Today I’m celebrating my 100th blog post! Hurray! It’s taken me a year and a half to do it, but here I am, at milepost one hundred.
If you’re not a blogger, you may wonder why anyone would want to be one. I can’t speak for all bloggers, but in the beginning my motivation was simple. The “experts” said that if you were going to publish a book, you must have an online presence. A “platform” they call it. You needed a website, a blog, and author pages on Facebook and Goodreads. They also suggested a Twitter account, but I passed on that one.
My original idea for this blog was to concentrate on topics related to my novel, Tiger Tail Soup. Hence the name of my blog, “Behind the Story.”
Now, looking back at the list of my first ninety-nine posts, I see that I did follow my original intention. I wrote about bound feet, live-in maids, Chinese food, oolong tea, resistance fighters and collaborators, tigers, the Chinese cheongsam, war, the history of Gulangyu, the Chinese civil service exams, and my family’s 1983 visit to the island where my novel is set.
I also wrote posts on a variety of other topics, everything from Hawaiian plants to batik painting and from taking a hot air balloon ride to how I became a writer.
Here are the top seven posts in order of popularity:
- “A Foreign Ghost in a Wartime Cemetery”
- “My Interracial Marriage”
- “How I Met My Chinese Husband, Parts 1 and 2”
- “Chinese Poetry Comes to Dinner”
- “Manila’s Chinese Cemetery”
- “Storytellers and Writers”
- “Fame and Invisibility.”
The blogging software I use, keeps track of the number of visitors to my blog. They also classify them by country. So far, I’ve received visitors from 116 countries. The top three countries are exactly the ones I would have expected: The United States, then Canada, and then Great Britain. Number four is the Philippines and then Australia, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Not really surprising since I know people from those countries. But who would have predicted that people from Qatar, Ghana, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Palestine would find their way to my blog?
Today I’m celebrating my first 100 blogs, but I’m also celebrating all the friends I’ve made along the way. I started out following other blogs to learn how it’s done. (And I still have a lot to learn.) But in the process, I’ve become acquainted with some wonderful, smart, and interesting people. Lately I find myself quoting my blogger friends in conversation. They may live on the other side of the country or the other side of the world, but I know them because I keep up with their comings and goings through their blogs.
A big thank you to each of the visitors to my blog. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my posts.
Next week I get started on my next hundred posts, beginning with “The Great Tiger Hunter of Fujian.”
If you haven’t already signed up to receive a reminder of new posts, you can subscribe at the top right-hand side of this page.
Hi Nicki, congratulations on reaching this milestone! I count myself among your blogging family – the Swiss-Irish representative. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you and your work over the past year or more AND I thoroughly enjoyed your novel Tiger Tail Soup which I finished earlier this month. My mother is reading it now and also enchanted by the story and the setting. I reviewed the book on Amazon under the name Clarita (chose that username years ago but this was the first time I used it to review a book!).
Will be spreading the word as much as possible. I recommend twitter if you can squeeze it in, it’s a great resource and contact centre.
Best wishes,
Clare
Hi Clare. I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed Tiger Tail Soup. Thank you so much for passing it on to your mother, and thank you so much for the review on Amazon. I appreciate your recommendation to use Twitter. Maybe eventually I’ll give it a try.
Congratulations, I totally missed this article! Your blog posts are always very enjoyable for me as they often give great historical information wrapped in great writing style 🙂
Thanks, Timo.
I’ve enjoyed your company, Nicki. 🙂 It’s a surprisingly addictive pursuit, isn’t it? I just wish it wasn’t so time consuming sometimes. I would love to read more of your story, and the book but making time is always an issue with me.
I’m amazed at the number of posts you write, trips you take, and blogs you follow. You already squeeze a lot into each day.
Congratulations on your 100th post! It is a milestone for any blogger. I can’t remember how I found your blog but I remember your writing and your ‘way with words’ captured me right from the get-go.
I particularly loved the two ghost stories you shared right before Halloween and the story of how you and Eugene met.
Happy Chinese New Year!! I look forward to reading your next 100!!
Thank you for your kind words, Constance. It’s been fun following Foreign Sanctuary for all the stories about your life in Taiwan and for your beautiful photography.
Wow! Congratulations! Here’s to a 100 posts more!!
Happy New Year of the Sheep, Nicki!
Thank you, Marta. Best wishes for a peaceful Year of the Sheep.
Congratulations on 100 posts! Keep up the good work 🙂
Thank you, Kimberly. Last year I didn’t miss a week. I’ll see if I can do the same this year.
My heartiest congratulations for a wonderful endeavor well begun. I’m proud.
Thanks, Sue. When I started this “endeavor,” I never considered how many posts I would end up writing.
Congrats! I’m glad that our paths crossed in cyber space. My favorite post of yours ~ seeing your gorgeous batiks!
Thank you, Nancy. I wouldn’t have guessed that the batiks would be anyone’s favorite. It IS an interesting process, and I did work hard at it for a while.
If you click on “Behind The Story” on my sidebar . . . it goes straight to your batik post. I loved every one of the batiks you did so I wanted to be able to find them again.
Happy Birthday to your blog, Nicki! I think that’s wonderful to see that you’ve kept your focus. As one of your followers, I must say that your posts are a good mix of information and personal sharing. Your niche is unique, and I appreciate that a lot. To your next 100 posts!
Thank you, Evelyne. I really appreciate your support and good wishes.
Congratulations Nicki, just chugging right along.
That’s right, Marty. I’m just slowly “chugging right along.” Thanks for stopping by.
Congratulations, Nicki! Time flies when you’re blogging. I passed on Twitter too.
Thanks, Jill. Twitter doesn’t seem like my kind of thing. My publisher set up a Twitter account for me, but I never use it.
Congratulations
Thank you, MIchelle.
I enjoy your blog because you weave wonderful stories. Some are exotic of foreign lands and some are about people. Congratulations on reaching 100 posts and maybe there be many more 100s to come.
Thank you, Kate. I don’t know about many more 100s. I’m not as prolific as you are. But we’ll see …
Congratulations! I refuse to tweet as well!
Thanks, SuziCate. I suspect you have far too many projects going on to take the time to tweet.
We do meet the most interesting people out here in the blogosphere who lead us to so much which enriches our lives. Such as great new books!! Thanks for listing your top posts, NIcki, I’ll enjoy noodling through those. Congrats on your 100 posts!
Thank you, Barbara. I’m so glad I met you out here in the blogosphere.
Wow! Visitors from 116 countries! Nice!
Congrats, Nicki, on your hundredth post!
Thanks, L.Marie. I think 116 countries is probably not unusual, but before I started blogging, I wouldn’t have imagined it.