If your imaginary world is rich in geographical detail, at least in your mind's eye, you need to get out there and soak it up in order to transfer the experience to the reader. Sophie E Tallis was already travelling when she started to think about writing her epic fantasy adventures.
You may be the writer, stuck at your desk - but the reader can be anyone, anywhere in the world.
The Deluge tablet, carved in stone, of the Gilgamesh epic in Akkadian, circa 2nd millennium BC. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Yes, the writing’s on the tablet and I’m not talking computer tablets here, in terms of writing and technology, it seems we’ve come full circle! 
Like many of us, when I was a child I believed that the ancient Egyptians invented writing. That hieroglyphics were man’s earliest endeavour at making sense of the world in written form.
Of course, we all know this to be untrue now, that actually Sumer (southern Mesopotamia) and the ancient Sumerians invented writing, Sumerian cuneiform by writing on clay tablets with a reed called a stylus, at least 200 years before the Egyptians.
As we grow and get older, thus our knowledge grows. What will we learn tomorrow? The reason for my focusing on ancient history, apart from the fact that I love it, study it and it continually inspires me, is simply the wonderment of the act of writing itself. That miracle of thought made manifest that we all take for granted.The Sumerians were this planet’s earliest known civilisation, although new discoveries are being made all the time so never let your knowledge be set in stone!
Clay tablet with Sumerian cuneiform script listing gods in order of seniority, 2400-2200 BC (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As well as inventing writing, the Sumerians invented the round wheel, astronomy and agriculture as we know it. A truly amazing people, thousands of years ahead of their time. Yet we know so little about them. Their great ziggurats (pyramids) have not withstood the ravages of time as well as their later Egyptian cousins, many of their stele ‘stelae’ (huge standing stones inscribed with cuneiform) are but broken fragments. Of course, time has not been the only eroding factor. Sumer as it was, lying between the great river deltas of the Tigris and Euphrates, is modern-day Iraq, a country which has been ravaged by war for hundreds of years.
English: Ruins from a temple in Naffur (ancient Nippur), Iraq, are said to be the site for the meeting of Sumerian gods, as well as the place that man was created. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sumer’s greatest city states were Uruk, Ur, Nippur, Eridu and Kish, though these are ruins now, their history overwritten by the Babylonian Empire which followed, the Akkadians, Assyrians, Hittites and a host of other invading and overlapping peoples. In such a rich environment, it was hardly surprising that the fertile ground of the Tigris and Euphrates would be a prize worthy of fighting for.
English: Ancient cities of Sumer Español: Antiguas ciudades de Sumeria Magyar: Ókori sumer városok (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
But, the reason I’m focusing on the Sumerians in particular, is simply because they also gave the world its very first story, The Epic of Gilgamesh. A wonderful fantasy adventure story on an epic scale, with our hero Gilgamesh, along with his friend Enkidu, trying to defy the gods and find the secret to immortality.
Gilgamesh Sumerian King (Photo credit: tonynetone)
Think of it, the world’s very first story, long before the Bible, Torah, Qur’an (Koran), the ancient Vedic Rig-Veda (early Hindu sagas), Buddhist tales, Zoroastrian writings or ancient Chinese scrolls of Confucius, the Sumerians were writing about their lives and they were writing stories. We have SO much to thank the Sumerians for!
What made them first think of projecting their thoughts in written form? No doubt the need for trade pushed the need for communication between peoples.
Evidence suggests that it was this cuneiform, written on clay tablets, that travelled to Egypt and India and other parts of near/middle Asia as part of the ancient trade links of the time; and that these later inspired the Egyptian earliest proto-hieroglyphics and the written language of the Indus Valley Civilisation (centred around Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa), covering modern-day India and Pakistan.
English: Mohenjo-daro (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I suppose that is one of the contributing factors to my liking fantasy, particularly epic fantasy - the fact that such sagas were written thousands of years ago, is certainly fuel for the imagination. The Sumerian King List for instance, a legendary text now where fantasy and fact certainly mix. The King List simply lists all the great rulers of the time, but it is not this which makes the record so extraordinary. It is the fact that this document cites many of those Kings as having lived and ruled for hundreds even thousands of years! Immortals? Talk about a feast for the imagination. If you’re looking for inspiration look to history.
