I was offered a blog on the Tri-City website, I have to say I was thrilled. I was surprised to know that my opinion on things was wanted. And just so you know, I tend to have very strong opinions, but I'll try to turn the flame down on some subjects.

I was trying to think of what to write for my first blog and I thought, "Well, just explain what a blog is." I thought it was kind of corny and a little boring. But I do feel like it should be addressed, so I'll dedicate a paragraph in here for that, I guess. So instead, I'll talking about who I am for the people who don't know me yet and what I will be discussing in my blog- "My Perspective." I'm going to let you know now that I love feedback of any kind. It lets me know that my blogs are being read and they do affect people. So please tell me what you think about the blog. I always reply. You can either leave me a comment or send me an e-mail at dustinhood@ymail.com.

Who am I? I'm Dustin Hood. I'm 16 years old and will soon be in the 11th grade. Not long until I'm out in the real world. I am a writer, I've written several short stories and I am looking for a subject to write a novel on. I am also a journalist and a photographer. I love to read! My favorite author is Tess Gerritsen. I also enjoy historical novels, my favorite historical author is Alison Weir. I've had the extraordinary opportunity to interview her at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Memphis. I've also interviewed several other authors: Young Adult authors Patricia McCormick, Pam Munoz Ryan, Sarah Weeks, Brian Selznick, Avi, and Terry Trueman. I have received a letter from John Grisham. I also am in frequent contact with Tess Gerritsen.

I was chosen out of 30 students to attend the Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution. I won't elaborate on that, because I'm sure everyone has heard that story. If you haven't, e-mail me and I'll tell you all about it.

I guess in this paragraph I'll tell you what a blog is, if you know already, feel free to jump to the next paragraph. A blog is kind of like a journal. Or at least that's how I look at it. It's a place where you write your thoughts or feelings or where you just speak your mind and give your opinion and post it on the web for the world to see. If you didn't know already, Welcome to the 21st century!

Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. In my blog, I will cover just about anything. I'm going to attempt to post something every week, keyword being attempt. I talk about recent events, if I read a good book and have nothing else to talk about, I'll probably talk about that. I'll also try to keep the public aware of what is going on in school. So, just about anything.

I think that just about covers everything I wanted to touch on in this blog. Until next post, farewell and may God continue to smile on you. God is Love.

Dustin Hood

PS- Remember to provide feedback. What do you want to hear about?