Blogger Interview with Denise Covey, WEP Creator

I'm over at Unicorn Bell with Dear Unfocused Writer 
+ Dear Writer with an Editor


After having Gary from Klahine (who hates blog hops) on my blog last month, I decided to switch tracks and have someone here who helped to create a rather fun blog hop that helps writers to share their work, get feedback, and build relationships. Today I have the lovely Denise Covey as my guest. Please help me welcome her!

1.    Tell us about the blog hop Write…Edit…Publishand how you came up with it.
Write…Edit…Publish (WEP) was the brainchild of Francine Howarth and myself in 2010. We called it Romantic Friday Writers to give romance writers a platform to work on their craft and receive feedback from like-minded writers. Good blogging friend Donna Hole partnered up with me when Francine’s career went gangbusters. We took the ‘romance’ out of the title as that is a scary word to some. Finally, with Yolanda Renee in 2015, we re-branded as WEP, where writers all around the world respond to set challenges with flash fiction, non-fiction, poetry, photography, and occasionally some great artwork.
     2.    What is the WEP challenge for June?
WEP has been a casualty of the A-Z challenge. Many of our writers were burned out, so we moved the June challenge to August. ‘Gardens’ is the challenge, and it can be tackled any way in any genre.

      3.    What was your very first blog post?
My first blog post was titled ‘An Aussie Loses it in Genova, Italy’ in 2008. Travel post, of course. I got 1 comment. I still love that post even if only 2 people have read it, ha ha ha.
      4.    You travel to Paris a lot and blog about your adventures. What do you like most about this city?
Paris was love at first sight for me. I’ll never forget flying over Paris and into Charles de Gaulle airport the first time. I usually visit every couple of years; I once stayed 6 months to work on my French-speaking skills! But…hard to say just one thing I like most about her, but I’ll try.
Paris is a sensory feast—the architecture, wow, how design has always been upmost in the planners’ thoughts ever since Haussmann was hired to beautify the city in 1853. This attention to detail translates into a stunning experience when you walk the streets, linger for coffee and people watching along the Seine or enjoy a simple meal with excellent wine in the Latin Quarter, or just relax with a baguette on the stairs below Sacre Coeur in Montmartre and enjoy the view of the city laid out before you while you listen to classical musicians plucking at their harp strings.
      5.    You’ve taught English for years and share your current students' curriculum on your English Resources blog. What do you think is most important for kids these days to learn in English class?
I don’t teach in the classroom any longer; I am a private tutor running my own business teaching English/English Literature at the State Library of Queensland. My students are predominantly international; currently they hail from Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Bahrain. I get the biggest thrill when a science-y student (aren’t they all?) confesses that he now loves English instead of hating it. I think it is so important for students to appreciate how a love of English—books, plays, poetry, speech, creative writing— can enrich them both present and future. The high school from which most of my students are drawn has Shakespeare on the curriculum in every year level, so if I can get students to love the bard, understand the history of the time, and the timelessness of good literature, I’m hilariously happy.
      6.    What are the top 5 most-viewed posts on your blog?
Most-viewed in order…I got quite a surprise to see how many views I’ve had on some of the older posts I’d forgotten about, so this was a worthwhile exercise.
IWSG—Exploring your creativity in a writer’s group
Copyright Education (on sharing images)
Genre favourites blogfest
Is the pen mightier than the sword?
Frustrated with self-publishing?
      7.    Share your number one tip to bloggers just starting out.
Don’t get frustrated if you don’t get a heap of followers right off. It takes awhile to be discovered (there are ways to hasten this process if you are really into it), so just plug away, write good content, visit blogs like yours, leave comments, and you will find people often reciprocate. And as much as Chrys’ previous guest, the lovely klahanie, hates bloghops, these are a great way to promote your blog and show people who you are and, yes, to find new followers. And it is crucial that people find your blog easy to read. A new blogger can get carried away with cute, busy backgrounds, and fonts that are too small, too big, too white, too grey etc, so take care if you’re designing your blog yourself. Find some blogs you like and copy ideas.

Hyper Round: 
1.    Favorite time to post blogs?8.30 pm Pacific Time (Brisbane).

2.    Blogger or Wordpress?Both. Makes me more accessible.

3.    Do you host guests?Sure. I love my guests.  

4.    Where are you when you’re blogging? Usually in libraries – Brisbane/Sunshine Coast.

BIO:


Denise Covey hails from that land Down Under, where she publishes flash fiction, short stories and travelogues in Australian magazines. When not writing, she teaches English to her rapt senior students who think it’s way cool to have a writer for a teacher. She loves writing edgy romantic stories set in Paris and currently has two Paris novellas under construction. Under the Tuscan Moon is her first, but not last, paranormal romance which she recently self-published. Denise has decided it’s way cool to live in a world of vampires and werewolves. Now she’ll have to invite them to Paris when they’re hunted out of Italy.
LINKS:Denise Covey writing blogDenise Covey WordPress blogWrite…Edit…PubllishPichets in Paris blogAmazon Author PageGoodreads Author PageFacebookTwitterInstagramPinterestWattpad

Thank you, Denise, for making me wish I could go to Paris. ;)
Please leave a comment for Denise.