I marvel once again at the community that's sprung up here. Truly an unexpected gift, and greatly appreciated.
You'll be shocked to know that I regularly geek out over my stats. No, really. Of course I like to see agents and editors show up; of course I obsess over New York ISPs. All blogging authors do. Right?
If it's not true, don't tell me.
But it goes beyond that. I puzzle over trends, like why I have so many readers in Massachusetts. Not just the main urban areas, but towns with curious names that sound like settings for novels.
And how many writers there are from my old stomping grounds in the Northeast (yeah, yeah, you all know I'm a Yankee. This isn't some kind of new disclosure.).
And if those readers WHO LIVE WHERE I LIVE NOW will ever bump into me at Starbucks and never know who I am.
And how in the world somebody from Bosnia and Herzegovina found me.
And so on.
A fun little exercise, to be sure. But today I'm asking for more. Because I lurve you.
So. Where are you from? How did you find me? How has the COMMUNITY here touched your life?
I'm certain to love reading your comments today!
Miss Snark's First Victim
Where am I right now?
ReplyDeleteI'm looking through your window! Muahaha!
I'm your barista! Muahaha! And I found you cause it was meant to be. Happy Friday!
ReplyDeleteI am not afraid of either of you. =P
ReplyDeleteI'm an ex-pat Brit who, somehow, ended up in Arizona seven years ago.
ReplyDeleteJust found out yesterday that US Immigration are going to let us stay (long story).
I found you through Absolute Write and am glad I did. :)
I'm one of those Massachusetts people. (Watertown to be exact.) And, to be honest, I can't remember how I found you. A RT on Twitter or a mention in a Nathan Bransford blog comment?
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, I'm glad I did!
I ended up in South Carolina via Arkansas, Alabama, and Indiana.
ReplyDeleteI found you in a search for "Miss Snark."
Well, I'm in New Orleans after just having moved here from the Boston area (Norwood) and can't really remember how I found you though I sort of remember a comment thread from earlier this year where I might have answered that question (maybe I'm just confusing myself...wouldn't be the first time).
ReplyDeleteThe community has been great, especially the support and critiques (both for my own writing and for others) which has been wonderful! I'm finally at a point with my latest manuscript to start entering it in a Secret Agent contest, since FROSTY ended up going nowhere, unfortunately. Keep up the great work!
Central Illinois, representin'. This was the first writing blog I stumbled across, I think by clicking random links.
ReplyDeleteI found you by following Rachelle Gardner on Twitter. I had heard talk of the Secret Agent for a long time but no one had ever successfully linked me over here.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm relatively new to your blog. Certainly not a full-on member of the community. But I'm just a bit north of Mickeyville. Orlando, Florida.
I currently live in Utah. If I didn't currently live here, I would have never met Shannon Hale, who has become one of my writing idols. Without hearing her speak so many times, and without being a part of a community with so many awesome YA Fantasy writers around, I have no idea where my writing would be right now. Thank you Shannon Hale, Brandon Sanderson, Brandon Mull, Mette Ivie Harrison, Jessica Day George and others for living here!
ReplyDeleteI'm in Seattle. I can't remember who's blog I found you through now, but it was one of the many pub blogs I read. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm another one in Massachusetts. Interesting that there are so many. I found my way here from Kristin Nelson's blog, shortly after my first foray into the publishing blog world. Thank goodness, or I might have been scared away by the negativity that crops up elsewhere. :D
ReplyDeleteI am in Kansas City, have been most of my life, and probably will spend the remainder of it here. My sister told me about your site, and I've been coming back ever since the first visit.
ReplyDeleteI'm from San Diego (La Mesa technically, but more folks know where San Diego is-LOL.) Lived here most of my life with a few years in the bay area and Santa Cruz.
ReplyDeleteHow did I find you....it must have been off someone elses blog, most likey Nathan's?
