Do I Need Book Swag?

I have attended a few book signing events during recent years, and have noticed a growing trend for something called “book swag.” For those of you not in the know, book swag is basically free stuff that you get from authors keen to spread the word about their books. It could include posters, promotional flyers, keyrings, pens and even more specific items like lip balms, all emblazoned with an author logo or book cover.

Now, I do not yet have any official book swag. Indeed, the signing events I previously attended did not specifically call for such a thing. My eyes were opened when I attended the Sandbach Author Signing Event back in November 2016. At this event I was surrounded by professional indie authors, most of whom proudly displayed (and distributed) a variety of colourful, promotional free gifts to their visitors. All I had to offer was a few business cards and a couple of flyers. Boring!

In February I will attend the West Midlands Valentines Book Signing and Ball. I don’t yet have any official book swag, but I plan to procure something of interest, if only to keep up with my fellow authors and their established marketing practice. It is all a huge learning curve for me as I step into another new world in the hopes of finding my readers. Perhaps I can tempt them out with a fruity Redcliffe lip balm, or a Blackpool souvenir with a vampire twist… Any suggestions?

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The West Midlands Valentine’s Book Signing & 1940’s Ball

February 4th 2017 TELFORD

It’s a New Year for new experiences, so why not make The West Midlands Valentine’s Book Signing & 1940’s Ball one of them! This February the 4th is set to be a day filled with books, romance, laughter, and live 1940’s style music all thanks to The West Midlands Valentine's Book Signing & 1940’s Ball. With over 25 confirmed authors covering genres such as romance, chick-lit, erotica, young adult, horror, and children’s fiction, there is sure to be something here for you or your loved one just in time for Valentine’s Day. Or at least something to occupy the kids with. 

 When the door close to the signing at 16:30 we will be reopening them at 19:30 for our 1940’s swing ball, where The Vintage Vocalist will take to the stage and take us back in time with classics from The Andrew Sisters, Vera Lynn, Anne Shelton, and many more. (1940’s dress is very much encouraged but not essential). So, why not come and mingle with the authors and get those books signed before joining them for a swing around the dancefloor? 

 ALL PROCEEDS MADE ARE BEING DONATED TO HELP FOR HEROES. *Tickets to the signing will be available on the door * Children under 16 years of age enter the signing for FREE, but must be accompanied by a paying adult at all times. * Tickets to the ball will NOT be available on the day and need to be pre-ordered before January 27^th – All attendees to the ball must be over the age of 18 years. Please visit our website for more information – www.westmidsvalentinesbooksigningball.wordpress.com

Event Address: Casey’s, Cordingley Hall, Wellington road, Telford TF2 8JS

Social Links

Website - http://www.westmidsvalentinesbooksigningball.wordpress.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/westmidsvalentinesbooksigning/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/WMVBSAB

Ticket Link - https://westmidsvalentinesbooksigningball.wordpress.com/tickets/

So Many Novels, So Little Time!

It dawned on me earlier this week that I have the complete opposite of the famed “blank page” syndrome. You know the old scenario: writer wants to create a wonderful novel, writer sits before computer and stares blankly at the screen, unable to form the words that will convey the amazing story they hold in their mind. Eventually, writer succumbs to the belief in writers’ block, slumps back in their chair, and wallows in self-pity for a while.

I have about five novels currently in various stages of progression. The main one is book 5 in my Redcliffe novels series, Heart of the Vampire. This continues the adventures experienced when Cornish bookshop owner Jessica Stone explores her witch heritage and becomes embroiled with the local werewolf pack, receiving mixed responses from her vampire boyfriend. The series will end after book 6, as yet untitled, because I feel that it has run its course. My muse may decide otherwise, however!

Moving away from the Redcliffe novels, I have first drafts of a couple of novels set in and around Cheshire and Manchester that feature female vampire hunters and their adventures in a tough job. One is a retired vampire hunter who lives a new life with a husband and young children. She concealed her past from him, but it all unravels when her former target, a vampire that managed to seduce her and almost kill her, returns to the area and must be exterminated. It is a quirky novel, I think, and I really want to have it published soon.

