The Behind The Blogger Tag

Hello everyone,

It is time for another exciting new tag! Thank you so much to my friend Caitlin for tagging me in this one. Caitlin is one of the nicest book bloggers around and all of her posts are nothing short of fantastic, so do check out her blog if you haven’t already.

This looks like a really fun tag, because I get to talk about my blog, and a little bit about myself too. And that is what I like about this kind of post – it helps me to share more about who I am and for you to get to know me slightly more…not that I am very interesting lol.

Rules:

• Thank the person who nominated you
• Answer all the questions down below
• Pingback to the creator: Ellyn @ Allonsythornraxx
• Nominate 5+ bloggers you’d like to know more about, to do this tag

Why did you start blogging? & Why have you kept blogging?

First and foremost, I have always loved writing. I have written from a young age and love talking about things that I am interested in or passionate about, so blogging felt like a perfect platform to be able to do this. I had one or two failed attempts before I began Stephen Writes, but I always knew that blogging was the way I wanted to go in order to share my love of books.

As for why I have continued blogging, I could copy Caitlin’s answer to this one word for word. The community is just incredible. I have made so many wonderful friends who are hugely inspiring and have helped me become more confident as a book blogger. It makes me feel very lucky to have connected with others in this way.

On a separate note, I definitely read many more books now than I did before I started my blog!

What is your favourite type of blog post to write?

The answer to this one would 100% have to be my book reviews. I really enjoy describing a book in detail and analysing everything about it that is worth discussing. I devote the most time and thought to my book reviews, so it feels that little bit extra special when I finish writing one, and if they receive positive feedback.

They can be stressful at times because I am a bit of a perfectionist, but writing them can also be extremely rewarding. The way I review books has developed a lot for the better since I began my blog, and now I have found a structure which works really well for me.

What are your top three favourite blog posts?

This is a really difficult question! I have decided to include what I think is my best written review, the tag I created, and a recent discussion post:

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What are some of your favourite things to do to relax?

I don’t relax as often as perhaps I should, but when I do it usually consists of reading, writing, blogging, watching television/Netflix…I am also a football (soccer) fan so I watch a lot of that, too.

But on the whole, I am one of those people who has to be engaging their brain in a particular activity at all times, except when I am asleep of course!

What are three of your favourite things?

Books…obviously

Helping others: I feel so much happiness at being able to help other people, and when I am at work this gives me a lot of satisfaction, especially the times when I go the extra mile to help someone in a bigger way than what they were expecting.

Cats: I have always loved cats. Give me cat pictures on Twitter and they receive an instant like. My family are planning to get one soon, and I am secretly very excited!

What are your proudest blogging moments?

Joining the Write Reads group had such a remarkable impact for my blog, as not only did my stats and follower count increase dramatically, but it helped me connect with a whole raft of other book bloggers and really feel like part of the community. Before that, I had a lot of imposter syndrome and did not have a great deal of confidence in my blog.

I wrote a post about this in March 2019, which was and continues to be my most popular post, and it was shared widely on Twitter.

My other proudest moment I guess was reaching the milestone of publishing 100 book reviews on my blog. This happened in January, which was amazing because I never expected to write so many!

What are your hobbies outside of blogging?

I partly answered this question when I was talking about the things I do to relax. My main hobbies are writing, reading, going out (by that I mean travelling and visiting new places when I have the chance), and playing the piano.

Describe your personality in three words

Helpful, engaging, perfectionist

What are your top three pet peeves?

Untidiness: I am normally quite an organised person, so I really don’t like it when things are untidy. My desk at work can sometimes get full of stuff and I can’t stand it when that happens.

Slow computers: I don’t like waiting in general, but having to wait for something to load on a computer is just the worst.

People who think they are more important than others.

What’s something your followers don’t know about you?

My worst bookish habit is that at the start of every new chapter I read, I always flick forward to the end of it to find out how long it is. Doing this has caused me to accidentally catch a glimpse of some cliffhangers or minor twists.

Bad I know, but not as bad as flicking all the way to the end of the book to find out what happens!

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I Tag:

Sandee
Shaz
Kristin
Becky
Jodie

There is no obligation to do the tag, but I would love to see your answers if you do!

Happy reading 🙂