Happy New Year, Happy New Blog!

Welcome, once again, to a new and improved Watercolor Moods! I am ridiculously proud of my new blog banner, which was commissioned from none other than the brilliant Simini Blocker. By now, most should have been following her on Tumblr – at the least, for the sake of her lovely Eleanor and Park fanart – and if you aren’t, this is a good time to start.

This girl has a gift and I could not be more pleased with how she took a photo and some vague descriptions from my head, and transformed it in a perfect representation of my reading aesthetic.

why i wasn't blogging.

First of all, I think I owe an apology of sorts and an explanation for anyone who was actually following this blog. Last year was very hard for me – as it seems it was for everyone. I mean, what were you up to, 2013?

I was burned out on a draft that just wouldn’t fit together the way it ought to.

And because of my fears over my writing, that endless nagging Imposter Syndrome – am I meant to write? Is this a cosmic sign that I’m pushing the wrong way? – I started to become afraid to read, to pick up a book and be struck through with words that were beautiful and perfect and pierced into a reader the right way, or seeped warm and comforting into their bones like a good cup of tea.

(Yes. Everything does come back to tea for me. And words. Always words.)

In any case, though, 2013 became the year-long reading slump that I could not shake until the final hours of the year. But now, I am pleased to say that I am back, and I also would like to thank everyone who didn’t unfollow me and offered me encouragement while I tried to scrape myself back together.

what i plan to do now.

Watercolor Moods is back, but I am going to be making certain changes to its content and approach.

I’ve always called myself a YA blogger, but as of this year, I will be opening up to middle-grade and possibly a few titles advanced beyond YA (particularly as I broke my reading slump by cutting my teeth on the Discworld series). I will be using a tag system so you can easily find reviews within the category that you are looking for, so please click over to that page for more information.

In addition, I will also be discussing my writing and other crafty, possibly artistic ventures. I am a YA writer, and in many ways, that is starting to come first and foremost over my being a book blogger. I might not venture into my current works-in-progress just yet, but I would like to discuss thoughts about the craft, interesting articles that I think are worth the read, and possibly even reflections from my internship.

I am also going to be introducing a new paid service outside of my work as a book blogger. Please keep an eye out for that as well.

Thank you so much for your continued friendship and support. I  look forward to a new step into blogging, and new adventures in the world of reading!