Another novel features a female vampire hunter that lives on a narrowboat, and her story takes place in and around my home town in Cheshire. This story was requested (or should I say, demanded) by my local fans, and they have been waiting for around three years now. I really should dig out the manuscript, tidy it up and get it published. That story caused a bit of turmoil for me when it took a strange turn and introduced past lives, angels and demons. Yes, my Muse is a confusing creature, indeed. I will tackle my YA zombie romance at a later date!

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Defining Your Local Accent

One of the key factors in my writing process is the definition of accents. Having grown up reading books by Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, Judy Blume and L.J. Smith, I have been largely exposed to characters that speak in old fashioned Queen’s English accents, or a sort of generalised white America accent that I can’t quite define because I don’t know enough about the country and its various regions.

Now, I am very definitely not from a Queen’s English background, so I didn’t really connect with the characters in the books I read. They were distant, posh people who I could never emulate. I did feel a connection with Roald Dahl’s Matilda, but I am still not sure what kind of regional accent she might have spoken in. I get the feeling it was somewhere in the South of England, but I can’t be sure.

My characters are mostly Northern, like me. I grew up in the Staffordshire Moorlands, close to Stoke-on-Trent, and so I have a sort of hybrid “Stokie” accent when I speak. It grows more broad when I return home to visit, which I find quite amusing. My husband grew up in both Wigan (Northern England) and Staffordshire, because his family moved to my home town when he was ten. His accent grew into a hybrid Lancashire-Stoke, but then returned to its Northern roots when he went to university in Manchester and took up full time work in the region.

I want my characters to have accents. I don’t want them to be traditionally English, or cockney or anything that to my mind is all too common and far removed from my experiences. My heroine in the Redcliffe novels series, Jessica Stone, is from Manchester, but she now lives in Cornwall where the adventures take place. Her best friend, Liz, is also Mancunian, living in Cornwall, and she marries a local university lecturer who has a Cornish accent. Jessica’s love interests, the identical twins Jack and Danny Mason, have their roots in Dublin, but since they are over one hundred years old and have lived in many places, their accents seem to come and go, largely depending upon their emotional state.

How important is it for you to read stories where the characters have a definitive accent? Does it help you to relate more to the characters and the story, or do you prefer to learn about other cultures and other lives? I find the whole subject fascinating!

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Does Your Gender Affect Your Writing Success?

Here is a loaded question, and I would be very interested to receive some responses in the comments below. I am currently reading On Writing by Stephen King, and I have reached the section of the book where he tells us that if we are serious about writing, we actually have to do it. We cannot keep putting it off and blaming our life circumstances, our lack of free time, and all the other millions of excuses we come up with.

Now, I totally agree with that. But one sentence in King’s book struck a chord. He wrote that he was fortunate to have a “self-sufficient wife” and she allowed him to hide away and write whenever he needed to. They have children, and he wrote his novels and short stories since before they were born and throughout their lives. Did his wife shoulder the parental responsibility, and do all the boring, everyday essential tasks of caring for the children before he found fame and fortune?

I would say that I have a self-sufficient husband. In fact, he is so self-sufficient that I am often left at home with the children, and I do 99% of the household chores, nurturing, caring, doctors’ appointments, etc. My husband simply works, in a demanding job that takes him away from the family home for anything up to sixteen hours every day, five days a week. He then spends the weekends ‘catching up’ on his personal affairs, and sleeping because he so exhausted from working all week. But he provides the income, and I must accept that.

In order to follow Stephen King’s advice, I need to change that model of behaviour. My husband refuses to make his work hours more flexible, or even to book time off that he is legally allowed (that is a whole other saga!). He did recently have a pay rise, however. Our cashflow is not brilliant, but if I am to look at the bigger picture, I need some help with childcare. To that end, I plan to investigate the costs of childcare, and see what I can fit around preschool and school. Then perhaps I can find time to finish the manuscripts I have languishing on my hard drive, and finally get my career established professionally.

