What is poetry?

Something sunny for a sunny day

 I don't know about you, but if I don't have a book on the go, I get jumpy. I finished the last book on Saturday, and knowing I am going to the library today, I decided not to start another off my pile, but wait until I can choose something from the library. But the agony of not having a book to read! So I decided to catch up with all those Poetry Society Journals and read other poetry books I have.

As I read I came to a stark conclusion. I know nothing about poetry! Of all the poetry I read, I realised that a lot of it I didn't understand, or it didn't appeal to me. The poetry I liked was something that I could identify with. Am I so out of it that I am nowhere near where I need to be to make it as a poet? 

One poem that made me laugh, after I realised that it was a spoof on a Villanelle. At first glance it was just letters related to a bee buzzing....buzzzzz etc. I thought, what the hell is this? How can this be poetry? And then I looked at it again, at the form, and then it twigged, and I laughed out loud. How clever, Silly, but clever. Experimentation gone wild!

It made me think that poetry can be fun. And we should have more fun in poetry. There's lots of serious, angsty poetry around, but amusing poetry is rather looked down on. I think I have mentioned this before. I follow a couple of fun poets. It all rhymes, but there is an art to writing funny poetry. I'm out of the habit of writing this type of poetry because I've been struggling to write the serious stuff, but people like Brian Bilston sell loads of their amusing poetry books. And the public love them. So who are we writing for? Well, I always write for myself. I don't follow trends. Some of my work is experimental enough to get published, though I call it fun poetry, as it usually is! So, out of all the poetry I read over the last few days, the poem that stayed with me was the buzzy bee spoof. Reading it out loud might be a challenge, but a lot of laughs.

Talking about reading things out loud, I will be reading at Carshalton Eco Fair on Bank Holiday Monday, around 1.50pm. If you are around come and say hello. I will be with other members of Sutton Writers and I will be reading two climate poems. I was trying to post a link, but the Fair's website is down. They do have a Facebook Page, so go take a look. Meanwhile, I'm off to the library to find a book to read.

Getting back into the swing of things

 Here we are nearly at the end of another month. Where is the time going?

After what I wrote last time I ended up working on different things! Typical of me. I sent out a poem to the Winchester Poetry Prize, one I had written as part of the course City Tales. I've hardly sent anything out lately. 

I am now working on re-writing the ending to the piece my friend read through for me, but before that I went back to the novella and did another edit, (this is the 4th version but more than four edits) and this has now been forwarded for feedback. There have been substantial edits on this. I deleted some parts and re-wrote a lot of new material. Reading it now, I feel I might be getting to close to a final edit. Is there ever a final edit?

Last week I finally got my hands on Sutton Writer's anthology.There is a lot happening within the group, all exciting stuff, some of which I will be part of.

My flash piece entitled Silent Speaking is finally live on Wildfire Words website. As well as the text, you can hear me reading it. Somehow I survived the Zoom showcase, but I was glad when it was over. Zoom meetings are so stressful for me and I really struggle to take part in them.

I'm away for a few days next week and I've been sorting my reading material. Having been to the library on Monday, I borrowed the next LJ Ross book in the DCI Ryan series. I daren't start it too soon as I know I will devour it before I even go away! I have borrowed another book about Surrey's past. Before the boundary changes, we lived in Surrey, but we are now part of a London Borough. Some of the places mentioned in the book are now also part of a London Borough. I do enjoy a little local history, so I shall begin with that book.

I will take my notebook with me in case the muse hits. As I'm walking another section of the Thames Path, it might well hit as I write a lot about the Thames. At the moment, I'm worried about how hot it will be. We may have to start early in the morning so we're not walking in the worst of the heat.

The first three reads of the year

 I maybe struggling with writing right now, but I have been reading a lot. The first read of the year comes from Uncertain Stories, an imprint of The Fiction Desk.

This anthology called Broken Ground features seven stories both ghostly and ethereal. They have uncertain endings and the reader is left not quite sure what is real and what isn't. In The Builder by David Frankel, a man returns to a house from his past in the countryside and he begins to demolish it by hand, taking out everything that is left in the house and burning it. Afterwards he takes the house apart stone by stone and timber by timber, joist by joist. Memories edge in of the people who lived here, but on he goes until he has destroyed everything. It would be hard to see what remained. And then he walks away. In another story a young lady lives in a flat. She thinks others live in the building, but she has never seen them. She thinks about her boyfriend, but gradually she is losing herself and eventually joins the other 'ghosts' who live there. If you like something a little different (and I do), this is a nice little anthology.

My second read this month was a classic, which I borrowed from the library. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy couldn't be more different. However, I was expecting tragedy, and yes, it was there. Jude pines to go to university, but he hasn't had the education. He only attended night classes and was fond of the old schoolmaster. Jude reads everything he can get his hands on and writes to the old schoolmaster after he leaves the village, asking for books in Latin and Greek. When they arrive, Jude feels overwhelmed by them. Yet over the years he learns from them. Still he has his heart set on moving to Christminster and being a student. Then he meets Arabella, who is set on Jude and tricks him into marriage. They later part. Finally, in Christminster Jude meets his cousin Sue and falls for her, yet she has agreed to marry someone else, as it turns out, the old schoolmaster! The couple do come together, but Sue feels guilty about having left her, by then, husband. This is a book about prejudice and guilt. The two never marry because they are married to others, but even after the spouses relinquish their interest, Sue cannot bring herself to marry Jude, though she loves him dearly. They have three children together and also end up looking after Jude's son by Arabella. Tragedy strikes in a terrible way and eventually Sue leaves Jude, even though she loves him. I won't give the ending away, but expect sadness. I really enjoyed this book, far more than I expected. Sometimes classics can be a bit dry and waffly. This one had its moments, but the story was so good. Interesting to learn that when this book was first published it was banned for being immoral. The feedback Hardy received put him off writing again and this was his last novel. What a shame. This is the third Hardy novel I have read, and I intend to read more.

