Wednesday 14 November 2018

We Are IN!!! Westcliff is HOME

Here I am, back again after the frenzy of moving house last week.  The Move Out went smoothly on Wednesday. We spent the night at an hotel and then Moved In on Thursday morning with the HUMUNGUS removals van pulling in just half and hour after us.  The rest of that day is a bit of a blur.  It comes back to me as one of those old fashioned cartoons with someone running across the screen in a puff of smoke.  As our three removals guys brought in box after box after box, that is all I can recall; them running up and down the stairs and in and out of the rooms in puffs of smoke as the new house - now Home - got fuller and fuller and fuller.  Eldest daughter Lorraine turned up midday with three year old Oscar in tow and even he seemed somewhat bemused by the all the activity.

By around 4pm, everyone had gone and a while later we popped along to this rather brilliant Fish and Chip retaurant we'd discovered a couple of weeks before, had dinner, went home, unpacked until midnight then fell into bed with every muscle throbbing!  We have now been here for almost a week and it is already starting to look like Home.  The kitchen/diner, living room, bedroom and bathroom are all but finished.  The spare room and the room we have designated the Office will take much longer and could yet be box-bound for several weeks to come.  The good thing is that the place is livable, even if I am writing this post at the table in our gorgeous kitchen diner!

Every day this week, we have been out either shopping for essentials (like bread and milk) or for Useful Household Implements (like mug trees and coat hooks), so we are getting to know the area of Westcliff , Leigh and Prittlewell, which is lovely.  Ironically however, even though we have moved near to the sea, we haven't had time yet to actually take romantic walks along the sea front; never mind, I am sure that will come in time.

All in all it has not been nearly so stressful as we expected (although in all honesty, we have had our moments - mostly brought by exhaustion I suspect) and the really great thing is that we have seen lots of our grandchildren, which was, after all, one of the main reasons we picked the area.

It is a nice place to be.  The neighbours seem very friendly; everyone has time to chat to you in the shops and we feel very comfortable here, so here's to many more days. And maybe, just maybe, I will be able to properly get back to my beloved writing by the next millennium!!!😌


Monday 15 October 2018

ALL GO, GO, GO ... WESTCLIFF HERE WE COME!

It has been a totally crazy couple of months!  Steve and I went house-hunting in Westcliff on Sea for a whole weekend and the very last house we saw was the one that was right for us.  Having made the decision, there was a couple of weeks to get all the formalities in place and on 1st October we collected the keys.  We move in on 8th November.  We have been "down the house" a few times since to measure up and to freshen and spruce it up a bit (it had been standing empty for over a month) and on Saturday just gone we introduced our youngest daughter and her family to it.   The grandchildren loved it - especially the little one who was asking which room was his within minutes of walking through the front door! 

Despite the fact we began packing months ago, it took on a new urgency once the house was ours and most of it is done, so we are back to being surrounded by boxes!  And even though we moved into this sweet little place with its leaded lites and walk-in larder just over two years ago, it has still been a bit of a shock at how much we have a/ accumilated and b/ have to do; ie booking removals, informing companies of note that we will be moving, arranging to have the gas, electricity, water turned off, setting up and/or cancelling direct debits and standing orders ... the list just goes on and on.

I left my job at the Care Home on 5th October and will not be going back to work until mid - January.  It took the pressure off Steve a bit and doing everything together has brought us closer than ever - if that is even possible.  It has given us a proper chance to sort through all the stuff we had in storage and, I kid you not, at least  two dozen archive boxes of unwanted items have now gone to the BHF charity shop in Sutton, half a dozen went to a local scout group who were collecting for a jumble sale and last Friday morning, a clearance company came in and took away some old furniture and a pile of wood (where that evolved from is anyone's guess).  It feels great to off-load and declutter, especially knowing that most of it has gone to good causes. 

Our house here in Sutton is looking blanker and bearer each day but we can hardly wait to get in to the new place and get sorted.  Our aim is to have the majority of it done by the end of November so that we can enjoy Christmas.  We even know where the tree is going!

