Rae of Light

As many of you know, my self-publishing journey began in 2012. It wasn’t planned. I was collecting the usual mound of rejection letters from agents and preparing to paper many a wall with them when the kernel of self-publishing took root in my mind. Once this occurred it was then up to me to navigate this large and daunting world. Very much under the impression I was taking on this monster completely solo, I was astounded to discover many a helping hand. The first of these was my wonderful writing friend Sydnee Blake who gave me the opportunity to participate in an Emily Benet blogging workshop. I was terrified, convinced that setting up a blog was well beyond my scope. Furthermore, what would I have to say to the world? How wrong was I? Here we are 7 years later and I haven’t yet run out of things to say and share. Sydnee, you opened floodgates in me I wasn’t even aware were there. Emily, you gave me the confidence to fight a fear of technology I was certain was beyond me. ...

This month my blog is 5 years old. It seems like only yesterday my toddler was a squalling babe in arms. The exact moment of conception can be pinpointed to when I stepped into the upstairs room of a former chandelier shop on Tower Bridge Road. I believe the insemination date can be pinned down precisely to the first Saturday of April 2013. What pray tell was I doing in the upstairs room of a former chandelier shop? I was there to do an Emily Benet blogging course naturally. You can stop looking so pleased with yourself Emily, you devious woman you.   My marvellous friend Sydney Blake was meant to be there you see. Unfortunately a family crisis prevented her from attending. So I went in her place, just to take notes and eventually feedback on the ins and outs of what it takes to put a blog together.   But silver tongued Emily Benet made this blogging business all so very enticing. How could I possibly resist the allure of it?   Before I knew wh...

Emily Benet is a half Welsh - half Spanish Londoner currently living on the beautiful island of Mallorca.  Wherever she's lived her passion for writing has followed. Her debut book  Shop Girl Diaries   began as a blog about working in her Mum's eccentric chandelier shop.  It won the Completely Novel Author Blog Awards at the London Book Fair. Her second book, a romantic comedy called  The Temp , also began its life online, as a serialised novel on Wattpad and racked up two million hits under its original title Spray Painted Bananas.  Her newly released novel, #PleaseRetweet , teases society's obsession with celebrity and social media. www.emilybenet.com www.twitter.com/EmilyBenet www.facebook.com/EmilyBenetAuthor Foreword Not too long ago, guest writer Benet was sharpening her fingers and offering guest posts to all and sundry on Twitter. So I took her at her word.  Little did I realise my loose use of the term "downtime" would give my ...