C.K. Robertson's Blog, page 2

The Booktok Scandal : My Insights

Hello Readers & Friends,

I thought I'd do a more serious, educational post today with my own personal insights on the 'booktok NYT scandal.' A lot of book bloggers are upset at the moment, after the NY Times posted an article about Booktokers shifting mountains of books and being paid for collaborations, with more traditional book reviewers on platforms such as Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram feeling really disheartened as a result of not being paid for their own work.

But there are also a lot of things which have not been taken into account, or flagged in the article, which I do want to quickly let you guys know about. For background, I work in publishing as a marketer and used to work in influencer marketing for fashion brands. So I worked with influencers a lot, and now I'm one of the people who send out books to bloggers (although PR handle a lot of this, too).

I just want to clarify as well - I do NOT speak on behalf of my workplace, or publishing as a whole. Each team, each company, and even each marketer works differently. In fact, at my office I think I'm one of the only marketers who includes influencer strategy in my campaigns and it's only because of my previous work experience that I do so. 

So, here are some things to cover.

How I personally choose influencers to work with:

 - The most important thing I look at, is country. I know that this upsets many people who are based outside of the UK/US, but the fact is that I need whoever posts about my book to have a majority audience in the UK, where the book is selling. If a page doesn't have the country clearly displayed, I will find someone else because we don't have the time to contact everyone who may or may not be in the UK to find out. 

Other factors to note for why country is so important are:

- Increased cost of shipping books internationally

- Where we have rights to sell a book. The majority of books I work on are UK only, with a few being US and Canada also. This means that another publisher handles the book abroad, so I shouldn't be marketing in that country. For example, a book published in the UK by Penguin may be published in the US by Harper Collins, so the UK publisher wouldn't be approaching US bloggers.

- I will also take into account the type of book that the blogger usually posts about, quality of content, and followers (though I don't focus too much on followers, I'd rather have a nice review from someone with 800 followers than nothing from someone with 20,000). 

How budgets work:

Okay, this is where things get a bit tricky and lines blur but the key thing for everyone to know is:

- Marketers do not just get a big pot of money to work with, that can be used where they want, when they want. Sadly for me!

This means that for every decision we make, we have to work out the return on investment. For this reason, most marketers will always prioritise digital advertising, because it's proven to work, rather than working with influencers. This is because for every person who sees an influencer talking about something (which, by the way, is always substantially less than the number of followers that blogger has), the average click-through to that item is about 2%. Of those 2%, maybe half of them will actually make a purchase if you're lucky.

- Where I work, every book is allocated a different budget. So when the publisher tells you they don't have budget for their book, they really probably don't. Even if they have paid in the past for another title for a sponsored post, it doesn't mean that they have that budget for every single book. I WISH I did! But sadly, I do not. 

Why it's not bookstagram vs booktok

The communities and audiences on Booktok are totally different to Bookstagram, so I hope that creators don't feel they are being unfairly shunned and that Booktokers are getting paid 'instead of' them.

In general, I personally only really collab with bookstagrammers. This is because my main book genres are commercial women's fiction and thrillers, and I know that Instagram is the best channel for that audience. 

I think Booktok is probably much better suited for YA audiences and fantasy, sci-fi readers, but I don't do many of those books so I can't speak for those marketers. But I don't think bloggers should be competing with each other based on what channels they use.

For example, a business book I'm marketing will be advertised on Linkedin. This doesn't mean that Linkedin is 'stealing business' from book bloggers on Tiktok, it just means it's the best channel for that particular title and I've had to make a prioritisation based on what will generate the most sales. So I hope bloggers don't feel disheartened or like they've been taken for a ride by publishers! 

Legalities to know

I do think it's really important that bloggers know the legal rules and ASA Guidelines, and aren't taken advantage of. The key things to know are:

- If a publisher sends you something for free, it's UP TO YOU whether you post about it or not. Just because they send you something, doesn't mean you have to review it. So when I send out books without payment, of course I am hoping that they will like it and therefore share it with their followers, but I'm aware that I am not entitled to a post without payment. This is why I'll usually reach out to bloggers who have read similar titles or genres, so I know the chances of them enjoying my book and sharing a good review are higher. 

- If a publisher does have budget to pay you for a post, make sure you have agreed on what type of post and a posting date if required so everyone is on the same page.

