Zelly Jordan's Blog, page 5

Giveaways

If you’d like to be part of my upcoming #giveaway (x 2!) then u need 2b on my email list - thats the only place for details. (Got some surprises in store).So clear yr browser, jump onto zellyjordan.com & fill out the pop up form! PLEASE SHARE.🌹❤️
https://tinyurl.com/y6asx54x

Also, reviews are always welcome ❤️ Stay healthy and well.Zelly Jordan

Where’s the rewind button?

Hello one and all,

[image error]

I hope today finds you healthy and safe?

Can you believe it’s been three months since my last blog? Never, ever did I plan on going so long between blog posts but the world spun out of my control and I’m only just tilting it back into place.

Across the World

[image error]

Welcome to 2020 and welcome to my first blog of the year.

As most of you know, I am Australian (of Croatian heritage) and you no doubt have heard or seen a bit about the catastrophic fires that are happening here right now. The devastation and long term affects of this crisis will be felt for months and years to come. I personally am safe and likely will remain so, God willing. But the tears I’ve shed and the anxiety I’ve felt as I’ve witnessed my beloved country burn has been enormous and I am one of the lucky ones. We have all too many people here who haven’t been so lucky.

However, that wasn’t the topic I wanted to write about this time. Normally all my blogs are book/writing related but with the events happening around me, I really feel compelled to take the opportunity to talk about friendship. So I will.

Years ago, someone once said to me that my online friends aren’t “real” friends. I took huge offence at that, so much so that we ended up in a big argument. But I stand by my assertion that he was wrong.

So wrong.

When asked, most people would define friendship as a mutual respect and care between people who enjoy each other’s company, who have things in common or similar interests – sometimes lots of that and sometimes not so much – who care about each other’s well being and turn to each other for support and comfort, for shared laughs and shared tears. People who are there for you, no matter what, no matter when.

And wouldn’t that description be right?

So how would online friends not be “real” if they provide you with those exact same things except they’re far from you? I have relatives who I don’t speak to as often as I do my online friends. And I have online friends who are as close to me as my “real-life” friends, people I refer to as soul sisters or forever friends.

Friendship isn’t about being in each other’s physical presence constantly. Friendship is far more layered and nuanced than that. For me, it’s the knowledge that no matter what’s going on in my life, no matter how long it’s been since we last spoke, I can turn to that person called Friend and know that they’re there for me. And vice versa.

It’s about speaking to friends, interstate or overseas and knowing that they are right there, at the edge of your fingertips, a digital click away. Of knowing so much about their lives and their families that you care for those family members as if they were an extended part of your own.

It’s getting upset for your friend in London who’s worried about another friend in Sydney. It’s offering support to others who have newborn grandchildren having operations or husbands going through mental stress. Or who just experienced a parents death and needed to talk to someone and being able to hold their hand metaphorically while they cry. It’s receiving an unexpected Christmas present all the way from Germany just because that person was thinking of you. It’s having conversations with your Chilean friend who can’t speak English at all and you can’t speak Spanish but somehow the two of you manage. It’s waking up to friends in Norway messaging you to see if you’re safe. The tonnes of friends on Facebook from the USA, Canada, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, South America, Germany, South Africa and so many others, all checking up on you to see if you’re safe in this fire disaster. It’s knowing that because you invited them to donate to charities, they did so. And they did so simply because you asked. Because they care about you and your country.

All of these things come from my online friends. And that’s just a tiny portion of the care and friendship shown to me daily. Does the fact that none of them are in my home town negate that friendship, make it less “real” as that fool argued with me one time?

No.

Not at all. Far from it, in fact.

They’re as special and precious and real to me as my friends physically closeby. They’re as important and as reliable; as dependable, trustworthy and as necessary. I may not be able to reach out and touch them like I can with my friends here in town but their friendship is no different. Just the same as my “live” friends, if I needed them, they’ll be there, through good times and tough ones.

They HAVE been there.

And they’ve been there for years now. I know that should I travel to their country and show up unexpectedly on their doorstep, I would be welcomed with both arms. They know they would get the same from me and if they didn’t know, then I’ve just told them.

It doesn’t matter if we don’t speak to each other daily. In this digital era, I can reach out whenever I want and there they are. I can call and speak verbally to them, or have long chats messengering through cyberspace for hours on end, stretching over days and days. The only thing I can’t do is hug them. But one day, I will rectify that. It’ll happen, I swear.

Someone once accused me of making friends too easily (as if that’s a bad thing). However, I’ve always been that way because I think people are inherently good and I’ve never met anyone who couldn’t be a friend. I’ve lived my life that way and I’m not changing at this late stage. I think it’s one of my better personality traits anyway.

All of this means that I’m blessed to be able to call so many different people around the world my friends. And I adore them all.

I hope you didn’t mind me blogging about something other than my stories. If you didn’t and you think I should do it more often, let me know. Or if you’d like me to talk about a specific subject, let me know that too. Either way, thanks for listening.

Till next time, much love as always,

Zelly

Tis The Season

Hey my lovely readers,

[image error]

Well, I think we can all agree that 2019 was a super fast year that flew by practically at the speed of light, right? I mean seriously – how on earth did it go by so fast?? I know I say it every Christmas but geez, the older I get, the faster it goes….

