Where do I start? I suppose from the beginning. Be warned, this is just my brain spilling out onto a page. It might not make sense.
My name is Charlotte, and this is somewhere around my twenty-billionth attempt at blogging. I tried Patreon, but my organisational skills are severely lacking, and I just felt like I was wasting everyone's money. So, I thought why not just make it a free blog instead? And here I am. Garbling on a web page.
My problem seems to be that I try to do too much. I've never been very good at sticking to one thing, which is why my CV (resume) seems to impressive at first glance - lots of experience at different things, lots of qualifications... because I can't sit still. I started out writing pet care and health articles and publishing poems. That soon morphed into general freelance writing for magazines and websites - any subject would do. I've written articles on everything from different breeds of dog to the latest celebrity endorsed perfume. I've written erotic romance novels under the name Charlotte Howard, and urban fantasy/paranormal under C.V. Leigh. There's a collection of poetry and short stories under Lark Dumas somewhere, and we're not going to talk about that awful murder mystery under D.D. Dewitt. I've written non-fiction guides on survivalism and prepping, and Tarot cards. At the last count I had 40 unfinished novels on my PC, and hundreds inside my head.
I branched out from content mills and traditional publishing, and created my own business: RW Literary Services. When I get bored (not often), I play on Photoshop and quickly taught myself how to create book covers. I started an Etsy shop and sold a couple, but I've not been brave enough to go all out and start offering custom covers yet. I've done some editing and proof reading for a few authors, but again it's not something that really took off. My anxiety and self doubt got in the way.
I have children, so thought about doing a "Mum Blog". I set up an Instagram page and created a brand called "Mum's Cupboard". With my eldest being preemie with allergies, I thought I could help other parents. But the kids are now teenagers and don't want to bake cookies, or go on adventures, or let me take their photos. And I am nowhere near the "perfect mum" that social media expects of mummy-bloggers. I'm a chaotic mess.
I also run my own business called The Tyger's Eye. I started just before the Covid lockdown, just attending fairs with handmade crafts and offering Tarot readings. Then lockdown hit, the fairs got cancelled, and I got writer's block. My children introduced me to TikTok, and for some bizarre, and still unknown, reason, I went viral and currently have over 200,000 followers. (@ShyTiger if you want to have a nosey.) I renamed RW Literary Services to TE Books.
I set up Etsy, selling online Tarot and Oracle card readings, and digital artwork that I'd created when I was bored. Quite literally overnight I started earning a full-time wage. I decided to invest in some products and stock, and now I'm making candles and witchy-inspired crafts, as well as continuing the readings.
"Teach me" was a popular message, so I created a Tarot course and put it up on Udemy, and that's when I also started Patreon and fell flat.
It's been nearly 3 years now, and while I do have a nice, professional looking website, it's only a very small part of who I am and what I do. Every day I question if I should get rid of it and just go back to Etsy. Should I put my book covers back up, and try to merge The Tyger's Eye and TE Books?
I'm not very good at having separate sides of me. I have numerous social media accounts - FB, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and now this! But I'd really like to merge the whole lot into one. I'm just not sure how.
Well done if you've stuck with me and got this far!
This blog will probably end up being a mish-mash of everything as I try to find my way. I haven't really decided where to go with it. It's just who I am: a witchy writer and artist, mum, holistic therapist, pet owner, Cubs leader with various interests, disabilities, allergies and mental health issues.
My name's Charlotte. I'm 40 years old, and still trying to get my life together.
