A New Blog...

One thing I thought I would never do is start a blog, but here we are! 

On the list of “things to do” as an author, blogging is pretty high up there. It is a great avenue to release writing tension (much easier to write a blog post than work on the current WIP), a way to connect to readers and potential readers, and hopefully, at least on my part, a way of helping and connecting with other writers. This is a lonely pursuit at times and the more you find your community, the easier it gets. I have found this to be very true and have spent the last year and a half finding writer friends, building a community and learning about the craft.  

I was, up until recently, a volunteer editor for the SCBWI British Isles Words & Pictures magazine (www.wordsandpics.org/). I interviewed new authors about their journeys and it was a fantastic experience (see some of my Debut Journeys interviews here: wordsandpics.org/search/label/Debut%20Journeys). 

Unfortunately the magazine has been put on hold for the foreseeable future and I am now left feeling a tad bereft. Connecting with authors, hearing their stories, and being part of sharing their experiences and advice was fantastic. It felt worthwhile and helpful - passing along the many varied ways into the publishing world and sharing advice and resources with aspiring authors. And without it, I am left asking how I can continue to help. 

And so here I am. My hope is to help elevate writers’ voices, share their experiences, their troubles and difficulties, give advice on what has helped them and me, and ultimately build some resources for new and aspiring authors (as well as established ones because as we all know, you never stop learning in this field!). 

I am planning on continuing the interviews, discussing the various resources that are available to writers, reviewing my experiences with competitions, and talking about various aspects in the publishing world, specifically children's publishing.

So if that sounds good to you, please follow along as I work out how to blog, what works, what doesn’t, and hopefully share some valuable insight and information along the way. Feel free to subscribe and I will keep you updated (no spam, I promise!) with new blog posts and information as I come across it.