My First Media Kit- Whaddya Think?

This is the year I've really been taking my blog seriously. I'm actively trying to get more followers, loyal readers, get my writing groove on, and find my voice. Because of all this I've also started to wade into the deep end of the pool - sponsored posts.

I know that sponsored posts aren't anything to be too worried about but I do want to seem professional and like I am actually trying. I don't have that many followers on social media even though (shameless self-plug) I have doubled every single one of them!

For those of you with tens of thousands of fans my measly numbers may not seem like a big feat but let me tell you, as someone who is shy and introverted, this is the best! It is definitely a milestone for me each time I hit a new multiple of ten or hundred.

So with my wanting to work with some awesome brands I decided to tackle my first media kit. I went on Pinterest and Google to get some inspiration. I got some ideas, headed to Canva and voila!

My first attempt.

I'm pretty happy with it. I love minimalist design and I love that the colors and arrow theme come straight back to my blog.



Do you have a media kit? What does your look like? If you want, leave a link for other readers to see yours. If you have any suggestions for mine, don't hesitate to leave your two cents. I greatly appreciate it.

Edgewater by Courtney Sheinmel

Edgewater
Author: Courtney Sheinmel
Published by: Abrams/Amulet
Expect it in Stores and Online: Fall 2015




Edgewater is the name of the mansion where Lorrie, her sister Susannah, and their aunt Gigi live. What was once a beautiful, sprawling homestead overlooking the ocean is now so disgusting that Lorrie's best friend Lennox has never set foot in it. Filled with unwashed dishes, carpets full of cat urine, and an indescribable stench that permeates the entire house, Lorrie hopes every day that she won't be recognized as one of the girls who lives there.

When a failed tuition payment forces Lorrie to leave her summer riding camp and return to Edgewater, Lorrie is intent on emancipating herself from her aunt and gain access to the trust fund her mother left when she moved to London with her boyfriend. The only problem is the empty tank of gas. With only eight dollars to her name and an embarrassing negotiation underway over a can of Coke, Lorrie's pride is sort-of saved by Charlie Copeland. On one hand, she won't have to put a Coca Cola on credit but on the other hand, the Senator's son has just paid for her gas...and invited her to a political party at his house on Friday.

While Lorrie and Charlie are getting to know each other, things like a turned off phone, no electricity in the house, and a need for food are pushing Lorrie to get a job and sort everything out herself, with no help from Gigi or Susannah. Unfortunately things aren't going as planned and even weirder things are happening behind the scenes of the Copeland residence. What secrets are the Copeland's hiding and why does it seem that Lorrie's family is involved?

The plot is interesting but I found the characters hard to like. Undoubtedly this is the way Sheinmel intended as both Susannah and Gigi find nothing wrong with living in the squalor they have made for themselves. There may be those who may find sympathy but I could not. Susannah at 15 should have been helping Lorrie take care of the house or at the very least not add to her troubles. Gigi who was obviuosly going through a depression should have had help. Though, I can see why neither Lorrie or Susannah would have wanted to involve social services. Lennox's mothers seemed the perfect people to broach such a subject and yet, the girls were left to live in horrible conditions.

What I also didn't like was the fact that the idea of Edgewater being in such ruin was nothing but a talking point to those who lived within the neighborhood. Perhaps they didn't have a homeowner's association but what...they didn't have property taxes? I'm sure that people who live within such riches would take more interest in a house that looked like Edgewater next to their lovely, perfect homes.

Edgewater is mostly a story about the idea that money doesn't grow on trees and there are people who really have to work to earn such a living. A fast read but does not require much thought or leave you feeling changed. It's an okay book to pass the time while waiting for a flight.


I give it three out of five cateyes.

Favorite Blogging Apps - Promoting

I realized that I left a big part out of my Favorite Blogging App series - promoting! If you've been blogging for any amount of time you know that getting your blog out there and read is important whether you have commissioned posts or just want to meet new people. Of course for most of us, we have school, jobs, children, and like sleep so getting something out on each and every social media outlet can be very time consuming.

Fortunately there are apps to help with that. These are the ones I use most often.

IF - formerly IFTTT. Available on iOS & Android. 

IF utilizes recipes. There are tons and tons of recipes in their database, but if you can't find exactly what you're looking for you can always make your own. These recipes do everything from turning on a light in your house, to automatically downloading all of your Instagram pictures, to automatically tweeting when you've posted a blog post. It's based on an IF/THEN statement which shows you just how versatile this app can be.

The recipes I use for my blog the most are:

• Send a tweet when you post about something on your Blog. 
• Post Instagram picture on Twitter as a picture (not a link). 
• If any new post on your blog, then create a link post on your Tumblr blog. 

You can also use it to automatically post about your newest post on your Facebook Page. I had that one but it wasn't working correctly with my current Blogger template and I haven't gone back to look through it. And don't worry if you have Wordpress. It works the same way. The best thing about IF is that you don't have to think about it. The app works in the background, so as soon as one of the IF statements are triggered, it automatically does the THEN.