I'm a newbie here but this group helped alot- but you lovely Authoress, and the folks who critiqued my entry in Sept's Secret Agent- got some GREAT feedback!
Love this place!
Marie
I'm from Scotch Plains, NJ, USA and found you via other blogs I read, I was an avid reader of the original Miss Snark so when I saw the blog name and excerpts I was especially intrigued. I've participated in one of the Secret Agent contests and found the feedback of a few dozen fellow readers to be enlightening. Unfortunately the feedback wasn't positive, but it was very constructive and has helped me re-evaluate my approach to that story and others I've been working on.
ReplyDeleteLove the blog, keep up the GREAT work.
I am an Aussie who lived in South America and now in Canada. I only found your blog yesterday when I was doing research on an agent I am interested in querying. I followed Miss Snark from the get go and so anyone who remembers our fearless blogging agent, HAS to be worth hanging out with! I'm looking forward to getting involved in the community.
ReplyDeleteI don't comment often but I read your posts in Google Reader. I don't remember where exactly I first found you -- I'm sure one of the many blogs I read mentioned you a time or twenty.
ReplyDeleteI'm an American living in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, but your stat thing probably says I'm from Acapulco, which is three hours away.
I'm smack dab in between Hell and Ohio in the great state of Pennsylvania. And no, I will not be your friend (lame joke).
ReplyDeleteI found this site through Absolute Write.com, and I'm glad I did. The tips I learned on here actually have improved my writing noticeably. You rock!
I live in Austin, Texas. Originally from Rhode Island. I found your site just this week following a link from Rachelle Gardner's blog. I looked around, enjoyed your site and added your feed to my reader.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember how I found your blog. I think I was doing agent research. I have an agent now but I still come back to your blog because it is fun to read. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteI'm quite a ways away.
Fairbanks, Alaska.
Happy writing!
Another Texan. I live in Dallas. I had read about your blog in Writer's Digest, but checked it out on the advice of a wonderful friend I made at a conference way up in Surrey, BC. Her name is Denise Jaden and her debut novel Losing Faith will be published in 2010. So yea to Denise for pointing me this way. I've learned more here than on any other blog.
ReplyDeleteLike a morel mushroom, you popped up on my Midwest computer.
ReplyDeleteI'm in Central Virginia. I found you through one of the other Slushbusters when we were sharing our favorite blogs with each other.
ReplyDeleteDon't be silly, your giant red hat will instantly give you away to your local Starbucks junkies.
ReplyDeleteI'm in Massachusetts-- Natick. Although I moved here from Watertown (hi, Alicia--should I know you?). I honestly don't remember how I got here--from some agent's blog, I think.
ReplyDeleteBrentwood, TN (right outside Nashville).
ReplyDeleteI don't remember how I found you, just did. It had to be a link on somebody else's site - Nathan Bransford, Colleen at The Swivet, one of those I'm sure.
From HERE . . . I've gone on to 'meet' some great people, follow their blogs, and become friends with many of them. Some of those friendships are purely through comments, but others have morphed into Facebook and email correspondence.
I think the greatest thing about your site, and about similar sites, is the very sense of community, of knowing there are other aspiring writers going through the same things I'm going through!
S
Heather - maybe we know each other? I see your on NaNoWriMo so I added you. We can play the name game there if you want.
ReplyDeleteOh, hello! I'm Erin. I live in Winston-Salem, NC, and I found you via Rachelle Gardner. I think you're cool. Also, I'm a displaced Yankee.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently nailed into the chair just so happened to be in front of a computer - somewhere in Manhattan. No Mass. Sorry. Don't want to break the trend.
ReplyDeleteFound you through Nathan Bransford.
Glad I did.
I'm from London!
ReplyDeleteI found you through a friend's blog and I'm glad I did :)
From Fresno CA. Found you through a writer friend.
ReplyDeleteanother Texan from Austin. Washed up on your site by surfing and skipping from blog to blog. Love your!
