I recently had a conversation with someone who found out I have a blog, and who decided I needed advice on how to market and monetize it. As well-intended as their opinion was, I smiled and politely declined to 'sit down over lunch and map it all out.' In fact I had to suppress the urge to smack them, which caused me to ponder about my nearly violent reaction. Here's what I came up with: This is my escape from all the hype and marketing and spin, and, God forbid, 'monetizing.' Not only does the idea of promoting Desert Magnolia beyond my close group of friends/fellow bloggers make me nauseous, I really don't think it's geared toward a general audience. I expound on shit even I don't understand using hindsight as a lens, and wouldn't subject the rest of the free world to my mental aerobics. They've done nothing to deserve that. You, however, are here because you either like to be, or because you lost a bet and were forced to come here, or...