One of my all-time favourite novels is Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner. (more about that book later). The story concludes with the words ‘…she wrote, Coming home. But, after a moment she thought that this was not entirely accurate and crossing out the words Coming home wrote simply Returning.’ Perhaps many of us, slowly … Continue reading RETURNING – Talking Animals
We all need to close down in someway to get ready for Xmas. Many of us will not be able to be with the entire family on the 25th December. Or even at all. I imagine we are forming our bubbles and then see how we can blend them. In the New Year we'll be … Continue reading Working Towards Christmas
You sit alone. Too late for hope. Forget The food to send: The shoebox full of sweets and cheese. Forget that kiss At parting. You stare at space. Forget the dreams Ignore the empty cradle, Turn your head and do not see The babies which will never be. The loving. He lies in wood. White … Continue reading REMEMBER HIM
Tales of Dusty Death, a new collection of short stories, takes you travelling: France, Norway, Greece, Russia; as far away as South America and back at home. They illustrate the dilemmas of contemporary death and lead you into the realms of murder and magic realism. The new arrival ‘Jane Hayward's distinctive stories step unafraid into … Continue reading A New Publication
Once, a writer’s life-time ago, I read, ‘Writing is 1% inspiration and 99% putting bum on a seat and words on the screen.’ That person did not live during a lock-down of all normal activity. I’ve lost my appetite for food, have no energy for exercise and no inclination at all to write new material. … Continue reading Still blaming the Virus?
Still on holiday in Italy where, right now, it’s pouring with rain and the lavender is dancing. Since some of you will also soon be on holiday, if you are not already, you will be taking photos or videos of your happenings. In the dim and distance past, photos were called snaps. Black and white … Continue reading Places not People.
I have been invited to design and give a 2-morning workshop on writing memoir. Brilliant. I've been wanted to workshop writing memoir for a while now. Easy, I thought. After all I've written my own memoir. Then I read someone else's memoir and then another and then a book which was really bio-fiction, which took … Continue reading Memoir – What Exactly Is It? (1)
I am a member of a closed Facebook group Women Reading Great Books. https://www.facebook.com/groups/967350739957023/ We swap titles of books we have enjoyed and join the chat such as ‘What is the longest book you have ever read?’ or ‘What is the most difficult book you have ever read?’ I had more than one answer to … Continue reading A Dark Path
I have a letter printed in the Forum section of the current edition of the magazine Mslexia, a publication for writers and the writing world - of women. This is the second time I've had a letter published in Mslexia but, this time, it is the first time my forthcoming memoir, to be published in … Continue reading Getting Professional
The monthly writers magazine Mslexia has a regular column called 'X,s (celebrity's name) Bedside Table.' My bedside table is an old wooden table I painted a blue-grey. It has two surfaces, the top and a shelf near to the floor. The permanent features are a lamp with shade, a travelling alarm clock - I never … Continue reading My Bedside Table