The third book, Cold Earth by Sarah Moss, was her first novel. I have read a few books by her, and she has really grown on me. With this book, I felt I might have read it before, but a long time ago. I keep a list of books I read going back a number of years, and I looked through the list but couldn't find it. The list isn't foolproof, as sometimes I do forget to enter things. I thought I might remember bits if I'd read it before, but the feelings were vague and I still can't make up my mind whether I had read it before. I have read similar books, so maybe these were echoes. The book is set in Greenland and a group of archaeologists are assembling traces of a lost Viking settlement. At home there is a virus spreading (this was written before COVID) and soon into their stay they cannot get the laptop to update,. There are also strange happenings which one of the team experiences, but the other dismiss, thinking she is dreaming or imagining. Eventually, they come to believe there is a presence there. This is a spooky story, though it took me a while to get into it. The story is told in the voices of all members of the team. As they wind up their time there and pack up the tent,s they wait for the plane to take them out. It doesn't arrive, and they are left wondering whether this is it. The food is running out, the weather is deteriorating and they all begin to write their last letters home. A good read.

What have you been reading? Do let me know. Have you read any of the above?

Review of 2025

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

This is my yearly round up of my writing life in 2025. I always rather look forward to this bit as I can see what I have achieved (or not) and think about setting goals for the following year. Make a cuppa or read this over your lunch hour. This is a long post, but I hope you will get something out of it.

In terms of submissions, it's been a rather lean year, but that is mainly due to producing two books and all the marketing and setting up a book launch for one. In terms of goals, those were my two goals, and  I achieved them.Tinsel Street in particular took off far beyond my expectations. I've heard from my friend, who works in the bookshop in Switzerland, that they are going to order more of my books for next year! I also found out that the bookshop is the largest in Switzerland and what I thought was an English table is a whole floor dedicated to English books, and is one of them.

With all the push to get my Christmas book out there, the book I call my Lawnmower book, a collection of flash stories, became rather overshadowed, which is a shame. My publisher loved it, his words were 'I was hooked'. So as ABBA once said, Take A Chance on Me and try another of my books. This one will really appeal to those of you who like quirky stories of various genres, some humour and some serious subjects. It really is a mix. And as a reminder, most of the stories have previously been published in places such as Visual Verse, Paragraph Planet, Goldust and others. However, there are some new stories in there.

So, on to submissions for 2025. As I said, there were less of them, Here is a rundown:

Poetry - 16 submissions, three of which were published

Flash - 11 submissions, three of which were published

Short stories - 1 submission

Novellas - 2, both published

I am still waiting on three replies - 1 flash, 1 short story and 4 poems submitted together.

So, a lean year, but I am still hitting above the 10% published mark, which is around what is reckoned to be the average acceptance rate of work.

Events:

During the year I attended various events either in person or online. These don't include writing group meet-ups, which tend to be monthly.

Open mic night in London

Webinar series in self-publishing - 6 weeks in all (January-February)

Line Endings correspondence course with Live Canon (poetry) which was incomplete. I don't know what has happened to them. I only received feedback on one poem, and the last tutorial never arrived. I also had no reply from them when I emailed. Disappointing as they are usually very good.

Zoom with three poets - Cafe Lit

Troubador Self-Publishing Conference in Leicester

Making Your Scenes Cinematic - Readsy Webinar

Organising Chaos - Self-Editing Your Manuscript with Writers Online

Outspoken - Live event with poetry and music at the Purcell Room, Southbank, London

Booker Prize Readings - Live event at The Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London

Poetry Society, poets reading - live link which broke down several times, so I'm afraid I gave up

Other stuff:

This year I finally upgraded to Windows 11, firstly backing up all my files just in case. My little laptop copes well, though I still have the problem with the screen blacking out for a few seconds now and then, though I am still able to keep typing and hear whatever playlist I am listening to! The cost is too much to have it repaired. as it needs to be sent away abroad and I'd be without it for months. My son will build me a desktop, but maybe not for a year as the cost of parts has gone through the roof. He did tell me why, but I've forgotten. In the meantime, I may just have to buy a cheap laptop if things worsen, or my laptop completely crashes one day, God forbid. This laptop was built to specification and has an enormous amount of saving capacity and still runs quickly.

My new way of recording things has worked. Over the years I've tried different year planners, yet they never seem to work for me. This year I bought a book with some tabs, which I labelled Deadlines for submissions, Goals, Mini Projects and Events. This has worked for me, and I can continue to use it in the coming years as it's not dated, and I'm not wasting pages I don't use. It was also a lot cheaper than a Year Planner. Like everything else, its a case of what works for you.

I began writing on Substack this year. The content is usually different to what I write here, but sometimes there is a crossover. I have a few followers, though this blog is well established, and I don't intend to move on from Blogger as we understand each other (mostly!). I did some work on the blog to bring it up to date, and that will probably continue. 

Speaking about my writing life, I hope, helps others to see the positives and the lows of writing. Many people (non writers) have no idea about what goes on behind the scenes. I had some friends who thought my book was available in supermarkets or on Audible. Er..no. Audio is a whole new ball game, and an expensive one. I'm not saying never (I never say never), but not at the moment. There are only so many learning curves I can deal with at one time! I hope I continue to write content that is interesting, but if there is anything you are burning to ask me, you can. Just leave a comment and I will answer.

I would like to thank my family, especially my son Stephen, for all his help, not only the endless tech questions and fault solving with my laptop, but for being so great at my book launch. You couldn't tell from the state of his bedroom that he can be so organised. He was my little right-hand man on the night and dealt with my card reader like a pro. My friend Judith deserves a mention for her enthusiasm and organisational skills for the book launch. She kept everything running like a tight ship time-wise, and for her relevant questions on the night. The book launch was in the local Methodist church cafe and she was asked to write a piece for their Spotlight magazine. I had read it previously, but I've just seen it now in the magazine with a few photos. So thanks for that too. Thanks to Chris from Sutton Writers who wrote a lovely piece with photos for their website. And for all my friends who travelled from near and far to be with me on the night. There aren't many friends who will listen to me waffling on about writing without their eyes clouding over (non-writers), but I have a few, and one said to me recently that she looks forward to me waffling on in the coming year!

My friend Diane, who is one of my beta readers and feedbacker, couldn't be at the book launch, but we met another day and spent hours chatting. She reads most of my work (even the stuff not yet published) and keeps all my work in a folder. She's always saying 'when are you going to send me something else?' We all need friends like these, and I appreciate every one of them.

Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash

Books:

I've been very lax writing book reviews this year (did I write any?). I'm not going to promise to do better next year, but I will try. I am in the process of reading my 70th book of the year. I've half way through it, and it's another LJ Ross one called The Creek. I've read lots of hers this year, but this is a different series  - the Summer Suspense Mysteries, which I also enjoy. Anyway, here are my top reads of fiction and non-fiction this year:

Fiction:

William by Mason Coile. I couldn't put this one down. Having ventured into the horror section in the library, I picked it because it sounded interesting. The main character is an inventor living with his wife. His computer runs the house, and he has built an AI robot. However, the robot begins to want a life of its own. He has thoughts and is getting out of control. He needs shutting down before he kills someone. Can it be done? This is fast paced, on the edge of your seat stuff. Once the robot takes control of the computer and shuts down the house, they are all trapped. Can they get out? Yet everything is not what it seems as a huge twist arrives near the end. I didn't see this coming, and I don't want to spoil it for you. With AI making a big splash right now, this is relevant about what is possible and perhaps we should be afraid...very afraid. Great one.

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kid. There are some authors whose books touch you, and I have loved everything this author writes. The book is fiction but based on facts. Classed as a Christian book, it is about a woman who meets Jesus. Ana is related to the wealthy and her brother is Judas. She meets Jesus when he is eighteen years old. They eventually marry and live with his family. But Jesus is always wandering off, leaving Ana with the family. The story follows Ana as her own family is driven out and she longs to see her grandmother again. The facts of Jesus' life (apart from the marriage) are based on the New Testament, and when Ana hears that Jesus has been arrested she goes searching for him. This is an excellent book of what could have been Jesus 'life and the settings and characters are believable for that time period. I loved this, though it is heartbreaking, and passed it on to a friend who is equally enthralled with it.

The Sanctuary by Andrew Hunter is set in the future. A place built on an island for the future of mankind while the rest of the world is falling apart. Ben's fiancée has been living/working on the island for six months and now he wants to find her. Getting there is difficult and dangerous. People are suspicious, and reluctant to take him there. Once he does arrive, he begins to think this is a good place, but Cara, he is told, is working and cannot yet see him. She is off island. As Ben begins to fall into a feeling of acceptance and the way things work, he also finds things don't add up. Once he begins to question and look for clues himself, people want to stop him. Sanctuary isn't what he thought it was, and evil is at play. Can he find Cara and get them off the island before destruction occurs? A great story this. It draws you in and then turns you.

Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss. Picking any Sarah Moss book is hard because I love her writing, and I've read two books of hers this year. This one is set in Victorian times. Two sisters growing up in an unusual household. Their father is an artist and their mother is a do-gooder to the extreme. Her religious evangelical morals turn her children into a life of drudgery. Anything their mother deems unholy is stamped upon and they are given tasks to complete. They are often cold and hungry. This would be child cruelty these days. Their father indulges them when he can, but he never stops what the mother is doing. I guess looking after children was very much down to the mother in those days. While May poses for her father's paintings, Ally devotes herself to becoming a doctor and working with her mother in the slums. She works hard, but her studies are interrupted by her mother's tasks for a wrong doing which are almost unbearable. This was a hard read, with the cruelty and hardship the two girls live through, but there is a happy ending, thank God! 

I have read a number of Japanese books this year. My youngest son is married to a Japanese girl, and he often passes books to me. It seems Japanese books are becoming really popular now. Two of the books were about life in a Japanese convenience store and the third was part written and featured a local cafe I go to, a very dog-friendly cafe, so I knew all the local places mentioned. I think I shall be reading more books set in Japan. It is a fascinating country,. My son loves it, though he and his wife live here.

Non-fiction

The Criminal Mind by Dr Duncan Harding. I picked this up without even reading the blurb. I knew it was my book. I find the mind fascinating and why people do what they do. No one is born evil. The  book held me all the way through as Dr Harding describes interviewing criminals for court and finding out about their lives and behaviour. Some of it is really sad, their backgrounds. Yet why do some people go through terrible childhoods and never offend while others go on to do unspeakable things to people? I guess its down to how one reacts, and we do all approach things differently. Of course I felt sorry for the victims, who couldn't, but I also often felt sorry for most of the perpetrators. It makes you question things. Haunting. The book is also about the author's life too, what he grew up experiencing himself and how he came to be top in his field. Fascinating.

Steeple Chasing by Peter Ross was a book I received last Christmas. The author visits famous churches and cathedrals, quite a lot of which I've been to. He talks about the history and what is happening now. He speaks with the clergy. I really enjoyed this one.

Estuary by Rachel Litchenstein. Anything about the River Thames and the estuary interests me, and while there was a moment I got bogged down with this book, I really enjoyed most of it. It's about history, the changing times of the Thames and its estuary as well as the author's adventures on the tidal Thames. There are handy maps too.

Auscultation by Ilse Pedler (poetry). I won this book at an open mic night (not for my poetry, sadly, but in the raffle). It's taken me a while to get around to it, but this was really good. Medical in content about humans and animals. Ilse is a holistic vet which comes across in her poetry. I didn't know what to expect reading this, but it was enlightening and sad. I felt at one with this book, maybe because of my love of animals. A really good read. I looked up the title to see what it meant, and it is listening to the body's internal sounds mainly using a stethoscope. Well, you learn something new every day.

There are other books I loved like The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page (fiction) and Offshore by Penelope Fitsgerald about the loneliness of people living in boats on the Thames (set some years ago) and The Testaments by Margaret Atwood which should be in the horror section! Reading her 'author bit' at the back of the book was another eye opener and we should really think about what this world is coming to now as we see what's happening around us. A big warning, I think.

Well, that wraps things up for another year. Thanks for reading my blog, and I hope you will continue to drop by. Happy New Year to you all.

Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash

Famous names and me!

 Out-Spoken

Life has become rather hectic lately, so much so, that I thought I'd written a blog post about the Out-Spoken event I attended, and now I can't find the list of people guesting. No matter - the famous ones I remember!

Out-Spoken is usually held in the Purcell Room on the Southbank, but the event was moved to the Queen Elizabeth Hall. What was amazing is that they kept the ticket price the same, just £15. It is always an evening of poetry and music, and often I've never come across the poets before. This time they had Simon Armatage, Jackie Kay and Michael Rosen. 

I came across Jackie Kay's poetry when I studied at the OU and we looked at a poem of hers. This made me seek out other things she had written, including several novels. She was also the after-dinner speaker at the Mslexia writing conference in Leeds a good few years ago. So, I've kind of followed her. Simon Armatage is a poet whose work I have read for many years. He hasc  done some installation poetry in the hills (Penine Way?). Michael Rosen I'd heard of, yet never read anything by him. I thought he was more a children's' poet, but I was wrong, though he does write for children. He had a long stay in hospital with Covid and wrote a lot about that.