Mace dedicated to the hero Gilgamesh (fifth king of Uruk, according to the Sumerian king list) by Urdun, civil servant of Lagash, Ur III. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The melding of fiction and fact is something I adore. Looking at history as we know it and daring to ask, what if this happened? For me, researching for an ancient forgotten people/culture that pre-date humanity, I had a lot of rich source material to draw from. Were these Sumerian Kings immortal exiles perhaps? Banished from their own Ǽllfren or Dworllian kin, to live amongst lesser humans? Perhaps it was these early sun-gods with their advanced knowledge and long life that seeded our civilisations? Are they the reason for the sudden unexplained jump in technology and culture all those thousands of years ago?
For me, my mind boggled with the possibilities. Certainly a rich pre-history from which to hang the tapestry of imagination.
But, fact and fiction aside, all we do know for certain, is that as readers and writers and lovers of the written word, we owe much to that ancient civilisation and their miraculous inventions!
xx
Ziggurat at Ur (Photo credit: jmcfall)
Apologies to all my lovely supporters for me being so absent in recent weeks. Still fighting illness I’m afraid so time on the computer is limited, but I will try to reblog interesting articles and get back to my normal blogging cycle. 
Anyway, I was very honoured many months ago now, to be asked by the extremely talented writer, Andrea Baker, weaver of fantasy magic, to appear on her wonderful blog: http://rosewallauthor.wordpress.com/
Andrea and I are also fellow members of The Alliance of Worldbuilders, an amazing kick ass group of fantasy writers and artists: http://theallianceofworldbuilders.weebly.com/
Andrea Baker (Rosewall) is the author of the wonderful YA paranormal romance novel, Leah – Book One of the World’s Apart Series, which I would highly recommend you all to read!![5127BRWJMNL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA278_PIkin4,BottomRight,-67,22_AA300_SH20_OU01_[1]](http://sophieetallis.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/5127brwjmnl-_bo2204203200_pisitb-sticker-arrow-clicktopright35-76_aa278_pikin4bottomright-6722_aa300_sh20_ou01_1.jpg){kind=icon}
http://www.facebook.com/WorldsApartLeah
Well, for those of you who are not yet familiar with this great book, let me explain that many of the locations in the novel, which inspired its creator, are real places. One of these is Kennilworth Castle. As such, Andrea who has always had a passion for castles and ancient structures, came up with the brilliant idea for a series of blog themed articles/posts about castles. Thus, her brilliant ‘Castle of Dreams’ blog posts were born, where invited authors shared their experiences of castles that have had a creative/inspirational impact on them or shared excerpts from their books! 
This week it was my turn…
So here is the link guys, please check it out and the rest of her wonderful blog: http://rosewallauthor.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/castle-of-dreams-week-nine/
HUGE thanks to Andrea for inviting me to be a part of something so special, thank you honey! xx
So, which places inspire YOU?
xx
For those of you familiar with that lovely long-standing stalwart of BBC Radio 4, Desert Island Discs, let me introduce to you an idea of pure majesty…
Talented fantasy writer, blogger, interviewer, mathematical genius, vegetarian, mystery, enigma wrapped in a rather lovely riddle, new mum, piano playing, fellow member of The Alliance of Worldbuilders, multi-talented book lover – the wonderful A.F.E. Smith has created somewhat of a stir. http://www.afesmith.com/
Forget Desert Island Discs, we’re talking about books not music here…so let me introduce you all to her wonderful, magical ‘Barren Island Books’! What a stroke of genius! SUCH a clever idea! http://www.afesmith.com/1/category/barren%20island%20books/1.html
Anyway, I have been very honoured and rather humbled to be invited and interviewed by A.F.E Smith, my eighth interview and the first of 2013.
If YOU were consigned to a barren island, albeit a rocky sanctuary or a green haven in a sun-kissed and bejewelled ocean, what 5 books would YOU bring for company and to keep the hounds of tedium at bay?
Please check out my new interview and A.F.E. Smith’s wonderful blog! : http://www.afesmith.com/1/post/2013/01/barren-island-books-sophie-e-tallis.html
xx
I love maps, always have. Something inextricably draws me to them. All those exotic names and places, those strange lands…
As a child I obsessively pored over maps and charts, any atlas or globe I could get my hands on, long before I could really read or understand all those mesmeric names and places. It was the beauty of them as objects in their own right and what they represented – the imagining of dreams made real.
