The Expats and Transparency

                                                                                                                                                       

This post was inspired by mystery thriller novel The Expats by Chris Pavone. Kate Moore happily sheds her old life to become a stay at home mom when her husband takes a job in Europe. As she attempts to reinvent herself, she ends up chasing her evasive husband's secrets. Join From Left to Write on January 22 as we discuss The Expats and use the book as a writing prompt on our wide variety of blogs. As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.
     When I became a member of From Left to Write,  I was determined only to sign up for books that in some way related to my blog. I thought it was a question of time, more than anything else.  What I've learned from the group discussions, is that if a book sounds interesting to me, I should worry less about how it relates to Green With Renvy, and enjoy the process. The ideas have a way of unfolding as you turn the pages.
     The Expats appealed to my love of travel.  I've always thought the word expats sexy, and had a mild fantasy about living in another country for a period of time.  My husband and I have know a few couples who live abroad, and their lives of exotic locales and foreigners still hold a spark in my imagination. Although I'd give the book a mixed review, I did enjoy Luxembourg  and the espionage.
     Kate Moore is the gun toting paradox of a working Mom trying to maintain and live with an increasing unbearable secret. She  quickly introduced me to a theme that seems to be at the forefront of my radar screen these days: Secrets and Transparency.  I think about it in relationships, in food labels and in building a blogging community.
     As I start to consider ways to monetize my blog, it is a struggle to decide who to partner with and what affiliates should be a part of the process.  The importance of remaining true as to why I blog can often translate into saying no, when it seems like everyone else is jumping on board and saying yes. Will I miss out on a great opportunity?  There are times when your readership and numbers are down and you question why you are doing this, investing so much time.  What are you willing to compromise for the sake of increased traffic?  It's a challenging set of questions in a world that is really quite like a foreign language to me.  
     In the end,  it comes down to trust, and building an engaged readership who knows your motives for blogging.  Building a community is an organic process that unfolds over time, it takes a whole lotta work, but the rewards are many.  
     There are a million blogs out there to choose from.  I like pretty, I like good design, and I like a lot of different topics, but transparency and integrity are two of the non-negotiables before I hit that RSS subscribe button.
I'd love to hear about what you look for in a blog, and if you have a blog-how did you make decisions about monetizing it?