a subject and a title for a blog, and finally some intelligent statistician noted that 58 percent of my current readers are male. This made everyone’s ears perk, because men don’t normally read books, and to have this many men reading mine is a huge marker in today’s publishing arena. Basically, it means I’m an anomaly when it comes to authors. For some reason, the men who care about the same things I write about would rather turn off their video games and open a book for fun. So thank you very much.

I had one last question.

“What about women?”

“What about them?” they asked.

“How can I write a blog titled ‘Men Who Lead Well,’ and not alienate the other important 42 percent of my readership?”

“Figure it out,” they said.

So, there you have it. If you’re a man, this blogs for you. If you’re a woman, your input is also valued. Come here to learn how men think. Or, come here to help set us straight.

The last one’s probably more accurate.

Stay tuned. I’ll be blogging once a week on Wednesdays. There might be more than that, but that’s the agenda from the get go.

Comments? Questions? It’s your turn to say anything below.


* Update 1/2013: Heritage Builders reshuffled their organization and closed their bloggers' page, ending syndication there. No worries, folks. You're here.