Threats and opportunities
I’ve attended two meetings in the last couple of days about threats, one about cyber crime, about which more another time, and one about the climate emergency. The landscape picture above was once a sea. Could it be again? Well, probably not but a lot of coastal land could be as we know. With governments […]
Tapas and the Edwardians
I spent a very enjoyable day cooking tapas last week. A day away from the pressures of pension scheme funding, book publication and the rest and an opportunity to learn a new skill. I was on a one day course at the Abinger Cookery School and the dishes I produced included braised octopus and chorizo, […]
Networks of writers
As publication date looms I’ve found a whole world of author networks and channels to work through in getting the book noticed. Some of these are very commercial but many are enablers and supporters. I’ve recently joined the Alliance of Independent Authors which means I can tap into the experience and knowledge of many others […]
Inspirations
As I approach publication of my novel, I’ve been thinking about some of the people who have helped me to get this far. Friends who have become writers. Friends who have supported and mentored. I thought I’d write a little about some of them. Where better to start than with Lynn Ruth Miller. I met […]
A whole new world
Joining the ranks of independent authors I’ve spent the week immersed in on line chats, closed Facebook groups, websites of marketing companies and you tube videos on the intricacies of being a publisher. All fascinating stuff, some of it a little confusing and a few acronyms thrown in for good measure. I’ve been helped in […]
Chalk, Chalk Gardens, and Elizabeth Taylor
Old friends and new Sometimes everything feels connected. I have been working recently on poetry walks, an anthology launch, and writing some poems myself – all on the subject of Surrey Unearthed. This is a Mole Valley Poets project aligned to a much larger arts project being run by Surrey Hills Arts and involving a […]
Not the comfy chair
Image courtesy of Renee, via Flickr Creative Commons The personal chair I’ve been thinking about armchairs. Not sure why. When you come down to it though, an armchair is a solid and important presence in a room. It provides comfort and seating and, depending on design, support for the back, even the lolling head if it […]
Learning and networking
It’s not just about writing It seems obvious now but one of the things I wasn’t expecting when I took to writing as my main focus was the need to learn about social media. When I started I was an innocent in this area, my only touch point being a little used Linked In account. […]
Blank screens and random images
Inspiration? I’m not sure whether it’s a good idea to write this. The idea of a weekly blog giving you the discipline to write something when there’s nothing obvious to write. I don’t mean it’s a bad idea in itself, just that there’s only one time I can get away with doing it. Maybe. Maybe not. […]
Asking for feedback
We all do it, all the time, ask for feedback. What we don’t necessarily do is mean what we say. I suspect what we really want is for everyone to say we’re brilliant, gifted, producers of fine work and an example to the rest of humankind. The sort of feedback that makes us feel good […]