I know this post is for promoting your blog but you really should give IF a looksie. They have so many different recipes to make your life a lot easier.

Hootsuite - Available on iOS, Android 

Hootsuite is a beast of an app. It can take so many of your social media accounts and show you their feed, schedule their posts, and even give you analytics on them. For those who have group blogs or shared Facebook pages, this app will alleviate all of your drama because it allows for awesome integrated collaboration. There is a free and a paid version depending on your needs.

I use Hootsuite to schedule most of my tweets. Hootsuite has this "smart" autoscheduling that will try to schedule your post at an optimum time of day. What I love most about the app is that it will auotmatically shorten your links - no need to head to Bitly before composing. It also will show your Twitter pictures as native instead of links which helps with audience connection.

There is also a desktop Chrome app which allows you to easily share any website, picture, story, or Pin on the web with just a click of the button.

I admit that I haven't delved into this enough to utilize all of its capabilities but just the Twitter thing does it for me. It's invaluable and I hardly even use the actual Twitter app anymore.

Facebook Groups - Available on iOS & Android. 

Facebook has gotten so much better separating all of its components. The Groups app allows you to manage, connect, share, and view all of the groups you are a part of. No need to go through your personal feed to get to what you really want. From here you can add to a thread, comment, or share your own post. This is what I use to read a lot of the daily group threads for my various blogging groups. You have the option of notifications for each group, which I love, because I am a part of some groups that I don't need to be constantly up to date with. This option lets me pick and choose which groups or actions I think are worthy of notifications. Easy to use with a simple yet useful layout.

Facebook Pages Manager- Available for iOS, Android. 

The Facebook Pages Manager lets you post, comment, look at your Insights, chat, and schedule posts to your Facebook Page. This app is easy to use and helps when you don't want to be bothered by your personal Facebook feed. I love that it allows me to add posts from this app as opposed to waiting until I'm at my desktop. It also makes it easy to connect with readers since you have the option of putting notifications on. There's not much to say about it, but it's definitely a life saver.




So that's what I use on a daily basis. What about you? Are there some apps I've completely overlooked that would make my life so much easier? Let me know in the comments!

Past Present Future - Vol 3

\\PAST\\
I took an 18 hour sleep the other night. It felt sooo good. I've been so sleepy.

Finally bought Mum her birthday/Mummy's Day present. She had been wanting an enameled casserole dutch oven like mine. They were on sale and I couldn't pass it up! Now she can make no knead breads, one pot soups, and brown and finish cooking meat in the oven. Woo!

I went and got bangs again! I look about 15 on average with them down.


\\PRESENT\\
I told you I bit the bullet and bought a Day Designer and I have to say that I am in love! It's pretty big, kinda heavy, and probably not going to fit into your purse but I love that there is a spot for everything. To Do, Schedule, Notes, etc. Even though I'm not that busybusy it's nice to see my days spread out so I know what I have to look forward to and I can really focus on all the things I have to do - work wise and blog wise.

I paid off another one of my loans which means I only have one more to go! I'm so excited youhavenoidea. Once that last one is paid off I'll be completely debt free! And...then I can start looking for a car. I've had my car since I was 19. She's a little beat-up, smelly, and the bumper is a different color than the rest of her but she's still running pretty smoothly so I'm not in dire need. But still, having a newer car would be nice.


\\FUTURE\\
I am literally counting down the days until I'm done double-jobbing. I'm really going to miss the paycheck but ohmyglob I can't wait to sleep more than 4 hours a night. I know some crazy people can live like that but I'm definitely not one of them. I should have bought stock in 5 Hour Energy because those little disgustingly flavored energy shots are basically the only thing running through my blood stream right now. And coffee. Always coffee.


Reading: Everything, Everything.
Watching: Call the Midwife, Mr Selfridge, Parenthood, Bob's Burgers
Listening to: I'm a total Anglophile and I recently found this YouTube channel called: Anglophenia which I absolutely adore. If you're interested you should look at: How To Speak British & TV Shows America Stole from Britain
Needing: To drink more water regularly.
Wanting: More dresses. Always more dresses.
Something I'm Looking Forward To: My eShakti dress to arrive.
Five Good Things That Happened This Week:

1. We decided on a book for our Blogs, Books, and Babes book club! King Dork is first up and I can't wait to get started reading and discussing it with other bookworms. 
2. Paid off another loan.
3. Bought a dress off eShakti. It's blue and white gingham and I got it (with shipping) for less than 25$!
4. Got a coupon for a free medium fountain drink from the gas station. Woo! Cherry Dr. Pepper. 
5. Finally got Boyboy a new collar. This one is orange and hopefully won't turn his fur black like the metal one did. 

How was your week? Anything fun, interesting, or hilarious?

You Lied to Me - A Memory for Mother's Day

"Valerie, have you been watching TV even though you're grounded?"

"No."

"Are you sure? What have you been doing?"

"Nothing."

