I Don My Wee Red Briefs For You--Reb MacRath

You should always wear your wee red briefs for any up-front Big Reveal. And I say the briefer the better. Keep my Reveal in hand--er, mind--as I approach the climax of my years-long affair with AE:

It's time for me to say goodbye.

In brief, hear are a handful of lessons I've learned and memories I'll treasure.

--AE affords its members a rare sense of community. Most of us begin with no sense of our audience; many writers never acquire that sense. Even once we've published, it may be years between books and the loneliness of our profession may seem at times to be too much to bear. Here, once a month, we address writers we've gotten to know. Kindred souls with war stories to share.
--The blog can be a great testing ground. Which of our monthly posts strike a chord...and which fail, like my last post, to attract a single comment--or raise the hackles of colleagues, like my Jack the Ripper post. This chance to test the impact of our words can be immensely useful, fine-tuning our judgment of right words in our wirting.
--In my years on AE, I'm left with a couple of names of writers I've come to regard as real friends. But, equally important, I value the allies who've taken time to provide sound technical advice or comment on a particular post.
--Surely my top memory is becoming--thanks to John Logan--the first American member of this august group.

Now, though, the time--

Oh! Oh! Oooooo! Ahhhhhhh.................

What else is there for me to say but:

I hope it was good for you too.

All the best to everyone,

Dear Old Naughty Red MacRath