I cannot believe it’s been ONE YEAR GUYS!!!
I have been off the grid for awhile but I just want to thank everyone who has supported and stayed with me through my fails and my hits… I hope you will continue on to grow with me.
In my first year I had a “to do” list of sorts and I thought it might be cool to share that now and see how I fared:
1. Reach 100 followers on my blog – BIG YES to this – thank you to everyone who follows my flog!
2. Get a Twitter Account and get 200 followers there (I thought this might be tough) – but happy to report I MADE IT! Thanks guys!!
3. Befriend one amazing author and help support their work. WOW Yes, I have so many people to thank here – Jessica Park, Emma Chase, Katie McGarry, Colleen Hoover, Lauren Oliver, and so many more! I have met via online more authors than I could ever dream – the authors I dream about taking time to talk to me on FB or Twitter has meant more than anything else, it’s why I wanted to become a blogger to support these wonderful people!
4. To get a chance to read books “before” they hit the market – so sue me, I wanted to be part of the cool kids club. and YES i have to say I don’t get every book I ask for, but I do get a good part, nothing to complain over for sure! I still buy my fare share, so Amazon never has to worry about losing me as a customer….
5. To get to know what Indie writing is all about. WOW have I really learned about this this year – some of my best reads for 2013-2014 have been the indies that were self pubslished and still stole my heart. I try to promote these as often as i can – these books and characters deserve as much love as the largest authors and stories out on the market. The indie writers have touched my heart, but more than that they have made me feel like maybe i have a place in this world outside of blogging….
6. To evaluate my own life and what part reading plays into it. Well, like all things “me” i dove in head first and over did it. Then I had to put the breaks on, now I’m trying to work some balance into the picture – so we shall see how this goes. I still read a TON but I’m trying to be more selective of what I review and only review things I feel like I really want my readers to read and/or at least know about. No worries about my reading habits here though, I still read pretty much anything I can get my hands on…..haha…
7. To Become friends with other bloggers I can share my love of books with: Now to this I would say YES in some ways and NO in others. When I first came along I spent the time to troll other blogs and communicate. I was honestly hoping I would find a book BFF somewhere in the internet land.. No one I know shares my true love of books and especially the genres I love so much – so while I have been active on forums I haven’t found my “click” yet. The cloest thing I have to a blog I follow and would love to be a part of is the Aestas Blog – I follow them religiously and they seem like cool chicks – maybe one day I can be part of that, maybe not – for now i’m happy sharing thoughts and seeing their thoughts about my favorite subject.
8. Did I say 10 really?? Hmmm… #8 to really start looking outside of the YA genre. When I started thsi that was my main focus. If you read my blog at all, you will know that I have OVERLY achieved this. I have fallen in love with this new genre… New Adult (Iknow everyone has mixed feelings here) and I also love the adult world to a point (AKA Sylvia Day, Alice Clayton, E.L. James, and of course Emma Chase). I have been introduced to so many new authors and for that i’m thankful everyday! So keep it coming in this aspect!
9. I want to attend a BEA Conference. This is one of my biggest wishes – and I don’t know that it can happen this year…. but I want it to happen soon. All my dreams would come true here, to be part of the real blogging community and to meet some of my favorite authors – nothing would be better! It would be like Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one – are any of you guys going this year???
10. Last, but certainly, not least I would like to meet Stephanie Meyer. Without “Twilight” I don’t know that I would have gotten back into reading on this scale and fallen in love with this genre leading to my blog/etc. Meeting her would be…amazing.
11. I have to add one last one, I want to have a blurb – Yes a blurb on the back cover of a book or in a description of a book on amazo – i’m not picky, i’ll take what I can get but to see my writing helping show off soemone else’s would be amazing!
All Right guys that’s about it. I can tell you about one cool thing I did this year and why it was a “bookish” cool thing..
I was in NYC last month for Toy Fair (yes for my real job) and I had a minute, and i picked to site see the NYC Public Library – specifically the Rose Reading Room. Have you been? If not you are missing out big time! For readers, it’s like…heaven. THe smell of books, the quiet, the smell…ahhh I could have spent all day there. Most importantly i was picturing a scene from one of my favorite books there – If you have read “Beautiful Stranger” in the “Beautiful Bastard” series you know what I mean – and that scene is HOT. So, I flushed, sniffed the great smell, sat in a chair in the famous reading room and bid it a fond farewell – believe me I’ll be back. It was then I realized just how much books had become a part of my life. Here I was picking this of anywhere to sight see – and it was the best place i’ve been there in a long while. Just to enjoy the quiet for a few moments, to know all the words contained in all those books I can’t wait to read. The whole expanse of knowledge and stories I have yet to find… It’s humbling and amazing all at the same time.
So happy blog anniversary to me! And to you – thank you ALL for sticking around and making it worth my while!
Happy Thursday Everyone!
Your fellow Blogger –
Kell
Book Girl From South Carolina 