Do Writers Really Need Social Media? - Guest Post Anita Chapman

Today, I am very pleased to welcome onto my blog writer and Social Media Manager, Anita Chapman. As writers, it's impossible to escape social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and the good old blog to name but a few. Like it or hate it, social media is here to stay and it's something we need to embrace if we want to be able to engage with our readers and other writers. The only problem is, it's a minefield out there. When interviewing Anita, there were so many questions I wanted to ask her - Which social media platforms should we be on? How should we manage our time? How easy is it to upset someone by doing the wrong thing? I decided the best thing to do was to think of some questions writers new to social media might ask and see it Anita could help. Here are her answers. 

Thank you so much for inviting me to be a guest on your fantastic blog, Wendy, and for asking such great questions on behalf of your fictional friends!

You're very welcome, Anita. Can you tell us a little more about neetsmarketing and why you set it up?

I decided to become a Freelance Social Media Manager when, because I was managing the social media for the Historical Novel Society, some authors who I knew were asking me for advice online and at events. In December 2014, Ian Skillicorn asked me to manage the social media for Corazon Books for a couple of weeks, then I built a website (which I plan to have rebuilt soon), and everything else followed from there. I ran two Social Media Courses for Writers in Surrey last year and my next course will be in London on 7 May. The neetsmarketing blog was initially intended to be a place where potential clients could see if I’d be helpful to them. Posts have become inspired by questions asked by clients and course attendees, and the blog has been a useful place to direct clients to when they asked how to do something that I’d written about already. Most clients approach me via word of mouth, which is great, and I’ve been privileged to work for Eliza Redgold and Libertà Books in the past year, among others

Jill has been told that as a writer it’s essential she has a ‘social media platform’. Do you agree?

It’s important to have a social media presence to be taken seriously, and so readers can show their support if they wish to. Agents and publishers expect authors to have a social media presence, and as an unpublished writer, it’s worth getting everything set up so that when you’re published you have a head start. And if you plan to self-publish, you really will need a strong online presence to market your books.

Eddie is thinking about starting a writing blog but someone has told him that blogs have had their day. Are they correct?

When I first started my neetswriter blog in 2011, blogging did seem to be a bigger deal than it is now, but I’ve benefitted so much from starting that blog and it raised my profile. That neetswriter blog helps me to keep my writing in check and I’ve made lots of friends through blogging too (it’s how I found you, Wendy!). It’s a matter of personal taste though, and if Eddie enjoys writing blog posts, he should embrace blogging, but if he doesn’t, he could opt to keep posts short and more update-based, for example about a writing event he’s been to with a few photos. If Eddie writes historical fiction, he could write about the era which interests him. Hosting guests helps as it brings readers of other authors/blogs to you, and it takes the pressure off having to write the posts yourself. An alternative to blogging alone (or additional possibility) is to join or set up a group blog. Good examples are The Romaniacs blog, and the very successful English Historical Fiction Authors blog.

When Anne posts a tweet on Twitter with a popular hashtag she sometimes gets dozens of retweets. She doesn’t want to offend people but thanking everyone would eat into precious writing time. What should she do?

In this case, Anne can tweet a general thank you, including the hashtag. It’s worth remembering (where possible!) who retweets your stuff though, and to reciprocate where you can. If someone takes the time to compose their own tweet mentioning Anne’s blog post or link to her book on Amazon, it’s good to thank them individually if she can, and to retweet it too, which helps to raise their profile.

Jo has been told she ought to have a Facebook ‘author page’ but will anybody ever see it unless she pays?

A reason for an author to have a Facebook Page is so they don’t have to accept friend requests from everyone, which allows them to keep their personal Facebook profile for family and friends ie. it’s a place where readers can see what the author’s up to by liking the Page. A Facebook Page allows the author to post cover reveals, news of a new book deal, or the publication date for the next release; as well as content relating to their book(s). Paying for promo doesn’t have to cost that much (Jo can try it out for £1 for one day), and I’d say it’s worth the investment when releasing a new book or to raise profile generally (linking to your own website/blog/ Amazon buy link gives the most benefit). It’s a chance to get your stuff in front of the eyes of those who wouldn’t otherwise see it. Some Facebook Pages are more successful than others, and posting regularly with content which fits in with your ‘brand’ is the best way to gain any impact. Elizabeth Chadwick is an author with a fantastic Facebook Page.

