September Goals: 2022

I feel like for the longest time now I’ve been just living my life without forcing myself to do or act or say anything I don’t want to. I do have to be honest because one of the things I hadn’t wanted to do was blog. I’d think that I wanted to, but it would urge on a sense of anxiety in my body to try and recreate that old routine of a time that is nothing like now.

However, I miss this. I also feel like it’s the place where my thoughts would be settled instead of chaos and where I connected with so many amazing people. So here I have returned.

One of the biggest changes of my life recently is becoming more of a gamer then any other hobby. I wanted to have the future of this blog reflect that. This month I was to talk about games and my journey into getting platinum trophies and explore that side of myself I’ve been having the most fun with recently.

A goal I have for this month is getting the platinum trophy in Batman Arkum Asylum. Next post I make is going to be detailing what I’ll have to do and my experience with it so far.

I’ll always love reading and writing and I know I’ll try to figure out how to add more of that to my schedule and balance my life more. However, I’m not pressuring myself to do any particular thing. Just what makes me happy. What makes me happy right now is to play video games.

The most important thing for me right now is to stay on top of my school work. So my classes will take number 1 priority. I’ve been trying to wake up early to do class work and it does help a lot with giving me more time in the day for other things.

All in all, September is going to be a test of a new era of blogging for myself. Talking about gaming and other things that I love and not forcing myself to do any one thing.

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below! 

Check out my INSTAGRAM and TWITTER! 

Check out THE SISTERS OF TWILIGHT WEBSITE.

If you would like to support me directly here’s a link to BUY ME A KOFI! 

My friend started Live Streaming so check them out HERE!! 

Places to donate to Trans communities:

Trans Equality 

The Trevor Project

Transgender Law Center 

Some BLM resources:

Link to bail funds to donate to!

Link to petitions to sign! 

Link to a video to watch if you can’t donate!

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My Blog is Now Monetized 🎉

Yesterday afternoon I decided to upgrade my site and join WordPress Ads! I have been blogging for years without being monetized and finally I’m opening the door to start getting paid for my passion.

Of course, this is only the first step towards starting to get paid for my blog. I will be looking into other avenues as time passes as well. Prior WordPress was always putting ads on my blog posts that I wasn’t getting paid for. So now, I’ll be getting a bit of income myself for all the work I do blogging.

From there I also want to explore more what having an upgraded site means and what it’ll offer me in the future. I’m excited to spend time and see if I can redesign my blog a bit and add things to it over the course of this next year.

Who knows? Maybe I can start to make a real source of extra income from doing what I’ve always loved to do.

One of the main reasons I did this is because I’m working with an injury that needs to be healed. If I can manage to make extra enough maybe it’ll be possible for me to take time off of work and be able to rest my wrists so they can make a full recovery.

The other reason was it’s about time. I love writing about books and being a part of the WordPress community. It was about time I started to make a bit of income from it.

If anyone has any advice for me about monetizing a blog or any resources I should look into let me know down in the comments! Also, if you all have any information about Word Ads and how well it’s worked for you, let me know in the comments as well.

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

Check out my Instagram and Twitter!

Check out the Sisters of Twilight website.

If you would like to support me directly here’s a link to buy me a Kofi!

My friend started Live Streaming so check them out HERE!!

Places to donate to Trans communities:

Trans Equality 

The Trevor Project

Transgender Law Center 

Some BLM resources: 

Link to bail funds to donate to!

Link to petitions to sign! 

Link to a video to watch if you can’t donate!

Finishing A First Draft Before the End of the Year

This is my declaration that I will write the first draft of a novel before the end of the year. I have the idea and I have a bit of fun research to do before writing certain elements of the novel, but the bare bones are there.

The best part is that I’m giving myself enough time to write in bite sized pieces and not stress myself out trying to get it done too quickly. All I need is a bit over 300 words everyday and I’ll have a draft done by the end of the year. I’m certain some days I’ll write a good bit more then that and others I’ll give myself a break to do other things, but I have a plan!

The book I will be writing will be a magical realism about a girl with a unique connection to bees. So studying about bee life will be important to the story.