How do you fit writing in around family and work?

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Reading My Christmas Gifts

You won’t be surprised to hear that I received some fabulous book related Christmas gifts recently. I am still reading one of the books I received, On Writing by Stephen King. It was a surprise present from my husband, and he earned some major ‘good husband’ points for this one! I am just over half way through the book, and it is brilliant. I feel inspired, invigorated, and enthused to get back into my novel writing as soon as the children return to school.

I also received a couple of quirky, fun Christmas presents from friends. They bought me a coffee mug with a funny quote printed on it, “Please do not annoy the writer, she might put you in a book and kill you!” They also got me a cute little bookmark that has a waving hand at the end of it. When my youngest daughter saw it she burst into fits of giggles, which was adorable. Did you receive any quirky, fun gifts?

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Happy New Year and Book Signing Event Plans

I might be a little ahead of myself since we are still technically in December, but let’s face it, 2016 has been a bit of a challenging year. It seems that every day we lose yet another famous face in the celebrity world. My personal life has been one of upheaval and drama throughout the year, and before that to be honest. So I for one am very much looking forward to 2017. I believe it is the start of a new cycle, a new beginning, and lots of new and exciting experiences.

One of those experiences is something I am especially excited about. On Saturday 4^th February, I will attend the West Midlands Valentines Book Signing and 1940s Ball. Hooray!  Unfortunately, I cannot attend the evening ball due to a prior commitment, but I will be at the event all day long to showcase my Redcliffe novels series and my contemporary English Gothic stories. Come and say hello, and why not try a few books while you are there?

Happy New Year, my friends. Thank you for joining me on this journey!

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New Books for Boxing Day

Alright, who got a shiny new Kindle for Christmas? Or a stack of books? Do share news of your hauls, I love to indulge. Perhaps I can interest you in some discounted books to download on your new device…

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Merry Christmas and Solstice Blessings!

The Winter Solstice is passing, and now we are preparing for the celebration of Christmas weekend. I have crammed in a week of blog writing, wrapped the last of my Christmas gifts, written my final Christmas cards, and prepared to visit family and friends on Christmas Eve. Enjoy the festival, my friends. Merry Christmas!

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What Does the Pagan Housewife want for Christmas?

You will probably not be surprised to hear that my Christmas wishlist consists mostly of books. Before I was a writer, I was a voracious reader, and books have always been the most favourite item in my Christmas gift pile (except the year when I received a junior typewriter from Father Christmas – now that was special!)

I took a glance at my Amazon wishlist and picked out two of the items that I would most love to receive for Christmas. The first is a book called What Dwells Within – A Study of Spirit Attachment. I am fortunate to be acquainted with one of the authors of this book, and I know that I like his work, so this is a must have for my collection. It would also be a great research tool for my ghost hunting 
pastime.

The second preferred Christmas gift is something a little bit fun and novelty. It is the Housewives Tarot – A Domestic Divination Kit. Well, it comes with the territory, don’t you think? And it would be a fabulous tool for my #365DaysofTarot challenge in 2017…

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My Christmas Wish List for Writing Inspiration

I was pondering my Christmas list earlier this week, and realised that it has altered a little bit in recent years. It has gone from a request for books about publishing, to books about writing, to other specific texts. Now I am seeking books about subjects that include Tarot reading and reiki. The Tarot reading is an interesting one, because inevitably, it includes Tarot card decks as well.

There are lots of beautiful Tarot cards available, and my current favourite is my Gilded Tarot because the artwork is colourful and passionate, which reflects my mood. Back in October and early November I favoured my Vampire Tarot cards because they were Gothic and dark, reflecting the shadows and gloom of my mood at that time. This week I am drawn to use my Universal Waite Tarot card deck for the #365DaysofTarot challenge. I like its simplicity and bright, bold design. What Tarot decks might I request for Christmas? Ooh, so many beautiful cards…

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Winding Down for Christmas

I have decided to take a break from writing for Christmas, since my time is largely taken up with preparations and parental responsibilities. Who knew I could become so busy once my children were in school? Well, technically my youngest daughter is still only at preschool, so we are together for most of the week.

