goals & reflections,  updates

BLOGIVERSARY: Celebrating 1 year of Rebecca Alasdair!

14 August 2018 / No Comments

Say what now? It’s already been one whole year since I officially launched this website and thus Rebecca Alasdair was born?! I suppose that old cliché is true: time really does fly when you’re having fun!

Since it was my actual birthday two days ago [side note: this was kind of annoying since I had to go and update my age on all my profiles 😒], and it’s my blog birthday today, I’m in quite the festive mood. So, to celebrate these dual anniversaries, I have decided to do two Things!

Thing 1: Website Makeover

Yes, I’m going to give my website a makeover! I’m still mighty happy with the theme I’m using (Arcade), but I think there are a couple of things I can do to spruce it up a bit. Plus, it gives me a chance to upgrade my CSS and HTML skills, which were non-existent a year ago and are less-so-non-existent today!

The makeover will be a gradual process, because I don’t have enough time or expertise to do it all in one hit. I updated my About and Contact pages the other week, but the main effort for this week and next is renewing the format of the pages for my writing projects. Check out the new page for my YA WIP Holding Up the Sky!!

~ HOLDING UP THE SKY ~

Visit Page

Read Chapter 1

 HUTS_Mock cover x3

Carter Cantwell seems to have it all: brains, athleticism, musical talent, and a winning personality to boot.

But he’s gotten good at pretending. No one sees through his façade to the real person, buried deep inside.

Then Carter meets him.

And that’s when it all starts to fall apart.

Thing 2: Throwback Tuesday

I know the hashtag is normally #ThrowbackThursday, but today is a Tuesday, so…yeah. Anyway. The second thing I’d like to do to celebrate my first birthday (hehehe) is to take a look back over the last 12 months to see what I’ve achieved. I’m a big believer in the value of self reflection. So, here it goes!

WORDPRESS BLOG

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When I originally set up my website, I was of the mind that I would not be blogging regularly—that the “blog” function would be used for news and announcements and nothing more. Well, it took me all of a few weeks to change my mind!!

Blogging is way harder and way more rewarding than I ever suspected. It often takes me AGES to put together my posts, but I learn something new every time. Most importantly, it helps connect me with the broader writing/reading community, and those interactions are PRICELESS!

Here is a selection of some of my most popular posts over the last 12 months. Thank you to everyone and anyone who has engaged with them or any of my other posts, but especially to those who contribute regularly. I really appreciate it ❤

~ MY FIRST POST ~

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~ MOST VIEWS ~

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~ MOST LIKES ~

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~ MOST COMMENTS ~

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~ MOST REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS ~

A massive thanks to anyone who has viewed, liked, or commented on this blog…and especially to my 3 most regular contributors:

Ari Barbara

Bryan

SOCIAL MEDIA

For all that I’ve learned about blogging in the last year, I’m fairly sure I’ve learned more about the finer workings of social media. Today marks 12 months (officially) on each platform (except Instagram, which I’ve only had for ~5 months), and in that time I have discovered the following:

  • Twitter | is a great medium for connecting with other writers and discussing writerly things (especially through “games”), but due to its overwhelming business/professional use is perhaps less visible to readers
  • Instagram | is fantastic for engaging readers and the bookish community (and is HIGHLY addictive), but is less flexible for holding conversations with other writers
  • Facebook | is one of the best methods for communicating with people who know me personally, but lacks visibility to the broader public, especially since Pages can’t join and get involved in Groups
  • Google+ | is the least popular platform but is still quite useful as it allows users to join interest groups and can readily facilitate in-depth discussions

Below is a selection of the most popular posts I’ve made on each of my social media accounts. If you’re a writer/reader and I don’t follow you already, feel free to post a link to your own profiles in the comments and I’ll check them out 😊

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~ TWITTER ~

Followers: 455

Most Popular Post: I got pretty excited when I learned Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda was getting turned into a movie. Turns out lots of people appreciated that excitement!!

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~ INSTAGRAM ~

Followers: 130

Most Popular Most: While on layover in Singapore Airport in June, I was thrilled to see A Thousand Perfect Notes already on the shelves! I snapped this picture and people seemed to love it ❤

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~ FACEBOOK ~

Followers: 52

Most Popular Post: Most of my Facebook followers are family and friends, and they sure were excited when I finished the first draft of my fantasy novel Old Blood earlier this year!

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~ GOOGLE+ ~

Followers: 4

Most Popular Post: I posted this on a writing group/forum after editing Chapter 1 of Holding Up the Sky, and it prompted some interesting discussion!

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https://plus.google.com/111227611984806867866/posts/CGksLW8D1B5

GOODREADS

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As many of us do, I LOVE GOODREADS!! I could—and often do—spend hours browsing through books and lists and reviews, and I find it an overall fantastic tool for tracking progress and maintaining a proper TBR list.

But I haven’t really got involved on Goodreads beyond that. I wrote a few reviews last year (you can read them here), but I’m not really into reviewing books and would prefer to spend my time writing and working on my blog.

However, I would like to make some more “friends”, because I like seeing what others are reading and how our opinions compare. So here is a visual of all the books I’ve read in the last 12 months! If we have (or even if we don’t) have similar tastes, let me know and I’ll definitely give you a follow!!

~ BOOKS I’VE READ SINCE AUGUST 2017 ~

Thanks for bearing with me in my excitement! As always, I’m open to any questions, feedback, advice and/or stories of your own, so the comments below are OPEN. Good luck on your own writing/reading journey, and I hope to see you back this time next year 😊

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Thank you for reading! How long have you been blogging? What progress have you made and lessons have you learned?

RA_logo _backdrop-01_miniRebecca Alasdair

I'm an Australian indie author who hoards books, loves dogs and coffee, and has a tendency of staying up all night!

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