MOI est L'Un! (see what I did there?)

It's true!  The Mountains of Instead is officially a whole year old!  Nope, I can't believe it either.  When I first started blogging, I wasn't convinced that I'd stick at it a month never mind twelve of them.  Nor was I convinced that anyone other than my mum would actually read my reviews.  Yet here I am and here you are and isn't it all terribly jolly?


Over the past twelve months, I've had a ball.  I've made awesome book buddies and some fabulous friends who I look forward to staying getting to know even better over the next twelve months.  Without wanting to make this into to an Oscar type list of schmaltz I would be remiss not to shout out to the fabulous Emma of Asamum Booktopia, Andrew of The Emancipation of Pewter Wolf (not least for allowing me to try out my dodgy editorial skills on him), Michelle of Fluttering Butterflies and also Carla of The Crooked Shelf who so kindly took time out to advise me before I'd even posted my first review.  On the international front, Nomes of Inkcrush, Adele of Persnickety Snark and Tammy of The Book Fairy's Haven have all made me feel part of the larger community.  Finally, I've also found my own personal book twin - thank you Lauren (I Was A Teenage Book Geek) for having such exceptional taste in books!

As if all these lovely people weren't enough, blogging has also allowed me to rediscover my love of writing, helped me hone old skills and acquire useful new ones.  I've read so many books that I probably wouldn't have picked up otherwise and discovered many, many amazing writers including my now favourite of all time, Patrick Ness (read his stuff, people - READ IT!).  Most excitingly, via blogging, I've managed to sneak my way into the acknowledgements of a book and may well be responsible for sneaking the word "bawbag" into a YA novel (I have no official confirmation of this, thus far, but am keeping my fingers crossed).


Then there's all of you.  Every single person who takes the time to read through the reviews that I post, make a comment, Tweet about them and - best of all - lets me know they've bought a book based on my recommendation: you are the reason that I, who stick at nothing, have stuck at this. Thanks - you all rock. And because you do, there's a blogoversary giveaway coming later today - I've decided it requires it's own post so keep yer peepers peeled as it could be a lot of fun.


Finally, on a rather less chirpy note, I'm having major computer issues.  I was in the process of transferring all of my files to a new computer when I, er, lost them all.  ALL. OF. THEM.  Including the dozen reviews I had lined up to post over the next month.  Therefore, things may seem a little quieter here while I try and recover things/have tech-y people do tech-y things etc. However, never fear there are some great author posts coming up soon so again keep an eye out and, above all, enjoy!