Read my Festive Short Story Here

When I finish the obligatory checking of emails, updating blog posts, and general home admin, I have no time for writing. I am solely responsible for procuring and wrapping Christmas presents, since my husband is a bit of a Scrooge and would do it all on Christmas Eve if I left him in charge! My fifth Redcliffe novel is still ticking over in my mind, however, so I may have to sneak onto the computer at some point during the festivities just to clear my head… Do you write through Christmas?

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Vlad: The Real Dracula #amreading

I am currently reading a very powerful novel by C.C. Humphreys. Vlad – The Epic Novel of the Real Dracula, is a completely enthralling, violent and disturbing story. I had the paperback sitting in my “to be read” pile for a very long time, and I have now been reading it for over a month. Usually I would devour a novel like this within a couple of weeks, but family life, and writing, have intervened to disrupt old habits.

Anyway, I am still reading, and today I have been thinking about events in the novel while I went about my daily business. Such is the nature of the story, and the quality of writing, that it really has me gripped and desperate to continue reading. It has evoked some very powerful emotional responses, since it is incredibly violent and passionate. I felt compelled to share my reading journey at this point, and to say that when I do finish reading Vlad, probably later this week, I will need to read something light hearted and cheerful. I recommend the novel, but be warned, it is extremely dark and dangerous!

Part of the reason for my distraction from reading is my participation in #Blogmas over on my SpookyMrsGreen the Pagan Housewife blog. Go and check it out if you are interested!

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My #Blogmas Challenge for Christmas

It feels like weeks since I completed #NaNoWriMo, and yet it has only been around seven days. Yes, last week was a long one, and very busy as always. There is no sign of things slowing down, either. Oh no. I am still persevering with my #365DaysofTarot challenge, where I perform a Tarot card reading every day and write it in my designated notebook. I plan to turn it into a book at some point in the future, but that will not come to fruition until at least 2018.

Merry Blogmas from SpookyMrsGreen!

This month my challenge is #Blogmas. Over on my SpookyMrsGreen: the Pagan Housewife blog, I am writing and posting every day in the run-up to Christmas. My posts are a variety of anecdotes about preparing for Christmas with young children, shopping and gift ideas, and my pagan lifestyle activites that run alongside. Go and check it out if you are interested!

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#NaNoWinner16 and Merry Christmas!

Oops! It seems I forgot to do my Thursday blog this week, bad girl *slaps wrists* In my defense, I have been very busy and quite overwhelmed with a mixture of domestic and professional nuances. But not to worry. We are now officially in the countdown to Christmas, and so I will embrace the festive spirit and make some fabulous memories with my children. Oh, and yes, I did win #NaNoWriMo in the end, just as I planned. How did you get on?

#CyberMonday Book Deals for Christmas

The end is nigh for #NaNoWriMo2016 and I must say I will be glad to see the back of November. It has been a long and arduous month, and not because of the crazed writing challenge. Personal circumstances have intervened to cause exhaustion, but I hope that it will improve during the next few weeks.

Anyway, today is #CyberMonday, a day when all the big brands offer more discounts and sales to Christmas shoppers. I would like you to consider my novels for your Christmas shopping list. Perhaps you enjoy reading Gothic stories set in Cornwall? How about sexy vampires and werewolves from Dublin? Then check out Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel), which is currently only 99p (or 99c) to download on Kindle.

In the meantime, I will finish off my #NaNoWriMo project for this year, which will conclude most of the first draft for book 5 in my Redcliffe novels series. You can find the first 3 novels for sale online, and I plan to release books 4, 5 and 6 to complete the series. I look forward to seeing your reviews!

Buy or Download my novels now on Amazon!

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I’m at 40K and Feeling Epic! #NaNoWriMo

Ha ha, did you recognise my TV commercial reference? Well, the month of #NaNoWriMo is flying by, and today we celebrate my husband’s birthday. I say we. I mean me. He is being very miserable and grumpy, even though he is only 35. That is not old!