As a book blogger and Bookstagrammer myself, I understand both sides of the coin, truly I do. And I WISH I was paid for my content, but knowing what I do from my job, I know it's just not realistically possible. I wish that as a marketer I had money to pay all the bloggers for their amazing content, but sadly it's not a case of publishers refusing to pay bloggers rather than really just not being able to.

 So don't feel disheartened if a publisher tells you they can't pay - because next time maybe they will be able to! 

Keep doing what you do because you love it, and don't compare your work or results to anybody else's. I think those are the two key things to remember to stay happy while you blog. It's what I try to remember for my own channels! 

Love,

C x 

Witchy Wednesday: Ostara

 Hello witchies,

Today's post I thought it would make sense to chat about the upcoming sabbat, Ostara. Also knows as Spring Equinox! Typically it falls between 20-23rd March.

It's one of the biggest sabbats for wiccans and it celebrates perfect balance between light and dark, as the days reach an equilibrium with the nights and those early dark wintery evenings start to ease away. It's about celebrating the fertility of spring, nature, and new life. 

A lot of the celebratory activities cross over with Christian Easter celebrations, so there's lots you can do to celebrate Ostara with any non-pagan friends. Here are some ideas below for how to celebrate:

- Go on an egg hunt

- Paint eggs

- Have a big traditional Ostara meal with foods such as roasted lamb, hot cross buns, or honey cakes.

- Do some gardening or plant some seeds to thank the earth and celebrate the coming of spring

It's also a good time to do any spellwork relating to balance, to set new goals, to spring clean, and to work on positive manifestations.

I will be cooking lamb of some sort and enjoying hot cross buns and a chocolate egg! (Eggs symbolise the fertility of Ostara.) I'll also light a candle and work on setting some goals for the coming months, and definitely use the weekend as an excuse to do a big spring clean! 

Today I'll share my spread for Ostara in my Book of Shadows - I'll also be writing down a hot cross bun recipe to try out.

How will you be celebrating Ostara / Easter this year?

Stay witchy!
Love,

C x 

I read Twilight for the first time: Video

Hello Readers & Friends,

I read Twilight for the very first time. Yes, I'm 20 years late, but better late than never, right? I watched them all back-to-back for the first time in October and you guys loved my instagram story commentary, so I thought it was only fair that I read book 1 and shared my thoughts.

So, here we go.

First 100 pages: 

Bella is actually quite relatable. She is 100% more normal and less socially awkward than the Kristen Stewart depiction. I almost like her. However, the descriptions and mentions of her falling over are so many and so insinuative that I actually started to wonder if she was maybe disabled or had a neurological impairment.Edward has a bit of banter in this, and is more of a normal teenager than Robert Pattinson's depiction. Listening to CDs in a car? Yes, this is an Edward I can get on board with, much more than the film version. However, the use of 'Edward laughed' as a descriptive response to EVERYTHING is extremely jarring, especially when nothing he is laughing at is even remotely funny. All he does, in response to everything Bella does, is either storm off or laugh. Which is odd.

Next 100 pages:

It actually references Bella being potentially disabled now, which somewhat satiated my annoyance at the repetitive falls.Dragging on a bit now.More of the school setting in the book than the film, which makes everything much more relatable and less weirdThe mind-reading thing is MUCH clearer in the books. In the films I didn't know what the heck was going on or how Edward kept popping up everywhere but the books make it all clear.The infamous 'I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him' quote happens here, after A SINGLE CAR JOURNEY WITH HIM! So far, all they've done is avoid each other and make painfully awkward conversation and now Bella is being all poetic declaring her undying love for him?! This was the most painful instance of insta-love I have read in a long time. Next 100 pages:

The amount of questions Book-Bella asks Edward about being a vampire versus Film-Bella is much more normal and understandable, and it feeds us a lot of explanations that were missing from the film about the Cullen family history, and why he watches her sleep like a freak. There's a lot more easy, natural banter between the two of them in the book, HOWEVERNothing has happened so far, making it a very boring book.Last 100 Pages:Everything happens very quickly and the car-chase scene feels a bit weird and not very well thought out, but it's the first action we've had for 300 pages so I'm invested anyway.I like seeing more of the Cullens personalities, particularly Emmet, Jasper and Alice. (Sorry Rosalie, but you're just kind of a bitch so far.) Petition for a tv series just focusing on them? Potentially why meyers wrote Midnight Sun, to be fair.Final thoughts?3/5 stars. Won't be reaching for the second anytime soon but glad I finally got this one off the list. For anyone after another paranormal love-match YA, I recommend Shiver or the Crave series, both of which I found stronger than this first Twilight book. I'm sure it gets better, I'm just not sure a 3-star rating is going to make me run to finish this series unless I'm really in the mood for some cliche-riddled YA.
The rambly video-version of my review:

Love,
C x 

Reading Room Tour

 Hello Readers & Friends,

Today I want to share my finally-completed 'reading room'. This room is a combination of things - it's my work-from-home office space, a spare bedroom for guests, my reading space and the place I can go to sit and watch films with my friends when Steven is in the main lounge using the TV.

