A Decade On! 10 Years in the Blogosphere (kind of)!

 (Apologies, missed by a day, and posting from mobile.)

Oh, hi there!

Guess what? I'm not dead!

And neither are the ideas in my head. The last post I have on here (Changes Are On the Wind...) still very much rings true -- it's just going to be (significantly) longer than I originally planned for.

When I wrote that, I intended to finish Nightfall, my poetry book, and then get started on my new writing home. Honestly, that's still the plan, but even just finishing the book is taking... eons.

It'll happen in due time.

I'm going through and revising all of my old poems, which I was hesitant at first to do, since they are a part of my history at this point. But it has really made a positive difference -- and I still have all the originals saved! So I can always bring them back out if, for some oddball reason, I want to do that.

But I'm enjoying the slow (as balls) journey. Going at my pace, doing a little bit here and there, progressing slowly, but surely.

Nothing wrong with that.

I didn't post for EoN's blogiversary last year, which was a first. I intended to, but I never made it. I let it pass, as there really wouldn't be anything of importance to cover, anyway. Another year of inactivity lol.

But, I knew this year was a special year for Edge of Night... And I fully intended to make this one.

Changes Are On the Wind...

 Updated with a little more info and a few final Twitter comments!

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Well, hi there!

Very short and sweet today. But I thought I'd drop by and give a hint or two that there are some major changes coming...

It's been a beautiful, exploratory ride. It truly has been.

And it isn't over. My desire to write and publish, and to take the knowledge I've gained over the last 7+ years of working on Edge of Night, is returning with a vengeance. I want to get back into it, and maybe do even more with it. Things that I didn't have the resources to do before.

However, it won't be here. And it won't be under this name.

I want to start fresh. I've changed quite a bit since first starting EoN, and choosing the pen name Eve. (I always disliked my choice of last name -- Estelle -- anyway.). And my next steps are going to reflect some of those changes.

I'll be starting out with the same goals I had in mind for EoN. A simple place to grow and experiment. But I'm also keeping in mind a slightly bigger picture as well. 

I'm excited to see where it goes. And I truly hope to see some of you there with me.

You've been amazing. I truly appreciate your support.

Still working on details. Still getting things set up.

I'm going to finish Nightfall before I dive deep into anything else.

That is going to serve as my relic collection of older works. It has more of a purpose than it did before.

I must get my life in order before committing to anything for sure, and it may be a while from now. But the blog isn't going anywhere until then -- most new content will be saved for the future, but I'll still be working in the background. Stop in and say hey if you ever feel like it!

I sincerely hope this post finds you well, in life, family, health, and everything in between.

Thank you all for everything.

Eve

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I was suspended from Twitter a while ago (no idea why lol) and finally appealed to get my account back. Didn't care until I needed to change some settings and realized I couldn't -- but now that it's back, I will be making my account private, eventually deactivating it when I feel I have everything I need off of it. Thank you to everyone who followed along during my Twitter events, rambles, and rants! It was fun. Wonder where we'll go next?

Magnificent Seven -- Seven Years of EoN!

...And perhaps the last.

Hm. Too soon to say on that one, but I do feel a major change is approaching!

More on that later...

Hello, hello!! It's been quite a while, hasn't it? Especially considering that my last post here was this blog's 6-year anniversary... Bad Eve.

That one was late, too, but at least I did better this time around lol.

I've missed it here, dearly! I have. I still find myself writing every so often, bits and pieces... But I can't quite seem to finish any of them. Even ones that I've had going for years (honestly, especially not those!). I have no lack of material, and finding time to sit awhile and think, or even just a few minutes to jot down a few words here and there -- isn't really an issue. I've been doing plenty of the former, and I think that's where my problem lies; I've been thinking about a lot things, too much. Too much rattling around in there to feel anything concretely, and certainly it leaves me mentally exhausted after a while. I don't want to do anything. 

Except, I do... And I don't.

