Welcome, Natalie! You are our very first member to stand in our new and improved spotlight where we feature one of our members and find out a little more about the human behind the blog. So, let's start at the beginning...how long have you been blogging?
First, I want to thank you so much for featuring me this month. I really appreciate it.
I joined Literary Rambles as Casey McCormick’s blog partner on March 7, 2011. She founded the blog in 2008. Her involvement in the blog decreased after I joined, and she left the blog in 2015.
We're so happy you stuck with the blog. And even happier you joined the IWSG. Do you remember when you joined?
I’m not sure the exact date I joined, but it was within two to three years of starting to blog. When I began blogging, it was the heyday of blogging, and I had a lot of followers who regularly commented on my debut MG and YA author interviews and guest posts.
But blogging quickly dropped off when writers moved to Twitter and Facebook, and I noticed that I had less comments on my posts because of this. I was looking for a group of dedicated bloggers to follow who loved blogging like me and saw that a few of my followers were part of the IWSG. I joined to make blogging friends and get support as a writer. I find that this group has been very supportive, especially when I lost my husband in 2014.
More cyber hugs. I've seen the blogosphere step up during hard times in ways that restore my faith in humanity! Hopefully our blog buddies stick around. Speaking of which, what are your future goals/things to share as a writer/blogger?
As a blogger, my goal is to continue in my mission to help aspiring writers and authors on their path to publication whether as a traditionally published, hybrid, or self-published author and to share my love of books with readers. I plan to continue my agent spotlight interviews and agent/author guest posts with query critique giveaways to help writers find agents and to strengthen their all-important query letters. In addition, I’m updating my agent spotlights as I see changes are needed and all of them every three years so that they are up-to-date. I also will continue to feature MG and YA debut authors through interviews and guest posts and promote other books through my giveaway hops, which I do twice a month now.
I added a Follower News feature a few years ago to help authors who I’m blogger friends with promote their books. I got the idea from the IWSG founder, Alex Cavanaugh, and he was very supportive of me starting this feature, which is similar to his.
Once a month in a regularly scheduled post, I share Follower News about my followers’ recently published books. I have a lot of silent followers who read my posts over time, and these posts may be read by anywhere from 500 to 2,000 people who will learn about these books. I hope all of you who follow my blog regularly will take advantage of Follower News.
My writing goals are to write consistent four to five days a week for 30 minutes to an hour. I’ve been doing this since the summer of 2020, and I’m within about five to six chapters of completing a first draft. I’m not sure whether I’ll ever try to get published given my caregiving responsibilities and the ups and downs of publishing. I’ll make a decision about it after I finish revisions.
As a writer who has benefited from your Follower News, I thank you! I'm glad to hear you're down to your final chapters. Remember to keep us in the loop. The IWSG loves to add shout outs for members.
Now, for our final question! Since we're all about books, what was the first favorite novel?
As a kid, I loved the Boxcar series, Nancy Drew series, and Shadow Castle, a MG fantasy by Marian Cockrell, which is still in print.
Many thanks to Natalie for dedication to helping fellow writers. Be sure to visit Natalie!
Literary Rambles: http://literaryrambles.com
Twitter: @NatalieIAguirre
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/natalie.aguirre.56
Natalie Aguirre is the blog host of Literary Rambles. She is an aspiring middle grade and YA author and a member of The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She is a retired attorney and part-time contract writer. Natalie is also a widow and mother of a wonderful young adult daughter.
