Isn’t that title the absolute truth?  I needed a mental health break so, so, so badly.  Instead of feeling bad about that need, I did something, well, revolutionary for me… I took that break.  And I don’t regret a moment of that time concentrating on me, on what I want in my life, or on this website.

In case you didn’t know this, I am retired, which should mean that life is a bit easier, right?  Ha!  Nope, not finding that at all.  Oh, sure, I can sleep late, and stay up way too late, but beyond that… well, stuff still needs to get done; life moves on no matter what our age happens to be.  Between reading whenever I feel like it, I also am a plant mom to a pretty impressive collection of plants; some rare, some common, and all needy in their own blooming way.  I am also an addicted gamer, and when a new expansion comes along, everything else is put on the back burner for a bit. Along with a few other responsibilities that I don’t dwell too much on in my online life.  So, I may be retired, but I’m certainly not just as busy in different ways. 🙂

I also run three distinct websites in the romance reading field.  I once broke them down into specific genres for a reason that really doesn’t hold as true in today’s reading world as it once did (one is over 10 years old now).  In order to streamline a few things in my life, I’m going to merge two of those websites into Happily Ever After Romance.  One I’ll keep on its own, but… I will be adding that genre to HEARomance to a smaller degree, again, to make life easier for me (but also because that website has a large following, and I don’t really want to lose that by merging it totally here).

I also have started a plan for Social Media, since a certain little blue bird isn’t as stable or friendly as it once was.  I’ll be adding those new places to also find HEARomance to the sidebar but would also mention that the best way to know what I’m thinking about books would be to subscribe to receive emails when I post something new.  Again, in all fairness, I’m scheduling posts so that eventually there will be 3 to 4 spaced-out posts from me daily.  If that’s too much of what you might consider “spam,” then I totally get that our inboxes are full enough as it is.  But the choice is there should you wish.

When I started blogging about my love of books, my thoughts about the stories I read, or just to connect with other folks who love romance novels, I had certain dreams about this that didn’t turn out quite as I’d hoped.  I’m going back to what I love about romance novels in all the amazingly different genres.  If there is an audience for that, then wonderful… if not, then at least I’m enjoying myself.  And when it comes to a healthy mindset, that is what’s most important of all.  To be frank, this will probably always be a mostly Harlequin based romance review website — I’ll simply be adding in more other styles that I enjoy just as much… and hope that you will, too.

I need a week to set this plan in motion, get posts written and scheduled, do a bit of overhaul on the website, and get that Social Media puzzle sorted out.  So, aside from an occasional comment, look for the new plan for Happily Ever After Romance to begin on August 1st.  I hope you’ll continue this journey about talking about amazing romance novels with me.