Tag: personal experience

Revisiting The 5am Club

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In my 2018 post entitled Just Start – Waking up for Success! I spoke about how I was attempting to change my daily routine by waking up earlier and ensuring I spent the time on those things most important to me (i.e. novel writing, dearest dreams of the heart, etc.) prior to the demands of the day sweeping what precious little time I had away via the petitions of others people’s whims, i.e. the daily job.

It’s currently 5:08 am as I type this draft and I cannot help but reflect that a lot has changed since I wrote that post. Not only have we moved, but I’ve since packed in working the 9-5 with writing on the side and have taken my freelancing business full time; offering services such as article writing, beta reading, copy editing, and of course my pièce de résistance, being an authors assistant. My health and well being have vastly improved and with every new day, I am a few steps closer to achieving my goal of becoming a published author (I’m not counting ghost-writing and pen names).Read More »

So Beautifully Organised – Floral Stationery Box Review

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Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with stationery and books. Let’s face it, I’m a writer and you can’t spend all day bashing away at a keyboard without going slightly crazy. I personally love the aesthetic and tactile experience and nostalgia of writing on paper and am an avid planner, paper-crafter, and pen paller, so when it comes to stationery – I’m a bit of an addict.

As you can imagine, buying piles of planner and stationery supplies can get quite expensive. Not to mention bulk buying can have a negative effect on one’s ability to enjoy said products in an orderly fashion.

With that in mind, I have decided to start a book and stationery subscription box mini-series on my YouTube channel. Within this series, I will be purchasing the odd subscription box from various retailers, seeking the best value and quality, and taking my viewers along on my creative journey via unboxing videos.

Today my first box arrived…Read More »

Coming to an AuthorTube near you!

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I’ve been toying with the idea of starting my own writing channel on YouTube for some time now and with the current situation bringing back-burning projects to the forefront, I have decided that there is no better time than the present.

I previously attempted to start my channel whilst I was pregnant, but with hideous morning sickness I didn’t even want to talk to people in the physical world, my on-screen presence blurred into a distant dream. I was too icky to be on camera.

But now I am only semi icky and so this past week I got the camera back out again and am pleased to announce my first (though actually, it would be my second…) video on YouTube, going live on Wednesday.Read More »

Introducing My Baby Boy

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As you can probably guess I’ve been absent from the blogosphere for a while, mainly due to being rather poorly during my pregnancy. It’s not been an easy ride by far with issues from start to finish; including having a negative blood type, to having hyperemesis gravidarum that lasted 35 weeks, threatening miscarriage, a dislodge pelvis and finally preeclampsia.

And let’s not even speak about all the other delights that go along with being pregnant in general such as extreme fatigue and the fact that your get up and go has got up and gone.

So no – I have not been my usual productive self, and my writing has suffered for it.

But it is all worth it. I know its cliche but it’s true. Having a baby is by far and without doubt the best thing I have ever done. And I cannot express my thankfulness to my darling husband for helping me to bring our little miracle into the world.Read More »

Organizing Project Baby

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The evenings are starting to draw in, the weather is turning chilly and I find myself in a state of awakening despite the seasons transcending to slumber. Winter is fast approaching and for me, the idea of autumn and early twilight always sparks the idea of new beginnings. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that September was always the start of school: a new adventure just waiting to be had. 

Or it could have something to do with the fact that I’m five months pregnant with my first child…

I couldn’t be more excited as I enter this new, wondrous stage of my life. I urn to hold my baby in my arms, smile like a fool for every tiny kick that makes my heart flutter and want to buy all the cute little outfits I can get my hands on. My evenings are spent making plans in my head, cleaning the house in readiness and scrolling through Amazon for anything I might have possibly forgotten to put on my baby list. Read More »

A Change of Pace

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As writers, it is very easy to get into a routine when tackling larger projects such as re-accruing assignments and novels. In fact, it is one of the smartest things we can do – to train our subconscious minds to work on command and thus prevent the detractions that are inevitable when working from home.

And yet, whilst home offices and writing routines are a Godsend for our productivity, they can also become somewhat stale over a long period of time. It’s inevitable really. Eventually, all of us need to re-schedule a meeting with our muse and shake things up a bit so as to get out of a slump or take away the eventual boredom of living every day like the last.

This recently happened to me. Read More »

Why I Use Grammarly

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I recently wrote a post about my experiences with a teacher in High School who seemed hell-bent on giving me bad advice regarding my dream of being a writer. I must say I have been blown away by the private messages I have since received from my readers, many of which have also been from teachers, saying how much you all believe in my decision to power through the criticism and go for gold. Can I just say a huge thank you to everyone who has written to me, as your encouragement means more to me then I can ever put into words!

But this was not why I wrote the post. As heartfelt and wondrous as your comments are (and believe me, I am truly grateful!) my aim with The teacher that told me ‘no’!  was to inspire others by my story. There seems to be a common stigma in our world that writers have to be linguistic and grammatical geniuses and always know exactly where every comma goes. And it simply isn’t true. As much as I have found negative responses to my dyslexia, I have also found that people are more likely to ask me how to spell something because I am a writer.Read More »

The teacher that told me ‘no’!

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I’d like to think I am not the sort of person to hold a grudge but even I must confess to not always being a saint about this. In fact, there is a grudge I have been holding on to – for over 16 years now…

But in many ways, this grudge is a good thing. It has fuelled me through hard times and given me enough determination to overcome obstacles and fight the battle for my dreams.

Back when I was just 12 years old I used to take support classes for my dyslexia. Now here’s the confession no writer ever wants to make – my thirteenth birthday was coming up and I still could not read or write!Read More »

Winning

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With all the daily bustle and grind we put ourselves through; the thankless tasks, the hardships no one else sees, the constant nagging feeling of having something else to do…it can be hard to focus when life gets busy or rush. But when we have an overwhelmingly long list of tasks and commitments, we must also remember to take a little time to stop and celebrate the wins in life.

Admit it! How often do you throw your hands up in the air, jump up and down and scream at the top of your lungs ‘I got the kids to bed on time!‘. Probably never. And though this might be partly due to not wanting to wake said children up again, its because you probably also think it’s not an accomplishment worth shouting about. And I’m here to tell you it is!Read More »