So, I have a confession, an apology and a plan to reveal to
y’all. Are you ready?
Okay, so the confession.
This morning, I was in total distress over social media. Total.
Distress. I have come to realize that y’all might think I’m ignoring your posts and comments
and tags on social media. Let me assure
you, I’m definitely not ignoring you.
Many of you know that I’ve had a tremendous amount of family health
stuff going on for two years now. That
has a way of taking over your thoughts and your plans and your whole life in
some ways, at least for spurts of time.
After that, you kind of have to just jump back in and pick up the pieces
where you left off, but it never feels like you get caught up.
That's the confession part, but there’s more. This is where the apology comes in. Y’all, social media is so, so hard for me! It
seems that every time I log on, I something mean or negative or something
that just rips my heart out. People can be so cruel and awful to each other, and that’s hard for me to watch, whether I'm directly affected or not. It's toxic almost. I’m happy-go-lucky. Anyone who knows much about me knows
that. The ugly stuff wilts my soul. Seriously. It puts a dark cloud over my whole
day and I just can’t function like that.
But I want y’all to know that I’m sorry, sorry that I’m not better at it
and that I miss so much. You’ll never
know how much I appreciate being in your thoughts, appearing in your posts and
tags and comments and mentions, and it bothers me that I miss so much. And THAT is why I needed a plan.
I think I have a solution.
A Facebook group. I know, I
know. Not exactly a “new thing,” but
this one might be my BEST thing. It’s just a place
where you can post something and be sure that I see it. A place where you can find me. That’s all.
If you want to post a picture, a comment, some inspiration, ask a
question or just say “Hi!”, I want to give you a place to put it where I’ll see
it and I can respond. My plan is to go
in every Friday if not more often.
I
can’t promise I won’t post a story telling you something stupid that I just did
or that I won’t post a pic and some exciting passage from a book I’m working
on, but that’s the beauty of it. I want it to work both ways. Sometimes I want to thank y’all for something
wonderful, but posting it on my main pages usually means that it will get lost
in the fray, swept away by the current.
Drowned by everything else. And there are times when I NEED for you to know how much YOU affect ME and MY life.
So
I’m creating a happy place for us. I
hope the name will actually be descriptive of the environment. Not exactly catchy, but that’s not the
point. Hehe I wanted it to speak for itself -Ã Laid-back with Leighton. It’s for anyone and
everyone who wants to reach me. As long
as you don’t come to be mean. That’s the
quickest way to get ousted. LOL
An example of why I sometimes need a place to say thank you happened just a little while ago. I will only use first
names, but I hope you two lovely ladies to whom I'm referring know who you are. I got two packages in the mail today, both
contained cards. Both told me the story
of how my books had helped them through a rough patch in their life. The timing could NOT have been more perfect, so I want to take a second to thank Donna and Becca
for reminding me (on a day when it was beginning to look a little bleak around
the ML house) WHY I do this and how much I love it. You two also showed me that this group will be good for me, too. It’s not a street team, nor is it a place to
moan and groan, to bust out the claws or focus on the negative. No, this is a place where all things happy
are on the agenda, all day every day.
That’s all I want—to be able to interact with y’all in a safe and fun
environment. I pray that this will work
out as well as…no, EVEN BETTER THAN I hope.
So, if you want to reach me, here’s where you can find me.
You can add others who have read my books and want to come
by and share or ask or just be. I’m
pasting the rules below, too, so you’ll know up front what to expect.
For those who don’t like groups or are like me and just
aren’t good with social media, please know that whether or not I ever get to
address YOU personally, I’m soul-deep thankful to everyone who has ever picked
up a book of mine. It’s for you, because of you readers that I want to
find a way to meet in the middle—the girl who’s allergic to social media and
everyone who I can only reach ON social media.
LOL Sounds like a conundrum, but
where there’s a will, there’s a way. So,
will, meet wayJ
Rules for being laid-back with Leighton:
Rule 1: This is a
happy place. There’s a whole wide world
and a whole wide web where people are rude and mean and critical and
negative. Pot-stirrers and drama queens
will probably hate it here. LOL I want
this to be the one place on the planet where NO ONE is anything but happy and
nice and polite. Maybe I should change
the name to UtopiaJ
Rule 2: No men
allowed. This is a place where we can
talk about how hot they are and what we like and what we think Jake or Trick or
Cash would look like in real life, all without fear of being overheard by the
penisesJ
Rule 3: No posting of
nude pics. That gets hairy (no pun
intended). People get offended. Facebook gets angry. It’s just not good, so please don’t do it.
Rule 4: This is not a
place to promote pages or blogs or politics or things like that. And believe me, I’m doing you a favor. People get tired of that in a hurry and it
can actually work against you. I’m
saving you from getting hate mail. LOL
Rule 5: Rulebreakers
will be removedL Sorry!
Rule 6: Have
fun. Tell me a scene that you loved in
the book you just read, ask me a question about why I pick strange names or if
I’m ever going to write about crop dusting.
If you have anything (not mean, of course- hehe) to say to me or ask of
me, go for it! That’s what I’m here for! That’s the ONLY reason I’m here!
As always--always, always, always--thank you. For everything.
