Imagine deft fingers striking a match in the middle of a forest. It hasn't rained in weeks, and the grass and bark are dry. The fingers loosen around the match, and it falls to the crackly grass. The flame is small, so small that only a few animals notice as it passes onto the dry ground.
But it grows, and it spreads. It isn't long before the entire forest is aware of it. What had been a harmless, candle-sized flame only a short while ago is bigger, more noticeable, and more effective.
This is the story of Rebellious Writing. It's amazing how quickly a fire can spread through a forest, under the right circumstances. Similarly, it's amazing how a single blog post (Dear Writers) by a single blogger (Gray Marie) can inspire an entire website by multiple bloggers in the space of about two months. And especially under the right circumstances, when so many authors are filling the YA shelves with all kinds of profane, filthy novel content.
The difference between RW and a forest fire, of course, is that our intent is not to cause damage, but to try our best to fix it.
It's been twenty-one days since our launch of the Rebellious Writing website. Today I'd like to give a quick overview of what we've done this month, as well as link you to some posts that were published in other areas of the blogosphere - a few that I personally enjoyed.
WHAT WE DID THIS MONTH
Since the launch, four posts have been published, and all of them are spectacular! So, if you haven't read any one of these, I'll give you a hint: the titles are click-able.
Website Kick-Off: Featuring the Founder's Round Table
(in which we, the authors, introduce ourselves and explain how Rebellious Writing came to be)
Reconnaissance Mission: Becoming a Book Scout for Rebellious Writing
(in which Catherine Hawthorn invites you to "scout" books for us!)
The Elephant in the Bedroom: Can Good Romance Be Clean?
(in which Faith Thompson talks about the physicality of romance in YA)
Guest Post Featuring Caitlin Lambert : The Neglected Niche
(in which guest poster Caitlin Lambert encourages us to write clean books for the secular market, not just for the Christian market!)
FOLLOWERS AND VIEWS
FOLLOWERS: As of August 30th, 2017, a total of 39 wonderful persons are following us (see them in the sidebar). Thank you, dear followers, for your support. You are part of the fuel we need to keep this fire going and growing! As every blogger can relate to - and really anyone with social media - new followers also make us warm and happy. So thank you! It means a lot.
VIEWS: We've received close to 3,500 views from people all over the world. According to our stats, that is. Views from faraway places are often scam, but it's definitely safe to say that we have legit views from Australia, plus a fairly reliable amount from Russia and the United Kingdom. Again, thank you. It's wonderful to see the RW fire spreading as far as other countries!
OTHER CORNERS OF THE BLOGOSPHERE
Let's take a peek at what some of the Rebellious Writers have been up to on their individual blogs, shall we?
In terms of writing tips, Gray Marie wrote a post about writing unforgettable villains over at her amazing blog, Writing is Life! Also, Melissa Gravitis wrote a post on her own wonderful blog, Quill Pen Writer, about developing the history of a complex fantasy world. Both of these are super helpful and just generally great posts, so click the links and check those out.
In terms of writing tags, Anna C.S. participated in the Voices of YA Tag earlier in the month. She had some great answers, so jump on over to her beautiful blog, A World Through Her Heart, to read it! On Catherine Hawthorn's splendid corner of the blogosphere, The Rebelling Muse, she did a two-part tag catch-up, the first of which featured three tags about characters, which was a lot of fun.
This was just a little taste of what the other Rebellious Writing authors are doing on their own unique blogs. Go to our We The Youth page to find links to all our individual corners of the Internet!
ONE MORE THING TO SHARE. . .
Rebellious Writing is expanding into a community, and whereas I used to consider it a tiny group of like-minded bloggers, I now imagine a concert-sized crowd of members. Don't get me wrong - I know we're not anywhere near that point yet. But there's you. All you lovely people! So let's join hands in our effort to write clean fiction for the YA shelves. Let's join hands in spreading light and truth and goodness in the words we write, and wherever we go.
A thousand heartbeats beat in time
And makes this dark planet come alive
~~ "Shooting Star" by Owl City
As for next month, September is going to be a blast! The authors will have more articles up about writing, and there will also be a book review. We have many more posts planned, dear readers.
Rebellious Writing is just getting started.
- Lila Red
WOW. Wonderful job, Lila! Agree with all the sentiments above *wink*.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, we are just getting started. I hope to have the first of many book scout bulletins up very soon!
Catherine Hawthorn
Thanks, Catherine! And yessss, we have so many fantastic things planned :D I look forward to what will happen next!
