Yearly Wrap Up: Achievements, Not Reaching Goals and Thank You!

2013 has been an amazing year, and I'll admit, I will be very sorry to wave it goodbye when the clock strikes midnight tonight. From getting nominated for a Journalism Award and getting to travel to the Royal Society in London for the competition final, to becoming a published-poet and seeing my review featured in an actual book, to making friends through blogging that have become huge parts of my life because they make my day, every day, I really have loved this year.

Here are some of my favourite pictures from the year:

Andy Robb and my blog ended up on a school wall! Well,
our writing did!

One of the best days of the year!

I finally got to see Buckingham Palace!

That Police Man was laughing at my awkwardness!

 Big Ben - which will be lit up with fireworks in half-an-hour to welcome
in the New Year!

 

Some of my favourite moments blogging-wise this year have been: Reaching my 25,000 pageviews and finally seeing '100 followers' on my side-bar, how  well-received my week about anti-bullying was and seeing other bloggers share their experiences and being confident enough to do so and meeting new bloggers and becoming better-friends with the one's I knew last year. It's a crazy feeling but, as my first full-year of blogging comes to a close, I know it's been a good one! Joining Twitter was one of the things I did this year and I never thought it would have such an impact on blogging but, it has! I've also received a lot more ARCs than I did previously, which I'm always extremely humbled to receive through the post, because it means the publisher actually trusts me enough to write an honest review.

 

Last year, when I was writing a post about my goals for this year(I will be writing a similar one to welcome in 2014 tomorrow), I set seven goals, which, now I think about, was definitely not thought out. Those goals were:

1. To achieve something I have never achieved in before. 
2. Join a club or group where I can meet more people whether it is a writing club or drama.
3. Read a different variety of books and genres including the classics. Finally read the Harry Potters!
4. Write more. Possibly write a novel-however short it may be.
5. Achieve in school: work hard, get good levels, do well.
6. Be more confident-be more comfortable in different situations and in-front of my peers.
7. A really important one for me is to stand-up for myself. I always feel like I allow myself to be picked without saying anything because I'm naturally afraid.

 In terms of achievements, most of them have been in blogging and writing, which is something I'm really proud of. I haven't done any new this year, as I haven't had time to fit-in anything else but what I love around school, so there hasn't been time to achieve in something I never have done before. Even so, I did join a Writing Club at school, and despite knowing everyone there already, and spending most of the time chatting, I haven't discovered new competitions and things from there that have been fun to do! I managed two classics this year; not exactly many, or what I had planned, and one of those I had to read for school. I know a lot of people will be wondering why, so sorry, but I still haven't managed to read the rest of the Harry Potter series(I've read one and two)! I think I've half-achieved in these so, 2014 is one where I'm setting goals that I hopefully can reach!

 

There are a lot of people who have made these things happen though: the publishers that continue to send me books, and wait until I finally get around to reading them, the authors who supported my 'Anti-Bullying Blog Week' and made it the most rewarding thing I have ever done, and something I'm excited to be continuing in 2014, to the bloggers and readers who take the time to read what I still believe is the complete-rubbish I write, and leave comments that make blogging something I enjoy even more. Yes, at times it is stressful and hard-to-fit-in, even I have thought to myself wouldn't I rather be reading a book, instead of blogging about a book? The answer to this question is clearly no, but more than anything else this year, I've realise doing something you love takes a lot of work. Work though, that does pay off and makes you feel like it was all worthwhile - whether you feel that by seeing a comment, going to an event or getting a book through the post.

 

A huge thank you to: Amber, Hawwa, Charli, Jack, Sunny, Ruby, Georgia, Zoe, Rita, Erika, Orli, Kyra and Lucy for chatting to me endlessly on Twitter, and being your normal, hilarious selves! You are fantastic and have been a huge part of my year. Happy New Year, I hope you read amazing books and attend lots of great events! I'm sure at some-point I have missed someone out, but thank-you to every blogger for being-bookish!

 

Also, thank you to: Dom, and the rest of the team from Nosy Crow, everyone at Hot Key Books, Curious Fox publishers and the rest of Team Fox, Bloomsbury and Harper Collins for sending me review-copies of books this year, and other things including bookmarks, posters and chapter-samplers for school-displays!

 

Finally, I wish I could give cup-cakes to all the authors who have simply said "Thank you!" after I have written a review of one of their books, allowed me to interview them on this blog, have talked to me on Twitter or been a part of #AntiBullyingBW. Thanks to Siobhan Curham, Andy Robb, Holly Smale, Kate Maryon, Natasha Ngan, Emma Pass, Sharon Sant, Cathy Cassidy and Jackie Buckle for supporting my blog!

 

Happy New Year, everyone! I won't be back until Next Year...so, see you then!