Paul is new to Twitter and doesn’t want to look silly. What are the top three mistakes you would warn him about?

1. Starting a tweet intended for all your followers with @username, as only those following Paul and that person will see the tweet. Eg. ‘@fabauthor has written a new blog post about point of view’ should instead be something like ‘new blog post about point of view, by @fabauthor’.
2. Confusing hashtags with usernames. Eg @amwriting instead of #amwriting.
3. Pitching to agents.

Emma hasn’t used social media before. Can neetsmarketing help her?

My neetsmarketing blog has posts by me and guests on how to use social media as a writer. The most popular post currently is My Beginner’s Guide to Twitter for Writers which I’ve revamped for 2016.
I could help Emma as a Freelance Social Media Manager (More info on my website).
Emma could attend one of my Social Media Courses for Writers, where she’ll be able to bring her laptop and get stuck into social media for a day. I’ve just organised my next course in London for 7 May 2016 and there’s an early bird price until the end of February (the flyer is being put together at the moment, but here is the info on my Facebook Page).

Finally, if you could give one piece of marketing advice to my fictitious writers above in one sentence, what would it be?

Try not to be needy, negative or too much about you; and learn from your peers and idols.

Thank you, Anita. I've certainly learnt a lot today and I'm sure others will have too.

Anita Chapman is a Freelance Social Media Manager and she runs Social Media Courses for Writers. Anita writes historical fiction set in eighteenth century Italy and spent five years on the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s new Writers’ Scheme, before joining the RNA as an Associate Member in 2016 wearing her neetsmarketing hat. Anita is Social Media Manager for the Historical Novel Society, and Publicity Officer for the next HNS Conference in Oxford, 2-4 September 2016 #HNSOxford16.

Website

neetswriter blog on writing

neetsmarketing blog on social media for writers and book marketing

Twitter @neetsmarketing and @neetswriter

Facebook Pages: neetsmarketing and Anita Chapman Writer

A Guest at The People's Friend

I am very excited today because I was asked by The People's Friend to write a piece about myself for their blog on The Friend website. I feel very honoured to have been asked and feel just the teeny weeniest bit famous!

The biggest problem wasn't writing the piece, but trying to get a decent photograph (for every decent one, I have to discard about twenty). Luckily my husband enjoyed playing photographer and even my cat Bobbie joined in the fun!

You can read my piece Here

Fab at 50

I am as pleased as punch to say that I have passed the halfway point in my goal to sell 100 stories by the end of 2014 and sold 50. In fact since writing this, I have sold two more making it 52 (hey, that's my age!)

It feels like a big milestone and I'm very grateful to Fiction Feast, Woman's Weekly and especially The People's Friend for liking my stories - I have been very fortunate, I know.

This leads me on to sharing with you a link to Amanda Brittany's Blog post How Many Womag Writers are There? Mandy wrote this post three years ago (before I'd ever though of being a writer) and it contains a list of most of the Womag writers with stars to denote how many stories they have sold and links to their sites. I find it really interesting and great for stalking (I mean finding out about) other writers.

I remember coming across this post when I had just started sending stories to the magazines at the end of 2012 and wishing I could be on the list. This is why I'm thrilled to be able to ask Mandy for my fourth star now and my goal is to get a fifth by the end of the year (although I don't think this is very likely).

I'd recommend any aspiring Womag writers to take a look at Mandy's post as it's really interesting.

Now I'd better get back to writing my next story.

Welcome to my Blog Chain Thingy!

How exciting to be part of a blog chain thingy!

Patsy Collins asked whether I would like to be one of her victims and who was I to refuse such a kindly request.

Here are the questions that I have to answer:

What am I currently working on?