When it comes to fantasy, you can imagine what I’m like when I see a map inside! I grew up enthralled by the maps of Tolkien, tracing Bilbo’s journey in The Hobbit and later, Frodo’s adventures in The Lord of The Rings. E.H.Shepard’s wonderful ’Hundred Acre Wood‘ map from A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books, the maps in G.R.R.Martin’s novels etc etc. Just sheer bliss and wonderment!
Yes, maps in fantasy books have become another cliche…but you know what? I don’t care, I LOVE them!
So when writing and illustrating my first novel, epic fantasy adventure, White Mountain – Book 1 of The Darkling Chronicles, it was a no brainer to include a map.
Afterall, creating fantasy worlds is about the most fun you can have with or without your clothes on. Exploring the subtleties of character, the twists of plot, the deepening of a storyline, the embellishment of a rich history and back story and mixing all those elements and more into one sumptuous thrilling world. Yes…it really is one of the most exhilarating endeavours.
So to encapsulate a part of that rich world in a visual way, to draw the reader in as I was drawn in, was an opportunity I couldn’t miss.
Also for me, as a lover of fantasy especially epic fantasy, to be able to construct a believable world, grounded in reality and embody that world in a map…was just the best.
With that love of maps also came a love of names, etymology – the meaning and derivation of words. For my map ‘The Lay of Fendellin’, Fendellin literally means ‘in a dell or hollow by a fen or water source’ – very appropriate for the land I invented. My Fendellin itself was inspired by the Tibetan and Buddhist beliefs in Shambhala, a mythical and legendary land still hidden within the Himalayas and untouched by the outside world. A very potent idea. Many people still believe in Shambhala, I wish it existed to. It has inspired stories down through the ages, not least James Hilton‘s ‘Lost Horizon’ where he turned the Shambhala legend into his utopian paradise Shangri-La. My Fendellin is wondrous indeed, but could never be described as utopian. Amongst the soft plains of blue mountain poppy and frolicking tarpans (ancient horses), there is always the omnipresent malice of Kavok’s Peak in the distance, birthplace of Morreck the book’s arch villan. Yes, my Fendellin is beautiful indeed but has become a gilded prison for many who live within its Encircling Mountains.
Mund’harr, the capital of Fendellin, a towering mountain on the Mund’harr plateau with its small city and hanging gardens clinging in winding tiers about its pinnacles, literally means ‘High Mound’ in various Old Norse, Frissan, Germanic and English languages.
Shudras, the silent marshes of Fendellin, is an Indian word derived from ancient Sanskrit which refers to the lowest of the traditional varnas or social classes, oppressed people many of whom worked and lived in swamp areas. Also refers to any of several species of dark serpents inhabiting the swamps and jungles of South India.
Fendellin’s largest water course, the great Varuna River, is again derived from Indian Sanskrit. In the ancient Vedic religion, Varuna is the god of the sky and water, ruler of the celestial ocean. Again, in Hindu mythology and post-Vedic texts, Varuna was the god of all the water elements, keeper of the oceans and rivers and god of the dead who could grant immortality. As the inhabitants of Fendellin are all dworlls, with hugely expanded life cycles to our own, all of this seemed a perfect fit.
I could go on…but I’d bore you all silly. Suffice to say, that maps and names hold a special power for me and weaving them into a mixture of actual ancient myth, my own invented mythology and reality is such a heady thrill!
Ah…for the love of maps! Check out my other map obsessed post: http://sophieetallis.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/for-the-love-of-maps/
xx
Celebrations come in all sizes…small and intimate to the grandiose, and in all colours – from little hints of pastel, hues to match your mood, to the vibrancy of fireworks or the acid splashes of billowing streamers and balloons.
Well, this is a little celebration for a little achievement but a very special one to me.
At the end of January 2012 I started this blog. I had no grand intentions at the time, no aspirations beyond wanting to share my passions and thoughts in a random sort of way. Having never been able to adhere to the regimented nature needed to write a daily diary entry, this blog has been as close as I can get to it. A way of making some semblance of sense from my chaotic life, of organising my thoughts and perhaps a forum for discussing creativity, the language of imagination.