It has been a bumpy ride and my writing has suffered intolerably - but I know the muse will come back when we walk the local beaches - which are just fifteen minutes from our door!

I always wanted to live near the sea!!!!

Tuesday 28 August 2018

A Ghost Story Too Far?

I have had a supernatural story in my head for years and years.  I have tried starting it dozens of times but no matter what I do, or which character I write as, I just cannot get it right.  The story itself is clear as clear can be - and has a great twist in the tail.  It even has a title.  But it just won't let me write it down.  I don't know if it is because I have overworked or underworked the idea or what.  Am I trying too hard to get it too perfect?  Should I let it develop on its own?  If I do that I might end up never writing it!  Besides, everything that does happen is fully mapped out.  Every incident has a reason, all the reasons add up and the story is just screaming to be immortalised in paper.  But it seems to want to be immortalised on its own terms. Curious.

This, I have found, is one of the nicer problems we writers have to face.  I don't know about you but when people find out you are a writer, they seem to expect to see you physically writing every minute of the day.  "Thought you were a writer," they will say.  "Don't see you writing!"  The truth is, as every writer will know, you never stop writing.  Your brain is constantly trying to make sense of your characters, what happens to them, the good and the bad.  I feel really bad if I kill off anyone.  Seriously!  I find it hard to write in a character if I know he or she (or it) is going to meet its doom.  It may be absolutely necessary for the story, but the guilt kicks in and I think that maybe I shouldn't kill them off.  Maybe there is another way.

When Stephen King wrote Pet Sematary, he intimated it almost killed him when little Gage Creed ran into the road and straight under the wheels of a mega-truck.  J K Rowling wept buckets - effectively went into mourning - when Sirius Black was killed in the vaults at the Ministry of Magic.  Clearly our characters are alive in our heads and as real to us as our parents, friends, kids.  Clearly even they have an instinct of survival.  However did Agatha Christie cope with all her murder victims?  Did they go on to haunt her from beyond the page?

Getting back to my supernatural story.  I recently went with Steve to see Susan Hill's The Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre in London.  It is a brilliant play and I can't recommend it highly enough.  It is so simply done, so beautifully portrayed, with just two male actors slipping very cleverly into all the characters the story needs to move along.  In fact I was so impressed that I tweeted Susan the next day to tell her how much we'd enjoyed it.  I was chuffed when she tweeted back to thank me for being moved enough to write her.  In the programme on sale at the venue, there are a couple of articles about how Susan tackled the story of The Woman in Black.  She wanted to write a gothic ghost story in the same style as stories such as The Turn of the Screw and A Christmas Carol.  How she did it intrigued me enough to go into Waterstones today and actually buy The Woman in Black.  My plan now is to devour it completely.  Where she was inspired by the writings of Henry James and Charles Dickens, I am hoping to be similarly inspired by her.  And maybe then my supernatural story will actually find its voice and let me write it.  Does it have a ghost of a chance, do you think?

Thursday 2 August 2018

Finding Myself Again ...

Despite the fact we have been sooo busy since my last post here, I have been surprised at just how much writing and researching I have been able to do.  It is so nice to be able to pick up a pen and just write, or switch on the laptop and just seek out writing opportunities, without having to worry about work, or why I feel so tired, or a  hundred and one other things.  And the ideas have been chasing me every minute of every day!  I've had some great ideas for at least one brand new book for 7 to 9 year-olds,  I did another talk for Croydon Writers a few weeks back.  I have written some more poems.  I even woke up the other week (rather annoyingly) with Jim Reeves singing a song in my head which didn't at that time exist!  It does now - or at least, the lyric does - but it was all rather strange.  I have never been a huge fan of Jim Reeves (although my mum was, bless her), yet there was this song playing round and round in my head like it was on repeat.  I wrote the first couple of lines on my way to the bus stop on my mobile phone notebook, and within half an hour every word of that song, and its tune (though I can't write music) had embedded itself into my memory.  Very odd.  Was Jim trying to reach me from beyond the grave?  Who knows?  All I know is that there is now another Jim Reeves song in the world, one which will prpbably never be heard by anyone else!  Did he even write his own songs? Absolutely no idea!

