A Year of Roars and Echoes

Posted on by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Hi there!

As you can deduce from the title of this post, this month marks the one-year anniversary of this blog! It has, however, been almost 8 years that I’ve been doing this. Come to think of it, that’s crazy…

Roars and Echoes remains my solo adventure into the blogging world and I am beyond grateful that I can call many of you my virtual friends. While some have fallen, others have risen, and it’s amazing to reflect upon those new and old relationships and how every little interaction has kept me motivated in maintaining this creative outlet to review everything and anything, whether it may be books, comics, shows, movies, and video games.

I’ve been meaning to make a post to explain the name of this blog and what better opportunity than this to finally divulge the reasoning behind it.

Growing up, I’ve always loved reading. I’ll always cherish those childhood memories of my mom bringing me to the local library around the corner of the street and dropping me in the middle of those isles of books, to peruse anything and everything at my rhythm. It was only during high school that it became a bit more complicated to maintain that reading habit, with no one around me reading much at all, as my focus mostly went into manga, anime, shows, movies, and video games.

It’s once I discovered what the bookish blogging community was all about that I understood that I might have in fact found myself a new digital home. Blogging was never really about becoming a bookish influencer or anything but about finally having a platform on which I can share my thoughts, leave them there, and, by any chance, have them read by anyone curious enough who would love to say something about it too. Finally finding like-minded people, as passionate or curious as me about what I consume, was just so magical. Not only is it just so much fun to talk to people who actually understand what you’re talking about but to have this place where you can focus your very thoughts into your own very words was just perfect.

Roars and Echoes is pretty much my way to metaphorically represent that. I consider each of my posts as my roar, a shout into the Internet, sharing my thoughts out there without hanging onto the idea that someone would actually hear (read) them. The echoes simply refer to the fact that once my thoughts are shared, eventually, someone out there will hear the fleeting and dying echoes about it, and maybe even react to it, maybe even roar back.

That is what Roars and Echoes represent.

And to wrap up this post, I want to offer you guys—those who come to visit my posts in my little corner of the Internet—the chance to win a little something.

Prize: Up to 25$ CAD on Book Depository.

To participate, all you have to do is leave a comment below and you’re in.

GIF | Gfycat
This giveaway is as international as Book Depository allows it. Verify here.
Please change the currency to CAD$ (Canadian dollars) to verify if it’s under 25$.
It will run until March 19th, 2023, and end at 11:59:59 P.M. EST.
I will contact the winner by email at the end of the giveaway and announce the winner in my March 2023 Monthly Wrap-Up.
You have 48 hours to answer me before I pick another winner.
The randomly selected winner will need to give me certain information (name, address, what book(s) you want, etc.) to acquire their prize.
The winner will have to determine the book(s) they want without exceeding the indicated prize amount (you are not entitled to any remaining dollars once the book(s) has/have been identified).
If you make it a hassle to identify the book(s) you want, I will choose another winner! 😉
You must be 18 years or older (or with parental consent) to participate.
I am not responsible for lost or damaged books.

Good luck and be happy! 😊
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And that’s all! thank you guys again for everything and here’s hoping that we’ll keep on interacting in the upcoming years! 😁

TILL NEXT TIME,

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Published by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Reader. Reviewer. Researcher. Criminology Ph.D. Candidate. Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Want to know more? Connect with him!

59 thoughts on “A Year of Roars and Echoes”

  1. Happy (solo) blogiversary, Lashaan! The first one is always such a satisfying milestone and I hope there are still many more to come. I know you’ve been at it for much longer in total 😉 This community wouldn’t be the same without you!
    Also, how kind of you to combine this with a giveaway.

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  2. Happy Blogiversary Lashaan! 🎉🥳
    Thanks for explaining the name! You are a fabulous writer, and even though we share the slimmest overlap on a Venn Diagram, I enjoy your “voice” and thoughtful posts!

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  4. Thanks for explaining what your title means 😀 I figured it was close to that but am glad of confirmation. Hopefully the void won’t make you deaf, hahahaha.

    Congrats on making the transition to solo blogging. I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I could have kept on blogging, and with such a good attitude. I’d like to take a moment to encourage you on the very positive attitude you’ve displayed over the last couple of years. I want you to know that I’ve noticed and I appreciate it.

    On a less sappy note, I hope you do keep up the blogging, even if life forces changes on how and when you do it 🙂 Don’t stop for extended period without having a plan already in place for returning.

    So cheers to another successful year!

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    1. Thank you so much for your support, my man. I won’t lie that this whole blogging experience wouldn’t have been the same without your own influence on me, whether it be through your own incredible discipline or your tastes. There’s a lot of blogging etiquette that people take for granted but if it wasn’t for your own comprehension of the matter, the game wouldn’t be the same. While I know you know what you need and don’t need when it comes to blogging, I do hope that you’ll continue to dose your activity according to your own mental health/energy/enthusiasm. You’ve gotten through so many tough things in life in the past years of blogging and it continues to impress me how you use your blog to channel things and remain sane. 😀

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      1. Just remember, if you put me in one your case studies, it’s a capital “B” not lowercase “Bookstooge” 😉

        Thanks. Blogging is a lifeline for me since I’m not a people person, even when I want to be. When my own pastor tells me “Bookstooge, we love you but sometimes it can be really hard to like you”, you know I’m just not people material, hahahahaha 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Happy anniversary! I have enjoyed following you for years- and hope to continue for many more!

