Blogging Circles

This morning I woke up at some ungodly hour to the sound of scampering in the corridors.  We have recently changed all the floors to wood – with the only carpet being on the stairs (the budget didn’t stretch to a new staircase) and although it has helped brilliantly with cat and dog hair maintenance, it is noisy.  So it wasn’t the scampering scuttling noises that bothered me so much, more why it was happening at 4.30 am?

Leaving G happily snoring in bed, I donned my dressing gown and headed downstairs.  The dog was sitting at the foot of the stairs looking sheepish (in a Collie type of way) and very much awake.  Top Cat was sitting in the doorway of the kitchen, and Lap Cat was busy trying to post a live squeaking mouse into one of G’s work shoes. (I don’t blame the mouse for squeaking – there’s no way I would go near one of G’s work shoes either).

I’ve had a lot of practice at this mousing thing.  And I’ve learned that if you can grab the mouse by the tail and hold it upside down, it goes into a state of semi paralysis, which gives you just enough time to unlock the back door and deposit it safely into a flower bed for more adventures.  This mouse was no different, and Lap Cat charged after me, bellowing in frustration as the dog ran into the garden barking joyously.  It was 4.35 am.  I was awake, the pets were awake, and meanwhile everyone else slumbered peacefully. 



So what did I do?  Well, I watched a documentary on the shootings in the high school in Columbine on Channel 5+1 – I had had no idea there was a Channel 5+1 – and then the channel closed for the morning.  I flicked idly through the stations, wondering if I had time to crack into my Breaking Bad dvds, but knowing that I would get too caught up in them and still be sitting there when Little Man’s bedhead eventually appeared for breakfast.

So I decided to read some blogs.  And then I decided to comment on the ones that got my attention.  Let me get this right out there – I blog because I like to write, I am essentially a story teller, and if there are readers out there that want to read my stuff, then I will carry on telling my stories.  I cut my teeth on a little fun blog An Irish Dog when we got a puppy (and it still gets views today even though I haven’t written a post for a year), and branched into PantoMum when Little Man auditioned for a pantomime. I’m not really interested in accolades, awards or millions of accolytes hanging on my every word.  I’ve nothing against that, and if it comes with the advanced ages of blogging, or if I and my audience don’t get bored, then bring it on.  But I’m not really actively courting it all.  Really.

There are a number of blogging collectives out there – my favourite at the moment happens to be BritMums.  It is a friendly group who encourage new bloggers to join in with their activities.  I’ve always hated Jolly Joining In things, but even I have been seduced from time to time by their ‘linkys’ and competitions. And if you follow the founders on Twitter, they follow you back.  I like that personal touch, it costs them nothing, but makes a newbie happy.  And of course you can see how the old hands blog.
 

A while ago I wrote a tongue in cheek post about the Ma-fia, you know, those groups of women that form inner circles with ‘a common purpose’ – it may be football mums, aerobic mums, school car park mums.  You get that in blogging too.  This inner circle have won countless awards, they work hard and play hard.  They live and breathe the world of blogging, and reap the rewards.  Other bloggers circle around them, occasionally allowed to play or join in.  Others like me just watch and learn.  

Most of the inner circle, when approached directly through comments or contact on social media, are lovely and supportive.  One such lady is Alice Elliott.  Known through her multi award winning blog as The Fairy Blogmother, she writes and delivers helpful hints on how to write and promote your blog.  She recently published a post telling us why interaction on blogs was essential and urged us all to leave comments on other blogs, and more importantly to respond to those on ours.
 

Over the past two weeks I have left a few selective comments on other blogs.  I think carefully about what I say, as not only do you expose your views to the author, but to the worldwide web.  And in most cases it takes a bit of effort to comment – you have to leave your name, your email address and prove you are not a robot (I’m not joking). And so most of my readers comment on social media (I have a closed Facebook group for my blog, and have recently become a Twitter user), or if they are friends they simply tell me what they think.  I was at a dinner party once, and a lady came up to me and said, ‘I read your blog last night’, ‘Oooh’, I said, ‘Which post?’  She went a bit red, ‘All of them’, she said. ‘And the dog blog – I’ve subscribed by email to them both.’ It took her three hours. That’s dedication for you.

But back to the comments.  Following Alice’s advice I commented on some of the established bloggers' posts and those of new bloggers, or indeed, any blogger that took my fancy.  Alice, you may be surprised to hear that 3 out of 4 of the old hands didn’t acknowledge or respond to my comments.  Not even a smiley face.  Nada.  They responded to the more established bloggers' comments. That’s the sisterhood for you.

And the newer bloggers responded with joy via social media, on the blogs, Google Plus (still don’t get that) and anywhere they could get hold of me.  It was good to talk. A big shout out to Becky Wilkinson, Donna Wishart, and muslimmummies to name a few.

Of course, I welcome any comments on my blog – whether they are scribbled below, on social media or via carrier pigeon.  I will respond as soon as I can – but I warn you that I am strictly a Blog and Go chick. I have a life.  And I will probably be asleep by midday. But I will get back to you.  I promise.

