The Blog in Young Adulthood

Today marks two decades—a full 20 years, folks!—since I began posting here in The Rap Sheet. If we consider this (generously) as a job, then it’s the longest one I’ve ever held down. It’s also the one that has brought me the smallest amount of remuneration. But of course I didn’t set out to become rich by blogging about crime, mystery, and thriller fiction. My intention was to celebrate the depth and breadth of this genre, and to express my enduring appreciation for its growth and evolution. I hope I have accomplished that so far.

On the blog’s 10th birthday, I traced my history as a book critic and how it led me to launch The Rap Sheet. So I won’t readdress all of that today. I had once imagined making a big deal of this anniversary (with T-shirts and special postings and more), but decided in the end that, all I really wanted to do was send out my appreciation to the blog’s readers for sticking with it for so long and saying such nice things about it along the way. This journey has presented occasional difficulties, yet it has been predominately rewarding, and I hope to continue writing and editing The Rap Sheet for many years to come.

Thank you, one and all!