It is truly an honour to host the '
2014 Blogger of the Year' as my Guest this week. Although her blog posts are known far and wide, did you know she is a multi-genre author too? Ladies and Gentlemen...
Scarlett Flame
Steamy Scarlett Unbound
I
think you might all be a tad interested in just how I got myself into this
world of writing and blogging (yes, I have a blog too).
Well,
a little over eighteen months ago I was a mere tweep, a normal(ish) tweeter
that had begun to use twitter to talk to others. Although, I have to admit the
whole thing had me mystified for some time too. As I started to follow people,
and be followed back in return, I fell in with a little gang of tweeps that
included, my now good friend
John Dolan.
We all tweeted back and forth for some time and, (as John Dolan is a published
author), the subject of writing came up. I mentioned that I had been writing
for some time and, that I had hidden this writing in a bottom drawer, writing
in secret. John suggested doing something to make myself known and that maybe
writing a blog would be a good idea. John further suggested, that a good start
would also be to decide on a pen name, especially as the genre I was writing in
included erotica.
So,
the five of us tweeps bandied about with various names and,
da da
Scarlett Flame was born. As I had no clue what a blog was at that time, or even
how to go about producing one, John very kindly Skyped me from Abu Dhabi and
talked me through how to set one up. Another first for me, as prior to that I
had never Skyped either. So, in February 2013
Miss Scarlett Flame the
blog was also born. My twitter account of the same name was set up, and away I
went.
I can
laugh now when I look back to my first steps into the blogging world, as I got
excited if even 10 people viewed my blog. Also, my first attempts at blogging
were pretty poor too, an absolute beginner, and unable to do the simplest of
things. Over time though I have begun to become more adept at producing my blog
and my reward came on New Years Eve 2013, when I was announced the winner of
The Blogger of the Year 2014 by the site Skelat.com. A very, very proud day for
me as my good friend and author
SeumasGallacher, was the King of blogging prior to this, and held the
title Blogger of the Year 2013 from Skelat the previous year. My blogs are now
all singing and dancing, (particularly singing) as I cover a variety of topics
including gig reviews for the many fantastic Indie Bands that abound in
Manchester, and Great Britain itself. I have been privileged to watch a wide
variety of these Indie Bands and now consider many my personal friends. I also
cover interviews, book reviews and much more.
Gradually
over time, the hits on my blog have increased and I am now closing on 23,000
hits which still amazes and delights me. I also began to write short stories,
and was about to publish the first erotic one of my own, on the blog. The first
draft of the story was duly sent out to friends in the twitter world, three of
them. The first was
Erotic Jake,
an erotic writer and blogging friend of mine.
Gareth Young another incredibly talented
writer, and finally
Nate Smith, a scriptwriter and producer from Australia. All
good valued friends of mine, and they ALL read the story and without exception
replied that, although the story was basically a good story, ALL said it was
obvious that it had been written by a woman! I think I just sat there stunned
with my mouth open, aghast for a few minutes, I then asked them all “Why so?”
They ALL replied with a similar reply, it was my use of words, or, to be
precise, my lack of the use of certain
descriptive words! That, as I was
writing under a pen name, to use the words that were needed to bring the
details in the story to life. I then asked each of them to send me three words
each, to use in the story and it didn't take them very long to give me those
words. I looked closely at the story and put these words in where I thought
they would work best and, voila! My first story was ready to be published.
Receiving a virtual pat on the back from each of them once they read the
published post.
The
greatest accolade a writer can receive for an erotic writing (or so I have been
told!), is that people have read it with one hand ( if you know what I mean,
nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Well apparently I have a LOT of one handed readers,
be they male, or female.
I am
still in the process of completing the first book that I mentioned to John.
Hopefully this will be ready to be published soon in either May or early June,
so look out for it. The book I so recently published at the very end of
December 2013, now has five 5* reviews on Amazon UK and many more five stars on
Goodreads, where I now have an author page. This novel is entitled 'Bound for
Passion' and includes the first two stories that were published on my blog.
The last story in the book was written especially for the book. I write across multiple
genres including Steampunk, erotica, paranormal, romance, sci-fi, BDSM and
finally children's books. A strange combination you may think, but as I am also
a qualified Children's Nurse, not so strange as you may think.
As
for advice to any budding authors amongst you goes, is just to go and write
what inspires you, moves you, that you enjoy. Also, practice makes perfect so
keep on writing, and perfecting your craft. Another big thing is to read others
works, not just in your usual genres, step out of your comfort zone – you might
just enjoy it, and learn a thing or two in the process. Writing is like
painting a picture with words, so that people remote view in their own heads
what you are trying to tell them. A novel rich in detail, and action, allows us
to then fill in the gaps, bringing it to life. Making us cry, laugh out loud or
sit and reminisce times gone past.
My
next novel has a working title of 'The Prophecy Unfolds (Dragon Queen)'. This
is the first in a series of books about Alexandra, and her adventures after her
capture and kidnap on Earth, where she is taken to the Steampunk world of
Syros. A world where fantastical animals and beings abound. There are
magicians, werewolves, dragons and dragon riders that fight, love, die and go
on to have amazing adventures that will have you smiling, crying and laughing
as I walk and run you through their adventures. I hope to capture your
imagination, and leave you wanting more, so that you continue to follow their
adventures in further books. Later in the year a follow up to 'Bound for
Passion' will also be released, in time for Christmas 2014.
BIO
Although born in Salford, UK, I was raised in the Manchester area and still consider myself a Lancashire lass. I am a qualified paediatric nurse and have a Bsc(Hons) and a PgDip (Masters level qualification) among other qualifications. Yet I choose to write, and hope to make this my full time occupation. Although I have always loved to read and write, I only recently began to write seriously. My first blog post was published in February 2013 and since then I have gone from strength to strength. This has resulted in my being voted as Blogger of the Year 2014.
My blogs aren't all erotica, far from it. On my blog posts you are just as likely to read about music gigs I have attended around Manchester, interviews, book reviews and much more. There is something for everyone on my blogs.
You can contact Scarlett and read about her forthcoming projects using any of the following links:
Goodreads
Thank you, Scarlett, for sharing your writing journey with us and wish you the very best of success with your new novel.
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