Brazen Mummy Turns One

Brazen Mummy turns one

Woo hoo – it’s been a year since I pressed publish on my Brazen Mummy blog.

And what a year!

Whilst I still essentially blog for fun, I’ve had the best of times flexing my writing muscles and sharing my words with the world.

If you follow my blog you may recall my main writing project is working on getting my romcom novels published. Ooh, I do hope to have more news for you on that very soon…

And that kind of explains where I’ve been for the last couple of months – working on my new author website. You can have a sneaky peek here, and you’re all invited to follow my journey over there too.

I’ll be sharing lots of tips and tricks for writers on mindset, productivity and getting noticed, as well as book reviews and other fun.

In fact if you sign up, you will receive my free top productivity tips to help you get more stuff done. And it’s actually a pretty cute doc – I made it myself!

Anyway, jibber-jabber. To commemorate one year of blogginess (not a word. Definitely should be) I dug out this quirky diary I kept when I was setting up my Brazen Mummy blog, one year ago.

I meant to publish it at the time, but then I posted the one about how the first week of blogging was as crazy as the first week of motherhood, and this beauty kind of got side-lined.

But this made me laugh when I found it recently, so I thought it was time for it to shine. If you’ve ever set up a blog or done anything similarly brain frazzling, let me know if you can relate… Continue reading “Brazen Mummy Turns One”

The Autumn of my Life

Autumn of my life - leaves

I hit forty this month. Did I mention?! And now I’m here, forty feels like the autumn of my life.

Stay with me here, mummas. Sounds a bit weird, but I know you’ve come to expect that. Weird is my happy place, after all!

It’s kind of mathematical. I’ve always thought of life as being divided into seasons. If I’m lucky enough to make it to eighty, then my four seasons would be four little chunks of twenty.

Spring of my life
Me as a spring chicken! Ahhhhhh.

I’ve done spring – those first twenty years when life is budding and you bounce around like an excited lamb, learning all the things. Spring was cute, but trust me, life gets cuter.

The second twenty years were my summer, in full glorious bloom. OK, so most days I was distinctly nothing like a rose garden – but you catch my drift. There was magic in the air and flowers in my hair.  (I know – that rhyme was terrible!)

Summer holidays
The summer of my life – I told you there were flowers in my hair. Bad look?!

Here’s the Autumn of My Life

And now comes autumn, which quite honestly has always been my favourite. I was born in the autumn, so I think that makes a difference. Do you favour your birthday season?

Anyway it’s the time of year for bonfires, fireworks, pumpkins, Halloween. Rustling through crunchy leaves, sitting by crackling fires, snuggling up with a blanket and marshmallow-y hot chocolate.

Fresh autumn walks when it’s cold enough to bundle up in a scarf but not so cold your fingers feel frosty. And the colours – even a grey day can never be grey. The trees are alive with the fire of orange leaves which fall around you like bright confetti.

Autumn Promises…

Continue reading “The Autumn of my Life”

Five Hot Tips for Writing Inspiration

Hot tips for writing inspiration

 

Ooh, I’ve got a hottie for you this week. Not only am I sharing my own little quirks for finding writing inspiration, I have drafted in more sassy writers from my sparkling new Facebook group Chick Lit and Prosecco, to share their precious secrets.

More about the group and these sizzling writers later, but if you haven’t joined the group yet, get on over there! We want you.

More About this Writing Inspiration

Aha, so writing inspiration; I had always assumed it was a given. But from hanging out in the virtual world of bloggers, I was surprised to learn this: there are two types of writer. The type that cannot stop thinking of ideas and will never have enough hours to write them all down. And the sort who live in a perpetual panic as to where the next snippet of writing inspiration is flipping well hiding.

Could there also be a hybrid? A being who bounces between the extremes, depending on what life throws at them? If you are one of these in-betweenies, please tell! Maybe this happy medium is in fact where sanity lies. Hmm, now there’s a thought…

Writing Inspiration – Too Much or Not Enough?

Anyway, I am of the too many ideas ilk. I’m bombarded by these little inklings day and night. I can scarcely take a peaceful shower without my muse jumping in with a back scrubber and shouting, “but what about this?” (Yes, bugger off, fella. You can see I haven’t brought my quill.)

And then there’s the sort who struggle for writing inspiration. They have deadlines lurking, but those words are often shirking. Ideas evade them, running for the hills like naughty badgers in the night. You may see these poor writers dancing through the streets with coloured nets, trying to catch their next whimsical notion before it bobs away on a breeze.

Looking for writing inspiration
I’m sure those pesky ideas are in here somewhere…

Writing Inspiration – Where Art Thou?

So all of this got me thinking. Where do I get my writing inspiration from? And here’s what I came up with. Continue reading “Five Hot Tips for Writing Inspiration”

Chick Lit and Prosecco

Join our Chick Lit Facebook Group

 

Chatting about chick lit. Sipping a nice glass of Prosecco. Hanging out with like-minded, bookish friends and adorable, witty writers. You may even be snuggled in your PJs, as you coo over Kinsella or have a craic about the latest Keyes.

Where is this fabled place, I hear you cry. Club Tropicana? Are the drinks really free? Tell me more!

OK, hold tight, because here is my vision.

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE PHENOMENAL NEW FACEBOOK GROUP!

Chick Lit and Prosecco hits Facebook

It’s a brand new, sparkling Facebook group called Chick Lit and Prosecco. It’s for readers and writers of the genre to come together, share gossip, and have a whole lot of fun.

And what’s even better? If you’re in love with reading or writing chick lit, it will be bursting at the seams with your soul people.

The ones who get why you haven’t slept for days because you can’t put that fantastic book down. (But you don’t even want it to end! ) The ones who know the thrill of a book sale when you can’t stop stroking and snatching like a kid in a sweet shop. You need these books. You must have them all!

Are you there yet? Are you with me on this mission to find these people and have all of the good times? Continue reading “Chick Lit and Prosecco”

Early Signs of Pregnancy – Ultimate Guide

One of the early signs of pregnancy can be swollen breasts

I’ll let you into a little secret…. Now and again I forget to take my contraceptive pill, and all hell breaks loose. Suddenly I’m back Googling early signs of pregnancy like it’s 2014. Only this time it’s with a mild panic.

Don’t get me wrong, if we had an accidental pregnancy I’m sure we would welcome it with open arms. (Unexpected second child, if you’re reading this, Mummy and Daddy think you’re amazing! Thanks for rocking up.)

It’s just that I’m forty this year, it took us a very long time to have a successful pregnancy, and realistically my body doesn’t have a great track record at staying pregnant (you can read more about that here).

So I think it’s fair to say baby number two is not on the master plan. We are eternally grateful for the crazy little man we have, and everything feels beautifully complete. (Am I tempting fate here..!) Continue reading “Early Signs of Pregnancy – Ultimate Guide”