I like to believe that I was a good child up until I hit those globawful teenage years. But no child is perfect and I'm no exception. I feel like I was always grounded or punished for something or other when I was younger. Throughout the years the punishments would change but one of the first things I remember being taken away was my TV time.

But I was a scheming, lying child and I hated being punished for what I thought weren't really wrongdoings. When I was about 6 or 7 I came up with an ingenious workaround to get out of my unfair punishment.

See my mom was the disciplinarian but she also worked later than my dad which meant I had a few good hours of mom-free time to watch TV. My dad was usually out in the yard, or the garage, or underneath the car working on something. He wasn't too concerned with what I was getting up to and even less concerned about what new punishment my mother had dished out.

So my great plan was simple but foolproof. I would watch TV while my mom was still at work and when I saw her car pull up I'd simply turn it off and tell her I hadn't watched it!

Who says kids aren't geniuses?

I finally decide to put my plan into action. I turn on our old TV. The TV is an old console TV. The ones built into the wood surrounding them? It weighs about 100 pounds and still works. I know because it's the TV my parents have in their bedroom.

This is what I was determined to watch ladies and gentlemen. 

Anyway, I turn the TV on and I probably watch Barney or Arthur or Sesame Street because we don't have cable and PBS is the only channel that's not showing some Jerry Springer type show. I settle into our recliner which is perfectly positioned in front of the TV and a window that faces our driveway.

I've probably been watching for a few hours when I hear my mom's car pull up. I quickly run to turn off the TV and settle back into the recliner, cool as fuck.

Mum opens the door in her work clothes. As soon as she sees me, she gets suspicious. She walks towards me. She looks at the TV and then at me and then the TV again.

"Valerie, have you been watching TV even though you're grounded?"

"No."

"Are you sure? What have you been doing?"

"Nothing."

"I think you were watching TV."

"No I wasn't."

Then she does this bit of motherly magic I didn't know existed.

She goes to touch the turned-off TV screen with the back of her hand - the same way she would test my forehead for fever. 

"It's hot. You lied to me. You have been watching TV."

I sigh loudly, eyeball roll (I was an early adopter), and I earn an extra week of groundedness. She yells at me for lying. Tells me how bad it is to lie to your parents, blahblahblah. 

I never watch TV again when she's not there. Lesson learned. 

The end. 

JUST KIDDING!

It's totally not the end of the story. 

So it's a few years later, I'm probably 11 or 12 now. I don't watch much TV. My new form of punishment is no phone time. Anyway, I'm watching TV and it's been on a while when I get up to get a snack and kind of trip/brush my arm on the TV screen.

The TV screen that has been on for hours.

The TV screen that has been on for hours and doesn't burn my arm. The TV screen that has been on for hours and isn't even hot. Isn't even warm. 

And right then, like a lightning bolt I get it.

MY MOTHER LIED TO ME. 

She couldn't tell that the TV was on because it was hot! She knew I was lying because what kid sits in front of an off TV like that? No one! She saw me looking all smug and cucumber (as in: as cool as) and knew that I wasn't just sitting there looking out the window for fun. Oohhh no. I had been watching TV and she busted me.

But the real motherly magic was the trickery she used to get me to never watch TV while grounded when she wasn't there, for fear that she would call me out on it.

Touche mumsies. Touche. 

Happy Mother's Day! 

What are some of your favorite mother memories? Did your mom ever trick you into behaving? 

The Wrath and the Dawn - Renee Ahdieh

The Wrath and the Dawn
Author: Renee Ahdieh
Published by: Putnam Juvenile

In this beautifully written first novel, Renee Ahdieh weaves a story as complicated, colorful, and beautiful as a tapestry you might find hanging in the caliph's palace.

For weeks Khalid has been marrying girls and then hanging them the next morning at dawn. One of these girls was Shazi's best friend. Filled with hate and a need for revenge, Shazi volunteers to be his next wife. She knows that she must do whatever it takes to survive that first night. When Khalid comes to her room she tells him a story that lasts until sunrise - refusing to tell him the ending unless he spares her life for one more day. Khalid reluctantly agrees.

With her life secure one more day, Shazi must figure out the caliph's weakness so that she may be the one to end his life and avenge the suffering of everyone who's lost a daughter in the village.

Shazi knows that in order to figure him out she must get close enough to understand him, what she doesn't expect is to see a quiet, alert, troubled boy who keeps too many secrets for one soul to bear.
When her emotions toward Khalid become increasingly blurred she strives to figure out why Khalid acts as he does so that her feelings can reconcile the man or put her back on her path of vengeance.


With a real and honest look at the the confusing and conflicting nature of love, The Wrath and the Dawn does an excellent job at being both a love story and an intensely interesting tale about revenge, redemption, and the choices we make at the hands of others. With multi-dimensional, believable characters and hints of as-of-yet untold magic this novel will leave you reeling after you're finished and will make you impatient for the next installment.

I give it 5 out of 5 cateyes. (Though this book has pretty much changed my entire cateye judging standard.)

*I received an advanced copy of this book from the First to Read Penguin program. All opinions are my own.*