Friday 26 July 2013

Interview with Siggy Buckley (Germany)

    Today I had the pleasure to interview one of the most talented bloggers from Germany who is a true artist , handles multiple blogs and has huge number of followers  , Lets try to know a bit of her.

    1.Can you tell us a little about yourself? your blog , and your aspirations and your hobbies !!


All my life I was drawn to books and words rather than sports and other activities. I’m lazy in that respect. Give me a book and a cup of tea and I’m in heaven. In highschool I wanted to become a journalist but that path was thwarted, I became a teacher instead studying languages. Having lived through a tumultuous first marriage in a country in a job activity I never had envisaged or dreamed of, I put pen to paper finally and wrote about. Book one is out and two is in the making: I once had a Farm in Ireland. (www.Ioncehadafarminireland.blogspot.com)

2. How you first got involved in with blogging, are you an imaginative person?
My blog resulted from boredom while waiting for my literary agent to find a publisher for my book ms, but it dealt with the subject  relating to my previous life: In and out of Ireland: going green and material related to Ireland.  I'm about to finish that soon now. Some more blogs ensued. In the meantime I wrote articles for online magazines:www.opednews.com and www.americanchronicle.com on environmental matters, sometimes of a religious nature under a pseudonym.
Imaginative? I hate to admit that I lack a virulent fantasy...My writings are always based on facts: my genre is memoir/autobiographical.

3. What do you find most challenging about blogging about your topic?
 To reach the target group it is destined for.This concerns my blog: Next Time Lucky: How to Find Mr. Right. And also the one on Ireland.
The other blog for writers is going stronger tapping into a wide audience of the writing community, thousands just on Facebook alone.(wwww.Writersgettogether.blogspot.com)

4. Tell me about some of the people you have met while working on your blog?
It's maybe a slight exaggeration to say that I made lots of friends, but some are very dedicated writers who offer support and give advice if needed. The best example is a FB friend who is minding the shop of www.Ioncehadafarminireland.blogspot.com for two months while I’m on a break in my home country. Scott Bury is the name of this gem and made lots of more professional changes in my absence. He is a real pro, experienced editor and published author.
Interacting with other writers when they contribute to my writers blog is a joy. Some feel like family.

5. How would (someone) describe your blogging style?
No-nonsense, straight forward, factual.

6. What do you do when you are not working on your blog?
Muster up energy to face my manuscript of my next book. Often I prefer to read instead.

7 .Where do you see yourself blogging wise in the next 6 months, and 5 years down the road?
I thought of starting yet another one on a different topic, health related. But since I’m barely up to date on the 5 or 6 I already have.:)…see my hub:www.SiggyBuckley.blogspot.com.

8. What networking do you do that you feel helps your blogging business?
FB has been of tremendous benefit to reach an audience. Some writers groups among them are particularly supportive and dedicated.

9. How do you keep coming up with material/content for your blog?
Many people struggle with coming up with different articles/posts and they only have one blog. RSS feeds help. Choose your topic and they supply you with material. If you have more than one topic to write about, you never run out of ideas. Out of time—yes!

10. What’s your strategy with your blog in general?
To provide regular interesting and somewhat different content that stands out. Sorry, for me it’s not a business, but a hobby and may look that way.

11. Any specific tips you have for newbee bloggers who want to make it in the blogosphere?
I’m not sure if I made it there myself. The blog WGT (www.writersgettogether.blogspot.com) is headed for 35,000    hits in 20months. Somebody told me the other day that was nothing to brag about. Choose a modern appealing layout and Network, Network, Network!

12. What would you prioritize? Content? SEO? Traffic? Readers? Content and readers.
SEO I’m often struggling with. I could do with some professional advice there.

13. What’s the best thing a blogger can give to his readers?
News or entertainment so that the reader feels he spent his valuable time on something worthwhile.

14. A lot of people are interested in blogging for the money earning potential. What are some tips for people interesting in making money from blogging? What are some realistic expectations in regards to what can be made?
 I don’t belong to that group.  Mine is purely a hobby even though I monetized the first thinking there may be something there. In the meantime I learned how much readers hate ads on blogs so I never pursued it further.

15. What motivates you most in life? Survival instinct?
I’m self-motivated and self-directed. Maybe that’s my German genes. My character is best described by a toy we had in Germany Stehaufmännchen: A self-righting tumbler doll. Nothing can bring me down, I always bounce back. It’s actually on the spine of Next Time Lucky.


