Hey, everyone! So like I said in the post before last, I was fully planning on coming back to blogging consistently, but—as you can see...

What Have I Been Up To?

Alexa Mintah

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Hey, everyone! So like I said in the post before last, I was fully planning on coming back to blogging consistently, but—as you can see—I did not. Mostly because I was planning several different posts, trying to get my thoughts together on all of them... without actually writing or posting anything about them. :p To be honest, I think it might take me a little while to get back into the swing of blogging consistently, so I'll just be upfront about that right now. Feel free to nudge me in the comments if it's been a little too long. ;)

Anyways. Before moving on to those posts I was planning, I thought I'd let you know what I've been doing to take up all of my blogging time, lol, and also, what I hope to be doing over the summer.

I explained the gist of the changing work schedule + moving + college in other posts (here and here if you missed them), so I won't repeat all of that except to say that even going to college part-time was a wild change for me. I'm the kind of person who thrives on routines and schedules, and having quite settled into the one I had before... well, while the classes themselves were not particularly difficult, the schedule changes and all that came with beginning college was a lot to get used to for me. To be honest, I don't think I ever did. Get used to it, I mean. Which is probably why I stopped posting.

BUT I AM NOW FINISHED. Well, for the semester, anyway. ;)

Anyways, once the moving and the work schedule was settled, I spent a lot of time editing my book Low Expectations, because I have decided to get it published this year—or at least to move toward that. Over the summer, I'm going to finish polishing and do some hardcore querying. If that goes nowhere by the late fall/early winter, I've decided to self-publish it. I've known for a long time that LE is in a difficult niche to market, but the problem is that all the things that make it unmarketable (the MC's age, the homeschooling, the foster care, the fact that he is a he in a more female-MC YA genre, etc) are all of the things that make the story exactly what it is. And so, while I would love to see it traditionally published, I have come to the point where, one, I know it's a great book, and two, I'm okay beginning its career saying that by myself and self-publishing it instead. :)

So I actually have been writing, just not blog posts. ;)

I also read, just not for reviewing, so if you follow me on Goodreads, you might have seen a few mini reviews popping up here and there. There was something really freeing about that, reading a book not because it was an ARC or because I had promised I would, but just because I had seen it at the library or a friend had recommended it and I wanted to. So I've decided that, as awesome as the ARC-getting status is, I'm not going to review for the ARCs anymore. Not to say that I'm going to stop accepting them or that I'm going to stop reviewing (here or on Verbosity), just that I'm not going to review for the ARCs anymore. I'm going to review for the books, picking the ones that look interesting to me and giving the best review I can based on my thoughts/feelings, without feeling pressured (a self-induced pressure, I will add) to finish in a certain amount of time or portray my thoughts in a certain way. I'm reading and reviewing for the reason that I began reading and reviewing: because I love books.

As for summer plans, I think from here on out, Summer Snowflakes is going to become very eclectic. I've got plans for writing posts and book posts and even a life post of sorts about something of a mental illness that I've wanted to talk about for more than a year now and am working up to do very soon. My posts on Verbosity are going to stay about books, but because I am accepting fewer review copies, the posts are probably going to be more sporadic. I refuse to give up on either of my blogging projects, so they'll probably both be more consistent than they were this past semester, but less consistent than they were when I began them.

Is there anything else... OH YES. I'M GOING TO GO BACK TO MELODIC MONDAYS. One of the reasons I stopped (apart from the time factor) was that I was honestly having a really hard time finding new music to share with you guys. But, one, I've started listening to Epic Music playlists, and two, I went to WinterJam last month, so now I have all kinds of new music that I absolutely cannot wait for you all to hear. :)

Well, that is all for today (said like this post isn't nearly a thousand words :p ). Let me know what you all have been up to! What have I missed this semester by not being around the blogosphere? Can't wait to hear from you, and I will see you in the comment section!

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