(Note from Shannon: It’s me! Introducing Angela! Who’s introducing Eleanor! It’s like Inception…only a blog post, so not really. Anyway, I can’t believe it’s been a year since the shiny new launch titles went live and what a year it’s been! I hope there are many, many more to come. So here’s me…introducing Angela…who’s introducing Eleanor… See? Inceptionblog!)

In celebration of our one year anniversary, I asked as many of our Harlequin team members and Carina Press freelance editors as possible to write a short blog post, talking about what the past year or so has been like for them, working on Carina Press. I deliberately didn’t provide any direction other than that, because I wanted to see what people came up with, in the spirit of Carina’s 1st anniversary. I was so pleased when I saw what they’d all come up with, and had to say (and some of these posts made me just a little teary)! I hope you enjoy the post, and look for your opportunity to win a Carina Press book at the bottom of this post. ~Angela James

Eleanor Elliott is the Director of Digital Properties and Social Media for Harlequin and Carina Press. As part of the Carina Press management team, she oversees CarinaPress.com and is a member of the acquisitions team, where she’s given the ‘thumbs up’ to almost 60 manuscripts. She’s an avid reader, television watcher, and sci-fi geek. You can follow her on Twitter.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been acutely aware of the duality of time – how things can seem to be both new and old at the same time. How, when I look at my toddler playing in the yard, I can’t believe that almost 3 years have gone by since his birth, while simultaneously feeling like it’s hard to imagine or remember what things were like without him.

As Carina Press celebrates its first anniversary, I am filled with those exact same emotions. The year since our official launch date seems to have flown by, but it also feels like I’ve always been working on Carina Press.

When Angela James asked all of us on the team to write a blog post as part of our anniversary celebration, I remembered the moment not when we launched, in June 2010 – but a moment about 9 months earlier, when Malle Vallik told me that our proposal for this new venture had been approved by the Harlequin Leadership team….I actually danced in her cubicle I was so excited. Back then, Carina Press was just an idea, an idea that a few of us were dangerously passionate about. To be here, on the 1 year anniversary of the existence of this business, well, to say it feels a little unreal is an understatement.

Carina Press is often the highlight of my work week. To be able to work with talented, creative, and enthusiastic people is a blessing. The word ringing through my head as I reflect upon the last year is gratitude.

So, I think it’s appropriate to say thank you.

Thank you, to the Harlequin Leadership team for letting us run with Carina Press.

Thank you, Malle and Aideen – my co-conspirators in this exciting idea.

Thank you, Angela James, for joining us at exactly the right time. Before you, Carina Press was a proposal – with you, it became a reality, and it wouldn’t be what it is today without you. You have become its heart and soul.

Thank you, to the wonderful, talented, and creative authors who have trusted us with something so dear to their hearts: their amazing stories.

Thank you, to the team of amazing editors, copy-editors, and cover artists who bring our vision for Carina Press books to life.

Thank you, to the amazing book blogger community who embraced Carina Press from the beginning. Your support has been invaluable.

But mostly, thank you to those of you who have purchased and read our books – for taking a chance on us, for writing reviews, for giving us feedback, for talking to us on Facebook, Twitter, and our blog. You are helping to shape Carina Press as we go.

From the beginning, we said that it was our job to connect authors with a story to tell to readers who want to read it. I hope we’ve done just that.

To celebrate Carina’s one year anniversary of publishing books, we’re giving away some prizes. Today, on each of the nineteen blogs our team members are featured on, we’re giving away a download of a Carina Press book to one random winner (that’s nineteen total winners!) All you need to do to be entered to win is comment on this post. You can enter to win on all nineteen posts. In addition, on the Carina Press blog, we’re giving away a grand prize of a Kobo ereader and 12 Carina Press books of the winner’s choice. Visit the Carina Press blog to enter to win, and to see links to all 19 of today’s blog posts.

And a sincere thank you from all of us, to our readers and authors, for making Carina Press’s first year a success!