I am not a devoted poetry reader. My mother loved reading poetry and knew many poems by heart. I would stand at the kitchen door, watching her polishing the red linoleum floor, at the same time listening her recite The Lady of Shalott written by Alfred Lord Tennyson. But in her web she still delights … Continue reading POETRY AS THEATRE
Well, I’m not doing a graph – yet. So far I’ve made cards for each scene I have print-outs for, which take me to the end of the first draft of the novel, but I've at least two new scenes to write. See featured image at the top of this blog. The first page gives: … Continue reading Writing the Outline
I wrote a memoir. I’m not a celeb. Why would any commercial publisher be interested? I self-published. It used to be the fact that the face of self-publishing had mud all over it. The more realistic description of the method of publishing your own book was Vanity Publishing, a term which is now extinct. … Continue reading The Respectable Face of Self-Publishing
I'm re-writing my novel set in the 1950s, written during my 2 years on the MA in Creative Writing at Chichester University. The story started out with one narrator, a child, who then had a mother with her own history and then an uncle. His experiences took the reader back to WWII and then there … Continue reading Researching World War Two
I've had several emails telling me that new readers are following this blog. Which is fantastic but makes me guilty. For I'm aware that I haven't been faithful to my promise to post a new blog page each Saturday. OK, I've been away picking olives and when you're on a treadmill to get those olives … Continue reading A Writer’s Jigsaw Puzzle
The sights, smells and memories of the past weeks must be put away. No more moths drowning in the milk or dozing on a lampshade. The porcini mushrooms found in the garden have been eaten and we are still alive. The sun cream lotion is stored away, the beds are stripped and a large pile … Continue reading Moths in the Milk and Porcini on the Plate
I have returned from my summer soujurn. I can post The Baby Box the day I receive your order through my website. I am still offering free postage. You can also obtain the book from Amazon in either paperback or ebook form. Thank you.
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
We usually take self-catering holidays, often to places we have been to before. We know exactly what we can look forward to, whom we hope we'll run into, to share a drink or a meal, and what we need to take in the way of clothes, shoes, swimwear. Add to that the fact that we … Continue reading Writing and Going on Holiday
They say in order to write well, it is necessary to read. I want to write the Gothic, so I must re, or re-read, novels within that genre. And maybe one or two not in the genre, ie ghost stories, I clearly understand what is not the Gothic. A general definition of Gothic is: relating … Continue reading Reading the Gothic