It's complicated. And it sucks. Come onnn, figure yourself out. *bonks self on the head* 😏

Life, huh? Now that thing can get complicated.

Past the Halfway Mark -- 6 Years in the Blogosphere!

Over a month late, but at least it's out. Happy birthday, Edge of Night!

Well howdy ho!

Long time no see, eh? How have you all been? Ignoring the massive, flaming dumpster fire that is the world at the moment, I hope life is treating you as well as it possibly can. It's been an absolutely...

Uh.

It's been a year. We'll just go with that. It's been something of a special year.

And in that year, I've missed being here dearly -- this blog was, for several years of my life, a big part of me. And, because of that, it will remain a part of me for the rest of my days... in whatever capacity that may be, from an active hobby and place to share and practice, to the pleasant memory of a place that allowed me to grow, hone my skills a little, and find a little bit of myself. It, and all of you along the way (because I wouldn't have made it this long without your lovely interactions), have surely earned a special place in my heart.

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

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.)

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

Literary Book Gifts -- A Special Gift For EoN Readers [Promo Code: 20% Off Anything In Store]

Greetings! Long time no see.

In my previous post celebrating Edge of Night's fourth anniversary, I hinted at a special gift courtesy of Melissa from Literary Book Gifts. Melissa had perfect timing with her offer; I normally don't write posts like these, but it happened to be a really nice, and different, fit as an anniversary gift for you all, and I know plenty of you love brilliant authors like Lewis Carroll, Edgar A. Poe, Emily Dickinson, Jane Austen... (Heard enough yet?)

100k Q&A - Answers!

Just a little under two weeks ago, I had asked you to submit to me your burning questions for my August 13th - 20th Q&A celebrating 100k pageviews. I apologize for the delay in getting this post out (I thought I'd be able to get it out before the weekend! Oh well), but below you will find my answers to each one. There aren't many, as was expected, but Q&As are always fun -- and they're a great way to celebrate, so I hope you get as much enjoyment out of this as I have!

Beyond that, I'm going to jump right in. Thank you to those who participated & sent me their questions!

Questions are listed in the order they were received.

100,000 Pageviews -- Thank You! | Q&A Session Aug. 13th - 20th

Update (8/26/18): Answers are out! Read 'em here!

Howdy ho! Happy August.

I'm going to keep this post short and sweet today -- as you can obviously tell, I've been posting much less frequently as of late, even on my social accounts. I'm still here, still available whenever you have comments or questions or just feel like saying hey, but I've reached the point where I'm not so worried about having a constant stream of content to put out. If I have something to say, I'll say it.

As it has always gone, my posting frequency will go in streaks. But, to be quite honest, this slower pace lets me focus more on quality. Now that I have a decent amount of older content that folks can browse, I believe that's for the better.

But on to the real reason for this post today:

Thanks to each and every one of you, including myself when I forget to hit the "Don't track my pageviews" box or Blogger just decides it's a malfunctioning butt plug, my blog, sometime last week, reached the milestone of over 100,000 views.

General Updates & A Few Snippets #2

Hey, hey, hey!

Hoo boy. Been a while, hasn't it? If I'm not mistaken, this is one of, if not the, longest periods I've gone without posting anything new (including updates like this one). I'm sorry about that. It's not that I've become disinterested, and I've definitely not abandoned ship -- not at all, in fact. It's not even really about being "too busy," since life is always busy. It's just a particularly bad case of fark-I-can't-finish-anything-I-start.

*chuckles* In other words, the usual.

But this post is here to break the silence! While you might already be caught up on the general updates from my occasional Twitter postings, I'll also be sharing some more behind-the-scenes type previews of several of my current works-in-progress, as well as post ideas I've been considering trying out.

This will be very similar to my last Updates & Snippets post -- with hopefully one or two good tidbits in here to help tide you over during this quiet time!

As always, thank you for bearing with my slow arse.

