Readership Award

The lovely Sammy over at Bemuzin nominated me for a fantastic award: the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award. Woop Woop!

This is basically a readership award (clue’s in the name) and I was really touched that Sammy nominated me. One of the things I love best about blogging is that sense of community between bloggers, so to know that my contribution makes a difference to others is absolutely wonderful.

I like to think of writing as reaching into the void to try and connect with people – whether that’s blogging, or writing stories or poems, or haikus…. We’re all writing for a (real or imaginary) audience, and we’re all trying to trigger some sort of response, whatever that may be. And so I guess commenting for me is like reaching back across the void and creating that connection, meeting the writer halfway to give them the reaction they were hoping for.

Some of the most fun I’ve had with blogging has been in the comment sections, (not least with Sammy!) going back and forth and chatting to bloggers about their post, or whatever else. It’s made me feel like I’m a part of something, and I think that if it wasn’t for those connections I probably wouldn’t still be blogging. Sending blog posts out in the ether without anybody reading them is pretty soul sucking (I think anyway), I mean, I can write without an audience on Scrivener all the live long day, it’s the active readership that makes blogging so special.

And so I’ve been lucky to have met some truly wonderful people through blogging, people who have left wonderful comments on my blog and who I’ve really enjoyed getting to know. Here are a few of them below that I’d like to  nominate for the award:

The first is Sammy. Ok so I’m sure it says in the Blogging Rules that you can’t renominate the person who nominated you – but what the hell. Sammy’s comments are always thoughtful and funny and guaranteed to brighten up your day. She also puts real thought into how to support bloggers, and how to support indie writers which is just amazing. Plus she likes the Princess Bride which makes her an awesome person by default.

Carrie over at The Write Transition. Carrie has eight arms and four heads. I know this for a fact because every time I go to comment on a blog, she has already been and gone, leaving behind a funny and insightful note. Oh and she’s a writer (you can check out her book here). And a mother. So the only way I can imagine such superhuman ability to be everywhere at once, and do it all brilliantly, is with eight arms and four heads. I imagine she has a specially made computer with four screens and four keyboards too. Oh and I forgot to mention that she also features indie books on her blog. You see what I mean? Definitely must be at least four heads. Maybe more.

L.Marie over at El Space is incredibly active both in supporting bloggers and indie writers. Bloggers like L Marie make all the difference, both to the blogosphere but also to the indie writer community. Not only that but she write these brilliant posts about story telling, pulling inspiration from a raft of difference places and seeing connections that I never would have caught.

Jetgirl over at Forty c’est Fantastique is another reader who always makes lovely comments and who I’ve had a great time chatting to. Also we can chat in Frenglish which is awesome.

Sue Archer over at Doorway Between Worlds. A lovely reader, always ready with a thoughtful comment. She has also introduced me to the idea of charting how far I hike to determine how close I am getting to Mount Doom (anyone not getting the reference should refer to the epic that is Lord of the Rings, either in book or film format). Or at least, Sue does this and I intend to copy her.

DragonSpark over at I’m a Book Worm. We’re rather recent blogging acquaintances, having met during the Speakeasy, but I’ve really enjoyed our little chats in the comment sections and I’m looking forward to more!

There are rules to this award and I shall direct you to Sammy’s blog post if you’re feeling in a rules kind of mood, because I blithely ignored them….