Hey there, dear 7-Imp readers. It’s been an immensely rewarding 16 years of blogging here at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast (that makes the site downright elderly in blog years), but I’m here today to say I’m clearing the coffee mugs, wiping the table, and closing up the breakfast nook.
Blogging here at 7-Imp has always been a labor of love, my hobby on the side. But I find that I have simply run out of the bandwidth to post (and just keeping up with blog-related email became a lot like a full-time job). It has truly been a struggle lately to find the time. But honestly, I’m also interested in reclaiming some of that time, the hours that go into keeping up (what I hope have been) high-quality posts. There are other things I’d like to get back to doing, new things I want to try, and people I want to spend more time with. (Also, there are more books I want to read. Ironically, blogging about reading takes time away from reading.)
Thank you to all of the authors and illustrators who have stopped by here to share their talents over the past 16 years.
Thank you to Blaine Danielson (whom editor Liz Bicknell once called “Mr. Jules”) for keeping up with 7-Imp’s behind-the-scenes maintenance here at WordPress (“Blaine, there’s another new plugin!”), for finding and then adapting this blog’s template, and for generally keeping it running.
A shout-out to Eisha Neely, who started this whole thing with me back in 2006 when I was at home with a baby, having stepped away from a school library position, and desperate to talk books again.
And the hugest, most sincere, and infinitely warmhearted shout-out of all to Jone MacCulloch, Little Willow, and Rachel Phillips who — for 15 years straight, nearly without fail — have visited here on Sundays to “kick” with me. Steadfast and true, those three. Even after most people stopped leaving comments at blogs and started leaving comments about blog posts at social media sites where posts are shared (this is a thing now), those three kept coming here, every Sunday, to share a bit of themselves. Lately, it’s consistently been just the four of us every Sunday, and I will miss that. I’m sorry to take away their kick space, but they will always be my friends. (As for kicks, there were some weeks it was hard to find some, but I always managed to. That was a good exercise in gratitude, which I believe can keep a person healthy.)
My favorite thing about blogging has been sharing art and illustration, but I’m also grateful for the people I’ve met because of it, the friendships I’ve made, and the opportunities it has provided me — jurying in Bologna in 2012 being my favorite. (I still miss the cappuccinos.)
I will likely share one more post. Sophie Blackall plans to stop by and talk about her beautiful new book. But that will be it for 7-Imp.
I raise my coffee mug to you, 7-Imp readers. Thanks for sticking with me.
p.s. I will still review picture books elsewhere. I’m not going away!
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