I realize I'm quite behind on a few promised posts. I'll see what I can do about getting those up for you in the coming month. However, between the end of the school year craziness and other issues, things might be a bit quiet for a while.
The biggest setback right now is that we're dealing with some serious mildew issues in our house. Northern California got pummeled with rain this year, which was a huge blessing. Sadly, our roof, which was already in need of repair, will not make it another winter, and will need to be replaced as soon as possible.
The leaky roof led to mildew issues in our room and in the room the younger two girls share. We're looking at having to replace at least two walls with new drywall, possibly three. Ugh.
So, that's what we'll be focusing on this summer. As a result, my doll budget will be significantly lower. We're trying to set aside all we can for the upcoming expenses.
What's even sadder is that almost all of my doll stuff is packed away right now, although I did keep a few small things out to enjoy. My parents very graciously offered their garage as a storage area while we get things figured out. I had to clear most of the room to allow an insurance inspector to come out and see the problem areas (nope, not covered by insurance...sadly). Since we're looking at fixing things up this summer, and our room is one of the main problems, it seemed silly to unpack everything again.
So this is what our room looks like right now (please pardon the unmade bed...it was one of those mornings):
Weird, huh? ;)
As you can imagine, finding things to photograph and review is a bit tricky at the moment. ;) Because of this, most of my posts in the coming months will be more casual.
I'm planning to seriously reevaluate everything as I slowly bring it back into my room. I love my collections, but I have so much stuff it's getting hard to enjoy things. I'd rather downsize a bit and pass some things on to others who will really enjoy them. I'll keep you guys posted on that.
And now, it's time to announce another exciting change. I've officially started a website and blog devoted entirely to my writing. This was a huge suggestion I got from several other writers and agents. While Never Grow Up is fun and informative, it's not the type of blog that necessarily reflects my writing at its most professional level (which is fine...I love being more casual here). It was also suggested that I really need to "brand" myself, if that makes sense. People reading my blog should get a feel for the type of books I'm going to write.
While I had a website before, I'm now working with a professional company to make it a little more classy (and to have help with all of the website building stuff that can be so overwhelming).
I've only been at the new site for a couple of months, so it's still in its very beginning stages, but I'm pleased with it so far. I'll be posting writing news and updates, doing some fairy tale reviews, and sharing thoughts from my heart. I also have an email subscription list (another item of huge importance, according to the writing agents I talked to). My plan is to eventually have special content only available to my email subscribers, hopefully as early as this summer.
If you guys want to check it out and give me some feedback, you can see my site at hannahprewett.com.
Some of you may be wondering what this means for Never Grow Up. At this point, my plan is to keep both blogs going. I love writing about dolls and having a place to share my latest finds. That being said, becoming a published author has been my dream since I started this little blog almost seven years ago. So naturally, my writing blog will take precedence. I need to find out if I can accomplish this crazy thing I set out to do all those years ago. And to do it right, I have to devote the right amount of time and energy to make it a success. For that reason, Never Grow Up will continue as it has been this year, more of an occasional posting place.
It's possible that if it gets to be too much to juggle both sites, I may have to reevaluate my decision, but I'd definitely like to keep things going at least until July. I can't miss my seventh blogaversary or my annual Belle and Rapunzel doll review posts. ;)
No matter what, I'll still have doll and toy related stuff on my Instagram and Flickr accounts and my Never Grow Up Facebook page.
I just want to say that none of this would have been possible without all of you, my readers and dear online friends. Without your encouragement and friendship through the years, I wouldn't have had the courage to reach for the stars. So thank you to all of you. I know my new site won't be as interesting to some of you, but I hope you will at least pop in every once in a while and see what I'm up to.
Have a great week, everyone! :)