Hi, y’all! Gosh, the cyber highway has been pretty quiet lately without me, hasn’t it? Sorry about that! I’m going to try to pop in a lot more often over here. In case you didn’t catch my previous post, please go read it. You’ll see that I’ve been quite the busy gal lately. LOTS of exciting stuff is happening in my writing life. Eeeek!

I thought I’d share with you that I’ve been interviewed by Rebecca Laffar-Smith, of The Writer’s Round-About. This is a three-part interview. So far, parts one and two have been published.

Part One: On Social Networking Success

Part Two: On The Business of Blogging

I’m also a contributing writer at WRA now. Click here to read my articles. More of my work will be showing up there, so be sure to subscribe to WRA so you won’t miss anything!

Also, I’m reviewing something that’s VERY helpful to writers and bloggers. I’m excited that the company has agreed to sponsor a contest and the prize is pretty neat, in my opinion. I’m tickled pink to be able to offer this prize to one lucky reader in an upcoming contest, so be sure to stop by my stretch of the highway in the near future to find out what it is and read my review!

As always, keep writing the cyber highway. Follow your heart, your dreams, and take care!

Is this your first time to visit Writing the Cyber Highway? Be sure to subscribe to my Feed or by e-mail. In the next couple of posts, I’ll be sharing photos and details about my visit to an old-fashioned festival where I dressed up as a pioneer woman (bonnet and all!) and also had the amazing opportunity to meet an Editor–and an Editor-In-Chief. Eeek!

What kind of blogger are you?

The New York Times (@nytimes)recently published a piece called Blogs Falling in an Empty Forest by Douglas Quenua. (Thank you to Maria Schneider aka @MariaSchneider on Twitter for tweeting that link!) This article really made me think. Sometimes, in the still of the night as I tap away at my keyboard sharing my heart and soul with you, I forget just how many of you there are! Of course, if I were to dwell on that fact, I may never blog again!

So, I began to ask myself questions. Maybe you should ask yourself, too.

• How do you feel about being so public?

• Would you jump to do a TV or radio interview?

• How much do you share?

• Are you comfortable with what you share online?

• Have you received any interview offers?

So, how does blogging affect you?

Is it just a way for you to share photos and fun news with your family and friends or do you, like  Nancy Sun (@nancysun on Twitter) who is featured in Quenua’s New York Times article, fantasize about landing a book deal? Is being part of your growing blog community enough for you, or do you crave more? Have you even thought about it? Are you just blogging along, clueless to the fact that Oprah or The New York Times could be watching you? Could love you? Could want more of you? It’s sort of a scary thought, isn’t it?

I am starting to receive more requests for interviews or to answer questions and be used as a reference for health or juicing topics on my health site. Not long ago, I was contacted to be a reference in a magazine article about the benefits of juice fasting. When it comes out, I’ll share it. And Lori and Green Gigs profiled contacted me to kick off her Green Job Hunter profiles. Most recently, I’ve been asked to do a three-part interview over at EagleHawk. Parts one and two are up so far. To be honest, it was a little nerve-wracking being on the opposite end of the interview! (So far my interview experiences have been awesome, though!)

I think, as bloggers, we need to seriously consider exactly what we expect in return from blogging. You may not even realize that you’re truly captivating, totally mesmerizing, unbelievably lovable to the world who reads you!!

So, what do you think? Did you read Quenua’s article? Would you agree to do an interview for TV or radio? What about a book deal? Do you put photos of yourself on your blog(s)? How do you feel about being recognized by readers while you’re out and about? It’s a lot to consider, people! Spill the beans. I want to hear your thoughts!

Oh, and don’t forget about the Grammar Girl contest! You have until Saturday, June 13th at 9 p.m. to get all your entries in. Good luck!

Photo Credit: blakespot

Warning: This post isn’t my normal inspiring, motivating, uplifting kind of post–it’s pretty depressing in fact so if you’d rather not feel sad, you might want to skip along the cyber highway and wait to read my next post….

Wow. Time flies by so fast….