One of these days I think I’m going to sit down and draw this girl in the image I had of her that sparked the idea for this story. I’ve always adored magical realism and to write something so unique and ethereal like this is going to be a blast!

Everyday, at the bottom of my blog post I’ll update how much I wrote towards this novel the previous day and the total word count along with it. It’ll be good to keep track and also to keep accountable over the course of me writing this.

For now I’m excited! I can’t wait to get started on this novel!

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below! 

Places to donate to Trans communities:

Trans Equality 

The Trevor Project

Transgender Law Center 

Some BLM resources: 

Link to bail funds to donate to!

Link to petitions to sign! 

Link to a video to watch if you can’t donate!

My friend started Live Streaming so check them out HERE!! 

Check out my Instagram and Twitter! 

Check out the Sisters of Twilight website.

Thank you Blogging Community

I’m so appreciative of being able to be a part of this community. Sometimes it’s nice just to sit down and write a post about the love I feel for this community.

What’s brought this on at this time is my Bojack Horseman post. I haven’t been posting regularly as much recently and yesterday’s post has been really wonderfully received.

I started this blog as a book blog and as my life has shifted so has what I’ve posted about. I feel like I can be totally myself with blogging. That I don’t have to stay in one area that as my interests shift so can what I post about. It’s a really wonderful thing. I appreciate all of you reading this for that.

I don’t know what this blog will become. I don’t know how I will continue to grow and change as a person, but knowing that I will always be supported along the way is amazing.

Thanks to all of you. Blogging is such a joy for me. The response from yesterday’s post was a reminder of that. I can’t wait to keep posting and see what fresh and new things are on the horizon for me.

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below! 

Check out my Instagram and Twitter! 

Check out The Book Raven Poetry website! 

Checkout The Book Raven Poetry Instagramand Twitter! 

Check out the Sisters of Twilight website.

I Am Returning

I have spent the last two weeks just having a lot of fun. I haven’t been blogging at all because I’ve been wanting to soak up all that January was for me. I’ve been happy. Happier then I have been a long time.

I’ve gone out with friends and played games into the night. I’ve laughed more then I have in what feels like forever. I’m experiencing so much more from life and it feels like everything is changing in my life for the better. So for a while I wanted to put aside responsibility that was outside my work and just have fun.

Blogging is wonderful and you all mean the world to me. It has been a saving grace from when I was suffering. I am not suffering anymore. I’m happy and I feel free. I’ve been milking that feeling for all it’s worth.

I am coming back to blogging because it is something I’m passionate about. Sharing all that I love and all that I care about. Nerding out about my favorite tv shows and movies, and getting excited about new books. Sometimes a good break filled with good things is what you need to remind you of why you love doing what you do in the first place.

I love writing. I love being myself and knowing that the right readers will come to find and enjoy what I wrote. I love blogging and sharing my thoughts and feelings about things and having conversations with fellow bloggers and book lovers about the fandoms we love.

It saved me from getting too far deep into depression at one point. Helped me to let go of pain. Helped me to see the kind of person I am and who I am becoming. I appreciate this community like I do no other.

I’m happy to be coming back. I feel fantastic about coming back in such a positive way. My January was amazing. I know this year is going to be one of the best I’ve ever had.

So I’m ready. I’m ready to see what amazing things I can create and do in the rest of 2020. I know it’s going to be a blast.

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below! 

Check out my Instagram and Twitter! 

Check out The Book Raven Poetry website! 

Checkout The Book Raven Poetry Instagramand Twitter! 

Feeling Proud

I haven’t felt this way in a very long time towards myself. But, I feel proud. I’ve been posting daily and I have a better way of going about it so that I still get a lot of time to be in my own head and do things I’m happy to do.

I have goals that I’m working on getting to accomplish. I have a much more peaceful time at work and I enjoy my coworkers. I feel at peace with my situation and am dedicated to my own happiness. When this goes up I will be at six flags with my family after not having gone for a few years and I know I’m going to really enjoy being there.

I also make sure to put myself first more often. To let others help me when they offer to. To truly be present in the moments I have. I’m proud. Proud because there was a time not so long ago that I didn’t go very long without crying. Proud because I give myself the proper space and time when I do want to cry. Proud because I am valuing myself and valuing how I feel. Proud because I’m honoring my feelings while maintaining that the next moment will be a brighter one.

