Today, my third book was published. Naturally, I thought “This is the perfect time to start blogging again!”
I was never known for having the best or most thought through ideas.
Some history:
It’s been years since I’ve blogged, and even longer since I blogged regularly. When first started blogging, (I’m talking with an actual website and thought out posts, not just my emotional ramblings on Xanga in my college days. Did I just age myself? Yes, I did.) it was back in my early 20s when I was living on my own for the first time and navigating the world in all of the glory only a recent college grad can have. Thankfully, I found on the internet a bunch of other people who also were in their early 20s and blogging.
Honestly? It was a blast. Maybe this is my nostalgia talking, but we had a ton of fun writing about whatever we felt like and sharing all of our random stories and thoughts. Then, as time went on and social media grew, so did our relationships with the internet. Blogging wasn’t just for fun anymore, it was branding and marketing and having a certain vibe to your Instagram photos and finding sponsors.
It was exhausting, and while it made me some wonderful friends and I learned so much about the publishing industry and ultimately led to my own books being published, by the time that happened I was running out of ideas of things to write about on the blog all of the time. Besides, I wanted to conserve my writing energy for my novels. I think it has done me well to be quite honest.
And now here we are. Three books deep into my romantic fantasy fairy tale retelling series (I really need to find a way to shorten that), The Cursed Queens, and seemingly out of nowhere I’m back!
For awhile now, Instagram has been my main “home” on the Internet for all things books and writing. Twitter has fallen by the wayside, and while I have a Facebook page and group for my writing, that platform is mostly me asking for recommendations from friends and family on various things I want and need to buy, and my Youtube channel is collecting dust. TikTok… well… that’s an adventure. But I feel like the people who are thriving on there have the same feelings I did when I first started blogging and exploring the Internet and it makes me happy for them.
But I’ve wanted to expand more. It hasn’t felt “right” to stay in my one tiny corner. Not just for my own marketing and books, but for myself too.
Last night I was talking with my therapist, (about something entirely different but it’s what got me on this ridiculous train:, and she told me “You’re writer! Just write!” Which… makes sense. She knows it’s what I want to do and what makes me happy. I’m not a photographer or graphic designer or video editor or director. I’m a writer. It sounds so simple, but oddly, harder than you’d think.
But, also oddly feels write. I like sharing my thoughts and putting them into words. There’s so many avenues I’m in love with for telling stories and sharing my heart. Music, theatre, and sometimes the occasional fuzzy photo on Instagram. But words on the page (or screen as the case may be) has always been my defualt, and always will be.
There you have it. I want to talk about my life now. As an author with three books out and still feels like she’s beginning and figuring out how to navigate this.
So, a year in the life of an author. In an ideal world, I’d post every day. But… I also don’t want to set expectations too high. I will try to post and share this journey as often as I can. Likely, I’ll talk about writing and books the most. But I’d like to talk about other things too. We’ll see where this goes.
Oh… and I guess you should read my books too. Because you know, marketing.