Tidings of Spring: A Letter to Myself

The following is a personal letter I've written to myself. This is a new type of post idea I'm trying out; similar to a journal entry, but in letter form. Just to clarify, this is neither a poem nor a short story, but a personal work of nonfiction.

I've provided only enough context, explanatory detail as would be appropriate for an actual letter written to and for myself -- because of that, some parts might be confusing. Names, places, etc., have either been changed or simply redacted (gotta have some fun with it!) for privacy reasons. Basically, this is mostly for me; but perhaps you might enjoy it, too! :)

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Tidings of Spring

A Letter to Myself

A New Year's Thank You #4

Happy New Year!

It's getting about time for me to use a different image for these posts... I never saved a yearless version, like an idiot, and now I can't use Picmonkey without a membership. So. I copy/pasted an 8 onto "2017," and there will be a new one next time lol...

Anyway, can you believe 2017 has come to an end? I never can. Every year I say the same thing, and I never can believe how fast each year goes. And it's only getting worse!

I hope you had a great year. I know I did, despite there being some parts that I, let's just say, could have done without. I hope you have lots of good memories to look back on, and that nothing too nasty ruined it all. Each year has its ups and its downs; but every experience leads you to where you are, and will be. The best advice I can give to anyone struggling after a tough year is just that -- see it all as an experience.

The good, the bad, the simple, the extraordinary; everything that happens to you is now a story you can tell. Learn from it, whatever it is or was, and don't dwell on it for too long. Let it make you better, not worse; let it make you stronger, not weaker; and also, let it show you just how human we all are. Right? We all go through crap. Not one of us gets off scot-free in the end. The only difference, and the only thing that matters, and perhaps the only thing you can change, is how you deal with it.

So make it count. All of it. And don't be hard on yourself when you can't -- it's something to work towards. Just don't stop learning!

...And for god's sake! If you make one resolution this year, forget the promises to exercise more, floss regularly, and those many others that we promise every single year and rarely actually follow through on -- work on those anyway. But tell yourself you're not going to take yourself so seriously.

Allow yourself to see how small much of the day-to-day garbage you face really is. And laugh at it, as best you can. Oh, someone's holding up the line? Yeah, I've got things to do, but I'm just one of a million people in this same situation at this very moment. Ahh, customer called me the scourge of the Earth and hit me with a hat? Hmm, *giggles* what massive bug crawled up their a$$ today?

Over time, let yourself do this. You'll feel so much happier, I promise. I want to give so many more examples of earthly BS you can learn to love, but I need to shut up now and wrap it up. Nobody asked for this.

Basically, it's your choice how you see the year past. There's always going to be negative aspects to it, and always some positive, even if they were such small events you can't remember them. They were there.

Decide what is worth sacrificing your sanity for. Pick your battles, right?

Let the meme wars roll!

Video: "Star Size Comparison 2" via morn1415 ^ What I meant by "small." Ran across this a while ago, just thought it was cool!
May 2018 treat you well. Happy New Year, and thank you!

Poetry & Prose General Reader Showcase #2 (Nov. 15, 2017 -- Dec. 6, 2017)

(Season's) Greetings!

We're now coming to the end of the After Party... How sad!! Well, I mean, there's still the Reader Survey that's up and available for any eager feedback sharers, but that isn't very exciting (however, it is super, super helpful, so please, feel free to take it! 😉).

For the last three weeks, you all had the chance to send me your poetry and stories to be shown off in a special, dedicated post as part of my second Poetry & Prose General Reader Showcase (please note that the first had a different title). This event lasted from November 15th, 2017 until December 6th.

As this was a general showcase (no theme), you will find a variety of styles, themes, and voices below. Each has been penned by a different author, each with their own levels of skill and experience. Thank you to these wonderful participants for sending their writings in -- you've all done beautiful work.

The below items are listed in the order they were received. If you didn't get a chance to submit yours, have no fear! While I don't have a date set yet, there will be more opportunities like this in the future!