Anyway, never mind him, I will celebrate with some fizzy wine and a bit of chocolate, because my #NaNoWriMo challenge is almost complete and I can taste the sweet smell of success. How is your #NaNoWriMo coming along?

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#BlackFriday is Approaching – Support Small Business! #ASMSG

How do you feel about the #BlackFriday and #CyberMonday phenomenon? Let’s face it, we can barely avoid the hype in this day and age. It is how we have evolved in society. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I believe in not over-commercialising holidays such as Christmas. However, I sell books for a living. If I don’t sell the books I write, I won’t make any money, and that could negatively affect my children and  husband.

I propose a compromise: think about the small business owners, including indie authors, craft businesses, local produce etc. They rely on income from the sales of the stock that they lovingly create by hand. We should support those businesses.  When I hear about #BlackFriday, my thoughts turn to Amazon. Well, they are made up of small business owners, like myself, who rely on royalties paid via Amazon for the sales of our books.

Why not search for alternative Christmas gifts for your friends and family? Find them a book written and produced independently by a new author. Try a CD by a young musician. Or even search for some handcrafted bespoke trinkets, jewellery, furniture or bric-a-brac. The small business owners will be far more grateful for your custom, and will make more effort to give you the personal customer service that makes you feel good about parting with your hard-earned cash. Thank you. 

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Halfway Towards 50K #NaNoWriMo

I am half way there and feeling quietly confident about #NaNoWriMo 2016. My novel is progressing slowly and steadily. I find that I can write it in short chapters, and while I generally have no idea of what I am about to write when I sit before the computer, somehow the words spill out and the prose dislodges from its hiding place in the depths of my mind. How is your #NaNoWriMo coming along?

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Author Interviews from #SASE 2016

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Stewart Green (no relation!) from Sandbach Sound Bites at our recent Sandbach Author Signing Event in Cheshire. Hear the full interview featuring myself, Elizabeth Morgan, and several other visiting authors at the event.

Sandbach Soundbites Author Event Interviews

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A Slow and Steady Start to #NaNoWriMo2016

Just a brief update today since I am well on the way to completing #NaNoWriMo2016 and I am powering through! Well, ok, I am plodding through at the moment, but I am happy with my progress and that’s the main thing. I have broken the 15k barrier and plan to hit 25k words halfway through November, keeping me on track to succeed. How is your #NaNoWriMo progressing?

Thinking back to 2015, and by this time I was in a very different place with my writing. I was reeling from the death of my beloved Nanna, and keeping my focus on the writing in her memory. She was so very proud of my author achievements! I still miss her, and even now I feel tearful when I remember her loss. But I have over 30 years of happy memories to treasure with my grandparents, and so I count my blessings. Happy writing, my friends!

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A Very Successful Event Launch #SASE

What a fabulous weekend it has been! We enjoyed our very first Sandbach Author Signing Event (#SASE) in Cheshire and it was a huge success. Lots of wonderful indie authors gathered together to talk about their favourite genres, their style of writing, and to offer advice and guidance for visitors. We shared our books with new people, made some new friends, and enjoyed the opportunity to meet up in person, rather than speaking so often on social networks.

I am already looking forward to attending #SASE in 2017, and in the meantime, I am on the lookout for similar events in the UK that I might be able to attend. I am now officially finished for 2016 in terms of public events, apart from one or two intimate gatherings. I am now working hard to complete #NaNoWriMo2016, and I am also contemplating the challenge to join in with #Blogmas – a blog post every day in the run up to Christmas, starting on 1^st December.  

Phew! What are your current writing goals/achievements? Please do share, and let’s keep each other motivated during the month of writing dangerously…

 Did you enjoy this article? Join my tribe today, and I will send you a fabulous FREE book to get you started… (be warned, my vampires do not sparkle, and my wolves will bite!) 