At the moment I am not working on anything as I am trying to give myself some 'White Space' (see post last week) but when I start up again after Christmas, I shall be concentrating as usual on my womag stories. I shall also be working on the third and final instalment of my serial for The Peoples Friend and I have an idea for an article that I want to start.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

That's a difficult one and probably one that only regular readers of the three magazines I write for can answer. What I will say, is that I am not afraid to push the boundaries: for example I have written first person stories to magazines that generally prefer third, stories from a male POV to ones that usually like female protagonists and have covered many sensitive subjects such as bereavement, disabilities and illness.

Why do I write what I do?

Because I haven't had the 'big idea' yet that would make me want to write anything longer. I like the immediate gratification you get at the end of the relatively short length of time it takes to write a short story and the thrill every time one is in print. I'm probably too impatient to have to wait a year or so to complete a project.

How does my writing process work?

It's all very random and sporadic. I set myself the task of writing at least one story a week - if I write two it's a bonus. I don't have set times or days when I write - I tend to fit it around other things I am doing. I edit as I go along and then give the story to my husband for a final check and it is his job to tell me that Jim has turned into Tom halfway through the story.

The three lovely people below will be the next link in the blog chain thingy and will be posting their answers to these questions on 30 December, so please pop over to their blogs next week for a peek.

Keith Havers is a former engineer who is now a student supervisor and writer. His work has appeared in various publications in the U.K. and Australia. Keith's blog is called Dream It, Then Do It

Amanda Brittany writes short stories for magazines. Her stories have been published in magazines in the UK, Australia and Sweden. Amanda's blog is called Writing Allsorts

Tracy Fells writes short stories, flash fiction, the occasional article and drama for theatre and radio. Her stories have appeared in Take-a-Break Fiction Feast, People's Friend, The Yellow Room, The New Writer and Writing Magazine. Tracy's blog is called The Literary Pig

Finally, my I take this opportunity to wish all you lovely readers a very Happy Christmas and I'll be back for a round up at the end of the year.

Bah Humbug? Not Me!

 

In reply to the lovely Frances' Bah Humbug post:

 

Here are a few of the reasons why I love this time of year.

 

An excuse to snuggle in front of the fire and an excuse to get creative with the fairy lights.



 

 
An excuse to read my favourite Christmas stories to the grandchildren... again!
 
 

 

Lots of Christmas dances - so an excuse to wear my new 50s inspired dress.

 

 
 

An excuse to take the grandchildren to the late night Christmas shopping in town, where we also have the excuse to eat toasted marshmallows, admire the Victorian Christmas scene in the sweet shop window and browse the goodies inside.



An excuse to read my three Christmas stories in Fiction Feast (sorry, I couldn't resist that).


All this and still two weeks to go.



Sorry Frances, but I can't help it... I just love Christmas!

Guest Post - Douglas McPherson

Today, I'd like to welcome special guest Douglas McPherson who has kindly agreed to answer some questions about his writing life.

I'm sure many of you will know Douglas from his brilliant articles in Writing Forum on a range of topics from writing a serial to how to get a feature published in a magazine. I know I've certainly found them useful and I'm sure there are many other writers out there who have too.

You may also have seen his stories and serials in My Weekly under his pen name Julia Douglas.

 

Hi Douglas and welcome to my blog. Could you tell my readers a little about how you started out writing fiction?
 

I've been a freelance journalist for many years and one of the magazines I wrote for was My Weekly. They used to send complimentary copies whenever they published one of my features and I'd always go through and read the stories, not least because I really liked the paintings that illustrated them. I decided to have a go at writing one and I was quite surprised when I got a copy of the guidelines and learned they were looking for crime stories and, at that time, sci-fi. I thought they might not get many sci-fi submissions, so I wrote one with a 1950s small town America setting called Somewhere Out There. That was my first published fiction.

 

That first sale must have been really exciting. Do you have a favourite place to write? Mine is the kitchen... living room... conservatory... garden... (I am a bit of a nomad).

