My blog moved to helenthornber.com on 15th March 2009. Since then I’ve had over 10,500 pageviews from over 5000 visitors, which may be nothing compared to Google, but is a big achievement for me (I feel like I should be making pretty graphics with all the stats like the ones I shared with you yesterday!)

1. The Real Me
My most popular blog post this year has been ‘The Real Me‘ (and not far behind is it’s follow up ‘The Real Me – Part 2‘). It was a blog I’d been unsure about writing so I’m glad my honesty about mental health has had such a positive response.

2. Geek Chic
Another popular blog. A surprise hit that sums up my own combination of girlie and geeky!

3. Waterstone’s Woes
I’m not known for keeping my opinion to myself so every so often I have a bit of a rant. Of all of them this has been the most popular. I still think that Waterstone’s should hire me as head honcho and then all their problems would be solved!

4. Adventures of a novice foodie
Back in August I decided to make the most of my summer holiday by cooking up a storm. Once of my proudest moments this year had to be successfully making sushi that looked like the real deal and tasted yummy. (The giraffe fried egg was pretty impressive too!)

5. Blog 101
Reaching my 100th blog was a big milestone that proved I could stick at it. But it was Blog 101 that I really enjoyed writing. Instead of waiting for the day I’m famous enough for the BBC to invite me in I decided to do it myself! Watch this space in 2010 for ‘Strictly Blog Dancing’, ‘Have I got Blog For You’ and ‘Top Blog’!

Starting at the end of January 2010 I will be doing a monthly feature and I’d like to hear from you. If you (or anyone you know) would like to share your story the details and deadlines are below.

If you have a story to share send your contact details (name/email/number) and a brief outline of your story to hello@helenthornber.com

Bullying at Work
According to a TUC sponsered survey* in 2008 bulling in the workplace is on the rise. Although the bullying itself can be traumatic enough, the effects can last for years afterwards. From personal experience I know how difficult it can be to recover and rebuild your life, yet the information out there with advice on how to do this is minimal and hard to find. I’d like to share the stories of how others have survived workplace bullying and raise awareness of the issue.
•     Have you experienced bullying at work at all in the past five years?
•     Did you report it?
•     Did you leave your job?
•     What steps have you taken to recover and move on with your life?
Get in touch by Friday 8th January 2010

Climate Change & the Recession
The combination of climate change and the recession we’ve been made aware of how wasteful our society can be. We’re encouraged to save energy, make more informed choices about the products we use and raise awareness ourselves. I would like to share your stories of the interesting ways of making the most of the resources you have.
•     Have you made significant/extreme changes in one or all areas of your lives?
•     Have you had success in business, life or even love because of changes you’ve made?
•     Have you experienced a crazy coincidence or life-changing event because of changes you’ve made?
•     Have you had a big reaction to the changes you’ve made?
•     Are the changes you’ve made because of climate change, the recession, or both?
Get in touch by Friday 5th February 2010

Married too young?
A significant proportion of people who marry in their early 20s are getting divorced before they hit 30. There doesn’t seem to be a week goes by without a report of another young celebrity splitting with their fiancé or divorcing their other half. I’d like to speak to couples who’ve married young and stayed together. I’m also interested in hearing from those who’ve separated or divorced.
•     Are you between the ages of 26-30 and did you marry before 25?
•     Why did you marry so young?
•     Did anyone have a problem with you marrying at the age you did?
•     If divorced, how soon after marrying did you know it wasn’t going to work? Do you think age has anything to do with it?
Get in touch by Friday 5th March 2010

Please Note: All contributions will be treated in strictest confidence and where necessary can be anonymous in the features I write. They will be used as portfolio pieces to submit to magazines and newspapers as well as being available on helenthornber.com

* Data taken from surveys conducted by UMIST and sponsered by the TUC and CBI in 2000 and 2008 http://www.emplaw.co.uk/content/index?startpage=data/12mar00.htm

This Halloween will be considerably quieter and more sober, but hopefully just as significant. At midnight it will be November, and I will be writing the first few words of my NaNoWriMo novel. 50,000 words in one month.

I spent last Sunday evening listening to David Nicholls and Nick Hornby talk about their latest novels as part of the Durham Book Festival. They shared that they write about 500 words a day. I’ll be aiming for 2000. The reality of this is starting to finally sink in. Juliet Naked is 85,000 words, by the end of November I’m aiming to have written around two thirds of that. I shared this with David and Nick as they signed my books afterwards and they both looked quite horrified. Two published authors caught in the headlights of imagining getting that many words down in such a short space of time. It should have been enough to make me run away screaming from this crazy month ahead of me.