Michael Rosen

The singers on the night I had not come across before, though the pianist had appeared at Out-Spoken before, and he is very good. The other two were a girl with a backing band and a guy from the Caribbean whose music is a fusion of reggae and jazz. Both acts were good.

The singers

Up first in the poetry performers was Michael Rosen. His poetry was a mix of funny and serious. There was even humour in his 'hospital' poetry. There were a couple of more political poems, including Don't Mention the Children, a poem for Gaza (see below) and a poem about Nigel Farage! Michael's performance has made me want to read more of his poetry.

Next up was Jackie Kay, whose performance I strangely remember least about, I'm sorry to say. maybe because of the build-up to see Simon Armatage! 

Jackie Kay

Simon Armatage was the highlight of the evening, for me, at least. He read various poems including one using those buzz words business people use, that no one but them understands. It was hilarious. I could have listened to him all night.

Simon Armatage

I was sitting in the rear stalls, but with my phone camera set on maximum zoom, I was able to capture a few half-decent shots. It really was a great evening.

Booker Prize Readings

I went to this event last night with a writer friend. Again it was on the Southbank, this time in the Royal Festival Hall. This isn't something I would normally attend, but it was good to see my friend. For those don't know (and I didn't), the shortlist for the Booker Prize are:

Flashlight - Susan Choi

The Loneliness of Sonia & Sunny - Kiran Desai

Audition - Katie Kitamura

The Rest of our Lives - Ben Markovits

The Land in Winter - Andrew Miller

Flesh - David Szalay

I've not come across any of the authors before, though Kiran Desai is the daughter of Anita Desai, whose books I have read. If you want to know more about these books, click here.

Each author read a piece from their books, though the readings were shorter than I expected.They were then 'interviewed' by the host. In the main, the books all seemed very intense, and nothing really stood out, except the one by Ben Markovits. I liked him, He was funny, and the book has humour in it. This appealed to me. Right now I'm looking for books with humour in them, and of course I write a lot of humour. There are times in life when only humour works. I have to be in the right mood for some of those deeply intense stories.

There was a lot of talk about writing with risk, but this was never fully explained, and at times I had no idea what was being discussed. Is this what Booker Prizes is about? It's all very serious and above me. The winner will be announced today - tonight. While the concept of these books sound interesting, none of the readings made me want to go out and buy one, certainly not in hardback! I'm rooting for Ben, and I may buy his book when it appears in paperback.

Me

I had a pre-launch meeting for Tinsel Street with my friend. She's very efficient, and turned up with a spidergram plan and coloured pens, I laughed. I hope I didn't offend her. He is so organised, while I muddle along. However, she is the right person to have on board. We went through where things will be on the night - books, refreshments etc., and what will happen in sequence. It is now two days away! Eek! I am part filled with nerves and part with excitement. It will be lovely to see many of my friends who are coming from near and far for the event. I am even going to be making my bran fruit loaf (vegan) to cut up into squares. Let's hope this isn't the time for cooking disasters, because yes, I'm stressed. Otherwise, I have bought all the drinks and nibbles for the event.

My son is going to take photos on the night, so I will have something to show you in my next blog post.

I can tell you that I have now got Tinsel Street into my local library. I went down to ask if I could leave some leaflets and then presented them with the book. Although they couldn't find it on their system, they asked if I could leave it with them and they would see if it could be catalogued. A little over a week later, they emailed me to say it was on their shelf. I went down there a few days later and found it on the recently returned shelf! Oh, the excitement! And I'm overusing exclamation marks here, but I never imagined I'd have book on a library shelf (oh, in my dreams maybe, but to actually happen?)

Until next time, happy reading. Maybe see you at the book launch?

Books, books books - My reading habits

 

Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash

What are you reading right now? If you read the side bar of this blog I list my current read and the last five books I have read. There have been a lot of LJ Ross on there lately. This is because I do a swap with a friend. We are both reading the DCI Ryan series. I picked up four of her books in a charity shop and my friend bought some. I was the one who started it as I read LJ Ross' first book. The place it was set (Holy Island) interested me because I have visited the island. All the books are set in Northumbria, a place I love, but haven't been back to in ages.

The storylines can vary, but I love the characters and the humour between the detectives. I like it when I find an author with a series I can get into. How about you?

I read, on average, a book a week. Apart from swaps with friends, I buy in charity shops and bookshops. I always ask for book vouchers for my birthday and Christmas. In the past, I have been given Amazon vouchers too.

What do you do with your books when you've read them? Mine go to charity or for swaps. Do I keep any? Usually, only non-fiction, but that's getting out of hand! Recently I was going through my read books, the ones I had decided to keep. I thought maybe now was the time to pass some on. Oh, it was hard, and in the end I shut the door saying, 'I can't deal with this now!' I have far too many books that I can't seem to pass on. Some are reference books. I have several, okay, more than several, about London, including London in Victorian times. Then there are art books, mainly from exhibitions, and some I've not yet got round to reading. I have nature books, poetry, language books (yeah, like I'm ever going to master German, but there's always that sneaking feeling that I just might go back to it). What is a poor bookaholic to do?

In my writing room I have a shelf of books which include a huge Chambers Thesaurus, some magazines in which I have been published, art, a whole series of walking guides (Thames Path, Capital Ring, London Waterways, The Lea Valley Way, South Downs Way and Isle of Wight walks). I have more of these downstairs! Then there are my files and books on writing and lots of notebooks, though most of the notebooks are in a drawer. In this room is also most of my art materials. I have a big box under the chest of drawers with sketch books on top. I never seem to have time to draw, paint or whatever, and Rue the dog has chewed some of the edges of the sketch books (he was a puppy then).

My books are snuck under the bed in my writing room, in a cupboard in the bedroom and downstairs on various shelves. I really must make an effort to reduce my haul because I know I will add to them, however much I try not to buy another book on walking routes. My haul is getting out of hand.

I try not to let my fiction TBR pile build up these days and I've stuck to that....somehow! But oh, how I love bookshops. There's always another book I want to buy. I love touching books, and I love raised images or letters on covers, adore little maps inside books and the odd Spotify playlist to go with a book. I also love author interviews about how they got into writing/what made them write this book and so on. 

