I'm actually writing this post on Monday morning this week and scheduling it, because on Wednesday morning I'm probably be going to be very tired after an epic evening with Kyra Lennon!Kyra is a wonderful person to know, and I love having her as a friend. She phoned me up and couple of months ago and said 'Let's have an epic evening at a Fozzy concert' and I said yes.
It occurred to me, that if it hadn't been for my blog I'd never have met such a great person, and she definitely wouldn't be sleeping in my dining room right now (or - as I'm writing this on Monday and don't really know - we may already be drinking our first cuppa and talking about how epic our evening was).
Isn't that the weirdest thing to think about? Just think for a moment of all the things that may not have happened if you'd chosen to stay in one evening, popped to the shop before work one morning, fallen over on the ice one winter, not fallen over on the ice.
All the things that happen in our lives are connected to other things that at the time seemed completely innocuous.
If I hadn't created my blog, a couple of years ago, I'd never have met Kyra or a host of other supportive people. Until that point, I'd never had any writer friends. I had friends who like to read, and would read my work - and they would normally read it as though it was the end product and declare it brilliant (note: I love comments like that, by the way!) - and I have friends who don't read at all, and I'm sure they think I'm a bit weird. Having people around that I can talk about the writing process, about problems with my characters or the choice between first and third person has been a god-send for me.
So this post is a huge thank you to everyone who follows this blog and takes their time to comment. I'd like to highlight a few people who were my earliest followers and the ones who've been the most supportive:
LindaC at Excuse Me While I Note That Down...
Gwen Tolios at Fulfilling Dreams
Murees Dupé at DAILY DRAMA OF AN ASPIRING WRITER
Suze at Subliminal Coffee.
J.A. Bennett
Patsy Collins
Melissa Ann Goodwin, Storyteller
Elizabeth Seckman at Use Your Words...
Misha Gericke at My First Book
Marta Szemik
Kate N at The Suddenly Kate Show
Teresa F Morgan at The Wittering Woman ...
Rebecca Bradley
The only problem I have with listing people is I'm sure I forget people, but - like I said - these are some of the people who have been with me the longest and/or comment regularly. Thanks to everyone reading this, you're all awesome - and please take the time to check out the blogs above, if you don't already know them!
You can find all the other participants to the IWSG listed on Alex's blog here.
Still in bed! :p Getting up soon for that cuppa though! I've had the best time with you over the last couple of days and last night was indeed epic! Thanks for coming with me - I cannot wait to write a proper post all about it. :D
ReplyDelete:-)
DeleteSounds like you had a fun evening girls. I know what you mean about connections and the 'what if.' My first attempt at a novel (cast aside on a memory stick now!) was about these very thoughts.
ReplyDeleteIt's an endless topic for fiction. I might have a go one day myself!
DeleteHi Annalisa .. sounds like so much fun with Kyra - especially as she was able to comment so early - perhaps that dining room wasn't so comfy?! Or she was just ultra excited by all going on around you ...
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading your posts re your time together .. and time - yes time .. would love lots more! Cheers Hilary
Haha the dining room was great, I just woke up way too early!
DeleteLol, that's what I thought when I read Kyra's comment this morning :-)
DeleteAhh, thanks for mentioning me. I feel so humbled and honored to know you as well. You're always on my blog, offering words of wisdom and encouragement. I feel lucky to have met you:)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome Marta, it's been fun following your road to publication :-)
DeleteAnnalisa, you are SO RIGHT!
ReplyDeleteWhen I have good news to share (writing related or not), the first people I tell are all friends I met through blogging! And, in most cases, people I have never met face to face.
In a way, this harks back to the days of old, when authors wrote letters to other authors and became friends that way. Didn't Robert Browning meet Elizabeth Barrett by writing letters admiring her poetry? I might not be right on that. But it sounds good. :D Running off to Google it up ...
Okay, looks like they met in person first, but their romance developed through correspondence.
DeleteIt's such a friendly and open community, I'm so glad I started my blog.
