I had planned to review Hidden in the Mists by Christina Courtenay later this month. However, as it is shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association‘s Fantasy Romantic Novel Award 2023, I’ve brought the review forward.
Like Joanna Maitland’s To A Blissful Christmas Reunion (which I review here), this book is a great example of the use of a thinning veil between past and present.
Review: Hidden in the Mists
Set on the west coast of Scotland, Hidden in the Mists weaves together two narrative threads. It does this seamlessly, moving between 2022 and AD890.
Stressed and isolated, Skye Logan is looking out over the shore close to her home. She sees a hazy female figure in strange clothing jump out of a boat. The woman carries a sack into nearby woodland.
Bleak Present and Dark Ages
Skye puts the vision down to stress and lack of sleep. Her soon-to-be ex-husband Craig has abandoned her, after alienating half the locals.
The woman Skye saw, Ásta ThorfinnsdÓttir, was off to bury the wealth of her father, Thorfinn. He has died, leaving Ásta alone, and in danger from her horrible cousin Ketill. The hoard should have guaranteed Ásta the loyalty of the men who had supported her father. Ketill has other ideas. Knowing that Thorfinn’s men killed innocent people to amass his treasure, Ásta cannot bring herself to profit by it. She even casts away a gold arm ring given to her by her father.
Skye employs drifter Rafe to help her on the smallholding for a few weeks during the summer of 2022. He is a useful jack-of-all-trades. Skye and Rafe are drawn to each other, despite each of them having guilty secrets. Skye doesn’t want to admit to anyone that her marriage has broken down. Rafe is escaping from a past which eventually catches up with him.
Viking Ketill wants Ásta to run his household, when she should be leading the settlement. Óttarr, kidnapped as a teenager by Ásta’s father, burns with the need to take revenge on his kidnappers. Two exciting climaxes, one in Skye’s world and one in Ásta’s, bring Hidden in the Mists to a satisfying conclusion.
A Great Read
I thoroughly recommend this book. Hidden in the Mists combines the dual timelines perfectly, and the heroines and their heroes are believable and likeable. Their intertwined stories are rich with detail. Christina Courtenay describes smallholding and foraging well, and I couldn’t resist Skye’s dogs, Pepsi and Cola.
I loved the Viking-period detail. Things like Ásta’s bitter curse The trolls take Ketill, and bathing wounds in sea-water really stuck in my mind.
There was only one thing about Hidden in the Mists I didn’t care for. That was Rafe’s man-bun. I like contemporary heroes to have short hair!
You can find out more about me here, and see some of my own books here.
Becoming a better writer starts with confidence. The first step in reaching any goal is telling yourself you can do it. It doesn’t matter if your goal is writing a novel, creating a collection of poems, or keeping a journal.
…Believing In Yourself
If you want to be a writer, give yourself that job title from Day One. Then work at it with all your might. Whether or not you are published, as soon as you put words down on the page, you become an author. Celebrate that fact! Create your own business card and keep it in your phone case. Seeing it every time you use your phone will remind you of your ultimate goal. Your first business card can be as simple as a hand-written, cut-down postcard. Include your writing name, email address, and that vital word ‘author’. As soon as you can afford it, order a small supply of business cards from somewhere like Vistaprint or Canva. Then when the time comes you’ll have something to hand out to your readers, and book stores.
Writers are supposed to avoid using clichés, but practice really does make perfect. Here comes another favourite saying—I wish I had a pound for every time someone has said to me; ‘I’d love to be a writer, but I don’t have the time,’ or, ‘I’d love to be a writer, but I don’t have the inspiration.’ If you care about your ideas and you are willing to work at them, the words will come. The more time you invest in writing, the better you will become.
Become A Better Writer By—Writing!
Entering competitions teaches you to write to a deadline. Some offer a paid-for critique service, which is helpful. Attending conferences and workshops will give you ideas and advice, but in the end how much your writing improves is up to you. If you wait until you are in the mood to write, you might as well give up now. You have to put in the work, whether or not you, or the words are in the mood to play along. As long ago as 1911, Mary Heaton Vorse came out with the perfect advice to writers everywhere; ‘The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.’
Writing goals keep you on track and give you something to aim for. The SMART system is really useful for writers. The individual letters of the word stand for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time sensitive. Saying; ‘I want to write a book’ is woolly. There’s neither detail nor urgency about it.
I will have written a book at least 70,000 words long by 31st December this year is specific. It’s measurable, because at the end of the year you will either have reached your goal, or you won’t.
Writing a book of that length in a year is both achievable, and realistic. All you have to do is write 109 words every day for 365 days. Want an idea of what that daily total looks like? There are more words than that in the first nine sentences of this blog.
Set a Goal
Becoming a better writer takes self-belief, practice, and a definite goal. If you sit down, concentrate, and write a few lines every day, it will soon become a habit—like cleaning your teeth or brushing your hair.
Why don’t you share your writing goals for 2023?
You can find out more about me here, and see some of my books here.
Poultry in the United Kingdom has been in lockdown for months, because of Avian Flu. Our little flock can’t run about the garden any more. They are in an enclosure, well away from wild birds. I go out each evening to shut the hen coop door. They’re completely safe from foxes within their run, but it keeps the birds warmer. I collect the feeder and empty the drinkers, so the contents won’t freeze overnight.
DownOn The Ground
As the torch beam swept across the garden one evening this week, I spotted something. There, against the dark earth was one small shoot of garlic. I could hardly believe it. At a local food festival last October I’d bought a head of garlic for planting. The cloves had shot up so fast, I ordered another three heads direct from the suppliers. These arrived in early November. The weather was still very mild, so I expected them to grow as fast as the original cloves.
Then the autumn rains started. Weeks went by without a single dry day. Christmas came and went, and there was still no sign of my second planting of garlic cloves. I thought they must have rotted off in the wet ground.
Now here was one brave survivor after more than two months hidden away in the sodden soil. It was too cold to hang about that night, but I told myself that if one clove had managed to survive, there should be others.
Looking Up
Next morning I went out at 7am to open the hen coop. There had been a dusting of snow, but the sky had cleared. Looking up, I saw the full moon glowing gold. It was low over the Sitka plantation, but high in the sky a flock of redwings called as they flew over to the orchards of Herefordshire.
The moonlight was so bright it was almost light enough to see what I was doing without the torch. A covering of snow on the frozen, sloping path made the going tricky. I had to watch my step. As I filled the drinkers and put out the poultry feeder, I could hear a hen purring in her sleep. Then a fox barked from the other side of the hazel thicket, and she went quiet.
After I had finished with the hens, I went to check on the garlic. The one shoot I had seen the night before was no fluke. Just enough snow had fallen overnight to throw more shoots into relief against the soil surface. While my fingers and toes turned into icicles I counted twenty four little nibs. Together with the dozen plants which had shot up back in the autumn, it’s tempting to think there will be plenty of fat garlic cloves for the kitchen this year. I’m already planning to get more varieties from The Garlic Farm for planting in autumn this year.
Are you planning to do any gardening this year?
You can find out more about me here, and see some of my books here.
For thousands of years, January has meant resolutions and fresh starts. The month takes its name from the Roman god Janus. He had two faces, to look both backwards and forwards. There’s a lot to be said for facing up and facing down, too. Facing up to the future, and facing down everything that is holding you back.
‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… ‘ wrote Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities. That describes January perfectly, doesn’t it? It is full of contrasts. The weather can be foul, the days are short, and Christmas seems a lifetime away. Then the sun comes out, a robin starts to sing, and snowdrops push up through last autumn’s fallen leaves.
The two headed god Janus would be carved on ancient thresholds with one face pointing outwards, the other inwards. At this time of the year we’re all looking into the empty, unfurnished room of 2023. Behind us are all the events which have made us what we are today. January is a time to face up to the future, and face down fears.
Life is a series of challenges. Some are enjoyable, while some aren’t. In my current work in progress, Hayley is making a fresh start in a new town. She has drawn a line under her past and wants to start again. She finds it’s not as easy as she thought it would be, but don’t worry—she creates her ‘happy ever after’.
Looking Back
While I never put myself into my books, I’ve based one of Hayley’s problems on something that happened to me. I left a great but poorly-paid job for a much better position in a different company. It was a huge mistake. The turnover of staff in the new firm was high, because bullying was a problem.
When I couldn’t stand working there any longer, I walked out and became a full time writer. Writing is great therapy. In a world where it is easy to feel powerless, inventing characters and storylines creates a safe space. Facing up to what wasn’t working in my life and facing down my doubts definitely changed my life for the better.
I enjoy doing research almost as much as I love writing fiction. Including real life details bring stories to life. There’s even more research involved in writing non-fiction. That’s why I jumped at the chance to write Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol.
Looking Straight Ahead
I couldn’t wait to get started on that commission, and booked myself into a Bristol hotel as soon as I could. That way I didn’t have to commute every day. I could be on the doorstep of the city archive when it opened each morning. However, moving from a sleepy little Gloucestershire village into the heart of the city was a real culture shock. My project nearly shuddered to a halt before it started.
I was born a few miles outside of Bristol, and had worked in the city centre for years. When I married, I moved away. I thought I knew the city like the back of my hand, but my memories were years out of date.
Life in the city was non-stop, and so different from the peaceful countryside. Skateboards and cyclists came at me from all directions. The press of people waiting at light-controlled crossings came as a shock. At home, I’m lucky to see half a dozen people in a whole day.
I stood at the bottom of Park Street, trying not to cover my ears against the racket. All I wanted to do was bolt back to my hotel…but I also wanted to research and write that book.
I knew I could make a great job of it. That, and the thought of disappointing my publisher were the only things that stopped me running away.
Looking Forward
Standing in the middle of Bristol was not going to get the job done. I had to at least try and get to the archive. Studying the directions, I saw they could be broken down into several short sections. It was only a couple of hundred metres to the cathedral. If I could get there it was only twice that distance to the marina. I started to walk. Within about thirty seconds I had left the racket of the city centre behind. There were hardly any other pedestrians about. My stress levels plummeted, and I started to enjoy myself.
It’s a lovely walk along the harbourside. The huge bond warehouse housing the Bristol archive soon came into view, so I had something to aim for.
This was high summer. The moored houseboats and waterside houses were bright with hanging baskets and pots of flowers. Several people were watering their plants in the early morning sunshine. It was such a lovely day I completely forgot two rules of city living: never make eye contact, and never speak.
I said how much I liked their gardens. Once they had got over the shock of a stranger speaking to them, they came out of their shells. So did I. They asked where I was going, and were intrigued when I told them about my work. That was when I realised I wouldn’t be writing this book just for my own pleasure. Other people were interested in the subject, too.
And Then…
Facing up to what I had to do meant that I had to face down my fears. Looking back, that seems a small challenge now, but it sowed seeds of success. Writing Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol inspired me to sign up as a mature student at the University of Gloucestershire. That was another enormous challenge for me, but I’ve lived to tell the tale.
Have you managed to challenge yourself yet this year?
You can find out more about me here, and see some of my books here.
Hello, and welcome to my first post of 2023. I hope you had a happy, peaceful Christmas and New Year with plenty of time for reading and relaxation. This year I’m hoping to spend more time reading, writing and posting reviews.
It’s always peaceful here in the depths of the countryside but this holiday season was even quieter than normal(apart from the sound of coughing). Hours after our darling daughter arrived to spend Christmas, she was contacted by her company with the news that three-quarters of the people who had been at their Christmas party had tested positive for Covid.
Despite testing negative, one after another my whole family came down with a horrible bug. Luckily the first casualty didn’t occur until Boxing Day. At least we were all able to enjoy our Christmas dinner before the lurgy struck!
This year I’m hoping to spend more time reading. I’ve started a new page on this site for reviews. You can read my first one of the New Year here. I usually read fiction when I’m writing non-fiction and vice versa, so I’ll be reviewing books of each type over the next twelve months.
My New Year resolution is to look into self-publishing in 2023. I’ve joined the Association of Independent Authors (Alli), and subscribed to The Creative Penn Podcast. It seems a shame to let my backlist gather dust when I’ve retained all the rights for a lot of my stories and novels. You can see some of my books here.
That’s my to-do list for this year: more reading, writing and reviews. What are your New Year’s Resolutions for 2023?
My Christmas holiday starts today, so I won’t be blogging for a while.
I’ll be doing plenty of cooking, reading, walking with my family and Alex, and plenty of garden planning. While all this ice and snow is hanging around I won’t be doing much gardening, but there’s always planning. I’ll be watching and feeding the wild birds, too as well as my poor quarantined hens. Most of all though, I’ll be enjoying a break!
Alex supplied his own Boar’s Head for the Christmas Carol!
I’d like to thank you for reading my blog this year, and I’m looking forward to sharing my writer’s life with you again in the New Year.
If you need some inspiration for reading over the holidays, you can find details of my books here.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, a peaceful, happy New Year, and plenty of time for reading (and writing!) in 2023.
Lots of us are busy with parties and Christmas preparations this month. I started early! However busy you are, take some time out to and relax. When the weather is cold and clear we can get some wonderful sunrises and sunsets this month. Here are some December notes and writing prompts, to give your creativity a nudge.
December 1st is the official start of winter. At this time of year insects are in short supply. Wildlife has already eaten most of Autumn’s berries and seeds, so birds and animals are getting hungry. Even if you don’t have a garden, you can feed them. There are windowsill feeders to bring life and movement right up close. That can provide inspiration for non-fiction work, or simply a break from work. I waste lots of writing time watching the finches, nuthatches and woodpeckers squabbling!
One of my favourite December memories is trudging home from school one dark winter afternoon, weighed down with a ton of homework. With a hundred yards to go I looked up—and saw the coloured lights of the Christmas tree in our front window, shining through the darkness. They were only the old-fashioned, static Woolworths fairy lights, but that didn’t matter. Seeing them gave me a real boost. It’s important to include contrast in your writing. The difference between reality and promise, or darkness and light, add depth to your work.
December brings lots of sensory treats. There’s Jack Frost nipping at your nose, and the fragrance of crushed pine needles, or marzipan, and all kinds of exotic citrus fruits. I love the sensation of sliding into a brand new bubble bath on Christmas morning. It’s a shame those bubbles are always cold, no matter how warm the water!
Writing Prompts
Editors schedule magazine features and stories about Christmas months in advance. The The People’s Friend , for example, looks for Christmas pieces in early summer. You can get some inspiration ahead of Christmas 2023 deadlines by studying what is on offer right now. Background reading of this month’s Christmas fiction and non-fiction will give you an idea of what is wanted. Make lots of notes. Then you can spend the next few months working them up for submission.
