A long, long time ago, I started poking around the internet, looking for writing stuff: places that could help me improve as a writer, places that would give me information on where I could publisher–err, try to publish–the couple of short stories I had sweated out, and what to do about the ideas that were starting to develop in me, the things that seemed to want to become…novels. The long-dormant dream of being a writer had awakened, though I suppose it had never really gone away entirely.

Of course, the web is a big place and there’s something for everyone here. No matter what your obsession, you can find it, and I found plenty of ‘official’ sites, like Absolute Write and NaNoWriMo and Writer’s Digest, and I dove into those to help me learn. And I found the less ‘official’: the blogs. There are thousands of blogs out there, and of particular interest to me were the ones belonging to people who were like me: people who were writing with a dream in mind, the dream to become published authors. I followed some, and then decided to do my own blog, and some of us have been traveling on this rocky path together for more than three years already–it’s hard to believe it’s been that long. We’ve cheered for each other and commiserated with each other, we’ve come to know each other in that curious way that we know anyone on the web.

I am happy to say that three of my oldest friends from the blog world (well, let’s change that, as they’re not particularly old–three of the people I go back with the longest) have scored big time at the eFestival of Words Virtual Book Fair this weekend! Carrie Butler, Lisa Regan and Nancy Thompson each took home awards, and each of them were here almost from the beginning. Congratulations on your well-deserved success, ladies, and I wish you continued success!