Welcome to the “Let’s be Inspired series”, where we get to know our fellow bloggers on WordPress.com.

Where we learning about their blogging, book writing, their passion for gardening, photograph and more.

The purpose is to be ‘inspired’ by their journey and to learn from them. To be invigorated by their dedication, motivation, and understand how they make it happen. And maybe employ some of their routines and wisdom in our blogging, writing or whatever our passion is.

Today, we speak to Brigid P. Gallagher, the fifth blogger in this series.

Where does the inspiration to write come from? Featuring Brigid P. Gallagher

Brigid is a precious blogging friend.  She started her blog a few months before I started mine.   Brigid is an inspiration to me and has always left such wonderful and encouraging comments on my blog posts.  I have learnt a lot from Brigid and her blog – Watching the Daisies; for example: from tips about self-publishing, gardening, healing oils, and Donegal, Ireland, where she lives.

Brigid, has written and self-published, a beautiful memoir which we will discuss in the interview.  She wrote the majority of the book whilst in full-time work.  I won a copy of the pdf and read it. It is really a great book and her life story really inspired me.  I later brought the Kindle version, so I could re-read it.

I hope you enjoy this interview and that she inspires you with your blog or book writing journey.  

Blogging: 

When and why did you start blogging?

I began blogging in February 2016, to build up interest in my memoir “Watching the Daisies – Life Lessons on the Importance of Slow,” which I published in October 2016.

How did your blogging Journey evolve?

It became an addiction of sorts!

I began to write on a number of topics – self-help, gardening, book reviews, travel, self-publishing…

My followers grew, and I really enjoyed interacting with other bloggers and authors. 

They were hugely supportive.

How often did you blog? 

I started blogging once a week, but soon began to post “Thoughts for the Day,” which became daily posts. I did these daily posts for maybe a year, then went back to blogging once a week.

How long did it take to write a blog post etc.

Some blog posts were written fairly quickly, in an hour or so, but others took much longer.

Tips on health, book marketing, and travel… could take a couple of weeks to plan and write.

What did you love about blogging?

I really enjoyed writing about my passions – gardening, self-healing, book reviews, travel…

I feel that my writing technique improved a lot with the discipline of writing on a regular basis.

How did you manage your blogging schedule?

I always wrote my posts ahead of time, usually a week or so in advance. I could then add other insights or check for mistakes well ahead of publishing a post.

Advice for bloggers?

Blog about your passions, and just be yourself. Interact with other bloggers, and share their posts on social media. Other bloggers will reciprocate.

Do you have any advice for bloggers starting out or struggling?

Write several posts in advance before going live.

Find your tribe of bloggers who share similar interests.

Comment on their blogs.

Do not follow a blog expecting to be followed back.

Enjoy the journey.

Brigid’s Book Writing Journey.

What made you want to write a book? A Memoir?

I was a member of a local creative writing group for 6 years.

We met weekly, and we published two collections of our work, raising quite a lot of money for local charities.

Woman and Home magazine created a competition for writing a memoir. I entered it, and just kept on writing…

How long did it take to write? 

It took me four years in all.

Was it enjoyable? 

It was very cathartic, as I let go of a lot of my old wounds.

Did it make you laugh, cry? 

Both. I tried to inject a fair bit of humour into my writing, but I cried such a lot writing about my father’s death.

How did remember everything – did you not forget anything?  

I managed to remember most things, but I also got all my old medical records from my GP, to make sure I put everything in correctly.

My memoir is about overcoming an illness called fibromyalgia, so it was important to get those details just right.

If you can provide your story and journey I think it will make a really interesting read for those wanting to write a memoir.

How long did it take?  Did you have a schedule to follow or ?

It took me four years in all, but I wrote some parts more quickly than others.

I took breaks when needed, as fibromyalgia is quite debilitating at times.

What are your lesson learnt from writing a memoir?  If you can explain as it might help others wanting to write a memoir.

I found writing my memoir to be very healing on a lot of levels.

It helped me to let go of a lot of grief and sadness, around both my parent’s deaths, and the end of my marriage.

You self-published:  Can you explain how you went about that? And some helpful tips.

I attended a self-publishing conference in Dublin in June 2015, which inspired me to self-publish.

Up until then, I tried to get published via the traditional route. I am so glad I did, as it gives the author so much more control of pricing and promotion.

Brigid has written many a blog post about her book writing, marketing journey.   Here is one such post about Free Marketing Resources for New Authors.

Editing and proofreading the book – can you briefly explain that process to.  Any helpful tips.

Editing is key to getting a quality manuscript.

I had the support of a well-respected author who gave me feedback on my synopsis and first chapters. On completion, I had it edited for grammar, typos, structure…

I then amended it accordingly, before getting a final edit or proofread.

Are you planning to write any other books?

Not at the moment, but never say never!

If you want to read more about Brigid’s book writing journey can you read her post on the topic – click here.

Brigid’s Book

Brigid P. Gallagher is a retired natural medicines therapist, passionate organic gardener and author of “Watching the Daisies- Life lessons on the Importance of Slow,” a holistic memoir dedicated to the art of mindfulness and healing from debilitating illness.

She lives in Donegal, Ireland – an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/r5GCjaetgZk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/watchingthedai1

Facebook: https://facebook.com/watchingthedaisies/

Goodreads: https://goodreads.com/author/show/16119226.Brigid_P_Gallagher

Are you inspired, motivated?

Please do take some time to visit Brigid’s blog – Watching the Daisies;

Do visit again to read the stories of other bloggers interviews I have lined up, and maybe more as 2021 progresses.

If you are new to this series here are the links to the other bloggers who have been interviewed as round 1 of this series.

• Robbie Cheadle was the first blogger to be interviewed in the series you can read her interview here.
• Kamal Roohani was the second blogger interviewed – click here to read. 
• Ellen Hawley was the third blogger in the series, click here to read. 
• Xenia Tran was the fourth blogger in the series, click here to read her interview.

Images:  Brigid kindly supplied me with three images used on this blog post. The feature graphic has been created by myself on http://www.canva.com