Wasn't it Andy Williams who once sang "We're almost there ..."? I can't remember the next line but that first line is pretty apt for our current situation! We are almost there - in fact we are going to actually be there by close of play on Friday 5th! Yes our Big Move to our sweet little house is just two days away so it is pretty much action stations. The packing is as good as done apart from what we need to tide us over to Friday. I think I have told everyone who needs to know what our new address is - and I am talking mainly utilities here. I only remembered Thames Water last night and the TV Licence the night before! Tonight I will sit down at my laptop and do a Change of Address for family and friends then it will be go go go.
The downside to this move is that my writing has taken a terrible blow! I simply have not had a moment to think of anything except the odd haiku and journal entry - even my two blogs have been sorely neglected of late. Once we are settled in and the office is all set up and I can access my filing cabinets again, I will start trying to catch up. Till then, I am afraid, you will all just have to bear with me.
Just wanted to let everyone know I haven't forgotten them - my entire world is completely upside down at the moment. Hopefully it won't be too long till it's right side up again!
Wednesday, 3 August 2016
Thursday, 21 July 2016
Getting Ready To Move ...
Boxes! At the moment we eat, sleep and dream boxes! Boxes of Keep stuff, boxes of Charity stuff, boxes of - well - stuff . We cannot wait to get into our new place now, I think we have both had enough of boxes. How is it that we have accumulated such vast amounts in the eighteen years we have lived in Addiscombe? Do you know what we found the other day? A box full of chinaware we have not unwrapped since we actually moved to Addiscombe! We'd just forgotten all about it until it reappeared in the dark recesses of our workshop! Such are the woes of the soon-to-be-moved!
But never mind. Life goes on beyond all things mundane. A couple of weeks ago, the Young Writers had their Picnic in the Park! It was a truly phenomenal success, with more children turning up than ever before. It was such fun! And I really believe the children benefit from the change of environment. You don't get swings, birdsong and the sound of the wind in the trees in the library! And then on the Saturday before my 59th birthday, as a Birthday Treat, Steve took me to see Beautiful - The Carol King Story. It was a terrific show and we loved it - the music was very Us - all 60s and 70s stuff. I hadn't realised before just how great an impact this clever young American composer had on the music scene!
And on the Sunday after my birthday, we went on our early summer holiday - a lovely coach trip to Bath, Bristol and the Cotswolds. It was the first time we had seen the Cotswolds properly - we have passed through them a number of times - but this holiday gave us the opportunity to visit some of its pretty little towns and villages; places like Broadway with its sweeping thoroughfare and Bourton-on-the-Water, rather sweetly dubbed the Venice of the Cotswolds, because of its numerous low bridges crossing the charming canal. Luckily, Steve did not almost break his ankle on this trip. But the heavy cold he woke up with on the Tuesday did put something of a dampener on the week. Not enough to spoil our dinner out on Wednesday with my sister and brother-in-law, who were also holidaying in the area.
Once we got home again, everything moved very quickly - the house is as good as sold, we have found our new home - and all this means we will be moving much sooner than we thought; early August in fact! So it is all go - which exactly what I need to do now - Day Job calls!
But never mind. Life goes on beyond all things mundane. A couple of weeks ago, the Young Writers had their Picnic in the Park! It was a truly phenomenal success, with more children turning up than ever before. It was such fun! And I really believe the children benefit from the change of environment. You don't get swings, birdsong and the sound of the wind in the trees in the library! And then on the Saturday before my 59th birthday, as a Birthday Treat, Steve took me to see Beautiful - The Carol King Story. It was a terrific show and we loved it - the music was very Us - all 60s and 70s stuff. I hadn't realised before just how great an impact this clever young American composer had on the music scene!
And on the Sunday after my birthday, we went on our early summer holiday - a lovely coach trip to Bath, Bristol and the Cotswolds. It was the first time we had seen the Cotswolds properly - we have passed through them a number of times - but this holiday gave us the opportunity to visit some of its pretty little towns and villages; places like Broadway with its sweeping thoroughfare and Bourton-on-the-Water, rather sweetly dubbed the Venice of the Cotswolds, because of its numerous low bridges crossing the charming canal. Luckily, Steve did not almost break his ankle on this trip. But the heavy cold he woke up with on the Tuesday did put something of a dampener on the week. Not enough to spoil our dinner out on Wednesday with my sister and brother-in-law, who were also holidaying in the area.