With less than 36 hours before it kicks off my mental state switches between complete fear and total excitement. I sometimes also just stop thinking about it or make myself believe that 50,000 words is easy to do. In reality I haven’t got a clue what this month will bring or how I’ll juggle work, conferences, tutoring, social life and an average of 1667 words a day. But the one thing I know is that deadlines work for me and if it means most of my weekends in November will be spent making up for the words not typed during the week it’s more likely than not I will do it. It is a huge challenge, but one I’m confident I can succeed in. (In a weeks time I’ll probably want to delete that last sentence!!!)

Back in August I set myself a challenge of writing a blog a day over 18 days. In that time I wrote 19 blogs, averaging 512 words per blog. A total of 9722 words in just over two weeks. At the start it was daunting and seemed quite difficult, two weeks later I was finding it much easier to write. Although I wasn’t considering NaNoWriMo at that point it was a nice warm up. And although it may have been only a tenth of what I have to write in the month, at least with NaNo there’s no worry about editing or uploading (which can take up a good bit of time when you have a few links and pictures).

I have finally decided which of my stories I am going for, though it has changed a bit since I started in February. Tomorrow I’ll be gathering all my research together, handy for reference if needed as I go along. I think I have an idea of the first chapter, again not what I had originally written. I am starting from scratch though some of the work I’ve already done may find it’s way in to the book once I start the editing process… but that’s December and onwards. I have some intensive writing to do first!

The only other concern in November is what will happen with this blog? I’d like to think that I’ll keep up at least a couple of posts a week, venting my frustrations and general feelings about the NaNoWriMo challenge. Or just a way of getting out of my system anything that is diverting attention away from getting my writing done. I hope you’ll bear with me through the ups, downs and possible silences that November will bring. And I promise whatever happens I’ll be back to full blogging duty in December with plenty of festive cheer.

This week has been quite something though! I met my tutees at Trevs. I can’t believe how nervous I was, more so than my last job interview. And we had a quiz on Tuesday, we didn’t win but I thought we’d done rather well (especially as some teams had TWO tutors and some freshers reps too!) I remembered that Mork came from Ork, but should have had more confidence that IBM made the first floppy disk. I was also mistaken for a fresher by another fresher at the bar. So that means I can wipe eight years off my age, I’m 18 again!

I did two days of Freshers Fayre and it almost killed me. By Wednesday afternoon I was a babbling wreck downing Red Bull to keep me awake. But Tuesday was lots of fun, and I have lots of pointless freebies. Our sparkly bug was possibly the best freebie (we were told this on numerous occasions) but the plastic sombrero and stick on moustache were also pretty impressive.

Back in 2001 as a Fresher I heard rumours of free pizza at Freshers Fayre. I was thoroughly disappointed to discover this was a lie. Eight years later as the smell of warm dough and melted cheese wafted across the room the 18 year old me was incredibly excited… and it kept the 26 year old me in lunch for two days! And it wasn’t just pizza that was free – cakes, biscuits, sweets… I tell you Freshers Fayre is not the place for those on a diet. Or those who have let there exercising lapse the past few weeks… oops!

The trauma of Freshers week is now over and I’m taking a couple of days off to recharge and recover. And bake. I need to make cakes for tutor hour on Tuesday!

Before you know it’ll I’ll be back to my blogging self.

p.s. If you are in Durham – Nichols make very very very nice cakes, which I ate too many of at Freshers Fayre! They also make nice sandwiches too. I think it might be my new favourite place for baked goods!

I am rather excited about this as I quite like winning things and getting awards, but it doesn’t happen all that often. In primary school my teachers commented on what a gracious loser I always was. Apparently I would always smile and be happy about the successes of my peers. My netball team in the primary school league ‘Thornber’s Thunderers’ lost every single match that year. I had two birthday parties with teams, one was an assault course and the other was a treasure hunt. My team lost both. I was a loser on my birthday!

As you can probably understand winning or being awarded something is a very lovely experience and one step closer to overshadowing my loser memories.

Now I have the ‘Honest Scrap’ award I have to share seven facts about myself and then pass this award on to my favourite seven (honest) blogs.

