Goodbye Maiden Blog

Hello world!

It’s been a minute since you last heard from me, but before I begin, let me wish you a Merry Christmas Eve.

2018 has been a year that really knocked me out in the face. It didn’t make me lose weight dramatically but it really drain every happy state of emotion out of me. I am still not ready to talk about it, but when I do, I will let you know.

The title of this post might be confusing but, here is the tea….

I am launching my new blog tomorrow.

For those of you who have been following me on my social media platforms, you must have noticed some coming soon posters around.

I am going to miss this blog so much. It has taught me to be my own boss, and taught me certain things that made me get paid writing gigs. I am so much grateful for the opportunities it has given me and the lessons it has taught me.

It was a small blog, but it was mighty.

Thank you my maiden blog. You will forever be in my heart.

And thank you too, my lovely readers, whom I call friends.

Peace out!

p.s. Click here to visit the new site, which will be launched tomorrow at 00:00 GMT. Bookmark it and visit it frequently. We have a lot in stock for you.

I love you all!

The Girl Whose Name is Not from Cape Coast

This is an excerpt from a book I will love to publish in a few years. This might change as time goes by

Marietta Grant DeGrant

My name is Marietta Grant DeGrant. No, I am not from Cape Coast or any Fante town. No, I am not a Ga. I have had lot of issues with my name.

Sometimes, people tell me I am not a Ghanaian. They even wonder why I have a Voters’ ID card. They make proposals to send me to the police for having a Voters’ ID and allowing a foreigner to vote.

I am not a foreigner. My dad is from Akropong. I am known to have a funny accent which has subsided a little. People just look at my face and say I am not Ghanaian.

I have a question: What makes a Ghanaian face?

 Before I entered the tertiary institution and had my admission, the names of those who will be admitted were published in the Faculty and Department’s database. As soon as they saw my name, the students thought I was a foreign student. They were excited to have a foreigner (white lady) in their Department. What a funny world.

After a few weeks of admission, they never saw the white lady, so they were all disappointed.

A year later, a senior in the department asked of my name and I mentioned it.

“Oh, so you are the one?” she said. “When we saw your name, the guys were happy to have a white lady in the department. They were disappointed when they never saw the white or half-cast lady. Not knowing, you’ve been with us all this while.”

I had to laugh. A white lady? As far as I am concerned and doing my family history, I haven’t found out a white blood that existed in my family yet. I haven’t found out about an ancestor who was from Europe.

Excuse me to say, which foreigner wants to study ICT in Ghana?

Whenever we are in a crowd and my name is mentioned, most people expect to see a dazzling lady, so fair, so endowed, so tall, so powerful. All they see is a timid young lady trying to hide from the crowd. She is not tall. (Excuse me, I am not short either). She has a broad forehead, she wears glasses, so much disappointment.

Some people even think I am a boy after seeing my name on paper or hearing it, mostly when they see the Grant DeGrant and their eyes refuse to see the Marietta. Some even think it’s my nickname.

I am trying hard to enjoy my name. At least before I get married. Actually, it depends on the name of my future husband. My name would be Marietta Grant XXX or Marietta DeGrant XXX. After all, Grant is just my middle name.

It's not my fault that I have such a name. Life made it so.

My name is Marietta Grant DeGrant. No, I am not from Cape Coast or any Fante town. No, I am not a Ga.

And yes, I am a Ghanaian.

THREE YEARS NOW

Before I continue to type this, cheers to you and me. We are three years old.

OMG! So soon?

Yeah, I know! I am so super excited! My blog is three years old.

It has NOT been an easy journey, but it has been an exciting one. Like an adventure. The blog has been like a child to me. I feed it, dress it up, pamper it and sometimes punish it.

A lot has happened and a lot has been learnt. Let’s talk about them.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED?

• Change of blog name

The name of this blog used to be Marietta DeGrant As MarieNoel. I decided to change it to The Marietta DeGrant Blog because it was more appropriate and classier. MarieNoel only works at Christmas time. She’s like Santa Claus, but this is MarieNoel, the Christmas Queen.

• The Christmas Series: #AVeryMarieChristmas

During the festive season (I’m not allowed to say Christmas yet), there was a series of posts about Christmas and I enjoyed writing about it because, that is my season. My ultimate favourite, baby! There would be one this year.