Now It’s Your Turn!
Create your own December Notes and Writing Prompts to inspire you this month. If you have a busy Christmas, the time between the big day and New Year celebrations can be a bit of a let-down. Writing gives you focus. If you are on your own this Christmas, writing can help to ease loneliness. Either way, you can use the dark days of December to squirrel away inspiration for your new writing year.
What if the family member who always did the cooking went on strike, and refused to cook Christmas dinner?
Power cuts are predicted. How would your characters cope, faced with cold baked beans and bread toasted over a candle?
Mincemeat originally contained real meat. What’s the worst traditional dish you can think of—and how could you persuade your fictional characters to try it?
Kisses under the mistletoe—a huge mistake, or the start of a beautiful friendship?
Christmas 1914 saw a football match between British and German forces during the First World War. How would you mend a rift between opposing sides? This is the idea behind my latest story Goodwill to All, by the way!
Only a few months ago, the name Stanley Tucci meant nothing to me. I’d heard him mentioned in The Big Bang Theory*, but that was it. Then Tucci’s Searching for Italyaired on TV. As I love both Italy and food, I watched every episode (sometimes more than once). What follows is a review of the No. 1 Sunday Times Best Seller, Stanley Tucci’s ‘Taste’.
So Who is Stanley Tucci?
Stanley Tucci is an award-winning actor, writer, director and a food obsessive. He has also worked in restaurants. Unlike some celebrities who are famous simply for being famous, when it comes to food, cooking, and ingredients, he knows what he is talking about.
A ‘Taste’ of Italy…
Both the first and second series ofSearching for Italy have won Emmys. It’s easy to see why, and how. Stanley Tucci is a hugely likeable personality. He is enthusiastic about every aspect of food: its regionality, seasonality, and the joy of eating together. He knows his way around a kitchen, and brings out the best in everyone he meets. He also knows how to turn his knowledge and affable nature into words.
Stanley Tucci, Chef
Once I’d watched the TV programmes, only one thing stopped me buying Tucci’s Cookbookand The Tucci Table. It was the groaning shelves of cookery books already lining both my kitchen and living room. I use them all (with one exception) but I really don’t have the room for more…unless they come in the form of Christmas or birthday presents, of course!
Tasteis a different matter. Although it contains recipes, it isn’t a cookery book. It is an exploration of how food has affected Tucci’s life and relationships. That may sound odd, but as you read this book you see how closely food affects so many areas of life. I hadn’t realised how fascinating the ritual, social, and celebratory aspects of cooking and eating could be.
I never expected to use this book stoveside, but I did. The recipes Taste does contain are good, easy to follow, and delicious. I tried almost all, and can recommend them. Sadly, I can’t endorse any of the drinks. The cocktails sound amazing, but the occasional glass of wine with dinner is now my giddy limit!
The Nightmare Begins
Taste is a clever title. From Chapter Twenty onwards it becomes a verb, as well as a noun. Mr Tucci helped his first wife struggle through terminal breast cancer. Then in 2018 he was diagnosed with oral cancer. He says of that nightmare, “I was stunned to the point of almost fainting”. Food plays such an important role in his life the discovery that the cancer hadn’t spread beyond the tumour in his mouth didn’t mean he was out of the woods. He had to endure the loss of taste, and the enjoyment of food—a huge part of his life.
His treatment regime was punishing. Despite the painful details he manages to inject some moments of humour. When Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds accompanied Stanley to an appointment to give moral support, the staff were so star-struck one of them almost forgot a vital part of the medical procedure.
I’m very glad I’d watched all those episodes of Searching for Italy (filmed in 2021/2) before I started reading this book. If I hadn’t watched Stanley Tucci on film munching away, talking with such animation, and looking so well I would never have been able to carry on reading. Even so, there were bits where I felt like crying.
A Happy Ending…
Taste is a great book. It has real enthusiasm for its core subject—food. It works on several levels. It’s part autobiography, an examination of extended family ties, a small window on the world of acting and directing, and it contains some excellent recipes.
Last but by no means least, if you have a hypochondriac in your life, try reading aloud to them from Chapter Twenty onwards. If that doesn’t make them pull up their big girl/boy pants and count their blessings, then nothing will.
Long live Stanley Tucci!
(Extracts from Review: Stanley Tucci’s ‘Taste’ have also been posted elsewhere online)
*The Big Bang Theory (Prady, Holland and Ferrari: Series 3, Episode 16, The Excelsior Acquisition).
I’ve had an exciting week! I polished off the last chocolates from my raffle prize to celebrate the publication of my Christmas short story, Goodwill to All. You can find it in a Christmas special published by The People’s Frienddated December 3rd (although it’s been on sale since Wednesday, 30th November).
The Christmas Special bringing Goodwill to All!
I love writing long fiction such as romantic novels and novellas. You can find out more about my earlier work here. Short stories are more challenging to write. Three generations of my family have read The People’s Friend so to have one of my stories included in a Christmas Special is the icing on the (Christmas) cake!
Goodwill to All
Goodwill to All is about a family in trouble. Katie is writing her Christmas cards, but something is worrying her. Every one she chooses reminds her of the hole in her life she can’t fill. I love Tracey Fennell’s festive illustration for Goodwill To All. It brings the season to life.
Goodwill to All, my festive short story.
This festive edition of The People’s Friend is a bumper one, as it’s a Christmas special. There’s fiction from Laura Tapper, Sue Cook, Val Melhop, Jan Snook, H. Johnson-Mack, Alison Carter, Jenny Worstall, Stefania Hartley, Kate Hogan, Lesley-Anne Johnstone, Christine Bryant, Eirin Thompson, Suzanne Ross Jones, Teresa Ashby, and Glenda Young.
There’s also a short story by debut Friend author, Susan Batten, and a new serial from Alison Carter.
You can find details of the other stories contained in this Christmas special edition here. They’re under the heading “Fiction Sneak Peek”. There’s also more information about this week’s magazine as a whole here.
Passion flowers are more closely associated with Easter than with Christmas!
November has been wet and gloomy here in Gloucestershire. The news, both national and international is as dark and threatening as the weather. That’s not good for anybody’s mental health. I’ve been trying to look on the bright side, as I did with my Instant Lift page during lockdown. It’s only a month until Christmas, and luckily I’ve found some things which I hope will put a smile on your face.
Children in Need raised over £35 million on the night of its annual telethon. The Children in Read segment, which is operated by Jumblebee and the inexhaustible Paddy Heron, ran their annual book auction. I donated a paperback copy of Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol, which will soon be on its way to the winning bidder. Thank you for your generous donation, S!
What A Christmas Prize!
I’ve been finding it difficult to get out and about since the Covid lockdowns, but DD managed to drag me out of the house last Saturday. We visited a Christmas sale of work in a nearby village and had a great time. The homemade cakes were delicious, and the handicrafts were beautiful. We stocked up on Christmas presents and bought some raffle tickets. What do you think? We won not one, not two, but three prizes! A photograph frame, a box of chocolates, and this beautiful hand-made Advent Calendar which doubles as a giant Christmas stocking.
As the raffle was drawn after DD and I had left, I had to go and collect the prizes afterwards. To be honest I had a bit of a wobble about that. It took me several days to summon up the courage to do it, but the lady custodian of prizes was very kind.