DeleteLove letters are so romantic. Emails just aren't the same are they? I'd love to receive a handwritten letter again.
Awww, I feel warm and fuzzy and a little unworthy. You guys don't know how grateful I am that I stumbled upon a little blog hop purely by chance and met the most wonderful group of friends I have never met, but rely on like the ones who live in my town. I will go happy dance now. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm imagining your happy dance :-D You're definitely not unworthy!
DeleteI have one close writing friend who hears everything as soon as it happens - the good and the bad.
ReplyDeleteLooking for more good things to talk about! :o)
I love the fact that other writers actually understand what I'm talking about when I complain that my characters are wandering off and doing things I don't want them too - that's worth the two and a half years writing my blog alone!
DeleteHey, I'm planning a pajama day on Thursday too. Hope you enjoy yours!
ReplyDeleteAs the weatherman is predicting snow, I think it's well timed. Enjoy yours too :-)
DeleteThank you for the 'thank you' and the mention! And THANK YOU to you, too, as you have been with me since the beginning!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, and thank you back :-) It seems like I've known you for such a long time now (in a very good way, obviously lol)
DeleteYay for the tribe who lifts us up, encourages us and reminds us we're not alone even when we feel very lonely. A very encouraging post.
ReplyDeleteI don't think people realise how much even the smallest of comments on blogs mean to the blog writer.
DeleteHow awesome that you were able to meet a blogger friend in person! This post gave me a smile and the warm fuzzies, thanks for that. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's the second time Kyra and I have met up, but we managed almost 3 days together this time, and it was fabulous.
DeleteIts great to give tribute to those you found support from this year. It's these connections that are important and often its over time that we see their importance and positive effects on our lives.
ReplyDeleteYes, a blog commenter one day can be a close friend the next!
DeleteYou're making me tear up over here! Thank you for thinking of me. I've loved being your blogging buddy and I'm sure that if we lived on the same continent we would be hanging out :) Many success to you in the future! <3 <3
ReplyDeleteThanks Jennie. If you're ever popping over to England, let me know and we'll definitely hang out :-)
DeleteAww! Such a great post! It's amazing the connections we make by blogging.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many great people who blog, and it's been fantastic getting to know them all - including you Cherie :-)
DeleteAaaw, thanks for the mention!
ReplyDeleteIf I'd not started my blog I don't think I'd now be a published novelist - I only came across the competition I won because I often blog about free writing comps which means I have to find lots of them.
I think it's fabulous you won that comp - you help other people find competitions, it's karma you got a turn too!
DeleteI'm on your list!! Yayyy!! Thank you! You have also enriched my blogging life and that's the point with blogging, it's definitely a two way street and I'm glad our paths crossed this way.
ReplyDeleteI have also met a few people I have come across through discussing writing online and it is a great experience. I am so glad you were able to form this friendship. Long may it last and grow x
Of course you're on my list, you're one of my original followers! It's been great getting to know you. It's great meeting up with fellow bloggers, because you already know so much about them - there's no awkward 'what do you do?' conversations.
DeleteI don't have a lot of close friends who write, so it has been wonderful meeting other writers through the blogging world. Thanks for being one of those people!
ReplyDeleteAllison (Geek Banter)
Finding so many writer friends online has been a god-send. Writingvused to be a very lonely business, but no longer!
DeleteIt is rather amazing when you think about it, isn't it? I wasn't even online until I signed the contract for my first book.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the writing blogs wouldn't be as connected if it wasn't for you, Alex. Finding your blog was amazing, when I realised just how many other blogs were out there to discover!
DeleteIt's so nice when you get to meet your blogger friends in person. I never met a bloggy friend in person, but got to speak to her on the phone a few times. It's so awesome. Sounds like you and Kyra had a fun night.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great night! I'm lucky she lives so close.
DeleteGreat IWSG post! There are many great people out in the virtual writing communities.
