Life

My writing process blog tour – tips for creative copy

Sculpting confusion There is a thing going on with bloggers and writers at the moment. It’s called a blog tour and it works like this: Each blogger involved answers 4 questions about how and why they write They then pass the baton to another writer, who publishes answers to the same questions the following week, thanking the person who tagged them. It’s that simple. When Sophie, of Franglaise Mummy, asked me if I’d like to be her ‘tagee’ I hesitated. I’m not normally a partaker of memes and tours; I don’t enjoy writing to a prescribed structure; and I’m so …

Read more

I’m sorry… #BritMumsLive

I have wanted to write this post for a long time. I have tumbled thoughts around in my head for months, not sure how to articulate them without risking a nasty backlash. I have privately raged about the ‘voices’ that other writers have appropriated on the subject, but not had the confidence to add my own. It’s only now that I know the right words. Feminism. God what a frightening word that is. On Friday I had the pleasure of speaking on the opening panel of BritMumsLive. Alongside journalism icons Eleanor Mills and Bryony Gordon, as well as Stella Creasy, …

Read more

Expressions #12: Let it go for #BritMumsLive

"Britmums brilliance in blogging awards"

My mother has done it again. Embarrassed me. I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s an almost daily occurrence, with her gaffs, and her love of oversharing. I have perfected my warning glare for use on the playground when faced with an imminent faux pas in front of my friends, and actually, much of the time it works. But she has out done herself today. Unbeknownst to me, she and Annie have been putting together a short video detailing their nerves over the forthcoming Brilliance in Blogging awards. Now I love Annie, but she has led my mother too far over the cliff …

Read more

Brilliance in Blogging: How did it come to this?

11.56 Wednesday 30 April.  Just now, this happened: Post by Helen Wills. I have been lucky enough to win two great blogging awards in the three years since I first converted key taps to the stories of my children. I am stunned every time, and humbled by the communal thumbs up from the blogging community. But never more than today. Not one, but two categories. Best Writer: When I began to write, it was on this blog. I had never written before. I was no budding journalist, or wannabe romance scriber. From the minute I began, I dreamed I might one …

Read more

Britmums Live Inquisition!

Wot so Funee? will be taking a break for the Easter holidays, and will return on 22 April. In the meantime I’m excited to be heading for Britmums Live this summer! She hardly slept the night before. Would her dress be appropriate? Should she have tried to meet up with someone she knew at Starbucks beforehand? What would she do with all those business cards? Surely it was too “look at me!” to hand them out, but maybe too laughable to spread them over tables, hoping nobody would notice until she’d left. On the day, she marched straight in, then …

Read more

For my birthday I got a Cision Top Ten Mummy Blog!

We are 3 years old today at Actually Mummy. What does a blog do on its birthday? Does it throw a party for all the words typed, a kind of free-for-all carousing of all that has gone before? Does it invite all its readers to offer words of celebration, or bring gifts of new stories it can use going forward? Maybe it shares its sweets with other blogs it engages with, or offers visitors a cup of tea and some flowers from its garden? Three years ago today I typed my first post. You can read it here, and pick up …

Read more

Please vote in the MAD Blog Awards 2014

Two years ago we won an award. It was the first award won in this household since my mother took temporary custody of a silver-plated cup, aged 16, for being the best flute player in Cheadle. Or maybe it was in her street. Whatever – it had been a while. We squealed down the phone on the night we won the Best MAD Schooldays Blog award at the MAD’s. Mother held the phone up to the mic so the whole room could hear our momentary loss of composure. Luckily her best mate from blogging ‘day zero’ also scooped a trophy, …

Read more

Change the Story Mother!

My mum went somewhere really important this week. I could tell it was important because she disappeared into the back of the wardrobe and emerged in a smart shirt and crisply ironed trousers. She used to wear them when she worked near Westminster, before I was born. As it happens, she was back to her old stomping ground, but this time she was visiting the House of Lords, and this time it was reeeeeeally important.   What is Change the Story? Considering we live in a sophisticated society, it might surprise you to know that last year 1 in 4 …

Read more

The MADs: my winning ladies

By The Bug… I don’t say much on this blog. It’s not because I don’t want to (although I am currently in veto discussions over next week’s Wot so Funee?); it’s because living with two vociferous females makes it hard to get a word in edgeways – goodness knows how Daddy feels! But after last Friday’s Mad Blog Awards, I need to have my say about the winning ladies. The Mad Blog Awards 2013 For the last 2 years we’ve been lucky enough to attend the Mad Blog Awards ceremony. I say lucky, and I know that the ladies of …

Read more

The MAD Blog Awards 2013 – Thanks, and Good Luck

I couldn’t not blog today, but if I’m honest, I’m feeling a bit under par. Annie, bring your tea tree oil and don’t stand too close 😉 Tonight I am fortunate enough to be attending the Mad Blog Awards for the second year running. Last year we were absolutely thrilled and gobsmacked to win our Schooldays category, sponsored by Startrite Shoes. The competition was stiff, and it is no less so this time round. Look: Thinly Spread: I mean seriously, the woman is a blogging legend, writing beautifully about life, food, gardens, and campaigning for a better world. What’s more, I’ve …