Christmas presents in waiting
Although the rain here has been torrential, the weather has been mild. As well as the usual winter jasmine, viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’, and winter honeysuckle, a few last buds on the passion flower have opened. We’re enjoying them while we can. Meanwhile indoors, the cyclamen I sowed last spring have burst into flower. I should have pulled out these first flowers to make sure there are plenty for the Christmas festival itself, but I couldn’t bear to do it!
On the international stage, a lovely video was posted on Twitter by @Imposter_Edits. A baby chimpanzee at Sedgewick County Zoo, Kansas, had to be taken away from its mother and put on oxygen. This is what happened when keepers reintroduced the baby. Make sure the sound is on! https://twitter.com/i/status/1593402415985971200
My writing is fuelled by tea, and a kettle burns up lots of energy. I thought I knew all the energy-saving tips about boiling water. I either avoid boiling more water than necessary, or I fill a vacuum flask after I’ve filled the cups. Then the other day a retired science teacher suggested a real winner during a phone in programme. She pointed out how long a kettle stays at boiling point before it switches itself off. The fact is that a perfectly good cup of tea can be made by switching the kettle off as soon as the water starts to bubble furiously.
A Christmas cuppa! Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com
Standing over the kettle and turning it off manually the second it boils, I can save at least ten seconds of electricity each time I make tea. That may not sound like much, but over a year that adds up to about three and a half hours of electricity. It also cuts down the amount of steam produced. In this old house, we have to do everything we can to reduce condensation.
Have you got any good money-saving tips you’d like to share during the run up to Christmas?
As usual, I’ve donated a signed book for JumbleBee’s Children in Read fundraising auction for the BBC’s Children in Need charity. A copy of my first non-fiction book, Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol, is entered as Lot 215. For further details, click here and scroll down to find Lot 215.
The successful bidder will get the warm glow of satisfaction that they’ve helped support a good cause—as well as a signed copy of my book.
STOP PRESS! Congratulations to S (no more clues as I think it’s intended as a present!) who made the winning bid for a signed copy of my book. Thanks for your generosity, S.
I had a lovely surprise this week. My short story The Real Maisey Day appears in The People’s Friend Easter Special (Edition No. 224).
Out Now!
I love writing for The People’s Friend as it’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. It was delivered to our house every week when I was little, and most of the recipes and a lot of the knitting patterns were tried out.
More recently, the magazine has been a welcome distraction on trips to hospital with my son. He’s been visiting consultants for multiple health concerns since he was eight years old. As he’s now taller than me (!), you’ll realise it’s been a long road.
While my son would get a comic from the hospital shop, I’d pick up a Friend. The tone of the magazine is optimistic and the stories, whether contemporary or historical, are always thoroughly enjoyable.
I like to think that reading my stories gives people an escape from their worries for a few minutes. It was what I needed during all those hospital visits, so it’s great to be able to give something back.
The Real Maisey Day is a story about friendship, and the very different truth that can lurk behind a public image. I’ve always been a sucker for self-help manuals, and I’ve tried many improving techniques over the years. They’ve all helped me to some extent. My favourite self-help guru is Jack Canfield. He looks so serene, and has a motivating quip for every situation.
My thanks to Mandy Dixon for this great illustration
I thought it would be fun to invent a self-help genius who is anything but perfect—someone who can inspire others, but behind the scenes is as lacking in confidence as everyone she helps to succeed.
Several kind people have contacted me to say they enjoyed The Real Maisey Day, and would like to read more stories about what happened next to the central characters.
I’d love to know what you think might happen to Emma, Daisy, Maisey Day, and of course Pablo, next!
It’s Spring—yay! That means it’s time to start Spring Cleaning—boo!
I love to see Tottering Towers clean and shining, but I hate housework. It’s such a bore to be stuck inside when so much is going on outside. One way to make this solitary confinement with hard labour easier to bear is by listening to audio books.
“Words are often as important as experience, because words make experience last.” William Morris
Listening while I work means my hands can be busy with what William Morris called mindless toil, while my brain relaxes with some fiction. Alternatively, my mind can be occupied with what the Wizard of Walthamstow would have called useful work—research.
This week, I’ve been listening to Dr Ian Mortimer’s The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England. It’s a real eye-opener. Did you know that in 1557, there was an influenza pandemic which hit the world far harder than Covid has? We’ve all heard of Plague and the Black Death, but that strain of sixteenth-century flu was a real horror too. It is said to have killed 7% of the English population. Compare that to the quarter of one percent death rate in England so far in the Covid pandemic.
Of course, there have been 465 years of improvements in nutrition, living conditions, healthcare, and information technology since then. The even better news is that the Elizabethan flu pandemic, terrible though it was, burned itself out in under two years.
There’s lots of valuable information about life during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), and interesting insights into the lives of beggars, aristocrats, and every level of society in between. One of these, the story of Thomas Appletree, shows the limitation of audiobooks. Their data isn’t stored in a searchable form. To make sure I’d got the details right in the story which follows, I had to resort to good old Google, as it was only in retrospect that I thought to include Tom’s story in this review. To paraphrase Omar Khayyam; the spoken word is heard, and having been heard vanishes forever. I didn’t want to rely on my memory alone.
One summer day in 1579, Thomas Appletree was fooling around in a boat on the Thames with some friends. He had a gun, and was showing off by firing it at random. It just so happened that Elizabeth I’s glass-sided barge was passing by. A stray shot from Tom’s gun hit its captain. Tom was caught, tried, found guilty of attempting to assassinate the Queen, and sentenced to hang. He pleaded his innocence all the way through, claiming that it was a complete accident, and he had no idea the Queen was near.
Right up until the second the noose was put around Tom’s neck, nobody would listen—but then a gentleman calmly stepped out of the crowd to hand over a Royal pardon. It turns out that Elizabeth knew all along Tom was no assassin, but thought he needed to be taught a lesson. Talk about a last-minute reprieve!
Image by jo-B
That is only one of a huge number of stories contained in this book. Every chapter is packed with fascinating facts. The music of Tallis and Byrd is so popular now that it’s hard to believe they apparently lost money hand over fist when they first started publishing it. However, this makes more sense when you learn that each piece of sixteenth-century sheet music only contained one part: for a single voice, a viol, or whatever. That meant no musician or singer knew what any other performer would be doing during a performance, so it’s a wonder anyone could a) afford to buy enough copies, or b) manage to organise a performance of something like Tallis’s Spem in Alium, which is written for forty voices.
I particularly liked the illustrations of Elizabethan low-life, with its colourful terms. I couldn’t help wondering whether anyone would really say; “Watch out! That woman’s a demander of glimmer!” rather than “Watch out! She’s a con artist!” (or worse). A second term highlighted another disadvantage of audio books. Despite rewinding and listening twice, I still couldn’t tell whether a horse thief would be called “a prigger of prancers” or “a pricker of prancers”. That’s a criticism of my ears rather than the narrator, actor Mike Grady, by the way.
If you only know Mr Grady’s work from Citizen Smith or Last of the Summer Wine, you’re in for a treat. From direct readings of primary sources to author Dr Mortimer’s own witty asides, he brings everything to life. His narration ranges from sombre to playful, as required.
