Update on The Pond’s New Friends – We’ve Found Co-Bloggers!

The moment you enter the Pond’s magical boundary, you see Xiaolong hurtling towards you, as fast as her little feet can fly.

“Friend!” she exclaims, coming to a rough stop by your feet. “I have the most amazing news!”

You greet Xiaolong and ask her about her good news. You have become quite acquainted with Xiaolong’s bursts of energy and enthusiasm, but she looks particularly excited today. Now you’re curious!

She gives you a big thumbs-up! “We’ve found new friends to join us at The Quiet Pond!”

Oh that’s right! Sometime last year in early November Xiaolong told you that she was struggling to maintain the magic of the Pond herself, and was looking for help to run the Pond. Does she mean that she’s found new magical beings to help her!

You look around, trying to find these new friends, but you don’t see anything or anyone different. Where are they? you ask.

There’s a mischievous glint in Xiaolong’s eye when you ask this. “It’s a secret for now! I’m sorry friend, for teasing you about it and not being able to show you, but I was just so excited that I had to tell you about it.” Xiaolong looks behind her, and leans in to whisper something to you. You lean down to listen. “I haven’t even told Gen, Varian, and Amina yet. I want to surprise everyone.”

You ask her when you will get to meet these new friends. Soon, I hope?

“I hope soon as well,” says Xiaolong. “But there’s a lot to prepare and I want the big surprise party when we welcome them to be amazing! I can’t wait for you to meet them. I love them already.”

You nod. New friends! You are pretty excited to meet some new friends, and you hope you can meet them soon.

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, friends! I hope you all are having a great start of the week, and that you have some lovely books to keep you company.

Sometime in early November, I put forth a call for people to apply to be co-bloggers (new friends!) at the Pond. I was incredibly honoured to have over 30 people apply to be one of my co-bloggers; never did I anticipate such wonderful and enthusiastic applications, and the decision to pick was extremely, EXTREMELY difficult. Every response was excellent, and I wish that I was able to take in more.

After a few months of deliberating (there were also some delays with the festive season, which was busy for me this year), I have finally picked my co-bloggers! As Xiaolong said, I am keeping the identities of my co-bloggers a secret for now; I want to give them the reveal that they deserve. 

I don’t want to give too much away (I am absolutely terrible at keeping secrets, so! I am doing my best!!), but here is what I can share with you all for now:

• Xiaolong will have two (and possibly three? 😱) new friends at the Pond.
• Each co-blogger will be represented by an animal that they have chosen! At present, we haven’t finalised any details of their design, but we already have some ideas rolling and I’m extremely excited to share them with you.
• I won’t be able to reveal who the co-bloggers are until mid-March. Unfortunately I have a massive deadline coming up which will consume most of my attention as it approaches, and we have all decided to take our time to make sure that everything is organised, ready, and looks amazing.
• You are going to love them.

I do apologise for the significant delays on picking the co-bloggers and, now, revealing who my co-bloggers are, but I promise the wait will be worth it! 💛 My new co-bloggers are absolutely lovely and wonderful voices, and you’re going to love them as much as I do. I have no doubts about it!

Thank you so much for visiting the Pond today! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the day (and for all you night-birds, a great day tomorrow). Take care and happy reading!