Hi Nova! First of all, thanks for asking me
to be involved with this awesome event!
Moving on, here are some highlights of
2013!
1) First and foremost is that I started
blogging in July! Ever since some time around 8th grade, I had been
progressively reading less and less outside of school, not because I didn’t
like reading but just because I never made it a priority and never took the
time to do so. But after contemplating it, I decided that I wanted to find that
intense love of reading again. I also wanted to go back and finish series I had
started and hadn’t finished (I still haven’t finished most of those) and to
start books that I had on my shelf for a long time (many of those are still
unread as well). And now, I’ve definitely been reading more! (And just as a
note, my blog isn’t just a book blog, but it’s more heavily a book blog.)
2) I’ve also met so many awesome people
this year, both in “real life” and online in the book blogging community. Of
course there’s Nova, as well as Kayla, Meredith, Crystal,
Kierra, Jamie, Christine, Cal, and a whole ton more! Everyone is just
so kind and understanding, and it’s really nice to have this kind of support
system. It’s also nice, of course, to have friends that understand my book
nerdiness! There’s no better community to fangirl with! (Except my other online
friends, but that’s a different story.)
3) Receiving books, whether it be ones I’ve
bought, won, or been sent for review, it’s been amazing to have a bunch of
“firsts” this year. I just got Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott from
Scholastic, and I hadn’t even requested it! But this also extends to meeting
and talking to authors. This year alone, I went to two signings, which is kind
of a lot for me, as I’d only been to one signing before this year. Getting to talk
to authors has been a really unique experience, and it’s really changed the way
I view writing, the writing process, and of course, the road to being
published.
4) I’ve been exposed to more books than
ever before. If I thought my TBR list was bad before, it’s TERRIBLE now in
terms of length. There are books I’ve been meaning to read for YEARS but then
I’ll hear about another book or a new book or an upcoming book, and I just keep
pushing those further down my list. But there are so many books and authors I
never would have known about if it weren’t for blogging. It’s so sad to think
about all the awesome books I’ve been missing out on!
5) Time management. I’m just going to put
this out there. I’m a huge procrastinator. Even with a blog and tons of books
to read, I procrastinate. But I think I’ve become even more aware of how bad my
procrastination is (I knew it was bad before but). It’s kind of been a wake up
call. Blogging has made me prioritize certain things, such as Tumblr, reading,
TV, homework, and all that jazz. I’m still figuring this out, but I guess the
highlight part of this is figuring out how to balance, you know, life, with
everything else (and of course getting rid of my Tumblr addiction, only to be
replaced with a Twitter addiction…).
6) Everything else! Because I’m terrible at
remembering things as soon as someone asks, this is to cover everything else,
namely the event that I’m co-hosting at the moment! It’s been so cool to work
with and contact different authors. They’ve always seemed so distant to me
before I started blogging, and I was always so intimidated, but now I know
better! Authors are fantastic and so generous, especially to us readers and
bloggers. It’s also led me to meet new bloggers and to see what it’s like to
host such an event. It’s been a lot of work, but I’m really proud of it,
considering how new both Cal and I are to blogging. Another one that falls into
this category is the much wider spread support I had during NaNo. Last year,
only two of my friends were doing it. This year, I had so many people looking
for someone to sprint with and just a ton of people around to offer
encouragement, and it made the experience so much more fun (albeit still making
my life more stressful than it already is!). So yeah, everything else I haven’t
mentioned also goes here, but obviously they’re not coming to me right now, so
I’ll leave it like this.
Thanks so much, again, for asking me to
write something for this, Nova! You rock!
Happy Holidays!
Come on! She's awesome! Let's give her a huge round. Also, please comment if you're reading this. It's amazing when readers comment... makes me feel loved! ;D
Yay! Thanks, Nova!!! Love ya! <333
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