Bookworm

You may recall that a couple of weeks ago I set up what I hope will be a fairly regular post which explores a couple (or three) books that I have read on my Kindle, and what I thought of them.  These are my ‘Reviewlets’ – entirely my opinion and not biased in any way, a bit of fun, and hopefully a bit of direction to those who are hopelessly scavenging about in the millions of written words out there.  

I am focusing my reviewlets on Kindle books, but not exclusively to the detriment of others, because I find it the easiest thing to shove in my handbag whilst waiting for my boys at endless sporting activities.  Admittedly I have an older generation Kindle, which is black and white, and this has made me a little less superficial in choosing books.  Whereas before the cover was a great attraction, now I literally cannot judge a book by its cover.  I am also relying on recommendations, and trying to vary my reading so that I can give you, the blog reader, something in your favoured genre.

The Expats by Chris Pavone  

This was an actual book, handed to me by a friend, but available on kindle. It’s been a while since I have read a spy book, and this one did not disappoint.  Written from the point of view of a stay at home mum, who had given up her job to accompany her husband to his lucrative posting in Luxembourg, the story quickly escalates, jumping from the present to the past in which we learn that all of the main protagonists have secrets.  Hence the mummies that lunch, coffee mums, and school mums are not who they seem.  Neither are their husbands.  Kate is an intelligent heroine who is constantly bamboozled.  We quickly get into her way of thinking and her confusion becomes ours.  You begin to think like a spy too – trying to predict where the story line will take you. There are quite a few Americanisms, but the overall story keeps you on side.

This book not only has a cracking spy story, but it explores the relationship between a married couple who have kept major parts of their lives secret from one another  - kind of like Mr and Mrs Smith (2005, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie).  I for one couldn’t see how it was going to end, and it was a goodie.  I would highly recommend it as a great romp of a read.

Wrong Place Wrong Time by David P Perlmutter, Elaine Denning

From the very outset this was a painful read for me, and I am not talking in a good way.  Based on true experiences, and written by the main protagonist, with I assume, a writer, this was an awkward and frustrating book.  What I mean is that the story itself is worthy of so much more than this book gave.  It jumped around all over the place, it was too concise – if the reader was piqued and curious there were no answers given.  To be honest, I ended up feeling sorry for the main character, but frustrated at the end.   Pretty Dismal Read.

There are ways of writing a stunning set of events which answers the reader’s questions and also provides a challenging read.

For example,

Slave Girl by SarahForsyth 

about an ordinary British girl who answered an advert for a nannying job in Europe and found herself sold into prostitution in Amsterdam is a no holds barred grittily realistic and uncomfortable journey into a sordid underworld.  It shows how she coped, how she did what she had to do, how she escaped.  It gives the reader a shocking insight to what can really happen behind those red light windows that all stag and hen parties leer at on their weekends away.  If I was a mother of a teenage girl it would probably make me a little overprotective, and it is definitely a shocking story - not a lying by the pool, light holiday book, but a great and worthwhile read nevertheless.  Recommended read.

All of these books have been either recommended or hand picked for review by me. They are my honest opinion, and I would welcome comments or further recommendations. 

No MakeUp Selfies

Over the past two days there has been a small revolution by women on social media.  It comes in the form of the No Make Up Selfie, to raise awareness for cancer, and the aim is to put up a picture sans war paint, and nominate a friend or friends to do the same.  At the same time, using your mobile phone, you donate the small sum of £3 by simply texting BEAT to 70099.  A lovely idea – some didn’t get it, what did the no make up thing have to do with cancer?  It would be my idea of absolute hell – I wake up in the morning with bedhead and don’t go anywhere without some tinted moisturizer and mascara. Indeed, that was my reaction initially, until I had a good think about it.

 

You see, the reality is that cancer is a hidden disease, often coming to the fore unexpectedly, and often with devastating results.  There is something very tangible in the act of stripping away the outer layer that you portray to the world, and baring your face, warts and all, which makes the blasé social media viewer stop and take a second look.  It makes a statement.

In a world dominated by glamorous women on our TV screens and in the movies, it is a sad fact that most of us know someone with cancer, and perhaps these selfies reflect that. On my Facebook page alone I have seen selfies of women ranging from 14 to the late 60’s. And there is an interesting side effect.  You see your friends, in all their vulnerability, in a different light.  Yes, you see their blemishes, you see their wrinkles, you see their worry lines. But you also see, in that self conscious act, how beautiful they really are.

  

Perhaps we are not as clothes and possessions obsessed  as all the magazines would have us believe.  Perhaps at the root of these selfies there is a realization that no matter what the outward appearance, we are all women, and all at risk from the dreaded C word.

The campaign has raised over £1 million pounds in two days and rising.  What is even more amazing is that CancerResearch UK was caught totally on the hop.  They knew nothing about it, and wondered why the donations were suddenly pouring in.  And they embraced it. And women embraced it.

One day, the word Cancer will not be synonymous with fear.  But until that day, there will always be fresh faced warriors ready to battle it.

And so, here’s my No MakeUp selfie…

If you enjoyed this, please consider nominating me for a BritMums blogging award, many thanks!

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