Month: March 2017

#Review of Better Blogging With Photography by Terry Webster Schrandt

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Terri inspires the reader with this wonderful quote right at the beginning setting the tone for her clear, concise and friendly little book:

‘Photography is the only language that can be understood anywhere in the world.’ Bruno Barley.

Isn’t that the absolute truth? It’s remarkable how the medium of photography can draw people together from different cultural backgrounds in a common moment of wonder. Curious, I googled Bruno Barley and found these stunning examples of his work: Pinterest examples of Bruno Barley’s photography. Wow, I just love photography!

Terri kicks off her book with a simple premise –  Why? Why use photography on your blog? The answer, is of course, simple – images draw attention, interest, break up text, make your blog post more interesting and memorable.

She adds tips on how to –

  • Create an engaging profile.
  • Ways to make your sidebar design attractive.
  • How to design a defining header.
  • Adding widgets and not overloading your posts with too many images.

Terri warns about the dangers of using images without consent on your blog even if the images happen to be from friends, and particularly if the photos are randomly found on google.  The Rule is: Always get written consent – though an email will do.

There’s an interesting section on how to use old images and give them a new lease of life. I read this part with great interest.  Recently, I created a scrapbook of images for my dad for his birthday, (the first few photos you can see here,): My Instagram page Kyrosmagica

Then Terri mentions how to find free images for your blog via sites such as Canva and Picmonkey, both of which I have used, and recommend.

There are chapters on how to:

  • Crop your photos, edit, add captions, size and add watermarks. Again, I was particularly interested in the section on watermarks as this is something I still have to try…  Terri suggests using tutorials on Pinterest and picmonkey.
  • Organising images, in storage solutions such as Dropbox, which I still have to investigate.
  • Participating in or holding photography link parties and joining in photo challenges, such as  Norm’s Thursday Doors. I enjoy taking part time permitting…
  • Using quotes to inspire, creating blog banners or blog badges. Here’s the link to the tutorial and other excellent blogging suggestions via Diana’s Adventures: Dianas Adventures – Tips for new bloggers
  • A section on photo-friendly social networking sites such as Instagram and Pinterest, plus a fantastic resources page.

Would I recommend it? Are you kidding?  Most definitely. I just wished I’d read this book years ago when I started blogging – it would have helped me so much. I found out the hard way how to do much of what Terri mentions, but I still have a lot to learn.

Don’t forget to follow Terri on Instagram: Terri Webster Schrandt – Instagram

If you’d like to follow me on Instagram too, LOL… (cheeky personal plug,)  – find me here:  My Instagram Page: Kyrosmagica

My rating.

A richly deserved 5 stars.. 🙂

DISCLAIMER: “As of 13th September 2017 we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”  

My opinions are my own and any reviews on this site have not been swayed or altered in any way by monetary compensation, or by the offer of a free book in exchange for a review. 

 

 

Before I fly off to take some photos to add to my Instagram feed let me point you in the direction of this wonderful free resource from Terri: Second Wind Leisure – How To Get Hundreds of Free Photos for Your Blog

Bye for now, photo enthusiasts!

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Colleen’s Weekly #Tanka #Poetry Challenge # 24 – “FIRE & RAIN”

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Colleen’s prompt words this week  Fire and Rain are quite tricky… wonder how to approach this. I might as well confess what my new job is… I was a lingerie stylist at Rigby and Peller but unfortunately my maternity leave contract came to an end and that left me with no job. Sigh. Initially, it seemed the obvious choice to apply to other lingerie shops, as I had experience. I did get some interviews but no offers. So I decided to apply to Ann Summers… and got the job! I can tell you it’s the most unusual job I’ve ever had. I reckon it will give me a lot of writing material! Enough said. 🙂

So a bit of Tanka humour this week…

 

The Bunny Bundle,

 

#Tanka Tuesday, #micropoetry, #poetry, #5lines

Colleen Chesebro’s Tanka Tuesday

Bye for now, hope that amused you!