Because I read a varied mix of genres, I've found it hard to pinpoint my favourite genre, but I think I've found that I often crave for a crime/thriller or psychological thriller. I enjoy fast paced books with plenty of tension with those great chapter endings that make you want to read on. But I also enjoy a little humour (and I write a lot of it). Bob Mortimer's books are fun, and the classic Cold Comfort Farm is brilliant. Yet I will delve into the odd YA, literary and even a bit of sci-fi, though it has to be just the right thing. I quite like cli-fic and apocalyptic stories too. A little horror is okay as long as it isn't gory, and I like gothic.

At the moment I have two Ann Cleeves books waiting to be read (swaps), a Sarah Moss, a poetry book, a non-fiction book on the Thames Estuary and a huge book about the Thames (definitely a dip in and out of book) by Peter Ackroyd. Oh, and I still have an LJ Ross book (of course).

Now my book pile is so low, I hope to visit the library soon and start borrowing again, but passing a bookshop is a struggle. I want to go in and surround myself with books....my happy place. Even the writing group meets in Waterstones for its free-writing sessions, and I've already spotted a book I want!

My reading journey

Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash

The first book I ever remember holding was a board book of farmyard animals. I was about three, had measles and was sitting in our front room in the semi-darkness.

I didn't grow up in a house full of books. My mum read magazines and sometimes books and my dad read James Herriot books after he retired for something to do when he wasn't down the shed!

Growing up I read the magazines my mum and grandmother read - Womans' Weekly and sometimes My Weekly or Woman or Woman's Own. But mainly it was Womans' Weekly. I read all the stories in those, including The Robin Family.

I don't remember being read to much as a child. Whether because I just dont't remember, or it didn't happen, I have no idea, but I do remember when I was about 8 or 9 my mum used to buy us a magazine called Treasure. In it was serialised The Borrowers. My mum read it to my brother and I and I was totally hooked and couldn't wait for the next instalment. I loved that story so much that I now have a copy of the book.

At school I wasn't a reader. It wasn't something that interested me. The first book I remember actually liking was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C S Lewis. I loved the fact that there was another world beyond the wardrobe. I also remember liking a book by Gerald Durrell, but as a class we read To Kill A Mockingbird. I hated it. These days I'm a firm believer that you have to be ready for certain books. This is one of them. I didn't understand it back then as a young teen. When I came back to it as an adult I loved it, and I think that's because I had more experience of life and it suddenly resonated with me.

We didn't study poetry at school. I came across it once in primary school, and rather liked it, but I didn't come across poetry again until I was an adult.

As a teen/early twenties I bought the sort of magazines my mum would have frowned upon - Loving and True Romances. I devoured them cover to cover and had my very first poem published in one, though they misprinted it by leaving out two lines! Later I switched to Cosmopolitan.

I left school aged fifteen and it wasn't until I left that I joined the library. Because I'd never been much of a reader I had no idea what books I might like, so I went for things that interested me. I loved nature and anything to do with early man and read books by people like Richard Leakey and the findings of our ancestors in Africa. When it came to fiction, I borrowed what I thought I might like. It took me years to find my way and to the person I am now who reads on average at least one book a week. My taste has branched out into most genres.

From my mum's small book collection I tried Agatha Christie, but soon realised she wasn't for me. However, one book by Daphne de Maurier called The Loving Spirit really hooked me. It's a family saga, and I loved it so much that I still have that book today. Of course I read things my mum said I shouldn't, including Lady Chatterley's Lover. It wasn't nearly as racy as I expected, but by then I had read far racier things anyway!

I had a phase of reading loads of Mills & Boon, even joining their bookclub for a while, but I grew out of them.

Reading has broadened my horizons. Of the books I read as a young adult, Hatter's Castle by A J Cronin still stays with me.

I still use the library. I also buy new books and charity shop books, as well as swap books with friends. There is no room to keep books I've read, so I have to be harsh and part with all, except some non-fiction books I can't bear to part with, or I might use as reference to my writing.

Reading has grown along with my writing. I feel I write much better as an older writer who has more life experience, like I have grown into reading certain books.

If this post sounds familiar it is because I've probably written about this before. Having had this blog since 2009, certain subjects will inevitably crop up again.

My last point is this. My dad was not much of a reader. Even he admitted that. If he couldn't understand a word he skipped over it. But once, when my brother and I were young and had gone to bed but still awake, my dad was decorating the landing. While he painted, he made up a story about a little bird. I don't really remember the story, but the fact that he had the imagination to make up a story that I was glued to. When my own boys were young, I did the same. They particularly liked stories with a main character having the same name as them. I have a recollection of one story about a bear who flew an airplane, and when we kept guinea pigs, I wrote a story about them! I also wrote a story about a child with a talking TV remote control which I entered into a competition.

I still have my fascination for early man, and adored Jean M Auel's Earth Children Series, especially the very first book
. It was probably the longest book I had at that time, but I couldn't put it down. Some things have followed me through life and my interests end up coming out in what I write. I don't think I've written anything about early man yet, but music crops up a lot, as does religion. Maybe I'll chat about that sometime....obsessions with certain subjects!

Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash

Books, submissions and my WIP

Spring and new beginnings

 I'm drawn to any book with river in the title, or about rivers. They are a bit of an obsession, a bit like islands. I recently read If the River is Hidden by Cherry Smyth and Craig Jordan-Baker. Set in Ireland, two friends walk the length of the River Bann from source to sea. Part prose and part poetry, they re-live past experiences of living in Ireland, as they walk, The troubles, living away from Ireland, of feeling Irish or English, these are mixed in with descriptions of the river itself. A very different kind of book and obviously personal to the authors. This is one of the books I bought at the Alternative Book Fair a few weeks ago.

Currently I'm reading a book by Haruki Murakami. My youngest son is a fan of his, and although I read his book on writing, I'd never read any of his fiction. So, this is a bit of a punt, chosen at random. My son tells me he hasn't read this one, so I'll save it for him when I've finished. Different from books I normally read, it has taken a while to get into it, but I understand it has a surprise ending, so I'm interested to see how that goes. About five friends from school days, one day the other four tell the main character, Tsukura, this they never want to speak to him again. When he asks why, they just say 'You know.' But he doesn't. He is bereft, and it is only years later when he meets Sara that she suggests the experiences from that time are blocking him and he must see them again and find out why he was cast out from the group. I'm three quarters of the way through and he has met two of them and he knows now why he was cast out and it comes as a total shock. 

Away from books, I have been on a submission spree. I call submissions my bread and butter, though I rarely get paid! Should I have some acceptances, these are my morale booster to keep writing and it helps to get my name out there. The thing with writing just novels is that it all takes time and rejection sends you (or at least me) into a downward spiral. I started out as a poet, so mostly what I'm submitting is poetry. 