Once we got home again, everything moved very quickly - the house is as good as sold, we have found our new home - and all this means we will be moving much sooner than we thought; early August in fact! So it is all go - which exactly what I need to do now - Day Job calls!
Tuesday, 21 June 2016
Love This Writer's Life
I have really had the most phenomenal few weeks by the way. Our daughter took us out for a Father's Day meal on Sunday and my grandson said to me "Any new books lately ...?" and as I shook my head, I explained about the talk I recently did for Croydon Writers, the workshop with Croydon Literacy, the stall I had at Croydon heritage Festival on Saturday where I not only sold copies of "My Writer" and the AYW book "Word Magic", but I was approached by several people to do talks, an editor who is "always look for contributors" and a number of writers/poets just starting out who were eager for advice! Only realised that everyone else at the meal was listening when they chorused "Been busy then ..." . And I haven't even finished yet! I have a stall at a local school fayre this Saturday (25th), have seen my article "Writing For A Younger Audience" reappear in the on-line magazine "Women Writers - Women's Books" just this morning and it isn't long till I start laying out the new "Word Magic" book!
Am I fortunate or what? And I am so grateful for all the opportunities coming my way!
Am I fortunate or what? And I am so grateful for all the opportunities coming my way!
Thursday, 16 June 2016
Blame The Doctor ...
That Doctor Who has a lot to answer for! Here I am thinking I added a new post a couple of weeks ago and it turns out to be a couple of months ago. Time And Relative Displacement In Space - ie - an unintended time-slip - is the only thing I can think of as I grovel to beg the forgiveness of my silent and invisible blog readers! SOOO much has been going on! I spent a lovely week in Scotland with Steve (lovely but for the fact he almost broke his ankle on the second day, which meant a morning at A & E and the rest of the day at the hotel with only an ice-pack for company. He is still hobbling around with a walking stick but definitely on the mend). The weather was unbelievable! We watched the weather report every morning. The South East was being dellugued in rain, battered by gale force winds and hit by storms whilst up there, the temperature was in the mid 20s every day and the sun just beat down from dawn till dusk!
We are frantically packing ready for the intended move in October, cleared the loft (thanks Sharon and Gary - your help was very gratefully received), hired a skip, cleared the shed, the workshop, the lean-to (all of which are now just piled with boxes ready for storage) - and that is only the beginning!
The talk at Croydon Writers went really well, the Young Writers continue to go from strength to strength, there's the Workshop with Croydon Literacy coming up, the new Young Writer anthology to lay out and publish - and I now have to get to work. Part the Second later ...
We are frantically packing ready for the intended move in October, cleared the loft (thanks Sharon and Gary - your help was very gratefully received), hired a skip, cleared the shed, the workshop, the lean-to (all of which are now just piled with boxes ready for storage) - and that is only the beginning!
The talk at Croydon Writers went really well, the Young Writers continue to go from strength to strength, there's the Workshop with Croydon Literacy coming up, the new Young Writer anthology to lay out and publish - and I now have to get to work. Part the Second later ...
Wednesday, 27 April 2016
Almost May ...
Cannot believe we are almost in May already and find myself running to catch up with this year - how about you? Of course, the fact I have been so crazily busy all the time has not helped one iota. Every time I think I am on top of it all, something else comes along and I tumble all the way down again! The Young Writer group is absolutely flying right now and doing better than it ever has! It was perfect timing when a newbie came along recently whose poet-mum has now become my first lieutenant! Take a look at addiscombeyoungwriters.blogspot.co.uk to catch up with all our news.
Wasn't it sad about Victoria Wood. As a writer she had a huge impact on me and her output was quite phenomenal. The world in general has lost another bright star - it has been a bad year for celebrity losses - and Victoria will be sorely missed. Huge thanks Ms Wood for all the wonderful things -and characters - you gave us. RIP.
Thought it was time I gave a Poetry Update - I have written around 80 new poems so far this year and plan on making time to start submitting them again. The Australian Editor said she would like more so she will probably be my first port of call - but I have, as Baldrick used to say in "Blackadder" - a cunning plan - which may lead to a regular market for at least some of them, so watch this space for more info.
