It's a new year, and time you knew...

that I hate what this blog has become.

When I began Inked in Chapters, years back, I envisioned something fun and different. What I ended up with was more of the same. Now, I'm no fool. The only one to blame resides behind this keyboard. I'm the one who shaped this thing into a book-shaped blob, resembling so many other sites.

I've never been good at fitting into a mold. I tried to stick myself into a box, and I hate boxes. It's one of the reasons I have "Free" tattooed on my wrist. The idea of being what someone else wants me to be is suffocating. If I won't subject myself that in real life, why should I do it here? That's just ludicrous, and it only took me around 3 years to realize... *insert eye roll*

The book community, at least this small portion of it, reminds me of high school. You have the cool kids, the followers, the outcasts... You get the idea. I don't think I've ever fit in, so I'd place myself squarely in the outcast column. While Sarah, my ever faithful until-I-fell-into-a-funk reviewer, is much more in the thick of things. She has a passion for this "world" that I just can't seem to muster up. (You can follow her on IG - @dragonflyreads)

That being said, neither is wrong, we're just different.

My general focus, at this time in my life, is on my family - my 3 beautiful, yet insane, children and their ever patient father. It's on how to make their lives better and more beautiful. While I still read, and enjoy my books - for the most part- I don't find posting measly reviews that few read, cover reveals, or release blitz postings fulfilling anymore.

I.
Need.
More.

So I've decided to do more.

In 2018:
I want to share with you.
I want to converse with you.
I want to make connections.
I want to leave a positive mark on the world.
I want... to be light in the darkness.

In order to do that, I have to be vulnerable. And while we're laying it all out on the line here, that scares the shit out of me. But I'm going to do it. Wanna know why? Because I'm worth it. And you're worth it. We're worth it. I want to give you the best part of me. All I ask in return is that you keep our area a place of love, light, and respect. That doesn't mean you have to agree with everything I do or say or post, far from it. It just means that if your opinions/thoughts differ from mine, you come to me with a sense of decency and respect.

In 2018, I'll begin to ink my own chapters, here, with you.
(and maybe throw a few reviews in for fun.)