It's a deceptively small space, so was hard to make it functional on a budget. Getting the wifi to reach it (it's right at the back of a very long London house!) was really difficult, and the only booster that we found works was the pricey Google Nest internet boosting system, but it's been worth it to have somewhere to sit and work all day. 

I made several Pinterest boards and shopped around a LOT, but it's finally finished and I'm so excited to share it!

This is the view when you first walk into the room. I looked at various paint options for the room, but didn't want to make the already-small space look smaller. However, stark white was too much, so I found this gorgeous soft, warm, grey called Skimming Stone from Farrow & Ball which I'm so happy with. We managed to stretch the 2.5l to the entire room, which is lucky as it was quite pricey. 

My rug was an absolute steal, £35 brand new on Ebay.  I'm sure you can find similar on there or Amazon! It's very soft and lovely. 

Our flooring was vinyl from Wickes, and the gold lampshade was from Poundstretcher for about a fiver. 

Our TV is an old chunky one, and I wanted to maximise book-storage in this room so instead of a TV unit I bought two very cheap bookshelves from Amazon and stuck them together to prop the TV on. (Similar bookcase here.)

(Can you see my tiny, weird clay racoon in dungarees I made? haha!) 

The beautiful jungle mural was a gift but I found it here for £69.

All the dried bouquets in the room are 'would-be-wedding-day' bouquets from my friends last year which I dried out and kept. 

This mirror actually was left in the house when we moved in and I roughly spray-painted it gold.
The pink in my alter space is Sulking Room Pink - also from Farrow and Ball and leftover from our bedroom.The vintage filing cabinet was thrifted, and I bought these white storage boxes from Amazon and used my label maker to try and keep the open shelving tidier. 
My tiger mug is from Urban Outfitters (no longer sold, sorry!) and I use it to store all my blue-light glasses (most of which are kindly sent to me from TIJN, who I work with regularly due to my instagram and screen-related migraines!.) 

This little crevice is the space I've turned into my wiccan alter. I keep all my wicca books and books on tarot etc there on the left, my gems and crystals are all there in boxes, some candles, my tarot cards are in the brown box, and I have a 'tarot card of the day' on display which admittedly hasn't been changed in a while. A lot of my stuff comes from my Witch Casket UK subscription. I use this space for meditation a lot. You can read more about my wicca journey here. 


The Haru Sofa bed from Made is ideal for a small, functional space, and comes in lots of colours. I liked the dusty pink, and it pulls out really easily into a very small sofa bed. It's fine for a couple of drunk friends to share as a one-off, but I wouldn't invite my parents to stay in it for more than a single night - it is very small and quite hard on the back.My magazine holder was a gift from Steven - I'm not sure where it's from unfortunately, I've had it a long while! The cushion covers were temporary ones from Shein until I find nicer ones - they were crazy cheap though!
You can't see them, but in these bookshelves I actually have tiny lights stuck to the top of each shelf - so at night I can light up the shelves. I LOVE these, and they are from Amazon here. 


My main workspace! My body vase is from H&M (out of stock now, sorry!), and I have a gimmick sign on my desk that says 'manager of looking busy' which was a gift from my dad. 
I love my exposed bulb lamp which was from Ikea (Just £7 at the moment!), my penholder is another Urban Outfitters mug. I like to always have a candle burning while I work and Aldi do amazing giant double-wick ones for just £3.75, so I always pick one of those up when I'm in store and when they burn down to nothing I keep the jars for storage. I also have some beautiful Resin pieces from my friend's online store on my desk, though you can't see them very well here! You can check her page out here. 
The chair was a brilliant Amazon find which perfectly fits the desk and matches the sofa for only £65!
The basket beneath which stores blankets is from H&M.
The desk is my winning piece - a £1000 Laura Ashley dresser which had a drawer broken and I bought on Facebook Marketplace for just £80. I removed the broken drawer and put a faux Ikea hanging plant in there which I think makes it look a bit like a magical forest desk. 
The gold mirror was £14 from Amazon, the small shelves were also from Amazon.I love how the light hits in the afternoon here, it's so gorgeous (albeit annoying on my screen!)  


