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A Booktastic Few Days

Posted in Books, Church, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 30 October, 2013| 3 Comments »

I enjoyed my book signing at CLC in Birmingham very much last weekend. I met some lovely people in the shop – both staff and customers, and some of them even bought a copy of The Ministry of a Messy House. On Saturday I also appeared in the local paper after they’d sent a photographer round to take a pic. He spent a good while rearranging the mess in my kitchen to perfect his shot. Sadly, he didn’t rearrange any of it so that it was tidier…

MMH EandS

Our diocese also published online the article that appeared in the diocesan newspaper this month. The online version has a short video of me in my messy kitchen talking about the book and why we need to know God’s grace. The mess is slightly differently arranged – the icecream tub has moved a bit.

And this week, the first proper review of my book was published online. Eddie Arthur of Wycliffe BIble Translators liked my book and thought that men should read it too (he also blogged a bit of the book that had struck him earlier in the week). This made me happy. I am finding this bit of being an author slightly rollercoastery. Still fun and interesting and occasionally exhilerating. When I’m not feeling slightly nauseous, that is…

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On Being Offline

Posted in Church, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 25 October, 2013| Leave a Comment »

If you follow my tweets or Facebook page, you’ll know that the Vicarage has been without phones or internet since Sunday. I was told by BT (eventually, after I badgered them for about three days on Twitter) that ‘2000 pairs in a cabinet in the local exchange’ have broken. No, I have no idea what that means either. I do know that some (but not all) of my neighbours, including vulnerable elderly housebound people and shopekeepers who rely on a phoneline to offer card payment options for customers, have also been without telephone or broadband since then too.

offlineI can still access my emails, Twitter and Facebook on my mobile phone, but it’s quite a pain to use so I’ve not been very active online. Thankfully, the church office still has phones and internet, so the Vicar has been able to work and I’ve been able to sneak in a couple of times to use them, although today I’m writing this in Tesco’s caff in the tow-un. It has upset my mode of writing, which is very bitsy – I tend to write a bit, do a spot of washing up, pick up some mess, prep some soup and then come back to finish a blog post. So hence my general disconnectedness. The washing up and soup prep need to be done more than blogging and social media so I’ve stayed home and been offline.

It also means I’ve not yet closed the competition for the e-book. But I will do that next week, when the kids are off school and everything is a bit less all over the place. Shall we say last thing Sunday evening for entries?

And don’t forget I’m going to be at CLC Birmingham tomorrow with a big stash of copies of The Ministry of a Messy House. I’d love to meet any blog readers who are in the city. Come and say ‘Hi’!

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Blogging Bonuses

Posted in Church, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 10 June, 2013| 2 Comments »

When I started a blog I didn’t have any big aim. I just had a few stories to tell and my mother kept on telling me that she thought I should share them with a wider audience. And I reckoned that there weren’t that many columnists out there telling the story of inner city life whilst actually living it. Nor that many Vicar’s wives telling the story of what happens when you live somewhere that is seen as a first and last port of call in the storms of life. So I just started telling my stories, way back in May 2008.

But since I began blogging, and people I wasn’t actually related to began to read it, I have had the opportunity to spout a few views over at Lou’s Women, an occasional column at the Express and Star, our local daily paper. And then last year, I was asked to propose a book idea to IVP after I talked a bit about my blog at a conference and suddenly I’m going to be an author. Tomorrow I have to go to an IVP sales conference in Nottingham to enthuse about my book. I had to get new shoes because I only have smart boots, trainers and scruffy sandals. So I’m already pleased about going.

A few months ago, because of the blog, Hannah, a curate’s wife, asked me if I’d review her handmade prints. I was a bit busy with the book when she asked, but you should check out her site all the same, cos the prints are lovely.

MP900341336And then, just a few weeks ago, I had an email which I initially thought might be a scam. But then I saw the official-looking email address. It was from a marketing person at the Lawn Tennis Association. And they very kindly offered me a couple of free tickets for the Aegon Classic which is on at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham all this week. We are going for Ladies’ Day, which is on Thursday and is raising money for Ladies’ Fighting Breast Cancer. I am taking Dreamer, our Familes and Community Worker, and we are going to have a girly day just a few miles away, but in a rather different world to our normal inner city parish life. We are looking forward to seeing some great ladies’ singles tennis and getting in the groove for watching Wimbledon on the telly in a few weeks.

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I’m Back!