Blogs are as individual as their creators. Some become mere extensions of the people behind them, streams of consciousness drifting over the internet. For me, it is that, but is also a place to tell stories, share poetry, life events, illuminate my journey to becoming a published writer and all the strange oddities that happen to you along the way.
A little nook n’ cranny amidst the ebbing flow of the web. An ocean of information and dead-ends, a place to get lost in or be swallowed whole…
This is a little modest blog, unassuming, not showy, a welcoming and cosy snug with an over-sized hearth and a shabby rug which reeks of candle smoke and coal but a place which promises warmth and comfort, good advice and honesty. A home of creative thinking (hopefully) and somewhere simply to be.
To ponder…isn’t that what every writer does? To ponder, to think, to imagine, to dream…ahhhh…per chance to dream!
So, on this my 100th post, I say a genuine heartfelt thank you to every passing visitor, every friend and acquaintance, every fly-by one stop blogger, every lingerer, lurker or frequent returner…
Okay… *hangs head in shame* nearly two months ago, 24th September in fact, I was nominated by my good friend, fellow fantasy writer and dragon lover, Lindsey J Parsons, for the One Lovely Blog Award.
I was utterly thrilled at the time and thanked Lindsey, intending of course to pay the compliment on as soon as I could. Then, only a few days later my debut novel was published and all hell broke loose…well actually, a glorious, manic, wondrous, bewildering, overwhelming and amazing rollercoaster from which I am only now catching my breath!
Here are the rules:
Include the blog award logo in your post.
Thank the person who nominated you.
Provide 7 random facts about yourself.
Nominate 7 other blogs and let them know you have done so.
*****
So, 7 random facts!
1. I am 
absolutely and irrationally PETRIFIED of spiders!!!!! Snakes don’t bother me, neither do sharks, heights (though I get a bit wobbly in the knees), mice, the dark, jellyfish etc. But let me come across an eight legged freak of nature walking on the ceiling (ready to drop on my head), dangling from a web or scuttling across the floor at a startlingly demonic pace and I FREAK OUT!!! Ughhhhh! What makes matters worse, is that I seem to be incredibly attractive to the horrible little blighter’s. Seriously, if there is a spider in a room or a seven mile radius, it WILL head straight for me – it’s even been noticed by others that I’m like cat-nip for the nasty things….ughhhh!
2. My beautiful gorgeous white wolves, Korrun and Tolly (Tollam), are named after characters in my debut novel, White Mountain – Book 1 of The Darkling Chronicles…oh, and my last house, Fendellin, was named after a hidden kingdom in the book! 
3. I have a profoundly deep connection to nature and natural landscapes that I can’t quite explain and which often brings me to tears (daft I know), but I’m never happier than when I’m ‘lost in a landscape’…preferably with no humans around, just silence and water and birdsong…ahhhh! 
4. Despite my sensible exterior and very sensible job, I am completely immature and I LOVE the fact that I’ve never grown up and lost that childlike innocence and sense of wonder. I love showing my kids cool lightsabre moves, high-kicking in class, discussing Star Wars etc, I love go-karting, I love watching fantasy and sci-fi films and am obsessed by Marvel and DC comics and films! Really…I want to be a Buffy the Vampire Slayer or a comic book superhero!
5. I know I’ve said this before…but I LOVE Marmite! A very British phenomenon, but I grew up with it and still adore it! 
6. I love Italy, the country, the people, the culture, the language, the food…everything about it!
7. If I were ever to emigrate, I’d definitely live in New Zealand. I spent four months travelling around that wondrous country, falling in love with every inch of it and letting the road take me where it wanted…a truly magical place! If you’re lucky enough to go…IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!!! 
*****
Now to nominate 7 other great bloggers for this lovely award…tricky to pick only 7!
Right, well I’ve got to mention the lovely Lindsey Parsons who so kindly nominated me and I’d also like to mention her list of wonderful bloggers too: Will Macmillan Jones http://willmacmillanjones.wordpress.com/ Kay Kauffman http://suddenlytheyalldied.com/ Katrina Jack http://kateannejack.wordpress.com/ and Lisa Wiedmeier http://lisawiedmeier.blogspot.co.uk/ .
