First Blog

Other than a few comments on my website, I've never really kept a blog before, not too sure what I'm supposed to write in one. I guess maybe it's like a diary, only one that far from being private can be read by anyone and everyone! So-o-o-o, mind my language and no swooning about boys I like!

Anyway, here goes. I'm a struggling writer who also has a full time job, am a full time mother and a lone parent to boot. Finding time to write is hard, finding time to promote my work even harder. My first novel, The Book of Eve, was self-published a couple of years ago. At first it did well, you know how it is, your parents, your friends, your auntie Maggie all rush to buy it, a few of their friends and family buy it, then it all peters out, no one buys it. For. A. Long. Time.

Now I'm trying to promote it myself. I'm newly on Instagram, juliablakeauthor, and am slowly gathering a nice following of lovely, eccentric and eclectic individuals who all look like they are amazing people with amazing lives! I have a small portfolio of my work on Wattpad.com under JuliaBlakeAuthor, where I regularly put short stories, poems and other stuff for people to read, if they want.

I've also started submitting to agents again. It's been so long since I've tried that I'd forgotten how soul destroying rejection can be. At the moment I'm trying to get my novel, The Forest, noticed. I love this book, of all my six novels, one novella, ten short stories and umpteen poems, this is my favourite, Is it wrong to have a favourite child? I don't care, The Forest is just special. For a start it's hard to put it into a genre, think of the love child of a coupling between Thomas Hardy and Stephen King, and that's The Forest. Will it ever get accepted, I don't know, whatever, I know it's good, better than good. I'll keep you posted, that is if anyone actually reads this!