Going back to that colourful term for a horse thief, they always say “write the book you want to read, but can’t find”. Listening to this book made me wonder if poor William Shakespeare was driven to write drama because the curriculum at Stratford Grammar was sadly lacking in excitement. I bet Cicero never threatened to “tickle the catastrophe” of any “cream-faced loon”!
I recommend this book as a fascinating read (or listen), and an absorbing introduction to this period in our history. I’ll definitely check out more of Dr Mortimer’s work.
That touches on something which applies to all non-fiction books, whether audio or actual. If you are researching a subject, always cross check every fact with other reference works. Use the sources cited, where possible (and practical) track right back to primary sources, and look for work on the same subject by other authors.
No matter how learned and talented a researcher might be, each one brings their own prejudices to a subject. When you’re writing non-fiction, it’s vital to watch out for any unconscious bias.
If you only write fiction, you might think absolute historical accuracy isn’t important. Not so! There’s always at least one reader who knows exactly how much your hero should tip an ostler in 1589, for example. You don’t want anybody in your audience to think your drop-dead gorgeous aristocrat is either mean as dirt, or a reckless spendthrift, so look up the going rate—and double-check.
Reading (or listening) widely will give you the best chance of creating a story world based on a foundation of generally accepted truths, rather than a one-sided imaginary version which might disappoint or annoy your readers.
Spending time with books is always enjoyable, anyway!
We’re now nearly a week into March. The days are getting longer, and signs of spring are everywhere. I’m taking a week off from writing to do some spring cleaning, as we’ve had the builders in at Tottering Towers. Paul and his team have worked wonders, so I’ve got no excuse. Everything has to be sparkling clean before it goes back into our newly-refurbished space.
The trouble is, housework is a never-ending task. I love to see everything clean and tidy, but in an old house with an active family and pets, it never stays that way for long. It’s very dispiriting.
I wrote here about how I’m following Antony Johnston’s methods for creating an organised workspace, and developing efficient working methods. It’s going quite well. Since the 3rd of January I’ve submitted five new pieces of work. I’ve also managed to keep my accounts up to date, and maintain my journal.
I’ve also managed to enjoy some books, although most of that has been done through Audible. Audio books are my secret weapon when it comes to getting the housework done. I put on a book, and lose myself in that. The time flies by!
Right now, during the day I’m absorbing Dr Ian Mortimer’s A Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England. It’s absolutely fascinating. Did you know that until the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the hour as a measure of time didn’t exist in the form we know it today? During the winter time, hours (as measured out by the chimes of church bells) were twice the length of hours in summertime, as there was calculated to be only half as much light.
In the evenings I’m reading a “real” book: Raymond Blanc’s The Lost Orchard. This is Raymond’s personal exploration of fruit, and his experience of growing and using many different varieties. Much as I love listening to stories during the day, there’s nothing like reading a few pages of this in bed at night before settling down to dream of tarte Maman Blanc, or apple pie…
I love reading, but I don’t get much time to sit down and lose myself in a book. If I’m not writing, I’m either working in the garden or cooking. Then there’s the pesky housework, running errands, and appointments, which eat into my reading time. For all those moments, I turn to my mobile.
I use my phone continuously when I’m not working, although I make no more than a dozen calls a year. The rest of the time I’m using my mobile to listen to documentaries, drama, or audio books.
My smartphone might be the latest technology, but it is part of an ancient tradition. This twenty-first century device answers a demand that echoes across millenia.
Tell me a story!
We still have to watch out for them here! (Pic via Pixabay).
For centuries we’ve enjoyed the feel, the fragrance, and the experience of reading books. Those are only recent pleasures in the history of storytelling. Thousands of years ago, communication between our distant ancestors would have been limited to “That’s mine!”, “Go away!” or “Look out—wild boar!”.
The genius who first thought to turn news of a grisly border dispute into an adventure story, or created a saga out of the search for new hunting grounds kept audiences spellbound around the campfire.
When these stories began to be written down, the tradition of oral storytelling faded into the background but never disappeared completely. The intimacy between speaker and audience is entirely different from the solitary pleasure of reading. In a family like mine, where one or more members have literacy problems, listening to stories is also an enjoyable way to learn.
…so after the Nazis tortured me and threw me over a cliff…(Pic via Pixabay)
When I was growing up, we lived with my grandparents. Both my grandfather and father were bookworms. There was neither money nor space for books in our house. Instead, we had the Daily Express and the Bristol Evening Post delivered daily, and both Dad and Grampy were active members of the local library. The Reader’s Digest arrived every month, until—as the old joke went—we were forced to move house to give them the slip.
My grandfather had been a career soldier. That meant he knew how to pick his battles. My grandmother was very house-proud, so to avoid getting underfoot while our home was being cleaned from top to bottom every day, Grampy would retreat into my playpen and read to me.
I assume he began with all the children’s classics. By the time of my earliest memories he had moved on to much more exotic fare. Two stories I remember from well before I started school were James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans, and Geoffrey Household’s Rogue Male. After hearing how noisy toddlers were dealt with on the Native American trail, and how sardine-loving Asmodeus ended up being the “cat” in “catapult”, it’s no wonder I was a quiet child.
On my first day at primary school I was excited to hear there would be storytime every afternoon. The worthy exploits of Ant and Bee came as a terrible anticlimax!
I did enjoy some stories aimed at children. Dad read daily instalments of The Adventures of Rupert Bear to me from the newspaper at bedtime every night. Each Christmas my presents included the annuals of both Rupert, and Carl Giles’s cartoons. The GIles book must have been my father’s gift to himself for having to read all those hours and hours of Rupert to me during the rest of the year.
“Daddy! You’ve turned over two pages! And don’t forget to read the lines under the pictures as well, not just the story!”
It’s a wonder I survived.
My mother was a ferocious businesswoman who could calculate any sum, percentage, or yield in her head with amazing speed. In contrast, her reading skills were poor. In order to spot local opportunities she relied on my father reading to her from the newspaper. Once, someone she was keen to impress lent her a copy ofElephant Billby Lieutenant-Colonel J.H. Williams. It was the only time I ever saw her with a book in her hands. She struggled with it for a few minutes, then told me to read the book and tell her the story. An audio version would have been perfect in that situation. By the way, if you can get your hands on a copy of Elephant Bill , it’s a great read.
I wrote here abou beginning Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser. I’ve finished listening to the twenty-hour long audiobook now, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. If only my teachers at school had combined the talents of Fraser and the Audible version’s narrator Eleanor Bron, I would have managed better than a grade “D” in history!
I found only slight disadvantages to the audiobook version. Some of the phrases in French weren’t provided with a translation. That was annoying, as it pulled me out of the story. Had I been reading a physical book, I could have tapped the words straight into Google translate. With the audio version, no sooner had they been spoken than they disappeared into the air.
That was only a small irritation, as was Antonia Fraser’s constant overuse of the word nevertheless. If I had been reading a physical book I probably wouldn’t have noticed. However, Eleanor Bron must have tired of reading the word early on. She often gave a slight but significant pause before saying it yet again (three times in as many sentences, in one particularly annoying example).
The spoken word has a strength which can’t be contained within the covers of a book. Hearing a text get the human treatment can help with understanding. Listening allows people to enjoy the experience of reading when it isn’t possible to hold a book, or see the text. On the other hand, there’s a particular pleasure in opening the cover of a book and turning pages, inhaling its individual perfume, and enjoying the words at your own pace. Audiobooks will never replace that.
