Not long ago I posed a question to the reader (or readers; I’ll be optimistic) of this blog: What needs to change?

I suggested some changes and received quite a lot of encouraging, helpful feedback. This post will explain briefly what’s changing and what isn’t.

The Turnspike Emails are officially discontinued. I love the concept, but I’m afraid I’ve failed to do it justice. Besides, Turnspike Emails are deuced hard to write.

By popular demand, book reviews are here to stay. I guess that means I’ll have to stop rereading old favorites and pick up something new. I’ve been meaning to read Life of Pi and The Hunger Games, and Brave New World has been gathering dust on my bookshelf since I picked it up from a yard sale a few weeks ago.

My typewriter monkeys and I will choose the next book for review using the same process we use to make all major decisions about this blog: writing each option on a slip of paper, taping the slips to darts and throwing the darts at a picture of Friedrich Nietzsche. Our final decision is determined by which dart comes closest to striking the exact center of Nietzsche’s mustache.

This blog’s standard varieties of posts—About Writing lectures, That Time I _____ anecdotes, reflections upon the Christian faith, commentaries upon video games, totally biased flawlessly objective top ten lists and posts about random topics—will continue, and Why [Insert Author Name] Is Awesome posts will become a regular feature.

I’ll also post creative writing occasionally. Unlike usual posts, these creative pieces won’t be published according to any schedule. They’ll be posted occasionally on Wednesdays. My monkeys and I make no definite commitments.

When I moved into my apartment last month, I was relieved to find out that my typewriter monkeys are considered residents; I don’t have to pay a pet fee. They’ve taken up residence in the hall closet, which they have converted into a base of operations for nocturnal raids upon the refrigerator. I’m thinking of buying a lock for the fridge to keep out the monkeys, or possibly rigging a car battery to run electrical current through the refrigerator handle. The first option is more economical, but the second option is strangely appealing.

Now to be serious. It’s not too late to offer advice, criticisms and suggestions for this blog! TMTF will continue to grow and change over time. We’re always open to new ideas.

My sincere thanks to the folks whose feedback and encouragement have helped shape this blog.

And here we go!