I have an office in my house and do pretty much all my writing on a laptop at my desk. I don't really write anywhere else - except in my head, of course. Whether I'm in the car or at the supermarket, part of my mind is always turning over a tricky paragraph or thinking up ideas. That's probably why I always forget to buy one of the things I went out for.

Of course a lot of your readers will know you by another name, Julia Douglas. How did this name come about and why did you feel you needed a woman's pen name to write your stories under?

I used Julia Douglas for my first pocket novel, Nashville Cinderella, just as a brand thing, because I think a feminine name looks better on a romance. Also, in a magazine story, if it's a first person story, a reader might see a bloke's name at the top and start reading in the belief that the character is male before they read down a few paragraphs and realise she's a woman. If they see a female author name they're more likely to start reading in a female voice, so I don't have to worry so much about establishing the character's gender in the first paragraph.

That's interesting as I've just sold a first person story and the main character is a man... maybe I should have a pen name for these occasions... Clarke Wendson maybe? You seem to have a finger in a lot of pies... magazine stories, serials, articles and eBooks. Which would you say you enjoy writing the most?

Really, I enjoy all writing equally and I don't think the differences are as great as people sometimes think. The journalism I've always done isn't hard news or about running around chasing scoops, it's always been reviews, interviews and narrative non-fiction and those things use very similar techniques to fiction. It's all about telling a story, being descriptive and trying to entertain people. I also think journalism really helps with fiction, because you're constantly being exposed to new things, new people and the different ways they talk and so on.
 

Would you say your stories are mostly plot or character led?

The setting usually comes first with me. That's probably the journalist in me. I usually start from the point of view of 'Cor! that's an interesting world - let's write a story that shows people what it's like to work in a fairground or Buckingham palace or whatever.' Characters come next. Plots, and particularly a good ending, are the toughest part for me. It's like figuring out a puzzle, but it's immensely satisfying when you 'crack the case' as it were and it all falls into place. The answer usually comes from thinking about the characters: what would this person really do. So I suppose that's a long-winded way of saying character led!

Ok, I have to ask... you seem to have a thing for the circus - many of your stories and your eBook 'The Showman's Girl' have a circus theme. You even have a blog 'Circus Mania'... so Douglas - what is it with you and circuses?

Like a lot of people, I hadn't been to the circus since I was a kid. I couldn't even remember much about it. But, exactly ten years ago, The Stage asked me to review the 100th anniversary show at the Great Yarmouth Hippodrome, which is Britain's oldest circus building and doesn't seem to have changed much in the past century. It's incredibly atmospheric, but with a really modern show. I was totally blown away by the daredevilry of the performers and decided to interview one of them, Eva Garcia. She told me how she'd just broken up with a man who asked her to choose between him and the circus. She chose the life that had been in her family for generations. Then, a week later, the day after my article came out, she fell and died during her act. The tragedy made me want to find out all about people like Eva and why they take the risks they do and that eventually led to my non-fiction book Circus Mania and its tie-in blog. Years of writing about the circus also led me to write The Showman's Girl, which is fiction, but also another way of taking people into the world of the circus. 

A little bird told me that you - I mean Julia - have been honoured with a very special award... from none other than Princes Stephanie of Monaco. Blimey! How about you tell us a little bit about it - go on I know you're dying to!

Princess Stephanie is a huge circus fan and the patron of World Circus Day, which takes place in April each year. This year the day was celebrated by events in 47 countries from Afghanistan to Vietnam. I was proud to do my bit for the UK and marked the occasion by giving away a free download of The Showman's Girl on iTunes. So it was nice to get a signed certificate from Princess Stephanie for doing my bit to promote circus culture. One of the official aims of World Circus Day, by the way, is to "promote the art of happiness," which I think is a nice aspiration. If you missed the free download, you can still buy it from iTunes for only 49p!

 
 
 

To finish, Douglas, what exciting things do you have in the pipeline for the rest of the year?