DeleteYay, book scout bulletins! I'm SUPER excited to see that XD
Yay! I can't believe its already been that long. I was counting down the days to when the website would open and now its already nearly a month old. I'm so excited for y'all and all the other Rebellious Writers who are working behind the scenes and around the world. I can't wait to see what's in store for y'all.
ReplyDelete~Ivie
iviewrites.blogspot.com
I can't believe it either! That's EXACTLY how I feel about it XD
DeleteThank you so much, Ivie! I'm crazy excited, too, to see what God has in store for us!!!
Great job, Lia!!!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe its been this long, it feels like just yesterday that I unknowingly uploaded that rant, and at the same time it feels like its been forever. The emotions are mixed.
I am vey proud of everyone. Thank you, teammates. Thank you, followers and readers. And thank you, Lord. <3
Thanks so much!
DeleteI know, right??? I didn't hear about Rebellious Writing until late in June, a little while after you published the rant, but SAME about the mixed emotions! It seems just a bit ago, and yet it seems like forever ago XD
AMEN TO THAT. A huge thanks to all that you mentioned, especially the Lord. We set this up, but ultimately it was and is all because of Him :)
Aww so beautiful! And I love that Owl City quote! (yay!!!)
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, Lisa! Thank you!!! You're so sweet :)
DeleteAnd you like that? XD I thought of that song as I was working on the post and was like, "I HAVE to quote him. It fits so well!"
Wow wow wow Lila, you did such a beautiful job wrapping up our first month <3 you made me feel nostalgic back there! I am so blessed to have such a beautiful team at RW <3
ReplyDeleteThank you for wrapping up our month Lila :)
Thank you, thank you, thank you! <3 I was hoping I did all right! And oh my goodness, I was definitely feeling the nostalgia too XD I'm so blessed by you and everyone else on the team as well. You guys are AMAZING :)
DeleteYou're so welcome! I had a lot of fun doing it XD
I believe we can set this world on fire, and "make this dark planet come alive"! (you used an Owl City quote! Actually... isn't that what he was trying to do, but in music? write songs that didn't rely on dirty themes and cursing?)
ReplyDeleteJem Jones
I'm pretty sure that was what he was trying to do! The perfect guy to quote in a post for this blog!! ^_^
DeleteAmen, Jem! Let's be a light in this dark, dark world!
DeleteYesss, Owl City XD And (to both Jem and Gray) wow, I never really considered that he was talking about the same thing except with songs. I thought he was just talking about being a light. You know, generally. But THAT'S SO COOL, and it means the quote fits even better! ;D
Awesome job wrapping the month up, Lila! <3 I love how you described us as growing fire; hopefully we can keep the flames fed!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Melissa! <3 I'm glad you liked that analogy - Rebellious Writing really does remind me of a fire, especially a big one that can't easily be put out. I feel confident that we can keep the flames going! :D
DeleteLong live the rebellion! Looking forward to MANY more months of RW!
ReplyDeleteThanks SO MUCH for your support, Daisy! I'm excited too for all that's going to happen with RW in the upcoming months and even years!!! It's going to be a blast XD
DeleteWOW OKAY THIS IS A MAJOR BLOND MOMENT FOR ME. I knew you guys had a website but I didn't realize it was like a blog AND website. xD #fail Either way, I HAVE MADE IT. HI. I guess later is better than never lol. Looking good! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteJONATHAN, HI, I'M A BLOND TOO! Welcome to our website/blog XD It's GREAT to see you on here! (you may not know me, but I know you because I'm a silent stalker...)
DeleteThanks a billion times over for your support and encouragement!!!
Lila...THIS WRAP-UP WAS SO AMAZING ASDFJK; It made me tear up to see how this movement is growing and what a successful month we've had with the website :D
ReplyDeleteAudrey... THANK YOU ASDFK; I was feeling the emotion too! It's incredible, really, how far we've come XD I'm glad you liked the wrap-up!!!
DeleteWE ARE GAINING SO MUCH MOMENTUM ITS AMAZING
ReplyDeleteI KNOW, RIGHT??? IT'S SO AWESOME. XD
DeleteGreat post, you did a very nice wrap-up! I like how you used fire as an example.
ReplyDeleteA book review next month, right...that's me...oh dear...
You'll do great, Clare! <3
DeleteThanks, Clare! Glad you liked the analogy! And Gray's right - your book review is going to be WODNDERFUL :DDD
Delete*WONDERFUL
DeleteUgh. XD