Sunday 21 August 2016

Welcoming The Writing Garnet...

I am delighted to welcome a relatively new, but nonetheless incredibly supportive and successful, blogger to the blog for the first time today. Please give a warm welcome to Kaisha, The Writing Garnet, who I have persuaded to share with us her reading, writing and blogging journey so far.


Thank you Heidi for inviting me onto your blog! It's not often I get asked to write my background in a guest post, I'm usually asking other authors to! Heidi asked me a pretty good question: 

Why the Writing Garnet? How did your blog come about?

Okay, that's two questions, but you get the idea.

I have been a bookworm since the moment I learnt to read, no, seriously, I have. My nose was usually buried in books such as 'The Babysitters Club', 'The Magic Faraway Tree', any book written by Jacqueline Wilson, other Enid Blyton Books; pretty much any book that was in the library between the years of 1994-2003. I spent a lot of my time reading and disappearing into the realm of an author's imagination. When I was a teenager, I sent off a badly written story to Random House Publishers. I wasn't expecting a reply from them, I didn't know the correct way of approaching the writing world. But, I did get a reply; a lovely letter thanking me for my story and to keep practicing my writing ready for the future. However, life got in the way, how rude of it, and my writing/constant reading went on the back burner. I still read, but I was at the age where I needed to read job contracts and not book blurbs.

My love for books and writing didn't dwindle at all during my hiatus; in fact, it became more prominent in 2011. Very specific, I know. In 2011 I became very poorly, little did I know that it would be the first of many illnesses that I would be faced with over the years. I realised that I would often lose the use of my legs (temporarily) or be prone to fainting. How could I try and escape from that? Well, I couldn't really walk so I couldn't exactly go far! Helloooooo books!! Books (apart from my mum) became my lifeline. I was transporting my mind into intense situations from the 'comfort' of my own home, flying to different countries without moving a muscle, even finding my CV grow rapidly as I 'worked' in a cafe, bakery etc.

As the years went on, I become even more ill, more illnesses to add to my ever growing collection, having my own seat in the doctors, you know, that type of thing. With my personal life becoming such a struggle in terms of my health, books became even MORE important to me. I didn't think it was possible, but it was. I needed to escape. I needed to try and lose myself in a book. Don't get me wrong, books will never rid it completely, but having that form of escape, for the cost of one single book, means more to me than anyone will know.

Then, in March of this year, my fingers were itching. I wanted to write again but I knew competition was fierce and I had to ease myself into the writing world gently. How could I do that? The answer was simple. I would start my own blog about books and anything else writing related. The name, for me, was a tricky one to think of. A lot of names were already in use, and, because I wanted to stand out, I needed something memorable. That is how The Writing Garnet was born.

I used the term 'writing' so I wasn't stuck to one subject, just in case, and I used 'garnet' (the gemstone) because my birthstone is garnet. Both of those combined made the title personal, but in a subtle way. I do shorten it to TWG because I'm lazy and twitter only has a certain amount of characters, cough. The thing is, people know of TWG (The Writing Garnet) but they don't always know who the person is behind it. Never in a million years did I think that my blog would have the following that it does now.

My blog posts are always honest and filled with humour. I get a lot of people thanking me for making them laugh, yet to me, its how I wish to write. I am truly honoured that people find joy in what I write and enjoy my book reviews. I feel incredibly honoured to be able to rub shoulders with some of my favourite authors, interrogate them, and be able to call a lot of them my good friends. I will always be in debt to the incredible authors out there for writing books that can help me escape from my nightmare health. I cannot put into words how grateful I am. If I can turn my writing hobby/book hobby into a career, from home, it would be a dream come true.

Come and say hello...


Twitter: @kaishajayneh

2 comments:

  1. Lovely to meet you Kaisha! You sound like a kindred spirit. I too read all the Enid Blyton books but I was much more a Sweet Valley High girl opposed to The Babysitters Club. I love that you sent a story to Random House as a teen. And how awesome that they replied! Looking forward to reading more from you. I'm over at www.girlgonedreamer.co.uk if you want a nosey or to chat xxx

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  2. Fabulous post, you also sound like me in terms of nose buried in a book to blot out health issues. You know you have made me smile because I have commented before, just that one tweet lifted me out of a fog that day so please keep doing what you are doing & I hope your dreams come true ... thanks to Heidi as well for hosting :) xx

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