One-Liner Poem Collaboration: "Wailing World, Fallen Crimson" (Nov. 15, 2017 -- Nov. 29, 2017)

Well hello yet again! Two weeks sure went by like nothing, wow.

Today, November 29th, marks the end of the One-Liner Poem Collaboration that began on the 15th. I've now gathered up the contributions and have put them all together into a completed poem below. You'll notice we have a title, too, and I'll explain how "Wailing World, Fallen Crimson" came to be.

Let's get started. I'd like to note, also, that there weren't many lines to collect, but the few we do have here are surprisingly coherent -- well done, my fellow poets! None of you saw beforehand what the others submitted, so it really could have been anything.

Post-Blogiversary Events: Poetry & Prose Reader Showcase + Poem Collab + Reader Survey

Howdy! Happy November to you.

October 8, 2017 marked Edge of Night's third anniversary, or blogiversary (if you missed it, check out that post here!). I gave a few general updates, including one on Nightfall, offered to send you all a little thank-you card, and then I left it open to suggestions on how else to celebrate. That's where this post comes in: Welcome to The After Party!

Scheduled events include a new poetry and story reader collaboration, as well as a second kind of little poetry collab, and a fall Reader Survey that will help me see how your experience has been here lately, and if there's anything I can do to make it better. More details on each of these below!

From Words to Music, Writer to Musician: Resources for Learning How to Play & Compose

Well, that's got to be the longest post title I've ever used. 

Not always, but a lot of the time when we work creatively with the written word, writing poetry and putting our hearts into our beloved stories, we start to develop a desire to express ourselves in another way -- with music.

I've never met anybody who didn't want to play an instrument of some kind, and many of us would've loved to be musicians, or at least capable of playing something, long before discovering this ink-and-paper world of plots and characters, where we, as authors, are allowed and even encouraged to pull the strangest, most wonderful things straight out of our asses. Some even manage to learn the musical ropes early on in life!

But, if you were like me, then you were never quite that ambitious. I've always thought it would be amazing to play an instrument, and I've tried a couple times with piano, very briefly with guitar, flute, etc. Never stuck with it for long. I still wanted to learn, but I just didn't have the motivation for it.

Over my last few years of writing, however, I've felt myself drawn back to the lovely sounds of music, often writing to the beat or mood of certain tracks, and to the rhythm of instrumental melodies. I've even found myself singing a couple of my own poems -- whoops. And then I hit upon an artist, a style, that renewed my craving to learn to play: Lindsey Stirling, violinist.

Confessions of a Reader: A Collaboration With Aneesa (Book Lover)

Good morning, good evening, or good night - although please don't head on off to bed just yet, if it's that time for you (but I suppose if you have to, this post will still be here tomorrow)!

Fellow blogger Aneesa (also known to her readers as Book Lover) and I got together to do a little collaboration, and though life tried to get in the way several times during this process, we're excited to finally have these finished up and ready to go!

There are two parts to this collaboration:

• Confessions of a Reader: My post here, containing Aneesa's responses.

• Confessions of a Writer: Posted to Aneesa's blog, containing my responses.

Be sure to check out both! And of course, please let us know what you thought of them!

I'll hand things over to Aneesa - she'll briefly introduce herself to you, and then we'll dive into the main course. Bon appétit! 😉

Posting Resumes May 27! + Response to Reader Survey

Well hello! It's fantastic to be back.

It's been a while - just about three days shy of two months, plus all that time before my break where I couldn't get much of anything out. I just want to say thank you again for being patient with me during this time. I'm quite excited to get back into the swing of things, which I'm happy to confirm will be starting back up in a mere couple of days.

These are also the last two days to get your response in for my Reader Survey, also, if you've not done so yet but wish to answer a few brief questions to let me know how things are going. This will close when I officially return on the 27th. I've gotten several wonderful responses, and I thank those of you who have taken the time to send me your feedback!