I am really (truly) not a fan of those posts that apologize for when writers take a break from their blog and then assure readers that they will do better, be more faithful, write more – you know the drill.

And yet, here I am, apologizing for a lengthy absence. As if I have any readers left here.

The story goes that I moved from Pittsburgh (my bio still says I live there), and started a new job. That job was cool and it kept me busy, and I thought maybe I would just table the whole tech writing thing. I wasn’t really engaging in tech writing any more, so it made sense.

So, I left this little project alone.

Then, COVID-19 came along and I got laid off. Yeah, bummer, right? I focused more on my writing over at Medium (you can follow me there if you’d like, but it’s vastly different writing than it is here). I took some time to finish my as-yet-unpublished book. I’m still looking for an agent and publisher for that gem.

But after I got a new job, I was in proposal writing. Tech writing-adjacent. Sure, I edited and oversaw proposals in my tech life, but I started as a proposals manager for a small shop. Then I moved on to what I thought was a plum gig working for a friend at the company that brought me to Baltimore, then laid me off. Turns out that wasn’t the best gig, because they were undergoing lots of change.

And now, here I am, a proposal manager, but thanks to some strained workplace relationships, I am not really managing a lot of proposals, but I’m editing, moving things around, and digging in to some other work.

I’m hoping to leverage my smarts and talents to stay here and dig in to Confluence management and shoring up their much needed information architecture, but in the meantime, I will dust off my tech chops and head back to this comfy place.

All two or three readers, and anyone new who stumbles here will be treated to some new insights, a fresh look at how writing about technology dovetails with writing technical services proposals. I can’t give away any trade secrets, of course, or they wouldn’t be secrets. But all in all, I think I still have some good writing to share on this, my professional space instead of over at Medium, my personal platform.

So thanks for letting me take a break, and allowing me space to grow. Go grab a pint and let’s see what happens next.