Tag: followers

A Shout-out to my Commenters

Published on by J. Kelland Perry17 Comments

Many thanks to everyone who visits my blog.

I’m throwing out a bouquet today to all who consistently like and comment on my articles, updates and photos throughout the year, but particularly I wish to thank the six most frequent commenters of late.

I hope you know how much I value your visits and our conversations. These visits bring the reward of connection with other like-minded people from all over, as well as with those who walk an entirely different path.

Have a look. You just might hit the follow button and join our blogging community.

Book Club Mom, a.k.a. Barbara Vitelli, hails from the U.S. and is my most frequent commenter. She is a book reviewer and blogger here on WordPress, where she shares author interviews, indie author profiles and blogging advice. Barbara is also a librarian, a book-clubber, and an avid reviewer on Net Galley and GoodReads.

Jacqui Murray of WordDreams is an author, freelance journalist, teacher, Amazon Vine Voice, and the bearer of a wealth of helpful advice for all things wordy. I have learned a lot from her posts which she fills with hints, lists,  how-tos, and book reviews. Jacqui lives in California.

Jill Weatherholt is a writer of contemporary stories about love, faith, friendship and forgiveness. Her sweet novels always end with a “happily ever after.” She started her blog as a way to share her journey and to create a community for other new writers, artists and fellow bloggers. Jill lives in North Carolina.

Clanmother, a.k.a. Rebecca Budd, is a fellow Canadian living in British Columbia. She hosts several blogs, sharing her talents as a visual storyteller, photographer, podcaster, traveler and life-long learner.

Andrea Stephenson of Harvesting Hecate is a gifted writer as well as a painter. She hails from the United Kingdom, where she draws inspiration from nature, the coastline and the turn of the seasons. She has written two magical realism novels for adults.

Joanne Meadows of joannerambling  is a blogger from Australia. She loves to blog about family, write letters to pen pals, and she’s always eager to share my posts on Twitter.

Honorable mention goes out to each and every commenter and visitor.

You all rock! 

A Look Back, A Look Ahead

Published on by J. Kelland Perry36 Comments

Happy 2016, everyone!

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Okay. Now that we’ve gotten that out of our systems, let’s move on, shall we?

It’s a brand new year and a time when many of us who blog like to reflect on what we’ve achieved over the past twelve months, and where we are now headed.

I won’t bore you with all the statistical details, but I do want to mention the top two posts from Jennifer’s Journal in 2015 just in case you missed them or wish to take another peek. Out of 76 blog entries for the year, these are the posts that received the most comments and visits:

1. Book Deal! (April)

2. Berg Watching (June)

And as I have been each year, I am ever so grateful for my most active 2015 blogger commenters. My sincere appreciation goes out to all who follow my blog.

I noticed a couple of my blogger friends have come up with a special word to inspire and to keep them focused in the year ahead. I think it’s such a fine idea, I am offering a word of my own:

Accomplishment

By the spring of 2016, my first book will be published. The release of Calmer Girls, a Young Adult novel, is an accomplishment I have long dreamed of. I’m hoping my special word will give me the extra little push to finish its sequel well before the end of spring. This way it can be ready for my editor when the first one is released.

In between promoting Calmer Girls and editing the sequel, I hope to find time for photography, poetry, and the gathering of research for a third work. This new novel will be a total departure from the first two with new characters, an entirely new setting, and possibly a different genre. I expect it might be my most challenging writing project yet.

What accomplishments or progress have you made since last January?
What are your creative goals for 2016? Share your thoughts below!

Still need a little more New Year celebrating? Haven’t had your fill of fireworks?

Here you go!

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http://www.faithholland.com/

 

 

 

Search Party

Published on by J. Kelland Perry24 Comments

 

As anyone with a blog or a website knows, people online can find or happen upon our blogs using a variety of search terms. Some of those terms that have popped up on my blog admin section are logical and understandable, some are pretty strange, and still some others are downright funny.

I’ll start with a few of the logical search terms. My followers – at least the minuscule few who’ve visited since the beginning – will understand how these terms led searchers to Jennifer’s Journal:

  • Jennifer Kelland Perry, Jennifer Kelland – moi, the most logical 
  • cats at the ocean
  • cat ice
  • tentative cat
  • cats exploring – yes indeedy, you will find cats, ocean and ice here 
  • Newtown, Newfoundland – where?
  • Maisie and Vivian – and what are the cats’ names?

