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5 years of Bookmarks and Stages Blog

It is hard to believe that 5 years later and me and my blog are still here. It really is, and what I am writing here comes from the heart and every word is meant.
See some books, find out a bit more about behind the scenes,  certain people who deserve a shout out, something exciting to come for those who follow and read my blog as you travel to through this blog post.

It is so wonderful that you read my reviews, whether it is reading the book, the theatre. the festival reviews or the Q&As or all of them,
I thank you all very much.

Watch Out For Friday 29th September. I will do a giveaway.

I wanted to write a different sort of blog post. It strikes me how people aren’t always thanked, recognised for what they actually do and also 5 years is quite something isn’t it? A bit of a milestone I, at times wasn’t sure if I’d reach it or not and with followers intact and I am excited to say this is still growing. I felt, since my blog has reached the heady heights of 5 years old, I should give you a bit more than just a simple thanks. To me, you’re worth more than that and 5 years later to see that people are still commenting, still reading, still interacting with my blog and social media and still joining my blog excites me. It’s a journey like none other. I even still remember initial conversations with certain people, whether privately or on publicly on social media.
I am a little nervous a I write this post, I’ll admit, because I don’t often write like this, but here goes nothing and I hope you remain following and reading my blog.
I am self-taught, so not all may be deemed “conventional” and perhaps this blog post is or perhaps it isn’t, I do not know, but it is what’s in my heart to the tips of my fingers to write because, like everything in life, I don’t take people for granted because I know pain, suffering, love, greatness. I also know how incredibly lucky I am, even all these years on in what and who has come my way.

A blog only exists if it is both created/written and read.

Firstly, I am grateful to everyone who’s path I’ve crossed in either the physical or virtual world, some I now know a bit more personally and others I do not (yet).
I am acutely aware that I write and create alone, this is not a solo process to keep a blog going. Networking goes on, however formal or informal, support occurs in many forms, including reading and sharing. I have written about some of this and certain people below.

 I am also grateful for the interactions, the sharing of my work, the conversations.
I write alone, sometimes with music on, sometimes in pure silence, amongst my paid job, volunteering, family life and studying. Blogging is a far cry from doing this. Where I live, it’s a typical small place. so as much as I live and open up my world, blogging has come with unexpected and beyond my wildest dreams type of opportunities that have opened it even more, meaning I’ve seen things, met people, been quoted in books and across social media platforms you know, the stuff I always thought would be out of reach and just happened to other people, but has miraculously to me and is sincerely beyond my wildest dreams.

For you, the blog readers and followers of my work, wherever that may be, I will do something special 29th of Sept for you to enter. 
But first, how did it all start? Who are some of the people who I feel the need to give thanks to beyond readers of my blog? Let’s get cracking and find out as you travel further.

Behind the Scenes of the Bookmarks and Stages Blog

I came up with the name Bookmarks and Stages because I knew I didn’t want it to be only 1 thing. I have a love of books, theatre, talks and events that happen on a stage. So, Bookmarks is the bookish part. We often like a bookmark to keep our pages, don’t we? The bookmark I use as my logo was what I cross-stitched up for my mum pre-blog and I just borrowed it back. Stages is the arts part. Often events are performed on a stage. I also didn’t want it to be a focussed blog on one genre or another. There’s plenty about that do and are great, but I decided that wasn’t really for me.

My blog is growing and I have recently been commissioned to write reviews once a month for a new magazine – The Writers’ Narrative. It is free on ISSUU and £1.99 on Amazon, these reviews do not appear first on my blog and have not appeared on my blog before in-accordance to the rules. I am given a theme and choose a book in-accordance to this. The Writers’ Narrative  (This link will open in a new tab, so you can easily return here).

