The Day a Celebrity Commented on My Blog
Posted By Denise Miller Holmes on Tuesday
Savvy Article #1105
I wrote my opus, Facebook and Intimacy, with a smile on my face and a laugh in my tummy. It was meant to be funny, and I assumed that my little cadre of friends and I would get a hoot out of it and that would be the end. After all, who comes to read my blogs? Pretty much just…one…two…(I could count them on a couple hands and I might throw in a foot.)
So imagine my delight when a name I didn’t recognize appeared in the comments. Yahoo! I might actually be growing this blog, I thought.
The comment was wise. An older woman, it seemed to me. Seasoned. Definitely not a flighty girl. A good follower to have!So I hopped on Facebook and told everybody that I had an “interesting” comment on my blog. Within an hour or two, I got a few comments back, the most powerful one from Kay who said, “Wow. $%^& reads your blog!”
I felt a kick in my stomach. My heart raced. Uh-oh. She’s SOMEBODY. And I don’t know who she is!
You can blame my ignorance on the fact that I had avoided Christian milieu for a few years. During the 80s and early 90s, I was into Christian music and radio, but sometime around the end of the century, I got tired of Christian pop culture, describing it as “pablum,” and I abandoned listening to or reading anything Christian except sermons and Bible studies.
Coming out of my Christian-culture cave was slow, and by the time I started this site, I was just beginning to understand how much I’d missed.
So, in June of 2009, I was still naïve when I read Kay’s response. I panicked. Holy cow, how do I find out who SHE is without making a complete idiot of myself?
Kay was the only one I knew who would not laugh at me—not to my face anyway. Oh, I imagine she went into her closet and had a big howl after she answered my email, but she didn’t do it to my face.
So I wrote, “Kay…who is Patsy Clairmont?”
Her response was diplomatic, nonchalant even. “She speaks at Women of Faith, that conference. She writes books.”
An understatement, BTW, the “book” comment. I went to Amazon and nearly became catatonic with shock at the volume of books Patsy (that’s Ms. Clairmont to you) has written.
I felt dazed and amazed. Amazed that someone of her stature would bother to read my blog, much less comment, but also awed at how out of it I was.
I am a Christian writer, and this experience gave me the realization that I can’t cut myself off from the very audience God has called me to write for. If nothing else, Patsy’s comment gave me insight that I need to come out of my foxhole.
Reconnecting to Christian radio has helped. I am delighted that the music has come a long way! Now I need to start reading Christian fiction, a task I procrastinate because 80s Christian fiction was so BAAAAAAD.
I have yet to read one of Patsy Clairmont’s books, but at least I now know what “Women of Faith” is. I’ve even been to the website. Yay me. 
The light is beginning to creep into the cranium, but I have a long way to go!
If you want to see the original comment, go to Facebook and Intimacy: What the Heck Are You Talking About? Go here to view Patsy’s website, and here to see her books.
About The Author
Denise, that is so funny that you didn’t know who she was! I’ve never read her book, either. I’m such a pagan.
I’m commenting so that someday when I’m rich and famous and everyone knows me, you can look back and say, “I remember the day Amy commented on my blog.” You can even print out this comment and save it in your scrapbook.
Great post. I share your feelings about Christian pop culture, by the way. I’m not entirely sure it’s improved that much, but maybe I’m just at a different stage than you are–maybe I’m just now getting to the stage you were in a few years ago… That doesn’t bode well for me, I suppose.
Now I’m going to read your Facebook post….
Amy, since I’ve been listening to Christian radio AND since I’ve been rubbing elbows with Christian-fiction writers, I am gaining more respect for Christian media. There is still some BAAAD stuff out there, but more and more GOOD. For Christian fiction, I’ve been told to try Francine Rivers. James Scott Bell is also terrific. He writes articles and books for Writers Digest, and is a great fiction writer. Standards ARE improving, to my great relief. And, oh yes, I’ve heard Patsy Clairmont is GREAT.
I BELIEVE you will be rich and famous, Amy, and I will write a post about the day AMY ROSE DAVIS came and commented on my website! “What a dear girl. We’re best friends now,” I’ll say.
Thanks for commenting!
Too funny, Denise! I have not attended Women of Faith, but I’ve read one or two of Patsy’s books. She’s so funny and sincere and gives you the feeling you’ve known each other forever and you can trust whatever she says! Not a bad audience you have…esp. since it includes me
We writers are so vain, LOL!
Jodi, if we are vain, it’s because we are trying to promote ourselves and we’ve become focused on when our name is mentioned, and how many times! But in the case of you and Patsy and Amy, you are definitely the cream of the cream as far as audiences go. Thank you for stopping by and commenting. I not only value your readership, I also need every comment I can get!
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This is amazing, Denise. She’s a powerhouse. What a great moment!