Blogging Mentor Monday: Jessie Humphries is a B-Word

That's right! I said it. Jessie Humphries from B-Word is Beautiful, Blonde, and Big... hearted (you totally thought I was going to write something else, didn't you?). A Book lover, Believer in all things Beautiful, and Blog stalker, Jessie is proof that Blonde's do have more fun. I'm psyched to have her here to talk to us about her Blogging origins.

HI JESSIE! To kick this off, please explain why you started your blog:

Because my writing partner Peggy Eddleman talked me into it. I know that sounds like a cop out, but after a writing conference last year she called me and said, "I'm starting a serious writing blog. I am going to be seriously committed to it. And you should seriously do it too." I said okay. That girl could talk me into jumping off a cliff. So we jumped together. We are going to be celebrating our blogoversary next week in a most EPIC kind of way. 

I look forward to seeing what you two do. This month is my one-year blogaversary as well. Happy blogaversary to you!

How did you come up with your “B” themed blog?

Peggy and I brainstormed ideas on themes for our blogs. Peggy quickly went to cookies. I went to cuss words. I am sort of irreverent like that. But more seriously, it came to me in a dream. No, that's not true either. I don't know, it just seemed appropriate. I am an attorney, and sometimes aggressive female lawyers get called the B-Word. (And in those cases, they don't mean Book Lover or Blog Stalker). 

Why are men called "cutthroat" but women are called "B-words"? I've often wondered that...

How has blogging helped your writing?

Well, I would say the number one way it has helped my writing is by connecting me to critique partners and beta readers that I would never have otherwise found. But it has also helped me develop my writing voice a little better. 

Beta reader—another great B-word. :)

What is your most memorable blogging experience to date?

Without a doubt it is the response I had to draft to a certain agent debacle that occurred after this year's Storymakers conference. I was mentioned by name on an agent's blog in a not-so-flattering way because I cancelled a pitch session. The commenters attacked me as "stupid," "ridiculous," and "cowardly." It was a humiliating experience, but one that I believe taught me a great deal. I'm not sure if all those hundreds of readers of the agent's blog ever read my blog response. I wonder if they understand I didn't cancel because of fear or cowardice -- I cancelled because after a dinner conversation I questioned whether it was a good fit. Regardless, I learned that the blogosphere can be a small place. And that I have a lot of great friends out there who immediately came to my defense. We have to be careful what we write and how we conduct ourselves. It matters. 

Yes it does.

Random Question: What genre do you write? Why?

I write Young Adult. It's what I love to read. I thrive on budding romance, young loves, first experiences. Sometimes I feel too middle-aged, washed up, settled down. While I love my dashing husband, my four beautiful children, and even our irritating little dog Max, I long for adventure. I want to remember what a first kiss feels like on the beach with a boy I am just getting to know. I want to reminisce about the freedom of the future. The dream of what life holds past 17. I live vicariously through the characters I read and write. That's not weird is it? 

Not at all. I write YA for the same reasons.

Thanks for being our Mentor, Jessie. You really are a B-word... a Bodacious Blogger!