Saturday, July 31, 2021

Life Is Change by @JoanReeves #RomanceGems

Life is all about change. From the time we're born, our lives change every single day.

We grow. We learn. We become teens then adults. We marry and most of us have children.

We move into different houses as our lives change. From no children to kids to empty nests, life is constantly changing.

If we're smart, we develop hobbies or passions that enrich our lives. Authors are passionate about writing the stories in their heads. Readers are passionate about books, and romance readers are especially invested in the books they love.

My Journey to Change

Darling Hubby and I made the decision to replace our two-story house with a one-story because of my increasing vision problems that may lead to blindness. We decided it wouldn't be smart to be living in a two-story if that occurred.

From January through April, we "polished" our home until it sparkled like a diamond. It went up for sale on May 2. Within a week, we had sold it. 

We spent the rest of May and June shopping for a one-story house, but had no luck. Found only 2 and both needed extensive renovation from top to bottom. Found hundreds of two-story houses. *LOL*

We were frantic since we had to move out by mid-July. The night of July 1, I saw a new one-story house listing pop up on the real estate website. 

I texted our realtor immediately. The next morning, we saw the house and immediately put a contract on it.

Our Chance Arrived

At last. Our chance to make the change came about. We began to pack. Ten days later on July 12, we closed on that house. The morning of July 13, remodeling began. The new hardwood floors were finished July 15, and movers bbrought our furniture the next day.

The rest of July has been overseeing the remodeling, waiting for contractors to show up, and staring at the mountains of boxes stacked in every room. We won't unpack until the electricians are finished and the painters have done their thing. It was difficult to leave our perfect home and take on another remodeling project, but sometimes, you have to take a leap—even though you know it means a lot of work.

Only Constant in Life

In 2019, my friends and I wanted to change how we connected with readers. The result was this wonderful Romance Gems  blog.

Romance Gems debuted February 1, 2019. Now, we have 789 blog posts in the Archives.

Two and a half years have passed, and we are once again on a quest for a better way to connect and interact with readers. That means it's time to change again. It's really true that the only constant in life is change.

Taking a Chance on Change

I posed the question to the Romance Gems Authors about how we should go forward, and the majority opionion was to change from a blog to social media, i.e., our Readers Facebook PageRomance Gems...Where Authors and Readers Meet.

That means, it's time to say goodbye to our beloved blog. We've had a good time with the blog. We ran giveaways every month for the first year and a half.

We've got to know many of you, and you have followed us to our Readers Facebook Page,  to our personal blogs, to BookBub, and other online destinations.

Stay With Us

We may not be writing the blog any longer, but it will remain in place with all of the posts and the current pages. You can still use the Bookstore page to visit your favorite Romance Gems Authors by clicking their respective links to all of their books.

Even Better

Come join us on Romance Gems...Where Authors and Readers Meet. We want to chat with readers—with you—every day of the week. Each author will have a short post on her usual "blog day" each month, and there will also be daily topics for discussion and entertainment.

Also, subscribe to each author's newsletter so you'll know when she publishes new books or has sales or giveaways. My Newsletter wants you!

Personally...

With everything I write, and everything I say and do, I always want to encourage others to have the courage to dream and go after their dreams.

Romance Gems Blog has been a lot of work, but it's been rewarding in so many ways.

I want to take this moment to thank the other Romance Gems Authors for their posts, their support, and their time in making this blog a success.

I thank all of you Readers for taking the time to visit us and to leave a comment which always encouraged us. Thanks for reading our books and a special thanks to those who left reviews.

We're all still Romance Gems Authors. Only our venue is changing. We're moving on and hoping you'll move on with us. So join Romance Gems...Where Authors and Readers Meet and bring your friends to meet us too.

Thank you for the last two and a half years. I wish you good health, happiness, prosperity, and peace. See you on our Readers Facebook Page.

It's time to move on. Let's enjoy the Journey.

3 comments:

  1. I’m looking forward to the new format! Our schedules are set and our plans are in place…we’ll be more interactive and more fun. In preparation I’ve finally installed a camera and mic so I can do live readings from my books. We’ll be having so much fun and I’m looking toward a fun adventure! Thanks. Joan for steering this ship…you’ve been amazing! And we’ll see you over on Facebook!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nicely handled, Joan! Readers- we will still have our monthly themes along with some other interactive posts, so please join us! We'd love to see you there!

    ReplyDelete

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