Zoe Lea's Blog, page 6

5 ways to supercharge your Instagram

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Last month, I posted about how to make Instagram pictures that get results. I’d changed a few things with my account, actually started practising some of the great advice I’d been told.

I focused on my content, researched my hashtags and after about three years of being static, my account suddenly started to grow.
My pictures regularly started getting over 1000 likes and after stagnating at around 2800 followers, this week I hit four thousand. That’s 1000 new followers in just over a month....

5 ways to create a cosy reading nook

[image error]Last week, we moved house.
We’re still in the Lake District and still in the same village, but we’ve moved into a bigger house. It’s a bit of a dream to be honest. And since we’ve moved in, I keep thinking that we’re actually on holiday and will have to go home soon. Or that the real owners will arrive home and be all like, ‘okay kids, fun’s over.’

I know how ridiculous that sounds, but honestly, that’s what it feels like. We saw the house in December and I’m writing this at the beginning of...

Too Busy for a Book Club? Join our online version

Book clubs are great.
Joining one means you read a book at least once a month, you meet new and interesting people and you’re introduced to books you wouldn’t normally read. It also means that when you’ve read the book, you’ve people to discuss and debate it with.

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I’ve been involved in a book club for a while, we choose a book and then plan a date to meet up and discuss. But the problem is, we’re all super busy.

The date to meet tends to get changed, and sometimes, we don’t all manage to rea...

Thriller books in 2019

How many books have you got on your TBR pile?

I was going to take a picture of mine, to show you it almost toppling over, but we’re getting ready to move house so half of them have been packed already, but no kidding, there’s about ten so far. And that’s physical books, so not counting the ones on my kindle!

Anyway, thriller books in 2019 are looking great. Not only is mine coming out in the summer (shameless plug) but I seem to be adding to my list of thriller books almost daily. And I’m rea...

How to make easy cinemagraphs for instagram

Creating cinemagraphs for Instagram is super easy.

I use a few apps, but in this post, I’m focusing on the app Webler (affiliate link) because it’s so simple to use and has the best effects. But before we get into how to make the cinemagraphs, let’s firstly look at if they’re worth it.

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I love the effect of a cinemagraph – where one part of the image moves and the rest is frozen. It reminds me of those moving pictures in Harry Potter and like I’m making all kind of magic and I enjoy the whole...

Instagram Hashtags and how to use them

Remember my last post, where I told you about the book I’m writing and how I was behaving like my main character who is an influencer and it was getting me all kinds of amazing results on Instagram?

Well since I wrote that, I kind of stopped behaving like my main character.

The day job got busy and I’m trying to get a first draft done. On top of that, my five-year-old daughter has taken to sitting on my lap when I’m on my phone, pulling it out of my hands and saying ‘that’s not important,’ wh...

Instagram pictures that get results

I’m working on a book where my main character is an ‘Influencer,’ she makes a load of money from social media, she vlogs, blogs and is an Instagram boss and if you want to read the rest of the synopsis you can do so here.

‘But this is a post about Instagram pictures!’ I hear you shout, ‘What’s that got to do with your book?’

Because this week, I behaved as if I were my main character in the book I’m writing. As if I made my income from social media, as if I was an ‘influencer,’ and the result...

Writer’s shopping list

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Hello 2019!

I realise I’m a bit late with this blog post to be wishing you that, but I took an unintentional break from the internet and social media in general over the holidays and I felt so much better for it.

I played with the kids, went for long walks, visited friends, watched films, read some books (but not nearly enough) and it was lovely. Fully recommend it.

But now, it’s January and I’ve a new book to write, the first book that I’m actually writing whilst under contract and I’m a bi...

Social Media Cards – how to make them

One of the nicest features about Facebook is how it notifies you when it’s someone’s birthday. ‘Wish them a Happy Birthday,’ it encourages and mostly, people do. Resulting in a large amount of well wishes to the person who’s birthday it is, and when it happens to me, I LOVE IT.

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I thought there must be a way to do something similar with my online friends this Christmas. To the people on Instagram whose content I’ve loved, the people on Twitter and Facebook who I’ve chatted with.  Last year I...

Boozy microwave fudge

Boozy microwave fudge, made in minutes, super easy and a loose tie in with my book. What more could you want from a blog post? This is a part of the #AdventingAuthors calendar run by Tracy Buchanan.

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If He Wakes is set in Chester, around the Christmas period.

The Chester Christmas parade and markets are a backdrop to the book, as I wanted the chaotic feeling to this time of year to add to the tension.

One of my main characters Rachel, (oh poor Rachel, I can’t think about her without feeling s...