December 22, 2016

2016 Wrap-Up: I Did Little with My Blog, Except I Didn't

Hello my beauties!
Welcome to my last post of the year, where I will wrap my 2016 up (though it would be better to pretend it never happened to begin with LOL). I failed at a lot of things this year, but a selected few did manage to put a smile on my face notwithstanding...

Pt. 1: This Year in Blogging

As of today, I've been blogging for 4 years and a couple of months. With various grades of success LOL.

This is what happened on Offbeat YA during the year, broken down by number of posts, events I took part in, books I reviewed, authors I interacted with and discussion posts I wrote...

December 14, 2016

Fifty Shades of Life

My dear friends, my occasional readers,

there's no way to break the news gently, so I'll just drop the bomb and run: I'm turning 50 today.


Okay...most of you were already aware of my age, with more or less accuracy. The thing is, every time the first number of said age changes, it feels like a big deal - even when the second was a 9 already. Also, 50 is, well, kind of imposing. I'm not saying "scary" on purpose, because well...I'm not scared, to tell you the truth. I don't even look 50 - except maybe when I'm really tired (regardless of having my make up on). I'm beginning to have eyesight trouble when reading small print, and I have a few minor health problems, AND I tire easily - but all that comes with the package. I'm just...well, sad that I've come so far and still I have accomplished nothing in life (maybe one day I'll explain to you how and why, but for now rest assured I'm not whining...just telling it like it is). BUT I made this blog...and as small as it is, I'm proud of it. And I met a few great people through it, both authors and blogging friends. Some of them are 30 years younger than me, but they get me on so many counts - or gladly put up with me at least 😉. Not to mention, they keep me young...they're like my hyaluronic acid, at least for the inside 😜. Yes, YOU. I mean YOU.


So, I had plans for celebrating my big fifty on the blog with some cute and/or funny event, except I failed at it...like I failed at everything this year, blog-wise. Now, with "everything" I mean writing an acceptable number of posts and engaging more with the blog community - I have been talking with the same old friends, which is great, don't get me wrong, but I meant to broaden my horizons a little, and instead...gosh. Time. Issues that kept gnawing at it. And fatigue. This is only my 35th post this year, and how many of them were reviews? I'm afraid to look. So...I don't know. I want to keep blogging. I want to blog more and better. I just need to find a way to do that. I hope my life will revert to normality next year (and "normality" still was stressing enough), but even if it doesn't...I'm not quitting. I just need to find a balance. For now...please put up with me, you wonderful people 😘.