I'm very excited about the latest Julia Douglas ebook, Polka Dot Dreams, which will go live any day now. The large print Linford paperback edition is already in libraries if anyone wants to borrow a copy. Polka Dot Dreams is my favourite of  the romances, I've written, not least because it's the first out-and-out comedy. It's set in the vintage clothes and rockabilly scene and is about a girl obsessed with 50s fashions, and her romance with the fabulously handsome but accident-prone owner of a rock'n'roll-themed ice-cream parlour. I had tremendous fun writing the heroine, Natty Smalls, and hope readers get a lift from her zest for life.


Thank you so much for visiting, Douglas. If you want to know more about all things circus, visit Douglas's blog Circus Mania or if you want to delve a little into his alter ego Julia Douglas, you can visit her blog Polka Dot Dreams, where you will find links to her other books.

Nine Months Gestation

 

Before anyone gets any ideas, I haven't got something to tell you! (especially having just spent the day at Butlins with my three grandchildren). I just wanted to say that I have gone against the norm and I am still here blogging. 

Apparently 95% of all bloggers give up - the average blogging life being 9 months.

I am pleased to have just reached that milestone - I am still nurturing my baby but it is growing nicely. I want to thank all my lovely readers and followers for making it all worthwhile. It has been an adventure and your kind comments have been gratefully received.

I am looking forward to my blogs first birthday in three months time.

Making an April Fool of Myself at Marianne's Blog

Oh well, you know what they say... 'If the cap fits'!

A big thank you to Marianne Wheelaghan for inviting me to be a guest post on her writing blog. Marianne is the author of 'The Blue Suitcase' and 'Food of Ghosts' and she also runs a brilliant online writing school Writing Classes which produces talented, creative, dedicated, successful... oh, ok it produced me!

If you go onto their site, there is even a piece of my early writing in the story corner, aaah. This piece is certainly not one I shall be submitting to The People's Friend!

Seriously though, if you are a new writer visiting this blog and want to do a short course from the comfort of your armchair, which doesn't break the bank - this is the one for you. I would never have become a magazine short story writer if I hadn't done the course. (This is a genuine recommendation - Marianne has no idea I am writing this.)

If you want to know a little more about me and my writing, Marianne's blog is the place to go.

Guest Post - Becca's Back and Showing Her Emotions!

 I’m b-a-a-a-ack! And rather than drag things out, I’m just going to pick up where I left off. In my last post, I explained why telling is usually not the best way to go and why showing is preferred. Now we're going to talk about applying this information—how to find those pesky telling parts and show them instead.

 

How Do I Identify Telling in my own Writing?

1.      Look for emotional words: angry, sad, terrified, jealous. In most cases, when these words are written out, they've been used to tell the reader how a character feels instead of showing the emotion.

2.      Be conscious of places where something has been explained. In my writing, this is almost always a short sentence that gives a concise summary. Looking at your writing in this way takes practice; when Angela and I crit each others' work, we're always reminding each other to RUE (Resist the Urge to Explain)—a term we unapologetically stole from Browne & King's Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. It may take time, but when you edit with an eye for places where things have been explained, you’ll start to recognize those spots in your writing.

3.      Check longer narrative passages to see if something is being told rather than shown. This usually happens when an author is explaining a unique element that the reader is unfamiliar with (such as in sci-fi or fantasy), or when giving background information that affects the current story.

 

How Do I Show Instead of Tell?

Once you identify the telling places in your story, rewrite them so the information is shown:

1.      Try to get your information across within the context of the present-time story. Instead of stopping to explain that a character has issues with her father, show their dysfunction over breakfast or a heated phone call. This will show the reader that the two characters don't get along without you having to say it and without interrupting the flow of the story.

2.      Use sensory details to draw the reader in. For example: Nerien ran down the hall, his feet stinging as they struck the cold stone floor. In the dark, he misjudged the stairway and jammed his toes into the bottom step. Glass shattered in the darkness above. He barely heard it over Ma, screaming for him now. He hurtled out of the stairway and into her room. Here, I could have simply said that he ran upstairs. But I wanted the reader to be sucked in, to feel his fear and take the journey with him. Note the details that involve the reader's senses: the cold floor, his toes jamming into the step, shattering glass, screaming. Whenever possible, use sensory descriptors to make the scene come alive for the reader.

