'Ello and welcome back to the blog! Today I have another book review by someone that I shared another of his books last year- Jon Richter! In similar styling to his last book, Deadly Burial, Disturbing Works is another book best kept for a stormy night when you want a bit of a spook. Or yano, in my instance when you're sitting on the tube twice a day! 

The first volume of my Disturbing Works is a collection of twelve twisted tales perfect for people who like their stories dark, despicable, and deeply unsettling. Containing fantasy, sci-fi, dark humour and a lot of deliciously nasty horror, it should have something for every reader that has a sinister side and nerves of steel…

If you haven't noticed my choice of books has definitely grown to include crime, thriller and creeps the past few years and well Richter's book did not disappoint. The book itself is a collection of a variety of short stories all covering different themes and genres of creepy, mind-F'ing weirdness and some with a unique look at technology. The best way for me to some it up would be by saying it's like the tv series Black Mirror but in book form (with also getting a bit of Hunger Games/Battle Royale vibes with one story as well).

One point I covered in my last review of a Richter book is the formatting. Within this new collection of stories, it is once again where the formatting and pacing makes the reading enjoyable and engrossing. Each of the stories varies slightly in length and amount of dialogue- although the majority include only small on going passages of speech. But it is with this instance I feel helped with the setting of each story, whether it was a story with 20+ humans/robots or a single person, the style of writing cemented you in to what was happening very easily. 

With each story being obviously short it would be very easy to read the entire book within one sitting but I do definitely prefer the way I worked my way through it. The stories were short enough that I could start and finish one or two on my commute on the tube going too/from work, making the packed tube rides all that much more pleasant... well as pleasant as it can be when you're reading about people being murdered, robots taking over and a plethora of other disturbing things. 

So if you fancy getting yer creep on I'd thoroughly recommend checking out Disturbing Works! Trust me if you love your sci-fi, horror or thrillers you will be pulled right into this book! I would love to see a tv show collection of some of these, it would work so well. But for now I'm looking forward to the next collection being released and actually sitting down and reading it with a cuppa rather than a shakey tube, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do! 

What books have you been loving lately? I'm trying to complete my Goodreads challenge this year by reading 30+ books, so leave your recommendations down below and I'll hopefully get round to it! 

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So hello, and welcome to the second post of 2018! (Yes I know there was meant to be a post on Saturday, but I don't think I'll be diving right into them just yet.) But today I wanted to have a chat about resolutions, new year intentions, goals, whatever ya call them! 

For me I like to start the year by looking at the last 365 days and seeing what I've achieved and not achieved at, then think about what I want to take forward into the new year and work on. I know a lot of people don't like the idea of New Year resolutions as the common idea is that you fail it within the first month, if not week. But for me I always try to make mine much more actionable and something I truly will try be exciting about achieving. 

This year, I decided I would note all my goals within my bullet journal and give myself some actionable points to be able to start achieving them. Most years I do kind of just write down whatever things I can think of but this year I took a much more level-headed approach by giving myself on goal for different areas of my life that are important to me like my personal creative development, what I want to be doing at work, and also things involving my health, finance and relationships. 

Laying it out the way I have (which was inspired by happily eve after) it gives me the opportunity to write down those actionable points I mentioned but also to give a space that I can mark off how I am progressing with them when it comes too April and then August. 

By doing all this I think this year I will be more successful in how I achieve my goals and the extent they'll be achieved as well. As a creative I think it's always important to strive to push yourself further not just creatively but in your regular life as well as what happens to you on an everyday basis can become the foundation for a new project or give a new perspective on an idea you have. 

Of course with goals though, you need to keep them somewhat manageable. Many times in the past I've strived to do the standard "loose X amount of weight" with no plan or steps to take, which is obviously going to end in failure. But it's good to give yourself some means to keep yourself accountable as in the end you'll be wanting to pursue that goal in order to keep ahead of the accountability. 

The last thing I wanted to touch on was something I've done for a few years, which is a word for the year. The idea for this is that you have a word that encompasses your goals, ambitions or feelings for the year ahead. It is a bit like giving yourself a mantra to follow throughout the months. For this year I've decided on the word "develop", largely because a lot of the goals I've chosen involve developing some aspect of myself or my life into something better. I also like the idea of using the word develop because one thing I'm aiming to do this year is to print off more photos on my sprocket that I got for Christmas and it obviously ties into the photography terminology. 

So what about you, have you got some goals for this year, has this post made you think that you need to add some actionable points to your goals? Or has it even inspired you to make a spread in your own bullet journal or even to give yourself a "word of the year"? If it has let me know below and we can have a chat about them! 

Well it's been a while ain't it? My last post was in October and my goodness how things have changed since then! 