Starting “Quietly” (or not as the case may be)

Well, what can I say. I tend to do things, perhaps a bit unconventionally for some. I thought I was starting quietly. I wrote a really small introduction blog post. I had tickets for the days and week after that initial post for Bloody Scotland and Morecambe and Vice. Both crime book festivals, the first in Scotland and the other in England. I wasn’t there to blog. I was there because there were people I wanted to see and an actor and author I had arranged to meet prior to even having a blog. I walked the torchlight parade at Bloody Scotland and took a seat the next day at an event, then thought I would make myself useful and write it up, similarly at Morecambe and Vice and introduced myself to a bunch of authors and got some good advice. Miraculously people spoke. let me take photos for my blog and some even followed. I had nothing to lose. I wasn’t there in any capacity. the only thing I had to lose was if I came across terribly to an actor and author I had arranged to meet. Turned out absolutely fine in the end.
A friend later informed me this is apparently not a quiet way to start anything, let alone a blog, apparently a small book review would be a quiet way to begin. This had occurred to me, but I saw an opportunity to maybe do something decent for others whilst in their presence and it seemed a good starting point to me.

Special Thanks (and bookish pics)

There are some people who deserve a bit of a shout out here because some people do things that are unseen and unknown and generally it is above and beyond. Some of these people have been around since the start, some encouraged me to start a blog in the first place and others have given me or opened up wonderful opportunities and firsts of things for me.
These people (in no particular order) are Wendy H. Jones, Kelly Lacey, Robert Daws, Linda Hill, Anne Cater, Sue Moorcroft, Matson Taylor, Rebecca Collins, Adrian Hobart, Joanne Baird, Isabelle Kenyon, Lin Anderson and Bob McDevitt, Nula Suchet, Joanne Harris,Fern Britton and Elizabeth Dawson and Sara Jade Virtue, Ellie Hudson, Alison Barrow.
A few people are also mentioned at the bottom who share my work around a fair bit.

Crime, non-fiction, children’s author and podcaster Wendy H. Jones, incidentally also the editor of The Writer’s Narrative. Long before she commissioned me for this, she, along with top Scottish blogger and blog tour organiser encouraged me to start a blog. I had considered one years prior to this on holiday destinations and decided against it on grounds it could have been short-lived and then I realised, shortly after this thought, I wasn’t holidaying quite so much. I met Wendy H. Jones at a library author event and then for coffee. I thought it was an innocent coffee after replying to say I could be in Edinburgh.
Kelly Lacey joined us (I had no idea who she was at the time and now she is a good friend). I was asked about reviewing, blogging and social media. This niggled within my brain and wouldn’t let go, so I went off to research how to write a blog, taught myself and then introduced myself to some people.
Anne Cater from Random Blog Tours is someone I introduced myself to after writing some blog posts. She is a successful blog tour organiser and thankfully she liked my blog posts enough added me to her invite list.
Linda Hill was also a person I introduced myself early on. It seemed a good idea and I wasn’t wrong. She supports me, sharing every post and answered some queries I had very early on and is a bit of a “cheerleader” and writes her own fantastic blog and contributes to a magazine (different from the one I am now contributing to). 

It’s a long story, but one thing led to another and pre-blog, I found myself saying to actor and author Hugh Fraser that I’d go down to Morecambe, since I couldn’t go up to Aberdeen. So, in a way, he is instrumental in my first taste of Morecambe and the crime book festival, I ended up trying out writing up a festival. Following this, I  officially did this for the Morecambe and Vice festival.

Robert Daws is an actor of stage and screen and crime author who has clearly opened opportunities for me and has instilled confidence in me and my writing and that for me is huge and will always mean a lot and is intuitively kind in hard times.
He is published by Hobeck Books, run by Rebecca Collins and  Adrian Hobart. They give me opportunities to review and do things for them in their background and this is thanks to all 3 of these people. Not that I rate everything that shiny 5 stars, it’s always honest. They also shared an entire blog post they did not know I was writing onto their website when they turned 1, some years back now.

Joanne Harris also shown kindness through a hard time and also gave me opportunity to review one of her books and now I am on a publisher’s list to review her books.

 

 

Lin Anderson and Bob McDevitt run Bloody Scotland. Lin Anderson supports my blog and I happened to have had a chance meet with Bob McDevitt, nowhere near Stirling, where Bloody Scotland, but many miles away in Morecambe and reckoned I should email a certain person to review for them. Lockdown happened and I had my fingers and toes crossed afterwards that the contact person was still involved and a press pass was given. I’ve written up many panels and the rest is history.

Sue Moorcroft gave me a chance to review one of her books and was the first without it being attached to a blog tour. I hadn’t approached an author before about reviewing their book and thankfully she agreed. It wasn’t this book, but this one holds many other memories.