3.      Use specific words that lend themselves to the exact mood you're trying to set. In the above example, glass didn't break, it shattered; Nerien didn't enter the room, he hurtled into it; his feet didn't hurt, they stung.

4.      Include comparisons that are specific to the character. In the earlier example of Dara on the bridge, the branch parallels Dara's feeling of being trapped and choking. The bridge and river are everyday elements in Dara's life, specific to her. Find the comparisons that are specific to your character and they'll be believable to the reader.

 

Granted, there are times when telling is appropriate, like when you need to state something without going into great detail—something that maybe needs to be said but isn't of monumental importance to the story. Telling can also be used for effect: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. And of course, if your character's voice calls for short, snappy, telling sentences, then by all means, tell away. Just be sure that if you do choose not to show, you've got a solid reason for doing so.

So there you have it. Show-Don’t-Tell, in a nutshell. It may sound abstract and vague at first, but the more you study and search out those spots in your writing, the easier it will get. Need more resources? Check out Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (Browne & King) and The First Five Pages (Lukeman). Keep at it, and happy writing!

 

A big thank you to Becca from me at Wendy's Writing Now and all my blog readers.

***

BIO:

Becca Puglisi is one half of The Bookshelf Muse blogging duo, and co-author of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression. Listing the body language, visceral reactions and thoughts associated with 75 different emotions, this brainstorming guide is a valuable tool for showing, not telling, emotion. The Emotion Thesaurus is available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and Smashwords, and the PDF can be purchased directly from her blog.

Guest Post - Becca Puglisi from the Bookshelf Muse is Showing Not Telling

First of all a big welcome to Becca Puglisi from The Bookshelf Muse, (click here to view her fantastic blog) who has kindly agreed to do a guest post for me today and again on Wednesday 30th. Anyone who has visited her blog or read The Emotion Thesaurus will understand why I am excited to read her words of wisdom!
Today Becca (all the way from sunny from Florida) will be talking to us about 'Showing Not Telling'.

Over to you, Becca.

 

What's Telling and What's Wrong With It?

Simply put, "telling" is telling the reader something. The country was in turmoil. My sister has no manners. Angela is a lunatic. You have to get these things across in the story, so what's wrong with just telling the reader?

Telling usually explains everything right off the bat. There are certain venues where you want people to explain things as simply as possible: when they're giving directions or explaining a calculus lesson; when you're on the phone with your neighbor who never stops talking and The Walking Dead starts in 30 seconds. But in fiction, telling is a form of talking down to the reader; it doesn't give him/her any credit. At worst, repeated telling says to the audience, "I'm not entirely sure that you're capable of getting the point if I write it with any subtlety, so let me make it really simple." At best, it's a sign that you’re unsure of your own ability to make yourself understood without using the simplest of words. Neither message is one you want to send.

2.      Telling oftentimes interrupts the flow of the story. Consider one of the statements from above: Angela is a lunatic. If the author has to explain this in so many words, she has probably stopped telling the story to do so. When she's done, the story will commence, but in the meantime, the pace has jerked to a stop, taking the reader's attention with it. Another something that you want to avoid.

3.      Telling doesn't usually draw the reader in because it doesn't include details, emotion, or anything unique. Do you know someone who's a really good storyteller? My husband tells great stories; granted, they're usually embellished for effect, but that's what makes them so interesting—lots of emotion and hand-waving and little details, smattered with weird vocabulary to give it his own personal flair. When he tells a story, people get totally into it. This is what we want to achieve with our writing.

 

What's Showing and Why Is It Preferred?

The alternative to telling is showing, which conveys your point to readers in a way that pulls them in and is far more interesting than simply stating a fact. It usually gets more information across, too. Here are a few examples contrasting showing and telling, pulled from my own writing not because I'm convinced of my literary genius, but because, sadly, I have ample telling examples to choose from.

 
Example 1:

·         Telling: Nerien was frustrated.

