Sweet Blog Alabama

By Javacia Harris Bowser

Birmingham, Ala., resident Rachel Callahan had made connections with writers all over the world, thanks to her popular blog Grasping for Objectivity. But she knew very few bloggers in her hometown. She searched for a website that helped local bloggers connect, but with no luck.

“So I decided to start one,” Callahan says.

Alabama Bloggers was born.

Callahan started Alabama Bloggers in May 2009 as a website and eventually took these online connections offline with monthly luncheons that she calls #AlaBlogMeet.

Attendance at the lunches can range from 8 to 35.

“The dynamics of the lunches are vastly different depending on the crowd size,” Callahan says. “But all are fun!”

Callahan recently started a Facebook group for Alabama Bloggers as well.

“It has been a great way to exponentially increase the networking opportunities for Alabama Bloggers, Callahan says.

As Alabama Bloggers grew, blogger Carol Marks of Huntsville was wishing she could attend the monthly lunches, which are typically held in Birmingham.

“I lurked around online and followed the Alabama Bloggers for quite some time,” Marks says. “Oh, how I wanted to be in Birmingham with all of them but driving to Birmingham on a regular basis would be out of the question.”

Marks wanted to start a blogging group in Huntsville but says she had no idea how to do it.

But everything changed with a simple tweet.

“One day, I sent out a tweet that read something like, ‘Hey Huntsville Bloggers, let’s get together and start something,’” Marks says. “Surprisingly, I got a response!”

That tweet led to a meetup at a Huntsville-area Books-A-Million and soon the Rocket City Bloggers was born.

Last month Rocket City Bloggers partnered with The Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau to host a mixer for Huntsville area bloggers. The event drew about 75 attendees and featured free food and drinks and over a dozen door prizes from local businesses.

“I was absolutely blown away by the turnout,” Marks says. “It just goes to show me that we do have a blogging community here in Huntsville and bloggers do want to support each other and want build relationships and a better community along the way.”

Belles Who Blog

A few years ago, Stephanie Buckley (otherwise known as The Park Wife) from Arkansas decided to form a blogging community just for women called Women Bloggers. Her goal was to create online communities for women bloggers in Southern states. Today she’s accomplished that goal in six states — Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, and, yes, Alabama.

For help with the Alabama Women Bloggers site Buckley turned to Joy Sowell.

“Stephanie and I grew up in the same small town in Mississippi before moving to different states. She knew my love for blogging and asked me to head up the Alabama site,” says Sowell.“I became the editor of the Alabama Women Bloggers in April 2013, and we went live in May 2013. It’s grown by leaps and bounds and we are excited to see the bonds that are forming within our state.”

Like the Alabama Bloggers site, Alabama Women Bloggers gives writers a chance to share links to their posts.

“What we’ve found with our Alabama Women Bloggers is they didn’t realize so many women in our state are bloggers, too,” Sowell says. “That’s why we are here. We want to help Alabama Women Bloggers connect with their sister bloggers and grow their friendships. We help them by sharing their recent blog posts, and allow them to guest blog on our site to bring more traffic to their blog.”

Sowell started blogging in 2009 to document all the exciting events she was attending as a social magazine editor. But her blog would later transform from Confessions of a Southern Socialite to The Sowell Life after she got married in 2012. And even before their marriage, Sowell says, the blog had become an online scrapbook of their courtship.

“If you visit my blog you’ll read about our southern marriage, recipes from a southern home, travels, and a heartbreak from a miscarriage,” Sowell shares.

Sowell says many of the Alabama Women Bloggers are willing to share both personal hardships and happiness.

“The stories they bring are heartwarming, hilarious, thought-provoking, and most of them will make you hungry,” she says. “These ladies are willing to share a personal struggle that they hope might help someone else along the way. The blogs these ladies are sharing show that our state has wonderful things to offer. Alabama Women Bloggers are well educated, and yes, their opinions do matter!”

We want to hear about the bloggers in your state! Tell us all about the blogging community in your town at seejanewritemag@gmail.com.