What is Blogstonishing?

After years of doing #Blogstonishing I realized I’ve never made a dedicated space to explain it here where it happens—the Astonishing Legends blog.

When Scott and Forrest first asked me if I wanted to start contributing to the blog, I was surprised and overwhelmed. I had blogged here and there for internships, school, and some personal projects but being the voice of the AL blog (typos and all) was intimidating. I mean Al himself was watching me.

He isn’t exactly the most forgiving. But, soon enough the blogs were flowing and I was searching up stories fit to (digitally) print.

After a few years of blogging under my belt, I wanted to continue to extend our celebration of spooky season beyond the podcast. But how could I do that?

Well, the blog…of course.

Why the blog? Because it’s a place to explore the tidbits and strange news and stories not-quite-big-enough to air on the podcast (that being said, some topics covered on the blog have become or been a part of episodes).

Did you make it this far into the blog and realize I haven’t explained blogstonishing yet?

The blog, to me, is a place focused on exploration (which is just a bigger extension of what the podcast is). And Blogstonishing reflects some of my favorite parts of working for Astonishing Legends: exploration, curiosity, strange stories, tangents, and, of course, all of you.

Art may not be the best word for my blog writing, but every blogstonishing I feel like we create something together. Because blogstonishing is about all the things I’ve described but from YOU. It’s the one time of year I give over the reins of subject matter to listeners. We get tons of topic submissions and suggestions every year, and now, just for blogstonishing, and giving you a shout out for your suggestions and diving into the new subject matter I may not have picked on my own has become one of my favorite traditions.

In fact, it is kind of like a way to draw all of your names and stories, and passions into a place that lives right here, on the AL site.

So, what is Blogstonishing (if you’re still reading)? It is a time where listeners can submit blog stories, receive written credit on the blog for their submission, and they get a chance to make a mark on the website and show they love and become part of the Astonishing Legends tapestry of stories.

Only a few submissions came in that first year and I found myself reaching out via email to get more from topic submissions. But, now, we’re kicking 2022 off to a great start (in the first week of October alone I’ll be covering).

Could you imagine a better way to express ourselves as legenders than sharing our own favorite stories with each other? Because every blog lives forever on the site, not to mention is regularly searched, promoted, and shared.

Most of the time, I feel like Legenders are in a class all their own when it comes to podcast fans. And, I think blogstonishing is a perfect representation of that. I feel like we have such a close, open dialogue with listeners and love to feature them on the show, social channels, newsletter, and our website. You are as much a part of this podcast as I am, and I am so grateful for that.

Now, believe me I still fail a bit when it comes to blog writing (especially during blogstonishing when I try to get content out like a madwoman). So, if you see any typos in posts during October don’t be out for my blood…just drop me a line.

Some of the topics we’re covering this blogstonishing: vampires, internet folklore, book suggestions, haunted asylums, the Mandela Effect, and so much more.

Thank you, all, for reading and learning a little more about blogstonishing. Because of you, I get to continue to keep my curiosity sharp and my fingers typing.

See you October 1st.

The blog header image comes from The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection