Sorry, I have the habit of being wishy-washy when life becomes such a living nightmare that being vague is the only way to NOT sound bratty, which those who know me get how hard I struggle with this, but onward to the point.

2011, in short, was not the leap forward I wanted it to be, it was yet another transitional year, with little “New” writing to show for it, and the reason is simple, fear made me do something stupid. Stop.

Why’d my writing decline so much? The reasons are too numerous to contain in a reasonable length, but it’s these two that are most important-

1. Belittling my “Best”
Anyone’s who been at this craft awhile knows what I’m talking about, even those who say “Writer’s block is a babyish excuse to not write” have times when you feel like there’s no middle ground between writing with regularity and submitting your best work. Freelancers/journalists with “deadlines” I’m talking to YOU.

2. Fun became a “Four-letter Word”
As writers, we always tell each other, and get told often how our best writing comes from being passionate about what we write, and exceptions to the rule aside, shoehorning market needs too tightly into our stories simply creates more problems than they solve.

Since most who read this blog want to published, this presents a minefield of confusion a contradictions, and part of my long hiatus comes from a transition I’m going through. Since I couldn’t find success with my first love, I experimented with other types of writing, and yet wasn’t getting any

Where

I discovered this site over the summer and thought about contributing, but I don’t really have many pictures of me as a teen, or even a little kid or baby, my family isn’t best at capturing memories through photos, myself included, but I intend to make a better effort looking ahead.

Besides,

So, in the spirit of Dear Teen Me, I’ll share the letters I’d write to my past self if I could, but for a special twist, I’ll do it in stages.

A letter to the Grade school me (12 BEFORE middle school)

Teen me (18)

New Logo and Other Stuff

I’m still on hiatus from regular updates, but had some good news to share.

First, I’ve updated the blog’s look yet again, to give you a taste of what the full site will look like. When I do return to regular blogging, I’ll also be launching the full site for T.A.A.

The blog will still be going, but the full site will include the following-

-A Newsletter filled with news, book picks, and more!

-More in-depth how-tos on the writer’s craft (SPAG is our friend, most of the time)

-Audio Podcasts & Video Features (Expect those late 2012 if all goes well)

Plus other special content I can’t talk about now until’s it finalized, but trust me, it’ll be fun!

I hope the site launches by May 2012, though I may restart the blogging sooner, but that’s only after finishing drafts of my new WIPs, and they’re the main reason I had to put regular blogging on hold.

Well, that and I was getting a bit discouraged again, but I’ll be all right, I’ve been here before and I’ll climb out again.

Until then, let me know what you think of the new logo and if you’ve got ideas for the full T.A.A. site, please share them in the comments. Also, bookmark the following-

www.talkinganimaladdicts.com

The URL of the official full site (As shown in the new logo above)

Take Care All,
Taurean