March 24, 2014

Three Years of Reviews, Discussions, Community and Friendships


Three cupcakes with vanilla frosting, sprinkles and each one has a birthday candle on top.
Image credit: April 

Romance Around the Corner turned three last week! It’s been three years of hard work, love and fun, so I’m going to celebrate it by giving away this unicorn to one lucky commenter so the winner can drink his blood and live forever. Forever!



Drawing of a unicorn made with paint. It looks like something I 5-year old would make. There's also a smiling sun.
I drew that. Can you tell?

On a serious note, the reason I started the blog, as you all know by now, was to stop lurking and finally become an active member of the Romance community. I didn’t expect to find such a warm welcome or to become a member so fast, but that’s what happened. And after three years, the community and the friends I’ve made has become a regular part of my life, for which I’m grateful every day.

Things haven’t changed much in terms of basic content; reviews are still my main focus, with the occasional opinion post, but even if things look similar, the journey and evolution is still present. Becoming comfortable with what I’m doing, as well as realizing that blogging has had an impact on the way I read, also made me feel like I had something to contribute to the critical discourse that it’s so important for the health of the community. And all of these elements just come down to me finding my voice as a reader. So it’s been a worthy, rich experience that has made me appreciate and enjoy books in a different way and ultimately become a better reader.

In terms of highlights, my all-time favorite review, which isn't really that much of a review, is this one. I'm also fond of the opinion posts, mostly because they take longer to write so I better mention them, and I really like the more in-depth reviews (or as I call them, the ones with titles) then there's everything I wrote for Heroes & Heartbreakers. And of course, last year I organized Heroine Week, which is one of the best things that the blog has offered, and although all I did was schedule the posts, I feel proud for hosting it and grateful to all the people who contributed. I hope to repeat it this year, but I'll make an official announcement when I'm sure.

I need to be more consistent and better organized. I don’t feel pressured to post every day, but I do want to be able to create and maintain expectations, and I certainly don’t want to lose the readership that took so long to establish. Right now I’m aiming to one weekly post, and I’ll start rebuilding it from there. But in the meantime, I’m putting even more thought on the few posts I’m actually writing. I’m not quitting the blog, but I want to make some changes to keep things fresh and shake off the blogger burnout.

That’s it. I lured you in with promises of unicorn blood and eternal life, but all you got was the most self-centered post ever. You do get all my love and appreciation, though. Thanks so much for reading and for being so awesome.

Now, where is my cake?!?!

24 comments:

  1. Heroine Week was WONDERFUL. In so many ways, but for me personally it helped me to realise that I am, at heart, a heroine-centred reader and writer. I love a good hero, of course, but it is the heroines I'm reading for and rooting for, and its their stories I want to tell. So, thank you for that and here's to many more years.

    Now, where's my unicorn?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Ros! HW was a very rewarding experience. I hope it helped people reach the same realization or that at least made hero-centric readers more aware of the importance and appeal of the heroines.

      I'm keeping the unicorn hostage until I get my cake. So, where is it?

      Delete
  2. Congrats Brie! Love reading your blog and reading the books you rec. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Mandi! And happy anniversary to Smexy Books, too! March is the best month.

      Delete
  3. Congrats, Brie! Really glad you're around. Your reviews and opinion posts always make me smile and think.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Angie! That means a lot to me ;-)

      Delete
  4. Congratulations, Brie! This is such a wonderful site. Thank you for being here!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Heroine Week kicked so much butt--I learned so much from all those wonderful posts.

    You = AWESOME

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I *am* awesome! Thank you for noticing ;-)

      HW was the best. I really loved all the posts.

      Delete
  6. Congratulations Brie :-) I always love hearing what you say about books and I'm very glad you're one of my blogger friends! If I could magically wish a cake your way, I would. (It would be the BEST cake too - whatever that is )

    I want that Unicorn though ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Ronnie! I'm so happy to count you as one of my friends. I love our book discussions.

      No cake, no unicorn, though.

      Delete
  7. Unicorn blood, oh yeah! Happy 3rd anniversary, Brie! I loved the heroine week, and how can anyone forget your illustrated Guardian Demon posts? Made me giggle like a complete fool!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Rosario! I loved that post, but I didn't want to mention it, because I don't want people to think that my fan girl is out of control, even though my fan girl *is* out of control, but only when it comes to Meljean Brook.

      Delete
  8. Congrats on your anniversary. I love your blog and am happy you are here.

    I also have trouble posting regularly. I wonder if we got a small group together to pledge to something easy, like posting once a week/two weeks/month, is]f that would help?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much!

      I'm trying to post at least once a week, so you're welcome to join me! Maybe now that I'm talking about it publicly I'll finally find the encouragement to be more consistent. I don't want it to feel like work, though.

      Delete
  9. Happy Anniversary! I'm glad to have met on Twitter! I appreciate all of your book recs, especially the YA ones.

    Vi

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so happy too, Vi! I think I enjoy twitter as much as I enjoy the blog.

      Delete
  10. Happy Blogoversary Brie! You are the best unicorn-drawer I know. You may have ALL the cake today. I picked this one especially for you http://cdn.cakecentral.com/2/29/900x900px-LL-292c777d_gallery3535431267204931.jpeg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OMG!!!!!!!!!!! *dies* You WIN ALL THE UNICORNS!!!! I'm sorry everybody.

      Delete
  11. Replies
    1. Thanks, Alexis! I'm so glad to see that all the people who started blogging around the same time I did are still around writing great, quality content!

      Delete
  12. So you're saying that if I offer unicorn blood it might drive up my blog's traffic? Damn, why didn't I think of that! Happy Blogiversary Brie. I adored Heroine Week. I'm sure it was a mother-ton of a work, but great, great concept and posts.

    ReplyDelete

Blogger likes to eat comments, so I suggest copying it before hitting "publish" just in case it doesn't go through the first time. This is a pain, I know, but it's the only solution/prevision I can think of, and it will save you the frustration of losing a comment. Also, thanks for visiting!

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The books reviewed here were purchased by us. If the book was provided by the author or publisher for review, it will be noted on the post. We do not get any type of monetary compensation from publishers or authors.