Saturday, March 26, 2016

Celebrate Romance Every Day: SOS Aloha 6th Anniversary Finale - A Blog is Born


I shared the events leading to SOS Aloha at this link, link, and link. I created SOS Aloha while living on Pearl Harbor in March 2010 as a means to stay connected to Romanceland.  At the time, snarky blogs dominated social media - I did not want to create a forum where snarky remarks would be directed at military families.  To date, I have had no snarky remarks. 

Instead, I received enthusiastic support from authors, publishers, readers, and other bloggers.  Romanceland embraced every call to action to mail cards to deployed personnel - thank you!

I tried to register SOS America, sosamerica.blogspot.com, in honor of the charity sponsored by Kathryn Falk, the owner and founder of RT Bookreviews Magazine. But that name was already registered. I amended it to SOS Aloha, sosaloha.blogspot.com

Along the way, other bloggers helped me cultivate my craft:

- Terri from Bodice Ripper Novels (link) taught me how to insert images and links.

- Mary from The Reading Reviewer (link) encouraged me to write reviews

- Dani from Ramblings from the Chick (link), Kati from Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance (link), and Kim from Book Obsessed Chicks (link) created a community of mutual support.

I also thank the readers for being a part of this journey!

The turning point for SOS Aloha came in September 2010 when Rhonda Penders, Editor-in-Chief of The Wild Rose Press, contacted me to donate books to my blog.  Since I lived in Hawaii, I suggested she mail them to Mary in St. Louis to reduce the shipping cost (Mary would then send the books to winners after we spotlighted the author on my blog).  We were not expecting Rhonda to send over 200 books!  I contacted all the authors for an interview ... and viola, SOS Aloha grew by leaps and bounds!  Thank you, Rhonda, for that boost!

I am giving away a book choice from one randomly selected commenter. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment to my question,

1. If you started a blog, what would you call it?

2. Comments are open through Saturday, April 2, 10 pm in Baltimore. 

3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, April 3.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

PS Check out my other blogs:

- Aloha On My Mind, a travel blog with local interest and international culture: alohaonmymind.blogspot.com.

- Aloha Author Assistant, a helpful guide for authors where I reward readers for their feedback:  alohaauthor.blogspot.com.

I always welcome guest posts from authors and readers to any blogs!



30 comments:

  1. I think something like THE ARMCHAIR TRAVELLER.

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  2. I'd probably go with something like "To Read or Not to Read" in homage to Shakespeare.

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  3. I had a blog once....Ladies of Leisure Loves Books.

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  4. I am always honored to be mentioned in your blog and always remind 'you' that if you had not kicked my butt to expand my blog I would not be where I am today. Kim, you have inspired many a writer, reviewer, and blogger and we thank you for it.

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  5. I am always honored to be mentioned in your blog and always remind 'you' that if you had not kicked my butt to expand my blog I would not be where I am today. Kim, you have inspired many a writer, reviewer, and blogger and we thank you for it.

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  6. I definitely have a blog name in mind. :) but I will wait to see if it is available before saying it! Lol. Your blog is one of my favorites to read and visit.

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  7. Congratulations on your anniversary! How about "Only Romance" as a name?

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  8. Congrats on the anniversary, Kim. I honestly have no idea what I'd name a blog. I do enjoy reading yours!

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  9. Congrats on your 6th year, Kim! Also, I enjoyed your post about how you started your blog. Despite your mentors that helped you get started, I still think your blog is about the best. I enjoy reading what you have to say most every day. And And if I ever decided to start a blog, I think I'd call it Jan's Journal. jdh2690@gmail.com

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  10. Congratulations on 6 years Kim. All of your posts are always so interesting and straight to the point. I wish you another wonderful 6 at least. :).I haven't a clue what I'd name a blog because I never thought about it. Thanks for another interesting post. And Happy Easter to enveryone who celebrates.
    Carol L
    Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

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  11. Congrats!
    I'd name mine Wanderings from the Mind of Crazy Book Lady ;)
    Lol

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  12. Congratulations on 6 years Kim. All of your posts are always so interesting and straight to the point. I wish you another wonderful 6 at least. :).I haven't a clue what I'd name a blog because I never thought about it. Thanks for another interesting post. And Happy Easter to enveryone who celebrates.
    Carol L
    Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

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  13. There are so many crafty names out there. Maybe "Audio Maven" since I almost exclusively listen to books these days.
    Book hugs!

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  14. Reading romance is all I can think of
    Thanks
    Kimh

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  15. Congrats! Maybe a reader

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  16. You listed some wonderful book bloggers. It is great to have an online community that is helpful and just wants to share a love of books. :)

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  17. Happy Blogoversary, Kim. Have no idea what I would call my blog.

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  18. Congrats on your anniversary.
    ladbookfan

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  19. Congrats on your blogoversary! If I had a blog, I would call it Book Lovers Forever.

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  20. Happy Blogiversary! I actually have a blog, it's called Life With Two Boys :)

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  21. Congratulations: Happy Blogiversary!

    one of my social media handles is @momof3boysj and I use it across many sites, but as my boys have aged, being a mommy blogger is no longer something I'm interested in pursuing. So, I'd go with my author name: Denise Stout. Only have two stories published in anthologies, so I'm usually found under Denise Holcomb. ;)

    Denise

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  22. Happy Blogiversary - Thank you for all your efforts!

    I might call my blog 'Thoughts from a Wondering Mind' - because I find myself contemplating things from books to archaolology to history to religion to politics trying to figure things out.

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  23. Happy blogversary! So glad I've been able to enjoy your wonderful space. I think I"d probably call my blog "All About Them Books"

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  24. Happy blogiversary I'd call my blog "Natasha Reading Corner"

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  25. HappyAnniversary. Good question. Natty's Mommy Book Blog.
    Karen T.

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  26. Many more happy anniversaries on your blog. Would call it Patty B's Book Blog.
    Patty B.

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