In the spirit of winning awards my seven facts are about things I have won:

1. I won a trophy for the best entry in the miscellaneous categories in the Children’s Tent at the Ainsdale Flower Show
2. We finally won the pub quiz at the Smoke Rooms in Clapham when our competitors/arch enemies ‘Southside Johnny’ went away for a week
3. I was elected Vice President Representation in the Students Union at Bournemouth University winning by a landslide
4. At the end of sixth form I won half of the ‘Monica & Chandler Award’ for best couple
5. My team won a quiz (and wine!) at a Royal Mail graduate event
6. I bought a ticket for my nieces primary school raffle and won a bottle of Martini Rosso. The worst prize ever!
7. I was given a bottle of champagne for being the first person in Sainsbury’s Southport to get 100% from a mystery shopper

And the seven honest bloggers I will pass the award to are:

1. Rats Saw God – a nice mix of thoughts, life and everything else. I always enjoy James’ posts.
2. Secret Diaries of a Wannabe Yummy Mammy - A wonderful woman who is using her blog (and Save One Mammy) to raise awareness of the problems of getting a divorce, getting custody but not being allowed to move back to the country she is from. She also keeps us updated on being a mammy and the trials and tribulations of dating!
3. Awful Library Books – Not just for librarians. These are the most awful books found in libraries and put into one blog by Mary & Holly. It is hilarious!
4. Graeme Watson Photography – A fantastic photoblog of excellent photography by an amateur who is very rapidly turning pro.
5. On Music, Maths and Moggies – The title says it all, an enjoyable read every time
6. Mister Phill – Phill is a professional photographer and his photos are so enjoyable to consume that is doesn’t matter if you know no one in them. He’s also one of the most honest pros you will find!
7. Whitespider1066 – Darren’s outdoor blog covers the TGO Challenge, hiking and outdoors info and life in general. Enjoyable even if you are an armchair hiker who keeps promising themselves they will put on their walking boots next weekend…

And of course don’t forget Jo’s Kitchen. Thank you Jo!!!

On the 1st October it will be a year since I decided to quit my job in London. One of the goals I set myself was to use more of my time to regularly write. Another thing I am proud to have achieved. My persistence in blogging has stopped me from being scared of putting words on a page, I’ll now happily write something I know is rubbish and come back and redraft it later. The difficulty used to be getting the thoughts from my head onto paper. Now the longest part of the task is usually uploading pictures, adding links and the final proofread.

I am also grateful for the existence of Twitter. Without that I’d still be writing to an audience of my closest friends and family. Twitter has allowed me to share my blog with so many, and I am so pleased that people enjoy reading it. And now it seems that people are starting to find my blog via other routes. A couple of weeks ago someone followed me on Twitter because they’d read my blog first!

It’s taken me over two and a half years to reach blog number 100. During that time my life has changed in many ways. Where will I be by blog 200? At the pace I’m writing now it’s likely to be in less than six months. The next few months will be lots of fun though. From October I’ll be a tutee for a few of the students at Trevelyan College. Once I get them settled in I’ll be challenging myself to write 50,000 words in a month thanks to NaNoWriMo. By December I’ll be ready to relax for Christmas and enjoy some time with friends and family. Before I know it, January will be here and I’ll be celebrating one year since my move to Durham. And I’d like to think that by the time I reach blog 200 I’ll have had something published somewhere other than here.

But I’m not wishing my time away. The past year has flown by and I want to enjoy as much of the here and now as possible. And share it with you.

The thing that needs to be said in my 100th blog is THANK YOU! Thanks to all of you who read my blog. If I hadn’t got Google Analytics letting me know that you are all out there I might have given up before now. The more you visited my website, the more I have written. You’ve stuck with me and been the life that my blog needed to survive and grow!

Anyway enough of the soppiness… time to write Blog 101!

There are becoming two strands to this, writing and business. This is where my wish list comes in. The things I’d love to be paid to do. The things I’d still want to do even if I won millions on the lottery and could choose not to work.

Journalism: A regular contributor to The Guardian (Weekend/The Guide/G2) and Marie Claire. A weekly/monthly column would be great, as well as the opportunity to write opinion, comment and features.

Novelist: Get the stories out of my head onto paper, but have a real deadline to work to. Deadlines are great for me. I will always achieve a deadline even if it means a couple of days with no sleep at all.

Business: Communications, HR and Marketing are all passions of mine, and predominantly self taught. But I have taken every opportunity to learn, train and build on my knowledge. I’d love to work with small businesses, who are passionate about what they do, as opposed to selling their soul and being obsessed about making as much money in the shortest time possible. My motivation for this is not to make millions myself, but to prove to the world that business can be about so much more than a huge profit. Local businesses run by people who care about the community. It’s the future.