Where I’ve Been

I haven’t forgotten about the contest I told you about– honestly. Circumstances beyond my control have kept my focus away from blogging lately. I mentioned in my last post that I’ve recently lost two cousins (only in their thirties). Well, since that posting, I’ve lost a third cousin (only 28). Major shocker. I grew up with two of these cousins and was around them all the time, so they were more than just a “cousin” or “relative”, they were extremely special to me.

I went to school with the cousin who was 32. He just didn’t wake up one morning. It was his heart. The 36-year-old cousin lost his life in a car accident, and the 28-year-old cousin who just passed away also lost her life in a car accident. She was like a little sister to me. She was so special and we were so much alike. I’ve been devastated and have been at a total loss for blog posts. I haven’t even been writing/blogging for editors/clients since she passed away. I’ve taken some time to try to absorb all of this. I mean, one death is one thing, but two? That was hard enough. And then a third one? And for her to be such a beautiful, special soul? That’s when I realized I had to step away from the page and just let it sit there blank. The Muse–and my creative inspiration–has taken a flying leap and deserted me. But that’s okay for now. I am relishing the quiet moments. I need them. I crave them. I am using these quiet moments to find strength, hope, and healing. I’m using them to find renewal and to fill back up on the energy I need so I can move forward. This has all been so exhausting, it’s unreal. The bad news, the services, seeing my family members and even my cousins’ friends hurting so badly, missing their loved ones so much…. And realizing I’ll never see my cousins again–not on holidays, not on family visits, and there’ll be no more opportunities to send a birthday card….

Life, Death, and What Comes After

I won’t pretend to be a genius and concoct fancy images of the after life for you to figure out. Those of you who have followed me from the beginning of this blog and who have become close to me along the cyber highway and my freelance journey know that I am a Christian. No, I don’t say it in every blog post or on every social media site. I don’t try to force my beliefs on others and I have found that even those of you who don’t believe in God at all respect me (and my walk with God) because of that. Am I ashamed? No. And those of you who know me, know that too. Some people (okay, a lot of people) disagree with me on that. They think I should shout from the rooftops that I’m a Christian. I firmly believe what my Grandmother always taught me: actions speak louder than words. I can say I’m something until I lose my voice, but if I show what I am by my actions, then you’ll know without a doubt. Simple, eh?

So, anyway… I do believe there is life after death but the life after death I’m referring to here is on this side of the world. I’m talking about those of us who are left here to pick up the pieces and to wonder why: Why did they have to die so young? Why couldn’t they have lived and why couldn’t have God taken someone else? Someone who did horrible things and who was a horrible person who hurt people? But He didn’t. He took my cousins. All of them had children. Now their children are minus a parent.

What to Do?

Sometimes there just aren’t any answers. Sometimes we have to leave it at that. We don’t know everything….

So, what do we do? What can we do? We can wake up each morning as the sun kisses our face or the rain pelts the window or the dark clouds hover over our homes and be truly thankful in our hearts that we are alive and can gobble up all the goodness that day will bring! Don’t think there’ll be any goodness in a new day? Then be the person who brings goodness to the world!

Love your family and friends as if there were no tomorrow. Remember: tomorrow may never come for some of us. We aren’t guaranteed to wake up when we go to sleep, or to make it to our destination alive when we hop in our car–or someone else’s–and drive away.

Don’t take the people you love for granted. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today: let them know how much you appreciate them, tell them you love them instead of just assuming they already know it, buy them a beautiful (or even silly) card “just because”, make time for your loved ones–even if you don’t think you can.

There are definitely potholes in the roads of life. Nevermind them. Stop to smell the roses and enjoy the journey as best you can. Cherish every moment that you breathe. Live so that you won’t have regrets. Forgive and forget–even if it hurts. Love yourself enough to love those around you. Don’t wait until it’s too late and you can’t…

I leave you with this thought: life is a book.

Be sure to subscribe to Writing the Cyber Highway’s Feed or by e-mail! In the next couple of posts, I’ll be sharing photos and details about my visit to an old-fashioned festival where I dressed up as a pioneer woman (bonnet and all!) and also had the amazing opportunity to meet an Editor-In-Chief and an Editor. Eeek! I’ll also be posting that contest I’ve been telling you about, so keep up with me on the cyber highway!

Photo Credit: wowacom