16. What has been your strategy for creating visibility to yourself and your blog?
 Promoting it on FB and Twitter. With my writing blog Swapping Homes Anybody?  (www.Intrepidhomeswappers.blogspot.com) I took my blog posts one step further and converted them into ebooks available at $0.99. For myself I also turned them into a small paperback…for the memory of our trips. I’m traveling and writing on Season 3 now.

17 What was the most challenging moment in your blog content development process and why?
 Well, this isn’t really regarding the content…It was actually changing the template of one of my blogs. I screwed up the format and couldn’t go back to what I had before. I’m not a techie and I still haven’t resolved the problem..I guess I have to live with my second choice now…J

18. Everyone has a favorite/least favorite post. Name yours and why?
 I love a blog I wrote on dating a while ago. The title I saw somewhere else intrigued me as I was a matchmaker and dating specialist in a previous life: Would you date yourself? A tough subject to tackle with my clients if they needed to be told that there was room for improvement on their part while they were always looking for Mr. Right. I dedicated a special chapter to this later in the new version of my book: www.NextTimeLucky.com.

19. Name some of the bloggers whom you look up to and why?
Tough one, Cheryl Stahle, Suellen Zima,Sylvia Hoehns Wright. Innovative ideas, no-nonsense style, topics vary. I love a strong female voice. Most of these are Pen Women. I’m one myself.

20. What is the story behind the name of the blog.
Next Time Lucky: Divorced people who ar elooking for a new partner will know how difficult it is!
I once had a farm in Ireland: I did! And it’s a play on the title: I had a Farm in Africa by Karen Blixen and the associated movie.
www.SiggyBuckley.blogspot.com : I needed a hub.It’s my “Omnibus”.
WGT: writers get together is self-evident.

21. your connection with bloggers and the experience ?
I’m in various  groups in FB. They are a supportive bunch.In fact I feel guilty I don’t spend more time with them but that is due to medical limitations that I have.

22.Which genre do you feel gets the raw deal?
Memoirs of people who are not famous!

23.Which one plugin would you suggest all bloggers to have?
Ouch, I only download them when they are required. Don’t know one from the other.

24.Five adjectives that describe you.
Observant, Smart, curious, emphathetic,self-reliant

25.What book would you say has made the biggest impact  good or bad on you?
Simone de Beauvoir: All men are Mortal. In fact I just reread it after 20 years and  also another French female writer: Benoit Groult: I want to live!

26.Do you get easily provoked by positive/negative comments ??
Oh yes.Negative ones are hurting. But I do take a lot of stuff personally which I shouldn’t.

27.Do you plan to write a book , as every bloggers dream it is ?
I have one in paperback and eBook plus two travel ebooks: Next Time Lucky: How to find Your Mr. Right.
And Intrepid Homeswappwers:Insider Secrets about Successful Home swapping. All available on Amazon:

28.Are you a judgmental person , Do you prefer to take sides instead of standing neutral ?
 I give everybody the benefit of the doubt—until proven wrong. But I have been called judgmental often. I do take a stand. Have been an activist for Amnesty International and Greenpeace for many, many years!

29. Your collaboration with other bloggers , are you much into social networking , tell us everything about it ?
Many participants in writers groups are very willing to cooperate, if you engage yourself too. I’m often amiss with that since I suffer from chronic migraines and cannot work/write every day. If you like me to mention some in particular, I’d like to emphasize the following that you’ll all find on FB: National League of American Pen Women, Literary Guild, MasterKodas, WritingGIAM, Kickstart among many more others. I see the Erotica writers are very active too. I never got the hang of tweeting though I do it regularly.Who has the time to read all that? Not me.

30.What genre attracts you the most and which genre you avoid ?
I like thrillers but have no imagination to create a plot of my own. I do not like or read anything that deals with the supernatural, zombies, werewolves, even supernatural romance.And I avoid erotica, although my own book has its moments!

31.Your Views on Contests and increasing plagiarism ?
 I only entered a few contests, most  just seem to be a money-making event for the organizers…on the other hand I wish I had and won!

Wow, Its so nice to interact to with such an artist , full of experience and hugely talented lady. A true Inspiration.

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