Lastly, hidden away behind the door, is an homage to Steve from Stranger Things. Aka, my boyfriend. This poster was found in a random store in Brighton.
And that's about it!
I have a video showing more details as well, and I'm loving having such a cosy, creative space to keep me motivated and that makes working from home such a joy.One thing that you don't see in the photographs but catch in the video is my little trolley from Hobbycraft. (Sold out but available at an inflated price on Amazon here.) On the top of this trolley I house all the books and proofs that I'm working on, so I can quickly find extracts etc. And so I can showcase my wonderful author's work! I also keep all my journalling supplies in this trolley in boxes, so it's a bit of a mess and I tend to drag it around the room a lot as I work. 

@byckrobertson

room tour time! ##readingroom ##library ##librarytiktok ##booktok ##bookish ##bookclub ##yabooktok ##bookshelfpalace ##bookrecommendations ##bookshelf

♬ California Dreamin - Be groovy or leave man‼️

Where do you work?
Love,
C x 

February Roundup: Monthly Favourites

 Hello Readers & Friends,
February came and went very quickly, as it always does being a short month! I struggled a little with mental health at the start as it was so dark and rainy and awful and lockdown seemed to be going on forever, but the tail end has been better. We've seen some sunshine, have at least the bones of a plan for leaving lockdown, my best friend moved down the road so I can go on walks with her at lunchtime and we made the difficult decision to postpone our wedding (again) to 2022. But it feels like a weight off the shoulders, and now I'm just ready for Spring to come in full force!
February Book Roundup:I read 8 books this month, which I'm happy with as it was a short month! I jumped from fantasy to contemporary quite liberally, and even squeezed a non-fiction in there!

Film for Her by Orion Carloto ****Wildwood by Colin Meloy ***Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson ***The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman ****My Broken Vagina by Fran Bushe ****Witch by Finbar Hawkins **Twilight by Stephanie Meyer ***Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater ****

FILM 

Ocean's 8 - Netflix

For our date night we watched Ocean's 8, which I really enjoyed. I haven't actually seen any of the original Ocean's films, but they are now on my list. I loved the strong, sassy women in this, and particularly liked Rihanna's hacker character. I just thought they were all so wiley and it made me want to get a hot girl gang and rob a bank or something. I also feel like we will never live to see such a strong female cast again, ever. Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson (my Queen), Helena Boheme Carter AND Rihanna all in one!? Someone pinch me.

BooksI have full reviews coming for My Broken Vagina and a funny video rundown for Twilight, so stay tuned. I don't have too much to say about Shiver, Thursday Murder Club or Sorcery of Thorns that I haven't already said, and I've done a quick rundown of why I didn't like Witch on Instagram. I also have a review on Wildwood available already, so I thought I'd share some parts of Film For Her which speak for themselves. I've followed Orion online for years and bought her first poetry book, Flux, a while ago. Film For Her shows her growth as a writer and artist, and I found it much stronger and more beautiful. I also just think it's a beautiful thing to have, her accompanying photography is as lovely as her words. It's very relatable in the pain and suffering she shares as a young woman of today.

“Don't get too close,
I'll turn you
into poetry”
"I titled this chapterof of our story'Death by Muse'
Because suddenly, andall at once,we turned our holy placeinto a war zone"
"Raptured fantasieshave never beenout of the question.If we're going to feel, let's do so deeply."

Misc

OFFICE & WRITING

I spent a lot of this month doing up the reading room / spare room! We FINALLY found a Wifi booster which reaches it, (we live in a very long house so it wouldn't reach before) and now we get internet in there, so I got busy painting, redecorating, finding a desk and chair and making it into a working-from-home space. Only a year late! I have a tour blog post coming soon, so stay tuned, but here's a sneak peek! I've also been writing again - a very commercial women's thriller. More on that as I have it!


VALENTINE'S DAY
Not much that could be done on a rainy lockdown Valentine's Day, but we put on quite an impressive charcuterie spread!






