Throwback to my best posts of 2019

I have grouped together the top 5 posts from the 120 articles posted on my blog in 2019 for you to enjoy.

The Top 5 Best Blog Posts of 2019

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What Banned Books Week is all about

Posted:  10 June 2019 (123 views)

I love sharing posts on my blog written by other authors.  This one was by Fantasy author Andrew McDowell and is the most viewed post of the year!  Follow the link to the post to discover more about him and his books.

Please let me know if you would like to write a post for my blog. 

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Literary Dates Calendar

Posted:  8 January 2019 (57 views)

I am pleased this post was so popular as it took a long time to create and a lot of research.  I basically wanted to help other writers by creating a calendar with useful literary dates.  For example it has Twitter pitch events and book festivals.

This now has its own dedicated calendar page.  Click here.

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Handwrite to Boost Creativity

Posted:  25 February 2019 (45 views)

I used to always write my stories by hand but since going digital I don’t have as much need for a notebook. I still get an excited feeling when I see one and after an Instagram challenge to write somewhere different I  rediscovered my love of notebooks.

This post reflects on how writing by hand can boost your creativity and my own personal experience with this.

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Writers Hashtags Collection

This series started in October through to November.  The fact it was posted towards the end of the year and still made the list shows how popular it has been.

The most popular in the collection was Part 6 (Insta Hashtags for Writers For Each Month) with 38 views.  I felt it would be more meaningful to give you the full collection rather than list all the parts below that made the top 5.

Writers Beware

Writers beware! Know who you are querying…

This post is a cautionary tale.  I always research who I am querying and spend a lot of time on it.  I know how exciting it can be to hear an agent or publisher are interested in your novel.  But check out who else they have signed and how their experience was.

There have been a few occasions I have felt the interested party may not be who they say they are and it feels like pop-up publishers are becoming more common.  I have spent years on my novel and refuse to sign with someone I don’t feel confident can deliver on their promises.  This is one of the reasons I have now chosen to self publish.

My About Me Page

During 2019, I wrote a blog post (About Me – Spring Clear). It was about making sure your About Me page is up-to-date on your website.  It is one of the first pages you crate and easy to forget about.

I was shocked how out of date mine was and wrote a post to help prompt other to update theirs too.  I’m glad I did.  My About My Page has had 79 views!

Guess what? I checked it when writing this post and it needs updating again!  If you haven’t checked your About Me page in a while, go check it out.  In the meantime, here is mine:  About Me (page)


Click my link tree to discover more ways to connect

@Redfae

 

Thank you to my followers

This month my blog reached 250 followers.
I am really proud of myself for keeping it going. Life with a newborn is super busy but I just try to write one or two articles a week. I easily could have let this go but since starting my blog I love it.
My blog is mainly about writing, sharing tips and my journey to publication. I also share some personal posts on my other interests (being a mum, organic beauty and Netflix recommendations).
I am so thankful for everyone who has not only taken the time to read my posts but to also subscribe to my blog. I hope you continue to enjoy my content.
My blog picture is from when I was modelling and taken by Natalie Collins (Instagram @neotheartist) who I hope to work with again one day. She is an amazing photographer and this shoot was extra special as I am wearing my wedding dress.

View on Instagram https://ift.tt/2O4NnCq

A little post on how I am doing…

The past week or so I’ve been pretty low. Someone has been putting me down and that someone is… Me.

I don’t know if you experience it too but when I get down I can be very critical of myself. I am my own worst enemy.

I try super hard to not go there by looking for the positives in situations but after a few days where no matter how hard I tried little things went wrong, it got harder to find those silver linings. Those little things added up and before I knew it, I began to feel like an absolute failure.

Nothing major happened but the amalgamation of it got me down. In retrospect some of those things weren’t even worth getting worked up about.

I failed to get my blog post for yesterday ready in time, and I’ve been late with some of my Instagram pictures for this months photo challenge. I also changed my editing goal from three months to one month which caused the task to be too much and resulted in nothing getting edited.

Once I opened up to friends and family I realised I’m not alone. A friend invited me over for a cup of tea. My son’s teacher offered support and advice to help with some naughty behaviour. My husband has been acknowledging my achievements to get me to recognise what I have achieved. And, family has helped give me a break from my gorgeous little girl who is non-stop.

Here is the little lady, just turned 6 months and already coasting around the furniture!

Just because I’ve had a busy week, I don’t stop being a writer. I attended an online course and worked on improving my pitch. I did write two blog posts (plus this one) and today I edited a poem and seven chapters! And, I’ve caught up on Instagram.

What changed? I took some time to take care of myself and my wellbeing. As a result, I came back energised. I was able to tackle my problems and get motivated to write.

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