Saturday, 9 January 2010

My PSnarkiversary...a year flies by when you're busy reading

It's difficult for me to comprehend how fast a year whizzes by. It's not a noticeable thing really but you could argue I've had my nose buried in a book for a good proportion of it. It's been a fantastically magical year, a great introduction to a place of like minded people.

Though it's surprised a few people, PSnark is only a year old. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing...Courtney Summers has me edging toward the former.

I don't talk about books much to my friends. This may shock you but I socialise with a lot of non-readers. Yes...it frustrates me too. Until this year, I would bore people around me with book chatter within a minute, apologise and talk about last night's Australian Idol or something else equally brainless.

Blogging gave me my brain back.

It gave me many things, nothing monetary of course (my mother still thinks this isn't right considering the hours I put in) but many things that are much more important. I thought I might make a list...

  • a safe place to freely express my (sometimes too) honest opinion on books.
  • an audience of friends to discuss plots, writing styles and the varying attractiveness of romantic leads.
  • a growing school library
  • a means in which to interview authors I admire greatly
  • to share the beauty of the word - persnickety
  • the realisation that I can write to a schedule
  • that I have a writing voice that people seem to respond to
  • the opportunity to speak to authors face to face
  • the ability to more clearly share my reasons for liking (or loathing) a book
  • the courage to enter NaNo and successful complete it
  • a shift from saying "I'd like write something....' in an apologetic manner to 'I've finished writing something rubbish...' in a defeatist manner I am hoping this continues to slowly work it's way up to be less depressing :)
  • renewed belief in the fantasy genre.
  • a twitter addiction
  • an allergy to vampires
  • the tendency to overuse ellipsis'...thank you Alexa Young, I learned from the best.
  • an unofficial book club that commutes between Adelaide and Sydney. A-, you've been great, thanks!
  • A handful of great friends, lifelong friends that happen to write. Thanks to A., M., G., B., K. and C. you've made the crappy parts of this year less crappy.
  • The great bloggers that encourage, comment and support...I wish I'd gone to high school with you. The library would have been a groovier place.
  • Friday Night Lights...the subject of much tweeting and something I could gift to others (that didn't already know about it's awesomeness)
  • the Australian YA community that really took me under their wing. From the interviews and review copies to Reading Matters to the Inkys. I've never felt more at home...a more talented bunch I have yet to meet.
  • publishers - there are people that are my friends now that I've met through this blog that I absolutely adore...I think I've forced FNL on all of you and now it's spreading through the Australian publishing houses like a disease. Thanks for your kindness and generosity.


As many of you are aware, I am moving to Japan...in two days. Persnickety Snark will have some new challenges (finding reading material being the biggest) but I am excited to see where another twelve months takes me and the blog.

Thank you to all those people that have followed or subscribed. A big thanks to those of you who take the time to leave comments. Thank you to all the people that linked me in their blog rolls, mentioned a post of mine or tweeted a link.

I would also like to thank all the authors that sent me their books (whether across the ocean or not) for review, allowed me to interview them, took the time to write a guest post or pretended to be okay with me badgering them on twitter - you are classy!

Thanks...here's to another year!

Adele

13 comments:

Mari - Escape In A Book said...

Happy blogoversary, Adele! I hope you'll have a fab 12 months in Japan!

prophecygirl said...

Happy Blogoversary! It's been a great year here on PSnark :)

If you ever need me to source any UK books for you, or ship them to you.. just let me know. You know where I am!

Shalonda said...

Congratulations on your first year. You are one fabulous blogger and an admirable lady. I hope you have a wonderful time in Japan!

shabbygeek said...

Happy birthday, PS! If this were 1998 I'd say you were the bomb dot com. But since it's 2010, you're Snarkalicious. <3, your daily stalker, @shabbygeek.

Karen Mahoney said...

Thank YOU, Adele. :)

Also, don't forget to give me your address in Japan - the Book Fairy might have to send you a care package or two...

Kaz
<3

Carla said...

Happy Blogoversary and for being on Team Gale, that and the fact that you also love FNL and are a majoring factor in why I started watching it makes me come back time and time again.

Hope all goes well with the move and keep up the fab work, here's to another fab blogging year for you!!!

an p.s I started blogging because none of my RL friends are readers, so snap mon pip!!!

brizmus said...

Congrats on one year! So exciting! It sounds like you've gained quite a bit from your blog. :-)
Your mom reminds me of my boyfriend - always wondering how I can spend so much time with the blog when I'm not paid for it.

Tarie Sabido said...

I must admit, I'm quite excited that you'll be moving to Asia. =D We can compare notes about blogging from Asia!

Rhiannon Hart said...

Happy blogoversary, and I'm so glad you're rediscovering fantasy! Lets hope Australian houses in particular release lots of it this year.

Michelle B. said...

Very awesome post. :) Happy blogoversary and all the best in Japan!

Thao said...

Happy birthday to PS <3
The blog is only one year old but it's doing more than great and I'm sure it'll do better this year. And I'm glad to learn more about how book blogging means to you Adele, so lovely ~!!!

Thao said...

Happy birthday to PS <3
The blog is only one year old but it's doing more than great and I'm sure it'll do better this year. And I'm glad to learn more about how book blogging means to you Adele, so lovely ~!!!

Anonymous said...

Happy anniversary Adele. Best of luck with your trip to Japan.

Reading your post on what your blogging has done for you is inspiring. Been doing the Mummy thing this year and feeling isolated. Found it hard to find time for anything much and haven't been using the wonderful resources of the internet to keep up with things. Hopefully that will also change when I buy a new laptop that has internet connection in it.

I also wanted to say that the shift about your writing is a very gradual process. I was a writer for 10 years before I had my novel published and while achieving my dream has been the best thing that ever happened to me, it has also raised a bunch of inadequacies where I feel I should be a certain writerly persona that I'm not. We're always so much harder on ourselves than anyone else.

Congratulations on completing a draft of your novel and achieving Nano. I keep making it a goal and never getting there. One of these years I'm going to win with that bugger.