The online writing course has finished. Two things have emerged from doing this course. Firstly, I realise my WIP has been an outline story. Working with it during the course enabled me to take a hard look at it. While I was waiting for my laptop to be returned, I took pen to paper and drew up a map of the island along with family trees. Now I know how people are related and the tension the events would cause between them. Things are beginning to make sense. Whilst writing a new scene for the pacing section of the course, I added a new character called the storyteller. He is now being written in! I'm now re-writing The Island with lots of new scenes, though I have to keep referring to my family trees as I don't automatically remember who is who! Adjustments and new notes are being added all the time, so the details on the photos below are changing. This is part plotting, something I don't do. However, I've not plotted further in as I let my characters lead me. This is probably a haphazard way to write, as plotting avoids so much editing when going back, but I can't bring myself to do it any other way. I need the creative to flow as I write with no restrictions. What I've done here is to set up the background to people, their relationships with one another, and this helped so much with the story. It has more substance. I have to remember that this began as a short story some years ago and just grew! I don't always know when I write, where a piece of work may go. I've turned poems into stories and vice versa when they haven't worked or seem to need more space.

Family trees and maps still evolving!

The second thing that came out of the course, is that as this was such a good course (plus the one I took on my holiday), is that I have all the tools now. I've taken courses similar before, but usually shorter day courses. Years ago I also took a novel writing course, but for some reason it didn't work for me. Indie Novella's course was more detailed, had video's and didn't keep using the author's own book to use as examples. That first course was also more intense as it was to write 50,000 words so for a full novel. Indie Novella's course worked better in several ways. There were masterclasses included and we were encouraged to form peer groups outside of the course once it had finished. And this is what we have done. Someone from the group I was in set up a group on Slack, so we will continue to keep in touch and read each other's work. We even have a London support group started by one member, and this is an in person group. I have gained a great deal from this course, and the whole thing was amazingly free! I'd highly recommend it.

In future, the courses I take will be specific to other things I want to find out about. Occasionally I take online courses in a genre that interests me that I know little about writing. Later this month I'm taking one about websites. It has always been my intention to have a proper website and try to gather a bit more of a following, yet it has been shoved to the back burner, partly because it involves technology! I could pay someone to create a website for me, but I'd rather have complete control, which is probably good until things go wrong. 

While I was at the Alternative Book Fair, I met a lady who was trying to find an agent for her travel book, creative non-fiction. She showed me all the work she'd done. She had a website and was out there promoting herself. Is this what I should be doing? I suppose I should. She said I should be sharing snippets of my work. I've always been a bit unsure of that. 

So, taking her at her word, here's a bit of blurb about my WIP:

Fifteen-year-old Ralph lives on a remote island, ruled by elders and council with Old Testament hell-fire teaching. When Ralph's cousin, Lester, is drowned on an ill thought out adventure, his friend Aaron is accused of murder. Judgment lies with the elders. Will they send Aaron to Exile or will his punishment require more....his life? Tensions run high in this close community where everyone is related to someone else and knows their business. Life on Home Island begins to unravel as rumours abound and the truth of the tragic accident slowly emerge. What can Ralph do to help his friend, and where will help, if any, come from? Will the secrets of the elders finally be exposed and rid the island of its fear and find freedom? This is a tense and dark story of friendship and what you would do to save a friend. 

I never set out for this to be a YA novella, but I think this might be. Until I get beta readers and feedback I won't know for certain. It feels like one, but I'd love adults to enjoy this. Right now I'm writing a lot of new scenes. I'm taking my time and kind of editing as I go. I learned a lot from the book coach I used for Tinsel Street, about slowing the pace (I write extremely fast when I'm on a roll, meaning there's more action than description!). I finally feel I might have a handle on all the aspects of writing. I know my strengths and weaknesses, so I can play on the strengths, and watch for those weaknesses. I feel as if I've really pushed forward in the last year and especially pressed through my comfort zone a few times in trying to network. I'm still happier behind the keyboard, but I need other writers, especially in face-to-face meets. It's what encourages me because we understand one another and the agony and ecstasy of writing. It spurs me on to write because it can be lonely out there.

Until next time, happy writing and happy reading.

Is there ever a good time for your laptop to go away for repairs?

Tablet & Bluetooth keyboard.

 In answer to my own question in the title of this post. NO! But particualrly now when I am mid-way through a writing course and about to go on a writing and walking holiday. 

The screen on my laptop has, over a period of time, been blanking out intermittently for a few seconds. Sometimes it will goes days without this happening, and other times it will happen twice in one day. This doesn't affect what I am doing. I continue typing and the words are there when the screen returns, and my playlists keep playing. But last week when I switched on my laptop, nothing. The lights on the keyboard lit up, the fan started, but nothing on the screen. I then was unable to switch it off because I couldn't see what was happening. I did try several times to sort it, leaving it alone for a while and then trying to take it by surprise! My default mode is to panic. My son knows this so when I texted him, he said 'Don't panic!' He also told me that 100% my files could be saved.

My son looked at it in the evening and at first he couldn't get any joy. He then linked my laptop to a TV screen, though it was a fiddle trying to find the right HDMI slot. Suddenly my laptop sprang into life, only to die again. Eventually, the screen worked! I transferred the files I felt I needed to an external hard drive, but what was I going to transfer them to while my laptop was sent away for repairs? My hubby has Chrome Book, but it doesn't have Word. My son has a very old laptop, also without Word. I am still using Windows 10, and if my son put Windows on the old laptop it would come with Windows 11. I didn't want to have to get to grips with a new application on my holiday. Ah! what about my old Tablet? That has Word, albeit a basic version.

So I spent the evening charging the Tablet and having to upgrade various applications. Of course it wasn't as simple as that. The Tablet is a bit dodgy. It often re-boots itself a few times when I turn it on, and it's slow. I also soon realised that the external hard drive wouldn't plug in. We were now in the second day of this. So, while my screen was working (it's been fine since that day, but it could go at any time) I transferred the same files directly to the Tablet. That evening my son found a convertor and adaptor so the external hard drive works with the Tablet. I also found the mini Bluetooth Keyboard I used to use with it and had to re-learn how to 'pair it' to the Tablet.