ReplyDeleteFinding people who are as passionate as me about writing has been brilliant - amongst my non-writing real-life friends, I feel a bit freaky :-)
DeleteThanks for the list of blogs that you really like. I love to peruse other people's writing, so thanks for the links!
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I've totally had days that changed my life.
I love sharing great blogs. It's a strange feeling to think small decisions can make life-altering changes... so many fiction ideas are forming right now :-)
DeleteHaving supporters, and those who'll tell it straight, and those who gently encourage, it's all good. it's a wonderful community that we're a part of, and I consider it an honor everytime you give me a visit. i think you're right, I won't know if the schedule works unless i try it...so here goes.
ReplyDeleteTina @ Life is Good
http://kmdlifeisgood.blogspot.com/
Looking forward to seeing how your schedule develops - we all have different experiences of what suits our blogs. And I love visiting you - it's been sporadic over November, but hopefully I'm back on it now!
DeleteGreat post and thanks for the links. I used to have a critique group about an hour from my house that I went to every other week, plus we'd get together just to hang out fairly often. It was awesome having writer friends. But we lost one of our members to cancer, right around the time two other members dropped out and one moved. Things kind of fell apart after that. I wasn't close friends with anyone but the girl who died. She was my best friend/critique partner, so that was really tough.
ReplyDeleteIt's been like two years since then and I would really love to meet some other writers that I could actually see in person, but everyone on my blog seems to live really far away. You are very lucky to have Kyra!! :)
What a shame your group fell apart, but I can see how it would have been a struggle to keep it the same - when people leave, the dynamics change. And you had a lot to deal with losing your friend.
DeleteI always though I lived a long way from other writers, but there are more around than I thought. Perhaps you could get a Twitter shout-out for writers in your area retweeted?
I hope you're having a great time! You're right. When asked what I would change in my life, there is one decision I would change, because everything that sprang up from it, as far as I can ponder, was negative. Other than that, everything is connected and everything has served a purpose and/or helped make me who I am.
ReplyDeleteShannon at The Warrior Muse
I believe everything happens for a reason. I can trace sitting at this laptop today directly to meeting my Hubby. It's been a bumpy ride, but it's made me the person I am (as you say, too). I expect even that wrong decision has added to making you the person you are!
DeleteGreat post! I think about this a lot and can pinpoint the one decision that led me to where I am today. At the time, I didn't think it was the right decision, but now I know that it was. :)
ReplyDeleteExactly, that's a perfect illustration... you have a deep fear everything's going badly because of that one decision, and then suddenly it's all good!
DeleteI am even more thankful for you. You always get me through the tough stuff, so a HUGE THANK YOU, to you. You are just amazing. I can just imagine how much fun you had with a fellow writer. Having someone who you can relate to is so fantastic!
ReplyDeleteAw thanks Murees. Writers are great because they have such a different way of looking at the world - we talked about our characters as though they were real people, and our other blogger friends as if they'd just popped to the bar :-)
DeleteWhat a lovely post! Kyra is a lovely person, you are lucky that you live close to each other and able to offer support and friendship.
ReplyDeleteShe is great. It was so lovely spending time with her.
DeleteAw, isn't that the coolest?? I know I think of my bloggy friends as some of the best around. So cool you and Kyra have connected and meet up. Hope you partied like a rockstar--well maybe not that hard. lol
ReplyDeleteBTW thanks for stopping by my blog and sharing the congrats! :)
There was some mild rock star partying, PK! :-)
DeleteA wonderful post! We have a great community here. I've met so many amazing folks.
ReplyDeleteIt really is amazing, isn't it? And I love how blog friends have spilled over to become Twitter and Facebook friends too. It's almost like they're real people lol
Deletei'm certainly glad i met you through your blog. you've been very encouraging to me. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Michelle, I'm glad I met you too :-)
DeleteI've met some really great people through my blog too. I'm so glad I started it. It sounds like you guys had a great time!
ReplyDeleteWe really did, Jessica. Bloggers are great people, aren't they?
Delete