I'm Back!!!! // Bloggers who Influenced my Early Blogging Journey // School Year Schedule // Announcement about announcement....

by - September 02, 2017

Hey, everyone! I'm BAAAAACCKKKK!

So, before we get started with today's post, a couple of announcements:

Due to school, life, etc., for the duration of this school year, my blog posts shall be going up on either Friday or Saturday. I have yet to decide which. But thank you so much for your patience!!!

Next up is: I promised a "special announcement post" when I got back from my hiatus. But... it turns out that this post is not yet ready. And the thing that was to be announced was... not yet one hundred percent true. So hopefully, by next week it will be!

Today's post follows:

I recently saw Lisa at Inkwell do a post on how much she appreciated Katie Grace's blog and how she influenced her. (If you haven't followed them both, BTW, you should. Go do that right now.) That inspired me to do a little post giving a shoutout to all the people who inspired and influenced me when I was a wee blogger just starting out.

Warning: I may mention you. If you have even the smallest embarrassment about being mentioned here, then by all means, run.

When I was--oh, I don't know, about 11-- and waiting for the Wingfeather Saga book 4, The Warden and the Wolf King, to drop, I started frequenting Andrew Peterson's book website/blog, wingfeathersaga.com. It was updated weekly, and by the time I was thirteen I'd read all the archives and was slightly addicted to it. Fan art, updates on the progress of book 4, exclusive facts... it was so perfect.

One day, the librarian (head blogger) over there posted a link to the First Annual Silmarillion Awards, saying that they had begun a couple of days before and lots of Wingfeather characters were getting nominated. I followed the link to DJ Edwardson's blog, and from there found all of the other nomination posts.

The first of those blogs I followed was Adventure Awaits, the online home of Tracey Dyck. She blogged about Tolkien, her writing, her life, the books she was reading... I hadn't known that you could blog about more than one thing at a time! In my creative writing class, we were told that it would be a good plan to focus on one thing on your blog to gain a certain niche of readers. Which is definitely true, but at the same time.... Tracey balanced all of those things and forced me to get Bloglovin' in order to keep up with her blog.

From there I did some browsing. I'd always wanted to start a blog, but the timing had never been quite right... I figured now that I was discovering that I wasn't the only young Christian writer out there, it might be a good time, but I wasn't sure how to go about it.

That was when I found Cait's blog.

Cait wasn't really in the niche I was looking for. She does book blogging, Bookstagram, reviews, and other such things, which I wasn't interested in at the time. (Since then, of course, I've come to love ARCs. But... you know. Anything for free books ^_^)  But the thing about Cait's blog, Paper Fury, was that she had such a strong personal voice. Her personality really shines through in everything she writes, and her posts are so unique and interesting!

Also: If you read through her archives, you can really see how she developed that voice (and her list of followers, currently at 4,000+) over time. She's been blogging for five or six years, which demonstrated to me that your platform doesn't just sprout out of thin air. It really has to be developed and built and takes time and endurance.

I'd made up my mind at this point that I was ready to start blogging, helped in part by encouragement from the ever-sweet and amazing Christine and Mary. They were both eager to see what I'd start with this thing. They were my first GFC followers. They gave me tips and advice and were just all-around amazing.

There have been so many others who have been super encouraging over my journey to become a blogger and then to really grow where I am. Shoutouts right now to Savannah, whose friendship was a great encouragement and whose character posts have helped me so much in writing my own stories; to Gray, who was one of my first followers and has commented on nearly every post I've put up; to Ivie, who came along more recently but has been a huge encouragement and happy to read everything I write, which is honestly kind of mind-blowing.

One final shoutout before I wrap this up: thank you so much to Stephanie, Jill, and Shannon at goteenwriters.blogspot.com. You guys are the best, and you've made me believe that maybe I really can get published as a teen. Thanks for investing all that time in helping teens get published.

And finally, to all my followers, regardless of whether or not I mentioned you in this post:
to
Abbey,
Fellow Rebel,
Lora,
Evangeline,
Anna,
Jazzy,
Sarah,
Movie Critic,
Skye,
Julian,
Zane,
Lisa,
Abby M.,
Brianna,
Ivie,
Bethany,
Katrina,
Girls Billings,
Karyssa,
Clara,
Hannah,
Ella,
FL Potts,
My Bookcase and I,
Kat n Lia,
Ariana,
Madline,
Farm Lassie,
Jonathan,
Micaiah,
Rebekah,
Amy,
Laura,
Chloe,
Jem,
Olivia,
Tracey,
Christine,
Savannah,
Gray,
Mary,
Lady Nefertankh,
and Missy Sissy, 
and those who follow me via email and Bloglovin': 
HC,
Madison Guy, 
Me, My Blog, and I,
KatMJ, 
and Sarah Hargett, 

Thank you all so much for investing in me. It means so much to me. God bless you all.


Wow, that was a much bigger post than I anticipated! But chat with me now. Which bloggers have been the greatest influence for you as you've gotten started/kept going with your blogging career? What do you think my announcement post will be about? Talk to me in the comments!


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33 comments

  1. This is such a lovely idea! I should do a post like this one.

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  2. Yay!!! I've been awaiting your return. Hopefully hiatus was good. You, my friend, are so sweet. Thank you for the mention. Your blog is amazing. You're encouraging and your personal voice does come through with your posts.

    I can't wait to see what the announcement is. If I had to guess, maybe you are looking for betas? I don't know, but I'm sure it's great.

