Happy Blogoversary Giveaway and the Beginning of Goodbye to Krazy Book Lady

Happy Blogoversary!

My first post as Krazy Book Lady was on October 19, 2011, exactly one year ago today! My plan was to have a big blogoversary giveaway, and I had some great authors on board to participate with giveaways of their books, but I just did not have time to coordinate it. So I am celebrating my one year anniversary of blogging in a very quiet way to honor all of the wonderful followers I have gained and the amazing craziness of the past year.

My one year blogoversary is also bittersweet. As much as it pains me to do it and as hard as this is for me to say, Krazy Book Lady will quietly fade away. Perhaps that started before I admitted what had to be done because I have been very bad about posting regularly lately. I am posting about it to simply acknowledge the great experience I have had with this blog and to say goodbye to my loyal followers. (There are some of you that I know have been with me since almost the very beginning, and I am so thankful for that.)

In the past year, I have gained 1,833 GFC followers, over 3,600 followers on Twitter, many more followers on Facebook and Google+, and a lot of great friends on Goodreads. I have also met some truly inspiring authors, both indie and traditionally published, and while I cannot possibly name them all, I would like to spotlight a few. Darian Wilk, who has become a great friend and advocate for me to write my own book. Patti Larsen, who knocks those books out so quickly it would make anyone envious. A.G. Howard, who blew me away with her outstanding debut novel. And finally, two great authors who became my friends while they allowed me to rant... I mean, *talk* to them about my homeschooling concerns, Rachel Harris and Beth Balmanno. During this past year, two authors allowed me to become a somewhat permanent part of their book. Quotes from yours truly appear on The Accordo by Roberta L. Smith and Love Unfinished by the previously mentioned Darian Wilk. Thank you both so much for giving me that honor. I have also met many amazing book bloggers: Kathy of I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and Mary of Bookhounds and Bookhounds YA, who both helped me tremendously in my early days of book blogging, and Kayla from Bibliophilia, Please, who is a top notch reviewer and blogger who isn't afraid to step outside the proverbial book blogger box. Of course there are many, many more great book bloggers out there, and I hope to one day work with you all again when I am looking for bloggers to give my book a chance.

So why am I leaving behind Krazy Book Lady? Quite simply, I can just no longer give it the attention it deserves, as you can tell from how I have really slacked off on posting. In March, I was suddenly transformed from a quiet housewife with time on my hands while the kids were in school to a homeschooling mom who had to learn how to cook for a celiac little boy. To be honest, I was not much of a cook in the first place, and there has been a lot to learn about gluten free cooking. As much as I want to do it all, I have to face the fact that I am not Super Woman and cannot do it all well. Something always suffers when you try to do too much, and in this case it is the blog and the authors I have failed by not having time to read or write reviews after accepting the book for review.

You will see the occasional post here from me while I am honoring commitments that have already been made. I have several reviews that need to be written and many more books to read before I am done, but that will be sporadic at best. I will not be accepting anymore books or signing up for any other commitments. I will definitely miss blogging and all of you. Who knows, I may decide to start a new blog that is a medley of book reviews, homeschooling, gluten free cooking, and whatever else that pops into my head.

Thank you so much for being on this crazy ride with me! I have enjoyed it tremendously.

So, now to the good stuff!

Giveaway:

One winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card! 

How to enter:

Since it is my blogoversary and I am honoring my followers, you must be a follower to enter.

Giveaway Details:

Giveaway is open internationally (as long as you can use a gift card from Amazon). Giveaway is open until midnight on October 31, 2012. Must be 13 or older to enter. Winner will be chosen using Random.org. Winner will be emailed and this blog post updated to show the winner. Winner has three days to respond or a new winner will be selected.

Sorry! This giveaway is over.

Winner: Emily