Secret Origins
Welcome to the once and future blog of Paul Ryan O'Connor.
In June 2011 I published the first of what would be 170 numbered articles at Longbox Graveyard, concluding in August 2017. Longbox Graveyard looked at comics -- primarily Bronze Age superhero books from Marvel and DC -- and would sometimes touch on film, games, and other media. I mostly used the blog to explore my own fandom and re-examine things I loved as a kid.
At its peak in 2014, Longbox Graveyard recorded 180K views by 104K visitors, who left over 1000 comments. (The community developed by the blog was my greatest joy). Longbox Graveyard spawned a year-long podcast, as well as a number of guest blogs for me at other sites, in addition to convention panel and podcast appearances. I sold some comics through the blog (never for very much money) and earned some referral dollars and trade credit through affiliate links.
In all, Longbox Graveyard totaled something like 250K words (maybe more), drove my presence on Twitter and Instagram, connected me with comic fans all over the world, and was a blast from start to finish.
But by 2017 it was pretty much over. My blogging frequency had dropped from weekly to monthly to ... less than monthly. Increasingly I found I had little left to say about comics. I'd gotten the collecting and reading itch out of my system and was turning more and more to classic film; I ran a few film articles near the end of the blog, but they didn't quite fit. It was time to wrap it up.
But I couldn't do it! I should have shuttered LBG but instead I let the cobwebs accumulate, paying my domain fees every year but offering scant new content. I likewise ignored by Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages, and let my Twitter participation slow to a trickle.
Now I'm back. Sort of.
The Hourglass is a new blog, and while I'd be delighted to retain some of my old Longbox Graveyard readers (cheers to those of you stumbling in here from LBG redirects), I am effectively starting over. The focus of The Hourglass is my late-in-life pivot to a new career as a mystery writer. In the weeks ahead I will fill in the blanks about what I've been up to since winding down Longbox Graveyard, talk about why I'm starting up a writing career, and look at my successes (just one, so far) and my struggles (many). I'll talk about the craft of mystery writing, the writers I admire, the work I have in progress, and I'll even dip into the Longbox Graveyard archives now and then, to reprint and refresh content from that blog from a new perspective.
I hope you'll stick with me, whether you're an original reader or discovering me for the first time. Please subscribe to the blog for updates, and check out the social media buttons at the top of the page. I'll try to offer new blogs here once a week or so.
And the comments section is always open!
Special thanks to Billy King for setting up this website!