Hello readers, welcome back to another guest blog. In fact, this would be my last blog and for the next few months. In the previous guest blog I announced I won’t be doing anymore for a short time. I need time to focus on getting my debut ready for the release in 2022. More details to come. If you want to know more and stay updated on the debut, then click this Newsletter link to sign up. (When you sign up, you get free short stories :) ) This month’s blog will be slightly different because I'm collaborating with a good close friend of mine. We’ll be asking each other questions and sharing our friendship story. First, let’s welcome my friend Heather.
Can you tell us about yourself?
Heather: “I’m twenty-three years old. I’m a blogger (though unfortunately a neglectful one at the moment) retail worker, and a novice short story writer. Tell us about yourself ?”
Alright, I’m Havelah, but people call me Hava like the character from the classic musical film Fiddle on the Roof. I live on a farm in a small community with a family of ten. I’m also a blogger like Heather, a writer, and soon to be an author of a debut novel. Would you like to share how we met and your first thought when you slowly realized we were going to be friends?
Heather: “We met through a writing group through Facebook in 2019. You needed a beta reader, and I became one since then. The time we met in person was at a local mall where I lived. The store was Barnes & Noble. I don’t remember my first thought. I remember thinking how nice it was to have a friend who shared my views on writing. I remember thinking it was different, however, because I never made a legitimate long distance friend, even through my FanFiction days.”
Yes, I remembered that. Someone once told me a similar story to this, two girls met online, became friends, and got together for the first time a year later. Well, that’s what happened to us. Were you nervous to meet a friend after a first year of being friends online?
Heather: “I kind of was. Though I didn’t see you being a kidnapper or anything like that. I was concerned about our friendship by only working through a computer/phone screen. But I was wrong-and we had so much fun!”
Yeah, it’s good to beware and alert. We all have to be careful these days. I’m glad we could communicate and work things out. What was your favorite part of the friends’ date?
Heather: “I think going to McAlisters was my favorite part. We had a chance to really talk and catch up. What is your favorite memory of our day?”
We got to meet for the first time and spend time together. My favorite part when you opened the birthday gift I waited for almost nine months to give you. Your face lit up and smiled big. Now we shared our story. What are your favorite hobbies?”
Heather: “My favorite hobbies are sewing, crafting, and watching TV. I do enjoy writing and reading, but that isn’t as consistent as those three things. I have enjoyed some recent novels over the years, though. YOU by Caroline Kepnes and The Twelfth of Never by Bella Stumbo were some of my more recent reads I enjoyed. What are your hobbies?”
I like to crochet fun stuff when I’m in the mood for it, draw characters, and read books. Or watch movies or spend hours on watching YouTube videos. Mostly author tubers and educational videos. We have many interests: what is one thing we’ve in common?”
Heather: “I think we both like to write and read. Though our creative hobbies are similar, with you crocheting and myself sewing, it is the writing and reading that got us to talk and become friends in the first place. We can discuss our favorite types of books and writing styles and terms and instantly get what the other is talking about. Actually, I believe the first or second ebook I beta read for you also had a movie that we both loved. The book was based on the Fox animation and now musical Anastasia. We had a lot of fun doing that. What made you decide to be an author?”
Yes, we both definitely have a nerd for Anastasia, the animation film and the history of the Romanov Family. We would send each other pictures from Pinterest or articles from online sources. I didn’t know about being an author till a few years later. I wrote stories for fun and now want to share it with the world and make a difference in someone’s life through my stories. What is one thing you value in friendship?
Heather: “I value honesty and kindness. Honesty can make people accountable if they are wrong and without that in friendship, how can we seek to be better people? Kindness is essential. If you are rude and disrespectful, the friendship would be in chaos. What do you think makes our friendship work, especially through long distance?”
I agree. We should treat others with kindness and respect. Staying connected with a friend at a long distance for over two years is rare. I think what made our friendship last is that we made time and because we care about each other. Yes, we have our own busy lives, but we reach out. Friends come and go. If you want to have long and lasting, healthy friendships: be honest and kind, encourage one another, listen, and be there for each other in good and bad times.
Thank you readers for taking a moment to read our story.