Wednesday 5 December 2012

IWSG - Thank you

Trust me to take part in two blog-hops in the week that I'm very busy and not able to spend much time at my computer! As a result, I'm way behind on visiting the 'And you are...?' participants, but I'm planning a pyjama day on Thursday when I will read posts for that blog-hop and for this one!



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.





64 comments:

  1. 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
  2. Sounds 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's an endless topic for fiction. I might have a go one day myself!

      Delete
  3. Hi 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 ...

    Looking forward to reading your posts re your time together .. and time - yes time .. would love lots more! Cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha the dining room was great, I just woke up way too early!

      Delete
    2. Lol, that's what I thought when I read Kyra's comment this morning :-)

      Delete
  4. Ahh, 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:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome Marta, it's been fun following your road to publication :-)

      Delete
  5. Annalisa, you are SO RIGHT!

    When 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 ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Okay, looks like they met in person first, but their romance developed through correspondence.

      Delete
    2. It's such a friendly and open community, I'm so glad I started my blog.

      Love letters are so romantic. Emails just aren't the same are they? I'd love to receive a handwritten letter again.

      Delete
  6. 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. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm imagining your happy dance :-D You're definitely not unworthy!

      Delete
  7. I have one close writing friend who hears everything as soon as it happens - the good and the bad.

    Looking for more good things to talk about! :o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 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!

      Delete
  8. Hey, I'm planning a pajama day on Thursday too. Hope you enjoy yours!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As the weatherman is predicting snow, I think it's well timed. Enjoy yours too :-)

      Delete
  9. Thank you for the 'thank you' and the mention! And THANK YOU to you, too, as you have been with me since the beginning!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You'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)

      Delete
  10. Yay 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think people realise how much even the smallest of comments on blogs mean to the blog writer.

      Delete
  11. How 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. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's the second time Kyra and I have met up, but we managed almost 3 days together this time, and it was fabulous.

      Delete
  12. Its 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, a blog commenter one day can be a close friend the next!

      Delete
  13. You'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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jennie. If you're ever popping over to England, let me know and we'll definitely hang out :-)

      Delete
  14. Aww! Such a great post! It's amazing the connections we make by blogging.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are so many great people who blog, and it's been fantastic getting to know them all - including you Cherie :-)

      Delete
  15. Aaaw, thanks for the mention!

    If 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it's fabulous you won that comp - you help other people find competitions, it's karma you got a turn too!

      Delete
  16. I'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.

    I 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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 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.

      Delete
  17. I 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!

    Allison (Geek Banter)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Finding so many writer friends online has been a god-send. Writingvused to be a very lonely business, but no longer!

      Delete
  18. It 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'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!

      Delete
  19. It'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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a great night! I'm lucky she lives so close.

      Delete
  20. Great IWSG post! There are many great people out in the virtual writing communities.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Finding people who are as passionate as me about writing has been brilliant - amongst my non-writing real-life friends, I feel a bit freaky :-)

      Delete
  21. Thanks for the list of blogs that you really like. I love to peruse other people's writing, so thanks for the links!

    And yeah, I've totally had days that changed my life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 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 :-)

      Delete
  22. Having 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.
    Tina @ Life is Good
    http://kmdlifeisgood.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 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!

      Delete
  23. Great 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.

    It'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!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 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.

      I 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?

      Delete
  24. 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.

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 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!

      Delete
  25. Great 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. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly, 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!

      Delete
  26. I 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!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw 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 :-)

      Delete
  27. What 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She is great. It was so lovely spending time with her.

      Delete
  28. Aw, 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

    BTW thanks for stopping by my blog and sharing the congrats! :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. A wonderful post! We have a great community here. I've met so many amazing folks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It 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

      Delete
  30. i'm certainly glad i met you through your blog. you've been very encouraging to me. :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. I'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!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We really did, Jessica. Bloggers are great people, aren't they?

      Delete

Please comment - I love a good chat!

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.