I feel I can say now that I am happy. That I’ve grown emotionally and mentally in ways I never expected. I’m proud because I’m expecting a brighter future. I’m expecting good in my life and a whole lot of good has already come. I have people in my life that I care about. Not just my family, but friends too old and new. People who genuinely care about me as well.

I have people I’ve met on here that I love speaking with whenever I get the chance, people who have been of great support to me and who have raised me up.

I normally don’t mention religion in my posts, but I feel closer to God as well. I feel his guidance when I need it and with each step forward I feel his encouragement and I am grateful for it.

I feel good. Really really good. I feel like that’s something worth talking about and celebrating.

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below. You are all amazing and beautiful people. Thank you for being a part of my blogging journey! Without all of you, I’d be in a much different place in life.

-Till next time!

Hello everyone! I wanted to share a guest post I did with one of my all-time favorite people Andrew @GroovyGlasses. He asked me some questions about my mental health experience. Check it out!

Hey guys, welcome back to “Groovy Glasses”! I could not be more excited about today, because today I have a very special post, with a very special guest. (Although to be perfectly honest, I feel like the guest here!) As you all know, the mental illness community is something I actively work to contribute to. […]

via Fireside Talks #1 Interviewing Tiana, The Book Raven — Groovy Glasses

My New Goals: Forget New Years Resolutions!

I always find myself at a loss with my New Years resolutions, they never work out and honestly I think as the year goes on your wants change anyways so of course your goals do as well! I think every day is a chance to improve and here are some of the things I’m going to do to slowly achieve some of my biggest goals for myself.

In writing:

I want to finish a book in the next few months no matter what. I think I procrastinate way too much with writing and I make things out to be much harder then they are. I’m going to be joining Camp Nanowrimo in April. I’m going to be writing a Dragon story that I feel I need to prove to myself that I can actually write.

I hope to complete 25,000 words in April which comes out to 833 Words per day. What I am going to do to keep up with writing is wake up earlier in the morning and immediately write for at least 15 minutes. Then later in the day write again for at least 15 minutes. I hope that this way I make writing my priority and no matter what words will be poured into paper.

In blogging:

As some of you may know, I am severely behind in my reviews… especially my Netgalley reviews. I currently have 33 Netgalley books to read and quite a few I have already read but have yet to review. However posting a review every single day is NOT going to happen. It makes me unhappy with blogging and I end up just not wanting to blog very often. So I hope to post a review every other day or so and post other kinds of posts I want to write in between.

Another aspect is that I want to start blogging daily again. I miss the feeling of being excited to get up a post everyday and I think I’m getting a feel for how best to do so.

The last thing in blogging is my engagement in other bloggers websites. I find I don’t read others blog posts enough and to fix that I want to start commenting on at least 10 posts every single day. I want to make time to read others posts as others have made the time to read my own.

In fluency:

I want to learn how to speak Spanish fluently. This is something I have wanted for a long time, but never really took seriously. Honestly I could do a whole post on what I am currently doing now because it is a lot. I probably spend two to three hours a day doing different tasks towards learning Spanish. Weather it’s reading listening to music or contacting a native speaker. I am going to continue that dedication every single day until I feel confident and comfortable using and thinking in Spanish.. it could take years, but I think so far I’ve gone leaps and bounds beyond what I knew before.

In flexibility and fitness:

I need exercise. I want to feel strong and flexible and I want to feel good in the clothes I ware. I want to exercise at least once or twice a week and to do flexibility exercises every single day. This also comes down to waking up earlier and making time to work out for an hour and still have time to do everything else I want to during the day.

All in all my goals require this:

1. For me to wake up early (which really means for me to wake up the first time I open my eyes and not at the 3rd or 4th time)

2. For me to not get distracted by YouTube, video games on my phone, or social media

3. For me to not procrastinate and do all the tasks I wish to complete diligently and without excuse

4. For me to change my outlook on life.. these things are all good for me. They all help me grow as a person. Giving time to meet my goals is important and I owe it to myself to make all my dreams come true

There are little things here and there that are also goals I have, but for now these are the main ones. Of course with all this I will ALWAYS make reading time and for now I’m setting it at 1 hour per day.