• Successful #keleweledates

I am yet to make this virtual date a real one. We will get there. In case, you do not know, #keleweledate is when the blogger (ME) talks about everything in one post every last Friday of the month and invite everyone to share their life or world updates. Unfortunately, there was no kelewele date last month and I apologize for that.

• On Break

I went on break during the month of March and it felt good, but not for long. I missed typing blog posts and all that blogging jazz. But, it was worth it.

• Blogging Ghana Awards

Throwback to one fine May evening, where we were nominated for Best New Blog and Best Blogger. But, we didn’t win. It doesn’t matter though. We were recognized and that was enough. I mean, being in the same category with Ameyaw Debrah, oh come on! I don’t need to say much, lol. But, I appreciate all your votes and your efforts to vote. Thank you so much for believing in me. I love y’all for that.

• Most Influential Student Blogger

We have been nominated again. To vote, check the details on the image below.

• Interviews

I have started interviewing people and it has been fun. This year, I have done three interviews and I loved them. I interviewed Rojayjay, Rita and Khemikal. I am currently working on one. Or two.

• Newsletters

I am working on sending newsletters and I am so excited about it. Subscribe by filing the form on your top right.

• Vlogging.

I have started vlogging. So far, there is only one video on my YouTube channel. I hope to make it successful like my blogging game.

WHAT DID I LEARN?

• Don’t ignore your readers.

People take time to read your blog. They could have used the time to do something else. So, if they send you an email, reply them. If they comment, reply. Show love to your readers. They are your world.

• It’s not a competition oo.

The blogging world is not supposed to be competitive. Do not try to kill yourself to be better than another blogger. It is a waste of time. Everyone is good and creative in one way or the other. There is no bad blogger.

• It’s so ok to go on break.

Even though, I missed blogging while I went on blogging break, it was worthwhile. I t’s ok to go on breaks. It doesn’t mean you are a failure or anything. If you want/need to go on a break, go on that break, which also takes me to my next point.

• Don’t be obsessed with the internet. Plug out.

Some people see bloggers to be addicted with the internet. Well, I do not know about that. As far as I know, I am not addicted. (Good for you). Try to unplug and go out. Go to the beach, hang out with friends and have fun. Forget about your blog for a while. It won’t go anywhere.

Thank you so much for sticking with the Marietta DeGrant Blog. Thank you for reading, subscribing, watching, nominating, voting, commenting, liking, sharing and sending me emails. I really appreciate your efforts and your time.

We are three years old. CHEERS!!!

add this to your weekend plans

Hello world

Are you thinking of what to be doing this weekend? Then make us a priority this Friday?

Wait what?

Yeah. Other writers and I wrote some plays and they would be performed on Friday!

Yes! This Friday, baby!

The theme of this festival of plays is An African Walks into a Voting Booth, and it is hosted by the Accra Theatre Workshop.

At where?

Nubuke Foundation.

Tickets would be sold at the gate. It starts at 7:30pm.

Come and let’s watch how Ghanaians behave during the elections.

See you there! Don’t miss it!

July Mood: Building My Own Empire

Happy Monday and happy new month!!!

June has been full of rain, and cold and cardigans and everything related to cold weather and chilly nights.

I am hoping for a happy and a month of going outside more; July.

I have a lot of things I want to try, create and do. I am currently working on new things. We are in the second half of the year. Life is running at a fast pace, by the time you realize, it’s December.

Wow!

That’s something.

Anyway, how has life been treating you? Don’t worry if life is a pain in the neck at the moment. Your time shall come, you’ll see. Just believe that.

Never compare your life to anyone else. Don’t envy someone’s life. A comfortable life does not depend on fame or riches. Laughter, enough money to buy food, friends, family, and love makes life comfortable. And don’t forget to be humble in life, because that what makes you a real learner of life.

Life is full of learning processes.

Wow, today’s posts feels so motivating. How did that happen?

Happy new month. Go out and live a good life, accomplish your goals.

P.S. I am loving my new haircut. To those of you who have been asking and those of you who haven’t noticed yet, yes, I have cut my hair and I am loving it. Don’t worry, I will go back to the flowy hairstyles again.

The Quiet Talkative

I am the least famous girl in my class or among a group of people. People hardly notice me. I mean, I go to class, I sit, when it’s over, I’m out. I just don’t talk.

