Virgin No More: IWSG Post

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I joined the blogosphere under personal duress. A self-imposed, be professional, and get your butt out there if you ever want to sell books event.

I did not want to blog.

I just wanted to write books.

My gut told me there were very few short cuts to the top, and my freaking muse kept hiding the get lucky map.

So, with the help of my then fourteen-year-old son, Cole, we created my bloggy spot.

I hit publish on my maiden post, From Boas to Reality,  on March 12, 2011.

My misgivings about "going public" only got worse when Cole came home from school and told me a friend asked him, "Who cares what a lady on 6th Street has to say?"

I asked Cole if he thought I should take it down. He said, "I think you should quit worrying about what jerks think."

But still. The insecurity. The beast that dwells deep in our soul and asks us over and over, "Who do you think you are? Trying to chase a dream...scrub the toilet...save this for the smart people with connections to New York. You're just a lady on 6th Street in a tiny hillbilly town."

I'd even pray that God would give me another dream. Maybe a desire to quilt...or run marathons.

Stories still came to me. Characters kept whispering in my ear. The only outlet was to keep writing.

Then one afternoon, author, Anita Baker (AG Howard) sent me a Blog on Fire award and an email telling me she enjoyed my work. She was my first non-family/writer friend follower.

Then I got a follow by Ashley Nixon. I knew nothing of blog courtesy and protocol, but instinct told me to follow the pretty face back to her blog and follow her and start reading her posts. Next thing I knew, I was getting advice from Cassie Mae and hanging with sweethearts like Leigh Covington and Angie Cothran. I bought Cat and the Dreamer by Annalisa Crawford after reading one of her guest posts. Finished the story in a day and then stalked her blog until she became my friend.

While traversing this new network, one could not escape the shadow of Alex Cavanaugh and the IWSG. I wasn't going to join, because honestly, what did I know? But then Alex would stop by my blog and eventually I thought, what the heck...everyone else is doing it.

So, July 5, 2012, I posted my IWSG Virgin post.

And now, almost three years from my first blog post...I get it.

I understand that the blogosphere is way more than a platform builder: it's a sanity saver, a network builder, and a knowledge base. The crazy part wasn't starting the blog. The crazy part was NOT starting sooner.
Happy almost three year blogoversary to me. If you'd told me on March 12, 2011 that I would be co-hosting the IWSG today...I'd have told you to keep dreaming Alice, Wonderland is just around the corner.

But I am. That crazy Alex put his trust in me, so here I am...along with some amazing friends/writers:
Tina Downey, Elsie, and Julie Flanders. 

Baby steps. And friends to lean on. That's how we get from point A to point Z...speaking of which: 

Are you signed up? 

And Check this out!

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