Three careers not just one, but it’s something to aim for. However small steps are required. I’m not going to become a national literary treasure and saviour of North East small businesses overnight.

And as a blog is a chance to interact, not just broadcast this is where you, dear readers, get a chance to help me start taking those small steps in Journalism. Starting on the bottom rung. Do you know anyone who needs a writer? Online magazines, local newspapers… anyone or anything I could write for and get published? My blog is my portfolio and I’m pretty versatile on what I can write about.

If you do, please email me and with your contacts or direct them to my blog. Or both.

As for the aspirations of novelist and business I have plans there, too but you can’t possibly imagine how happy it would make me to get my writing out there, beyond the pages of helenthornber.com

Thank you lovely people for reading!

I found myself excited yesterday when I discovered I finally had a blog reader in Wales. South East Wales. Talbot Green to be precise. (A big hello if you are said person!!!). I was more excited about my blog reader in Wales than I was about the one I have in Delhi, India (though that is rather exciting too!)

But it’s only one person (who’s visited twice this past month… go you!) and I’m wondering why the Welsh aren’t popping over to helenthornber.com to have a read? It’s almost six months since I launched my blog in this format. Six months and only one person living within Welsh borders has actually visited it.

England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have all had a few people having a read, but Wales there has been none. Every time I cast my eyes over the analytics Wales is just a big yellow bit of emptiness, no little orange blobs anywhere until now.

I even have good Welsh credentials. I have a majority of my Dad’s side of the family in North Wales, my parents lived there for a while back in the 1970s and my sister was born there. She even ended up back in Bangor for university. I might be an eighth Scottish when it comes to blood, but Wales is somewhere I will always associate with and with all the family ties and visits I might as well have Welsh blood in me too.

And how can I not be a huge fan of the country where Doctor Who and Torchwood are filmed? I think we’ve established I’m a big fan, but the fantasy that the cast and crew are lolling about on their breaks catching up on my latest offering isn’t even backed up by having a reader in Cardiff. Not one.

So why do the Welsh not visit me? Answers on the back of the postcard (or in the comments box below)… and if you know any Welsh people get them to visit helenthornber.com and comment on this blog too!

So this is why I wanted to blog and be up front about having just become an Amazon Associate. And why I have done it.

Interestingly the day after I first drafted this blog I came across Blog with Integrity which I have now signed up to. I like it when something pops up with perfect timing.

I’ve found over the past few months of blogging that I am recommending and mentioning books and movies, and more often than not linking to Amazon so people see what I’m referring to. I’ve struggled with whether it is “right” for me to become an Amazon Associate so if you guys happen to follow a link and buy the stuff I might make a bit of money (a very tiny bit of money) out of it.

In the end I decided that if I’m sending you guys to Amazon anyway, then I might as well. I’m not going to sell out, I’m pretty sure you’d stop reading my blog sharpish if it turned into a stream of blogs about buying books and DVDs. But in the event that I write a blog that mentions a book or movie then I will use my Amazon Associate account to link to it.

I’m not about to start bugging you with loads of adverts on my site. Even though a bit of extra bit of money could come in handy I prefer sites that don’t bombard me with adverts, and I’m guessing a majority of readers do too. If I do decide to promote or advertise something other than general day-to-day recommendations or mentions then I will let you know up front.

I hope this is ok with you guys? If I do ever recommend anything it’s because I actually think it is worth recommending. My sister did point out that our family has a habit of being “pathologically honest”.

For god sake I’m writing a blog asking you if it’s ok if I link to stuff on Amazon. I really am never going to be a millionaire am I?! Definitely not ruthless enough!!!

Below is the text from Blog with Integrity. You can sign the pledge too if you want.

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BLOG with INTEGRITY

By displaying the Blog with Integrity badge or signing the pledge, I assert that the trust of my readers and the blogging community is important to me.

I treat others respectfully, attacking ideas and not people. I also welcome respectful disagreement with my own ideas.

I believe in intellectual property rights, providing links, citing sources, and crediting inspiration where appropriate.

I disclose my material relationships, policies and business practices. My readers will know the difference between editorial, advertorial, and advertising, should I choose to have it. If I do sponsored or paid posts, they are clearly marked.

When collaborating with marketers and PR professionals, I handle myself professionally and abide by basic journalistic standards.

I always present my honest opinions to the best of my ability.

I own my words. Even if I occasionally have to eat them.