Read more

How to look good in photos – a MAD’s Award tutorial

As the Mad Blog Awards 2013 draw mega close, I’m going to show you how Mummy might look on the big night. You’ve had the task of selecting my outfit, but now it’s actually Mummy’s turn in the spotlight. And bearing in mind the red carpet moment (although I seem to recall last year it was orange), I’ve been doing some research on how to look good in photos. Trust me, Mummy needs this advice… This was her last year: Not bad, and the word most bandied around afterwards was “cleavage.” Apparently it is the wide-angled lens that made her …

Read more

What I’m wearing to the Mad Blog Awards

This Friday sees my second ever visit to the Mad Blog Awards. I am a lucky girl – once was fabulous, twice is just too exciting for words! Last year I had the most awesome outfit, I was beginning to worry that I would never be able to top it in 2014. But at the last minute, from out of the ashes of my woefully Marks and Spencerised wardrobe, my Fairy Godsister came up trumps. I’ve been waiting for the packages to arrive for a few days now, with excitement increasing daily as I enter the house. And today was the …

Read more

Blogging rules (or the guide to being crap)

Blogging rules This is a guest post from Distressed Housewife. Today she is mostly feeling distressed because, in her eyes, she hasn’t followed the blogging rules. I am mostly feeling bad for her, because all she did was miss a deadline – a deadline which I also missed. Here she tells you her version of the blogging rules, including the things she thinks she has done wrong. OK, so there are a number of bloggers out there who write fantastic posts giving advice on how to create and maintain a successful blog.  These wonderfully insightful people who have technical knowledge, common sense and …

Read more

BritMums Live Blogging Conference Review

This year I’m going to BritMums Live for the 3rd time. This year I will be speaking at BritMums Live for the first time. This year I am sponsored to attend BritMums Live for the first time. This year, I think you should come too.  I have been fortunate to go on 2 Siblu Holidays since having my children. I never thought I’d be comfortable with a “holiday camp,” given the trips I have taken with Actually Daddy. California driving, South Africa safari, Maldives diving, we’ve been lucky. Such trips with young children are difficult. Aside from the risk of …

Read more

How to get a book deal

Mummy went to Blog Summit at the weekend. Run by the the Tots 100, a UK parent bloggers network, Blog Summit sees the coming together of online social media users, to share and learn about their area of interest. Although, you might be forgiven for thinking that it’s where parents go to pretend they have no responsibilities: Seriously, I don’t know why Daddy ever lets her out alone! Anyway, I’m told there were lots of reasons to be there beyond the social, and that even seasoned eventers came away with tons of new ideas. For example, there was the session …

Read more

It’s the MAD’s today! What do we think about that??

* This post has been updated, please read on down… GG has been excited for weeks. She has been counting down the days. She finished ticking off the days on her calendar on Wednesday. The MAD’s (Mum and Dad Blogging Awards) are today, and it seems she couldn’t wait. So I was surprised when the first thing concerning her this morning was a music lesson… Tonight we are heading into London for a very grand awards ceremony. We have fine clothing and champagne (read lemonade). You can watch the awards online here (to be updated) and of course there will …

Read more

Bullies and Cliques

Are you a bully? Some types of bullying are less obvious than others

Last week Blogland was in a tiz about bullying. A lovely mummy blogger wrote a post describing something she felt bad about; someone else criticised her very harshly, and everyone kicked off! Amongst all the discussion about bullies, another theme arose: cliques. It seems people feel that there is a kind of hierarchy of bloggers. Well there is. Some people have been at it for longer, they know each other well, they have stuff in common. It is natural. Allegations of cliques were bandied about, implying that some bloggers are hostile to newcomers. I take issue with that. I am 7 years old, and …

Read more

Gary Barlow Followed Me On Twitter!

I was sorry to hear Nickie at Typecast’s news last week that Keith Chegwin blocked her on Twitter, and I have subsequently begun a study of celebrity tweeting to see just how interesting I am to the wider, non-blogging world. Think of it as a kind of experiment. The challenge I have set myself is to gain me a celebrity follower! I should just make one thing clear. Gary Barlow did not actually follow me on Twitter. But I did follow him last night, and so did 210,809 other people, which got me thinking about digital marketing. Within 2 minutes …

Read more

Networking: Mummy Meets the Real Bloggers

Blogging is pretty new to Mummy, but at a recent bloggers networking event she met a whole crew of local mummy bloggers in our area. She had heard of most of these ladies, but had no idea that they lived just round the corner. So when they invited her to join their gang on a night out she was thrilled. A social life is something she seems to crave, although why, when she has so many Rainbow Fairy books, Polly Pocket dolls, and Moshi Monster cards at home, is completely beyond me. She quietly anticipated a champagne-fuelled lunch, or a …

Read more