It is now the weekend, I've been laid low with a cold and not able to tackle the packing up of my laptop. And then I thought about the things I might still need off it. I've no idea how long the repair will take. I've run off something new I'm writing which I may share with the group on holiday. I also needed a printed copy of an email for tickets to a concert I'm going to with a friend. I've been unable to access the O2 Arena App even though I've set up a password. 'Don't match' it says. Tried to change the password, but no luck. I had to email them direct and they've suggested uninstalling the App and reinstalling it. If that fails I can take my proof to the booking office on the day of the concert and they print out the tickets. As it is the tickets aren't issued until a week before. Am I panicking?  So, I've found the email and printed off the proof with my seat numbers etc. I'm not sure if my Tablet with work with my printer. I've never tried it and the concert is next month. 

I've had my laptop over four years now. The warranty has run out, but the company who built it (it's not an off-the-shelf laptop) have said they will look at it for me. Today is the day when I box it up, so I am madly doing things I feel I might not be able to do on the Tablet. I have access to most stuff on my mobile, but will need the Tablet for my course (which I will still be doing on my holiday) and for the holiday itself. However, for the holiday I am taking various notebooks and am happy to write by hand if necessary. It sounds quite laid back, just what I need right now!

That's been my week. Despite my cold, I managed to get to Southwark Cathedral on Thursday night in the heavy rain and wind to an author talk about London Bridge and Southwark. It was very interesting and happened to coincide with the chapter I was currently reading in a book called Watling Street. I bought myself a copy of the book, but I didn't hang around to get it signed. I just wanted to get home. Thankfully, it had stopped raining by then. Friday was my worst day, and I gave in and stayed on the sofa in my PJ's, a fleece and hot water bottle. I was often joined by Rue, our dog.

New book, left. What I'm currently reading, right.

A lady on my writing course had arranged a meet-up for those in London on Saturday. I wasn't sure I would make it as I felt so rough on Friday. God must have looked down on me and decided enough is enough. I'll give that girl a break. I felt so much better in the morning and even walked Rue. After an early lunch, I headed to Tottenham Court Road and Caffe Nero where we were meeting. It was a lovely afternoon. There were eight of us (a few couldn't make it), all ladies. Of the three groups on the course, all but two were from group two and me and one other from group one. We talked about the course, what we were writing, jobs, writing events and what we wanted to do in our meet-ups in the future. We think we will stick to a once a month meet. We were a diverse group. I was the oldest! It was so nice to talk to other writers with all those dreams of being published.

I much prefer to engaging with people face to face. Some of us are hoping to meet up next month at a Writers/Book festival in Islington, especially as Indie Author (who are running the course we are all on) will be there offering talks on one of the days.

This could be what I've been looking for. In the back end of last year, I'd thought I might form my own local group for budding writers, as I was missing the contact with other writers. But I'm not really a leader. I'm more a follower. I'm happy to suggest things, but leading a group is a responsibility, and I don't feel that at the moment I have the time.

So this week has been a bag of mixed blessings. I'm hoping I can still blog using the Tablet. I've done in the far distant past, though I had to google 'how to block text to copy when you don't have a mouse or touch pad.' I'm going old school! A re-learning curve. I've not got my head round uploading photos to it yet. But if you don't hear from me for a while you'll know just what I'm doing....panicking!

Review of the Year

 

My resources file

New Year's Eve and the sky is blue for once. For how long, I ask? Anyway, it's that time when I look back on my writing year, warts and all. I find this interesting to see how I think year went to what actually happened. Somehow, it's never quite the same. I had to re-check some figures because Rue (the dog) kept wanting to chew my pen, or walked over me and the book I was using to tally submissions made this year. I'd already abandoned the writing room as he just kept standing on the bed behind me and pawing at me. 

So, the year went something like this:

I submitted pieces to 29 different publishers/competitions, which was far more than I thought, bearing in mind I spent a good deal of the year editing my novella. These submissions would have contained between one and three or four pieces. The breakdown of this is as follows:

Poetry: 25 of which 6 were accepted (one of these is still to be published)

Flash:   10 of which 2 were accepted

Short Stories: 3

Novellas: 3 

Poetry Collection: 1

Pending (waiting on their fate!): 3 flash, 1 novella, 2 stories (included in the tally above)

I admit I was surprised, and the end of the year was more successful than the beginning. I'm also surprised by what gets published and I sometimes wonder if I'm the best judge of my own work! I honestly expected a lot less to show for my contribution to the world of writing this year.

It was a sad year for publications as two of my favourites folded. Visual Verse (online) and Popshot (print) departed this year. Both were important in my life. The first time I read Popshot I fell in love with the art work, and the stories and poems seemed to radiate with me. I'd found a magazine that I adored. And after many submissions, finally my dream came true as they published a flash story of mine.

Visual Verse was my go-to place once a month. Their picture prompts stimulated me, and when I wasn't writing anything else, I'd write and submit to them. Over the years I've had around 30 pieces published by them. Mainly I wrote poetry, but there were a few flash stories too.

There are also a number of presses who seem to be in limbo, with nothing published on their websites and no new submission windows advertised. I fear these will also go the way of the others.

This year also saw the demise of Writing Forum magazine and a couple of other big name small press magazines. Yesterday I was going through a folder where I keep articles torn from writing magazines. I keep them for research. I took out all those no longer relevant, and this included websites of small presses I had kept. Most of these have also folded since I collected them. It's a sad fact that there are more writers than readers, that small presses are usually operated by volunteers who have other jobs and are trying to write themselves. They also struggle to gather enough subscribers to support their press. I try to subscribe to two publications. One can't do them all, and some are now very expensive. I also try to buy poetry books and fiction from the publisher direct where I can.

I've already commented in a previous post about the rocketing submissions fees of some competitions now. I have pulled out of submitting to places due to the cost (especially of first chapter comps). More presses are charging reading fees, though this is mainly in the US. I have paid these in the past, but no more.

I took part in a few writing courses this year:

Five Day Hybrid Challenge through Arvon (through email prompts) which was most interesting, and made me think. This was about mashing up genres and situations. Unusual!

A day class in London with The Poetry School looking at abandoning usual form (what I call experimental poetry).

Writing ghost and gothic stories with Writing Magazine.

I also enjoyed attending a few poetry readings at the Southbank, London and a day up there mainly for unrepresented writers, which was free and the best thing I'd attended in a long while.

The best part of the year was taken up with editing my novella, Tinsel Street, and submitting it. I haven't yet heard back from either place I've sent it to. These things can take an age, but after I had submitted it, I found it hard to write for a while. I think I was shattered. This has been a long journey so far.