Posted in Church, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 3 June, 2013| 6 Comments »

Well, I’m giving it a go. Blogging again. Although I may struggle to write in under 36,000 words now…

 

So a Vicarage news digest for Monday:

 

  1. Did I mention I’d FINISHED THE BOOK? It’s with my editor and I just have to sort out the blurb for the back cover and book catalogues and take a trip to Nottingham to enthuse at the sales reps.
  2. We have anew Ministry Trainee, Red, who has joined Radiohead in the attic. He has a trumpet and is proving handy with a teatowel. Radiohead has decided to leave at the end of August so an attic space will be available if you or someone you know would like to join us in the mess for a year or two to learn about ministry and the consumption of cake.
  3. I have lots of shiny new books to review.
  4. We saw Gone the other day, who was walking with crutches (he was assaulted recently and had to have an operation on his hip), was a bit vague about whether he’d been evicted (we think he hasn’t) and was carrying a bottle of Frosty Jack in his pocket.
  5. I am typing this with a sleeping baby on my knee. His mum is asleep in our spare room. I have just managed to adjust him so I can type with both hands.
  6. Going back to school was a trauma for the whole household this morning and I am looking forward to our holiday jetlag being reversed. The Queen wasn’t asleep until after 11pm…
Vicarage cake available for one lucky applicant from September

Vicarage cake available for
one lucky applicant from September

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The Vicar’s Wife on Facebook

Posted in Fun, tagged , , on 12 October, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I’ve just started a Facebook page for this blog. If you like, you can like it and you’ll get told about blogposts going up and be kept up-to-date. I’ve also linked it to my Twitter account, but that’s rather experimental, as I do ramble a bit over there. We’ll see how it goes.

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A New Name: A Must-Read

Posted in Church, Faith, Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 11 September, 2012| 1 Comment »

This summer I was sent a review copy of Emma Scrivener’s book ‘A New Name’. Emma writes a fantastic blog on identity, body image and faith. You should read her blog and her book, whether these particular things are issues for you or not. In them both, she deals with the heart of what it means to be human and where we can find satisfaction for the hunger we all feel deep inside.

The book is the story of her own battle with anorexia as a teenager, and as a grown-up married ministry wife and seemingly sorted Christian. She describes the addictive nature of controlling your eating and how, despite seeming to be outwardly ‘cured’, she was still a captive of fear, pride and self-will. And she describes how Christ met her with grace in her brokenness and showed her that he could satisfy all of her longings and all of her hungers.

Once I picked this book up I couldn’t put it down. Emma’s writing is witty, lyrical and provocative. She doesn’t pull her punches when she describes the ugliness of anorexia, but the book is full of humour and hope. Once I’d finished reading, the Vicar devoured it in a couple of days and was similarly challenged and inspired by hearing how God met with Emma in the depths and brought her healing.

If you long for anything, this book is for you – it’s a must-read.

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Some 2010 Statistics on The Vicar’s Wife

Posted in Fun, tagged , , , , , , , on 6 January, 2011| Leave a Comment »

So I got an email from WordPress about last year on this blog. I’m not sure how they gauge some of this data, mind you – they seem to think my Blog is ‘Wow’ healthy.

Healthy blog!

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

Featured image

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 78,000 times in 2010. If it were an exhibit at The Louvre Museum, it would take 3 days for that many people to see it.

In 2010, there were 135 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 299 posts. There were 86 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 31mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was April 4th with 1,180 views. The most popular post that day was Resurrection Day: Memories of Mark Ashton. Many people came to share their memories of Mark, a wonderful Christian leader and godly, humble pastor.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were twitter.com, facebook.com, cranmercurate.blogspot.com,  fatprophet.blogspot.com, and en.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for orange puffle, where the wild things are, bible, puffle, and club penguin orange puffle. This is because I have a picture of the Engineer looking like an orange puffle and puffles are a great subject of interest to youngsters who spend too much time on Google. Where the Wild Things are was out as a movie in 2010, so it’s not very surprising that the YouTube clip of the Joker reciting the story was popular. I think people who search for ‘bible’ are just looking for an image.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Resurrection Day: Memories of Mark Ashton April 2010
6 comments

2

The Bible and Literature February 2009
3 comments

3

Where the Wild Things Are – Black Country Version July 2009
11 comments

People are also interested in my ‘About‘ page, Clergy News (which I only update intermittently, sorry) and How to Cope as a Vicar’s Wife: The Top Ten Tips. The blog ticks along at around 150-250 pageviews a day and in January ranked in a mighty 40th place in the Wikio religion blog rankings. I now have 28 followers. Thanks for all your support in 2010. I’m looking forward to continuing to think through the inner city, family, faith and food in 2011.

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