How, What, Where and When? with Sophie Cameron, on 'Last Bus to Everland'!

I am thrilled to welcome the lovely author queen Sophie Cameron back to the blog, this time for the new series How, What, Where and When! 

Sophie’s debut novel ‘Out of the Blue’ captured my heart, and now her second has been released, ‘Last Bus to Everland’ and, folks… it’s pretty epic. 

It's totally fine.

My brain is fine. 

The scanxiety came on strong recently; it always does around this time of year, because April/May/June is when I always seem to get sick. I was both depressed and stressed for the 10 days between scan and consultation with my wonderful neurosurgeon, partly due to the aforementioned Time of Year Fear, but also because before the scan I’d got blood test results over the phone from my GP, that my endocrinologist had requested after our last appointment, and they indicated my Cortisol (stress hormone) levels were high, and my Thyroxine (thyroid hormone) was normal BUT working really quite hard to be normal. After I got these results, I hung up the phone and immediately dropped into an old familiar resigned state; the ‘something’s wrong, they don’t know what yet, but it’s definitely something bad’ vibe.

But, no. My brain is fine. 

(Photo: Rebecca Brooker; jumpsuit gifted from JOY)

How, What, Where and When? with Valentina, aka Occhi Ovunque.

I am so thrilled to be branching out a little in my new How, What, Where and When series, and have got an absolute star answering my questions in this post. If you haven’t caught up with the others yet, you can find them all HERE!

Today's interviewee is the lovely Valentina, aka Occhi Ovunque, the magical Italian illustrator. She works freelance illustrating and writing from her holiday house on the Amalfi Coast. She tells me (via email) that in Italian, 'Occhi Ovunque' means 'eyes everywhere', and is the name of her curious Pomeranian that becomes a sweet fox in her drawings and stories. 

Occhi Ovunque is also the name of Valentina's blog, a space where she mixes illustrations with recipes and tales of gastronomic adventures. 

Instagram Honesty (3)

I enjoy social media; it's brilliant, clever and connects us all. It's also terrible, toxic and at times dangerous. I know a lot of people who go through phases of ‘detoxing’ now and again for self care reasons, and others who have actually deleted any themselves from every platform. Which is really quite sensible, when one thinks about it… 

But then I know folks who have made careers out of social media. This includes me. New job titles have come into being in the past few years at the most major companies and small businesses; places that suddenly need a social media presence and someone on hand to manage it. Then there are also the bloggers and ‘influencers’ (still hate that term), who are suddenly invaluable to brands and marketers, pushing products in #ad posts and live streaming comped events they’ve been invited to. 

How, What, Where and When? with Lex Croucher, on 'You're Crushing It!'

I am delighted and only a bit baffled to have the lovely, pink-haired, dungers-wearing sass queen Lex Croucher on the blog for the latest instalment in this series! This brilliant YouTuber, ethical buyer and vegan queen has written a book, called ‘You’re Crushing It’. 

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Well, shit. My book comes out a week tomorrow. I’ve felt so many feelings about this book and this process over the past couple of years that my brain shuts down a bit when I try to confront the fact that I AM NEARLY A PUBLISHED AUTHOR. My sister and I used to take new notebooks on every holiday we went on as kids so we could write stories; I used to write and illustrate my own very blatant Jacqueline Wilson rip-offs in felt tip pen, and then run out of pages to finish them. This has been a dream of mine for as long as I’ve known I could do it, and I’m hoping that at some point I’ll realise I’m living it, because right now I’m just in a state of shock. ANYWAY, LAST CHANCE TO PRE-ORDER MY BOOK PLEASE?? The link is in my bio. Pre-orders help so much and I want my publisher to like me. Thank you. Bye!!!!

A post shared by Lex Croucher ✨ (@lexcanroar) on Jun 5, 2019 at 4:56am PDT

Hey, Lex! Thank you so much for taking the time to A my Qs. I’m so excited about ‘You’re Crushing It!’ – I think it’s the book we all need, right now.

Planning a luxury getaway...

* This post was written by a contributor *

(Image source)

42.

Hi, I’m Grace.

(Photo: Rebecca Brooker; knot wrap from LUSH, dress gifted from JOY)

I love to collect pin badges but rarely wear them, I’m finding Fathers Day shopping really fun this year, I have so many TV binges on the go right now I just can’t, my hair is currently tinged with ginger, super salty crisps are my weakness, I am really missing weekly counselling, I’m ridiculously passionate about recycling, my days in Stargazy are the happiest days, Greg James recently told me to start a podcast and because of that I feel I am obligated to, I’ll never wear gold jewellery or a black top, I could talk about the truly evil dairy industry and how human consumption of animal products is horrendously awful all day, and I’m happier in my pants than I am fully clothed, but I look fabulous either way. 

I started these little posts when I was at uni, in a time when I was truly learning about myself. I still am. It’s funny how big a response this series has received; maybe because others are particularly curious (/nosy) about me as a person, or maybe because we’re all constantly getting to know ourselves, and it’s strangely captivating learning more about those around us, seeing if we can relate somehow.

How, What, Where and When? with Tanya Landman, on 'One Shot'.

I’m so thrilled to welcome the absolute dream that is Tanya Landman to the How, What, Where and When series! I asked her a few questions about her recent release with the babes at Barrington Stoke, ‘One Shot’; the story of Maggie, a young girl who, after losing her beloved father, seeks to support her family doing what he did – hunting. She horrifies her family and the locals by doing this, is branded ‘unladylike’, and subjected to a young life full of cruelty. She soon learns the only person she can count on is herself, and begins to fight for survival. 

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A post shared by Kimi (@coffeeeyesandblankstares) on Apr 14, 2019 at 11:12am PDT