It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change
–Charles Darwin, English biologist (1809 – 1882)
We may not be the blog with the strongest following. We may not even be the most intelligent (given our lapses into the ridiculous from time to time), but The Risky Regencies know when it is time for a change.
Megan and Myretta leaving was the impetus for us to take a good look at ourselves. How should we proceed? we asked ourselves. We also asked you, our readers and the feedback you gave us was very helpful. One thing was very clear, we didn’t want to end the blog.
Another thing that was clear was, we needed change. For us “old” Riskies it was getting more and more difficult to post every week and each of us began to miss days, especially when life became too hectic. Keira, one of our readers, commented that sometimes it seemed like we were simply “phoning posts in.” She was right, at least pertaining to me. I did phone it in a few times. Sometimes I was at a loss as to what to post. Sometimes I was just swamped by other demands on my time.
One more thing was clear. Our “new” Riskies, Gail, Sandra, and Susanna, have rejuvenated the blog. Their posts have been intelligent, informative, and enjoyable. It stood to reason, then, that one change we should make should be to add new Riskies.
We have three new Riskies!
Isobel Carr, who has been a Risky Regencies guest several times, is an expert in historical fashions as well as a terrific author of Georgian romance (close enough to Regency!) Her League of Second Sons series received wonderful reviews.
Rose Lerner was our guest very recently and has been a guest twice before and is the author of one of Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2014, which was also one of Susanna’s favorites. Amanda listed Rose’s In For A Penny as a favorite in 2010.
Mary Blayney is our third new Risky. Mary has recently re-released her traditional Regency Braedon Family series, a series I loved. And there is always her Pennistan series, longer books written with the same heart. Mary also is one of the authors included in the annual J.D. Robb anthology, writing the sole historical novella in each (and always with a magic coin). Mary is a dear friend of mine and I’m so happy to have her join the Risky Regencies.
Isobel, Rose, and Mary will do us very proud.
There are more changes, too. We’re adopting a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule and we are each going to be blogging once a month.
We are confident these changes will infuse new energy into the blog! What do you think? Tell us what you’d like to see from us, too. The changes start today!
(P.S. I forgot to mention that we are going to have at least one guest per month, on the fourth Wednesday of each month and another guest on those months that have 5th days.)
Welcome new Riskies authors! It’s great to have y’all be permanent Riskies after all the guest visits y’all have done for us.
And since it’s a new year it’s always great to have new changes. Three days a week of posting sounds great for you busy authors and is absolutely fine with me. With that it’ll give y’all more time to tell us what y’all have been doing and get us all caught up every month.
Hang in there and we’ll always be here to learn, listen, chat, and laugh.
Oh, thanks, Ki. I am very touched by your words.
Diane, I’m so glad to hear that the Riskies are moving forward and not shutting down. I look forward to the posts here, and now with the fabulous new members, there will be even more interesting posts to read here. If reducing frequency means time to compose better posts, I’m all for it. Looking forward to a new RR.
You were invaluable, at least to me, Keira, because you called it. We were not “up to snuff” sometimes. I thank you! And I’m so glad you are still a Risky reader.
I thoroughly approve of the changes you’re making, and welcome to the new Riskies! Each is an excellent choice, and there is an interesting variety between them, too. I’m sure that the changes will be beneficial both for us readers and for all you Riskies too.
oh, you guys…You are all saying such nice things. HJ, you have been such a faithful commenter. We really value that!
You’re very welcome!
Happy to welcome the newest Riskies! The new schedule sounds fine to me (I get busy, too).
Thanks, Karenmc, for being understanding.
Welcome New Riskies! I enjoy reading different perspectives and being introduced to new-to-me authors.
Good news!
Hi everyone! Thanks for the warm welcome. I’m excited to become part of such an awesome site.
I am so very happy to hear the Riskies will continue! This is one of my very favorite places on the net and I love the chats, the new authors I meet here and the intriguing and informative posts. This posting schedule sounds as if it will make things so much easier for all of you and that is definitely what I want. The easier your blog schedule, the more time you have to write books!! And great new blog posts. That is a win/win for those of us who love the Riskies so much!
And what stellar choices for new Riskies!! Each of these ladies is one of my favorite authors. I adore their work and I always learn something from their posts (and Mary and I have been Regency tea partners at the Beau Monde Conference.)
I see all of this as a wonderful new change for the Riskies and for us! Huzzah!