Anyway, Jim Reeves apart, I have enjoyed my summer.  Seen a lot of the grandchildren, been to lots of places, gone property hunting, spent some real quality time with my gorgeous Steve, turned 61 (unbelievable, I always thought I'd die young) in July, could finally have someone interested in re-inventing the Yucketypoo books (although that is still in its infancy, but I feel pretty optomistic this time) and just feel so much better in myself.  It is almost as if I had gotten lost and couldn't find me.  Well, I have found me now.  And it feels great!

Thursday 28 June 2018

MOVING ON ... (again)

Well hello Each.  So much has happened since I last blogged that I can hardly believe it.  I got the Young Writer poetry booklet done in time for the final session on 2nd June, thank goodness.  I was dead chuffed the way it finally turned out with its full colour front cover.  Luckily, many moons ago, when I worked at an office supplies company, I had the foresight to buy a long-arm stapler which meant that, not only was I able to print and collate the booklet, I was also able to bind it.  The faces on my Young Writers when I handed them their copies of that sweet little booklet were a joy to behold!  And when I handed them their certificates, printed on proper certificate parchment and decorated with a red seal, I felt such pride in these children, who worked tirelessly and enthusiastically for six years to make Addiscombe Young Writers the huge success it was.  And what a send-off they gave me on 2nd June!  Flowers, plants, chocolates, pens, mugs, writing books and masses of cards were heaped upon me so it was vey lucky indeed that Steve had been able to come along because I would never have got it all home on my own!

A lot of people have asked me since that day if I regret leaving the Young Writers but I don't actually.  At least not yet.  Steve did say that if I started to miss it too much, perhaps I could think about starting a new group once we have settled in our new home.  I am none too sure about that.  I think I would expect too much of it having seen how well the group worked so I shall have to think about it seriously.  Plus I think I would be forever comparing the two groups and I would live in absolute terror of it not working out.

Part of my leaving the group was to find more time to focus on my writing and, now I have not got to worry about preparing stuff for the children, marking their work and all the other paraphanalea that goes with running such a group - as amazing as it was - I am starting to find my own writing again and I am so excited about it.  Working part time is also giving me the opportunity, like today, to sit down and update my blog, look at what writing opportunities are about, go through my MsLexia, plough through my Children's W & A Year Book and just be a writer again.  And I am relishing it, I really am.

As far as the move is concerned, well, we are getting there.  We are back to boxes but we are taking our time with it.  We have already given lots of stuff to charity shops and we have a lot more yet to go.  We have been keeping an eye on what houses are available in or near Southend and hope to be in by Christmas.  Luckily we do not need to rush.  And there's other stuff going on.  We have just got back from a weekend in Margate and before that, a week in Italy (beautiful).  We have a break in Great Yarmouth coming up, a week in Cornwall, several trips out, theatre shows and a wedding in July, as well as having our youngest granddaughter to stay for a week so it is all go, go, go.

But d'you know what? I don't think I have ever been happier!

Thursday 10 May 2018

The Day The Printer Rebelled ...

May already!  What the f%*# !  It is a somewhat grey day at The Gallop.  Earlier on when I went out coatless in glorious sunshine, I thought yep - this is what summer is all about! Now, as I sit behind my latticed windows, listening to the constant growl of council grass strimmers tidying the verges,  the blue sky is disappearing behind candyfloss clouds and the sun has said That's it, time for a nap -  and gone to bed.  Hopefully it will wake up in time for this weekend which we are lucky enough to be sharing with five of our seven grandchildren in Southend.  Adventure Island - watch out!

