Monday, May 30, 2011

Books, writing and friends

Kelley Vitollo here. It's not my normal day to blog, but there are an extra few days to throw us off this month, so here I am. LOL.

I've been known to get sappy from time to time and this is another one of those times. I want to talk about books, writing and how much it's added to my life. Yes, I love to read. It's given me countless hours of escapism over the years. Yes, I love to write. It gives me something that nothing else in my life is able to give me, but the really cool thing about it is, these aren't the only things reading and writing have given me. They've also given me some of the best friends I've ever had.

Now, I know there are a lot of Twilight haters out there, but I can honestly say it changed my life. Those books found their way into my world when I was living in a new state. All my best friends, the ones I'd grown up with were a whole state away. I was adjusting to being a stay-at-home mom for the first time and I was doing it in a place where I knew no one and coming from a place where I knew everyone. Because of my love for the books, I ended up joining some forums online and meeting people in my area who liked them too. A lot of the friendships went to the wayside when we weren't into Twilight as much, but there are a few people who have become my best friends. Who I know would do anything for me and I would do the same for them. I KNOW these women will be in my life forever and it all started for our love of the same books! How amazing is that?

Then add my writing and the endless possibilities online. People like Wendy, Kelley York and my other beta Jolene who I trust with a piece of my heart every time I send them one of my books to read. We started out as critique partners, but now they're even more than that...they're friends. Great friends.

All my YAtopia buddies, and Twitter buddies, and blogging buddies. They all bring something different to my life and it's because of our love of reading and writing.

Now that is made of awesome.

How has reading or writing changed your life?

12 comments:

  1. I don't think I would be a writer now if I hadn't been a reader first. Books have always inspired me. A Wrinkle in Time inspired me when I was eight years old to start writing stories.

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  2. Awww... I love how the internet is here to connect book lovers that may have never met otherwise. I don't know what people like us did before the internet, actually! For me, that book that got me networking with the online world was Harry Potter... It helped me to meet a lot of great writing friends, and now blogging about a bunch of books has done the same thing.

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  3. It's a little different, but 10 years ago writing fanfiction allowed me to connect with two of my closest friends, and we're on different continents! We've met up regularly over the past decade so writing has definitely changed my life :)

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  4. TOTALLY made of awesome. It's funny how one thing someone says on their blog will hit you, and then you'll start up a random conversation, and then, before you know it, they're the person whose opinion you can't WAIT to get back.
    AND, if you take things even further - you end up writing a book with them cause, why not??

    Great post Kelley.

    AND... I love getting writing from you :D

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  5. I heart this post!!! Turning to the internet for critique last year has led me to make some cyber besties, you especially, Kelley! :) I don't know what I'd do without you and the others I met on inkpop.

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  6. Jolene, I had SO much fun writing our book!!

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  7. I don't know what I'd do without you either!! I am so lucky :)

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  8. Great post, so much positivity! Love it. I feel the *exact* same way about reading and writing. It's become such an instrinsic part of my identity and adds so much to my life. Great post!

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  9. I've made such wonderful friends through writing. Most of them I've never met face to face, but I still feel like they're as close as my real life friends because I trust them with something so intensely personal: my writing.

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  10. Kelley, you rock! It's easy to be friends with you!!!!

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