The Follow Fridays

So I get that we have all these nifty hashtags to help each other out. Monday Mentions, Writer Wednesday, and FollowFriday/Friday Favorites.

Come Friday, my feed is FULL of paragraphs of highlighted text... and this kind of irks me. I mean, really... you're telling me that in a given week you've had 30 people that you have avidly hounded and conversed with enough for them to be your favorite?

I don't. I have a handful. But, even out of those I talk to regularly, there are fewer still who have impacted my week enough to really come to my mind as a #FF. Please don't get me wrong, there are quite a few people I would like to give a shout out to. Maybe we can have a ShoutoutSaturday or something. But, I want to keep my list short, and that means, I have to pick who has impacted my week the most.

I'm going to try doing my #FF here, because I want to tell you why they are so worth following.

And it's not like the people who are NOT on this list haven't affected my week. These people have just stood out in particular for this week.

My first #FF list:

@CiaraBallintyne She's an unpublished writer, though you wouldn't know it if you talked to her. She is very professional. She has this perfect balance between confidence and humility when it come to her work, and is always saying thank you to whoever follows her... I don't even have the patience for that. (Don't worry, these thank you's won't clutter your feed.) She has just gotten her website up and going... http://www.ciaraballintyne.com/

@Flickimp This guy never ceases to amaze me. He is the most humble person I Twitterknow. He works harder than most and gives more than that. Simply put, he's ace in my book.

@HinduWannabe She has a blog about food. And while I don't avidly read food blogs, I really liked this one. It's not arrogant like most food blogs. But main reason for the #FF is because of this blog right here: Waste Not Want More . I very rarely find someone who can tell me how to save time and money on food. Rarely. While she may not have created the wheel, she gave me information that was just as valuable to me.

@Safireblade & @dbowenauthor Both are Beta-ing for me. And of the people who have my MS in their hands, these two have started reading it and giving feedback. I know most people are too busy to help a stranger out, and these two are as well. They are too busy to add "help a stranger" to their list of things to do, but guess what.... they both did it anyway. I know I'm biased, in a way, because it's my MS, but objectively speaking, what they have done for me is impressive. It is a similar idea to the one in my Speechless blog.

And finally, @Kara_Malinczak . I used to get my book suggestions from my niece. Now, I get them from Kara, hands down no questions, this chick reads more than anyone I know. Seriously, ever. Thankfully, she updates her goodreads account with well-written reviews.

If you did not make the list, don't feel left out, I can come up with several people who could be deserving of #FF... like I said, this week these are my tops.

 When I get #FF or #WW I see them as a kind of pat on the back. I refuse to look at them as an obligation to do the same thing for the person who gave them to me. And I also feel a lot better when I'm on lists that are short.

I feel bad because I might have missed someone this week, but I will start making my #FF blog out throughout the week so that I don't miss anyone.

Thanks guys, more interesting blogs to come soon. :)