I wanted to thank you all for spending another year with me. You will never know how grateful I am for your support and encouragement, how much I enjoy interacting with you. I hope you’ll stay with me next year as I continue on my literary path and please always feel free to drop me a line or two……I love hearing from you.

As this year and this decade draw to a close, I hope that the new one brings you so much joy and wonder and many dreams fulfilled…for you and your loved ones. May God and the Angels watch over you all.

Be safe. Be happy. Be healthy.

See you in the new year. Much love as always,

Zelly

Riding the Airwaves

[image error] zelly-interview.mp3

Hey everyone!

Hope you are all well and happy? And still sane in the crazy lead up time till Christmas? If not, then just hang tight guys – you’ll get through it and it’ll all be over soon enough.

I had an exciting adventure on Wednesday night just past. Indeed I did. If you’ve read my tweets and Facebook posts, you’ll know that I was invited to be interviewed on the radio.

Yes, the radio!!

Read all about it!

Hello my lovely friends,

[image error]

Hope you are all well and good and happy.

Thought I should let you know some stuff…..

I’ve just completed a new interview with the lovely people over at Self Publishers Showcase and thought you might like to read it. If you haven’t ever been onto their site, I’d highly recommend it – it’s full of great articles and books and interviews with authors – including me now.

Who Won?

[image error]

Hey everyone,

I hope you are all well and happy?

I’m excited to announce the winner of my merchandise giveaway today. I had to wait until my son was available to record the proceedings because I can’t film and do all the other things like tumble the entrants etc….I’d need three hands for that and I unfortunately only have two. Lol

However, I do have a head on my shoulders despite the fact that this same son of mine filmed me without one….AT ALL. I made sure my hair was neat and everything and the grumpy impatient boy didn’t once catch the glory of my non-messy tresses. Aaahhh well.

So…..we have a winner! Watch the video below and see if you’re the lucky one and if so, contact me….I need your details!

Until next time, my lovelies.

Much love,

Zelly

Look What I Made!

[image error]

Hey lovely people, 

Hope you are all well?

I have come up with a new giveaway that I’m really excited about! 

Truly, I never imagined in my wildest dreams a few years ago that one day I would be doing the things I’m doing lately and I’m tickled pink to announce my next giveaway. It might seem very Ho Hum to some but it’s new to me and I’m chuffed. Maybe those that have been in the industry awhile or who have made this stuff before might not be so impressed but I think it’s very cool. Maybe you will too?

I wanted to do something a little different with this giveaway and had to think awhile on what to do …..I mean what does an author give away usually? 

Books and book vouchers, right??  

Amazon vouchers probably?

 I’ve given away books and will again and I’ll do the vouchers another time (once I figure out how to do them) but what else could I do? And then, like a proverbial lightbulb above my head, it came to me and off I went to have them made, enjoying the creative side of it all – the concept, the layout and coming up with a new tagline, all of it a fun new challenge.

And so now I have these two items to give away. Ready for it?  

TAA DAAAA……….!!!!!  

[image error][image error]

What do you think? Do you like them? 

Personally I think I didn’t do a bad job considering that I pretty much assed my way through the process, lol. Like most technical things, I skim through on pure luck most of the time and in fact, even these aren’t perfect but I’m proud of them even with their tiny flaws.  

There are only two of each of these in existence in the world – one set I have (coz, hey, I should have one, right?) and the other is now the Grand Prize in my new giveaway. 

So if you would like to be the owner of this fine set of merchandise, this WORLD EXCLUSIVE SET that no one in world besides me has, then you’ll have to enter ASAP!  

The last giveaway competition that I ran gave me a mild case of anxiety (I kid you not) and made my head explode. Keeping track of everyone’s retweets and shares was tricky as I didn’t want to miss anyone’s actions or double count them either so it was a systematic nightmare to keep up with!  

Therefore this time I’m making it super easy and guaranteeing no head explosions and miscount worries for myself as it’ll all be tracked for me. Brilliant hey?

So here’s the details……

Giveaway begins right now….. Friday 25th October, 2019

Ends on Friday 8th November, 2019

HOW TO ENTER: sign up for email subscription through my website. 

That’s the ONLY way to enter. I will be drawing the winner from THIS email list. (Following me on Facebook or Instagram won’t count for this giveaway – see my exploding head story up above.) 

Now, you might already be following my website because you pressed on the follow button down on the bottom right hand side of this site but that is almost impossible for me to keep track of. So, if you did that previously, you’ll need to clear your browsing history and then jump back on my site and sign up for email when you get the pop up entry onscreen (this only happens the first time you go on my site, which is why you have to clear your browser). 

If you’ve already signed up for email notifs, well, lucky you!!! You’re already entered into the comp. 

If you’re reading this but you hadn’t yet signed up for email, then hop to it, my friends! (There’s actually a nice little thank you for signing up anyway – in the form of a FREE first chapter of Fractured, Book One of the Unbreakable Series.)