If I ever get noticed, it because of my name. Seriously. People (lecturers and students) would like to know who Marietta Grant DeGrant is, either they saw the name in the class register or in a group project work and expect to see a white lady.

Ugh. It’s so frustrating

If I was called Afua Adoma, like I wouldn’t get noticed at all.

Never.

Even with that, the number of ladies studying my course are just 14, so we can easily be spotted.

I might be quiet all the time, but trust me, I am a talkative.

You don’t believe me?

I know, if I’m in a group of people walking together, you hardly hear my voice. If you do, then I am laughing at someone’s joke and that’s one thing people hate about me.

I know, right. It can be boring.

But trust me, I am a talkative.

Just be alone with me, and hear me talk and rant. I like one to one conversations, rather than one to many.

*wink*

That explains why I panic anytime I stand in front of people to speak. That is another thing to write about, but I am a talkative. I even had person telling me “You talk too much.” We used to keep in touch by phone. When he told me I talk too much, in fact, I was delighted instead of getting mad. I don’t normally hear that about myself. I see it as a compliment, trust me. He did not say it in an annoying way but even if he did, I’ll be happy to hear that.

I am a quiet talkative.

Editor In Chief

I always dream of this: the title.

Does this photo make me look like girlboss?

Editor in chief?

Chief Executive Officer?

It was my dream and it is still my dream of working for a magazine company, whether a popular one or my own magazine company.

That’s one of the reasons why I started this blog; TheMarietta DeGrant Blog is like my magazine company and I am the CEO and editor in chief.

I always imagine the life of someone working in a magazine company.

Having planners with events and duties

Abundance of cameras and studio equipment

Cute notebooks of ideas

Reviewing and rejecting articles (ouch)

Working on drafts

Photoshoots

Interviewing ordinary people and celebrities

Selfies at work pictures

Editorial conferences

Sending newsletters

Website and social media updates

Typing and editing

Designing magazine covers

I will work there. Someday.

A Day in the Life #2

Hello! Everyone and happy Monday. I am so happy April is running a little bit faster. I mean, it’s been 11 days since the DKB and AJ prank. (Please, allow me to still talk about it. I know it’s over, and past, but hey I haven’t said anything about it yet, so let me still say it. Hehehe xx.)

By the way, AJ is a good actress, she SHOULD be in the movie industry.

Back to today’s post. You know, as I type this post, I am thinking about my “a day in the life” posts. I actually love writing things like this because it is so easy for me to write it. It’s something I have been doing since I began learning to write, just that, I do them in my diaries and journals and it is recently I started doing videos of such (I don’t share the videos online).

Such stuffs about my life is easy to produce. But there is one problem. It is not as exciting as you expect. I don’t live a luxurious life and I don’t have super exciting life. I am the wake-up-go-to-class-eat-kelewele-laugh-all-day kinda girl. Yes! Just a student who is trying to build an empire and is doing it underground.

But if you want to still read about a day in Marietta’s life, go on ahead.

A Day in the Life as at Wednesday, 6^th April, 2016

04:40am/05:07am: the two alarms go off. I lay in bed, turn and turn and turn for about 15 minutes

05:30am: went for a walk

06:20am: personal morning devotion

06:40 something: shared blog post link on all social media

Past 07:00am: Washing

08:00am: get ready and playing UB40’s I Got You Babe over a hundred times. It reminds me of the movie The Little Rascals Saved the Day

After 8am: Ate breakfast twice. Don’t judge.

10:30am: lectures

After 13:00: class was over and clouds began to gather.

14:48: Removed clothes from the lines + Lunch time

After 15:00: watched Like Stars on Earth to write a movie review on the blog. Coming soon, so watch this space.

18:30: Bath time. The weather was so good for moisturizing and a good hot beverage

19:27: Bed time. Don’t judge, I don’t normally sleep at that time but I needed to sleep.

See you in my next post.

A Day In The Life

Sorry I haven't been updating. I am so busy trying to adjust to life, and make my schedule more free. How can you if you have so many reading assignments to do?

But my favourite days are Wednesdays and Fridays. I get to rest well and have some quality me-time. You know I don't joke with my me time .

I have been reading a lot of  'A Day In The Life ' blog posts and watching the videos and shows, and I have been inspired to write my own.

A day in the life as at Tuesday 06/10/2015.

