Dear All,
I am not sure how to phrase this elegantly, and without gushing.
On Sunday evening, I received an e-mail from one of the editors at WordPress, informing me that my latest post The Delight of Hand Writing had been selected for the Freshly Pressed Homepage, and that it would go live within a day or two. Naturally, I was delighted. I have been writing a weekly column since February 2011, and this is a first for me. Last night, just before going to bed, I checked the Freshly Pressed page, but my piece was not on it, yet.
This morning, like every morning, the first thing I did was switch on my BlackBerry. The e-mail notification alert started beeping continuously. It would not stop. I panicked. Last time I had received so many e-mails was when I had been hacked. I looked on the display screen. 253 e-mails. I rushed to my laptop, my BlackBerry still beeping every few seconds, demanding my attention.
While I was asleep, my blog piece had gone live on WordPress. While I was asleep, in England, other parts of the world were awake – and 1,853 people had read my blog, some of whom had clicked the “Like” stars, commented, reblogged me and/or subscribed. Hence, all the e-mail notifications. There were 85 comments pending.
In a state of overcharged joy, anxiety and disbelief, I went to work. I desperately wanted to tell someone about what was happening, and how my head was reeling but there was nobody I could ring at 7.45 a.m. Many of my friends are showbiz people – and so would not be awake then; and those with daytime jobs would be busy. I took myself to my morning class on automatic pilot, utterly stunned, trying hard to focus on what I was going to teach. Vocabulary. Animal idioms. Infinitive and gerund verb forms.
After class, when I switched on my BlackBerry again, more e-mails started flooding in. As I write this, the view count has reached 2,984, and there are 130 comments pending. Europe is awake.
I want to thank you all, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you to all those who subscribe to my blog and have supported and encouraged me for the past year and a half. I would most especially want to thank those of you who leave comments – be it on the WordPress blog or privately by e-mail. Your comments mean a great deal to me. They are an acknowledgement, an encouragement and an act of true generosity. It is you (I would like to name you but you all, I hope, know who you are) who have kept me writing in the knowledge that there are people out there worth writing for – even when I feel lazy or unmotivated.
I also want to thank all the people who have read my blog since last night – and all those who are about to read it (3,011 views and 133 comments pending now). I hope that you may continue to read my Sunday posts, and enjoy them.
Heartfelt thanks and apologies to the 134 people, so far, who have left such incredibly kind comments, and reblogged my piece. I will now read and tick “approve”, though it may take a little while to get through them all. I would like to respond to everyone’s comment so, again, please bear with me for the next few days.
I wish there were more special words of expressing gratitude.
THANK YOU!
(Now 3,139 views and 136 comments pending)
Scribe Doll
Scribe Doll 
Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed! I loved your piece – it was perfect 🙂 Wish you all the best ahead too 🙂
Thank you very much, afairbitofwriting.
Many congratulations, Katia.
Even if for my poor English it’s sometime hard to appreciate the fine nuances of your writing, I can get the elegance of your style and the deepness of your thoughts.
I’m sure you deserve the biggest success.
Go ahead and Good luck,
Dippi
Thank you very much, Dippi.
An elegant and heartfelt piece of writing. Thanks.
Very happy you like it.
Ciao katia ,
Sei grandeeeeee!
Che Ti dicevo pochi giorni fa?
Basta crederci fino in fondo !
Ma crederci profondamente !
E’ il tuo momento !
Fruttalo al Massimo.
Pensa Che stavo pensando proprio a te oggi ,
Mentre sono in Grecia in vacanza !
Ti mando un bacio grande
Ciao bella! Grazie! Ancora non ci credo… Riposati bene al sole :–)
Dear Lady! (I am your reader from Turkey)
Hope you never give up writing your Sunday posts… They seem to become a sort of fresh breath for me… I loved the style, the open expressions in their simple nature and the open mind you set in your blog…
You can’t guess how it feels when someone you follow periodicaly, suddenly stops posting one day… It is like losing your favourite novel somewhere by the sea side on one of the sunbeds while the most exciting pages were up to be read!
And again, hope to read more from you… 🙂
Welldone!
That’s one of the loveliest things anyone has ever said to me. Thank you. :–)
Loved the hand writing blog, posted a response to that one 🙂 But have to agree with the above, its nice to hear what happens when a blog become freshly pressed. Your writing is really lovely 🙂
Thanks again for your kindness.
How wonderful to get such a response, even if you do end up with RSI writing to everyone.
I look forward to your next post. 🙂
I’m aiming to respond to ten comments a day. That should avoid RSI :–) Thanks for stopping by.
Well done! I look forward to your next post, fellow Londoner! 🙂
Cheers! :–)
And well deserved! x
http://www.janhirst.com
Thank you so much!
Well done, Katia!
I have loved reading your blog since Mark first sent me details – if it hasn’t arrived on Sunday morning I feel quite disappointed!
Liz Stanford
Thank you, Liz. You’re very kind. You have just spurned me on to be more punctual with my Sunday blog. I do hope we may meet, at some point. Perhaps, during one of your visits here?
Katherine —
It sounds like you’d forgotten that you had friends oversees. You could have called me at 7:45am in the morning, even if we were in the same time zone. Congratulations on a well-deserved, watershed moment in your writing journey and professional life — you are a fine writer. I couldn’t help but think of the critical mass theory when I read this. Here’s wishing you wild success that snowballs into prosperity and good health.
Jessica
‘Bless your heart! Thank you for this obviously heartfelt wish! And I’ll bear you in mind next time I need to ring someone at an uncivilised hour – thanks! :–)
Thanks for the inside view of what it’s like to get Freshly Pressed, and congratulations again, if I’ve forgotten to say it before. Now we all know (even those of us who met you recently for the first time) how much hard work went into creating your blog, and we can further adjust our own dreams by your success. Keep those posts coming, they’re very well done!
Thank you ever so much for reading and commenting.
Congratulations!!! x
Thank you! x
YAY! XXX
Thank you!
Fantastic stuff. Bravo you 🙂 Although now I am just adding another email to that list! Beep
Thank you for making me laugh :–) So delighted you’ve added your e-mail address. Thank you!
Added mine months ago. I got there way before the hordes. Trend setter…that’s me 😉
And stylish, too :–)