www.friends

My old Collins dictionary defines a friend as 'a person known well to another and regarded with liking, affection and loyalty.' It's an old dictionary and does not comment on the phenomenon of internet friends-- names that pop up on our Facebook or LinkedIn  page, requesting or accepting friendship. True, some folk take this reaching out to extremes, claiming hundreds, even thousands of contacts collected like model cars or stamps.
Is it possible to interact with people we have never met? Of course it is. How many penpals form lifelong friendships? With the easy availability of the Web, nobody need feel isolated. Sometimes the influx of mail is overwhelming. All too often I hastily skim, scan and delete, but I never disregard a friend's name, shining like a flake of gold amongst all the dross. Somebody has remembered me and bothered to write. My Inbox friends are as much a part of my life as relatives.
I was thinking about friendship as I raised a call for help to set up this blog. The authors and staff at Secret Cravings Publishing, my publishers, rallied when I confessed my technical ignorance and feelings of incompetence. People offered help, assured me it was fine to make mistakes, and set out the process of building a blog site. Here it is! Just like that. I want to thank supportive and warm friends, my fellow authors. You know who you are. I hope I can be of equal assistance to you some day.