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UKYAChat

A Life Update | Writing, travelling, baby guinea pigs

Posted on 25 February, 2017

Hi, everyone! It seems like it’s been a very long time since I last sat down to write an update post or something a bit more informal and chatty. I thought I should probably catch you up on everything that’s been going on, especially as I have lots of blog posts planned for the next few months.

The blog has been a bit quiet for the past few months. In fact, that’s an optimistic look because it’s been very quiet for the past year. Since finishing my GCSE’s in the summer, I’m now doing my A Levels at college – English Literature, Creative Writing and Sociology. I love college more than I ever expected; it’s completely changed my life.

The other draining thing that’s been taking up lots of my time is the novel I’m working on. I started my second draft in January and am currently 15,000 words in. I’ve set a self-imposed deadline of finishing this draft by the end of May, but with my AS exams I don’t know if that will be entirely possible. I’m going to try and get as close as possible though!

Here’s a sneak peek at a scene from the first chapter for you:

I adore my characters – they feel like my best friends and are so much fun to write. For those of you who don’t know, the book is a YA contemporary road-trip novel about friendship, books and figuring out who you are when your entire life has been thrown upside down. It is my favourite thing ever.

Another very good thing to happen is this little ball of joy who was born last week. I LOVE HIM. His name is Engelbert because we have a theme of ‘bert’ names going on – his grandfather is called Bertie and his father is called Gumbert (don’t ask). As you can probably guess, baby guinea pigs are extremely distracting when they look that cute.

I also went up to Waterstones Birmingham recently to see the Love and Fandom panel with Lauren James, Maggie Harcourt and Miranda Dickinson. I had such a lovely time and got to spend time with my amazing friend Lauren before the event. It was so nice to sit down and chat about writing, books and, of course, guinea pigs.

It was my first time travelling alone to a place I hardly know at all, so I was extremely proud afterwards. It shows how far I’ve come with my mental health and I still can’t quite believe I did it. It’s definitely given me the confidence to travel more in the future!

Current favourites:

Running #ukyachat every Friday at 8pm! I sit down every Friday evening to meet up with my amazing online friends, who always amaze me with their sensitivity, insight and opinions on a range of different subjects. Getting to host the chat every week is one of the greatest pleasures, and I love it!

I’m loving the new series of Call the Midwife at the moment. It’s so obvious that the writers and producers are women – they create beautiful stories that are at the heart of women’s lives, and it never fails to bring tears to my eyes. Seriously, you need to watch this if you haven’t already!

Netgalley. For those of you who don’t know, Netgalley is a sight where bloggers and book industry people can request to review books and I am OBSESSED. I check it every day without fail and can’t help but click the ‘request’ button when I see something I like the look of. I really do need to have a big marathon read soon of all the books I’ve been accepted to review! It’s also a habit I need to break… I can’t keep requesting all of these books!!

What have you been up to lately, bookish or otherwise? What are your current favourites?

Discussion

A 2015 Year In Review

Posted on 30 December, 2015

2015 has been an incredible, whirlwind year. I can’t believe we’re now going into 2016! I thought that it would be nice to look back on the year that has passed and share some of my favourite moments!

Starting Book Pigs!

At the start of the year, I started a blog on Tumblr called Book Pigs, where I share pictures of some of my guinea pigs with books. It’s taken me by surprise just how much people have fallen in love with my piggies and it’s also made me try and up my photography game. It’s one of the best jobs, although there have been some funny moments, like when one guinea pig ran around under my bed for ten minutes!

UKYABA Prize

It came as a total shock to me when I won Champion of YA in the UK Young Adult Blogger Awards earlier in 2015. It means the *absolute world* to me to be recognised for something I love doing so much and I still can’t believe it, really!!

Visiting the Harry Potter Studio Tour

It was SO amazing to visit the Harry Potter Studio Tours for the opening of the Hogwarts Express with Holly, C.J. and Josh (and my dad!). It’s so weird, but so great, to feel as if you’re walking around parts of Hogwarts and living in the world of Harry Potter. It’s such a memorable experience because I don’t think there’s anything quite like walking through the doors of the Great Hall for the first time, a place that has inhabited your imagination for years and also a place you’ve seen so many times on your TV screens.

Stonewylde Gathering

I have discussed my favourite book series many times on my blog, and this year I got to go to the annual Stonewylde Gathering. It was so much fun and lovely to see Kit again. There was also a quiz later on that I’m sure I got very competitive at… It was nice to test my own knowledge on the books (because I’ve read them so many times!) but it also reminded me how you can read a book a million times and return the next time and find tiny details that you didn’t pick up the first million times. And…. I won! I’m pretty sure that is going on my CV now. LIFE HIGHLIGHT!

UKYA Events!

One of the best things about being a blogger is getting out and meeting like-minded people, and this year I’ve had the pleasure of attending quite a few events – publishing ones, book festivals, and others like the UKYA Extravaganza in Birmingham and the Young Adult Literature Convention. The above picture was taken at the UKYA Extravaganza (full post on it here) and it’s been amazing to see this event flourish this year, especially as it is author run. Emma Pass and Kerry Drewery have put a lot of work in it, so to see it doing so well is a credit to them.

#ukyachat

Running #ukyachat on Twitter is always the highlight of my week and this year I’ve been lucky to watch it turn from my baby into my child. Being able to talk to such wonderful people, and making lifelong friends out of it, is one of the best parts and I’m looking forward to a year of chats in 2016!

I’d like to take this moment to thank each and every person who has participated and supported #ukyachat in the past year – the authors, bloggers, and passionate readers who take part and have championed it. Thank you!!! You always put a massive smile on my face.

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2015 has been one of the best blogging years and I’m looking forward to watching how it develops in the year ahead. THANK YOU to all of you who have made it extra special!

What are your bookish highlights of 2015?

Blogging

Top Tips for Participating in a Twitter Chat

Posted on 8 July, 2015

Since July 2013, I’ve been running #ukyachat on Twitter. A weekly Twitter chat, it aims to promote UKYA fiction, and to allow people to share their passion for books whilst having a good time. At first, the chats can often seem daunting, but once you get the hang of them they’re extremely fun. Here are a few of my top tips to help you make the most out of each chat:

1. Use your resources!

With each chat moving incredibly fast, it can often be hard to keep up with the conversation. One of the best ways to keep up is by using TweetDeck. It takes some playing around with, but it’s easily customisable to your needs. You can set it up so that you can see different hashtags, your mentions and your feed all in one go, and it’s my best friend when running chats.

2. Watch and learn!

It definitely takes practice and people often feel nervous at first, so I’d recommended just watching the first time. This way you get a good sense of how the chat works and the kind of people who join in. Continue Reading