Which do you prefer—a book in your hand, or a word in your ear?
We’re now seven weeks into 2022, so the New Year isn’t so new any more. I don’t know about you, but my resolutions are already pretty dog-eared. “I will stop snacking between tea and bed” was the first one to go, closely followed by Tech Sabbath.
My willpower is non-existent when it comes to dipping into the biscuit tin before bedtime. The obvious answer is not to make or buy cake and biscuits. The problem is, I keep telling myself it’s not fair to deprive the rest of the family when I’m the only one with no willpower.
I have a great set of dog-walking waterproofs which fitted perfectly before lockdown, but I can now barely fasten them up. That is a powerful incentive to sit on my hands each evening, but will it be enough? I’ve decided to definitely give up snacking for Lent so pancakes on Shrove Tuesday (1st March) will be my last foodie treat until Easter. I hope…
For better or worse I get my news from the BBC World Service, or Radio Four. I don’t need to trawl the internet. But then, there’s always some cute cat video, or “celebrity” gossip popping up online that the BBC is far too sensible to cover. That’s why a Tech Sabbath (switching off my computer at 5pm one day per week and not switching it back on again for twenty-four hours) is very hard for me to achieve. I really need to know about all the local houses for sale, even if I’ve got no intention of ever leaving Tottering Towers!
One resolution I have managed to keep is to write every day. My target is a thousand words, and so far I’ve managed to complete several short stories already this year. I’ve also tried writing Flash Fiction for the first time. I’ve been helped to achieve all this by the methods set out in The Organised Writer by Antony Johnston. You can find out more about that book here.
If you’ve signed up for the Romantic Novelists’ Association‘s New Writers’ Scheme this year, you’ll know the deadline is 31st July. It makes life a lot easier for Janet Gover, the scheme’s co-ordinator, if you don’t leave it to the last minute to submit your manuscript.
As a Reader for the New Writers’ Scheme, I’m keen that everyone’s entries are submitted in plenty of time. It’s lovely to read new stories and discover fresh voices, so please try and have your work ready for submission long before the end of July. You’ll need to spend plenty of time editing to make sure your work is as good as it can be, so the polishing process should start in early summer.
The minimum word count needed for the New Writers’ Scheme is 10,000 words. That may seem a lot, but if you were to start with a blank page this morning and write only a hundred words per day for the next fifteen weeks, you’d have a first draft of at least 10,500 words by 4th June. Then you could spend a whole month editing your work, and STILL make Janet smile by getting your entry in well before the closing date!
Francis Close Hall, University of Gloucestershire
When I started university as a very mature student (you can read about that here) my daughter gave me an invaluable tip about deadlines: make a diary note well in advance. Try and get everything done by that date. Then you’ll never get caught out. If your work is finished early, great. If you hit a snag, you’ll still have plenty of time to put it right.
If you want some motivation, I’ve got some advice for kick-starting your next writing project here.
I’m working on a short story at the moment. While I’m writing fiction, I read only nonfiction so I can concentrate on my own plot and characters rather than getting distracted by those of someone else.
The Organised Writer by Antony Johnston encouraged me to guard my writing time. Now I restrict non-writing activities to the afternoons (you can read more about that here). It means I can schedule some reading time every day, and call it research.
I’ve read two books in this way so far this year. As I’m a very slow reader, this is a record and proves the value of The Organised Writer‘s system. True Countryman, by David Cole, is a biography of Tewkesbury author John Moore. A Pocketful of Acorns is a collection of Moore’s articles about country life during the first half of the twentieth century.
You can find out more about both books by clicking on the Amazon links on this page, although my copies came direct from the John Moore Museum shop in Tewkesbury. That meant they were cheaper. Your local library may be able to order the books for you, which would be even better.
John Moore was very much a writer of his time. Some of his comments about his fellow human beings are hair-raising, but his observations of the natural world are faultless, detailed, and absorbing. I particularly loved the way he wrote about his cats. Candy, Duffy, Sammy Davis Jr., and the rest all have individual personalities.
For anyone writing fiction set during or around the Second World War, the work of John Moore gives an insight into life and attitudes in a small country town at the time.
I love listening to audio books when I’m doing housework or out in the garden. When it comes to Spring cleaning, I don’t know what I’d do without Audible. At the moment, I’m listening to Marie Antoinetteby Antonia Fraser. It’s fascinating. Crammed with all sorts of details about life in the French court, it quotes a wealth of contemporary sources. If you fancy writing a story set in late eighteenth-century France, this would be great background reading.
Although I’ve only just started Marie Antoinette, it sounds as though she was a lovely girl. Unfortunately, she didn’t have much of an attention span. Combined with an education which concentrated on making her the perfect product for the marriage market, this meant she was graceful, charming…and not too brilliant when it came to literacy.
I couldn’t help thinking that the way Marie Antoinette was on intimate display for much of her life—stripped naked by other aristocrats each morning to be dressed like a human Barbie doll—has a parallel with the lives of celebrities and influencers today. Today, selfies take the place of Grand Toilettes.
In the days before the French Revolution, the difference between rich and poor was enormous. Rising prices today are making life harder, while people who are only famous for being photogenic frolic all over Instagram and reality TV shows. It makes you think.
The works of John Moore are good primary research sources for everyday life in rural England during the twentieth century. Antonia Fraser’s work interprets primary material from the eighteenth century, and also provides a wealth of sources for further study. Both are invaluable as background reading for writers.
Is there a book, whether fiction or nonfiction, that has really helped you understand a period in history?
We live our lives online. It’s a lot more convenient than having to queue at the bank, or wait 28 days for delivery. Online meetings and working from home are a way of life for a lot of us now. It’s getting harder and harder to escape the lure of going online. I’ve noticed an increase in technology creep (using the internet for leisure rather than work or chores) everywhere.
Time spent bent over a screen or phone has a way of stretching on and on. You glance at the news headlines, and start Googling the people or places mentioned, or click on an advert. The next thing you know, half an hour has vanished down a barrel wave of surfing.
I wrote here about The Organised Writerby Antony Johnston. This book has helped me streamline my working day. I’m now much more productive. I began trying out his ideas on 4th January this year. One of his suggestions was to keep writing during your dedicated writing sessions, rather than breaking off to look things up online.
The ideal is to take notes as you go, then have one big research session when your writing time is over. This means I now do nothing but creative writing each morning. Each afternoon, I go through the notes I’ve made while working and only then check things online, make phone calls, or book appointments.
Keeping a firm boundary between writing time and non-writing activities has definitely helped. Only when I’ve finished writing do I move on to research. Once I’ve finished that, I can surf the net with a clear conscience.
This system has worked so well that over the past four weeks I’ve written several short stories and submitted them, added 5k to my work in progress, blogged every week —and my accounts are up to date!
This increase in my productivity reminded me of how I laughed when I first read Now is the Winter of our Disconnect by Susan Maushart. Who on earth would spend as much time on line as her kids do? I thought back in 2011.
To my horror, I discovered in 2022 thatI have grown into that person.
Without realising it, more and more of the time I’d been spending online was being wasted in pointless surfing from research topics, to news headlines, via online stores, social media and back again. There’s a place in my life for all these great things, but the internet is like fire. It’s a terrific servant, but a terrible master.