04:40am : First alarm goes off. I was so deep in my sleep, I heard it in my dreams. The funny thing is I thought it was part of the dream, so I did not immediately wake up. I normally make a decision here,
whether to obey this alarm or snooze dismiss and wait for the second one. I choose the latter.

05:07am: Second alarm goes off. I gracefully obeyed it and TRIED HARD to have my morning devotional.

05:38am: I checked out my planner to see what I had for the day. I added more tasks.

05:40am: Workout. Pop Sugar's 20- minute power plank workout. To tell you the truth, I could do less than 10 minutes. After I went to lie on my bed

06:03am: .......you know, those personal hygiene stuff; brushing my teeth, bathing etc.

07:00am: Playing with my phone. Typical

07:20 something am: Preparing breakfast

07:40 something am: Breakfast time.

08:00am: Checking out technology news. I read about Twitter considering the idea of getting rid of 140-character limit.

08:15am: Working on my E! Online Ghana post.

08:42am: Getting dressed for my 9:30am class at North Campus.

09:30am: Trends in Education and School Management in Ghana. He spoke of a quiz. My heart skipped 4 beats. I was NOT ready. Fortunately, it was postponed.

11:30am: Closed and went back home with my friends, then prepare supper, freshen up and get ready for the next class. I had salad for lunch, which did not satisfy me.

13:48: Class had already started (1:30pm). I was now leaving home but I met a lady with adorable twins. I couldn't help but smile and ponder it in my heart.

14:06: Class had started. Thank goodness, the T.A did not see me enter late. Research Design and Data Analysis

15:58: Class is dismissed. Yay! I can have an early supper because I was famished!

16:30: Catching up on emails, messages and notifications in order to stay on top of things. Plus supper, of course.

17:30: Freshen up to get ready for church.

19:00-20:00: At church. (Lesson: God's only begotten son in the flesh). After church, a friend told me that I had reduced in size. Hahahaha.

21:00: Catching up on social media, working on an E! Online Ghana post, study for the next day's quiz. Writing plans for the next day in my planner.

21:38: Skin routine, then jump to bed for some leisure reading.

22:40: *clap*clap* Lights out!
It was a good night.

But this has been the most uninspired day of the month, I guess.

Do you have to "A Day In The Life" post, I would love to read it.

I Am A Ghanaian Blogger

Hey there!
Let me introduce myself. My name is Marietta and I am a Ghanaian blogger. Yes! I blog at Marietta DeGrant as MarieNoël, where we talk about life, literary arts and lifestyle. Come over to the blog and enjoy yourself.

I remember, the then naïve Marietta entered into the tertiary institution and as part of her personal hobbies of writing, she decided to start a blog. I mean, school is not all about books and quizzes. It's a place to find your passion, your niche, when you are not staring at your PDFs or pamphlets.

If you had told me two years ago that I'll be blogging during this period, I would have laughed at you. Seriously, because I started a blog when I was in secondary school, but was not able to maintain it. When I started this one too, my laptop disappointed me and decided not to work again.

But lovely people, today the blog is 2 years old.

I know, right?

It's been an exciting journey in the blogging world. I've come to love it. This blog that I started on the last Saturday of September 2013, in my school's study room, is two years old.

I can't believe it!!!

But wow, two years? A lot has happened. Moving to a small town, making new friends, spontaneous visits to the beach, witnessing a festival for the first time and starting my tertiary education. I started this blog as my way to practise my passion for writing, express how I am feeling and sharing inspiration and tips on lifestyle(according to moi ;) ) and sharing my poetry.

When the blog turned 1, I started a new series called Kelewele Date with Marietta, which is hosted every last Friday of the month. Here we would talk about everything that happened in that month, that's happening in the world and happening with Marietta. So next month, Kelewele Date with Marietta would be a year old. Yay!

As I mentioned earlier, blogging has been an exciting journey. I love coming on here to write about fashion, beauty, poetry, lifestyle, writing, school, social life etc.

I love blogging. I really do. Just that, it's not easy. Juggling school (and its stress accomplice), social life and more, it's very easy to quit, very easy to give up on blogging, but with determination, hard work and perseverance, you can MAKE IT in blogging. I wonder how Ameyaw Debrah does it. His blog is WAY bigger and famous than mine, but he's still the KING blogger in Ghana.

