The Cove by Cyranny

I really can’t remember when I first read Cyranny because I feel like I’ve known her forever.  She is warmhearted, intelligent and ever so creative.  Visit the Cove and you will be impressed by her talent and broad range of posts!

 

Please give a brief personal background and talk about your hobbies/interests?Okie. Well first, Kate I have to say… Brief isn’t something that describes me very well. Brief, succinct, concise, right to the point, I am not. I think it is some kind of chronic writer disease I caught when I was a kid. With that said… What is there to say about my personal background that could be of any interest here?

I am Cyranny. I love Denmark. And Danes. And everything Danish. (is that good enough? No? Ugh… I thought it was a good sum up!)

Take 2: I am Cyranny, French but not French-French, more like North American, you know? Canadian of the Eastern coast side, (Ok, I live in Montréal!) French wandering wannabe wordsmith. I live with Chéri (my boyfriend) and Freja (don’t ever get fooled by her big begging eyes and ultimate fluffiness… She took classes with the Puss In Boots behind my back, and I can guarantee that she is fierce and dangerous… when she is not sleeping, or eating, or chasing imaginary bugs… But the rest of the time, oh my!!)

Oh! And I love Denmark, Danes, and everything Danish!! [and she is NOT exaggerating!]

When, where and why did you start blogging?
Wow, you’re a nosy woman! Why do you want to know this stuff about me, anyway? Ok… Let’s pretend I am organized.  (*snort*)

1. When?  I believe it was the 20^th, or maybe the 21^st of November… In 2015. I am not quite sure about the time of day, but I know I didn’t start late at night or very early in the morning… I really am not an early bird, so scrap all morning… Ok, so my final answer is November 20^th 2015, between noon and 8pm. And if you think that an eight hours window is a bit wide to your likings, ask me what I had for dinner yesterday! You’ll see that I am really putting a lot of heart into this!
2. Where? Well, that’s pretty easy, and if we were in The Cove, I’d just have to wave my arms like this (I know you can’t see me, but make an effort, here), just like a rock star getting to the chorus of her most popular song, and everybody would shout out loud, in unison: “AT WOOOOORK!!!!”
3. Why? Hmmm. Well, I wanted to try Thai boxing, or fetish knitting, but neither really had anything to do with Denmark, so I turned to polluting The Internets instead, in an attempt to keep my family and friends’ sanity intact. Fact is, I was directed to WordPress by a friend who said I should make the masses benefit from my great writing (she said it, not me… well, I just said it, but I was quoting her! I’d never say it… You know that!!). I, still to this day, highly suspect that she secretly hoped I would get as addicted to blogging as I actually got, and would give her and everybody else in the real world, a break. Plus… It was free! LOL

What blogging tips or advice would you give someone just starting?

*Snort* Are you serious, Kate? Do you really want me to give advice to newbies?? Ok… ok… I’ll play the game!

Patience you must have, my young Padawan!! (Yes I am a Star Wars girl.) That’s the best advice I can give to new bloggers. It is absolutely normal to hope to have many “views”, “likes” and comments, but it takes time to build a community, and there will be ups and downs. Blogging is a bumpy road, even for the bestests!

Also keep in mind that even if the Bloggosphere looks like a vast playground, it is quite a small world! I won’t go into details here, but just be careful. We’re all close-by neighbours in this blogging game!

Oh, and come to my Cove! Mouahahahaha… That’s a pretty good tip too, I think!

What do you most enjoy about blogging and what have you learnt?
What’s there not to like, about blogging?? Seriously, I have to say my favourite part of blogging is the people. There are negative, toxic individuals everywhere, both on and off-line, but WordPress is an amazingly positive place to be. Mingling with bloggers has become as important, if not more, than publishing stuff. If you come to my blog, you’ll see that the comment section is often as interesting as the post itself!

Most and foremost, I learnt that blogging is addictive. Highly. I like to think that I discovered a form of discipline in taking care of The Cove, but the truth is, it’s just an obsession. Chéri tried to take my tablet away for longer than 24 hours a couple of times, but he just can’t stand the hand trembling, and the constant eye-twitching.

I also learnt that Greenland readers are very hard to get! Or maybe there is an anti-Cyranny campaign going on over there, that I haven’t been made aware of?? But how could that even be possible? I am adorable!!

Oh, I also learnt that whales fart. But I think not all writers will get this kind of information out of blogging. Unless they follow me. But if they do, they’ll learn a lot of unimportant information! That is a promise!

in her beloved Copenhagen

Has your blog or writing led to opportunities for you?
I did get several messages from a Nigerian Prince, constantly writing to me about sharing his fortune, and making me all rich and stuff… Unfortunately, his comments always ended up in my spam file, which was quite irritating. I also believe in being faithful to only one kingdom, and I am not leaving Denmark for Nigeria… Sorry Prince!

 

What methods do you use to expand your readership?
I used to use post titles like “Shaving my pussy”, but I noticed that people didn’t stick around afterwards… I guess I wasn’t using enough kinky material to get them to click on the follow button. I’m sorry guys, I will NOT show my tushy to you… Unless you are Mads Mikkelsen… If you are, click on the “get in touch with Cyranny” page… We can definitely get in touch my dear Sir!

Other than that, I guess that some people were just curious to see if it was possible to harass this many blogs AND host a blog of my own. They must have been impressed in some way, or maybe waiting to see when I’d go into a burn out. (it is coming… don’t give up!!)

I also welcome gladly all the random @outlook.com Russian-bots visitors… Keeping in mind that they are not actually “readers” per say (people are so literal!!) and that they are bound to disappear from the list at any time (and usually like a flock!)

Time management can be a challenge for bloggers: how do you stay disciplined and organised?
Disciplined? Organised? Let me Google these weird-looking words… Mouahahaha! I can’t say that I am either. I post when I feel like it, and I publish what I feel like posting. Meaning that I might write a lot of poetry for a while, and then switch to fiction or go for a series of silly stories. Most of the time, I try to keep it an even mix of all and everything, so everybody gets a little of what they like… But I can’t give any guarantee.

 

Which is your favourite post and why?
I can’t answer that. For three good reasons…

1. It would be pretentious to say that one particular post is really really good! And I think I am anything but pretentious… I think. I am, right?? Am I??  KAAAAAATE!
2. I have written over 2200 posts so far. There is NO way I’ll scroll them all back to pick just one to represent The Cove. And I am not choosing one, if they don’t all get the chance to seduce me…
3. My  posts are my babies. I have to at least pretend that I all like them equally. (*whispering* I don’t!!)

Ok, I have to say I really like my Cibelle & Vohne series… Those two characters are very dear to me.     [not my usual style but this one grips me!]

 

What has been your most popular post, did you expect it to be the most popular?
“A like love (the A to Z Challenge)” is by far my most popular post in terms of views. I am guessing that’s just because of the “A to Z Challenge” itself. Or maybe because a lot of people wanted to know what someone that bad at spelling could have to say about Love. Or maybe someone, somewhere is advertising my post on a regular basis, and putting a lot of heart into it!  If that is the case… Thank you, mysterious stranger!
[lol that is wordpress!  Haven’t you seen the selection of 3 links that comes through on each comment … they push odd posts if you ask me, must be a bot selection]

 

Share something funky about yourself, or something that most don’t know?
Ok… I’m going to give you something very unique and weird. But I will not explain… ok? Ready for this? Really? Alright… Here we go:

I once almost lost my navel!     [is that why you feature it so often?]

You can let your imagination run about that one… I’m not giving the story up. And my family is aware that I have snippers around their houses, in case they’d be tempted to tell a soul! Don’t even try to get in touch with them!