Why Getting Involved in the Bookish Community is Rewarding // guest post by Kellyn Roth

Hi there! I’m Kellyn Roth, founder & manager of the author service providing website Reveries Co. We recently launched a new website with a blog, and Maya graciously allowed me to guest post to celebrate!

I’ve been involved in the bookish community for many years as a blogger, author, and later writing coach.

Now I hope Reveries Co. will offer a hub of inspiration and advice to authors of all shapes and sizes through our blog and social media, as well as offering affordable, professional services.

Suffice to say I’ve spent a lot of time trying to think of ways to benefit the bookish community — writers and readers of all sorts — but sometimes, when people question why I invest so much time in it, I feel like I’m not sure why.

Why is it worthwhile to be involved in the online community of readers and writers who I lovingly refer to as “the bookish community”? Why do I want to help them? What’s the purpose of it all? Is it a worthy cause?

After thinking it through, I think I have some answers, and I hope they’re helpful to you, too!

the Christmas spirit tag

Hello there! I’ve been tagged for this tag by a good friend of mine. I’m not allowed to say who she is (for reasons you’ll soon understand), but I’m thankful for her and for her tagging me, and I’m excited to do her tag.

But first:

the rules

1. This is an anonymous tag. DO NOT link back to the creator or whoever tagged you — the goal of this tag is to spread Christmas spirit anonymously. Consider it a sort of “pay it forward” — you don’t know who started it, but you’re there to continue it. You can say thank you, of course, in the comments of whoever tagged you, but it’s all very “Secret Santa” when you create your post.
2. Answer the copy-and-paste-able questions (GIFs, photos, song lyrics, poem extracts, etc. are all welcome).
3. Share one thing Christmas taught you.
4. Tag as many people as you can thing to help spread Christmas cheer around the blogosphere (my word, that rhymed).

And now…

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the questions

(and my answers)

What is your favorite Christmas Bible verse?

I absolutely love all of Isaiah 53, especially in the NIV (which is strange, because in almost every other case I pick the ESV). It’s not technically a “Christmas Bible verse,” I guess, but it reminds me that Jesus came to die. That the reason He was born as a baby was so he could save us from our sins. And in that way, it really is a Christmas verse. As is nearly every verse in the entire Bible (:

Tales of the Lonely Sun // blog spotlight + interview + GIVEAWAY

Hello, friends!

Today I’m participating in the blog tour for a brand-new blog: Tales of the Lonely Sun! This amazing blog is run by four teen girls, and it features posts about books and writing, plus a short story contest! The winners for their contest will be announced on Thursday, so subscribe to their blog to be notified about that (and get the info on how to enter the next contest; they happen every two months).

This post is going to be long, but I promise it’s all interesting.  And if you stick around to the end, there’s a giveaway!

About the blog:

We’re four girls who love reading, writing, and most importantly, Jesus. The Lonely Sun emblem symbolizes the Light amidst the Darkness, an illustration of the world and how it’s always been.

We hope to focus on reading and writing books that are full of light opposed to books centered around darkness. The Tales of the Lonely Sun team are spreading the word about good moral books, and how to write them.

We host a seasonal writing contest for writers looking to share their work, and offer book reviews for the book dragons among us.

Tales of the Lonely Sun is run by Carlye, Merie, Jorja, and Mya. I’ll share their bios later. But first, I’m excited to show you our interview! I asked the girls some questions, and one or more of them answered each one.

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interview

1 // What first inspired you to start this blog? (Whose idea was it?)

Merie: Funny thing — Carlye and I both had this idea around the same time! I actually contacted Abigail Harder about it first, but then Carlye contacted us, and so we decided to merge the two together. (Abigail doesn’t post, but she judges for the short story contests 🙂 ) 

2 // Why do you write?

Jorja: I write because there is no feeling quite like reading an amazing book for the first time, and I want to share that feeling with people through my writing. I also want the world to have less books where, if you recommend them to someone, you have to start out by warning them of inappropriate content. I blog for pretty much the same reason, I want to share books that have given me that “this is an amazing book” feeling, and give people some advice that has helped me so that they can write their own. 

subscriber spotlight // I was featured on Project Inspire!

Hello, friends!

This week I was featured at Project Inspire, Jenna Terese’s amazing blog for writers and artists. If you want to learn more about why I write and get my best advice for my fellow creators, check out her post!

project inspire

i am thrilled to introduce our Subscriber Spotlight no. 2! Keep scrolling to learn more about this inspiring Project Inspire subscriber, and don’t forget to check out her blog and such to connect with another fellow artist! ❤

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|about Maya|

 Maya is a writer, dreamer, and blogger from Michigan. She loves books, the forest, hand lettering, dark chocolate, her family, and Jesus. She believes firmly in the power of stories (and of the Story), and she is passionate about sharing this hope with others through her writing, design, performing arts, and tae kwon do. Ephesians 2:8-10

|what do you create?|

I write stories, books, and poems; hand letter art; and do some graphic design.

|why do you do these forms of art?|

Ever since I was six years old, I’ve been captivated by the power of stories. My dad read Narnia and The Hobbit out loud to me, and…

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Project Inspire – encourage others in their writing journeys

Project Inspire, a blog tag created by the amazing Jenna Terese, was created to inspire and encourage writers. I saw this tag on Amelie’s blog and decided to do it!

This tag is something we really need. It’s hard to remember that you’re not alone. I’m an introvert and I don’t love spending time with people (well, okay, I do, but it drains me and sometimes I can’t handle it), but I need friends to remind me that I’m not the only weird, introverted teenager with a story to tell. It’s easy to think of myself as unique (in a bad way, like no one will ever understand me), and I’m so grateful to everyone who’s reminded me that I’m not alone. That I have a community. That there are others who like classic books, need time alone to recharge, have an Andrew Peterson obsession, are fangirly and serious at once…

Everyone needs a community – people who are like you, people who remind you that you are not alone. If you don’t have a group of people who encourage you, I hope and pray that you find one, and I volunteer to be the first person in it (whether or not we have things in common). I’ll be your encourager and I’m going to start with this blog post.

mid-year book update

This is supposed to be called the mid-year book freak-out tag (but I’m not freaking out – yet – plus no one tagged me). I don’t think I’m supposed to post posts (both of which are tags) so close together (but I’m doing it anyway). I don’t usually post about what I’m reading (but I’m going for it).

Behold, the mid-year book update.

blog spotlight: Pananaw

Hello, world! It’s finally time to write my first post since my blog became public. I’m sorry I haven’t done this sooner, but I’ve been really busy (being on the crew for a musical is very fulfilling but utterly exhausting).

Anyway, I’m here. I’m doing a blog tour.  And I’m writing a blog spotlight for an amazing blogger: Jo!

resources for writers

In this story, the sun moves. In this story, every night meets a dawn and burns away in the bright morning. In this story, Winter can never hold back the Spring… He is the best of all possible audiences, the only Audience to see every scene, the Author who became a Character and heaped every shadow on Himself. The Greeks were right. Live in fear of a grinding end and a dark hereafter. Unless you know a bigger God, or better yet, are related to Him by blood.

~ N.D. Wilson

resources below ↓