Blog Thanksgiving

I’m quite aware that the actual holiday was a month ago, but I just like the spirit of the festival and thought it’d make a good title. This is a listicle, but bear with me because you might see your name in this one. The idea is to thank the people who’ve made blogging worthwhile for me either by being extremely nice and kind in the comments section or by liking all of my posts or just by posting excellent content that inspires me to improve or, as in most cases, doing them all. It’s been a year since I started blogging “seriously” and I don’t think I’d have lasted even this long if it hadn’t been for these wonderful people. Ready to meet them? (In no particular order, I swear.)

1. Sara Letourneau

Even though she’s busy working on her debut YA fantasy novel, The Keeper’s Curse, she finds the time to write detailed and insightful posts (especially her Journey Through the Character Arc series) not only on her blog here, but is a columnist on DIY MFA and is also one of the Resident Coaches at Writers Helping Writers. Not only that, she never fails to leave the sweetest, most encouraging and informative comments on all of my posts. I’m sure it isn’t hard to figure out how much I look up to her. Thanks for everything, Sara! 🙂

2. Megan Bedwell

Her posts never fail to tickle my funny bone and her stories are such a delight to read. I had the best time editing her choose-your-own-adventure style story, The Hashna Stone. She’s also probably my soul sister because it’s shocking how many interests we have in common. Thanks for the laughs and for Samel, Megan. 😉

3. Rachel Poli

Her writing has definitely improved since the Ninja Turtles fanfic days and how! Her Short Story Sunday is a series I’m always eager to read. I feel that her blog is well-rounded and she has a variety of posts from book reviews to writing advice. She runs a blog on video games called Double Jump with her sister. The amount of work she juggles is mind-boggling. She is also a regular here, for which I’m very grateful. 🙂

4. Dale Cooper

We connected through the SoCS Challenge hosted by Linda G. Hill and I’m so glad that we did. His writing style is awe-inspiring to say the least. He’s also very lucky to be living where he is, in my opinion. 😛 He always leaves a witty comment on my posts, which I truly appreciate. 🙂

5. Teagan Geneviene

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…” I’m talking about NaNoWriMo, of course. One person kept up a constant stream of encouragement through NaNoMail and it made all the difference in the world. I can’t thank Teagan enough for all the support through that crazy month of November. 🙂

6. Mez and Bri (Brewhaha Book Cafe)

The Sippit Sisters hosted their own version of NaNoWriMo called Novel in November and I had a great time doing both! Their emails, pep talks and musical recommendations greatly contributed to my 50,000 word success for sure. They also have great writing tips and tea recommendations, which is why I never miss any of their posts. Thanks, Mez and Bri, for being amazing! 🙂

7. Surabhi Rao, Jajwalya R. K. & Sriraksha V. Raghavan

I consider 7 to be my lucky number and it is quite an honour to be #7 on any of my lists (at least in my mind). These three are so much fun to talk to! Although I’ve only met one of them (and that one flew off to London in September) and the other two live in the same city but I haven’t met them yet (correction: Jaj reminded me that we’ve met, but it was hurried and we didn’t really talk that much so I won’t count it), I really feel like we’ve been friends since birth. Late night conversations on books, movies and what not have all contributed towards that feeling. Compared to them, I’m a veteran at blogging, and I do sometimes give them advice, but I think they are all excellent in their own ways because all their blogs are just awesome! You guys are the best! 🙂

8. Neha Vasist

A student of the same school as I graduated from and the most polite junior I’ve spoken to, she’s a gem of a person with such unique insights for someone so young that her posts constantly surprise me. I’m very glad a played a small role in nudging her to start a blog and I wish her the very best for her future. Thank you for considering me your inspiration, Neha! 🙂

9. Briana and Krysta (Pages Unbound)

I was introduced to their blog via a guest post Sara did for their Tolkien event. I am very sure I hit follow because they both are such huge fans of Tolkien like myself, but I stayed for the high quality content they post on a consistent basis. They’re book bloggers and everything from their book reviews to discussions and Classic Remarks are always informative and thought-provoking. Their love for good literature shines through in each and every one of them. Thanks for the great posts and comments, you both! 🙂

10. Mahriya

Her website is just so beautiful I could stare at it all day without reading a word. She’s also a chocolate lover and a bookworm, which makes her, as you might know, exactly my kind of person. We both also love Harry Potter and BBC’s Sherlock, so it’s not very surprising that we connected instantly. She also provides really good blogging tips based on her blogging experience, which I think is really great. Thanks for all the comments, Mahriya! 🙂

Special mention: Nthato Morakabi, Fleeting Muse, Ritu Bhatal, Mehdi EL Ghaly, Gary, Ronovan Hester, Mandibelle16, Geetha Balvannanathan, H. M. Jones, Athling2001 and Sara Doughty.

Also, a huge thank you to all my regular readers who are not on WordPress and all my followers for finding my site worth your while. 🙂

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This has been the most fun post to write till date. I hope it puts a smile on your face and, especially for those celebrating Christmas, gets you into that generous spirit the season demands. Merry Christmas to you all! 🙂