 

Isabelle Kenyon gives me opportunities to review via some small presses,
such as Fly On The Wall.

Nula Suchet gave me first opportunity to review her autobiography and has supported me and my blog.

 

 

Adam Croft for automatically sending me an email asking if I’m available to review.

 

 

Elizabeth Dawson from Harper Collins got in touch during lockdown asking if I wanted to be part of a small group on Zoom to interview Fern Britton. I hadn’t been part of any type of Q&A before as far as blogs were concerned, only a bit in library work.
I had not long lost my gran, but I went for it. I had used Zoom once before because like many other people, I held virtual dinner parties, starting on social media and then the chat went to Zoom, so when the chance of an interview, something I had never done and on new technology, I had everything crossed, took a deep breath and joined the chat, also hoping I would keep it all together due to what happened not many days before. Luckily I did and Fern Britton has supported my blog and some social media since that Q&A.

I had never asked anyone before to interview. I wasn’t sure whether I could, should or what the response would be. Matson Taylor agreed to a Q&A style interview. This was done via email on the account we really wanted to meet and then had so much fun talking about this and that, the 40 mins of Zoom sped past, twice.

Sara Jade Virtue of Team Books and the City (Simon & Schuster) has got me on her list and gives me great opportunities to review books.

 

Alison Barrow for giving me a chance reviewing some pretty huge books she published. 

 

 

Ellie Hudson allows me from time to time to review Penguin Viking books and allowed me to review The Thursday Murder Club (2nd book) and I won the first when there was a library competition on, so I also have Richard Osman himself to thank, who also sent my mum a card one Christmas, when he ran another comp.

Val Penny for being the first person to suggest I posted my reviews on their FB page.

 

 

Flick Morris PR is opening some review opportunities and British Comedy Guide listed my blog for so many Edinburgh Fringe shows and Gyles Brandreth, Jon Culshaw, Shoot From the Hip quite certainly helped in getting my blog noticed further by their sharing.

Joanne Baird, Melanie Hill, Karen Louise Hollis, Karen Kingston, Janet Emson, Karen at Orenda Books, Andrea Tromans, Liz Fenwick, Lynne Walker, Kevin Ansbro, Mason Bushell, R.C Brigstock, Alison Waterfield, Helen Weir,  William Shaw, Clive Mantle, Dr. Chris Merritt, D.E. McCluskey, Kevin Ansbro, Welbeck Books, M.W. Arnold, Sarah Harwood, Catherine Russell, Camilla Elworthy, Sue Vickers-Thompson, William Humble who cheerlead, give opportunities and share my work around and a couple who invite me onto blog tours, introduce me to some folk all of which I am grateful as it all helps.
There are also many other people who follow me for which I am grateful for and appreciative of too.

Moving Ever Forwards 

I hope first and foremost to still have opportunities, a readership and followers.

I love writing reviews. I couldn’t say how many hours I put into this and how many times I’ve worked at some odd times of day to fit it in, but nonetheless I love doing it. I love the knowledge that someone is finding something useful out of it.
I’ve discovered I like doing Q&As on my blog and would like to do more. I’ve done some, since my first one, where I’ve written out the questions and the recipient has posted me the answers. ROI PR has enabled some of this and a couple of actors who have approached me with opportunities too, so far. On top of this, I have a bit of a wish list. I will also continue writing reviews of books, theatre and festivals. Theatre and festivals are other areas I would like, when and where possible, to increase my reviews of too. I will also still be writing reviews for The Writers’ Narrative Magazine.

If I’ve missed anyone out, it isn’t intentional and just know I care not just of the work produced but the people producing it and the readers reading my blog. Imagine how long this blog post would be if I listed everyone I ever reviewed for and everyone who has ever shared, read my posts. It might break the internet! I am grateful to all those who I have ever had the opportunity to review for, continue reviewing for and to all those I’ve met in-person and/or online.
I am excited and hopeful to see what the next 5 years bring and hopefully you’ll all join me on this journey too.

Thank You!!!

I now leave you with just a few images of books, podcasts and stage that I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing over the past 5 years, in no particular order. There have been many more, but imagine how huge the blog post would be then. I might even break it.