Flitting from writing, to one search topic, and then another before (with luck!) going back to writing is no way to work.
I’m now trying to take Antony Johnston’s suggestion about staying offline while writing one step further. During a scheduled net-surfing session I came across the concept of Tech Shabbat (or Sabbath). This term was coined in 2011 by Tiffany Shlain and Ken Goldberg, and is inspired by the US’s National Day of Unplugging campaign.
On one day each week I now close down my computer at 5pm on the dot. It, and my ipad, stays shut away in my office until 5pm the following day. Instead of checking the smallest little thing online whenever the fancy takes me, I have to wait until 5pm the following day. That’s twenty-four hours of tech-free time I can use to write, read, think, look at the stars, and rediscover life beyond computers.
Well, that’s the theory!
Unfortunately I haven’t been able to wean myself away from technology entirely. I choose the day I’m going to switch off according to my schedule of work rather than sticking to one regular day of the week. That isn’t in the spirit of the original Tech Sabbath. Neither is taking my phone with me everywhere, although for the twenty-four hours away from my computers I use it as a radio only, and never phone, message, or surf. I’m devoted to Radio 4, 4 Extra, and Audible books, and like to listen to them while I’m cooking or gardening. I haven’t been able to sever that cord yet.
Being flexible about the day of the week and keeping my phone in my pocket is cheating. I should work on those two sticking points as a Lent challenge this year. Now that really WOULD be tough!
Have you ever tried to cut down on your screen time? What was the result?
Until I discovered The Organised Writer, the only organised thing about my writing life was the hours I spent sitting in my office. I’d go in there once I had walked the dog, sit at the computer until noon when I have my lunch (and walk the dog again) then go back to work until I got hungry or the PM programme started on Radio 4 (whichever came first).
Within that general timetable, I’d aim to get at least a thousand words written each day. My total was usually more than that, but sometimes I’d get distracted by doing my accounts, other non-writing work, trying to find a lost reference book, acting as the family taxi service, dental appointments etc., etc., etc.— in other words, I wrote until life got in the way. Unfortunately, life was getting in the way too often.
The Organised Writer encourages approaching work from a different angle. Antony Johnston’s central theme is working with what he calls a Clean Mind. This means only starting work when you’ve scheduled writing time completely free from all distractions and appointments. Get an answering machine, schedule appointments for outside your writing hours, and make notes of things you need to look up on Google as you work, rather than stopping to look them up. Get in the flow, and keep going. DON’T stop writing, and start searching online during your scheduled writing time. Going down that rabbit hole while I’m supposed to be writing has always been one of my biggest time-wasters!
Writing with a clean mind means parking your life outside of writing by adopting a set of principles Johnston identifies using the initial letters F.A.S.T.E.N. Develop a great Filing system (and use it!), buy in Assistance such as an accountant to handle the stuff you can’t, Say ‘no’ to avoid getting overwhelmed, Make the best use of your time with calendars and reminders, Invest in the best Equipment (‘buy cheap, buy twice’ as my old granny used to say), and make Notes as you think of things, rather than getting distracted—but don’t forget to transcribe those notes as soon as possible.
I read The Organised Writer straight through from cover to cover without stopping, as the author suggests, then went back and read it again in more depth. The second time I followed his advice step-by-step.
I got this book at Christmas, so I’ve been using Antony Johnston’s system for a month now. It has improved my productivity no end! I’ve already written two completely new short stories, entered two writing competitions, managed to make quite a few journal entries, and done five thousand words of my Work in Progress.
It goes to show that once you have streamlined your workplace and organised distractions out of your writing life, you can get a lot more done.
Johnston is a fan of Scrivener, like me. That meant I warmed to him straight away. As far as I’m concerned, to know Scrivener is to love it—if you haven’t discovered its delights you can find out more here.
As well as finding the content of this book useful and its ideas easy to implement, I liked the layout. Checklists for the main ideas in each chapter are included at the back of the book, together with templates for the job sheets the author advocates. I have to say I’m not using those at the moment as so far, I’ve been working on one project at a time. As I become even more organised (!) I may try working on multiple projects in tandem. The job sheets would then be ideal. They’d definitely help me keep on top of my workflow.
There’s a website associated with The Organised Writer, where you can download PDF versions of the job sheets.
Have you found a particular book that’s helped you in your writing career?
…in the fight against feeling down at this time of year.
I talked here about things you can try for free to keep your spirits up. Today I’m talking about three things that cost a little bit of money but help me to look on the bright side.
Making things
Feeding the birds
Spoiling myself
Two things I really enjoy are cooking, and eating. I always try to eat seasonally, and making marmalade ties in with that idea nicely. Unfortunately my little Seville Orange tree never produces enough fruit! I buy in extra from the supermarket. Marmalade oranges are only on sale during January and February, so I pounce when they first appear. Making marmalade also appeals to my need to squirrel away provisions for those times when Tottering Towers gets cut off by snow. Shelves full of jams and preserves gives me a real sense of satisfaction.
Marmalade in progress
Feeding the birds is something everyone can do, even if you don’t have a garden. A widowsill feeder will bring interest and movement into your life. So many things we used to put out for the birds in the past either don’t exist now (when was the last time you saw a bacon rind?) or have turned out to be a bad idea, like feeding bread to ducks (it does them no good at all) that it’s better to buy something like mealworms or special food mixtures for wild birds. Once you start feeding the birds they will begin to rely on you, so fix a budget and feed a little at a time. You don’t want the birds eating you out of house and home!
With three great hobbies, writing, gardening, and cooking, I’m never short of ways to spoil myself with a bit of retail therapy. It can be as cheap as an hour spent wandering round a bookshop (which can even be free!) and emerging with a pretty new notebook, visiting the garden centre and picking up a new pot plant, or buying a packet of seeds.
Pasta hung out to dry!
My recent cooking treat was an expensive one. When my children were tiny, I picked up a pasta machine in a sale for a couple of pounds. We had hours of fun making the dough, then rolling and shaping it using the machine, but there was a good reason why my little machine was so cheap. It had the habit of suddenly adding specks of metal or black streaks to the dough. No amount of investigation or cleaning could solve the mystery. A good quality pasta machine has been on my wish list for years, and so I’ve just splashed out on a Marcato Atlas. We had our first pasta last night. I have to say that the experience of making and eating it without unwelcome ingredients is amazing!
Five years ago Stephen Buckley, Head of Information at the Mental Health Charity Mind, tried to dispel the myth of Blue Monday. That title for the third Monday in January is still trending today, but the truth is that depression can affect anyone, at any time—not just today. If you, or someone you know, is suffering this winter, get help. These days there’s no stigma attached to it. So many people are affected by mental health problems medical staff are trained to understand, not judge.
If you have a serious problem, the first thing you should do is contact your local GP. More and more surgeries are opening up, and those that aren’t seeing patients face-to-face will arrange a video consultation. Once you’ve done that, or if (like me) you’re on the right side of it but need a boost during the short dark days between Christmas and Pay Day, here are some free ideas to try:
Soak in the Bath. Clear your schedule, find some bubble bath or nice scented soap, and lock the door…
Journaling. All you need is a pen and paper. Writing down your thoughts can be a great form of release. Nobody else needs to see what you’ve written, so you can let yourself go. As well as doing this, at the end of each day I find it really helpful to write down three things for which I’m really grateful. It always makes me feel better to remember the benefits my health, my family, the chance to get out in the garden, and other blessings give me.