    Cats on Ice - Spring Thaw in Iceberg Alley
    Cats on Ice – Spring Thaw in Iceberg Alley

Then the cat theme begins to get humorous:

behold my French feline eyes - oo-la-la
behold my French feline eyes – oo-la-la
  • cat on an iceberg
  • fancy words for purr
  • jennifer with cat eyes
  • jennifer feline eyes
  • french jennifer cat eyes

Some other topics are right on the money:

  • polar bears in Newfoundland – a popular topic, only once for this blog
  • speciesism rant – one of my very few rants
  • pictures of patch quilt on clothesline – beautiful Greenspond 
  • little boy working on car – our grandsontenJ
  • you are my one and only blog – ❤
  • first date journal – ❤
  • Jennifer in varadero – Cuba!
  • heart turned cold quotes – I did pen a dark poem once…
  • journaling about bitterness – okay, twice!
  • reasons of dreams and meaning of dreams, see sleeping mouse in dream – because I put the word dream in a couple of my titles, I’m guessing
  • menopause feel like a furnace, perry menopause symptoms, hot flash journaling, internal combustion menopause – a topic of great concern out there, apparently, though I only blogged about it once
  • very cute images of love peace and understanding – but all they found were Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello!
  • Jennifer’s progress – my novel, the sequel? inquiring minds want to know
  • famous Jennifers in fiction – not me, but…maybe…someday?

Still giggling at the rest below. You will not find anything about the following topics in my blog:

  • having guy visitors in winter – shhh, don’t tell Paul!
  • cat foot ptarmigan – a new cross-breed?
  • scarlet woman – just call me the whore of Babylon
  • iceberg smelling  – hold on: is that a thing??
  • Jennifer is a racist blog – yikes! I swear you’ve got the wrong blog!

And my personal favourite:

  • Jennifer Kelland Perry the platypus

 Turns out there is an explanation for this one.
I just learned about this fellow when I did a search.

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Perry the Platypus

And there you have it. Someone looking for a platypus found me.

Have any funny or odd search terms from your blog to share?
Fess up in the comments below. 🙂

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Why Do I Blog?

Published on by J. Kelland Perry22 Comments

Why does an individual like me keep a blog? I have been asked this on a few occasions, and at times it makes me stop and think, and even reassess what my intention is.

As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts and on my About Me page, the origin of this journal came to me as a way to create consistently, in the form of a poem, a musing, or a small gallery of my personal photography. Usually the subject of these posts focused on something or someone I love, a topic I feel strongly about, or a place I have visited and wanted to share through pictures.

I also reported from time to time on my work in progress, a coming of age novel, Calmer Girls. (This is my working title and may or may not be the ultimate one.) My hope was by mentioning it in my blog and simply putting it out there, I would become more accountable and motivated to see it through to its completion.

I can say, without a doubt, my plan has been effective. This is not to say my blog is wonderful or the novel is going to be commercially successful. But what I can say, is that I took on a challenge, didn’t quit, and tried my best. Yes, due to the very nature of life and all it entails, there have been some weeks where I have found it difficult to produce anything, but thankfully those weeks have been in the minority. To a large extent I am pleased with my efforts, and the direction my blog and my new novel have taken.

I am expecting the novel will be ready for its first critique by the end of January. And I have no intentions of ending my blogging life any time soon! This is due in large part to the pleasure I derive from keeping it going each week, and connecting with so many other bloggers and readers all over the world. A number of my followers have been a Godsend, checking in and commenting regularly on my posts and encouraging me all along the way. You know who you are. 🙂 In the very near future I am planning to highlight my most faithful and prolific commenters and give their wonderful blogs the shout-outs they deserve. They are the ones that help make blogging for me so rewarding.

This joy of discovery is real, and it is one of our rewards. So too is the approval of our work by our peers. ~ Henry Taube

What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. ~ Bob Dylan

Keep on being good to one another!

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Friday Pick 44 – a Reblog

Published on by J. Kelland Perry7 Comments

Hello, Friends and Followers. A dear and close member of my husband’s
family has suddenly become very ill and is currently fighting for her life in ICU. Because of this, I have not been able to focus on my novel-writing, or my blog recently.
So I thought I would share with you something that made my day on March 29th: one of my favourite bloggers, Diana Schwenk, chose my blog as her Friday Pick for that week. I was beyond flattered when she posted this. I suggest you check out her inspiring blog; you won’t be disappointed.
Jennifer x

talktodiana

She’s real with a heart full of love and has inspired me many times to want to be a better person. Jennifer is also very interactive and this appeals to my “community building” nature. That’s why I follow Jennifer at Jennifer’s Journal. I hope you will have a look and I’m sure you will agree that Jennifer is worth a second look and a click on the follow button!

In her own words, Jennifer says:

Looking back on my blog after its first year, I can safely say that my Journal’s overall theme has turned out to be one of Love, more specifically, the sharing of what I love or have loved in my life, with you. Two years ago my husband and I got out of the city and returned to rural life in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Our hope is to continue living life simply…

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