5 Years in the Blogosphere -- Half a Decade!

That should say "Oct. 8, 2014," not 2015, but y'know. My bad.

Did you know I had to check at least three times how many years ago it was that I made this little blog of mine?

Guys, I'm losing track already. WTF. That's how long it's been.

Much has changed over these wonderful five years. Heck, many of you that I first exchanged blog links with, during my early days, many are gone, now -- or on your way out. Which I get, 100%. It's a lot of time, energy, and effort to run a blog... No matter how casual you are about it. And, eventually, you may find yourself drifting away from your online world, to focus more on your personal life. Passions come and go.

(Who knows, maybe some of you will return to the blogosphere in the future. I'd certainly be happy to see ya!)

I'm feelin' it, too. It's pretty obvious from how inactive I am these days. But, despite posts that are few and far between, I still love writing here. Whenever I get a burst of inspiration, this is still where I head.

Sadly, I've not been around to pay visits to my fellow writers and blog buddies, but I'm still here...

I've taken a much more relaxed, whenever-I-get-to-it approach to this since my efforts had begun to be directed elsewhere. Unfortunately, that means that, at times, I don't have anything new out for months... But it has also kept me going. Kept me from getting burned out.

I will, hopefully, reenter into a more active phase again, sometime... Till then, thank you for sticking around. :)

Ready to hear what's been going on 'round these parts as of late?

Come join me on Wattpad, @Eve_Estelle!

Howdy ho, good morning/afternoon/evening/night to you!

If you follow my arse on Twitter, you'll already know about this... However, if you haven't heard it yet, I joined Wattpad, a very well-known and established writing community and platform.

I had been feeling like something new was needed for a while, something to change things up a bit. And I won't lie when I say that even the thought of leaving Blogger for WordPress (or another blog platform) crossed my mind. Briefly. But, after some research, I still favor good ol' Blogger for my needs.

I'm approaching Wattpad a bit differently than previous writing community sites (like AllPoetry or HelloPoetry, both of which I love, but I never kept up with). It'll serve as both a backup, in the case that something were to happen to this blog, its content, or Blogger as a whole (looking at you, Google+), and as an alternative/extra to EoN.

I had originally planned on posting only my "best of" poems and stories, but it felt like chopping off a limb and having to pick which leg I wanted to keep. So I took the easy way out.

At a goal rate of 1-2 (more or less) pieces per week, all of my poems and my stories will go up on Wattpad. That includes the crappy old ones. They'll be given fancy (er, as fancy as I can make 'em, anyhow) new covers, many will include (optional) embedded audio for atmospheric music, and all of them will include Author's Notes with extra info related to each piece, how it fits in, its themes, any dedications, etc.

Very similar to what I do here now, but with all the added skills and knowledge I've gained over these last 4+ years of blogging.

Once I'm caught up and posting current content, I may even do some Wattpad exclusives, considering the entirely new community there.

We'll see how it all pans out. I'm feeling very excited about this. I think it'll be interesting to revisit all these old pieces... And it'll give me a little more piece of mind, that not all of my time and effort has been concentrated into just one spot.

So, if you'd ever like to follow my journey over on Wattpad, you can find me @Eve_Estelle. I've already begun posting, starting with the very first poem I published to Edge of Night: Check it out here.

If you're already a member of the community yourself (whether reader or writer), or you just joined, make sure to share your username with me so I can check you out as well!

Hope to see you there. Thank you! <3

Poem: "Still I Dream of Thee"

Still I Dream of Thee

By: Eve Estelle

Poem: "Ring Hollow"

Quote by C. Joybell C.

Ring Hollow

By: Eve Estelle

Poem: "The Diamond in the Rough"

The Diamond in the Rough

By: Eve Estelle

Poem: "Forged In Blood"

Forged In Blood

By: Eve Estelle

Poem: "The Dark Reaches"

The Dark Reaches

By: Eve Estelle

Poem: "Goodwill Waning"

Goodwill Waning

By: Eve Estelle

Google+ Is Going Away Soon -- Don't Lose Touch!

