I admit it, I have no shelf control. For me books are the same as: a potato chip, a piece of chocolate, a cup of tea – there’s no way I can have just one. I wake each day (If I’ve actually managed to sleep) and I think, the world is mine for the reading!
“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough tosuit me.” ~ C.S. Lewis
I have no particular genre or author, my motto is simply, having fun isn’t hard if you’ve got a library card (if you watched Arthur as a child or with a child, you’ll sing that line). I read to fill my brain, my heart, my soul..
“The library is inhabited by spirits that come out of the pages at night.” ~ Isabel Allende
Books get inside your head and heart; scents, sounds, feelings, all inside a bottle which, once read, you can uncork and consume whenever you want, or need.
Lately I’ve been drawn back to the “classics”, including but not limited to: Dickens, Lewis Carroll,L. Frank Baum, C.S. Lewis, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, various Brontes, Mark Twain, Frederick Douglass, George Orwell, Virgil, Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde, T.S. Eliot, Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, Dr. Seuss, Margaret Atwood…I wish I could sleep.
“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” ~ Oscar Wilde
Recently hosted Chronic Page Turners Book Chat, presented by Chronic Not Hopeless.
It was lively, respectful, interesting, informative, a wonderful way to connect. BYOB – Bring your own books…and refreshments (no judgment). We’d love to hear from/about indie authors too! https://yadadarcyyada.com/2021/05/21/how-i-met-your-author/.
“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” ~ Groucho Marx
Books have been my magic carpet, my best friends, my worst enemies, my Mona Lisa, my Tower of Pisa, my guiding star, my hopes, my dreams, fears, my amazing and expanding universe! I’ve never felt alone with a book, it’s as though I have the world with me, as I’m infused by the words on the pages.
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” ~Stephen King
Let me tell you the story of how i met your author (maybe your most favourite ever author). Over 5 decades ago I learned to read. I realized then, I would never be alone again. With me always: friends, family, and unfailing boon companions.
I think in these “interesting” times we’re feeling a distinct lack of “freedom”. Some of that feeling is perspective, maybe a smidgen of self-pity. I’m not going to ramble on (shock!) about positivity, but from my observations, the people that have weathered this storm relatively well, at least stayed in the boat, have kept busy and kept away from negativity and whining.
Some of the ways I’ve kept busy: started a “group”, “Chronic Not Hopeless” (CNH) of people with common interests having get togethers – sharing, laughing, chatting, ; binge-watching/catching up (“Stumpton”, “Shadow and Bone”, “Perfect Harmony”, “The Irregulars”, “Nightflyers”, “Miss Scarlet and the Duke”, “Coroner”; “Guilt”; “State of Mind”, “Doc Martin”, and more); yoga/Tai Chi/Qigong, dancing; walking; reflecting; connecting; webinars; Zoom stuff; virtual appointments; organizing/decluttering (I’m moving and thought, this is a good chance to unclutter me too); playing board games/card games,/video games; writing though not yet published, despite having written a lot about publishing, i.e.
– oh and blogging (very, very slow blogging, let’s call it,um, turtle blogging) – I’ve started a ton of blogs but each time, the words just disappear into the ether, struggling to empty my brain (here goes); and yes, of course, reading, so much reading.
I think the best day for indie authors will be when they’re just called, “authors”, not indie, just what they are, authors. Many indie authors and authors of smaller publishing companies or self-publishing are just as good, if not better, than authors tethered to giant publishing houses.
“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” ~Haruki Murakami
In all transparency, I have connections, in one form or another, with most of the authors I’m going to tell you about. That’s not as unusual as it may seem. Some I know, or their family, or friends. Many are fellow bloggers. Also, these authors are accessible, they enjoy interacting with their readers all the time, not just during a book tour.