    I transitioned to solo blogging last May and it was a big change, so I can relate. But I wanted to continue so I could connect with other book lovers- IRL no one wants to talk about books and Star Trek as much as I do 😉

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    1. Thanks, Jeroen! I’m quite glad we crossed paths. It’s quite rare to find people with so many similarities in their tastes/hobbies. I used to co-blog elsewhere, doing pretty much the same thing! Let’s just say I was tired of the other co-blogger’s lack of effort for a hobby I cared about a lot. 😀

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  9. Happy bloggervirsary man. I always thought you might like tigers and thats where the name originated, echoes, now you’ve explained the name, made me think of some old proverb off speaking kind words and receiving kind echoes🙂. Heres to many more years🍻

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  10. Happy Blog-versary! Already a year? How time flies…. 🙂
    I understand – and share – your view about book blogging: the chance to share our thoughts on books and finding like-minded people with whom to talk about our favorite reads is the drive that keeps us all here and happily going forward….

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  11. Time really does fly by. Congratulations on the anniversary. Were you aware of it before WordPress let you know, or was that a pleasant surprise for you, too? And 8 years? Nice. It’s always great to see folks who are able to keep these things going that long. That’s a lot of time and effort. I love your explanation of the name. I especially like the echos part of it, the idea that these little ideas can continue echoing around long after they’re first written, almost with a life of their own. I look forward to many future anniversaries.

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    1. Thank you so much, Todd. I was aware that it was somewhere in February and almost forgot to post something about it until I saw the notification that gave me the necessary reminder to make this post hahaha Yep, it’s that idea that after a roar, those echoes live on forever, at least as long as the cave (Internet) exists. I look forward to our continued interactions too and hope that you’ll also celebrate countless more anniversaries for your own blog, Todd. Thank you for being you and being such an awesome person that I can gladly call a friend.

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  12. I cant believe it’s already been a year! Why is time going so fast?? Anyway, congratulations on your blog. I had already figured out the meaning behind the name, but it’s nice to hear your explanation. Here’s to another great year of blogging!

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  15. Love the explanation behind the name.
    CongratZ on another year of blogging. The little interactions truly make this a magical experience.
    I love how transparent you are regarding the giveaway – I think the fast response and ease of interaction are key to making this fun for both parties.
    Here’s to many more!

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  16. Congratulations on the solo blog anniversary. I like that you’ve got a variety of posts, from vacation journals to different mediums of entertainment.

    On that note, I kind of needed a week off after the first week of my new position at work. Should be able to get back into it this weekend though, with my second annual Hilariously Bad Movie Month.

    I’d actually ask you not to include me in this contest – let others compete. Partly because I’m behind on reading as it is, and I want to catch up before I get anything else.

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  20. Happy (solo) blogiversary to you, Lashaan!
    The meaning behind the blog name is so fitting and you are well and truly a staple in the blogging community. Even though I’ve accidentally taken a step back from blogging myself, I still love visiting and reading your posts.
    Here’s to what’s been an incredible solo year, we all know you’re a veteran blogger haha, and here to many more to come.

    Congratulations,
    Lois

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words, Lois! Honestly, as long as you’re taking care of yourself and doing the things you love, reading what you want to, you shouldn’t worry about your blog. I’m convinced it’ll always be, as well as the community when you want to get back to it!

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  22. Happy blogiversary! 💖
    I love the explanation of the meaning behind your blog name and totally agree with you that it’s wonderful just to find like-minded people rather than aiming at becoming an influencer.
    I don’t want to be added in to the giveaway, I just wanted to say that you’re one of the lovely people who makes this corner of the Internet so cool.

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  23. Pingback: My Monthly Wrap-Up | February 2023 – Roars and Echoes

  24. Aww, I like the reasoning behind your blog name. I’ve wondered before and thought maybe it has to do with lions in some way, lol.
    Happy blog anniversary! I, of course, have always enjoyed your content.
    I don’t need to be entered for the giveaway, btw. Just wanted to comment. 🙂

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  27. Lashaan, the long-awaited answer to the question as to what the title of the blog represents…love it! I too find your enthusiasm refreshing both in posting and comments on others’ posts. I think you capture the essence of what I consider to be a good blogger – someone who helps create a community feeling around their site…while also being supportive of others’ communities. I certainly appreciate all of your comments and support, and hope I provide the same to you. Here’s to another year of Roars and Echoes!

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    1. That is way too kind of you to say, Bruce. I really appreciate it. I’m also glad that we crossed paths. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you and to read your posts (even the older ones that I’m working my way through hahah). Here’s to countless more interactions while always reminding ourselves why we do this, and in my case, to interact with awesome kind-hearted people like you, Bruce. 🙂

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