ReplyDeleteI linked to you from Secret Agent Rachelle Gardner and immediately added you to my googlereader. I dig your style and your purpose AND your commitment/organizational prowess that enables you to do what you do here. Let's share a cappuccino if you're ever in Marshall, IL.
ReplyDeleteI'm in Denver, and I found your blog through Steph's posts on Hey Teenager. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteMobile, Al says Hey y'all. Funny, I'm a yankee from NY (compliments of the military).
ReplyDeleteGuessing here - believe I found you via fellow SCBWI Southern Breezer on her blog.
Wow, most of can't remember how we got here. What are you serving in those drinks?
I'm in Arizona. I honestly don't remember how I found your site. Someone I know must have linked to it and I clicked, liked, and stayed. =D
ReplyDeleteI mostly lurk and soak up all the information and comments that are so freely given here. I've learned a lot not only from entering the contests, but from reading the other entries and comments (contests and regular posts). Every now and again I add comments if I feel I have something to add to the conversation. ;-)
I'm from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, and I found you by following a link from an agent in livejournal ages ago. I follow a lot of industry blogs. Your's is one of my favourites :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm from Bosnia-Herzagovina.
ReplyDeleteNo. Actually, I'm in New Hampshire, by way of Boston, Mass. I found you when a member of my on-line critique group mentioned your secret agent contests. That was about a year ago.
I stick around because I love the sense of community. It's not just a blog where someone blathers on. The people who come here participate in the conversation, so you get to share lots of POV's and ideas and concerns and solutions. It's a nice place to be!
I'm from Maine, I found your blog through one of my on-line critique group buddies. I just love all of your information!
ReplyDeleteShout out from Greenwell Springs, Louisiana!
ReplyDeleteI found you through a link from Ms. Rachelle Gardner, and glad I did.
I'm from the relatively quiet seacoast area of New Hampshire.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how I found you ... I think it might have been some preditor-editor connection. Not sure. But I've been with you a long time and plan to continue.
Why? Because I love (or lurve) your contests. And I love the way you never profess to have all the answers. And, I love the way you show us that you are struggling just as hard as we are with these preformed collections of letters that eventually make a sentence that often add up to a paragraph which sometimes form a chapter and occasionally morph into a book. You make me feel that we are all on the Titanic together and some of us will drown but most of us will swim and that you'll be right there braving the waves that threaten to capsize our creativity and fighting the sharks that try to swallow us whole.
The community has touched my life in many ways - some good, some pulling-my-hair-out-yelling-at-the-screen insane. The contest comments sure run the gamut - many I agree with; others I just shake my head and mumble, "you just don't get it, do you?", and the rest I yell, "Quick! Someone take his/her keyboard away and smash it to bits!" But that is what great writing does - it evokes emotion. So I keep reading the posts ... smiling, swearing, gritting my teeth, smiling, swearing, gritting my teeth. Ha ha, before I realized what it was all about, I entered one of the 250 word contests. There were several HOOKED responses; I also got my share of boring, too slow, and(the dreaded) not hooked. I showed my husband the negative ones and he said simply, "What do they know? They probably think that Stephanie Vampire-Lady is a great writer." He says the same thing when I get a rejection letter. Gotta love a guy like that!
So, dear Authoress, please keep doing what you do so well. You are loved and you are needed.
Thank you!
Chris McCarthy
I'm in Mesquite, Nevada, which is the gas station stop on your way to Disneyland if you're from Utah (it was for us, anyway). I stumbled onto the blog after reading about it over on Kristin Nelson's blog after she was a Secret Agent, and I've been grateful for the community ever since. The Secret Agent contests and other critique opportunities are fantastic - thanks for all your hard work, Authoress!
ReplyDeleteI'm new here. I'm pretty sure I found my way here via Rachelle Gardner via Colleen Lindsay's post on Twitter.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to joining the community. Oh, and Pennsylvania is home.
