A goodbye (of sorts)

[nymeth]

I could start by saying this will be my last post here at Lady Business, but I hope that would soon prove a lie.

It’s been nearly five years now since Renay, Jodie and I first started talking about starting a blog together, and during that time my life has changed considerably. Five years ago I was getting ready to start my MA in Library and Information Management; although that was a busy period for me, I was much better able to manage my workload and still write regularly than I am now that I have a rewarding but often exhausting full-time library job. Add to that my perpetual confidence issues when it comes to writing for a more polished and professional venue and the result was a level of contribution far below what I hoped for when Lady Business was first launched. In its turn, this led to a permanent state of angst and guilt over not being able to be more involved, which brings us to where we are today. I’ve been on hiatus since the start of the year to make sure that whatever decision I came to in the end would be the right one for my life, and I’m now as certain as I think I’ll ever be.

I’m sad to announce that I’m stepping away from my formal role in Lady Business. This place will always be close to my heart, though, and I hope you’ll see me here again as an occasional guest poster or co-reviewer before too long. I can’t thank Jodie and Renay enough for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this: their support, editorial feedback, and the excellent standards they set as writers and critics have taught me more than I can say. They helped shape my intellectual trajectory in ways that will stay with me forever, and I’ll continue to look to them for inspiration for as long as they continue to share their work with us.

I also want to thank you, our readers, for your friendliness and recs over the years. Lady Business exposed me to corners of fandom I hadn’t come across before — it was great to find communities full of people as passionate about sharing stories, about feminism and about cultural criticism as I am, and whose general outlook and attitude made me feel at home. I’d love to keep those ties alive. You can still find me on Twitter as nymeth, and I’ll continue to document my reading (and occasional TV adventures) at my more informal reading journal, things mean a lot. Do stop by and say hello if you want to — I'd really like that.

I wanted to end this goodbye of sorts on a celebratory note, with a list of some of my favourite contributions to Lady Business over the past four years and a bit. I’m proud of all the posts I wrote here, either on my own or in collaboration with others, but the following particularly stand out in my memory:

• Co-Review: Parks and Recreation: what could possibly be better than taking a friend and simply not shutting up about Leslie Knope & co for 7000 words?
  
  
• The Raven Cycle Discussion: Likewise, it was super fun to invite friends over and jointly squee about this series ahead of the publication of Blue Lily, Lily Blue last year.
  
  
• The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: It's All About Perspective: I loved digging deep into this webseries along with Renay, both in the body of the post and in comments (even if it all ended with my hopes and dreams for a particular character being crushed).
  
  
• Marginalization: How to Engage in Intellectually Dishonest Debate: this one wasn’t exactly fun to write, but I’m still proud of my contribution to our response to some of the most common dismissals of Coverage of Women in SF/F blogs.
  
  
• Co-Reviews: Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra: Jodie is my Avatar universe buddy; sharing our joy and frustration with these two series was an absolute delight, and one of my favourite things we have done together.
  
  
• An Education: my review of what remains to this day a favourite movie.
  
  
• 'Apprentice losers, already on their way to a witless future': I don’t know if 2011 was a particularly bad year when it comes to “boys crisis” articles or if I was just paying more attention then because I was writing my MA dissertation on the subject. Either way, it was very satisfying to respond to this one along with Jodie.
  
  
• How to Suppress Women’s Writing by Joanna Russ: my thoughts on Russ’ classic, which Renay kindly sent me as a gift.
  
  
• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: My first ever Lady Business post was also my first exposure to Stephanie Perkins’ YA romances, which I absolutely love.
  
  
• Gender Balance in YA Award Winners since 2000: Lastly, a post that was many months in the making and which I absolutely couldn’t have researched and written without the editorial support I had access to here at Lady Business. I’m proud of it, and pleased that it played a role in encouraging debate around gender inequality in YA.

Thank you all, and I hope to see you soon.

Comments

[calissa]

Self-care is something I struggle with, so I really appreciate the courage it takes to step away from here and move towards looking after yourself better. I will miss not seeing you here more often, but I look forward to the occasional post and will still see you on Twitter.

Best of luck!

[nymeth]

I've always struggled with it as well, though hopefully I'm getting better. Thank you so much and see you around the internet!

[goodbyebird]

Sad to see you go, but sounds like you're making the right decision for you and that's what matters. Best of luck ♥

[nymeth]

Thank you so much ♥

[dolorosa_12]

As I said on Twitter, you'll be missed here, but I'm glad you're making the right decision for you. Best of luck!

[nymeth]

Thank you so much, and see you on Twitter still!

[bookgazing]

'I hope you’ll see me here again as an occasional guest poster or co-reviewer before too long'- yup, count on it. Open invitation is open :)

And look at all the amazing posts you made. When you shared the list you were going to link to I was amazed how great it was without even including some of your posts that are still getting the most hits after years. Your greatness at LB goes beyond this list and I'm sure people are going to continue enjoying your content at long as it's here.

[nymeth]

Aw, thanks for saying that, it truly means a lot. And thank you also for joining me for all those amazing and fun discussions over the years. May they long continue!

[theliteraryomnivore.wordpress.com]

Oh, Ana, I know this is a hard decision to make, but I'm so happy you've found a way that works for you. It's hard, giving up things we do love but don't have time for, but it's amazing how good it feels to have that weight off your shoulder. Godspeed, my dear!

And you'll see plenty of me on Twitter and on your blog. I cannot be gotten rid of. :D

[nymeth]

GOOD - see you everywhere, then :D And thank you *big hug*

[readingtheend.pip.verisignlabs.com]

Of course I'm sad to see you go, but I know we'll keep up the nerdy book talk in other places. You've been the best here, as you are in every place you write, awesome lady!

[nymeth]

Aww, you are the nicest! And yes we will - nerdy book that FOREVAH <3

[myfriendamy]

aw it's so hard to say goodbye to well loved projects but sometimes we have to. I'm glad you'll still be on the internet, though!