Thursday, September 22, 2011

A Note to Bloggers All

All Right, so I've been trying to get my blogs out there through some of these blogsites like Stumbleupon and stuff like that. Stumbleupon is a good site and I have gotten several people from there already. Last night I tried to Fuel My Blog. As a word of advice, don't. They are "blog snobs" and they won't let you put your blog up for no apparent reason at all. I get the part about them asking if it contains adult content and all that, but they seemed snobby and rude and they don't even have a section for history blogs. They also say they need to review your blog before they put it on like it's some elite group or something and if they see this post, let them, I'm canceling my register. Yah, this is a rant, sorry, I just wanted to let you all know about this if you get the same idea.

Slainte, Hazel

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Stirling: Proud Eddie's Army Gets Sent Home

So, aye, everyone, it's once again the anniversary of the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Exciting stuff there to be sure. I did a post on the actual story of it last year, so if you want to go read that, please do!

I still can't believe this is my second year of writing posts for you everyone, and I'm still not giving up, even though I've been a little slow lately. I've started an author's blog now and I've been trying to write for that. If you haven't already seen that, go and take a look, it's good fun ;)

But anyway, the Battle of Stirling. This was the first real battlefield victory in the Scottish Wars for Independence and truthfully the last until Bannockburn almost seventeen years later. Both proved many points. Wallace's victory at Stirling caused men to flock to his banner, hearts warmed to the fact that they could actually win against the English. Unfortunately, the disaster at Falkirk the year after, struck them back down to guerrilla warfare which, again, was not a total loss. Bannockburn, of course, won Scotland's freedom, but if Wallace had never fought on Stirling that day at the River Fourth, the Scots probably would not have had a hero to look up to in years to come. It is still, to this day, one of the Scots' greatest victories, made even more so in 1997 during the Yes-Yes vote that won Scotland a parliament of their own. Odd how history connects itself. This is why you remember your heroes, all my dear people.

So that's all I really have to say for now. Please, my friends, I'm still taking in Thoughts for Wallace so do not think you are too late. At any given moment, I would love to hear what you have to say about him.

Slainte, Hazel

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

My New AStore

Okay, so my cousin thought I should start an Amazon.com AStore which is something like this:

I choose things I like to put on it from Amazon.com and if you buy them through my store, I get a percentage of the selling. So I've put on some books I have talked about on my blog, and others that are some favorites of mine. There's a Scottish section that has books I recommend in history and historical fiction. I will be adding more things soon too, so there's not a lot on there right now, but there will be more soon. :) Please go and take a look anyway, and if you see anything you have wanted, buy it thorough my store!

Here's the link: Hazel's Picks

So, I'll be back some other time. If you have not looked at my new Author's Blog yet, please do.

Slainte, Hazel

Monday, September 5, 2011

My Author's Blog

Well, since I published my first book, I decided to start an author's blog now! It's mainly just for fun and laughs, but I hope to teach people a little bit about the history surrounding my novels and also share some of my favorite books and authors with you. I am also going to be giving out writing tips on occasion in a fun and very unacademic way.

The really fun part about my blog is that I'm going to be writing some of the posts from the point of view of my characters. I've even had them comment on the posts to make it more fun for you readers. The blog is also for you to get to know the characters more and have a chance to interact with them. (Truthfully, it's not as weird as it seems. It's all just for fun!)

So hop over to by new blog at hazelwest.blogspot.com 

Also, you know what I'm going to say, but I'm disappointed I only got one thought on Wallace for Wallace Day. Very sad about that. So I've decided to be nice (again) and give you another chance. If you can think of anything now, just let me know. Even if you just say something like "William Wallace is really awesome" I'll be happy. Because remember, Wallace is a character I used in my latest book and he's going to be writing in on my author's blog, so he would like to see what you say about him. ;-)

All right, I'll be back when I can think of what I want to write about next. Don't forget that the Battle of Stirling was fought on the 11th of this month! Hey, that's another good chance to write in about thoughts of Wallace!

Slainte, Hazel