15 Candles - Celebrate WDC's Members

Radler Zpheitor - He was my first and best poetry friend here when I first joined. In all my time on WDC, he is still one of just a few people who really understood my poetry, and I adored his as well. He was basically my first Charlie ~ but not nearly as close.

JoDe - She was one of my first friends here. We talked a whole lot about our lives and such. I believe that we first met through the 5th Author's Spotlight competition back in 2009. Anyone remember that? Anyway, We kept in touch longer than most, but by the time I came back at the end of 2013, we hadn't talked in years.

Riot - To me, she isn't even a WDC person. She's J. My bestie... my go-to girl who I can call sobbing my eyes out in the middle of the night and have her rant along with me. I only mention her here because I did meet her here way back in 2009.

untamedwriter / rozebud - He is the one who made me realize how much I really enjoy teaching and first got me thinking about pursuing that career path. Apparently, I'm not too shabby at it either. Rick went from hating poetry to writing his own ballads in perfect meter. My first success story.

jenlynn002 - When I first came back to WDC, I found Jen. She was a newbie who had a style of prose that was uncannily similar to mine. Needless to say, I loved it. We became fast friends and kept in contact right up until she left the site. We had had a bit of a falling out before that (through no fault of our own-- we are who we are), but she sent me her gift points and an email before she deleted, saying that she would stop by as a guest and peek in on me now and then. I miss her.

That's about as much reminiscing as I can take. There are lots of old times I could talk about, but really, they weren't very "good" old times. So... on with some more cheerful stuff:

Charlie ~ - Dude is in a class of his own. For me, him and J are just... my people.

These next three were all in my first set of mentees at the Newbies Academy:

Lawless - Proud Pantser - Another one of my favorite people. I don't care how often we talk or how active he is... I just love this guy. I can 100% be myself with him, and he always forgives me for the insane email buildup.

Patrece ~ - An awesome lady! She is practical and down-to-earth, and she has more life experience than me (no, I did NOT call you "old")... so she gives amazing advice. We can and have talked for hours about nothing.

~Minja~ - She's basically a little ray of sunshine with me! Even if she's upset, she'll be a cheerleader for me. I appreciate it!

And more people who I love for one reason or another:

Elle - on hiatus - It's nice to be able to be myself with people. I can do that with Elle. An awesome friend to me... and a great leader in the community, though we are rarely involved in the same groups and such.

ANN Counselor, Lesbian & Happy - Ann is just... Ann. Always supportive, whether it is excitement over the good things or ready to hunt someone down for me if I'm having a bad day. She's just... an amazing woman in her own right.

Robyn is PUBLISHED! - I couldn't say exactly what it is that I enjoy about talking with Robyn, but she's like a breath of fresh air on here for me. I think we clicked instantly when she was brand new to the site. She's a real person, open-minded, educated... and she likes scifi. What's not to love?

Angels in my Ear - One of the few people I know who can out talk me. We first met when she asked me to be a mentor for the Newbie's Academy. I agreed... and ended up working my way into a joint leadership role with her. Then we started the Genre Auction and Fundraiser (our mutual idea--- we brainstorm well together). And of course, I am a big fan of her Shadows and Light contest because it is the only contest on the site specifically for free verse. Basically, we work very very well together. We're total opposites in just about every way, but it still works really well.

RICH - Okay, I could put any of a million people in here, but I've gotta throw Rich on this list. I knew him back when I first joined in 2009. He was one of the only people who were nice to me at all. When I came back 4 years later, he remembered me and just continued on like no time at all had passed. Imagine! 4 years and just "Hello Cinn... been a while". He's wise and nonsensical, often in the same breath-- conversations with him just don't get old.

Geoff