Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Our Baby is Growing Up!



“You’ve Got Mail”, Joe Fox tells us, are very powerful words.  

Nine months ago, they were the words that changed everything.  Tink and I had spent the summer building the Inner Goddess book forum.  We had a vision of readers sitting around in a laptop circle chatting away about the books we loved.  Who better to invite than the readers on Goodreads? So, we opened a group and built a bookshelf.  That’s when I awoke to those three lovely words.  

An author had written me on Goodreads, telling me about her new book.  Tink and I put our heads together, and came up with the Author Spotlight, a forum feature which showcases an author and his/her work.  When I nestled the text into my ereader, I found I had read several of her works.  I remembered how I had enjoyed how she used my hometown for her setting, quite authentically.  As we emailed back and forth, I learned she was from my hometown and we were soon laughing over our favorite places for margaritas.  Lisa Renee Jones was more than an author, she was a friend.  

A week later, Lisa wrote to say the book had been picked up by a publisher and wouldn’t be released until March.  However, since she had already self-released it as an ebook, we could continue with our book club plans.  We had a great time spending the month talking about Chris, Sara, Mark, and Rebecca.  Our little site was growing and changing, just as the fan base for IF I WERE YOU was growing and the cover was changing.
 
A few months later, Tink and I decided to expand to include an author’s blog feature on our forum.  We sent out a call to authors, and guess who was first in line!?!  Lisa Renee Jones.  She was expanding the Inside Out Series by publishing Rebecca’s Lost Journals, and kicking off her blog tour at the same time we were opening our blog.  The timing was wonderful, except she was going to be in Paris.  So being the wonderful author that she is, Lisa wrote her blog and sent it in fromParis! 
 
Now, just a few months later, we find ourselves celebrating once again with Lisa.  IF I WERE YOU has been optioned by STARZ!  So as we celebrate May 2013 as our 1 year anniversary as a forum, Lisa’s website is kicking off a month long feature to celebrate and thank bloggers.  Continuing our tradition of firsts, Inner Goddess is the first blog of the feature.  You can check it out on the Lisa Renee Jones website.  

As I look back over the last year, I have watched our germ of an idea grow into a social network of readers and authors.  Meanwhile, Lisa’s idea for a book series has been picked up by a publishing house and optioned for a movie.  The sequel BEING ME comes out in June. It has been like watching our children grow up together. What a change a few months can make! This July, Lisa Renee Jones will be releasing a new book THE SECRET LIFE OF AMY BENSEN.  I wonder what wonderful news is in store for Inner Goddess?  Regardless, Lisa, Tink, and I are still planning to meet for margaritas.

You’re welcome to join us.  And while you’re at it, don’t forget to like “IF I  WERE YOU fans” on FB and IFIWEREYOUfans on twitter. We did!

3 comments:

  1. Happy Anniversary!!!---Rae

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Rae! It's been an exciting time!!!

      Delete
  2. Wow pearls, where did the time go? How did our crazy idea become this? It is definitely a fun time of firsts. The love of reading started it all.

    Lisa, thank you for being our first, to kick off this great blog and for letting us be your first, as you celebrate blogger appreciation month.

    ReplyDelete