Meet the Bloggers from the Hallmark Conference

After I accepted the invitation for the all-expenses paid trip to the Hallmark Bloggers Conference in Kansas City, I learned I would be one of about a half dozen bloggers from around the country attending.

I kept thinking to myself, “How did they find me?” It was the SAME REACTION I had when I was interviewed for the New York Times. My Publicist says I’m more popular than I think I am. Well, if that’s the case, why haven’t I sold a million books yet?

WHATEVER!

Anyway, my first contact with the others came on the morning of the conference. (I got in too late to try to socialize the night before). I wasn’t surprised that I was the only African-American but I was a little surprised at the make-up of the group. Four of us were Baby Boomers and the other three were Echo Boomers I guess (all under the age of 30).

The person I recognized right away was Dotsie Bregal for the NABBW. She looks just like her picture on my Baby Boomer Diva Web of Fame.

The person I seemed to gravitate towards almost immediately was Jerry Stearns. Jerry has a blog called: yourlifeafter50.com I learned that Jerry was from Fargo, ND. He’s the first person I’ve ever met from there. He’s married with children and he’s not someone who sends cards just because---but what man really does? I liked Jerry. He wasn’t pretentious and I learned during lunch that he had a softer, gentler side.

Jennette Fulda is apparently known as the PastaQueen. Why I don’t remember. I must have been having a menopausal moment when she was talking. But to tell you the truth, she was the quiet one in the group---so quiet that I hardly knew she was there unless she was right in my face. I recall her saying she lost quite a bit of weight---50 pounds or more I think. She was from Indianapolis.

The “Valley Girl” in the group was Stephanie Quilao. Her website is: www.backinskinnyjeans.com Stephanie was proud to proclaim that she lost 25 pounds so far and she wanted Hallmark to offer cards of encouragement for people who were fighting the battle of the bulge. She was spunky and pleasant to be around and quite knowledgeable about the blogging world.

Elizabeth Thielke hailed from Nashville. She is the author of three websites. I like the www.busymom.net one the best. Her genbetween.com website is quite informative. I learned that Liz and I shared a few things in common. We’re both only children and taking care of our elderly parents. Her mother has Alzheimer’s---so does my mother-in-law.

Last but not least was Sylvia Hall. She was the only “local” person in the group. Sylvia loves to write and dreams of getting a Hallmark gig someday. In her “other” life, she’s a teacher. I learned that we also share something in common: we both write for www.passionateforlife.com

I visited her blog: www.sylvias-journal.blogspot.com. She’s very colorful with words and is obviously very passionate about her writing.

I’m glad I got a chance to meet these bloggers because, otherwise, I would’ve probably never interacted with them in cyberspace.

My picks would’ve been different because it would’ve been based on who I’ve already been in contact with and interact with the most:

Mark: GoingLikeSixty.com
Rhea: thegeminiweb.com
Shirley: fabulousafterfifty.blogspot.com
Eileen: feistysideoffifty.com
Carine: whats-cooking.blogspot.com
Sharon: babyboomeradvisorclub.wordpress.com
Angela: angelabetts.com
A representative from womensvoicesforchange.org
And Me, of course!

If you want to see the bloggers go to, www.enjoyyourmenopause.com/hallmark_bloggers.html

Then check out the blog contest and add your name to the winners list, like Karen O'Bannon from Louisville, KY. http://www.enjoyyourmenopause.com/hallmark_contest.html