Now for my 7 nominations (in no order)
Ryan Holmes (Griffin’s Quill) http://griffinsquill.com/
Tricia Drammeh http://theclaimingwords.com/
Ashen Venema http://courseofmirrors.wordpress.com/
Morgen Bailey http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/
Debbie Young http://youngbyname.me/
Andrea Baker http://www.andreabakerauthor.com/
That Fantasy Blog http://thatfantasyblog.com/
I know it’s bending the rules, but I would also like to mention Mandy Ward’s great blog (Welcome To Wherever) http://welcometowherever.wordpress.com/ and Fantasy in Motion http://fantasyinmotion.wordpress.com/
Again HUGE thanks to Lindsey J Parsons for her very kind nomination, thanks honey! :D xx
The meerest breeze upon brushed cheek,
The silence between moments, lingering in the air,
The sound of breathing, the murmur of breath,
The stillness of life within,
The rush of blood to the head.
The likeness of being…
alive.
Sophie E Tallis © 2012
Okay, so all good things come to an end, right?
I’m expecting the same to happen here too, and the anvil to drop on my head at any moment…that’s the pessimist in me trying to be optimist by the way!
My debut novel was published exactly three weeks ago and in that time I have had three wildly successful author signing events, several interviews and have been in three newspapers and even mentioned in the Cotswold Life magazine.
Now, I really am not expecting this momentum to continue, but I do intend to hang on to the rollercoaster ride for as long as I can, or at least until someone pops the brakes on and I go splat! :D
So, on Tuesday I have another interview, this time with the lovely Debbie Young of Readathon UK – a wonderful charity that promotes reading for pleasure in schools and libraries across the country and raises money for sick children. What’s not to love, eh? Readathon UK has also had some huge literary names supporting it, such as honorary chairman Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake, current Children’s Laureate Julia Donaldson, Frank Delaney and Micheal Rosen to name but a few. Little old me will be somewhat overwhelmed in such company, but I’m looking forward to the interview.
As for now, I’m thrilled to share with you guys, that The Stroud News & Journal newspaper has featured my book in their ‘Books Special’ (Wednesday 17th October 2012, p26) and in their Arts & Entertainment section on their website!
Check it out guys! :
http://www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk/leisure/9990207.Beaudesert_teacher_pens_fantasy_novel/
Many thanks to the Stroud News & Journal for their support. Thank you guys! xx
Well after receiving the Sunshine Blogger Award from the lovely Kay Kauffman http://suddenlytheyalldied.com/ I’m utterly thrilled and humbled to be nominated for another award! The very talented and dragon friendly, Lindsey J Parsons http://lindseyjparsons.wordpress.com/, has nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award! Wow, wow and wow! I’m so touched!
A huge thank you to Lindsey J Parsons. Lindsey is a fellow fantasy writer, lover of dragons, breather of fire and inspiring blogger herself. Please check out her wonderful site: http://lindseyjparsons.wordpress.com/ and be inspired yourself! Highly recommended!
The Rules:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Nominate other bloggers you think deserve the award, and post on their blog to let them know they’ve been nominated.
*****
Right, ummm…seven things about me, eh? Here goes!
Seven Things:
1. I have nine lives, as in a cat with nine lives, not previous reincarnated versions of myself…scary thought! I have currently used at least 3 of them as I have nearly died 3 times! I drowned and was brought back to life, was almost decapitated (a real close shave!) and was involved in a motorway pile up which wrecked my car and should have killed me, but left me with only scratches. I’d love to think I’m a superhero aka ‘Unbreakable’, but sadly no. That’s not counting all my mishaps as an adventurous Huckleberry Finn type tomboy, like falling twenty feet out of a tree while trying to build myself a tree house with some rusty nails and scrap pieces of wood I’d found!
I figure I’m doing alright as I still have 6 lives left! 
2. I used to play the piano and reached Stage 4 of my examinations before quitting, something I still regret to this day. I had absolutely no natural ability for it, it was hard slog all the way, but I did enjoy it and my elderly music teacher, Miss Allen was a delight. Although I can’t read music anymore, I still remember and play one piece by heart, called ‘Breakers’ (C major so it’s easy!), which reminds me of the ocean and breaking waves…very soporific! One day I will return to my piano playing days, though I doubt I will ever find a gentler soul than Miss Allen to teach me.