Been pretty busy since my last post.  We have been househunting on the net and have set aside a weekend in September to go and view as many places as we can.  I have spoken to my manager about transferring my services to another residential home in our new area.  It is less than a month (and only two sessions) until I leave the Young Writers in the safe hands of Sara, the Chatterbooks facilitator and, in preparation for re-focusing on my own writing, I have taken out a subscription with MsLexia, the magazine for women writers.  I was a subscriber for a few years back in the early noughties and was very excited last week when my first issue popped through the letterbox.  I haven't actually had time to read it yet, but I have flicked through it.  It is more like a paperback book than a magazine now and I am not sure where to start with it but I am sure I will get to grips with it in time.

Have been crazily putting together a poetry booklet for the Young Writers.  I knew I would not have time to compile a new anthology for them - Word Magic and Word Magic 2 were both over a year in the planning, editing, laying-out, printing etc etc etc and this time, I only had six months between when I first proposed a poetry leaflet to the Young Writers and my final session in June with them.  Talk about yet another learning curve.  I found a programme on my laptop that allows you to put a booklet together and this morning I finished laying it all out and printed off the book covers.  But when I began to print off the actual poems, the printer threw a tantrum, blew a raspberry at me and thoughtlessly chewed up the sheet going through it.  So I have given it the rest of the day off and will try to get it finished over the next week or so.

I was recently a judge for the BBC 500 Words competition.  I did it last year and was offered the opportunity to do it again this year so I thought why not?  It is great reading the stories sent in by 6 to 11 year olds all over the UK and it never ceases to astonish me how much talent is out there.  I have decided this is the best age group to nurture where writing is concerned.  Their imaginations know no bounds and their honesty is something we can all learn from.  Maybe once they hit High School their heads are, quite rightly, trained to go into exam mode so - in the most part - there is not much time left for Creative Writing as a hobby.  I think, once we have moved and settled, I will start an on-line Creative Writing group just for children.  I will have to learn how to build a web-site first but hey - never say never!

I think that is about it this time.  Steve has gone off exploring and left me at home to write - and I still have Linked-In to catch up on so better fly.  Speak soon I hope. Keep smiling!

Wednesday 18 April 2018

Moving On - In More Ways Than One!

Here we are, half way through April.  Another month has flown by.

I announced at the last Young Writer session that I will be leaving the Young Writer group in June.  Fortunately, Ashburton Library have come up with the idea of amalgamating the group with their Chatterbooks sessions, so all is not lost.  I am well aware that this will not suit everybody, but it would be such a shame if the young writer group just faded into obscurity after six years.  My news was met with mixed reactions from the parents who seemed somewhat more perturbed about the changes than the children. 

Steve has said that, perhaps, if it gets to the stage where I am really at a loss without the Young Writers, I could try starting another group once we have moved and are settled in our new area.  I have some misgivings about that, although it was really sweet of him to suggest it.  In the first instance, I would be forever trying to recreate the success of Addiscombe Young Writers - and if it did not work out for whatever reason, I would be devastated.  But the main reason I can't see it happening is because I seriously need to start focussing again on my own creative efforts.  This was made even clearer to me the other day when I received an invitation to have a stall at a big autumn fayre in September this year.  I had a really successful day there last year and more than trebled my outlay for the price of the table.  But I have only got My Writer to sell again, nothing new.  I need to get some new books under my belt so that I can offer a wider range of my work to potential buyers.  Because of this, I declined the offer of a stall.

I have been thinking about my writing a lot lately.  I know I need to sit down and work out a proper course of action here and set myself some goals.  I have come to accept (it only took me sixty years) that I will never ever be the world famous, best-selling writer I always wanted to be.  I do know, however,  I am a successful writer and that is what I need to maintain.  A wise person once told me that we all reincarnate and that our lives improve with each life we lead.  It could be hocus pocus but by that rationale I should be one of those high flying, world famous, incredibly ricj and successful authors in my next life, so in this life, I am content to maintain the success over five decades of hard work has brought me.

My last Young Writer session is on 2nd June.  We are looking to be moved by Christmas so 2019 will be my year; you just watch!


Monday 19 March 2018

Writing Update!!!

