Happy Vernal or Autumn Equinox, depending on where you are in the world! I enjoy both spring and fall, but what I love most is the changing of the seasons.
Today feels like an auspicious day to announce a big change of my own:
I’m changing the name of my blog from WildmooBooks to ChrisWolak.com.
Why?
- The short reason is that I want to branch out in my writing life and having a website/blog under my own name is a better fit.
- The longer reason behind this seemingly abrupt change has actually been years in the making. The full saga is below if you’re interested in the evolution.
I have blogged under the name WildmooBooks for over nine years. Throughout those years I’ve often wanted to change the name. “Wild moo” is an old nickname that no longer has relevance in my life (other than that I still love cows).
My first blog, LightBulbRunner
Many moons ago I sold books online under the name WildmooBooks. I was also blogging back then, but not about books. My first blog was called LightBulbRunner. The name was inspired by all the great ideas I’d have while running.
On that blog, I wrote about running and cross country skiing, but it turned out I liked to DO those things more than I liked to write about them so creating content became a chore. Then, during an assessment of an old back injury, my doctor told me to quit running. Although my back condition is stable, the pounding wouldn’t be good in the long run (pun intended). Horseback riding and speed boat racing are also verboten, but I digress.
A light bulb moment
I’ve always loved writing about books — from grade school book reports to majoring in English to marketing & newsletter writing for a bookstore. So it dawned on me (a non-running lightbulb moment, if you will) that maybe I should write a book blog! I’d been writing book reviews on Goodreads, so why not?
Around this time I stopped selling books online and so transitioned the name WildmooBooks to be my blog handle. It was there, it was easy. I didn’t think too much about it.
But I haven’t always been in love with the handle and no other names gripped me over the years. Now, as I’m branching out in my writing life, I’ve decided to take the plunge and transition this blog from WildmooBooks to ChrisWolak.com.
My holy trinity
I don’t image any significant change in the content I’ll share here. Books, libraries, and history are my holy trinity, after all. Perhaps I’ll eventually write more about writing, but for now, this is just an announcement about the name change.
Thanks for reading!
Chris
P.S. If you’re a fellow blogger and have links from this site on your blog, first of all, thank you for that! Second, I’m told that the links should all re-direct with no problem. Fingers crossed.
Enjoyed reading about the gestation of your various on line identities. Question for you – if I am a ‘follower’ of your current site via WordPress, do I need to do anything to continue getting your updates through?
As far as I understand, no actions are needed since it’s just a name change and not a new account. I receive email notifications of new posts and the email for this post came through as usual. Thanks for asking and big thanks for following my blog!
Great, I would hate to miss an epistle….
Like the new name and format. Good luck Chris.
Thanks, Robin!
Makes sense to me, and I may be one of the few, but I was interested in the evolution of the name of your blog. I’ve gone through several blogs myself so I find it interesting to see other bloggers’ thought processes. I also began my blogging about running with a now defunct blog called Just A (Running) Fool. I then later had a blog called Just A (Reading) Fool…and so on and so forth. 🙂 So I get it. Name changes are important. And the feed switched over no problem as I found this post in my reader this afternoon.
Name changes are important! For the longest time, I told myself that the name didn’t matter all that much. Fooey on that. I just wasn’t ready to make the change before now. But, oh, the back and forth in my mind was heated there for a while.
I didn’t know your first blog was about running. We’re twinsies!
As you know, I’m in the midst of huge changes myself, so I can relate! So often the outer change is just the final touch to an inner shift that has been years in the making. I wish you good luck with the new direction of your writing and blogging life.
On another note, it’s always fun to learn about the history behind the blog names people choose. It gives a little window into their personal thought process.
What you say about outer change is so true. When I make a change like this that feels so right, I know it’s in line with all my inner change.
Change is good. So proud of how far you’ve come and where you are headed old friend!
Thanks, Pam! What a nice surprise to hear from you here.
I always enjoy your posts on libraries, so I am glad to know that’s not going away. Thoughtful change is good, so congratulations for being and showing us more ‘you!’
Thanks, Laurie! I look forward to exploring and sharing more libraries with you.
Welcome to the boring world of name.com 😀 And for the record the equinox is better than Fool’s Day 😀
Haha! If only I’d waited. 😜