So we're coming right to the very end of the year, indeed it may well be the new year by the time you read this.
I've read a lot this year. Including, I'm rather pleased to say, a few books out of my comfort zone. Into, yikes!, the classics. I'm intending to increase my expansion out of this comfort zone in 2016. But 2015 included A Room with a View, The Diary of a Provincial Lady
Favourites from the summer include these two and a little later in the year I discovered Ruth Reichl. Oh my goodness I adore her writing, both fiction and non-fiction.
But 2015 was also where I've rediscovered a love for the online world. I've found great posts through twitter, such as this great one by the writer Jo Hogan where she tells authors to be proud of their writing and to not feel guilty for promoting it. I've also found the inspiring writing story of @writeangie.
Then, on Instagram, I've found other people who love books as much as I do (they're called bookstagrammers. It's a fabulous world of books to explore) along with other gorgeous lifestyle accounts such as Me and Orla which I mention below.
I've also been introduced to alternative ways of creating content, visually through Steller (see my sidebar about My Year in Cake) and through the written word via Medium. I intend to make full use of these exciting mediums(ha!) during 2016.
I know I haven't blogged as much as I would have liked to. Illness, both mine and, more seriously, my son's, in the latter part of this year has meant my time was better spent elsewhere. But I'm always on Instagram. I love creating pictures and documenting my reads, my bakes or other aspects of my life.
Then we have this lovely lot. All worth a read or a listen to:
Blogs I've been reading:
Emma Gannon has so many brilliant, insightful and inspiring blog posts. I particularly like:
20 Things I Learned from "Big Magic" and 5 Favourite Articles I Keep Re-Reading
Emma may well be a teeny bit younger than me and have a different life situation but I still find her posts relevant to me as a writer, reader and blogger. Her book, about Emma's online life, Ctrl, Alt; Delete, comes out in 2016 and I'm very much looking forward to reading it.
I love Sara's moody photography, her gorgeous posts and the amount of knowledge she has about social media. On her blog, as well as writing about her daughter, her beautiful photography and life in rural Yorkshire, she provides Instagram tips. Her instagram feed is currently at 115,000 followers and it's not hard to see why. Sara also provides mentoring which I have booked myself on for early next year.
Podcasts I've been listening to:
Ok, it might be that I've only just discovered how great podcasts are. The following are two which I've really enjoyed so far. But I'm now on the hunt for more...
Self-confessed worried writer and published author, Sarah Painter, has created a brilliant blog and podcast with the anxious writer in mind. Such as myself. Her post on How to Write Your Novel in Ten Minutes at a Time could have been written for me. Well, actually it was as I asked the question that inspired the post. One of the podcasts I particularly enjoyed was the one where Sarah interviews Catherine Ryan Howard.
Magic Lessons by Elizabeth Gilbert
For some strange reason it has taken me until this year to start reading