I’m back! Catching up and looking forward…

Hello! It’s good to see you, how the heck are you? I’m great, and I’m back from a much needed blogging hiatus. If you’re reading this, thank you for stopping by, and thank you for your patience while I took a break to focus on… life.

I don’t think I really realized how much time and energy blogging took until I was in the middle of my month+ hiatus. In a way, it was a wake up call. Don’t worry, this isn’t a goodbye post! I’m here. But the time away allowed me to evaluate A Book and a Latte, and what blogging means to me. I’ll admit, I did consider closing ABaaL. I’ve been insanely busy the past few months, and putting ABaaL on hiatus allowed me to focus more energy on my family, publicity work (ABaaL PR), and school. At first, I felt guilty for completely ignoring my blog for so long, but then I was greatly relieved to not have the added stress on top of everything else. It was liberating, and necessary.

While on hiatus my grandparents came to visit us for two weeks, and it was great having some quality time (around work and homework) to spend with them. We took them around Colorado, and one of the highlights was visiting the Maroon Bells! These are famous peaks and are a beautiful sight during every season (late spring and fall the best):

If you follow me on Twitter (@bookandlatte and @JenHalligan), you may know that I attended the Denver Publishing Institute this summer. To say it was an amazing experience is an understatement. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that I was accepted into this program. Or how great it was being surrounded by people that are passionate about books, and the publishing industry every day. I wish I could rewind and experience it all over again. Highlights included: editing week (even though I was so intimidated by it going in), marketing week, the children’s books micro-workshop, the day with Independent Publishers, and the fantastic speakers/instructors (Peter Osnos, Karl Weber, Carl Lennertz, and Peter Heller just to name a few).

I feel so fortunate to have been part of such an amazing program.

So that’s what I did on my summer “vacation”! Now I’m back, and looking forward to what lies ahead.

I love the book blogging community, and the wonderful authors and publishers I’m fortunate to worth with through A Book and a Latte. I’ve met so many wonderful people and friends from this experience, and I want to continue to be part of it. But moving forward, things will be a little different. Or at least, my mentality will be different. I’ve always felt like I should be posting daily. And though I typically didn’t, except for streaks where I’d post 6-8/week, I still felt like I should, and I stressed about it. No more. And yes, I’ve said this before, but now I MEAN IT. I blog to share my love of books with others, and to fangirl over my favorite authors. I put my love, time, and money into this blog because I want to, not because I have to, or because it’s an obligation.

My goals moving forward:

• To post less often (I know, this sounds a little backwards)
• To post quality content (I’ll be more selective)
• To slow down or take a break from blogging when I need to, without feeling guilty about it
• To respond to comments, and comment more often on other’s blog posts
• HAVE FUN BLOGGING

What’s coming up for ABaaL (Blog & PR):

• I’ll attempt to catch up by posting mini reviews of the books I’ve read since the craziness began in June (at least the ones I’m most excited about)
• I’m excited to have been selected as an official blogger for the Dark Days Fall 2013 Tour! I’ll be hosting Sherry Thomas and featuring her YA debut, The Burning Sky, on September 16th.
• Sign ups are open for Heather Reid’s Pretty Dark Nothing Blog Tour (October 14th-25th, weekdays). Click HERE for more details, and to sign up! [ABaaL PR Tour]
• I’m currently scheduling publicity services and/or online promotions for September-November. If you’re an author or publisher, and would like more details feel free to reach me through the ABaaL PR contact page (not through this blog!).
• I’m considering participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) again this year, but this time as a “rebel”. I’m thinking of working on a 2nd draft of my NaNoWriMo novel I wrote last year (instead of starting a new novel).

Whew! That’s all I have for right now. I may be slow to get back into the swing of things, but I’m excited to be back in the blogosphere again! I’m sure there’s been plenty of drama and happenings going on while I was away… feel free to catch me up on anything I may have missed in the comments! Also, I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to this summer – vacations, road trips, adventures, misadventures, what-have-you – so comment and I PROMISE I’ll respond.

Hugs to you all! – Jen