Hello, hello!

Brief PSA here. As I'm sure most of you are aware by now, Google is killing its Google+ social platform on April 2nd, 2019 -- less than a month from now. Pictures, videos, communities, comments made using G+, posts, profiles, followers, and anything else having to do with the social network will all be gone very shortly.

(If you'd like to learn more about this, and/or how you can download and preserve portions of your data, please see Google's own posts and announcements regarding these topics.)

Poem: "A Star on Fire" (Part 3 / 3, "Ad Meliora")

A Star on Fire

Ad Meliora Part III

By: Eve Estelle

Poem: "The Hunt for Azure" (Part 2 / 3, "Ad Meliora")

The Hunt for Azure

Ad Meliora Part II

By: Eve Estelle

Poem: "At Song's End" (Part 1 / 3, "Ad Meliora")

At Song's End

Ad Meliora Part I

By: Eve Estelle

Betas Wanted! This Three-Part Poem Needs Another Pair of Eyes!

UPDATE (1/15/19): All good now on betas! Poem to be published very soon. Thank you!

Gooood evening!

I'll keep this short and sweet, but I'm looking for some fabulous beta readers. I've finished writing a three-part poem piece, and I've stared at it for so long now that my opinion is garbage. I can't spot the many flaws I know are there.

So I need your help.

No beta-reading experience needed. You don't have to be good at poetic analysis. Seriously, the perspective of somebody who has never read a poem in their life is just as valuable to me as the perspective of a poetry connoisseur. If you're interested, you've got the gig.

Only requirement: Be honest! Be ruthless! I can take it, and I need that sort of feedback.

Thank you!! :) I really, truly appreciate it!

* * *

If you'd like to be my beta reader, just leave a comment saying so below (or contact me in some other way), and I'll provide you the link to a Google Doc that contains the entire poem.

From there, you can make suggestions right inside the form, or send them to me via email or social media messages, etc.

A Post to (Welcome) the New Year

Happy New Year!

2018 has finally come to a close, and personally I find it a bit sad to say goodbye. It was an interesting time -- lot of internal and a few major external changes in my own life, and plenty of happenings going on around it. Got some good writing in, although it's never as much as you hope it will be. :)

Still, I'm happy with the pieces I've churned out this year. I find it exciting that I'm able to write more and more meaningful poems and stories, along with the usual just-for-fun kind. Though my post quantity has decreased, much improvement has been made in terms of quality, and it's been nice to just let posts form as they will, without having to worry about getting enough out and in good time, etc., etc...

Again, it's never as much as you'd like it to be, but I feel pretty balanced at the moment, really.

And it's sweet -- this time last year, I was writing Tidings of Spring. One of my main points of internal conflict at that time was wanting, knowing I should get out into the world -- specifically, the working world -- and simultaneously being far too content with the one I already had. While it would eventually have become a necessary move, it wasn't yet immediate -- which made it difficult, and a mental weight I felt daily.

A year later, I'm in the midst of such a move and having a blast with it. It's not a perfect situation, but it's progress. For now, things are settled. I'm happy, lighter. Ideas are flowing! (Sort of.)

I'm even finally getting to classics I should have read eons ago -- started Harry Potter, paused, but currently I'm reading Tolkien (the Hobbit, with LOTR planned for after). 'Bout time.

Anyway, these New Year posts are always pretty much just reflective and incohesive rambles, but that was my 2018 in a non-comprehensive nutshell. How was yours? What's one memorable moment you have from this year now past?

(Tad late on this, too, but I wanted to get something out and it's not even mid January, yet, so it's still appropriate lol!)

Didn't feel the need to continue my "A New Year's Thank You" title tradition, either. Same content, but time to change it up.

As for other posts, I'm currently working on several new poems, one of which is a three-parter! I'm excited for that. 2/3 parts done, however, final completion date TBD.

Have a safe and brilliant new year! Thanks for spending some of it with me here at EoN.

/salute