Love,C x

Witchy Wednesday: DIY Incense Holder

 Hey witches,

Another Witchy Wednesday post for you all, and this is a fun one. As we have been in lockdown for close to a year, I have dabbled in a LOT of hobbies and crafts, from jigsaw puzzles through to origami. So it was about time I dabbled with polymer clay. Let it be known: I am not a sculptor, an artist, and I went into this with minimal gear and no idea.

To clarify, for this project I used:

- White Sculpey polymer clay (you can find this on Amazon, or use any polymer clay, like Fimo!)

- A random knife from the kitchen

- An incense stick

- Himi gouache paint because it was all I had, but cheapo acrylic paint is probably better for this.

- Nail polish

Onto my very unprofessional how-to!

Step 1 - Make the holder. I had a peruse on Pinterest for ideas and decided I wanted one that was a dish shape to catch the ashes. I started with a big lump of clay and rolled it into a big ball, and then squashed it flat with my palm on a table. This was my base.

Step 2 - I curled the edges to make them stand up, and decided that with my lack of skill, technique and equipment it would never look neat and tidy, so instead opted for a 'ruffled' ridge design so that it was purposefully wiggly. I just pinched and squeezed the edges into ruffles until I was happy with them!

Step 3 - I rolled a little oval egg shape for the actual holder. I cross hatched the bottom of it with a kitchen knife and dabbed a bit of water onto it and then pressed it gently into the base so it would 'stick.' Then I just pushed my incense stick into it and gave it a wiggle so the incense stick holder part was a little bigger than the size of the stick, so once it baked it could slip in easily and hold.

Step 4 - I then rolled another ball and flattened it with my palm (you see this is a trend). I used a kitchen knife to cut out little star shapes and just stuck them randomly around the base. Then we were done!

Step 5 - In the oven at 110 degrees celsius for 20 minutes, then left to cool and harden. 

Step 6 - Then it was time to decorate. Once it was cool and hard, I just painted the stars, holder and edges of the ruffles in black. I decided to keep it simple. I found the gouache needed a few layers as when mixed with water it didn't take so well to the surface, which is why I recommend acrylic instead if possible.

Step 7 - Once that was all dry, I went over the stars and holder bubble with some silver nail polish to give it some sparkle!

And that's it! It holds my incense stick and I think it's super cute. It was a really nice evening activity as lockdown boredom sets in. 

And here are some key benefits of burning certain types of incense:

1. Sandalwood scents  reduce stress and anxiety

2. Rose scents can improve focus and concentration

3. Frankincense is great for soothing, calming and meditation. And depression!

4. Nag Champa is good for purifying your air

5. Lavender can help your sleep and help to calm and sedate. 

Stay witchy!
Love,

C x 

Book Review: Wildwood by Colin Meloy

 Hello Readers & Friends,

Today I'm not just reviewing Wildwood, but talking about why I enjoy reading Middle Grade titles every now and again - especially fantasy ones. 

I would be lying if I said I didn't pick up Wildwood mostly because of it's cover, but an endorsement from my childhood companion, Lemony Snicket, on the cover sold me over. There is something about these strange, whimsical, middle-grade stories that I really love. They are so much more magical than Adult or YA fantasy somehow, their descriptions so strange and everything so innocent.

In Wildwood, we have 12-year-old heroine Prue, whose baby brother has been stolen from a park by a murder of crows and dropped into the magical Wildwood. Prue goes on a mission to find him, and finds herself in the middle of a political woodland war, where coyotes dressed as soldiers are fighting bandits, and birds can fly children on their backs like dragons, and badgers drive tuk-tuks around offering lifts. This is the sort of silly magical escapism that children appreciate, and I like to delve into this sort of reading again to remind myself what it's like to be so young and full of imagination. It's why Alice in Wonderland is one of my favourite books, and, of course, Enid Blyton's The Faraway Tree series.

Other, modern favourites that instil the same sense of wonder and easy enjoyment are the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness and Eragon by Christopher Paolini. I like looking at relationships through the eyes of children, totally innocent and plutonic. Once you get into slightly older territory, romantic relationships tend to be at the root of most novels whereas Middle Grade still emphasises the values of plutonic trust, friendship and loyalty in a very endearing, sweet way.

Whilst I wouldn't like to read too much Middle Grade, I do find that every now and again when you need something nice and easy for some nostalgic escapism, picking up a fantasy like Wildwood is just what you need. 

