Joleene Naylor has nominated me for the WordPress Family Award.  Thanks, Joleene!  😀

Rules:

1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who nominated you.
3. Nominate 10 others you see as having an impact on your WordPress experience and family.
4. Let your 10 Family members know you have awarded them.
5. That is it. Just please pick 10 people that have taken you as  a friend, and spread the love.

Well, I started this blog on Thanksgiving Day back in 2010 because I needed a blog that was separate from the one I co-administer with Stephannie Beman (and co-author with Joleene Naylor and Janet Syas Nitsick) dedicated to supporting other self-published authors.  Now, that blog was started back in January 2010, so it’s older than this one.

So my real introduction to WordPress stemmed to January 2010.  I was on Blogger at the time, and Stephannie told me that WordPress more user friendly and suggested we combine forces to create a blog dedicated to sharing our research and experience in self-publishing.  We asked Joleene if she’d like to join, and she did.  From there we had a couple of authors who contributed on a regular basis but then got too busy to stay on.  Today Janet is the other author who contributes to the blog.

I met Stephannie back in 2008 on LiveJournal.  I got into LiveJournal because of Melanie Nilles.  Melanie also introduced me to MySpace which is where I met Joleene (and I don’t remember when I met Joleene or even how).  I remember Stephannie was the one who found me on LiveJournal.  (I met Melanie in college; we were suite mates in the same dorm.)

So what I’ve learned along the way is that friendships are developed slowly and usually in places you least expect it.  I’ve met a lot of people through WordPress (and in other avenues) through the years, but in the WordPress world, I’d say Stephannie Beman, Joleene Naylor, Lauralynn Elliot, and Rose Gordon stand out as the ones I’ve had a “WordPress” relationship with.  Lauralynn, Rose, and I met through the self-published author’s WordPress blog.  I know I met Lauralynn before Rose (so maybe in 2010?).  Correct me if I’m wrong on any of this, Lauralynn.   I met Rose in 2011.  I remember when I met her because I picked up one of her books before I realized she wrote it, and it was a new release at the time (so all I have to do is check the date on that book to remember).

Now, I didn’t meet one author in particular through WordPress, and honestly, I don’t remember how long I’ve known her, but she does have a WordPress blog so I’ll mention her along with the other authors who’ve made my WordPress experience a fun one.  Her name is Paula Freda.  I know we met through my website contact form, but I don’t remember when I met her.  I want to say 2009, but I’m not definite on that.

Janet is my author friend in real life (we met back in 2008 and live in the same small town).  Melanie and I go further back to 1994 in college.  I guess if anyone should take credit to where I am today, it would be Melanie because she inspired me to go beyond simply writing stories in my notebook.  Because of her, I discovered the wonderful world of self-publishing.

So another lesson I’ve learned is that one thing leads to another, and you can never tell what steps you’re taking today or who you’re meeting today who will lead you down a path full of amazing rewards.  The best things in life often come in the simple and small things we can take for granted.

With the exception of Joleene who nominated me for this award, I’m going to pass along the award to the above people I mentioned (in alphabetical order):

1.  Stephannie Beman

2.  Lauralynn Elliot

3.  Dorothy Paula Freda

4. Rose Gordon

5.  Melanie Nilles

6.  Janet Syas Nitsick

(6 out of 10 isn’t too bad, right?)  😀