About
My name is Leslie, and I live in Alabama, USA, right smack-dab in the heart of Alabama college football tradition and glory. I am married to the same man I fell in love with when I was a young, naive, 17-year-old baby. We’ve been married for 16 years. The days haven’t all been the wonderfully full of passion and adventure, but they have been blessed. We have four children together, two daughters and two sons. We are a Christian family, fumbling our individual ways toward Jesus. We are a homeschooling family. My plan is to teach them at home until they reach 9th grade, at which point they will exercise spreading their wings at the local public high school. We are a scouting family. The boys began in cub scouting and are now in a local troop. My oldest daughter joined a venturing crew when she turned 14, and I expect my youngest to join when she’s of age. Scouting is lots of fun!
That’s the short version. To find out more, you’ll have to read the blog. Speaking of the blog, I feel like I need to explain, so here’s a short history…
Lux Venit — (my blog, version 1.0)
In 2006, inspired by Amy (Amy’s Humble Musings) and Tim Challies, I impulsively leaped into blogging. Before I had the courage to publish my first post, however, I earned a spot as a book reviewer for Discerning Reader which was administered by Challies. I guess seeing my book reviews published on his site lessened the terror associated with writing my own blog. After a few months of writing book reviews, I published my first post at luxvenit.blogspot.com.
Lux Venit = (Latin) light came. I took my theme from Isaiah 60:1, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.” I wrote about any and everything. It was quite the emo blog, focusing on my family, my relationship with God, and theological themes. I read tons of books, published reviews, and created a reading group. Looking back, I tended to be too open and honest; “raw” is a word often used by readers to describe my writing at that time.
I blogged via Blogger for a few years and watched my readership grow. I lived for tags and invitations to blogging groups and sidebar badges of honor. I became friends with women around the world (and still enjoy those friendships today). Somewhere along the way, I decided to make the switch to WordPress. It was during this transition that I purchased lesliewiggins.com and renamed my blog.
Alabamenagerie — (my blog, version 2.0)
I continued writing book reviews both for my blog and Discerning Reader. I never was what is considered a mommy-blogger, and I didn’t want to be one (not that there’s anything wrong with that). I wasn’t “Mommy” anymore; my children had transitioned to calling me, “Mom.” I thought it would be a good idea to transition the blog, too. I decided that I would just write about my life and opinions, write less about my kids, and drop the rawness of my writing. My husband and I brainstormed some titles for the blog until we determined “Alabamenagerie” encapsulated the uniqueness and self-explanatory-ness that I desired for my blog’s title and subject matter.
I had hoped to continue writing, improving with each post, and, eventually, send an irresistible book proposal to a publisher or agent. The only problem I had (have!) was that I didn’t have an idea. I loved to write, but I wasn’t passionate enough about anything to dedicate 100,000 words to it. The more I researched the process, the more I realized that I didn’t own a solid “platform.” Furthermore, I didn’t want to develop the speaking gig associated with writing non-fiction.
Tim sold Discerning Reader. I think it still exists in some fashion, but I am not a featured reviewer. As a matter of fact, I no longer thoroughly review books after I read them.
In 2011, I picked up a new hobby: photography. Thus began my blog’s downward spiral: the writing, uninspired, and the posting, sporadic.
Leslie Wiggins.com — (my blog, version 3.0)
I want to try to enjoy writing (and blogging) again, which has led me to the third iteration of my blog. Lacking title and theme, this blog will go on with words and photographs.
It would make my day if you subscribe. You can find me at all the usual online places: facebook, twitter, and instagram. Look below for the buttons. Let’s re-connect.