#NaNoWriMo and a new #Tarot project

The month of madness has begun, and I am off to a reasonable start. On 1^st November I wrote 1667 words, which is the exact daily target if I want to win #NaNoWriMo! My next day was not quite so fruitful, and my current estimated finish is 5^th December, but I know that will fluctuate massively during my writing month. How is your #NaNoWriMo shaping up?

In other news, I am all ready for the Sandbach Author Signing Event that happens this Saturday, on the 5^th November. Seems like only yesterday the idea was hatched after a local library event, and now it is upon us. Wow! I look forward to meeting lots of new people, taking time away from being “Mummy,” and enjoying the company of writers and entrepreneurs. It nourishes my soul, getting away from domestic routine occasionally.

And, finally, I have started another new project, because you know, I don’t have enough stuff to fill my days! I decided to start a #365daysoftarot challenge. Every day I will do a tarot reading. Some days it may only be one or two cards, other days a few more, and occasionally I will do a big spread. Those sorts of readings tend to come at sabbats and seasonal transitions, so my next big tarot reading will probably be Yule. Eventually I plan to turn it into a non-fiction book as my career expands. Who here is interested in that kind of thing? You can see my Samhain Tarot reading for free over on my Pagan Housewife blog.

Now I must be off. There is work to do… Speak to you later!

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Romance Novel Giveaways: The Redcliffe Series by Catherine Green ❤️ Freebie...

Hey folks, check out this awesome guest blog feature over on Romance Novel Giveaways! And if you haven't already signed up for your FREE vampire Tarot reading, do it now!!!

Romance Novel Giveaways: The Redcliffe Series by Catherine Green ❤️ Freebie...: This blog post contains affiliate links.  Click Here for details. Sally Frost is a mild-mannered NHS hospital nurse by day...

Happy Halloween! #LovetoRead

Boo! Made you jump! Ha ha, I love the Halloween season, as you might have guessed from my genre of choice for writing and reading… Have you tried the Redcliffe Novels yet? Or The Darkness of Love? Or The Vampire of Blackpool? Get them now!

I spotted these fabulous spooky decorations in my local library recently, all prepared, and in some cases handmade, by a member of staff. How is your library celebrating Halloween? Share with me some spooky stories and recommendations…

                        

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Join Us for the Sandbach Author Signing Event

We are almost into the month of November, and it will be crazy time for me as I immerse myself once more in the Redcliffe novels and continue writing book 5 in the series for NaNoWriMo. I will need a break from the computer, however, and so you can come and see me, and keep me sane (I hope) at the Sandbach Author Signing Event at Sandbach Town Hall on Saturday 5^th November.

#SASE

I will be there all day, along with 20+ authors from around the UK, exhibiting our new books, talking about our experiences in writing and publishing, and generally meeting new people. We can be very reclusive, when we bury ourselves in our writing projects, and so this is our way to be social and make friends. You can also bring your children along to join in with the Cartoon Academy workshops, the Fairy Sanctuary, and more. We even have a visiting cover model, former soldier Martin Nelson, in residence for you to have a photo with!

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An Interview with SpookyMrsGreen: the Pagan Housewife

Today I would like to share something that I have effectively been hiding all year. I did a video interview with Sue Ellam from Soulfully Connecting back in January, and the video was posted on the company YouTube channel, but I didn’t tell anybody. I was afraid. I was…embarrassed. This is a very ridiculous notion, when you think about it. I mean, here I am parading about online as the pagan housewife, talking about ghosts and witchcraft and the messy side of parenting, and yet I agreed to do a video that I knew would be available in the public domain.

I am not nervous about speaking to people. I do a lot of public speaking as part of my job. But for some reason, this YouTube video has been a big thing. I feel amateur and a bit silly, to be honest. And I have no reason to be. Yes, the sound quality is pretty bad. That’s because I didn’t wear a headset and didn’t test it first. Lesson learned. But apart from that, I think the interview was fairly insightful. I didn’t sound like a complete idiot, I think. So, I am passing it over to you guys. Please watch the video, let me know what you think, and please do be gentle. I may come across as confident and proud, but behind the smile is a little girl who just wants to hide in her bedroom and read books! 

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