Before I go, I want to thank each and every one of you who makes time to come here to read and comment. Thank you for making this blog stay alive. Thanks for your kind comments and encouragement.
I love connecting with you all so feel free to contact me via email, comments, or any of my social media sites and say hi! I'll be sure to respond!

So Happy blogiversary Marietta DeGrant As MarieNoël, cheers to the new blogging year!

Let's continue to talk about life!

I wish I had this cake to celebrate it. ~sighs~

Blog Announcement !!!

Hello world!

How is your day going? Great, right? Or not so great. I'm having a great me-time this long vac and I'm slowly crossing out my long vac bucket list.

Anyway, I have an announcement to make.

Everyone has heard of tumblr, right? (Like....duh) Who hasn't? I remember it became so huge when I was a teenager, everyone was having an account. So I made one, but the sad thing is I didn't know what to use it for. Yes, you heard me. I created it when I was in secondary school but had no idea what to use it for. But my account is  not dead. I still remember my username and password.

But........ I've gotten an idea.

I now know what to use it for.

World, I'm using my tumblr account for my literary works.

There, I would be posting my short stories, poems and other literary works of mine. That little space of the internet would be used for that.

That's right. But even though, that place would be used for that, I'll still be posting them here again, because this blog was originally used for my literary works before it turned into a "literary/lifestyle " blog.

So head over to Marietta's Literary Bag for a more experience of literary works of Marietta DeGrant.

It just got better.

Have a blessed day!

You Know Marietta DeGrant Is A Writer When.....

You know MARIETTA DEGRANT is a Writer when.........
.....she writes down a list of titles for her stories and poems
.....cries when she writes an emotional scene
.....you see lots of books (all kinds) on her desk
.....she gets excited to a sight of novels in bookshops
.....she carries a notebook and a pen with her
.....she buys lots of colourful journals at the stationer's
.....she constantly tells you she writes
.....she cries that her poems are not worth it
.....she constantly talks about a movie she loved(Hint: La Bamba)
.....she smiles without a reason (There's a story forming in her head)
.....she buys lots of pens
.....she finds it weird not to keep a diary
.....she tells you she'll write her autobiography one day
.....she secretly imagine being in a movie

My Life As A Writer

I started the habit of writing when I was about 3 or 4 years old. I started by writing how I spent the day with my dad. I used to go out a lot with my dad when I was a kid.

I write for the fun of it and I hope of making it Big anytime soon. Currently, I write novels (unpublished), poems, short stories, fan fiction, flash fiction, blog posts etc. When I was a teenager, I was writing for the Teen Ink website. It was amazing being on this site where creativity of writing, art, music and drama were shared.

I wouldn't say that I don't suffer from writer's block at times. When I get that annoying situation, I listen to music or read magazines or sometimes go for a walk. That's the only way I get cured from such a disease.
I don't just get up and say I'm writing a story or poetry. It comes in step by step, minute by minute, or day after day.

My strength as a writer is the ability to get ideas. Weakness? Putting them on paper exactly as I have imagined or how I want it to be.

Writing is something I enjoy doing as a hobby and I'm ever ready to help people in their writing life, though I am trying so hard to be at least good in it.

When I was a kid, I used to write diary entries, fan fiction and collaborative writing with my brothers. For fan fiction, I wrote about Michael Jackson and I, Jackie Chan and I. I featured in Peter Pan, Mickey Mouse and the Adventures of Tintin.

I started poetry and short stories when I entered secondary school. And I was surrounded by people who wrote stories also, so that motivated me, even though some students told me I was wasting my time because I was a Science student. I got discouraged for some time, but I jumped into the writing circle again, covering my ears.

I love surrounding myself with creative people, motivators and those who loved literary works.
My inspiration in writing.......LIFE. Life itself inspires me. Life is one big something, so I get loads of stuff from it. I just thank God for giving me such a talent and I hope in making it a beautiful talent to acquire, cherish and appreciate.

I have written unpublished fiction novels for about 3 people, with each of them as a protagonist in their own book. After writing it, I gave it to them, but believe me, I've forgotten what they were about.

I hope to publish or make my works movies. It is one of my dreams to be a best selling author, an excellent film maker, a music video director and get poetry in motion.

I used to write under a pseudonym, MarieNoël and Pink Butterfly. But I don't do that anymore.

Last year, I was lucky to feature on the Ghana Writers Project on Citi FM radio and I wish to do it again.
Writing is my bag and I'll be a world famous author.