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Mookaite and Model Cats

If you love cats and crystals like I do you will love this post from Samantha Murdoch. Her lovely black cat Lily is doing some modelling for me as I needed a black cat to play the feline in my book The Curse of Time which I hope to release this summer. Lily is a natural and judging by Samantha’s other cats they all pass the supermodel test too ! Lol.

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Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club

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Welcome, it is my pleasure to introduce you to the latest members of my Author/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club.

The Rainbow Support Club endeavours to provide a friendly and welcoming community of like-minded bloggers, book reviewers and authors who support each other in every which way we can to promote and nurture our love of books, and writing.

First up to Team Awesome is Colleen Chesebro. Colleen is a totally supportive angel, and I’d like to nominate her as person extraordinaire of the club! I can vouch for Colleen’s  worthiness, and angelic qualities as she is currently helping me with my manuscript – The Curse of Time – and doing an amazing job. 🙂 Author, Colleen Chesebro has recently released her first book: The Heart Stone Chronicles: The Swamp Fairy, which I had the delight of reading and reviewing recently:  My 5 * Review of The Heartstone Chronicles: The Swamp Fairy by Colleen Chesebro. She has an awesome blog which I strongly advise you to follow:  https://colleenchesebro.com/. Colleen and I have become great friends and have discovered that we have a  wealth of shared interests.  I enjoy joining in with her weekly Tanka Challenge so much:  https://colleenchesebro.com/category/tanka-tuesday/.

Colleen is happy to help other authors by sharing their writing, editing, etc, and also will support them with posts about new book releases. In other words, if these lovely peeps write about writing, she will gladly take guest posts from them.  Colleen strongly believes that writing about your own experiences helps other authors learn.

Colleen is an experienced book reviewer, but due to her huge TBR pile she is unable to take on any further reviews at present but her reviews to date are accessible via this link: Colleen Chesebro Reviews. Colleen shares lots of interesting and informative material under the heading: Authors Supporting Authors, and also has a second blog: A Mindful Journey which is full of tips about weight loss, and balance in life so do investigate to find out more.

Karen Oberlaender is my next member, Karen is a dedicated reader and book blogger who blogs at: My Train of Thoughts On. Karen writes about her favourite quotes, the word of the day, ten statements from authors and has a section where you can add your book review blog to her website: Add Your Blog – Book Reviewers

Her personal motto is:

Smile! Don’t look back in anger.

Great motto!

Her first book –   ‘In a Small Compass, Vol. 1’ comprises 15 contemporary short fiction stories with paranormal streaks which take you on a journey to Boston, Dublin, Dundrum, Galway, Heidelberg, London, Munich, Nuremberg, Skerries, and other places.

In a Small Compass, Vol. 1 is currently available on Smashwords:

In a Small Compass – Vol. 1, an Ebook by Karen Oberlaender https://inasmallcompass.wordpress.com/

Yecheilyah Ysrayl is the author of Young Adult, African-American Literature and Poetry. The author of nine books, most notably The Stella Trilogy, Yecheilyah is also a Blogger and Book Reviewer and offers free Author Services through her blog:  The PBS Blog Author Services. Yecheilyah is currently working on her next book series, “The Nora White Story. Yecheilyah Ysrayl blogs at PBS – Pearls Before Swine: The PBS Blog: To Support An Author.  She reviews books on her blog, and adds these books to the Indie Author Page of her blog, and promotes author’s books through her email list. All for free. The PBS Blog: Free Author Services.

Author Allan Hudson supports many of his author friends on his blog by hosting guest author opportunities at his blog South Branch Scribbler.  Allan has written: Dark Side of A Promise, Shorts: Volume 1 – four tantalising stories, and Shorts: Volume 2 – five tantalising tales, and Shorts:  Volume 3 – Five tantalising tales. He  believes as I do that ‘We are all in this together,’ and he ‘enjoys helping other writers find a new audience.’ Allan blogs at: www.southbranchscribbler.ca.

