Supporting The Best Bloggers Out There

I think it’s safe to say that we all enjoy blogging, because if we did not, we would have long since popped our blog clogs – would we have not? For those of us who are still blogging and enjoying it – are there any bloggers that wonder if it might one day be possible to go on to publish a book? Or several books? If we did – would we hope that perhaps our blogging buddies might extend their support by forking out and buying our book?

It seems fairly obvious that we may have all had different reasons to start blogging. Some of us have been surprised that there seems a real nice crowd of bloggers out there who either inspire us with challenges and writing prompts, or give to us a big dollop of daily encouragement which helps us to flourish in the blogging world.

I have been blogging since the very end of April – almost seven months now and one of the first bloggers I came across, and received great advice and encouragement from right from the start, is Teresa Grabs the creator of the site The Haunted Wordsmith.

Many of you will already know Teresa. She is a true writer. I have said this before about her – PROLIFIC!!! Boy can she write! She clearly has a remarkable mind that just keeps on creating perfect flash fiction and full length novels. But it’s not just the sheer amount of stories she comes up with. She is a clever writer. She is an expert at endings with an unexpected twist. Or she writes stories with an almost fable-like quality, which make you think again about the world we live in and motivations of people.

Now, I would have thought for any bloggers who are true writers with a creative talent, that compiling your work into the form of a book and publishing it, would be the icing on the cake of all the hours you have put in to producing great stories. As far as I know, Teresa has published three books (correct me if I am wrong please Teresa!) and I have bought all three, including Teresa’s recently released novel, in paperback form from Amazon.

My initial reason for buying the first of her books “Tales From the Haunted Wordsmith” was that after all the support and encouragement and inspiration from Teresa’s stories, writing challenges and her comments on my work – I figured that it was the least I could do to support her writing career by buying one of her books. Surely, the best way to support a blogger you think is superb is to buy their book and tell all your friends about it!

I loved it! I put it straight into my work bag and it was at work that I read it during my break times. The book is perfect for those who read in short bursts during travel or breaks. The stories vary in length, from a page to several pages.

I will be honest, because I don’t like ghost stories, I was a bit hesitant about ordering Teresa’s book because with a title including the word “haunted” that is what I thought it would be. But the book is exactly what it says on the cover “multi-genre”. Which I love. Every story has a fresh feel from the one before. But time and again the way she finished a story made me smile – so many unexpected endings. This is typical Teresa Grabs style. She is a clever woman! I also loved the stories which make you think again about “things” – why people do what they do, or think the way they think.

I have my favourites. I started to fold the corners down on each of my favourites (my grandfather would be shocked – he never allowed us to fold corners, books were sacred to him). But looking at my copy of Teresa’s book now…I think the first page of almost half of the stories have their corners folded down.

Anyway…I am very grateful for all of Teresa’s support since I have been blogging. I am thrilled that she is publishing her work. It feels great to be able to support a great blogger by buying her book.

In order to obtain a copy of one of Teresa’s books for yourself, you need to travel all the way to Brazil and trek through the Amazon rain-forest, wading through the jungle in the hope that no poisonous snakes or scorpions find you first.

No!!! It’s so much easier than that! I just clicked onto the Amazon website and typed in “Teresa Grabs” and her books appeared. Or you could type in the specific title of the book you think will interest you most.

I have included a link below to Amazon.uk for us Brits:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Haunted-Wordsmith-Multi-genre-Collection/dp/1983008486/ref=sr_1_5?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1542924577&sr=8-5&keywords=teresa+grabs

These are the other two of Teresa’s books I have bought recently and I would highly recommend to you.

I would certainly recommend Teresa’s books, her blogging, and her writing challenges to all other bloggers.

For bloggers who are talented creative writers and publish their work as a book, we as members of the blogging community can be a superb support in promoting and advertising the books of our favourites. We can become a fantastic marketing team and help promote the books of other bloggers, by means of social media, and by our enthusiasm when we tell people what we have been reading recently.

I have been showing Teresa’s books to friends and  workmates, and will take them up to Wales when I see my family at the end of December. There is a local book club that meet in the restaurant round the corner from my little nest and since a couple of my friends attend (to be honest I am terrified of them because it’s more of a wealthy wives club, and I normally try to make sure I am not on their gossip radar), my next mission is to introduce Teresa Grabs’ books to them. There is a newspaper journalist who lives a few doors down from here. I keep wondering if during one of our morning chats, I might slip in how much I enjoyed Teresa’s book.

Well…

…all of us play an important role in the blogging community. By reading each other’s posts, liking and commenting, we provide enormous encouragement to other bloggers. I am sure that like me, you have found that bloggers notice your support and they seek out your posts to encourage you also.

For those amongst the blogging community who are publishing their work, I think it would be a very fine thing for as many as possible of us to extend our support to not just their blogs, but their books. By all means buy one for yourself. But…even better, talk about it, show your friends and if you are bold like me, invade the local book club too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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