As far as The New Book is going (as opposed to The Epic which is starting to niggle again after almost a year away from it), I am still trying to find a way to get it out there to teachers and interested parents and writers right across the English-speaking world (and maybe even the non-English speaking world, who knows?) - whether in book format , course format or even as a website (said she who knows NOTHING about setting up websites) - to encourage the development of more groups for Young Writers. The continuing popularity of Addiscombe Young Writers, the workshops for 6 - 9 year olds I ran before, the school talks - and even the Young Reporter club I ran when I wrote for a local paper - really proves to me how much interest there is in this subject (and how rarely it is considered an extra-curricular activity) so there must be a way to provide the foundations I already have archived, to other people. Hmm - it is a conundrum - but I am convinced something will turn up!
Away from Writing (but not for long) - nephew's wedding three weeks ago went well, great-nephew Harry had his second birthday party last Saturday. He looked adorable in his Postman Pat outfit. Brother Paul got back to his home in Denmark okay and by all accounts had a brilliant reunion with his dog Chippa who seemed quite happy to leave the Doggy Hotel he'd been staying in. The venue is booked for the Big Party next year (my 60th and Steve's 65th) and guess what? The sun is shining!
See you soon.
Wasn't it sad about Victoria Wood. As a writer she had a huge impact on me and her output was quite phenomenal. The world in general has lost another bright star - it has been a bad year for celebrity losses - and Victoria will be sorely missed. Huge thanks Ms Wood for all the wonderful things -and characters - you gave us. RIP.
Thought it was time I gave a Poetry Update - I have written around 80 new poems so far this year and plan on making time to start submitting them again. The Australian Editor said she would like more so she will probably be my first port of call - but I have, as Baldrick used to say in "Blackadder" - a cunning plan - which may lead to a regular market for at least some of them, so watch this space for more info.
As far as The New Book is going (as opposed to The Epic which is starting to niggle again after almost a year away from it), I am still trying to find a way to get it out there to teachers and interested parents and writers right across the English-speaking world (and maybe even the non-English speaking world, who knows?) - whether in book format , course format or even as a website (said she who knows NOTHING about setting up websites) - to encourage the development of more groups for Young Writers. The continuing popularity of Addiscombe Young Writers, the workshops for 6 - 9 year olds I ran before, the school talks - and even the Young Reporter club I ran when I wrote for a local paper - really proves to me how much interest there is in this subject (and how rarely it is considered an extra-curricular activity) so there must be a way to provide the foundations I already have archived, to other people. Hmm - it is a conundrum - but I am convinced something will turn up!
Away from Writing (but not for long) - nephew's wedding three weeks ago went well, great-nephew Harry had his second birthday party last Saturday. He looked adorable in his Postman Pat outfit. Brother Paul got back to his home in Denmark okay and by all accounts had a brilliant reunion with his dog Chippa who seemed quite happy to leave the Doggy Hotel he'd been staying in. The venue is booked for the Big Party next year (my 60th and Steve's 65th) and guess what? The sun is shining!
See you soon.
Monday, 4 April 2016
Happy April !!!
Hello everyone! Well - can you believe that we are in April already? Here's to a good one for all of us. Now the days are longer, the evenings lighter and the weather's better (well - we can hope) plus we have the summer holidays to look forward to - and Steve & I have a couple coming up so lots to smile about.
Had an excellent Young Writer session on Saturday. Now that we have had funding for the new book, work has begun in earnest to fill its pages with the work of these talented children. I had eleven youngsters turn up including three newbies and we were looking at writing reports. Off they all went with their fact sheets and I puffed over to the librarian (I spend almost the entire hour running round the tables helping, listening and advising - it is truly a great way to work out!) who said kindly "Jilly, you're a victim of your own success!". Not sure I am but this group certainly is!
Steve and I are getting ready to move - probably around September/October time - so we spent the rest of the weekend sorting out some space to keep all the storage boxes we're filling - which are already in danger of taking the place over! I am making numerous trips to the charity shops but we have made barely a dent in our H U G E accumulation of stuff. But then we have lived here since 1998 - and two people can gather a lot of stuff in seventeen years! Still - we managed before so I am sure we will manage again!
Have had confirmation of my talk at Croydon Writers next month so need to start preparing that soon. Not that it will be a problem for me to talk about writing for children for two hours! Once I get started my passion takes over and my tongue runs away with me!
