What’s Up

12 April 2026

· Thoughts and plots about the blog’s future ·

At the end of my tenth anniversary post last October I mentioned that I wanted to take some time to think about how the blog would move forward from there. That’s what I’ve been doing.

While I have not pegged the when for this —and nothing here will change until I do— I’ve settled on the what and the where. I’ve set up a new Substack publication (blog/site/whatever) titled 17th Earl of Oxford, at edevere17.substack.com. Same URL as this one except .substack. added in the middle. My username is @neddevere. It’s a new house under construction with no moving date yet, but the foundation is down and the framing is going up.

The best way to explain the why is to duplicate my first (and so far only) post there.

Hello, I’m Ned.
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.

In 1604 at the age of 54, I shuffled off my mortal coil. The rest was silence, until late in 2015 when I took up my quill again to write Shake-Speare’s blog at edevere17.com. I’m still there.

My method: entertain my readers with waggish prose and verse about my life and work, past and present. My attitude is sharper than my rapier ever was, and Bricknell the undercook can vouch for the blade. My madness purpose: advance my cause, which is nothing less than universal recognition as the true author of that chunk of English drama and poetry known as the Shakespeare Shake-Speare Canon. (Hyphens matter.) Don’t let my motley fool you, or my limericks. I may be dead but I’m dead serious.

To be clear: I am not that subliterate runaway from Stratford-upon-Avon, the most fortuitously surnamed red herring in literary history. If he’s the fellow you were taught about, your school’s English department owes you a refund and an apology. Good luck with that.

If you’ve never been to the blog I invite you to poke around my virtual castle. (The real one is in Essex.) There’s a lot to read after a decade of scribbling. Don’t panic, there are indexes, but don’t wait too long. Ten years is an aeon in the aether, and nothing lasts forever. More about that after the books.

[Some information about my books, unnecessary to repeat here.]

Shake-Speare’s blog began as a solo project. No IT help, no adverts, no paywall. None of that has changed, but that isn’t to say that nothing has changed. Time available to create new content (fun) has decreased as time needed for maintenance and security tasks (un-fun) increases. Costs to keep the bits moving and the muse fed also rise. A few generous souls have made contributions, but there are no £1000 royal annuities this time around. Would that there were, adjusted for 440 years of inflation.

I have always been willing to foot the bills to amuse and enlighten my human readers. I still am. But it is harder now to justify the hours and money spent to fend off or benefit the rogues and corporAItions whose digital minions consume my bandwidth and steal my words. The shrinking ratios of humans to bots and fun to un have become disincentives to continue, at least in the current form. The internet has changed.

And so, once I resolve the timing of the blog’s end, this Substack will be its successor. A smaller target than a standalone site. Someone else to deal with the tech and the bots. Without my bespoke aesthetic, but also without all the overhead in time and cost. The whole endeavour, simpler. Not pretty, but good enough. The words the thing.

As I type this, my most recent blog post is Ten Years Limericked from last October. That doesn’t mean I’m done writing there. I needed a break, but the blog will continue to bear those ills it has until I’m ready to give it the bare bodkin. In the meantime it seemed a good idea to hang out my shingle here, let my partisans (and anyone else who happens by) know what’s up.

edevere17.com is where I’ll continue to put my words as long as the lights are on. There’s a signup in the blog’s sidebar if you’d like to receive email alerts for new posts there. When I do relocate bag and baggage to Substack, there will be no paywall at this address either. Feel free to subscribe now, or wait until I move in. I also put post links and occasional randomness on my Bluesky and Mastodon accounts.

For now sits Expectation in the air. Thank you for your attention.

Vero Nihil Verius et Veritas Omnia Vincit,

Ned
on my 476th birthday

Banner image: Northrop Realty, Clarksville, MD, USA

VERO NIHIL VERIUS