Vashti Q blogs at The Writer Next Door. Vashti is very friendly and oh so chatty and I always get the feeling that she really is the girl next door!  Vashti takes part in many of my favourite link ups and shares my love of haiku. She enjoys doing author interviews, book/author spotlights, cover reveals and feature book releases. Her novel The Basement (Suspense/Thriller,) is aimed at the pre-teen/teen audience. To discover more about her writing follow the link: About The Basement.

Norah Colvin believes passionately about education and I do too! She does a once-a-month picture book author or illustrator spotlight on her readilearn blog http://www.readilearn.com.au/blog/  which is then reblogged on to her blog: http://www.NorahColvin.com 🙂

Read more about her wonderful resources via this link:http://readilearn.com.au

Mathematics is all around us. We use it every day for a wide range of purposes; from deciding on the sequence…

Annika Perry and I have been supporting each other for a good long while and have become blogging friends. She has a lovely, friendly blog which I urge you to follow.  Her ‘interests include books,’ and ‘she is an avid reader with a book or two constantly on the go.’ In her words:  ‘Life without books would seem unbearable.’ I couldn’t agree more!!

Annika’s love of books is evident in the depth of thought that goes into her excellent book reviews, so do pop over to her blog to find out more:

Annika Perry Book Reviews

Annika Perry – All About Books

Author Elise E. Rawls Author of Bleeding Heart – A collection of faith-based short stories/poems/riddles by the author about life’s journey, wonder and trial. Every writing is a little story taking you somewhere. Elise is also in the final proofreading stage with regards to her  Science Fiction & Fantasy / Speculative Fiction entitled Strayborn, Book #1 (V. Chronicles.) and has written an amusing personal account: Revising A Manuscript is Like Cleaning A Castle.  Elise has been known to  promote authors by doing author interviews on her blog. She offers this opportunity to (fantasy and sci-fi genres, and books that are clean reads). Follow the link to find out more: Author Interviews. Also, she hosts guest posts about fantasy, sci-fi, and writing topics, Guest Posts,  Book Reveals,  and Musing Reviews.

Phew… quite a few folks have now signed up for the club!!! In fact, I had to make sure that  I didn’t forget anyone… I hope I didn’t – if I did I apologise profusely.  It’s because my old brain cells don’t work as well as they used to, so if I have missed anyone out please don’t hesitate to give me a good old nudge!

In total, we now have 21  awesome members, including me!  LOL !!

The first group comprises these lovelies:  Shelley Wilson, Debby Gies, Sally Cronin, Jennifer Marston, Seumas Gallacher, Carol Hedges, Tina Frisco, Anita Dawes, and Jaye Marie, Heena Rathore Pardeshi, Loretta Milan, and Eloise De Sousa who you can meet here:  Group 1: Rainbow Support Club Team Members.

We are now on Facebook for members and non members:Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club

The group page for members only : Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club Members Group Page

Kyrosmagica blog continues to support authors in whatever way I can by writing reviews, author/blogger spotlights and interviews, so please don’t be shy, do get in touch if you’d like to be featured on Kyrosmagica.  

If you’d like to join the group and feature on my next listing please do get in touch by leaving a message here or emailing me at marjma2014@gmail.com.

Thanks.

Bye for now,

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Colleen’s Weekly #Tanka #Poetry Challenge # 23 – HELP & SMILE

When I read Colleen’s prompt words this week I knew the perfect Tanka would be about an experience I had some time ago. I’d been out in my local supermarket buying the groceries when I saw this elderly lady sitting in the cafe. She wore a birthday badge, and was out celebrating, having a treat.  I couldn’t help but admire her wacky, vibrant hair. We shared a smile, and that lovely moment, and her brilliant smile stayed with me.

#Tanka Tuesday, #micropoetry, #poetry, #5lines

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Hope you liked this week’s Tanka.

To join in the fun visit Colleen’s blog: Colleen Chesebro’s Tanka Challenge

Bye for now,

I hope you agree life’s for celebrating. Enjoy…

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