The Blogging Community is Alive and Well
During the long months of Covid-19, I’ve found a wonderful group of friends from around the world through the blogging community. They are supportive, kind, and most of all, there on the days I feel down.
Many feel blogging is a waste of time, but I have to disagree. As an author, I’ve gained many new readers who post reviews through the blogging community, and I’m happy to return the favor. The blogs are full of informative, often funny and heartwarming posts. It’s a wonderful way to connect with like-minded people from around the world. I have friends as far away as South Africa and Australia- which is amazing!
It’s never too late to start a blog. Here are a few of the things I’ve learned.
- Be personable. Write about things that interest you- there are bound to be others who will read and comment.
- If you get comments (and your blog should be open to comments) answer them! People won’t come back if they don’t get any interaction. After all, that’s what blogging is for 🙂 If you’re worried about spammers, you can set your blog to have every comment moderated before it’s approved. Or do like me, and allow comments to go through from readers who have previously commented and been approved.
- Visit other blogs (especially the ones of people who have commented on your blog) and comment on their posts. And please, take the time to do more than a sentence or two. You want the blogger to feel as though you really read and enjoyed their post- as you hope they did for yours.
- Add photos and whitespace. Too much writing becomes hard to read and will cause you to lose readers- and we don’t want that to happen!
Blogging Challenges
I’ve recently joined a few blogging challenges and have found them to be fun and entertaining.
One is called #SundayStills by Terri Webster Schrandt. She gives us a weekly theme and we post pictures that we think suit the topic. Here’s one I did with the theme- Fallen:
And here’s a short story I wrote for the Fiction in a Flash Challenge posted weekly by Suzanne Burke.
Suzanne Burke chose this evocative photo for this week’s Fiction in a Flash Challenge. Read the entries and join in here.
You and Me, Baby
Jeremy frowned at the twisted tent pole. “I thought you said this was going to be easy?”
Trish shot him an icy glare before going back to the indecipherable instructions threatening to blow out of her hands. “If you’d quit complaining and help me to figure this out, we might get somewhere.”
Some honeymoon. When he’d come up with the last minute idea to go camping and save their money toward buying a home, Trish had jumped on it. But after three hours of fighting to get the tent to stand, the thrill of the adventure was gone. And he was starving.
“Maybe we should work on getting a fire started and come back to this,” Trish murmured, glancing at the campers next door with envious eyes. Which annoyed the hell out of him-he was trying, dammit.
“Maybe you could pitch in a little more and we might have a bed before midnight.” Okay, that wasn’t fair, but he was embarrassed he couldn’t figure out a stupid tent in front of his new wife.
“It’s getting late,” Trish said tearfully. “What are we going to do?”
“I’d say sleep under the stars but this park is known for bears.” He lifted the corner of the tent and threaded the pole through the eyelet and corresponding flap. Now, if he could just figure out how to attach the other si…
“Bears?” Trish squeaked, her head swiveling like Beetlejuice. “You better mean Winnie the Pooh, Jeremy Michaels, or else–“
He grinned. She was so damn cute. “Think more like Goldilocks and The Three Bears and you’re getting warmer.”
Trish left her spot on the picnic table and scurried to his side. “This is a bad idea.” She shivered and hugged herself despairingly.
Now he felt bad. The park did have bears, but as long as they were careful with their food and garbage they’d be fine.
He dropped the tent and took her in his arms. “I’m sorry, honey. This is all my fault.”
“Hey, you guys look like you could use some help.” Two men from the neighboring camp stood in their driveway, friendly smiles on their faces.
Jeremy dropped a kiss on Trish’s sweet-tasting lips, then stepped toward the strangers. “That would be awesome. We’ve been working on this thing all afternoon.” He grinned and shook their hands.
“No problem. They can be tricky if you’re not used to them.” The men took over and had the tent together in fifteen minutes flat. With a polite nod to Trish, they started the newlyweds fire, then, with a wave, took their leave.
“Wow, that was nice. There, babe, we’re all set up. Want me to grab the blankets now or after we eat?”
Trish stared at him with an embarrassed expression.
“What?” he asked, confused. Their camp looked perfect.
“I want to sleep in the car,” she confessed.
Stunned, he looked at her in amazement. Then the hilarity of the situation took over and he began to laugh. “I never should have mentioned the bears,” he admitted. “Okay, we’ll both sleep in the car. You and me, baby.”
This is based on the true story of our honeymoon. Needless to say, the next day we booked a hotel. 🙂
I hope I’ve convinced you to give the blogging community a try- I’m sure you’ll love it!
Jacquie Biggar
JACQUIE BIGGAR is a USA Today bestselling author of Romantic Suspense who loves to write about tough, alpha males and strong, contemporary women willing to show their men that true power comes from love.
Jacquie lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and loves to hear from readers all over the world!
Free reads, excerpts, author news, and contests can be found on her web site:
http://jacqbiggar.com