Better go - loads still to do tonight before I hit the sack. And pray excuse all the exclamation marks - I am just so excited about Life.....
Had an excellent Young Writer session on Saturday. Now that we have had funding for the new book, work has begun in earnest to fill its pages with the work of these talented children. I had eleven youngsters turn up including three newbies and we were looking at writing reports. Off they all went with their fact sheets and I puffed over to the librarian (I spend almost the entire hour running round the tables helping, listening and advising - it is truly a great way to work out!) who said kindly "Jilly, you're a victim of your own success!". Not sure I am but this group certainly is!
Steve and I are getting ready to move - probably around September/October time - so we spent the rest of the weekend sorting out some space to keep all the storage boxes we're filling - which are already in danger of taking the place over! I am making numerous trips to the charity shops but we have made barely a dent in our H U G E accumulation of stuff. But then we have lived here since 1998 - and two people can gather a lot of stuff in seventeen years! Still - we managed before so I am sure we will manage again!
Have had confirmation of my talk at Croydon Writers next month so need to start preparing that soon. Not that it will be a problem for me to talk about writing for children for two hours! Once I get started my passion takes over and my tongue runs away with me!
Better go - loads still to do tonight before I hit the sack. And pray excuse all the exclamation marks - I am just so excited about Life.....
Wednesday, 9 March 2016
It's A Wonderful (Writing) Life!
Amazing things have been happening and I just have to tell someone before I bust! This year my Young Writers group celebrates its fourth birthday and I thought it would be wonderful to mark it somehow. The children have been saying for months that they want to publish another book and guess what? After an appeal in the local paper we now have the funding to go ahead and publish it!
I am so excited about all this - this evening I have been printing off consent forms for the mums and dads! My childrens' faces when I told them at the last session were a sight to behold! This is what they have been hankering after for ages!
On top of that, I have been asked by Croydon Writers to be a Guest Speaker in May and on top of all that I have been approached today to take part in the Croydon Literacy Festival in June by running a Creative Writing workshop! I mean how much better can it get? I have been dancing on air all day.
If I can only convince a literary agent to take on my new book, I will be the happiest writer alive! The new book is something I have been toying with for months and could lead to Young Writer Groups being set up all over the country! This is my ultimate goal these days, That plus initiating an Annual Award for Young Writers with a trophy and Gift Card for the young winners. I have said all along - ever since I ran the original workshops for children back in the late 80s - that if I can help one youngster to grow up and be a successful writer, I will feel my life's work is done!
My poetry year by the way is also coming on in leaps and bounds. An editor in Australia asked if I could submit some work and one of my haiku was recently published on Poetry Space! I have also been writing oodles and oodles of it - haiku, tanka, free-verse, you name it! My pen is in full flow and I am tweeting haiku regularly on Twitter (@Jilly66408011). I certainly made the right decision when I said 2016 would be my Poetry Year! I hadn't realised how very much I have missed it the past couple of years!
So all is right in my Writing World at this point in time. And I love it!
I am so excited about all this - this evening I have been printing off consent forms for the mums and dads! My childrens' faces when I told them at the last session were a sight to behold! This is what they have been hankering after for ages!
On top of that, I have been asked by Croydon Writers to be a Guest Speaker in May and on top of all that I have been approached today to take part in the Croydon Literacy Festival in June by running a Creative Writing workshop! I mean how much better can it get? I have been dancing on air all day.
If I can only convince a literary agent to take on my new book, I will be the happiest writer alive! The new book is something I have been toying with for months and could lead to Young Writer Groups being set up all over the country! This is my ultimate goal these days, That plus initiating an Annual Award for Young Writers with a trophy and Gift Card for the young winners. I have said all along - ever since I ran the original workshops for children back in the late 80s - that if I can help one youngster to grow up and be a successful writer, I will feel my life's work is done!
My poetry year by the way is also coming on in leaps and bounds. An editor in Australia asked if I could submit some work and one of my haiku was recently published on Poetry Space! I have also been writing oodles and oodles of it - haiku, tanka, free-verse, you name it! My pen is in full flow and I am tweeting haiku regularly on Twitter (@Jilly66408011). I certainly made the right decision when I said 2016 would be my Poetry Year! I hadn't realised how very much I have missed it the past couple of years!
So all is right in my Writing World at this point in time. And I love it!
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