Writing and Rambling my Way Through Life

And how this sleeping dragon magically boosted my Substack

The Sleeping Dragon

taken by Rosy Gee at The Rumps in Cornwall

Hello and welcome!

A very warm welcome to all my new subscribers and I hope you enjoy being here with me, Rosy, and sharing my thoughts and insights on various topics of interest.

Wow! What a week it has been. Following on from the calming influence of Ayurvedic Self Massage which I wrote about last week in Calming my Way Through January, my Substack blew up when I posted this Note. It was during that funny time between Christmas and New Year when my husband and I took off to Cornwall for a few days of R&R and reflective contemplation.

The Sleeping Dragon

We stayed in an old Wheat Store near Polzeath and spent a relaxing time, me at my laptop writing, and my husband reading in between challenging coastal walks or leisurely ambles along Polzeath beach. We even got in a round of golf at The Point at Polzeath, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch in the restaurant afterwards, where we were made to feel extremely welcome.

On one particularly chilly December morning, just a couple of days before the start of 2025, we parked up in a National Trust car park and followed an old wooden finger post pointing across some fields towards ‘The Rumps.’ I was intrigued by the name and so we set off over the headland. Britain has some beautiful coastline, some of it rugged and wild, parts of it sandy and tranquil, but Cornwall seems to have a magic all of its own.

Wrapped up warm against the elements in hats, gloves, scarves, and wearing sturdy walking boots, we set off. A hazy mist accompanied us on our ramble, making visibility poor, but we soldiered on. Stopping every so often to take in the breathtaking scenery for as far as we were able to see, we decided to turn back and walk in the opposite direction, where the mist appeared to be clearing. However, much to our dismay, the mist suddenly got thicker and we could hardly see a few feet ahead of us. Mindful of the rocky precipices and the slippery mud underfoot, we decided to call it a day and headed back to The Wheat Store to light the log burner and hunker down.

The following day we retraced our steps and set off once again to find The Rumps. It was a cold, crisp clear day. We walked several miles along the clifftops, marvelling at the sheer drops, the bright green mosses clinging onto rock wall faces and revelling in listening to the sounds of the great outdoors. The ocean crashing against the rocks beneath us, songbirds chirping, cows lowing, seagulls squawking. Green fields dotted with bleating sheep and grazing cattle fell away to rocky clifftops and the sea beyond. It felt good to be outside in the rugged landscape, breathing in fresh clean air. And then we saw them. The Rumps. Immediately, I could see a dragon, asleep, his head and long nose in the water, the three triangular rocks forming spines on his neck, and his left leg and foot partly submerged. If you look carefully, you can even see his eye half-closed.

Rambling

When I first named my Substack, Rosy’s Ramblings, I had two thoughts in mind. The first was that because I cover a variety of topics, people might consider my writing to be ramblings. However, as time has evolved, I realised that I have two loves in life. Writing and rambling.

Rambling: The activity of walking in the countryside for pleasure

It also means putting out shoots, as with rambling roses, and that was my thinking behind naming my Substack Rosy’s Ramblings.

(Of a plant) putting out long shoots and growing over walls or other plants.

"rambling roses"

In other words, spreading my writing around as far as it will go, growing subscribers along the way who, in turn, a bit like tentacles or shoots, will spread the word of Rosy’s Ramblings and grow my subscriber base around the world.

How the dragon boosted my Substack

I almost forgot about the photograph that I posted on Notes with the caption, “Anybody else see a sleeping dragon? The Rumps on the beautiful rugged Cornish coastline.” It gained a few views. Generally, my posts get between 10-20 views with a similar number of comments. However, over this past week, my phone almost blew up. First of all, it headed towards 100 views - unheard of for me. Then it went up, 200 plus, 400 plus, 600 plus and kept climbing. As I write this, the current views stand at 2,175 and still climbing.

Sometimes when I check my phone, there is a number like 335 in the corner of the Substack app logo. I never get that many views and was blown away. I didn’t post the Note to get views but more to share a beautiful image with the rest of the world. After all, that’s what social media is all about, right? Wrong. I am learning (slowly) that social media is all about getting people to find you and in the process, direct them to your work. In my case, my writing and in particular, my cosy crime novel, The Mysterious Disappearance of Marsha Boden. It’s called marketing. Gaining views. Garnering interest in your work. So, the day I took the photograph of The Rumps, I never dreamed it would bring so many new readers to Rosy’s Ramblings. I have gained over 58 new subscribers in 4 days!

I am fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the world where I can walk out of my house and find any number of gorgeous walks with varying degrees of difficulty. Some need a climb up a long, steep hill, where the reward is breathtaking. Staggering 360° views of the beautiful English countryside. I live on the Herefordshire/Shropshire border and it is a lovely part of the world where I can ramble away to my heart’s content. Other walks require less effort and are mostly flat across fields, or alongside rivers, but the whole time, if you look into the distance, you will invariably see some hills or a rocky outcrop. The landscape is interesting and forever changes with each season. It also inspired me to set my cosy crime novel here.

Writing

My passion is writing. First and foremost, I cannot imagine my life without writing. I read something recently along the lines that if you write because you have to, then do it. If you write because you want to make money, then don’t. That just about sums it up for me. Yes, I dream of being able to stop working my day job and writing full time but realistically, I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.

For all you wannabe writers out there, if you are passionate about writing, then write. Get your words down on the screen or on paper. Play around with them. Make them work their magic. Then submit them to a publisher or agent and wait. The waiting is the worst part. That’s where the day job comes in. Besides, I enjoy mixing and socialising with others because writing is a solitary job where you spend a lot of time inside your own head, so I think the balance of a part-time job and writing is probably the perfect combo for me.

How about you? What do you think?

I would love to hear from you if you’re new here. Whereabouts in the world are you? Let’s connect and help each other with our writing, rambling or whatever other passion brings you here to Substack. Or if you have any questions, ask away!

Take care,

I appreciate each and every one of my subscribers. Thank you for taking the time out to read my work and if you enjoy my writing, please share it with others. My cosy crime novel has got some incredible reviews so I must be doing something right! If you have any questions, do leave a comment. I answer every single comment I receive and if I do miss it, it’s purely because I didn’t see it amongst all the others. If you can find it in your heart to upgrade to paid, then my time has been well spent.