This for me is the easiest way of keeping track as the website’s Mail system lists all of the entries and is much more reliable than me counting retweets and shares (especially with Twitter sometimes being super glitchy and eating my notifications, grrrr.)

So sign up and enter the draw!! I’m soooooo looking forward to giving these babies away!!

In fact, the easiest way to make it all very simple for everyone – just clear your browser history then get onto my site and fill out the pop up form regardless of how you signed up before – any duplicates will be weeded out. 

 And of course, share this competition with everyone you  know!

I have other news but I’ll save that for next time! 

Oh and don’t forget to review my book/s on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, etc……….I’d be ever so grateful. Coz, yanno……..this……

[image error] 

 Talk soon!!

Much love,

Zelly

LOOK WHAT I MADE!

[image error]

Hey lovely people, 

Hope you are all well?

I have come up with a new giveaway that I’m really excited about! 

Truly, I never imagined in my wildest dreams a few years ago that one day I would be doing the things I’m doing lately and I’m tickled pink to announce my next giveaway. It might seem very Ho Hum to some but it’s new to me and I’m chuffed. Maybe those that have been in the industry awhile or who have made this stuff before might not be so impressed but I think it’s very cool. Maybe you will too?

I wanted to do something a little different with this giveaway and had to think awhile on what to do …..I mean what does an author give away usually? 

Books and book vouchers, right??  

Amazon vouchers probably?

 I’ve given away books and will again and I’ll do the vouchers another time (once I figure out how to do them) but what else could I do? And then, like a proverbial lightbulb above my head, it came to me and off I went to have them made, enjoying the creative side of it all – the concept, the layout and coming up with a new tagline, all of it a fun new challenge.

And so now I have these two items to give away. Ready for it?  

TAA DAAAA……….!!!!!  

[image error][image error]

What do you think? Do you like them? 

Personally I think I didn’t do a bad job considering that I pretty much assed my way through the process, lol. Like most technical things, I skim through on pure luck most of the time and in fact, even these aren’t perfect but I’m proud of them even with their tiny flaws.  

There are only two of each of these in existence in the world – one set I have (coz, hey, I should have one, right?) and the other is now the Grand Prize in my new giveaway. 

So if you would like to be the owner of this fine set of merchandise, this WORLD EXCLUSIVE SET that no one in world besides me has, then you’ll have to enter ASAP!  

The last giveaway competition that I ran gave me a mild case of anxiety (I kid you not) and made my head explode. Keeping track of everyone’s retweets and shares was tricky as I didn’t want to miss anyone’s actions or double count them either so it was a systematic nightmare to keep up with!  

Therefore this time I’m making it super easy and guaranteeing no head explosions and miscount worries for myself as it’ll all be tracked for me. Brilliant hey?

So here’s the details……

Giveaway begins right now….. Friday 25th October, 2019

Ends on Friday 8th November, 2019

HOW TO ENTER: sign up for email subscription through my website. 

That’s the ONLY way to enter. I will be drawing the winner from THIS email list. (Following me on Facebook or Instagram won’t count for this giveaway – see my exploding head story up above.) 

Now, you might already be following my website because you pressed on the follow button down on the bottom right hand side of this site but that is almost impossible for me to keep track of. So, if you did that previously, you’ll need to clear your browsing history and then jump back on my site and sign up for email when you get the pop up entry onscreen (this only happens the first time you go on my site, which is why you have to clear your browser). 

If you’ve already signed up for email notifs, well, lucky you!!! You’re already entered into the comp. 

If you’re reading this but you hadn’t yet signed up for email, then hop to it, my friends! (There’s actually a nice little thank you for signing up anyway – in the form of a FREE first chapter of Fractured, Book One of the Unbreakable Series.)

This for me is the easiest way of keeping track as the website’s Mail system lists all of the entries and is much more reliable than me counting retweets and shares (especially with Twitter sometimes being super glitchy and eating my notifications, grrrr.)

So sign up and enter the draw!! I’m soooooo looking forward to giving these babies away!!

If you have any questions, just get in contact with me and we’ll sort you out. And of course, share this competition with everyone you know!

I have other news but I’ll save that for next time! 

Oh and don’t forget to review my book/s on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, etc……….I’d be ever so grateful. Coz, yanno……..this……

[image error] 

 Talk soon!!

Much love,

Zelly

And the winners are…….

Hello all,

[image error]

Well, the competition giveaway is over and the winners have been drawn.

Thank you so very much to all of you for entering….all those tweets, retweets, shares and reviews etc were so much fun to keep track of but also quite challenging! I had to rely on a specific method to make sure I didn’t miss anyone’s tweet or share. Plus then updating it constantly…..

Some of you may not even realise that you entered the draw but you did just by being kind enough to share or retweet. Even if it was just the once, you ended up in the draw. 

Welcome to all of the new followers that entered as well….thank you for your support and I look forward to connecting more with you in the future. 

Now…. I debated how to draw this giveaway given that I don’t have any fancy tumbling machine to toss tickets around with. (I mean, who has one of those in their cupboards, lol?) 

I ended up going with the simplest of methods…..writing each name out -some repetitively for those that had multiple entries – cutting them up into tiny pieces and then literally tossing them around in a plastic tub….very sophisticated.