I really meant to have this done as an update for the end of December or early January as a New Year thing, but due to life events at the time (which I will get to in my NEXT blog post), I could not. So here we are.
2017 was pretty awesome, but honestly, I say that about EVERY year. I know a lot of people were posting about how terrible the year was for them (I had some struggles, too) but I like to focus on the positive things, so an activity I like to do to keep me in a positive mindset is enacting a regular habit of GRATITUDE. We have so many things to be thankful every single day if we just take a moment to recognize them...like the smell of a freshly mowed lawn, the taste of freshly brewed coffee, the fact that you woke up that morning--any little thing that brings you joy. One of the things I am incredibly grateful for are my FANS, because without them, without YOU, I would not be able to do what I do.
Because I’m generally HORRIBLE at marketing and self-promotion (unless you count the animated GIFS and preview vids I post with some regularity on Twitter), I figured I should probably document a review of my year for anyone who might be curious, but who might have missed it, because really, I am terrible at posting things. (A skill I hope to get better at...and I am trying!)
Here we go! Kudos to you if you make it all the way through. You might find some surprises. :P
I had just gotten a puppy in early December who was proving to be very needy and made it difficult for me to get any kind of work done, so the early part of the year was kind of a struggle and learning curve for me, especially since we had only just moved into our new house a month and a half prior to getting him and still weren’t completely set up yet. I had a lot of emotional breakdowns, I’m not going to lie, most of which would occur after Watson would do a “naughty poop” when I tried to do some kind of work and then the robot vacuum would find it before I did...and smear it all over the house. #Firstworldproblems, right? :P
I ended up only being able to put out 50% of the content that I used to, and I learned to be okay with that as my major goal of the year was to work less for better work/life balance. I might not always be in the Top 50 on C4S every day because of this decrease in content, but I became happier not stressing about it anyway, so it worked out. The moral of this particular TAIL (or...tale…) is that as stressful as life was (and sometimes still can be from my crazy ball of energy Boston Terrier), I’m much happier now than I was 2 years ago. Dogs can be a lot of work, but they really do add something special to your life. The biggest thing having him has taught me: you can’t control everything...and sometimes you just need to go with the flow and adapt.
In spite of the changes I had to make to the amount of content I could put out and the amount of custom commissions I could take (and the hurdle of trying to train a very needy dog), it was a good year career-wise, as well as on a personal level. Here are some of my hightlights from 2017:
It was my first appearance in Hustler proper, though I had a centerfold and feature in Hustler’s Taboo two years prior, which I also have available on my shop if you want to check it out.
I was also on the cover of a French erotic novel photographed by Chas Ray Krider.
In July I went to SDCC for the 3rd time with my friend and fellow cosplayer Minnie d'Moocha. I had spent some time leading up to the con prepping new cosplays. We of course had a blast, and it was really cool that all four of our cosplays received press features.
One of my biggest highlights of 2017, was receiving FOUR nominations in the Fetish Awards, and I was incredibly honored that due to the amazingness of my fans, I won all four of those awards. It was an emotional night for me, as I really was not expecting that, and you truly blew me away with your support. I am beyond grateful.
As a sidenote… as amazing of an honor as it has been to have won 6 Fetish Awards in the past two years (WHAT?? You guys are AMAZING!), there are SO MANY other actresses, models, and producers out there who deserve recognition, so I do not want to be nominated this year as I believe there are many more deserving folks. (And really, 6 awards is already more than enough, and I am SO GRATEFUL!) To nominate some of the amazing talent out there to be recognized for their hard work, click here!
I will unfortunately not be able to attend this year's Fetish Con due to that same mystery thing I keep alluding to....which will be revealed in my NEXT blog. I will miss all my fetish friends and fans though and I hope they have an amazing year!
And thank you for everyone who has shown support this year. It really means a lot to me. A lot of hard work has happened for me this year and I am so excited to share it all with you.
I hope you will find the beauty and things to be grateful for in your life, whether big or small.
Much love,
Ludella