What do you think?
Love,

C x 

Book Review: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

You can expect: magical libraries, demons, sorcerers, grimoires that bite, and a romance.

 Hello Readers & Friends,

I can't quite remember the last time I read a standalone fantasy! I thought this one was part of a trilogy, and was quite shocked when it all wrapped up nicely at the end and a quick Google confirmed it was a standalone. I did want more, because I enjoyed it so much, but it wasn't needed and I appreciated that it wasn't dragged out. I also don't feel that any worldbuilding was sacrificed by writing a standalone, the magical system was clear and I loved the world Rogerson created. It was very beautiful and I didn't feel it was lacking, for what the story needed.

The story follows Elisabeth, who has been raised in a Greater Library. There are five libraries in the kingdom, and they house magical grimoires safely, keeping them guarded from anyone who may want to misuse them. I loved her descriptions of the grimoires, they were almost like pets, responsive to Elisabeth but if damaged, they turn into Malefects - which are essentially demons. From a marketer point of view, the idea of a story based around magical libraries had my heart fluttering - I couldn't stop thinking about fun marketing campaigns that this book could have had! As a reader, it was great. 

Then there are sorcerers - magicians who have powers as a result of enslaving demons. So the story starts with Elisabeth waking up one night in the library, and finding her library Director dead, and a grimoire has been turned into a Malefect and released. What follows is a wild journey as Elisabeth tries to find out who is releasing demons and why, with the help of a sultry, sassy, sarcastic sorcerer (how much alliteration can one person use?). 

I have the book four stars, I saw on GoodReads a lot of people felt the ending was a bit bleh, but I was the opposite. It was emotional and magical and I feel it was the right ending. I also loved the action-packed start, it was the middle which lost me a little, it felt a bit slow for a while when we were just watching Elisabeth try to work out who was behind the attacks. But once that part was over, I was gripped and excited to keep going until the end. 

I think something I loved the most about this book were the themes about good and evil, the blurred lines and grey edges of what it really means to be good. Overall I really enjoyed the book, it was an easy-to-read and not-tooooo-tropey YA fantasy and I would definitely read any more of Rogerson's books.

Love,

C x 

January Roundup: Monthly Favourites

 Hello Readers & Friends,
I can't believe we're one month into 2021 already. January came and went so quickly. It's been a horrible month. Dark, cold, and the UK still in complete lockdown. But with February at least brighter days seem around the corner. 
January Book Roundup:I bumped my GoodReads target up to 100 for 2021 so I pushed myself and got through 9 books this month. I was a bit up and down, I read some which were disappointing (The Magpie Society) and some which were just bizarre and not for me (Bunny). But here we are: 

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness ****The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall ****The Ravens by Kass Morgan, Danielle Paige **/*The Magpie Society by Zoe Sugg, Amy McCullock **/*The Lost Storyteller by Amanda Block *****Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalo ***Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin ***How The King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black ***
Bunny by Mona Awad **

FILM

 

Pride and Prejudice - Netflix

Okay I know this sounds wild but I've never read or seen Pride and Prejudice before, so I sat down and watched the film, the one with Kiera Knightly, and absolutely loved it! So now I have the Colin Firth TV series sat in my watch list as well, because I'm interested to see how it was adapted for a series. 
TV
Bridgerton - Netflix
Clearly I've been in the mood for period things, but I absolutely loved Bridgerton. And, to my GREATEST surprise, so did Steven. It was like a historical Gossip Girl, I loved the characters, particularly Daphne and Eloise, and am fascinated by how women were treated back in those days. And, of course, the Duke wasn't bad to watch either. I loved it and it made me want to wear corsets and ballgowns and I can't recommend enough, even if you don't think it's your thing. (It's not my usual thing, at all! And definitely not Steven's! So that's your proof if you're on the fence.) 

Books

I thought I'd take this blog post space to discuss Bunny by Mona Awad because it was so bizarre! I gave it 2 stars because I was just honestly so confused. It's described as a black satire about female friendships, and Heathers meets The Craft. I typically don't enjoy satires but this was especially strange. It basically follows four girls undergoing a Creative Writing MFA at Warren University who refer to each other as 'bunny'. They envelop introvert outsider, Samantha, into their weird clique which ends up involving cult-like behaviour and strange rituals involving animal sacrifices. The story takes several bizarre twists and turns, some parts I had to read twice because I was so confused about what was happening, and in a very Fight Club-esque way, you are never sure what is real and what isn't. The end was a whirlwind of revelations and complicated implications and honestly I didn't enjoy it even though I know many people have loved it. For me, I skim read a lot of it because the craziness of what was going on amidst what was otherwise a very realistic setting was really offputting for me, and by the end I was just thinking everything was happening in her head because it was just so far-fetched. I also didn't like any of the characters, so for me it fell flat there and meant I really didn't care where it went - not that I could have guessed anyway. So a weird one for me, I'd love to hear what you think!

