Decisions, Decisions... Decisions Made!

Dear readers,

In my last post I talked about having a couple of blogs that focussed specifically on different things so that I can focus more on what I want to post as I love to write and want to post so much.  

This blog started as an experiment - could I be a blogger?  

I tried Wordpress and a few other blogging sites before Blogger and as a total beginner, I found Blogger easier and I quit the others and could never get the hang of blogging, but blogger, really helped me get to grips with HTML and codes as it's so easy to use.  I enjoy using it.  

The problem I have is that I eventually want to self-host and a lot of social media ask for you to have knowledge and skills using Wordpress and you can self-host relatively cheap from this as well as sign up for courses with Wordpress.  

All of this helped me make the decision that my new blogging sites would be with Wordpress.  

I am not usually a one to self-promote, however, as I do have some regular avid readers I thought it only fair to direct you to my other sites as I won't just be posting to one blog regularly, I will be sharing my time.  

My blogger website is quite a personal one, and I like it because you get to know me, and I talk about everything.  My other blogs are more focussed.


First of all, as I run my own tutoring and assessing business, I want to expand, so I have started my own business site/blog.  I offer a range of services but I also have a blog here to post about anything that relates to my business categories: English, Creative Writing, Business and Teaching.  

If you are interested in this, you can find this by clicking J Cooper Tuition & Training Services


Secondly, you know that my husband has been ill and that I care for him, and that my kids help too.  Family is everything to me so I decided to start a Family Lifestyle and Health blog as the bulk of my posts relate to either our family lifestyle as a family or carers, or health.  

You can review this blog by clicking Because We Care Too


Finally, you all know that I love English (Linguistics, Language, and Creative Writing), and in particular the Gothic and Fantasy genres.  You also know that I am passionate about my studies and how I would one day love to complete a PhD and become a Doctor of Philosophy.  With this in mind, I decided to start a creative and academic blog for all the gothic and fantastic things in my life.  I am extremely excited about this blog, and you should certainly watch this space!  

You can review this blog by clicking The Faerie and The Fantastic


I was new to blogging this year and it was my New Year's resolution of 2015 to begin.  I knew nothing, and I felt confused.  It took me a while to get going but this site is inevitively my baby.  I got the hang of the linky, the RSS feeds, as well as many other things and I have learned so much. 

It certainly isn't the end for Rambles, Rants, and Writings (well at least not yet).  I will still be posting here, just not everyday like I used to.

For now, I am taking each day as it comes and experimenting - exactly how I did for this blog.

In theory I already managed a business site (without a blog), a website, and then this blog.  I have dropped the old business site and my website now, so I only have one extra site to maintain.  

My business blog won't take much upkeep as the bulk of the information is already posted on pages, so I am sure I can manage my family lifestyle and health blog, as well as my creative and academic blog - the only difference is they wont all be in one place - because now everything has it's place. 

I ask you now, my fellow readers and bloggers - what blogging site works best for you?  What is easier to use? Or do you find one has more opportunities to progress your blog?  

Let me know your thoughts! 


Laters, Janet :) 

November Summary and Future Plans

Dear Readers,

Today I plan on asking your advice, as well as giving a brief summary of what I have been up to.  Apologies in advance for the repitition of the word 'blog' throughout this post - I have this word on my mind a lot at the moment :)

October wasn't the best month for me.  I didn't get to post very much and I have felt a bit out-of-sorts.  I went back to Uni, had to deal with my husband's illness, and I also had a busy period at work with new learners.

I have just had a weekend break away with the family, away from technology, and I have thought a lot about blogging and what's next for me.  A few month's ago I did some soul-searching as I was worried that my blog wasn't very specific and that my niche wasn't specific enough.

I find I want to use my blog for anything and everything - I have so many ideas.  I want a family and lifestyle orientated blog but I also want to post on health and being a carer.  Other than this I would also like a business site as I want to expand my business offering English Tuition, Creative Writing Coaching, and Marketing.  I would also like to post on writing and blogging itself.  As I would like to eventually complete a PhD, I would also like to have an academic gothic literature blog.

Rather than dwelling on all of these factors I think it might be best to have a couple of blogs that focus on specific areas.

This is were I need your help and advice, my readers and fellow bloggers, I wondered if any of you have more than one blog, and for what purpose?  What do you use the different blogs for? Do you think blogs are better if they focus specifically on something rather than being a mish-mash of everything?

I was thinking that I could have a personal blog that incorporated the family lifestyle, and help.  I then thought that I could have a business page which could incorporate the posts on writing and blogging.  Finally, I could then begin a Gothic style blog that incorporates my own creative work, academia and research, and then maybe Gothic style too - fashion, furniture, art, TV and lit reviews, etc...

Do you think three would be too much?  I don't think the business page would be once it was set up as I could just post short posts, maybe once per week.

I would appreciate your advice, guys!

So... What's been going on with me personally? 

I know I also went through a stage when I posted my weight loss too and I started off at 15stone 8lbs, and now I am currently 14stone 12lb, which means I have lost around 10lbs in total.  I am happy with this - I have been losing a 1lb per week but I haven't been giving as much time to exercise as I was initially.  Hopefully I can build my focus as I get my life back in order.

As you know (if you follow my blog), I was also completing some online courses with Futurelearn.  I'm afraid I took on far too much here as I currently have four courses, and I am three weeks behind.

I completed the Introduction to Journalism, and this was a really useful course.

This week I plan to catch up and complete:

1. Corpus Linguistics 
2. Digital Marketing
3. Developing a Research Project

This means I will then only have a few weeks of the Hans Christian Andersen course to complete.  At that point  I think I will give myself a break as I need to commit more time to Uni work and getting my blog in order.  

I have also became an admin and blogger for a Uni student blog, which is taking some getting used to.

What have you been up to for the last week?  Have you completed any courses, or maybe you have guest posted for another blog?  Paste a comment with your link and I will check it out!

Laters, Janet :)