Today please welcome Margaret, who blogs at Bleach House Library.
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HOW BOOK BLOGGING HAS CHANGED MY LIFE
In July 2013, a friend of mine asked me would I like to guest review a book for her blog as she was swamped with titles and knew I loved to read. I agreed and took a couple of titles home with me. I had them done in two days and was delighted to see my review live on her page a few days later.
Little did she know, but she had created a monster! I decided to start my own blog, not in competition, as I wanted to just share the books that myself and my family ( seven of us ) had read and enjoyed. I have always enjoyed reading reviews in the newspapers and magazines, but they tended to be limited in their genre and seemed to be written by people who were showing off their own writing abilities rather than getting to the point. I wanted to have a blog that was simple in it’s layout, honest with reviews (without harshness) and included kids books too. That’s how BleachHouseLibrary.Blogspot.ie came about.....
The blog name comes from our house. Bleach House is a 18thC period house which we bought to renovate almost 10 years ago. I always wanted a library at home, and while I didn’t quite get the one like in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, I got a lovely ground floor room, with double doors to the garden, a working fireplace and white bookshelves from floor to ceiling. I have approx. 3000 books and most are in the library, in alphabetical order! I am a Mum of four myself and we also foster kids and have our current placement two years now. We also take in emergency cases and a while back there were 11 of us in the house along with our four dogs..... Maybe this will give you an idea of how I love to escape into the world of books.
Anyway, the blog took off at an alarming rate, considering I live in Ireland and it’s such a small island. Publishers got wind of it and I was invited to join panels like LoveReading.co.uk and Writing.ie as well as some posts for Novelicious.com. I go to as many book launches as possible and especially love promoting Irish authors ( biased methinks). I have met the most wonderful people through Twitter and Facebook and my phone beeps all day with messages and requests from the book blogging community. I re-discovered my love of writing through the blog, and have returned to education after 24 years! I hope to one day write my own books, but for now, I am just delighted to see the blog received so well and that I have been given the chance to be part of the world of books!
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Thank you for joining us today, Margaret! It was so awesome getting to know you! Remember to check out Margaret's blog, BleachHouseLibrary, and leave a comment or question! You can also find Margaret on Twitter at @margaretbmadden.https://twitter.com/margaretbmadden
I would love to see a picture of this house! It sounds gorgeous!
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