Looking for some summer reading? Any season is reading season…
Inspiration jumped out at me from the pages of local London (Ontario Canada) Author/Artist/Model, Kathleen Elizabeth Sumpton https://www.kathleensumpton.com/ Not only is her work authentic (I know, I used the “a” word, it’s over-used, yes, but some people are the genuine deal). Reading Sumpton’s 4 books a thought popped into my head that wouldn’t be ignored or banished, why did I stop writing poetry, it was my first love before prose, what stopped me? I don’t remember (or maybe I don’t want to remember), but this reading experience made me realize I’d been holding back, filtering. I know, a lot of you are thinking, you filter yourself? Yes, I do. I couldn’t tell you which book or poem I liked best, they all had their unique moments, they were all unrestrained, powerful, and a variety of emotions seeped through the pages. That’s what I love about reading, you never know how it’s going to make you feel, what you’ll learn, when you’ll be inspired, as with their books – books not only take you from this world, they also deliver you back, usually with gifts in tow.
Sally Cronin is not only a prolific and talented author and blogger https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/, she’s a tireless supporter and promoter of other authors and bloggers. What would we do without her, I don’t ever want to think about finding out.
Speaking of witches (were we?), do you yearn for safe passage to walk invisible, through Bronte country, then, now and in between? Then have I got an author for you. I must warn you, Karen Perkin’s books/ebooks/audio books, well, they’re simply addictive, aren’t they? So be warned, you need to have your tea steeped and ready (or other beverage of choice, what’s in your cup is your business), a comfy chair, and maybe a haunted chocolate biscuit or three. You will be enchanted. https://www.karenperkinsauthor.com/ https://www.karenperkinsauthor.com/blog https://www.facebook.com/groups/yorkshireghosts/Are you ready for intriguing glimpses of history/herstory through riveting supernatural journeys? Let the threads of the past tug at us, connect us, flinging us into the gloaming, where, strangely, we’ll wish to revisit.
I could go on and on, but you get the point, there’s endless stories waiting to be told, endless stories waiting for you to unfold. Read some of them. Tell your own.
I can’t fight this feeling, deep inside of me, I’m hooked on a feeling…blogging, you don’t know what you do to me.
I’m not entirely sure how many posts about blogging advice I’ve read in the past couple of years. Some posts were extremely helpful, others decidedly unhelpful, many didn’t pertain to me, and others gibberish. So here’s my best blogging advice that will most certainly change the way you blog forever!
1. Have a blog.
2.Write posts that are 300 words to whatever-your-readers-think-isn’t-too-long. Think of each post as a summer hat, you want it to cover your face and neck, but you don’t want to be the one with thatRoyal Wedding hat. 3. Add pictures and images to your posts. There are many ways to do this – take photos, make memes, scan, find, paint, draw…and please credit them, if possible.
4.Publish the post – this part is way more important than it seems.
5.Read. Not just books, but other people’s posts as well. If you don’t have time to read, how do you have time to write?
6. Before writing or posting, don’t think about if people will: Like it, share it, reblog it, tweet it, agree, disagree, unfollow, hate you, become your worst nightmare troll, make voodoo dolls of you, or nominate you for awards. Don’t think about becoming rich and famous. Just write. Write, because if you don’t the words will burst out of you like an alien bursting out of your chest! I can’t guarantee they’ll show up at your blogdoor with flowers and candy for each post you write, but it’s worth a try.
7. Think of the internet as a massive, sprawling, loud house party. Sometimes it takes time, effort, and quite a few trips to the ‘refreshment area’ to find people and have them find you.
8.Engage with your readers and other bloggers, be generous, share the works of others, but don’t always expect reciprocation in kind. Think of the blogging community more like a big chain link fence – the links don’t all connect, but altogether they make something strong.
9. Don’t worry about who’s reading or not reading your blog and what they might think, although, you might want to worry if you worry about that too much.
10. Share your work. Be a shameless self-promoting bloghussy – like me! Be as overexposed as Miley Cyrus, wait, even as I type that, it sounds like bad advice. A little mystery goes a long way. The important thing is to be out there, getting experience and learning.
11. Most of all, enjoy the process. Never in the field of human communication has so much been written by so many to so few. It’s a massive virtual haystack (yes, sadly, you’re the needle in this analogy), so just sit back, type on, press publish, and enjoy the ride.
12. Ignore all the aforementioned advice. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable and happy. Get whatever you need from the moment.
What about you, dear readers, what would be your best blogging advice, besides Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga
Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga?
I can’t fight this feeling, deep inside of me, I’m hooked on a feeling…blogging, you don’t know what you do to me.
yadadarcyyada 