Anti-Bullying Blog Week(Final Post) - Wrap-up and Cyber-bullying Advice!

Anti-Bullying Blog Week is coming to an end - and despite being incredibly busy for me, it has gone really fast. It's been so humbling to see all your comments and you've had me just sitting reading my Twitter/Blog or Email smiling, or sobbing over some of your own experiences when you shared them last Wednesday. Also, a lot of other people have got involved and I've heard about everything from a library display based on Andy Robb's 'Coke Bottle Theory' - in which I've also heard whisperings of an assembly based off it; as well as Kate Maryon organising a short-film inspired by the week, which I am unbelievably excited about! I'm hoping to do a lot more to be an advocate for anti-bullying in the future!

 

 

 

Now time for me to thank everyone who has gotten involved! Siobhan Curham, Andy Robb, Natasha Ngan, Sharon Sant, Emma Pass, Cathy Cassidy and Jackie Buckle for offering your advice, support and general-awesomeness throughout the planning of ABBW and this whole week. I feel completely overwhelmed to have had you all involved. My fellow-bloggers - you have been amazing! I can't thank you enough for posting your 'Bloggers on Bullying: My Experience' posts and sending me tweets like Hawwa did saying, 'You just made my cry' and worrying me sick; when all I did was go to check my phone while I was out! Some of the stories I have read about your own experiences have really shocked me - you are inspiring! I mean, all I want to do is make sure nobody as nice as you are made to go through what you experienced again.

 

Guest Post by Jackie Buckle!

 

Hi, my name’s Jackie and I’m the author of Half my Facebook Friends are Ferrets; which is due out in January.

 

Back in the old days... 

 

It’s a long time since my school days so although I remember a bit of bullying, I have thankfully blocked out most of the details. I do remember that it mainly had to do with my spiky white hair, safety pin earrings and lashings of black eye-liner! Yes, this was the 80’s and I was a non-conforming punk. Not conforming can get you into trouble at school. It can get you into trouble with teachers who insist that pink PVC trousers are not part of the school uniform and it can get you into trouble with some of the kids, in particular the non-imaginative ones that like everyone to be the same as them – the bullies. 

 

So what’s changed? 

 

Move ahead thirty years and it seems that bullies are still as prevalent as ever and I guess it’s a fact of life that they will always exist. Now, though, there is a new way to spread the misery. Now we have cyber bullying. 

 

Cyber-bullying can be just as destructive and upsetting as bullying face to face. In some ways it’s worse as it follows you home from school and even into the sanctity of your own bedroom. It affects adults as well as children and because people can be anonymous online they can often say far more hurtful things than they would ever say to your face.  

 

A few years ago I noticed one of my daughters seemed very quiet and depressed. She was about fourteen at the time and in her second year of Secondary School. I often asked her what was wrong but she always said she was fine and for a while she did appear to be happier. Then, washing her jeans one day I found a folded up piece of paper in one of the pockets. The paper was a printout of an MSN conversation and here’s a snippet: 

 

Daughter: I don’t understand why we can’t be friends anymore? 

Other person: Because you’re stupid. I hate you. I never liked you. 

Daughter: I still don’t understand. Can you just tell me what’s changed? 

Other person: Shut up. Just leave it. I don’t like you – get it! 

 

The MSN conversation wasn’t the only thing. There were also nasty comments and pictures posted to her Facebook wall - the usual things like, you’re stupid etc. As mentioned before, bullies aren’t the most imaginative people around. 

 

So what did we do? Perhaps the only good thing about cyber bullying is that it provides you with physical evidence of the abuse. We printed out more of the conversations and confronted the bullies. I’m not saying this is always the best thing to do but in our case it worked. Tears were shed on all sides, apologies were said over and over and never once in all the intervening years have any of the girls involved ever bullied my daughter since. In fact they became firm friends. 

 

So, as much as most of us love social media, it does have its downside. Even without bullying, reading about other people’s “amazing lives” can make you feel down about your own. In my latest book my main character Josh says: 

 

“I haven’t been on Facebook for a while as I was finding it a bit depressing. Everyone is always posting amazingly attractive pictures of themselves in amazingly sexy / macho poses at amazing parties where they are the absolute centre of attention and everyone is having an amazingly epic time.” 

 

I guess we have to remember that our lives on social media aren’t necessarily representative of our real lives. The hurt people can feel through bullying online is all too real though.  

 

At least there is help available now. If you are getting bullied please don’t suffer alone. Childline have a helpline you can CALL.

 

Earlier I said that there will probably always be bullies. I think that’s true but what can change is society’s attitudes to bullying. I think there is already less acceptance of it. People don’t tend to say “It’ll make you a stronger person,” anymore, as they did when I was a kid. We still have a long way to go, but we are getting there slowly. 

 

Take care, Jackie X

Follow on Twitter: @Jackie_Buckle