About me
Who am I?
Well, that feels like a tricky question. But a brief introduction for people who don’t yet know me. My name is Emma, I am 48 and I live in Southampton on the south coast of the UK. I am the mother of two children: my younger son is now 18. Sadly, I lost my older son 13 years years ago, when he was only seven, to leukaemia. Life has been… challenging. In so many ways.
However, things are looking up. My younger son has reached adulthood and is a wonderful, thoughtful young man. I have figured out at least some of the struggles I’ve been having with my physical and mental health over the years (an early perimenopause, after the death of my son; ADHD; probably being autistic) and am trying to find ways to deal with them. I have been in a long distance relationship for the last three years with an incredibly kind (much younger!1) man from East Tennessee. Stay posted for all the trials and tribulations of us trying to close the physical distance between us!
After a long period of caring duties and struggles with my health I am returning to the writing and editing career that I decided long ago would never be possible.
About Wondering Steps
I will write more about this soon, but this name encapsulates two major parts of my personality: firstly, my wandering and wondering through life, and secondly, my love of routines and a step-by-step approach to trying to curtail the chaos around me and inside me.
Why subscribe?
Why indeed? I was curious when I set out if anyone other than a handful of my friends would be interested in my ramblings, but, then, I personally love reading about the lives and thoughts of people I have stumbled across on the internet, so, I thought, maybe others will feel the same way about my writing? It turns out they do! I have a fast growing band of subscribers - old friends, new friends and random strangers. You are all very welcome!
I have recently added an optional paid subscription. If you are enjoying my newsletter, please consider taking out a paid subscription if you can afford to do so. By subscribing to my paid Substack you are helping me (as a single mother with multiple disabilities) to have a regular income in order to pay my bills.
For now, I am expecting that most of my writing will be available for free. Please share it widely, with anyone who you think would enjoy it.
You can unsubscribe here anytime. I won’t be offended!
Other information
You may have noticed that I have added a ‘Book recommendations’ tab to my page. This will take you to the Bookshop.org website and to my ‘shop’. I do not sell you any books from this (i.e. I am not involved in the fulfilment, shipping or customer service), but it is an affiliate link, and I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org if you buy a book (any book) from the website. This is currently only for people in the UK, I’m afraid.
I also add links to Amazon within my newsletters. Again, these will be affiliate links and I may earn commission from Amazon if you order from them (whatever you order). Please buy your books and so forth from your preferred vendor!
If you have enjoyed my writing, other ways you can support me are by buying me a book or sending me a tip!
And, just as importantly, you can support my work by sharing my Substack, or any particular post you have enjoyed, with friends and family!
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When I got David to read this through whilst we were on a video call (after I’d already hit ‘publish’. I’d tried to ask him before it went live but he was asleep and not answering my calls! lol), he started laughing. He reckons this makes him sound much younger than he really is. I reckon it makes him sound much younger than ME, which he is. So, to be clear, he is a fully legal adult human. Twelve years younger, if anyone cares. (Me. I care. Insert the ‘this is fine’ dog meme.)
