Wednesday, February 11, 2015

All about Deanna's World

I thought that it was time that I do a proper "About Me" post that goes with the tab on the top of the blog. :-) The last one was just an old post that seemed to fit and I hadn't put any time or effort into working on something specific.

As to the whole "about me" thing, my profile is actually fairly accurate in what it says:

I love all things beauty and makeup, reading and books, and also have a keen interest in cooking and food. Combined with a husband who loves wine, we write a number of blogs that align with our interests. I have two blogs: Deanna's World which focuses on all things books and beauty, and Daz In The Kitchen which is my cooking and food blog. I hope you visit and stay around.

I'm very much a girly-girl, and I hope that this blog reflects it.

This blog reflects two of my main passions: Books and Beauty.

I get my love of both from my mother.

ReadingWhen I was a little girl, as little girls are likely to, I would complain that I was bored. Well, all three of us kids did. My mum would always say "read a book". I guess for me, that piece of advice stuck because I have been reading for as long as I can remember.

For the most part, I read for fun but over the last couple of years reading has become so much more for me. My love of reading went into doing it as a job (I edit and proofread for work) and also beta reading and critiquing manuscripts of unpublished works for authors I know, or who ask me to. I also started judging writing contests and that is another fun reading thing that I do.

Of course, all this other reading means I read a lot less for fun but I still have managed to average about 100+ (that's my goal each year) books in the last 4 years, with last year being a high at 171 books.

With this blog, reading has taken on an added dimension as I've started taking writing reviews for books I read more seriously. Writing reviews forces me to really think about why I liked or didn't like a book and to articulate it well. It has been many a challenging exercise for sure.

The blog has also helped me connect even more with authors that I love and am getting to know, and getting involved in helping to promote their work through New Release, Cover Reveal and other author related posts.

One thing I'd like to say too is that I do promote published works of authors where I have beta read their first drafts previously. I only promote the ones that I have read and enjoyed though, the ones that have showed tremendous promise and the ones that have just blown me away. I'm getting more and more selective with regards to who I beta read for now as I am very time constrained, so I only work with authors who I think are great.

So far, I am loving every aspect of the blogging process. Pray, I do not run out of steam too quickly and this continues for a long time.

My mother also introduced me to fairy tales at an early age, specifically Disney cartoons, and instilled in me a love of the "happily ever after". Gosh, I do love a happy ending. That's why I read predominantly romances. I need to know the good guy always wins and that he always gets the girl. It also makes me a hopeless romantic.

MakeupAs to my love of beauty, when I was growing up, I used to love watching my mother put on her makeup each morning and get all dressed up while getting ready for work. She always looked so glamorous.

When I was 13 and hitting puberty, my mum bought me my first skincare. I remember it clearly. It was a trio of Elizabeth Arden cleanser, toner and moisturizer. She told me that I needed to start looking after my skin if I wanted to stay looking pretty for a long time. That was the start of a lifelong practice of a good skincare routine that became a habit and plenty of vanity. My mother tells me the vanity is a good thing, it means we care about how we look and we will make an effort to look good.

To this day, my mum and I have lots of wonderful mother daughter bonding moments where we have long girly chats about skincare and makeup. We even have mother daughter shopping days where we spend hours at Sephora playing with pretty things.

The love of all things beauty and makeup has spawned a Youtube channel, which I post a video a week. The channel is mostly about makeup and beauty though I do throw in the occasional vlog, cooking video or book review. The channel is a work in progress. I do link each video that goes up with a blog post, or at least, I've recently started doing so. I try to write some specifically beauty related posts too but they are fewer than the book related posts. I guess I just have more book content rattling around in my head. Nonetheless, I do make the attempt and try for something at least once a month.

UsNot about the blog per se, but it contributes to my love of romance. :-) I am also happily married to the love of my life. His name is Steve and he is my real life romance hero though he looks nothing like what you see on a book cover. :-p I still love him to bits though and think he's the most gorgeous man. He tells me that I am blinded by my love for him. I'm OK with that.

Sometimes I wish the paranormal stuff I read were true and like the vampires and other immortals that we could live for eternity because I think that eternity is just about enough time for me to spend with him. My life is fuller, richer, and better because Steve is in it.

A piece of relationship advice I got from my mother was "always treat your husband like your boyfriend and that you are forever dating". It's great advice. It makes the relationship fresh and romantic. You continue to have stars in your eyes when you look at him and your love will always be wonderful and new. It fills you with a sense of anticipation and excitement each time you see him and you spend time together.

There's more to say, but this is me in a nutshell. I hope you enjoy this blogging journey with me.


Find me around SOCIAL MEDIA:
Deanna's World Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/langshipley
Deanna's World blog: http://deannasworld1.blogspot.com.au/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/langshipley (this is the best way to reach me, I will always respond to this the fastest).
Twitter: @langshipley https://twitter.com/langshipley
Instagram: @langshipley http://instagram.com/langshipley
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/langshipley/
Cooking blog: http://dazinthekitchen.blogspot.com.au/

 

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