The Convoluted Path to My 500th AC Post

This is my 500^th post to Associated Content. Officially, I have been a member of AC since 2005, but to be honest, this date is deceiving. I came across Associated Content when a friend on a blogging network told me it was a good way to break into online writing, so I thought I would give it a whirl. I wrote an article from the assignment bin on donating a car to charity, posted it and then forgot about it. I did get a notice about two weeks later that they had approved the article, but that was the end of that, and I did not sign on again for a long while.

I think I might have posted two more humor pieces that year, and then AC sort of slipped into the back of my mind, and I did not post again until late 2007 or 2008. At that time, my husband and I started an NFL data analysis site. It's called PossessionPoints.com. I was looking for a place to post our NFL analysis, and I thought "Well, let's see if Associated Content publishes sports."

Sure enough they did. So, I began posting our analysis on a weekly basis and people seemed to like it and radio stations were picking it up and then, AC pulled the plug and said we were too promotional because we mentioned the name of the stat PossessionPoints. I told them that we had to mention the name because we were the only ones who used the stat, and I had to explain how it worked. They said, "Too bad." So, after a year of posting articles only to find them unceremoniously deleted by the AC powers that be, I gave up and left AC again and began posting my sports info on BleacherReport.com. As it turned out, that was a better fit, and I became a syndicated writer on that site within months. I think it's the whole "woman writes on the NFL" mystique that gains me readers there.

Anyway, during this murky period where I did not post on AC, I started to take care of my best friend who became ill. In an effort to keep her fighting spirit going, we devised a plan where I would write her a daily positive poem. Each morning before the treatments and doctors' appointments, I would read her the poetry creation of the day. I will say right here and now, that I am not a poet. I don't have deep meanings in my posts nor do I pretend to follow the correct rhyming scheme. But the poems, sometimes reflective and sometimes humorous, became a fun part of our otherwise not so fun routine.

At the end, Mary made me promise to keep her poems going. Apparently, she was passing them to others who were fighting as well. So, I put up a blog and returned to AC late in 2009 thinking it would be a good place to post the poems if there were other Mary's in the world. One poem, one post a day.

I didn't pay much attention to the reads because my mind was thinking the poems were still for my friend. My reads were not great, but the reads were not my sole purpose. After my friend passed away, I went back to print freelancing so I would be busy during the football offseason. In late 2009, I ran into a former editor at one of the women's magazines who used to publish my humor work, and she asked if I was still writing humor.

Oh, did I explain that I had written humor before? Well, I did. When I was a reporter (Did I explain I was a reporter at one time? Yes, my writing path has taken many a detour), I wrote a fun piece for our paper's Christmas party and that led to humor columns which led to humor pieces in magazines. Anyway, I told my former editor that I took a few years off, and she suggested AC and posting humor again. I thought that this was too much of a "small world" moment, so that is why I started to post the humor here. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to make anyone here my guinea pigs, but after I started posting humor again, I realized how much I missed writing it. Anyway, it did get noticed, and doors have definitely opened again. So, I am most grateful to AC.

So, I guess my 500^th posting is a milestone. My work here on AC has spanned many genres, and the site has given me a voice and opportunities, and for this I am grateful. When it comes down to it, the best thing AC has given me is the friendships and the connections. I have formed so many bonds with people I never would have met had it not been for this site. I feel some writers are like long-lost siblings who I can talk to about anything. We not only message and email each other, but we talk on the phone and meet for lunch. Others are there to poke fun at me (you know who you are), and others give me insight on humor and writing. I am so appreciative of the knowledge, expertise and support here.

Anyway, sorry for the ramble and for allowing me to re-live my convoluted writing career here on Associated Content. I hope it continues to be a fun and sometimes wild ride! As you might guess, I live for the wild rides.