One word to describe how I feel about #BloGhAwards16: WOW!! 

When I walked up to receive the Best Blog Award, I shared snippets of the Kenikodjo story. I started updating my Facebook status more frequently two years ago because I was done with National Service and out of a job. (Vodafone browned me😢)  I wrote about everything- from roasted plantain to trotro mates and dumsor. They made people laugh and soon some of my friends made it a habit to check my wall every now and then to see if there was anything interesting to read.

 

So many people liked and shared it and asked me to start a blog pronto. And so I obeyed.

I was worried about being consistent with the posting and not being interesting for my readers. The journey had begun.

I want to doff my hat to those who read my very first two blog posts and commented. If you hadn’t done that, I would not have had the nerve to post another. Ever since 28th October, 2014, I have tried to post at least once a month- typing out almost every post from my phone. Short stories were the niche- until I started the series. I tried to tell stories that people could relate to, and at least 5 times, people have asked me how I was able to write a story so identical to their life stories.

If you read this blog often, you would know that I believe I have the best readers in the ENTIRE UNIVERSE!! Every success this blog has chalked has been all thanks to you. I don’t know anyone in Fiji, Qatar, Guatemala, Lithuania or Romania and yet the stories are read there too. There are some countries that I didn’t even know existed but I won’t display my ignorance here. 🙈

Fast forward to the nominations for the Blogging Awards. I was amazed and excited that I made it past the shortlisting process and also a little nervous. There were some pretty big names on the list. Once again, my amazing readers took over. Two of them stayed up late to design a banner with the voting information. I put it up on Facebook and let’s just say it took on a life of its own. People I did not even know were using it as their dps (display photos). The voting results came and I had to pinch myself. We were in the lead in both categories- Best Blog and Best Facebook profile. Now it was time to wait for the judges. For the first time, it was a Pan-African panel. I was on tenterhooks.

A week to the awards day, people were congratulating me in advance. My thoughts were ‘What kind of pressure is this? What if I don’t win? Then yawa pae!’ My friend and school mate Akunsah whipped up the perfect jumpsuit in record time. My fashion experts ensured that I had the right accessories and hair to go with it. I honestly felt like a princess.

By God’s grace, we won both awards. Won’t He do it? 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

 

There was one more surprise in store for me. Amazing CPR won Most Romantic for #BloGhAwards2016 by walking up with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. There was cake too. Now this is where it gets aww-invoking. Apparently he collaborated with legendary Nana Awere Damoah and one of my readers Obaa Yaa to surprise me.

These awards are dedicated to the memory of my late father, Rev Peter Kodjo. Daddy always listened, always believed in me, always allowed my imagination to run wild. If I am a good storyteller, it’s because of him.

I can’t say thank you enough to CPR for always cheering loudest from the sidelines, always urging me on. Like I always say, we should find another word to describe you. Amazing doesn’t do you justice. ❤️

I’d like to thank my family and friends for being so supportive. They bought tickets and came in their numbers. It was a whole table mehn!

Last but definitely not least, I would like to thank every single person who has ever read anything I have ever written- be it a short story or an episode of a series. Thank you for the feedback, thank you for sharing and reposting, thank you for forwarding the stories to everyone on your contact list. Thank you for the hype!

The best is yet to come. This win is for all of us! I could not have done it without you! ❤️

NB: You can watch the highlights video from Auntie Oboshie here. 

Photo credit: Black Image Studios and my phone camera 😊