·         Showing: Nerien jerked upright in bed and reached out, but only felt crumpled blankets and the heave of his own chest. He fell back and groaned into his pillow. Why? Why did he always wake up before the dream ended?

 

In this example, I could have told the reader that Nerien was frustrated.
But saying it doesn't evoke that emotion; it merely states it. Instead, showing his state of mind draws the readers in, helps them to feel the character's frustration via the sensation of jerking upright, the feel of crumpled sheets in one’s fist, and the heaving of the chest. Showing is also more active and immediate.

 

Example 2:

·         Telling: It was a noisy river.

·         Showing:

      The sturdy stone bridge had no railing. Dara stood at the edge, watching the gentle Supine River turn crazy and wild where the river from Frost Berth joined it. It was particularly loud just below, where a branch had become tangled in the grasses near the pillars. The water gurgled and choked around it. Or was it the branch that was choking?

      Dara touched the soft scars that marred her upper arm. She felt a certain kinship with that branch. She was often choking these days, but it wasn't water that squeezed her.

 

As this example illustrates, showing isn't used only for emotion. It really could be used in all areas of description, from describing settings and characters to explaining relationship dynamics to strengthening dialogue.

 

Okay. So that’s telling and showing. But how do you identify the telling parts of your story and show them instead? Since this post is getting a little long, these questions will be answered in part two.

 Thanks for having me, Wendy! 

You're welcome, Becca. Look forward to reading part two on Wednesday.

 

My First Blog Award!

Thank you very much, Patsy for my 'Very Inspiring Blog' award. As a new blogger, I am chuffed!

I hope that readers do find my blog inspiring - I try to give hope and useful resources to new writers.

I have to tell readers 7 random facts about myself:

Here they are and very random they are too!


1. I first heard 'The Cure' play when they were teenagers in a friend's back garden and went to school with bassist Simon Gallop.

2. I hate the pitched black.

3. My secret wish is to be on Strictly Come Dancing and wear one of the sequinned dresses.

4. As a teenager I was invited to Brian Ferry's 'party' by his road manager ( I didn't go!).

5. My lucky number is 10.

6. I was a grandmother at 43!

7. I am addicted to Australian Masterchef.

Here are the rules:

1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who nominated you.
3. State 7 things about yourself.
4. Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them.
5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.


I have cheated a bit with my nominations as The Pocketeers contain several people so I've nominated nine others and counted them as five (Never try and expect me to split a restaurant bill!)

Apologies if any of you have been nominated before.

Teresa Ashby

Linda Lewis

The Pocketeers      Fay, Noelene, Patricia, Chrissie, Sally, Carol. Fenella, Margaret, Sally (already nominated) Cara (see below)

Cara Cooper

Julie Phillips

Anne Hamilton

The Bookshelf Muse

Marianne Wheelaghan

Kate Jackson

Joanna Campbell

Read My Two Christmas Stories in Fiction Feast

I was very excited to see my two Christmas stories in the Christmas edition of Take a Break's Fiction Feast today. If you would like to read them, they are called 'Will Santa Come to Gatwick?' and 'My Kind of Christmas'.

It probably wasn't the best time to have seen them as I was due at the doctors for a blood pressure reading and the excitement made it sky high!

I am very proud to have stories alongside those of well respected womag writers Della Galton, Teresa Ashby and Patsy Collins. If you haven't already, do take a look at their blogs.

New People's Friend Guidelines

Why has my azalea started to bloom?

As I look out of my kitchen window at my rather sad looking rain and windswept autumn garden, a flash of yellow catches my eye. It is my azalea deciding that it is spring. Isn't nature a strange creature!

I am writing today with some useful information about The People's Friend that I read about in the fantastic Womagwriter's blog. The magazine will be given a new look and more pages have been added - hence more stories (seven in fact - one for every day of the week).

They have also changed their story length guidelines: stories should now be 1,200 for shorter stories 2,000 - 3,000 for longer stories.

The new guidelines for The People's Friend can be found here.

I really like writing for this magazine and am hoping that with more pages I may be lucky enough to make more sales - we'll see.