I'm another Massachusetts reader from Cape Cod. I found you when agent Rachelle Gardner did the guest stint here. I loved Miss Snark and I loved what I saw here so I subscribed to emails. Writers need community and the one here is lovely.
ReplyDeleteI live near Brisbane, Australia. I can't remember how I found you, possibly through a link from another blog.
ReplyDeleteI live in Ogden, Utah and and was surfing around about six weeks ago looking for publishing information and stumbled upon this site... I was instantly hooked! Thank you for all the information. I can't tell you how much you have inspired (and depressed, lol)me. I'm looking forward to being part of this community.
ReplyDeleteSan Antonio, Texas is home to me—ever since I left St. Louis, MO in an ice storm and arrived in the Alamo City to find sunshine, 78° and flowers in Feb.
ReplyDeleteFound your blog through Nathan Bransford, I think. I really like your blog's supportive professionalism about the writing process. Not too naive, not too it's-a-business jaded.
Especially enjoy the crits and progress reports. It all helps keep me balanced and connected. Thanks, Authoress!
I'm in Northern Ontario in Canada. I found your blog through someone's comment on AgentQuery.
ReplyDeleteYou have built a wonderful community of writers here. I love the give and take on this site :)
I'm English but currently living in DC. I found you through Lady Glam of The innocent Flower and I'm so glad I did, I really love your blog.
ReplyDeleteRedwood City, CA, which is a few cities south of San Francisco. Found you on Absolute Write about a year ago. Wow, has it really been that long? And I didn't even get you something for the anniversary. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteI think you have a really great group of writers commenting here and I learn a lot whenever you have a contest or post 1000-word excerpts.
Thanks!
I'm from a beautiful coastal village in NSW, Australia. I found you from a friend on CC.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI am from Texas, but we are living in SC for the moment. I am trying to nudge the hubby to move up North.
ReplyDeleteI think I found you through AW, or Twitter.
I found you on twitter and followed to your blog.
ReplyDeleteI am delighted to see a few other people from Arizona commenting too.
I'm from the Netherlands. I found your blog while it was still quite new, can't remember how.
ReplyDeleteI have little time for writing right now, so this community helps me to keep the flame alive.
I'm an expat Brit now living in BC, Canada. Can't remember how I came across this blog, probably linked from another writing blog while looking for writing & agenting resources. This is one of the ones I've bookmarked and visit regularly.
ReplyDeleteI'm in Annapolis, MD and found your blog through Romance Divas. I love the opportunities you offer with Secret Agent. I have yet to post my own entry since I'm still polishing. But reading everyone else's with all the critiques has been so helpful with my own writing. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteChiang Mai, Thailand. I found from another blog.. Jodi Meadows? Rachelle Gardner? I can't remember now. Maybe both.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently in Kaiserslautern, Germany (three months left!) and I found you ... oh, hell, I'm not even sure any more. Through another blog.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the environment you've created that allows us to get feedback (and give it!). And it's awesome to see one of our own succeed every time it happens!
I'm a transplated Michigander living on the eastern plains of Colorado. Although, internet stats usually show me from Eagle. (I don't even know where Eagle is.) If memory serves - and it rarely does - I found you through Janet Reid's blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm in London, and stumbled across your blog through a Miss Snark search. So glad I did, this is a wonderful community
ReplyDeleteI am outside of Philadelphia, PA in Bucks County. I found you through the website of Rachelle Gardner- she was one of your guest editors for your recent critique contest. Love your site.
ReplyDeleteAnd...tell me about stats. I'd love some stats on my blog (www.authordream.blogspot.com)but I have no idea how to do that! Anyone who could help could just leave a comment on my blog- thanks!
