Residents from Lakeland Hills, Orting, Buckley and Beyond: Blog with Patch!

At Bonney Lake-Sumner Patch, we realize many of you shop in town or attend local events but live in a nearby town, whether it's Wilkeson, Buckley, Lakeland Hills or Orting.

While you may not have a Bonney Lake or Sumner address, your perspective is just as valuable to us as a resident on Main Street. Share your voice -- and street closures, local business reviews, crafty DIY ideas and more -- with your neighbors on Patch.

This is more than a news site, it's an online conversation about your community. And we want to hear your voice.

• Are you passionate about local issues?
• Do you want to share your newest recipes?
• Are you an expert craftsman or hobbyist who can share do-it-yourself tips?
• Are you a student who wants to share your college experiences with your hometown?
• Can you just make us all laugh?
• Do you love taking photos around town?

Then, we want to hear from you.

This isn't a reporting job. It's blogging. You write what you want to say when you want to say it and do it on your own schedule. You can post multiple times a day, once a week or several times a month. It's up to you!

Patch won't own what you post, so you can repost your entries to and from your Wordpress and Tumblr account. Much like The Huffington Post has done, Patch is providing local bloggers an online platform to have their words seen by a larger audience.

Bonney Lake-Sumner editor Lauren Padgett will review blog entries to ensure there are no libelous claims and to avoid obvious typos, but she won't change your content because your voice has a right to be heard.

Just go to our blog page and follow these guidelines to upload your first post:

1. Log In to Patch.
2. Select "Blog Central" from the tool bar (It will be on the far right).
3. Click "Write a New Blog Post."
4. Select the template. Use "Standard" if you're writing a post, or use "Media" if you are only uploading a photo, video or PDF.
5. Write a compelling title that will attract readers to your blog.
6. Type the body of your post. This is where you say what you want. 
7. Add hyperlinks to articles you mention, website you talk about or to your other blogs.
8. Select the "ABC check mark" button to make sure you've spelled everything correctly.
9. Write a brief description about what you just wrote, i.e. "10 steps on how to make vegetarian lasagna."
10. Upload a photo, if you want.

And you're set. After selecting "Save & Preview" at the very bottom of the blog form, the editor of the site will receive an alert that a new blog post has been submitted. Brent will then review the entry and post it. If you write something compelling or of great public interest, your blog might even be featured in the top spot on the website.

Need a little inspiration? Check out bloggers on other Patch sites around the country:

• Doylestown Patch features a and .
• Kelly Grignon from Trenton Patch (in Michigan) .
• David Merrick in Kensington, Md. .
• A teenager from California's Capitola-Soquel Patch blogs about , music and skateboarding.

Have suggestions for Patch? Tell us in the comments.