G'day mate, welcome to Steemit! You sound like a very interesting person with lots of tales to tell. My best advice would be to follow people who you can learn off so you can grow quickly with quality people. Steemit can be a bit tricky, it's not about follower numbers but about people who want to upvote great content. Steem is at an all time high right now so get on it :)
I really want to write a kids book but know it's a very hard road so I'm not sure if I should just keep it as a hobby. Much like Steemit, everyone believes it's an easy journey but you really have to work hard and with perseverance and bit of luck you can start to see the fruits of your labour. Most of all, don't do it for money but do it for fun and the rest will follow!
I look forward to following your blog :)
Thanks for the advice and the warm introduction, spaceginger. It seems like a really great community here and I look forward to getting settled and meeting some nice people. I will be following you also!