Stasis

his isn't the end, but pretty darn close. Inland Empress has accomplished what I wanted it to do: rescued some semblence of my sanity and kept my writing skills sharp.

But being funny takes time and patience and multiple drafts. It hasn't been easy watching my hits slip from 500 a day to about 60. I have a Mommy friend who loves Mommy blogs and who's quoted Suburban Bliss and Finslippy to me. Must. Not. Hurt. Her.

I coulda been a contendah. I could've gone in that direction. I'll never know if, with a little more diligence, I might've hit the big time, maybe "Snobby Extraterrestrial" in the TTLB ecosystem, or gotten a paying gig from it.

But life is made of choices, and I'm choosing to move away and move on. We're getting ready to sell the house and flee this endless stretch of cookie-cutterdom known as the Inland Empire. We aren't sure where we'll end up just yet. If I land somewhere nice, I'll let you know. Via email. If I get around to it.

I have ideas for children's books and am working hard over at Book Buds to build bridges to people who know this genre much, much better than I do. Yeah, it averages 35 hits a day, but I get payola (sorta) in the form of free books. Heh.

I have a promise -- not a contract, more like a wish -- from someone to help her write her memoirs. I have two kids to entertain, bath, feed and schlep around. And, oh yeah, my husband likes seeing me every now and then too.

Archives will remain up for the time being and comments will remain open until I get fed up with spammers. Eventually, I intend to sell the domain name for a nominal fee to this same friend, who's starting a line of homemade soaps and toiletries. Seriously.

Thanks to all of you who stopped by, shared part of my life, left a comment and had a little fun. Best of luck to you all.

Love, hugs and all that other mushy stuff,

Anne Boles Levy
Upland, Calif.

Comments

[Anne]

What a pretty and poetic way to look at things.

But we're marking all the boxes. Just to be sure.

Thanks to everyone who's still stopping by.

[Geehem]

Enjoyed reading you from this side of the Atlantic, Anne (yes you did have at least 1 western european reader. Made me feel special :) )
Good luck with whatever's next !

[Bob K]

Sorry to hear you're ending this. It's been good to see your writing again and to read about the adventures of Plosh, Minitaur, Milkula and the gang. I hope your new exploits turn out well.

[Anne]

Geehem: A belated welcome to my blog. Thanks so much for de-lurking and best to you in all your blog-surfing.

Bob K: Dang, you've no idea how much I miss Fla. I'll trade earthquakes and vapid blondes for hurricanes and geezers anyday.

Hope you're still taking good care of the 'glades for me.

[Jack]

Howdy.

[Adrian]

Anne, I think we're all of a mind that cyberspace will be a poorer place without you. Good luck though.

[Anne]

Many thanks, Adrian. Best to you too.

[Lilit]

Inland Empress, I hardly knew ye! I look forward to a new blog someday. Till then, best wishes and happy travels.

[Anne]

Many thanks, Lilit. And all the best to you as your writing career rapidly advances.

[cathy proctor]

hey there -- I guess i'm late on the saying bye thing -- just had a few minutes and wanted to catch up with various friends. I've always been amazed at your ability to blog brilliantly as well as do the mom and wife thing. Take care and lemme know where you land.
Cathy

[goddess of pomona]

hey Anne - Sorry to see you're closing up shop. I recently started a Pomona mom's blog, and your blog was the only other local blog I could find. My blog is so new, that the lack of sleep I'm getting is still outweighed by the satisfaction. We'll see how long that continues...I'll continue to enjoy Book Buds.

[andrew]

Hello Anne,

I just stopped by following some train of thought that's now gone. And I see that I'm a couple of months too late.

So, you stop blogging as I try again to start. Which only means that in a year or two, you'll be back somewhere, somehow,

You once wrote me kind and helpful words when I was flapping about, gasping. I'm still inordinately grateful for that.

Best wishes, and feel free to keep in touch now and then. I'd like that.

[Anne]

Dear Goddess: Nice site! Keep it up. I'll be leaving the area soon but it's nice to know there's another Inland Empire blogger. Also check out Ontario Empoblog; he writes about, oh, I dunno, just about everything.

Andrew: Will do. I'll be checking out your new site too. Welcome back to the blogosphere.

[Ontario Emperor]

Lose an empress, but find a goddess. I'll check that blog out.

[jessica kardon]

Hello

I really enjoy the way this blog was written. In fact (not to sound like an ad) If I were you I would go to http://www.autosurfmonster.com and submit this blog so thousands of others can see it for free. well, I look forward to all the updates, Thanks again.

Jessica