Whoa!  With everything going on, I was still over the moon the other day, to receive an email from a Literary Agent asking to see the Yucketypoo books!  Plastic waste in our oceans and on our beaches is very prevailent in the current climate and this made me think of the Yuck books all over again.  It was such a pity that my former publisher was unable to deliver on the third book in the series which, ironically, is all about beach cleaning.  And that was written before it became such an issue in the public eye.  So the next day, Steve an I packaged up the first two books and  the typescript of the third, and sent them off on their journey.  Now all I can do is wait!

I have been pretty busy lately.  I have written a number of articles which have appeared on Linked In and, of course, the Young Writers keep me busy.  I have also been a judge for the BBC 500 Word Story competition again.  I had sixteen stories to judge all written by 6 to 9 year olds.  I tell you there is some amazing talent out there!  And I have finally got round to ordering myself some fresh new Business Cards.  They come in incredibly handy.  The other day I met an illustrator selling her work at a street market in Wimbledon and we exchanged cards with great interest.  I do try to carry some around with me but I am almost out of my original cards so decided it was time to treat myself.  I wanted something that looked completely different to my previous design and I must say I was very happy with the final proof!

There are going to be some changes with the Young Writers but I can't say anything else at the moment.  All will be revealed after Easter.  In the meantime, getting the members to write short poems for our forthcoming Poetry Leaflet has been ongoing since the New Year.  I am hoping to have this complete by the end of May.  I figured a leaflet would be quicker to produce as opposed to a book which can take anything up to a year what with editing, lay-out, printer's proofs etc etc.  The main thing is that the Young Writers get the chance to showcase their work and see their name in print, which is always a thrill no matter what age you are!

I have been thinking about my own next Writing Project and I have two ideas germinating so who knows where they will end up!

In the meantime guess what?  We are getting ready to move.  Again!

Saturday 3 March 2018

What's In A Name?

Over the years I have had lots of letters published in various publications.  Two in particular I recall concern Paul McCartney and Sarah Duchess of York and former wife of Prince Andrew.  In both these cases my letter highlighted the fact that they had published books for children. 

Now I have nothing against Paul McCartney - or indeed Sarah Duchess of York.  And I have nothing against Celia Imrie, Frank Lampard or David Walliams.  Each is excellent in their own field and Celia is one of my favourite actresses.

But I do have to question why they feel such a desperate need to write fiction?  They have all the fame and fortune anyone could wish for and yet they continue to "jump on" the Creative Writing bandwagon.   Writing one's biography is brilliant.  We all like to read how other people "made it".  We might even learn from their life stories!  Yet I have to ask - if it wasn't for their names, would their fiction have been published?

It may sound like sour grapes but that is not the intention.  All over the UK - and the world - there are people who write books, poetry, plays, stories; ordinary every day people like us.  Admittedly some think they have real talent but sadly don't.  And others have real talent but do not get the opportunity to display it, so my question is this.

Take all the famous personalities out of the picture and tell me this.  How many of those gifted people left would actually see their work published? 

Time to ponder.

Thursday 1 February 2018

Time Travel...

Today is 1st February 2018 and the time is precisely 11.07 am GMT, despite the fact it will show this post as being submitted at the somewhat ungodly hour of approximately 2am.  It may well be approximately 2am in the USA but it certainly isn't here.  Am I missing something?  With new advances being made in technology isn't it time someone invented an electronic gadget that automatically shows the correct time and date for your locality?  When Steve and I head off to do some Christmas shopping in Bruge last year, my mobile did me the service of showing both the local time for Bruge and  the UK - so how come my blog seems to be permanently on US time?

Anyone who follows this blog will know of my affinity to Doctor Who.  Is the fact my blog is permenently on US time - even though it actually shows UK time and date to me -  really just an indicator that Time Travel is not so much science fiction as science fact?  Okay so maybe one cannot walk from one era to another, but if I am writing this on a beautiful pre-spring morning in the UK with crocuses on the grass outside and sun shining through the latticed windows, how come the blog date will show me as writing it in the dead of night?  Hmm - puzzles indeed.  I never was much good at physics!

