Alexa & Judith's Epic Summer Read-Along || Friendships (The Online Kind)

Today, Judith & I are kicking off the round of posts that were inspired by Morgan Matson's latest novel, Since You've Been Gone! This book has Morgan's finely honed characters, and a well-written story all about self-discovery and friendship set during the summertime. Today, Judith and I wanted to talk a little bit about online friendships, and the friendships that have bloomed because of our involvement in the book blogging community! (If you're interested in my real life besties, here's a post for you.)

I never, ever, ever thought I'd be meeting some of my closest friends through the internet. In fact, if you'd asked me years ago if I thought I'd be connecting with people through the World Wide Web, I probably would have just stared at you before bursting into laughter. So, to say that I had my doubts about internet relationships would be fairly accurate.

Now, 3 years or so into blogging, I've come to realize that I can form legitimate friendships from interactions with people online (through blogging and through Twitter, mostly). My online friendships began from either a conversation on Twitter or a comment on the blog, usually about our mutual love of books, authors and blogging. And because the internet is awesome, I've gotten to chat (and even meet) a lot of the blogger friends I've made since I started this little blog!

But there are definitely certain people who have transcended the line of online friendship to become people who I consider some of my closest friends in real life. What shifted those friendships into something different? Well, I personally think the turning point is always when our conversations move past simple discussions of books and authors and blogs, and become moments where we talk about things going on in our personal lives. There's a change in dynamic, as you start confiding about things you're going through (good and bad) and you begin to share things that are deeply personal.

I'm lucky enough to have become really good friends with some great ladies, gals who I truly believe are some of my closest friends and feel comfortable confiding in about "real life" things:

• Rachel (We first met at the Melina Marchetta/Gayle Forman/Kristin Cashore event at Books of Wonder. We seriously have so very many things in common, and talk constantly!) 
• Estelle (E was the first blogger I ever met IRL, when we met up for dinner at Schnipper's! Aside from books, we discovered a mutual love of Disney and theatre.)
• Magan (I believe M was the second blogger I ever met IRL, when she came to New York! We had a fun dinner with E, and even have this funny video to show for it.)
• Judith (We haven't met in person yet, but we've had incredibly long WhatsApp conversations about books, blogging and other real life things!)
• Cassie (The first thing Cassie ever did for me was lend me her Unravel Me ARC. We finally met during BEA 2014, but have been chatting/messaging for months!)
• Hannah (I had the pleasure of meeting Hannah during BEA 2014. She's such a sweetheart! It's also fun to be discovering that she & I have so many things in common.)
• Kelly (We first met at BEA 2013, but have since proceeded to continue to discuss our love of travel and books... and our book boys.)
• Lena (We haven't met yet either, but Lena and I are alike in a lot of ways! Apart from books, and weddings months apart, Lena and I love sweets and shopping.)

But the point of the matter is this: I never thought I'd form online friendships, but nowadays, I cannot imagine my life without these ladies. Even though distance and time might keep me apart from most of them, it's become a part of my regular routine to chat with them and even confide in them. I love that the internet allowed us to meet, but I love it even more that we hit it off in real life too! 

Honestly, good friendships can be hard to find so I'm grateful for the ones I've got, no matter how they came about. Much love to all of you ladies, and to all my readers (who I consider my friends) too! Now, hop on over to Paperiot and check out Judith's post for today too.