3. I love art and thankfully, unlike my music, I do have natural talent for it. Before I could walk I was drawing and painting with amazing precision for a two and three year old. At four I was drawing complex designs from art books and the decorative china we had around the house, including a very ornate Japanese cheese dish with birds all over it…don’t know why I remember that! As a young child at school I used draw portraits of people, or anything they liked, for pennies, not sure if I was being a little entrepreneur or a kindergarten con-man!
The first time I went to London and saw Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘Madonna of the Rocks’ and Caravaggio’s ‘Supper at Emmaus’, at the National Gallery, I cried. It was so moving and inspirational to me. THAT was how I wanted to draw and paint!
I got a BA (Hons) in Fine Art, with a specialism in drawing, painting, sculptural ceramics and photography (studio & landscape), which I love! Dark rooms are wonderfully magical places!
Anyway, I’ve been a particular fan of Caravaggio’s work my whole life, and though I can’t paint like him, it doesn’t stop me trying!
4. I once kissed Michael Foot on the cheek! For those of you who are too young to remember or for my overseas friends, Michael Foot was this archaic looking gentleman with a wild scruffy shock of white hair, who was the leader of the Labour Party back in the late 1970’s and early 80’s. Being a lefty myself, I’ll always believe in helping those less fortunate than myself, but I must say, having a photograph of me kissing this old chap – wasn’t my best move! Ewwwwww!
5. I do like my food, especially Italian, which is clearly visible on my hips! I adore Marmite – there, I’ve said it. Love it, love it, love it! When I’m on my own, I always prefer to have my dessert first then my savoury. That way, you get the sweet stuff out of the way and then you can fully appreciate and savour your main course!
Alcohol and me don’t mix though. Something about the fermentation process, but so much as a sip of wine or beer and I want to throw up. Of course, it could be that I just have immature taste buds like the rest of me!
6. I do have some strange quirks I admit. I am incredibly bendy, though you’d never guess it to look at me. Now, although I can no longer do the splits or get my feet behind my head, I can hoist them up to my shoulders and as all the children I have ever taught in my classes can attest, I do an amazing above the door high kick! That’s right…I’m a high kicking teacher! Damn, if only that was a usable skill in life.
7. Writing will always be my first love and passion. As a kid I was writing stories before I could really do anything else. Novel ideas, poetry, short stories and ideas for world building – some of it in incredible detail. I literally have bags and bags, reams and reams of character bios, story plots, background material for worlds, sketches of planets, ships, dwellings, really mostly rubbish, but it has always just been a part of who I am. The stories that always inspired me the most and fuelled my desire to be a writer, were always fantasy and science-fiction. When I wasn’t playing air guitar or climbing trees, I was buried in some sci-fi or fantasy book. If you cannot claw your way out of your reality, you can grow wings and soar instead!
Now, down to my nominees. There are many fabulous bloggers out there, but these are the ones I am most inspired by.
In no order at all, because they are all equally fabulous for different reasons…
Tricia Drammeh http://theclaimingwords.com/
Ryan Holmes (Griffin’s Quill) http://griffinsquill.com/
Morgen Bailey http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/
Rose Wall http://rosewall.weebly.com/
Hazel Butler http://aadenianink.com/
The Alliance of Worldbuilders http://theallianceofworldbuilders.weebly.com/
Mandy Ward (WelcomeTo Wherever) http://welcometowherever.wordpress.com/
Ashen Venema http://courseofmirrors.wordpress.com/
Lesley Carter (Bucket List Publications) http://lesleycarter.wordpress.com/
Again, I would love to nominate Kate Jack http://kateannejack.wordpress.com/, Will MacMillan Jones http://willmacmillanjones.wordpress.com/ , Kay Kauffman http://suddenlytheyalldied.com/ and of course Lindsey Parsons herself http://lindseyjparsons.wordpress.com/, but Lindsey has already, quite rightfully, nominated their wonderful blogs, so I won’t repeat. But please do check them out folks, inspiring every single one of them!
…in yourself and you can achieve anything! xx
