Announcement! Drumroll Please...

So it's been a little quiet around here but only because I've been working on a super top-secret project that somehow turned into two super top-secret projects. I've been waiting until they were all done to share them with you, my faithful readers.

As a direct result of my participation in Armchair BEA, especially the Blogger Development and Blogger Ethics strands, I have re-branded my blog and moved it to Wordpress.

If you can no longer stand the suspense, click here.  If you are interested in my motives, keep reading.

After discussing issues of plagiarism, especially as they pertain to web image copyrights and memes and features, I felt compelled to overhaul my blog so that all images and features were totally original.  (A quick Google search proved that I was not as clever as I thought when coming up with feature names.)  Also, I've been dissatisfied with my blog's layout.  I've been through three on Blogger since I started blogging - all free templates - but none of them ever felt quite right.  They were not a reflection of who I am as a reader, writer, and blogger.  However, I am also not a graphic or web designer.  Another quick Google search introduced me to PicMonkey - a free, easy to use photo editing tool, which allowed me to create my own original blog banner and labels.

After cleaning house and sprucing the place up, I felt it was time to take the next step and move the whole shebang over to Wordpress, which I did with relative ease.  What took so long was updating each link in each post to link to my new Wordpress site and adding labels and changing feature names throughout.  I also had to tweak my blog name just a little bit, so I could get the URL I wanted.  I am now at Matched Manuscripts: Reviews and Recommendations: matchedmanuscripts.wordpress.com.  The premise of matching readers with texts based on mood, setting, and experiences remains.  As part of the new move, I have also joined Twitter.  You can follow me @matchedmscripts.

BUT, I'm finally done, and apparently, the changes and move were not all for naught.  I recently showed my new site to my husband, and he responded, unprompted, "It looks like you."  So, if you were wondering what I look like in blog form, apparently this is it.

My new blog banner

My new review label

Label identifying posts part of the
Sarah Dessen Re-Read Challenge hosted by I Eat Words

Label identifying posts part of my Scripted Stanzas feature
(previously Scribbled Verses) - original fiction, poetry,
and memoir penned by me

Label identifying posts as part of my Traces of Text feature
(originally Flashback Fridays) - posts revisiting texts and
bookish events that have impacted me

While in the midst of this project, I attended a Leadership Seminar hosted by The Delta Kappa Gamma, an organization for educators.  I was inspired to begin a feature dedicated to education detailing teaching strategies I am using, projects I am working on, and conferences I am attending.  My current blog, Matched, sometimes felt like it had two identities, book blog and educational blog, which meant I wasn't always reaching my target audience.  Therefore, I began a feature solely devoted to educational matters, Incombustible Classrooms: Igniting Educators Across the Community, and moved my posts about teaching matters from Matched there.  Look for a recap of the DKG Leadership Seminar soon!

Pop on over the new site to see my Top Ten Five Books of 2013 (so far), and I hope you like the new look and feel.  I am very, very happy with it.  Please make sure, though, that you update your blog feed with the URL for the new site, matchedmanuscripts.wordpress.com, since after this post I will no longer be posting to Blogger.  Blogger was a great platform for a beginning blogger, but I feel Wordpress will really help my blog grow more.

I hope to see you over at Matched Manuscripts and on Twitter!  Thanks!