Music

Renaissance Girl -Alybob
I spend quite a lot of time searching for musicians in random places like Youtube, Soundcloud etc. I love indie artists and supporting undiscovered gems, and I fell upon Alybob on TikTok and this song has been stuck in my head ever since I love the poetic lyrics. 




How are you feeling for 2021? Love, C x 

Witchy Wednesday: My Book of Shadows

 Hey Readers, Friends & Witchies!

The first Witchy Wednesday post and it's publishing on a Thursday, which illustrates just how legit this series is going to be! If you want the introduction as to why I started this series and where I am in my wicca journey, check out this blog post here. 

For today's first post I thought I'd share a bit about my Book of Shadows which I started working on last year on my journey to find a more spiritual self. 

 

What is a Book of Shadows?

They go by different names depending on who you speak to, Book of Light, Grimoire, etc, but at it's core it's just a diary of your own personal spiritual journey. You may see big, fancy, leatherbound ones but they can also be £1 spiral bound notebooks picked up in Tesco's or even just a digital file in a laptop. 

It's just a name for where you keep track of all your research, spells, magick work, and any personal notes, intentions, thoughts, doodles etc. It's not anything as fancy as it sounds!

My Book of Shadows

My working book

I actually have two. As you all know by now, I love journalling, so I always wanted one of those fancy shmancy books filled with beautiful paintings and crafty collages etc. But it's not very realistic to have something so beautiful and get proper use out of it. So I bought myself a cheapy black Moleskin rip off, just a lined notebook I'm not afraid to mess up, and that's my day-to-day working book. I keep track of things like any spells I try, all my research and learnings, any tarot readings I try out, the moon phases, and the sabbats. Nothing is in order, it's all pretty messy and all over the place, but I know where to go if I'm looking for something in particular and that's all that counts!

I think it's important to have a book you're not scared of ruining because you're bound to make mistakes in your journey and have to scratch things out etc, so I wouldn't focus too much on having everything perfect otherwise you'll find yourself not using your book at all. 

Then I have my 'beautiful' journal, which I splashed out on a bit because it really called out to me. It's by an Italian brand I love who handmake all their books, called Libri Muti. This one I update much less regularly and only with things that I know aren't going to change, or that I've tried and tested and want to mark permanently. So as of right now, it only has some information on Paganism, the Sabbats, Elements and Moon Phases as those are things that won't be changing in my lifetime and I could spend the time making beautiful spreads.

Fancy Shmancy Book

What to include?

If you're wiccan you might want to start off with the Rede to keep you focused. I have the full Rede in my working BoS and the shortened version in my perdy one. Many people put a protection sigil a the start as well - again, I have that on my working BoS but not my pretty one - yet. There's nothing really in there that's private so far.

Some ideas for things to include inside that I've been doing so far. You can focus on one or all of these things. I have a particular interest in celestial work, zodiacs, constellations etc, and don't really do much kitchen work with spells or herbs, but everyone is different, so fill your book with things which suit your own personal interests:

- History of wicca, paganism, origins, witchcraft history, origin of the pentagram etc

- Crystals - types, shapes, uses, how to cleanse them, charge them, etc

- Moon phases - how to track them, use them in magick, etc

- Sabbats and Esbats - the wiccan calendar, holidays to celebrate and how to celebrate them!

- Herbs and their properties

- Candle magick - colour correspondences etc

- Elemental magick - research on the elements, how to reflect them, which you feel closer to etc

- Zodiac work - research into natal charts, constellations, astrology

- Divination work - palmistry, tarot, tasseography or pendulum work. My favourite is tarot, and I haven't really branched out into the others yet, but I'll try anything once! 

- Symbols, signs, runes and sigils! 

If you're looking for more inspiration, I have made a board on my Pinterest full of advice, tips etc which you can check out here. 

I hope this answers some of your questions, but please shout if you have any more.

Stay witchy! 

Love, C x