I confess, I am a Cyber Stalker

I have to be very careful, at times, not to let myself get lost in the world of blogs. They are fascinating little critters… it’s like taking a walk down your street at night and not only getting little glimpses of the insides of each house with a light on, but also getting to hear a little snippet of conversation from each one you pass. There are a number of blogs I read regularly, and I am endeared to each one for different reasons. Maybe they make me laugh. Maybe there is something about the writer that makes me feel like kin. Maybe I know them and love them so much I would read their grocery lists if that's what they decided to post.

Sometimes I am so delighted by a blog that I start to wonder about my mental state. Is it healthy, for instance, to be so enamored by a blog that you print out all the archives and carry the pages with you everywhere you go?

I admit it. I am Joshilyn Jackson’s
cyber stalker. Joshilyn is the author of gods in Alabama. I spend a lot of time seeking out the first books published by authors and Joshilyn came under my radar sometime early this year. I think a couple of other blogs I read had mentioned her. I enjoyed her book. I really did. But the day I found myself reading her blog was the day I truly became a die-hard fan.

What I love about Joshilyn is that she talks about ALL sorts of things in her blog. She shares REAL life thoughts from INSIDE HER HEAD that make me feel a little less like I’m the only basket case on the block. Unlike so many other authors, she doesn’t just write about being an author. She has kids. She has obsessions (both reasonable and unreasonable, depending on the day). She’s very HUMAN and I love her for it. Take her Halloween entry, for instance. Do you know what this entry says to me? Hope!

Maybe there is hope for me yet.

And what you don’t know is that I was actually reaching that point where I was starting to think there wasn’t any. Not that I was feeling hopeLESS. I was just starting to feel like I should settle. I’ve got some skills. I’ve going a few things going for me. Why dream bigger? Who needs to write a novel?

I do.

Just so I can say I did it… even if it’s destined to sit in a box beneath my bed until I die. I need to write a novel… not a draft or a mess of ideas or a series of great chapters with no connections… a stupid beginning to end story.

I know what you’re thinking… you’ve read this before. Sometimes I just need to hear myself say it again and again and again.

Meanwhile… I’ll just keep paging along, word by word. And I’ll keeping laughing myself silly when I read Joshilyn’s cat story (if you click no other link in this entry, CLICK this one… I still think about this entry and start laughing uncontrollably), or weeping with happiness when she talks about the cover to her book, or wondering what happens in the sock story (still working my way through the archives and wondering if she’ll live up to that promise to FINISH the story).

So that's my confession for the day. I'm obsessed with Joshilyn Jackson and I want to grow up and be just like her... unreasonable obsessions and all...