Thursday 25 January 2018

Thursday Morning Warm-Up!

It is a much nicer day today.  The sun is shining and Steve set off on his Thursday travels about twenty minutes ago.  Last week he went to Stamford Bridge.  He said he may try Craven Cottage today but he may yet veer off in another direction if something catches his eye.  At least I didn't feel quite so abandoned this morning as I watched him disappear up the road and that is probably because he is much more his old self.  The Diabetic nurse on Monday was brilliant, giving us loads of time and answering all our questions.  She has suggested ways to tweak his diet which already seems to be working because his sugar count, although still high, is kind of stabilising, and that, in turn reduces both his anxiety and mine.  He has another appointment with her in early March so all we can do is see how things go.

As for me, well here is my plan for today.  I will always use this first hour after he has gone out to "warm up" by updating both blogs and attending to any emails.  After that, I will go through my latest Childrens Writers & Artists Year Book and see if I can find an agent or a publisher who is prepared to breathe new life into the Yucketypoo series.  With all the current concern about plastic on our beaches and in the oceans, the third book Yucketypoo's Big Beach Clean-Up seems to be more relevant than ever and it is such a pity the previous publisher and I were unable to take it further.  I bought the 2018 Year Book with some Christmas money a couple of weeks ago but, to my shame, I have not even glanced through it yet, so that is a definite Must for today.  I also need to prepare a worksheet for Saturday's Young Writer session.  Plenty to do then.

See you next week.

Thursday 18 January 2018

The Start ... or Finish?

Belated Happy New Year to you! It has been an utterly crazy few months and it comes as no surprise to me that I have not been back since about October.  Firstly - although I may have mentioned this last post - Steve decided to retire from Tesco.  He just came home one day in October and announced he wouldn't be going back.  The general consensus was and about time too as he hadn't been terribly happy there for the last year or so.  The first few weeks were like a holiday. He got his sparkle back and everyone commented on how much happier he was.  Then, in November, his blood sugars went totally haywire.  Having been diagnosed diabetic almost a decade and a half ago, he has been on the same medication in all that time and this latest problem rocketed him into depression.  It is a depression that has been coming and going eversince. Sometimes he is fine for days or weeks at a time; his mood lifts, he says he won't let it beat him or ruin his life.  But othertimes, he sinks as low as it is possible to go and says it has beaten him and that he is tired of life and when that happens, he is almost inaccessible.  He won't talk.  He just gets angrier.  Not at me just at everything else.  It makes me feel so sad.   He kind of picked up a bit over Christmas, but then he has always loved Christmas, and for the most part, he just went with the flow.  Thankfully, he has an appointment coming up at the Diabetic Clinic where we hope they can give some answers, change his medication or offer alternatives which will make a big difference.

Shortly into the New Year we made one joint resolution together.  On Thursdays - which is the one day a week I never work - he goes out by himself and I get time to dedicate to my writing.  We gave it a trial run last Thursday.  He was out till early afternoon.  Today he went out at precisely 9.35 and, because he has been on one of his lows for a couple of days, as he walked up the road I almost felt a sense of abandonment.  He didn't know where he was heading and doubts he'll be back for lunch, so what time he'll actually get back today is anyone's guess.

On top of all that, we are looking to make our final move later this year.  We have almost decided to settle in or near Southend as that is where most of our grandchildren and our youngest daughter lives.  We have had a look at several houses online and finally decided to get some quotes from local removals firms, who have just started getting in touch to express an interest.  I need to secure the Young Writer group somehow and live in hope that the library will take it over but that will all be sorted nearer the time.  I have been running it for almost six years and, to be honest, am not sure how much further I can take it, so a fresh outlook and in put should rejuvenate it, fingers crossed.

So, on my first full day as a writer, I am sitting in the study, updating my blog.  What will I do later?  Who knows?  I have plenty of ideas but I am worried sick about Steve which isn't doing my Creative Flow a lot of good.  I know things will settle down again in due course, but until then we are on a very rocky road.  Watch this space for further updates ...