Thanks for reading! What are your goals?

-Till next time!

My Year in Books: 2017

Every year Goodreads keeps track of your reading progress and creates a beautiful display of all the books you’ve read at the End of the year. This is long overdue, but none-the-less here is my 2017 year in books!

Well it seems that I read quite a bit in 2017. Far more then in 2016 that’s for sure and with 22 books read so far this year already I think I’m on my way to making this following year even better!

Thanks for reading! What was one of your favorite reads from 2017?

-Till next time!

My Hiatus and What I’ve Learned

Some of you may have noticed that I have not posted anything since the beginning of this month. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t continue on with any of my previous commitments. After, so many times of self-reflection I just decided that I needed to stop.

I had been incredibly unhappy with what my blog had turned into recently and to be completely honest with a ton of other areas in my life as well. I was loosing sight of what was important to me and I was stretching myself so thin that every single day I went to bed completely exhausted.

The first reason for this unrest was my Read a book a day for the rest of the year challenge. The challenge itself was not the real problem, but it was a cause of another: my sudden lack of control in requesting Netgalley e-arcs. I requested books every single day. I was thinking that because I was reading so much and so quickly that I could easily keep up with all the reviews that I needed to get done because of this. Before this time I only allowed myself to have about 4 netgalley books pending at a time. Now, I have 42 e-arcs waiting to be reviewed.

The problem wasn’t just that. At first I was keeping up with all my requests with ease, but what really got to me was that because I was reviewing a book everyday I was rarely writing any other kind of post. Plus, this didn’t give me any room to breath so that I could read any other books that I had on my shelves.

On top of that this meant that my blog got really predictable. Where as before, I posted whatever I felt like posting for that day while enjoying trying to come up with something unique to write about that I enjoyed. I am at my happiest when I have variety in my life. I need unpredictability in order to feel good. I’m not even talking about anything major, but just something different to spice things up and surprise me.

The worse part of this time for me was the fact that no matter how much I talked about trying to find a balance it was not working because of work. Monday-Friday I have a ton of my time blocked out due to work. It would be fine if it was in the morning, but I start work later in the day and leave at night. Which means my mornings are booked with preparing for work and after work I’m too tired to really want to do anything else, but relax and sleep.

On top of all this I lost something else that is really important to me: writing. My dream is to be a writer and write novels that would inspire others just like the novels I have read have inspired me. With reading, working, and blogging writing my own stories was put to the wayside and that was something that became heartbreaking for me.

One of the best parts of my hiatus has been getting back into writing again little by little. Due to this hiatus my ideas have been sparking again and I have found three new story ideas and have furthered several of my older ones.

Now that this hiatus is officially over I am going to do a few things:

1. I am going to finish all the Netgalley books I have been approved for and I am NOT going to request any more until I have completed all of them.

2. My only true commitment each day is going to be to write for 30 mins. To 1 hour or more each day towards my own books.

3. If I can continue the book a day challenge I will, but I am no longer just going to read books for review.

4. As soon as I finish all my Netgalley reads I am going to get back into writing posts that are not just review posts.

5. If I am feeling too stretched for time I am not going to let it stress me out anymore. I am going to go through with my commitments one slow step at a time.

6. As far as Netgalley goes I am only going to request to where there are only 2-3 books pending to be read on my shelf at any time. (In reality one at a time would be ideal, but for now I am on a Netgalley ban for a long time anyway)

7. I am not going to go on a hiatus like this without mentioning it first again. I feel like I disappeared for too long and there are a lot of things that I’ve missed.

8. I am going to read way more of my own books. I have so many I haven’t read yet and I’m angry with myself with getting caught up with all the arcs instead of just reading the things I purchased because I thought I would love it.

Things will probably be wonky for a while. For now reviews will continue to be my main content, but if I can find a way to do all I wish to do then I will do my best. I might not post every day during the next few weeks and months, but I will finally find my balance.

Thanks so much for reading! Let me know your thoughts and any tips down in the comments below. I’m terribly sorry for being gone for so long. It’s been a bumpy road, but I think I’m finding my way back to a happier place.

-Till next time!