The Gratification of Connectivity

Thanks to Marie for giving us some ways to overcome the procrastination bug.


When I started this blog, it was simply because I'd sold a short story to The Wild Rose Press, and they encouraged their authors to have a blog. I was relatively clueless about what I had to talk about, but since talking is never much of a problem for me, I figured I'd give it a shot, and chat about things I found interesting, and if they related to writing, so much the better. I didn't consider it a "writing" site, and didn't try to come up with a clever name. I figured it would be more like a chat over coffee, the way we moms did it when our kids were in pre-school. So it's just "Terry's Place" even if that might not have marketing potential. I don't feel like changing it now.

I learned some of the basics, such as how to include pictures, and with help from the support forums, how to split my posts so readers could scan the beginnings of a week's worth of posts on a single page. (Admittedly that script is still a challenge from time to time, but it works reasonably well for most readers).



I discovered how to find out how many people visited my blog. I didn't mind that I didn't get many hits a day, because I didn't think I was saying anything profound, and if only a few people read my ramblings, I wasn't making a fool out of myself in front of a vast audience.

As time went on, I picked up more daily hits. Then the "followers" Gadget appeared, as did ways to feed my blog to my Amazon and Facebook pages. I made friends who commented on my blog, and whose blogs I began to follow as well. I feel gratified when people tell me they enjoy their visits to Terry's Place.

But this weekend, I think I had the most gratifying moment to date. No, it wasn't a reader telling me she finally got around to buying one of my books and enjoyed it.

As many of you might know, for about 9 months, every Friday, I shared case files and stories from a local Orange County homicide detective, Deputy Mark Hussey. Sometimes they were funny, sometimes they were poignant, sometimes they were uplifting, and sometimes they were depressing. But they were a glimpse into the life of police work, and readers seemed to enjoy them.


So, last week, when I opened an email from an unfamiliar name that had no subject line in the header, I expected to be told I'd won millions of dollars if I'd give someone in Nigeria my bank account numbers. Instead, I found a touching note from the widow of a police officer, wanting to get in touch with Detective Hussey. It was the 12th anniversary of her husband's death, and she had run across the blog post where Detective Hussey spoke of her husband as a Super Cop.

She wrote: First, we would like to say thank you! My husband's death anniversary was Thursday, February 11th, 12 years ago, and finding this article on that date was a gift from God. This article was so meaningful to all of us, and we would like to talk with Detective Hussey.

I forwarded her words to Mark Hussey, and shortly afterward, I got another email from the widow, saying, "He called. Thank you so much."

Connecting strangers whose lives had crossed unknown to them wasn't something I thought would happen when I started blogging, but I'm certainly glad I did.

I'm grateful to all who share my posts. If you enjoyed this one, I hope you'll make a connection.