The magic of a forum community

I know, I know – two posts in one week, after such a long absence! But I felt compelled to post this having just dropped in to the Stonewylde Forum. I can’t BELIEVE how wonderful it is! Mr B set it up last year in response to my wailings of despair. I was receiving so many beautiful e mails from fans and readers of the Stonewylde Series. I always tried to respond quickly, and in depth rather than a brief “thank you for your kind words” type message. If someone had read my books and loved them and felt moved to write to me, it would be so rude not to reply properly. But the problem was, once readers had become “stonewylded” – the term we coined to describe the curious phenomenon that seems to happen to many who’ve read the books – they wanted to converse regularly, discuss things about the books, share their own experiences. This was lovely to receive, really warmed my heart – but it got to the point where I just couldn’t keep up with it all. So Mr B suggested setting up a forum where readers could “meet” each other, talk about Stonewylde, share experiences etc – and I could dip in every so often and contribute too.

Well – he spent a great deal of time setting it all up, dear man. That’s one of the many things I love about him – his willingness to devote so much time and effort to Stonewylde, always in the evenings after a long day’s work, and also the way he just launches into new things with an open mind and the determination to learn new skills. We chose the whole feel of the forum carefully, wanting it to be very Stonewyldy, quite organic and green, not particularly slick or business like. The image used (the one at the head of this post) was an adapted photo I’d taken years ago at Ashley Chase in Dorset. A very sacred place indeed. We felt the arch was like an invitation to enter the world of Stonewylde. We chose the icons to show new posts, etc, and at last the forum was born.

It was a bit like order phentermine 37.5 from canada throwing a party, sitting waiting in the empty room with everything ready and hoping that people would turn up! It was quite slow at first. The whole point of a forum is that it has lots of members who regularly chat. We started a few topics to get people going and hoped the whole thing would take off. And it has!! The Stonewylde Forum is the most wonderful community with ever-growing membership. Luckily a bunch of unrelated people joined who are obviously experienced forumers, and who are passionate about Stonewylde. They kind of gee-ed everyone along, keeping the threads going and welcoming new members instantly. There are now some fascinating posts and threads, and people have started putting photos up of sacred places, stone circles etc. It’s really interesting. The posts often are nothing at all to do with Stonewylde, which is great, as the books are just the meeting point for people who share that one thing in common. Now they’re talking about gardening, recommended books, moots, places to visit and so much more. It really is fantastic visiting the forum and “meeting” everyone. I’ve probably only met half a dozen or so of the members in real life, yet I feel I have a whole community of friends now.

The other brilliant thing is their enthusiasm in promoting the books. They all understand what I’m up against here, and how hard it is to make any headway in the closed and cut-throat world of publishing. But they’re all sending out cards, visiting their bookshops, telling friends, blogging and posting on other forums, begging me for T shirts and suchlike! Apart from the practical help, which is invaluable, it also boosts my determination too and helps me keep going. Mind you, they do have an ulterior motive – I’ve explained that until the first three books really take off, I won’t be able to afford to publish the fourth one!

If you’re reading this and you’re a member of the Stonewylde Forum – THANK YOU!!!!! And if you haven’t visited it yet, please do so. It’s brilliant! Find it at www.stonewyldeforum.com