I bought the Mslexia Diary & Planner with good intentions and barely used it. I cannot find just what I need in a writing diary. For this year I have bought a much cheaper diary and planner through a charity I support and will see how that works for me.

Plans for 2024: A lot of editing! I have so many things on file just sitting there. I am already editing two pieces, so I have made a start. I hope to submit a little more next year too. I have booked a week's holiday at the beginning of March with HF Holidays as they are running a writing and walking week in Bourton-on-the-Water. This is a first for them, so I snapped up a place as soon as it it went on sale! I've holidayed with HF many times for walking or special interest holidays. They are an excellent holiday company. The holiday includes writing in the mornings and walks in the afternoons and will also include some free time to either continue writing or do some self-guided walks. There is also some evening entertainment. I have been to their hotel in Bourton before and it is a lovely setting.

Away from writing I have read many books this year. Eighty-three to be exact! The books that have particularly stood out for me and make it to my top three (four in the case of fiction) are as follows:

Fiction:

Metronome by Tom Watson. Set on an island where two convicts (a couple) are coming to the end of their sentence, but the warden doesn't come. Everything begins to fall apart and all they thought they understood isn't as it seemed. This is a tense story as the two turn on one another. I think you might call this dystopian fiction, if I have to put a genre on it. A tense and brilliant book.

Maureen Fry & The Angel of the North by Rachel Joyce. This is the last in the 'Fry' stories. It is a small book compared to the others, but so good. Humour and sadness. Maureen goes off on a journey of her own to see a garden dedicated to Queenie. She goes with a degree of anger, but finds something else. Beautifully written.

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. This was Michelle's first adult book (I have since read another of hers and loved that too). Full of darkness, ghosts and spirals into madness. A group set out on a scientific mission into a cold place near Norway (I think it is). Accidents happen and one man (main character) is left there on his own waiting for rescue. What he experiences almost sends him mad. Tense and compelling.

Forever Home by Graham Norton. This was my final read of the year. I've love all Graham's books and each time they get better. This one was brilliant. Carol has been living with Declan, whose wife walked out on him and their son and daughter. They become the talk of the village and his children and her mother disapprove. When Declan becomes ill and Carol has an accident, his children take control, having Declan moved to a nursing home and they throw Carol out of the house as they want to sell it. Declan was adamant that he never wanted to sell the house, but the son has a Power of Attorney, and there is nothing Carol can do. Or is there? This story is about dysfunctional family life, secrets and eventually it becomes evident why Declan never wanted the house sold. There are twists (never saw that coming!) and a fair amount of humour. I loved Carol's mother, Moira. I couldn't put this one down. The best yet.

Non-Fiction:

From Source to Sea by Tom Chesshyre. Tom's account of walking the Thames Path is great. I love his humour and because I am walking the path, I recognise some of the places he stayed or saw. This one is a keeper.

Ice:Tales from a disappearing world by Marco Tedesco & Alberto Flores d'Arcais. I don't know why I'm obsessed with cold places, because I hate the cold! But this book was so good and very descriptive. I'll never forget the way the author described the sound of the ice shifting under him when he was in his tent at night. Makes you realise how vulnerable we are. A wake-up call to climate change and what we a losing.

The Devil You Know: Encounters in Forensic Psychiatry by Dr Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne. These are interviews with patients who have committed crimes. Some of them are referred because they are suicidal, others just difficult. An insight into the mind of others and why they commit violent crime, including murder. When you read the background to some of the patients, it is no wonder they are disturbed. Nothing is ever straightforward. Some of the patients were helped to come to terms with what they had done and were able to move on, others were not. This is a heartbreaking read at times, but also positive things came out of most of the patients mentioned in the book.

Finally, I found a couple of new authors (to me). Mike Gayle writes feel-good books, and I've just found another of his in a charity shop. My book pile is growing again! Anne Booth is another feel-good writer whose second book I must get hold of sometime. Special mention is made to C J Tudor and her book The Drift. This book was pacey and tense with mixed timelines. Cleverly plotted. I think her books are getting darker, but I love them.

And then for Christmas I received Elly Griffiths' Norfolk. Readers may know how big a fan I am of Elly Griffith's books, and this beautiful full colour coffee table books is filled with spectacular photos of places where some scenes from the Ruth Galloway series take place. I love this book and have been eagerly awaiting its release. It was worth it. This is a keeper.

Well, that's me for 2023. Thank you for continuing to read my blog, and welcome to any newcomers. I'd like to read more independently published books next year. If you have any recommendations (your book or someone you've read), please write me a comment. The only genres I don't read are fantasy and hard core horror.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL

November update

The River Wensum, Norwich

 Well, I've slipped on my weekly writing of a poem, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I  began November with the intention of writing a daily flash using the prompts emailed to me, but that also fell by the wayside. I usually love these prompts, but it didn't do anything for me. I wrote one, and also one using my own prompt, but that's it.

However, this month I did meet up with my writing buddy who now lives in Norwich, and on a very wet morning we adjourned to Norwich Cathedral Cafe to write over pots of tea. It was like old times and we soon slipped back into the habit of free writing and laughing over the results. We had a ready-made prompt board in the cafe (see photo) which saved us searching for words. We had a wonderful time writing together, and had a chance to catch up with each other. We last met in August.

A ready made prompt board!

I have been thinking of putting together a short story collection. I have a few that look at the funny side of life, including dark humour. Some of my stories are longer than the normal short stories, so much harder to find homes for them, so with three or four of these interspersed with shorter or even flash would work. 

To add to the collection I wrote a new story last week. The first draft is done and I really had fun writing it. There's bit of me in there (not going to say which bits!), but then doesn't every writer add bits of them into their stories? This one has very funny moments in it, but also sad moments. The story has the working title of The Holiday and it is set in Eastbourne.

Looking at my list of books read this year, I am on my 75th! My bought book pile is quite small now, but I'm off to the library on Thursday. There are a few books on my Christmas List, one being Elly Griffiths Norfolk which has locations of scenes from her Ruth Galloway series, which I have read. If I only get one book this year it has to be this!

In other news, we got the Christmas Tree up yesterday because I couldn't wait any longer. I love Christmas and look forward to carols and mulled wine. I'm singing tomorrow night with a new choir that started in January this year. Syrinx will be singing in St John's Church, Hoxton, including This Woman's Work by Kate Bush and a Finnish Reindeer calling song! Not to be missed. Have a look at the website. There are a few videos available to view.

That's all for now folks.