    ~Ivie
    Iviewrites.blogspot.com

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    1. It was terrific! Aww, you're encouraging too. :)

      You're close-ish! You'll just have to wait and see ;)

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  3. Great post!

    So... I realized... I haven't even followed you yet! *freaks out* I have you in my sidebar and everything, but I'M NOT A LEGIT FOLLOWER. So I'm going to do that right now... XD Thanks for reminding me ;)

    And again, I loved this! It was very cool to see what led you to start a blog, Faith!

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    1. Thanks!

      LILA. Do not feel bad for one second. XD You're totally okay. Thank you for the follow, of course! But it's completely fine!

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  4. Welcome back Faith! Hope you had a good break!

    It's so cool to hear about your blogging journey!

    Catherine
    catherinesrebellingmuse.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Catherine! I had a great break, thanks.

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  5. Thanks for the shout out! I love your blog, I first found you on Scattered Scribblings, when you didn't have a blog, your user name caught my eye, since I am a WingFeather fan, then I saw you comment on Lilly's blog that you got a blog, so here I am! XD

    I'm really glad I found this blog, because you're awesome! <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wingfeathers forever. And I mean, it's kind of Wingfeather that started off this whole blogging journey, sooooo.... yeah.

      Aww, thank you so much! I love your blog too. :)

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  6. You're back!! 😊 This was great! I love posts like this.

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  7. This was SUCH a lovely post, Faith! I loved reading about your blogging story - and OH GRACIOUS, thank you so much for the shout out!! YOU'RE SERIOUSLY THE BEST, GIRL, I'm so glad that I'm one of your blogging friends! <3 <3 <3

    ~ Savannah | Scattered Scribblings

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    Replies
    1. YOU ARE SO WELCOME!!!! And you're the best, too :) I'm so glad I know you.

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  8. WELL HELLO, AND I LOVE READING YOUR BLOG! I know that when I first found Cait's blog, I immediately started comparing myself. XD Which wasn't good. But then I came to the same conclusion that you did: she had been doing this for YEEARS, and she had been promoting her blog on other social media platforms.
    YOUR BLOG IS AWESOME AND I AM HAPPY TO FOLLOW IT. <3

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    Replies
    1. I definitely did the same thing with Cait's blog! but it's true, and probably someday, if we work hard, we can get our blogs up to speed with hers!!!

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  9. AAAAAAHHHHH! YOU'RE BACK. *tackles* I have missed you!!!

    This post was THE SWEETEST THING. And I'll admit, I squealed a little when I saw my name. YOU ARE JUST PRECIOUS. *huggles*

    I actually follow almost all of those blogs you mentioned, and they have helped shape me as well! I just love our blogging community. It's so encouraging and full of such talented people. It always brings me joy. ^_^

    Anyways, so very happy to have you back with us. I've miss you and your lovely posts! <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *hugs* I'm so glad to be back! I've missed you too!

      I'm glad! Your blog is one of my favorites, to be quite honest, and I definitely agree with you about the blogging community (blogosphere?) Everyone's so amazing, and I feel like I've finally found my people ^_^

      Glad to be back!

      Delete
  10. Welcome back. :) It seems as though everyone is going on hiatus, so it is nice to see someone come back from one!
    It was fun to read about all the people who have influenced you in your blogging career. (I especially liked what you said about Cait, because, recently, I've been thinking a lot about her and how she has grown her voice/audience. I think you hit the nail on the head).

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    1. I know! I feel the same way. It's good to be back.

      I aim to develop a platform like hers eventually :) I hope it's possible.

      Delete
  11. Welcome back, it's good to hear from you again!
    Thanks for sharing the story behind your blog- I love how people inspire and support each other within the blogging community!

    ..Since you mention the Wingfeather Saga, I'm pleased to say I've convinced my church library to buy the entire series. Just got them today!

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    Replies
    1. Blue, it's good to see you!
      I feel the same way. Everyone's been so amazing ever since I started :)

      That's terrific! Great job, so exciting! I hope lots of other people are able to discover them now!

      Delete
  12. Yay, you're back!! And ahhhhh....I won't be able to comment on your blog posts asap, as I don't have internet over the weekend....but oh well...

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    1. That's okay :) I'll look for them later. Don't sweat it at all.

      Delete
  13. She's back! *cheers* <3 This is such a sweet post and I'll definitely have to do something like this... Also about posting, I totally get it. Same thing going on around here... school is keeping me insanely busy :)

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    1. *hugs* I am dead from my school workload and yet it feels like I never get anything done.

      Delete
  14. Agh, all the fabulous bloggers! Tracey, Cait, Christine, Mary, Savannah, ALL OF THEM. ^_^

    And aw, thanks for the little shout-out. You're so sweet. <3 It's been great getting to know you!

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    1. I've been so glad to get to know all these amazing people! Your blog was actually one of the first ones I followed too, but I didn't have a specific shoutout for it within the post body... just that it's awesome. :D

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  15. I haven't read the Wingfeather Saga - but it's on my list ;) It's great to see you back, and I look forward to your special announcement! :D
    Jem Jones

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    1. YOU MUST READ IT, JEM. READ IT. PLEASE.

      It's coming tomorrow! *winks furtively*

      Delete
  16. This is a great idea for a post! I'm so glad these people encouraged you; your blog is wonderful! :D <3

    Welcome back!!


    Alexa
    thessalexa.blogspot.com
    verbosityreviews.com

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  17. Cool post. Looking foreword to this announcement post. ;)

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Hello, friends! Do make yourselves comfortable and stay for a while--I'd love to chat with you! I simply ask that you keep it clean. :)