Apologies...

You guys must be getting soooo sick of me changing my blog all the time! lol

I'm having the hardest time blogging lately. Some of it is a leftover reading/blogging slump from last year but most of is from the recent dramas involving authors reactions to negative reviews - in one case leading to an actual stalking of a reviewer and the positive reaction said author received has really got me down.

(If you were lucky enough to escape all this drama but want to know what I'm talking about you can check out Dear Author's post here).

I've always been able to look at the positive side and realize that not ALL authors and not ALL bloggers behave badly. I have had nothing but wonderful experiences with both bloggers and authors during the 5 years I've been blogging.

But for the past few years I've had to hear how greedy we are, how we're bragging, how we're sucking up to authors (for MORE freebies of course) and that's mostly from other bloggers! All I can say is this greedy blogger has never spent more money on books in my life than I have since blogging.

The reaction to a blogger being stalked for a negative review was greeted with more than a few cheers from fellow authors and publishers and it hit me more than anything that's happened so far. It just makes me sad.

I can definitely understand hurt feelings to a negative review and this is not a new argument but it's the first time that I felt the disconnect between bloggers and authors might be too much to overcome. Like it might actually be too dangerous to blog.

I have to keep in mind that the OVERWHELMING majority of authors respect and understand what we're doing and how much time and expense it takes to blog.

I could say a lot more about the topic but why bother? It just spins me up again and what I'm really trying to do is find a way back to blogging with joy.

Hence, the frequent blog design changes. Until this blogger can get her groove back I've been enjoying playing around with the blog (instead of writing the reviews that I NEED to do). I hope you don't find it too annoying and understand while I go through my phase.

I feel like this is a make or break kind of thing for me. I can either find my happy place where I don't think the sky is going to fall every time I post an honest opinion or I'll have to give up the whole shebang.

Thanks for hanging in there with me!