Tuesday, May 8, 2012

A Time for Reflection, I Suppose

It's been three years since I started blogging regularly.  Three years since I started really taking writing seriously. Well, it's not that I didn't take it seriously. I just decided that it was important enough to make time for it. Prior to that point, I'd written when I felt like it. Granted, I'd been in high school, university, and graduate school to that point in my writing life. But three years ago, I decided to make the time for writing. I wanted to be published, and I wanted to be serious about it.

This blog began in October 2008, the reason escapes me at the moment. It may have been for a class I was taking in graduate school at the time. I posted a couple of times, but I was timidly tapping the water's surface with my big toe. In June of the following year, I was out of school, out of work, and out of sanity. So I jumped into blogging.

Some of you reading this (imagining hordes of people reading but not commenting) have been around since those early days. Some of you may have only just discovered my blog. I remember that thrill of excitement when I signed on to the computer one morning to discover I had a follower! Someone was reading my blog! Then I had two, and it's grown quietly from there.

Is blogging on its way out? Maybe. I know that my reading habits have slacked off in that regard. Comments have certainly dropped here on the blog. But that's okay. I think there's really an ebb and flow to everything. This blog will stay put, riding those flows and currents. (How many cliches can I pack in to this paragraph, eh?)

With this post, I reach 500 total on the blog. To honor that, and thank all of you who have kept this tiny little blog on your reader, on your radar, I'm having a giveaway. Yep, a giveaway. It's been a while.

Don't worry, it's totally easy to enter. You just have to comment on this post. I'll draw random winners at the end of May. There are four prizes.

Grand Prize (1 Winner):

You Wish by Mandy Hubbard
Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
Hereafter by Tara Hudson
A full manuscript beta read

First Prize (2 Winners):

A full manuscript beta read
A $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card (or iTunes, if you want to use the card for ebooks)

Third Prize (1 Winner):
A partial manuscript read (50 pages or 5 chapters, whichever is longer. Also, round up if 50 is mid-chapter)

Thanks for being here, friends.

Contest rules: One entry per person. Leave a comment to enter. Please spread the word about this. If you're not a writer please don't hesitate to enter. Just let me know in your comment and I'll re-award the manuscript critique from your prize package. Contest not necessarily limited to four winners. Manuscripts submitted for critique must not be erotic or overly steamy. Otherwise any genre is allowed.

22 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Stephanie, on a major achievement! I think I found your blog mid-way and am delighted I did. You have a beautiful blog. It never disappoints. I don't think blogging's on the way out. I think those who weren't/aren't serious about it have moved on to faster gratification with Twitter and so on. Comments seem to ebb and flow. I know I'm guilty about getting caught up in life's brouhaha and scrambling for time and suffer the expected pangs.

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    1. Thanks, Kittie! You are very sweet. Life does sometimes get in the way, it seems. I know I've cut back to leave more time for life and for writing. Fair point, on the lack of seriousness in blogging leading to an exodus from the format. Thanks for coming by!

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  2. Yay, Steph! 3 years is awesome! I'm glad to have become your friend through the blogosphere. Someday, maybe we'll make it out to a conference or event or something and actually get to meet.

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    1. Aw, you're too sweet. Thank you for being here. I really do appreciate the time you've taken to comment on the blog. Someday we'll have to meet at a conference for certain. (You weren't at Storymakers this last weekend, were you? If so, too bad we missed each other there.) Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

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    2. I didn't make it to Storymakers again this year. Pregnancy and my hubby's birthday intervened. It's still on my list of things to do, though. I hear it's a week later next year. That might do the trick for me.

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    3. Very valid reasons for not making the trip. The 2013 conference is May 9-11, 2013. They announced the dates last weekend.

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  3. You are very generous to offer these prizes! I'm glad you wrote about the ebb and flow, too, because I've noticed the ebb recently and was wondering if it was just me. What a great contest, thanks for having!

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    1. Thanks, Jem! The ebb and flow is something I've noticed a lot lately. I think there are a lot of factors to it. It's definitely not just you. Thank you for stopping by today!

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  4. Aww, fun! I'd love those books! And I'm happy you're going to keep blogging. It wouldn't be the same without you. Blogging should first and foremost be for you, anyway. :)

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    1. They are good books. (I didn't mention but they're some of my favorite recent YA reads, which is why I'm choosing to give them away as part of this celebration.) Michelle, you're way too sweet. I love it. Thank you for the kind words and for coming by the blog!

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  5. 500 posts! CONGRATS!!!!!

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  6. What an accomplishment! Congrats!

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  7. Congratulations on having reached 500 posts. That's a real achievement!

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  8. Ohhhhh! Congrats!!!!!

    I've done around 230 posts so far, and I can't believe I've actually had enough ideas to write that many. Isn't it cool to have such a portfolio or writing sitting out there on the internet. Nice.

    Well, here is my entry! Crossing my fingers to win. Woot! And I will get the word around. :D

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    1. Thanks, Julia! It's a miracle I've come up with as much content as I have. (Not that it's all been stellar.) Consider yourself entered!

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  9. Congrats!!!! I remember when you first hopped onto the scene =)

    You can enter me, but I don't need a manuscript beta! =)

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  10. So, I pretty much disappeared from the blogosphere this month. Congrats on 500 posts. I've been blogging for about the same amount of time. It's been fun!

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    1. Thanks, Angie! It's refreshing sometimes to step away from the online world.

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