If you haven't been keeping up with me on socials (Instagram & Twitter) you will have missed that I am now working as a full time graphic designer at a company called SevenC3 in London! The past 3/4months have been a bit of a crazy whirlwind with it, from having interviews to then being invited to be part of the company! On top of the usual new job business I also moved across the country for it too. Meaning that a lot of my spare time has involved looking for permanent living options, adventuring round the area and London itself, among all the other boring adulty stuff including weekly shops and cleaning. 

But enough about what happened in 2017. What's happening in 2018? Cause it's a new year folks! 

I'm coming into this year with an optimistic and excited attitude. I already have set myself goals in my mind for things I want to achieve within my work, personal, side projects and general health & wellbeing, among other things. 

On the side project front, that's where this blog sits. I've been speaking to Morag and Laura, two close blogger friends as of late and I've been discussing with them my goals and how I've wanted to be putting more of an effort with this blog. And that starts here I guess. 

I've refreshed the ideas I have with this blog and given myself a new focus on what topics and themes I want to cover, along with giving myself a new schedule to work too. So hopefully from now, you should see a new blog post on OhHay! Blogs every Tuesday and Saturday, covering topics from developing myself as a young designer, living in London, reviews and I'd like to share some insight into my creative process as well. 

I'll be going into a lot more depth about things like moving to London and finding a job in different posts but for now that's me! I hope you're excited to follow this new chapter of the blog and I'll catch up with ya in the comments & on socials! 

Check out the communities posts:

Danielle Warman (Blooming special)
Charlotte Kathleen G
Laura Campbell (The Floral Elephant)

Read my other posts from #CBloggers17

Introduce Yo' Self: Day 1
My Hand Lettering Process: Day 2
Facing Imposter Syndrome: Day 3

Want to join in? Get all the details in the link up! blog post.

Image created using this image downloaded via Pexels

So for the 3rd topic of #CBloggers17 it's all about the Creative Industries! I left the topic totally wide open with this as I felt it would make for some interesting conversations and perspectives among people and I mean there is a lot to be said. 

Going down the route of speaking about issues within the Creative Industries, there are so many to choose from. With issues around 'free' work, unpaid internships, lack of representation of WOC/other minorities within high roles, how creativity is still not seen as a skill among some, as well as a whole heap of other problems and issues. I've spoken about some other issues before on this blog before including misconceptions of studying graphic design, how my high school expierence killed my creativity and I've also spoken several times about how I feel lucky to have had supportive family that push me to follow my dreams of working in the creative industries.

For me thought I thought I would talk about an issue that largely lies with yourself and no-one else, and that is self doubt and imposter syndrome.

I won't lie these are things I have experienced a lot and I know a lot of people who go through it too, it's something in the creative waters. But when you deal with imposter syndrome it doesn't affect anyone else, just you and your work largely. It can paralyse you from producing or developing work. It can stop you from taking on new experiences or opportunities. And it can stall your growth not just as a creative but as a person too.

And today I wanted to speak about how I've tried to overcome it each time.

Give yourself perspective
What is it that makes you feel like you can't do this or you shouldn't? If you are looking at other peoples work and feeling that you'll never amount to their level, stop. Your skills and journey are unique to you and will shape your future to be what it should be, not what you think it should be because of what everyone else is doing. Look at your old work, the stuff you did when you started out. You'll see from then how far you have progressed and how much you've learnt.

Talk to people
Literally every creative I know has gone through this before and I'm sure it'll be the same for you too. If you open up to the people you are close with or speak to a mentor or even an educational tutor, they can help on the last point and open your mind to see how far you've come and give you feedback on what you can do to progress further.

Don't worry about failure and don't stress about success
These two words, "failure" and "success", seem to take of a lot of people's lives but you have to try and not let them. Failure will happen. You are never going to sail through life and have everything work out exactly as you think it should be. And don't worry that your successes will come falling down. Whatever you've been successful at, as long as you've done it honestly, is yours to take and you should go celebrate it. In fact, go celebrate both your wins and looses, there's things to learn from both.

Be aware
Realise that if, at the moment, you are scared to jump into a new opportunity that it isn't likely you're scared because you won't be able to do it. But be aware that the reason you can feel uneasy is that it's a huge step and what can come next will be enormous for you. As they say, if you're not scared then your dreams aren't big enough.

and lastly...

Remember to find enjoyment in just creating
It can often be a burden that accidentally falls on our shoulders as creatives nowadays when we think we need to constantly be sharing things on social media. From clients we work with, to projects we do and works in progress, amongst having a #flawless life it's just crazy. No person is crazy so stop worrying about portraying yourself in a certain way on line and remember that what you share online is down to you and no person, not even yourself, will completely know who you are as you are always growing and changing. So experiment! Do batshit crazy things. And if you share them with the world or not, just enjoy the process of being free.

What's some of your ways to combat imposter syndrome? Let me know below!

And if you fancy reading some more thoughts on the creative industries, check the link ups below: