Like Rome, Crazy for YA was not built in a day. Or even a year. This little baby is going on six years and I still don't think that it is completely built.
But, despite the never-ending pursuit of building the perfect blog, the process of writing, posting, reviewing on this blog has changed my life.
When I started this blog with my friends, I didn't think it would last beyond middle school, let alone to the 500th post milestone that I am celebrating right now. Writing a single review would take me hours, and they didn't have graphics, SEO, fancy fonts, or even a book summary. What they did have was an obnoxious pink font and a whole lot of love and care.
However, despite the obnoxious colors, middle school writing, and complete lack of design, I still haven't deleted any of my old posts.
There is literally an archive of my blogging journey (mistakes and all) still available for public criticism. This blog is me. This is me at my best and at my worst. These typos are me. These terrible graphics are me. These bad decisions, lack of knowledge, hurried posts, all led to where I am today. And all I can say is that the view is pretty good from here.
That being said, read on if you want to see a timeline of Crazy for YA throughout 500 posts and six years!
In the Beginning
11/12/12--Introduction
This was our first ever post that basically just announced our presence and explained our pen names. It can't be more than 200 words between all three of us.
11/13/12--First Review (From Me)
This is the first review that I ever wrote for Crazy for YA and it doesn't make any sense. We posted my review of City of Glass (#2 in The Mortal Instruments series) a week before we posted a City of Bones review. I guess it made sense at the time with our writing schedule, but looking back I don't understand why we could not have switched them.
11/21/12-- First Whatcha Reading Wednesday
This was our attempt at creating a weekly feature to announce our current reads (which ended up being mostly the same week to week) and the accompanying low quality graphic. Please ignore the fact that whatcha is not a word.
4/2/13--Dual Review of Clockwork Princess
This post has a special place in my heart because The Infernal Devices was one of my all-time favorite series, so much so that I copied Tessa for my pen name.
5/6/14--First Top Ten Tuesday
Out of all the memes we have attempted, TTT is the most consistent (as consistent as I get) featured on Crazy for YA throughout the years!
7/24/14--Liebster Award (one of the last posts Cassia, Max, and I all wrote together)
9/27/14--Soundtrack Saturday with Cassia
Cassia is really gifted with music and she was gracious enough to share that talent on the blog. Soundtrack Saturday was one of my favorite features, but I don't have the diversity of music to keep it up. (I listen to the same five songs on repeat all the time.)
Maybe Some Progress?
10/19/14--BookBlogWriMo 2014
Our first blogging event and the longest streak up to that point of consistently posting every day (even posting twice on some days)! Events like this make me really miss having co-bloggers.
11/1/14-- An Old History of Crazy for YA
In this post I vehemently denounce Twitter. Like I vowed to never join it. I am sorry past Tessa, but you were judgy and short-sighted.
12/1/14--Our Original Christmas Tag
I am quite proud of this original book tag and it kind of makes me want to do another. Plus, Christmas is my all-time favorite holiday, so I stayed true to myself at least.
12/11/14--My First Ever Discussion Post
Yes, it took two years for me to figure out what a discussion post was and to actually write one. I never said that past Tessa was smart, but at least I have caught on by now.
12/29/14--Quickly Followed by the Discussion Post Challenge 2015
I somewhat failed with only like 12 posts, but I think that was pretty good considering my first discussion was only a month before the challenge. At the very least, I got my footing in the realm of longer posts and gained (some) control of my rambling.
2/8/15--The GIF Tag
When I discovered the joy of GIFs, to my pleasure and the misfortune of the rest of the Internet who had to wait AGES for all of them to load in my posts.
3/5/15--Joining Twitter
Contrary to the hatred of Twitter that I ranted about before, this post explains my journey onto Twitter and, apparently, my complete change of heart.
Trying New Things
4/16/15--Book Battles | TFIOS vs. Looking for Alaska
To this day, Book Battles is one of my favorite features to hold. TFIOS vs. Looking for Alaska is one of my most popular posts. Plus, I just like myself some conflict.
6/21/15 to 6/27/15 --Crazy for Summer Readathon
It was in 2015 that I started getting overly confident in my blogging abilities, most notably shown through the Crazy for Summer Readathon that I hosted. I loved every minute of it, but it was definitely stressful. That was the longest (and shortest, in terms of trying to get things done) week of my blogging career. I am incredibly thankful (even) for everyone who participated and dealt with my crazy challenges.
9/15/15--Classic Conversations
Classics Conversations is a prime example of a feature that I just let fade into a slow, painful death. I started strong but I put so much effort into each one that it was hard to justify. Now that I am an English major at college, I want my personal spot of the Internet to focus more on the fiction that I don't get to read in class (even though I love the classics to death).
7/4/16--That Post Where I Got Cocky and Declared that I Conquered my TBR
No matter how confident past Tessa was, I did not defeat my TBR. Maybe I had it under control for a week or two, but now I am back to drowning in an ocean of unread novels.
2/10/17--My quirks are not for your entertainment
This is one of the discussion posts that I am most proud of and I wish I could promote every day. I got pretty personal in this post, and it paid off with the conversations it sparked in the comments.
In Recent History
6/18/18--Getting Cocky Again and Bragging About My Twitter Skills
8/10/18--Return of Max (momentarily)
With a lot of convincing, I got Max to make a brief return to the blog with a guest post of the books she read over the summer.
Though, if you look close enough, you can still spot her in the comment section of some posts!
8/30/18-- My First Review Addressing Problematic Representation
My review of The Raging Ones was the first review that actually scared me. I have written sarcastic, overwhelming negative reviews of books (even popular ones), but I never hesitated to post them. This one was different since I brought up a problem with the LGBT+ representation that I didn't see other bloggers raising. But, in the end, I am extremely glad that I posted it and talked about the issues with others in the community.
9/10/18 -- Full Circle with Discussion Posts
This chronology ends with my most recent post, and what I believe to be, the epitome of the evolution of Crazy for YA. I wrote about the perks of being in a book slump with sarcasm, (what I hoped was) wit, and passion. There was even a graphic banner and Pinterest graphic!
Bonus: My conglomeration of apology posts
But in all seriousness, these apologies and promises show how difficult blogging is, but also how important. Despite taking breaks for months and months and months and months and months, I always come back. Please find some irony and laughter in this collection of false promises and guilty apologies.
8/24/15--Organizing my priorities
1/2/17--Excuse my excuses
7/5/17--Is there still a blog here?
1/6/2018--Mustering Motivation
5/17/18--Bouncing Back
Giveaway!
(The giveaway has ended).
There is no better occasion to host my first independent giveaway then at the end of my 500th post, right?
I am giving away (1) one book of choice for (1) one winner up to a value of $20 USD from The Book Depository. The giveaway starts on September 23 at 12:00 AM EST and will run until October 6 at 12:00 AM EST.
A Couple Rules First About the Giveaway...
1. The winner will be randomly picked by Rafflecopter, and then emailed and announced on this post. The winner will have 48 hours to respond with their book choice and address. After 48 hours, a new winner will be selected. I am merciful, but not eternally patient.
2. You must be at least 18 years old to enter or have parental permission.
3. This giveaway is open internationally as long as the Book Depository ships to you. Here is the list of countries they ship to. Please note that the giveaway is worth up to $20 USD.
4. I reserve the right to disqualify dishonest entries and entries from giveaway accounts. Basically, just do what you said you will do, or else you won't win.
Also, here is the obligatory thank you at the end of any celebration post.
I like to think that a formal statement of gratitude is not necessary because I try to show my gratitude for this fantastic community every day. I don't want to just say thank you once, but all day, every day. This community is too amazing for just words, you guys deserve action.
So, think of every tweet, mention, and comment from me as a sincere thank you for everything that you do for the community, and more importantly, for me.
Do you delete old posts from your blog? How long have you been following Crazy for YA? What are you most proud of in your blog's history? Did you enter the giveaway?
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