Keeping the vampire from your door (yes, social media I’m talking about you!)

I celebrated the equinox on Thursday by taking myself down to my favourite local nature reserve with a coffee and permission to just sit for a couple of hours. I didn’t pop in the AirPods as usual, relaxing instead to the natural soundtrack of the birds. The sound of the road was there as well, breaking through every now and then. I didn’t mind. It served as a reminder that real life is never far away, rumbling away in the background.

I used the time to:

a) watch the ducks on the pond,

b) say hello to every dog that passed by and,

c) re-read Austin Kleon’s brilliant little book Share Your Work.

I pick up Share Your Work at least once a year and it has become an indispensable guide to putting myself out there online and being as transparent as possible, all while protecting myself from getting punched repeatedly in the virtual face. 

It’s fair to say the book hits differently in 2025 — and not just because some of the people Austin quotes who have become… problematic of late. But there’s still plenty of gold to be found in here, especially the never more relevant reminder not to rely on social media platforms but have your own online space.

Hello! You’re in mine!

The one thing that really stood out to me this time was this quote from Derek Sivers:

It has to be said that social media is my vampire these days. It’s such a double edge sword. I love chatting with fellow fans and readers, but it also ramps up my anxiety no end. (A writer with anxiety? Who would have thought it?) 

I’ve cut back considerably, focusing only on Bluesky and limiting my time on it to a couple of hours in an evening. Gotta love boundaries. 

Talking of which, I also tried handing over my Instagram and Threads to my brilliant assistant, Greg, but it’s not really worked as an experiment, only leading to confusion for my followers who think it’s me. That makes sense. There’s an expectation that Insta accounts are run by the person themselves, because, well, that's the norm.

So, I’ve decided to take Instagram back, but will only be using it occasionally to feature news and — whenever possible — push people here. This blog is my happy place online at the moment and I’ve really enjoyed posting this week about everything from craft to the Excelsior signing last week.

This is also the best place to get an answer from me too and I’m going to be looking at running AMAs and other options too. Let me know what you’s like to see by either leaving a comment or contacting me via my website. 

And talking about sharing work, I‘d love to use this space to get into the nitty gritty of being a freelancer in the creative world, so if you have any burning questions about the freelance life from someone who’s been doing this for 15 years, please get in touch.

Oh, and the best thing about rereading books? You stumble upon the baby photos of your now-very-grown-up daughter that you‘ve used as a bookmark in days gone by!

What a cutie!