Hello, lovelies.

You, ah, may notice that Thoughts Stained With Ink looks a little bit differently. That’s because I decided to finally take the plunge to relaunch this blog and go self-hosted! And let me tell you, I am in love, even if it was (for me, as someone who sucks at tech) a slightly challenging process. But, I’ve wanted to go self-hosted for a while, for a multitude of reasons:

1. I wanted to be able to make my website more accessible through using the plug-in UserWay, but didn’t have access to plug-ins without paying for the Business plan on WordPress, which I definitely couldn’t afford.
2. I wanted my blog to have a slightly more professional style and feel, despite still encompassing me and al the nerdy quirks and things I love (mostly because I want to use this as my author website, as well as my personal blog and freelance hub).
3. I wanted more options in terms of themes, plug-ins and what I could do with my little corner of the internet.

Some of my favorite bloggers (Shealea @ Shut Up, Shealea, Kal @ Reader Voracious, Amber @ The Literary Phoenix, Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books) all have self-hosted blogs that just wow me, so I finally took the plunge! I decided to go with SiteGround for hosting and bought a theme from StudioMommy (both who I discovered reading Shealea’s post here) and followed the steps so kindly laid out by Kal’s post here to make this blog what it is today. I’m so excited about it and I hope you like it, too! Let me take you on a quick tour of some the new layout!

You’ll notice a really lovely navigation bar at the top, separated into the main categories you can discover here: my writing, my freelance editing services, my book blogging and my personal life. Hover over each section to see what goodies and surprises lay underneath or just scroll to the middle of the front page to discover my latest posts!

You can find out more about me, subscribe to this blog or find my social media presences over on the sidebar on the right. At the bottom, you can see a highlight of my Instagram (which is mostly nature pics, dog glamor shots and food porn), as well as another reminder of how to connect with me!

You may notice some parts of the site are labeled “under” construction. One of the things I’m most excited about is that I’m working with Kat @ Novels and Waffles again for more amazing graphics to match the new theme. I’m still using the graphics she made originally, because I’m still head over heels in love with them, but to get even more!? *dies* I’m pretty dang excited about it, so you’ll probably see some new gorgeousness complement the blog here in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

Aside from a new look, I also have a few new things I’m also launching today that I’m pretty excited about: a quarterly newsletter and a Patreon!

One of the cool things that came with the theme I selected was an integrated newsletter sign-up option (it’s the “Looking for Adventures” black banner at the top). I honestly hadn’t ever thought of doing a newsletter before, but the poll I ran on Twitter was pretty positive in response, so I figured, why not? Again, this is something I think is smart to have set up now, because I’ll hopefully already have a solid group who likes to read my content (for whatever reason, bless you) before I publish books (that you’ll hopefully, ah, also like).

The newsletter will be quarterly (once every three months) and will be almost like a highlight reel of what’s been going on with Thoughts Stained With Ink for the previous three months, as well as talking about writing and life. I don’t want to bombard your emails and this will be an experience we can embark on together, if you so choose! You can sign up on the aforementioned banner above or in the sign-up form below:

Secondly, I’m also launching a Patreon! Imposter syndrome has kept me from doing this for a long time, but again (are you noticing a theme yet?), it’s something I wanted to have set up before publishing took off, as while it’d be lovely to write full-time one day, I know that’s not feasible. But, with my partner and I both taking pay cuts at our day jobs and self-hosting increasing blogging costs, I didn’t think it’d hurt to set one up.

Of course, no obligation to sign up ever, but, if you’re interested, some of the perks across various tiers include:

• Pet pics!
• Shout out on my patreon page on my blog!
• Monthly read!
• Monthly exclusive blog post!
• Exclusive short stories!
• Heads up on editorial sales!
• Annual postcard or letters!
• And more!

So, check it out here, if you’re interested!

I know that’s a lot of “new” to ring in 2021, but don’t you worry: this blog will still have the quirky book reviews, the writing woes and updates, bookish discussions, monthly-wrap ups, allyship resources and overly-personal posts you’ve come to enjoy! I’ve been blogging since 2012 (*blows dust off my old corpse*), but more seriously since 2015. Over the past eight years, my blog has evolved and changed and grown in ways I never imagined possible, and in really amazing ways. I am so proud of this space and so excited for the future.

Thanks for being on this journey with me. You make it worth it. 🖤