Wow, has it been a while!
The start of a new decade has been a crazy one for me and I bet, many of you readers as well! I decided to take a break from blogging and whatnot at the end of 2019 to gather myself for the new year; new goals, new expectations.
But what I had planned to be a week-long break, turned into a month; which then, evidently turned into a year and then some.
I've had so many changes in my life in the past year; from a new location, to then being married. I also have some of the same things that I was doing previously, but paused in the last year that I wanted to update you all on as well!
So grab a glass of wine, or a cup of coffee, and let's chat, like two old friends catching up with each other!
For starters, let's get the big elephant out of the room! I got married to what you all know as my "Handsome Boyfriend" yes, I see those Instagram messages - thank you. We had a very intimate wedding with immediate family only and it was lovely. I didn't announce it on my blog, but I did talk about it on my Instagram; Eric and I got engaged in December of 2019 and ended up getting married in October 2020 - very fitting for me, am I right!
We had to do two weddings for our "actual" wedding to work: a civil wedding and our church wedding. I did end up writing a quick blogpost on Vocal about our wedding, and how we had it during COVID-19. For those who would like to read it, the link for it is here.
I also ended up moving to Rhode Island from Toronto after we got married which has also been pretty fun! It's a huge change from Toronto, for me personally and I did struggle with a LOT of homesickness the first couple of months after I moved; particularly during the holiday season, but I really am starting to get used to being more independent which is nice!
I talk a bit about my move and my life on my Instagram stories; for those who are interested and don't follow me on there, my Instagram is @terrifyinglyfictional
My husband Eric adopted our dog Bruno in January 2020 from the Animal Shelter and he's the sweetest boy ever! Bruno is a 4-year-old Doberman Pinscher with Dwarfism and he's brought a lot of light into our lives - and our relationship! He's such a cuddle bug, who's obsessed with food (like any other dog) and loves belly rubs!
Although Eric adopted Bruno in January, I didn't get to actually meet Bruno until I moved to Rhode Island back in August and we've been inseparable since!
We also have a brand new addition to our family, we adopted a baby Holland Lop Bunny which we decided to name Gizmo last month (January 2021) and it's definitely been a new experience for me! Eric has been around a free-roam rabbit for most of his teen years, so he knew what to expect, but this is my first and it's been a learning journey!
Our lop has just recently gotten comfortable with us but I also realized, feels like he requires more effort than our pup as he's still a baby and wanting to bite everything!
My reading habits have changed a lot in the last year as well, I started reading a lot of Adult High Fantasy which has been my main favorite genre at the moment; I'm sure most of the reviews you'll see on my blog will be Adult High Fantasy. But I also discovered a couple of new favorite genres! I branched out a little, in terms of reading and found a new love for Manga, Community & Culture, and Non-Fiction which you'll see a bit of on my blog in the future as well!
In terms of writing, I'm also still very dedicated to publishing my own book! The genre and content of my book have changed throughout the years, but late last year, I was able to find a genre and plotline that I was really passionate about! I took a couple of writing classes in 2020 that really helped me find the genre and writing style that fits well with what I want to do; I also talk to my husband about my work in progress (WIP) very often and he gives me feedback and critics my work often as well! I won't go into full detail about my book just yet, but I am writing a Fantasy novel with Asian Mythology aspects!
I was also able to talk to a local publisher who specifies in publishing indie books and that has really heightened my excitement and determination to finally publish my book! It's been a long-time coming, but I want to make it happen!
Speaking of updates that aren't really new; I took a year-long break from working with publishers and authors to just gather myself and read what I really want to read, without feeling stressed or overwhelmed with the books I'm supposed to read. I didn't accept or request any ARCs (Advance Reader Copy) in 2020 because I really wanted to focus on my reading.
Last year, I read 98 books! And I was able to figure out a great system that allowed me to read a good amount of pages a day, whilst also balancing other things like work - I'm still trying to perfect the balance but February is the month for it!
That being said, I started accepting ARCs and Author Review Requests again! I'm really excited about this because there are a lot of ARC's I've received for books I'm really excited to read and review for you all! :)
*If you are an author or a publisher, and are interested in sending me a copy of your book to review, please email me at jessreadsalatte@gmail.com as it's highly unlikely that I will answer your DM Requests*
I also started bullet journaling which has been my way of organizing not only my life but also my reading and writing. I'm planning on doing more posts on my bullet journal spreads in the future as well because it seems like you all are pretty interested in my bujo journey!
As for my reading in 2020, not much has changed, other than genres. I read 98 books in 2020 like I mentioned and I really enjoyed most of my reads! Surprisingly, for being in quarantine for most of the year, I read roughly the same amount of books that I'd read any other year - I'm hoping to still write a blog post on all the books I enjoyed last year, but we'll see if I'm able to make that happen.
For this year's reading goal, I'm still aiming to read 75 books in 2021 but I'm hoping to add a lot more diversity to my reads this year; that means more authors by BIPOC, POC, people from the LGBTQ+ community, and more!
I'm really excited you all have been by my side, even after the 1-year hiatus I took from my blog but I'm excited for you all to see the posts that's I plan to do on here!