I'm in just outside Salt Lake City, Utah. I believe I first came here through a link on Liana Brooks' blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm from Houston, TX... I honestly can't remember how I found you, it's been a while :)
ReplyDeleteHmm . . . little towns from MA that sound like novel settings. How about Sturbridge? ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm a college student in Grinnell, IA, originally from Portland, OR. I think I found your blog through Evil Editor - I believe he mentioned a Secret Agent contest once? Or I'm imagining it.
ReplyDeleteBut I love the community, and look forward to the day when I will have a manuscript worthy of submission to a Secret Agent contest!
I was born a Connecticut Yankee but have lived in Minnesota since 1968. The photo was taken in La Quinta, CA during a sojourn to the desert. I think I linked to the blog from another agent blog, either Kristin's or Nathan's or somebody like that.
ReplyDeleteI'm from the NE too, but live in Flower Mound, TX. I'm not sure how I found your site, but I must have followed a link from another author/editor/agent site.
ReplyDeleteI live in Brown County, Indiana, where the leaves are gold and red, unless they are brown on the ground. I relocated from Wyoming, where there were no leaves (where I lived).
ReplyDeleteI believe I followed a link on Twitter to your site and am something like #67 in the 1000 word critique, but have lost my email. But, I enjoy checking all the submissions because I can learn so much from the critiques.
Unfortunately, I will never see the UTube movie at the top of the blog (well, I might if I remembered to view it when I go to the library) because I have a party line, fifty year old phone line, dial up internet.
Thank you for providing this site.
Former Floridian living in South Carolina, by way of New York and Michigan. Found your awesomesauce blog through Nathan Bransford's and I am *so* glad I did :)
ReplyDeleteYour Secret Agent contests give me the opportunity to play slush reader and learn what works and what doesn't. It doesn't get much better than that!
I'm late to this post (haven't had much computer access lately) so I haven't read the other comments but will in the future.
ReplyDeleteI'm an Australian who came here through a series of links. I searched for Australian agents one night and found a blog by Agent Sydney, an anonymous Australian agent. She said she took inspiration from Miss Snark, so I looked up that blog. Miss Snark mentioned Kristin Nelson, so I started reading her blog, and one day Kristin said she had been a Secret Agent at your blog, and we should check it out. So I did, and stayed :-)
Apparently I'm not the only Alaskan here. There are two of us! But I'm from Anchorage, so still alone in this respect. =) I believe I found your blog through Query Tracker, and though I rarely comment, I read quite often. Your blog is made of awesome and cookies. Which is doubly awesome. =)
ReplyDeleteI'm from Pennsylvania....found you through Verla's blue board and this blog has been invaluable to me by seeing what works and what doesn't...Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteI'm originally from Southern England, but now live in Southern Alberta, Canada (and have since my early teens).
ReplyDeleteOne of the girls in my crit group recommended your blog last November.
Those are amazing stats! That's really cool that you have international readers. I'm from the Northeast :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I found you. If it was through an author's blog or agent's or editor's, I just found you.
ReplyDeleteIt's our "density" as George McFly would say.
One thing I do know, is that I'm in the exciting city of Des Moines, IA. I know, you're just dying to come visit!
West coaster signing in - Yuba City, California (just north of Sacramento). I found you through Kristin Nelson's blog.
ReplyDeleteGreat community here. Thanks!
I'm perfectly centered between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Waving at you from the sunshine state. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm in NJ...south jersey surrounded by horse farms.
ReplyDeleteI've learned so much here!
I'm the only Tasmanian on here I suspect. I found the site earlier in the year through either Dear Author or Query Shark and I'm very glad I did.
ReplyDeleteI've already learned SO much through the Secret Agent and Drop the Needle competitions - even just from reading others' comments. I can already see improvement in my own writing and editing.
Thanks for all that you do to bring together this great community of writers and story tellers.
Sorry I am so late to post, I live in the Hudson River Valley, in New York. I found you first from a google search for Ms. Snark, then through a Twitter link.
ReplyDeleteI know I don't comment much, but I love your blog. As a new fiction writer, I learn a lot from you!