Five of the Best who have helped me on my writing Journey

Today I am drafting many of my blogs for the forthcoming weeks. My problem is that I have never been able to blog on a regular basis.

Some may think why bother anyway. Well what I have learnt along the way is that whether we want to publish lots of ebooks, Indie publishing or aim for that traditional publisher. The joy of seeing your book on the shelves of a bookstore. Whatever your goal you need people to know about your work. Your Author's Platform.

Well here is my top five websites and the people behind them that could help you as they have helped me.


Number 1 has to be Nick Daws writer/author of over 80 books and courses. If I had not come across him and his inspirational courses, I would not have started, let alone come this far. His first course I purchased was "Write any book in 28 days" which is still relevant and successful today as when he first produced it.His chatty style, made me think he was in the room next to me. Teaching me and guiding my hand, If you haven't already follow him on Twitter and Facebook along with Nick's writing blog. I also signed up for his e-newsletter and his MWC writers forum. All well worth diving in to!

Secondly I joined Twitter, you do not have a clue when first joining and I know it can be off-putting. So I looked to see who followed who, up came Gary Smailies from Bubblecow.
I have learnt so much from his experience, They give hints and tips of which publisher will accept authors without an agent! The have a mentoring program and will edit your work for a fee. If you visit the Bubblecow website and Gary is at his desk then a pop up window arrives and you can ask any question and Gary will answer via live chat. Gary may not know this but he has been there to motivate me to carry on writing.

Number 3 has to be Joanna from The Creative Penn. Joanna frequently gives Podcasts, webinairs, writing tips and author interviews. She is a published author herself, her most recent being the "Pentecost".
 Through her downloadable ebook on the author's platform, she gives the benefit of her experience.

My last two I have grouped together as they work together, Problogger and Copyblogger. They have tutorials of how to get started with your blog. They make it all so simple, break it down, you learn from very successful guys.

I love learning, love a challenge. Recently this blog has not been as regular as I would have liked. Unfortunately I have been dealing with my own health issues. I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and one of the ways I have been coming to terms with it, is through my blog called Fibroliving.wordpress.com. On there you can read my story of how I am leaning to live with Fibromyalgia and it is learning to live with me.

Who inspired your writing career and who helped you along the way?

I will post my writing tips in my blog as I come across them, alternatively you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook as Sloanwriter.

Look forward to catching up with you soon.

Who was or still is your favorite Chidren's author

What children's author inspired you and why?

The first intention was to blog about my  favourite childhood Author. Then I realised apart from the odd Enid Blyton my reading was directed by my schooling. What I  needed to study and pass exams and then I remembered  Walt Disney and Hans Christian Andersen.

How could I have forgotten the magic of the many many tales of Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Sleeping beauty Snow White and Seven drawfes. 

Hansel and Gretel, The 3 little pigs, I could go on but I realised books were not the main feature I remembered from my childhood. 

Comics, I used to "borrow" my brothers Dandy and Beno, I was a Jackie fan, with the latest heart throb adorning my wall. Donny Osmond was my hero and I still have a soft spot for now. My music tastes varied but thats another blog!

It was not until children arrived and I reread stories to them that I really started to look at the authors. 

One stood out,  Roal Dahl and my son's favourite was fantastic Mr Fox. I became convinced however he knew the book off by heart and was not really reading it.

 I  wanted to expand his reading and it was about the time when there was a buzz around that i did not understand. So eager to find out what it was and found  Harry Potter and the author JK Rowling.

By then book three had been leased (not knowing any of this as I was too working night shifts as a cardiac nurse).

So I went out on a day off and purchased all three in paperback.

  Sat up in bed, I discovered it was a real page turner.  Harry Potter and the Philosphers Stone, it was a different world of magic and mayhem.

The next morning.  I simply said to my son.  Please read this if you get page 5 and you didn't like it it's okay.  Deep down I knew he would be hooked as I was. 

Then became  fun waiting for films to come out and each book in hardback as soon as it was released.  Yes, my husband and daughter went to a store at midnight to buy a book for me on release and we sat up  most the night to read it .My husband has the photograghic proof!

My son,  by this time was away in the Royal Navy but still bought the books when he could. We often would have friendly family competitions guessing where the story was going. It was something for all the family to enjoy around a  time when often you feel you can use touch with your teenagers, Harry Potter series of books and films shared some of the magic.  My son has since moved on to Dan Brown and the Eragon  series. I can visulise him on his ship somewhere enjoying a good book.

So what story or author inspired you to have a positive impact on you and your family?