Put on some loud, fast music—and dance! It gets everything moving, and raises your spirits. I like Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen, but anything noisy and fun will do. Just make sure that when you dance like nobody’s watching, you do it with the curtains closed. Then there really won’t be anyone watching!
This time last year we were all in deepest pandemic gloom. Today, the situation may be different but not all of our problems have gone away. During the first months of 2021 I created a page called Instant Lift, to provide just that. You can find it here.
There will be over half an hour more daylight today compared with December 21st just passed, but it’s hard to feel the benefit as the weather is so miserable. The fun and games of Christmas seems a long way away, so I’ve been looking for some distraction.
Between the two World Wars, my grandmother was a top-class cook in a country house. She had to give it all up when she got married, but kept all her cookery notebooks.
Looking through them the other day, I came across lots of recipes for drinks. Most of them were completely new to me. There are cocktails, liqueurs, some hot drinks, and many cold ones. Best of all, if you’re having a Dry January there are loads of non-alcoholic drinks.
One of these is called Cranberry Crush. It just so happens that a basket in my freezer is currently full of cranberries. I nabbed them straight after Christmas, when the price was at rock bottom. One of my presents was some of Hotel Chocolat’s white chocolate cranberries. They’re irresistible, so I wanted to try making my own.
It seemed a shame not to use some of those cranberries to try out Gran’s old recipe. It worked a treat, so here’s how you do it:
Gently simmer a pound (454 grammes) of cranberries with about a pint (575 ml) of water. As the berries start to pop, help them to give up their juice by pressing gently with a wooden spoon. Add half a pound (227 grammes) of granulated sugar, together with the grated rind and juice of two sweet oranges, and the grated rind a lemon. Stir until all the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat, and leave the Cranberry Crush to stand for an hour before straining. Keep refrigerated.
This produces a concentrated syrup, which you can see in the photo. It’s a beautiful colour, and balances sweetness with a fruity tang. I like it diluted with tonic water, but of course you can use mineral water or ginger ale. I’ll definitely be making it again!
I hope you managed to have a good Christmas, despite all the restrictions and worries we’ve had to face during the continuing pandemic.
Over the next year I’ll be suggesting more ways to keep our spirits up, writing about life here at Tottering Towers, and providing plenty of hints and tips to help you become a better writer. To make sure you don’t miss anything, click on the “subscribe” button over on the right hand side of this page.
Is there any topic in particular you’d like me to feature?
Wishing you all the best for a safe and happy 2022!
I’m taking a break now until the New Year. I hope this message finds you well, and that you’ll be spending the holidays with those you love.
Winter Jasmine
As we’ve passed the shortest day (December 21st), the days will soon start lengthening again. It’s been so damp and gloomy here in Gloucestershire over the past few days, spring seems a long way off. I took these photographs this morning, to cheer myself up!
This time last year we were all in such a dark place I created my Instant Lift page to try and raise everybody’s spirits. Reading about the way the seasons change, slowly but surely, is reassuring in this time of continuing Covid.
Viburnum
Not everyone finds this The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. If you’re happy, please reach out to someone who may be struggling.
I began my writing career by producing photographs and non-fiction articles for national magazines such as TheLady, and the Royal Horticultural Society’s The Garden. Then I was seduced by romance, and started working in the genre. Twenty-one novels later I’ve sold nearly three million books, which have been translated into lots of different languages. On the right you can see the cover of the recently-released Manga version of my Harlequin Modern Romance, Weight of the Crown.
For the past few years I’ve been acting as a reader for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme. Members of the Romantic Novelists’ Association who are unpublished submit their work to be assessed by professional authors like me. Graduates of the scheme include a fellow member of the RNA’s Marcher Chapter, the lovely Jan Baynham. As an unpublished author, Jan submitted her novel Her Mother’s Secret to the NWS. It went on to be published, and Jan’s career took off.
You can find out more about joining the Romantic Novelists’ Association here.
If you want to write romance, start by reading everything in the genre that appeals to you. Once you’ve got a feeling for the type of stories you like best, three letters will help you craft your own romantic novel. They are A.C.E:
Audience and Atmosphere
Characters and Conflict
Expectation and Experience
A is for Audience. Always keep your reader in mind. Reading romance is an escape, so whether your story is historical, contemporary, conventional, or alternative, give your audience what they are looking for — a story with plenty of Atmosphere. The swish of skirts and glitter of candlelight against silverware sets the scene for an historical novel. Sun, sand, and champagne sipped on a yacht supplies the glamour every contemporary romance needs.
C is for Characters. Focus on quality, rather than quantity. When it comes to romance, the fewer speaking parts, the better. Bring in other people only to enhance the reader’s understanding of your principal characters, or to deepen the Conflict between them. In this instance, the word conflict refers to the dramatic tension between how a character feels and the public face they adopt. For example, Pride and Prejudice has a whole raft of characters, but each plays a vital role in exposing the real Elizabeth and Darcy. Those two central characters are confined within the rigid class structure of their era, while their strong emotions create the inner turmoils which drive the plot.
E is for Expectation, which brings us back to your audience. Anyone choosing a romance to read is looking for a central character they can relate to, who is swept off their feet by their idea of a perfect lover. There’s no satisfaction for your reader if the path of fictional true love runs smoothly, so make it a roller coaster of Emotion (another E!) and Experiences. Let your central characters be faced with situations that test them in the same way your readers are tested in their own lives. Readers love to follow the journeys of heroes and heroines as they come to terms with hardship, pain, separation, and every other kind of disaster before finding their Happy Ever After.
Love conquers all is a cliché, but it’s perfect in this situation as it describes what readers like to read about. Your job as a writer is to give them what they want.
Next time I’ll be talking about how you can avoid the three common mistakes that get a manuscript rejected without being read. Subscribe to my blog by using the button above, so you don’t miss out!
I’ve had quite a week, so I’m hoping to spend this weekend recovering with a good book!
Monday was the day I’d been both looking forward to, and dreading. I graduated with an MA (distinction) in Creative and Critical Writing in October 2020 but the graduation ceremony was cancelled due to Covid. We finally got our chance to get togged up and go on parade at The Centaur auditorium in Cheltenham Racecourse this week, along with all the the 2021 graduands.
My social anxiety was in overdrive while driving to the venue, getting robed, photographed, and making that long walk across the stage to bow (no handshakes, thanks to Covid) to the University of Gloucestershire’s Pro-Chancellor Sir Henry Elwes. Thank goodness I was in the good company of my fellow MA students, Rosie, Carole, and Hayley. Congratulations again, girls!
On Tuesday, Alex disturbed a wild boar when we were out on a walk. It must have been asleep in the bracken brash which covers the woodland surrounding our house. It jumped up and huffed at him furiously. I would have done the same if Alex’s cold wet nose had woken me up when I was fast asleep! Alex bounced straight back onto the track unhurt, but he was careful to hide behind us while barking furiously at the retreating boar.
The People’s Friend, Edition No. 7905
On Wednesday, my story Raining Cats and Dogs appeared in The People’s Friend. Although it’s completely fictional, the setting is based on my daughter’s tiny home in Tewkesbury. She took me with her when she first went to view it. I fell in love with the place the moment we went up the (high) front steps and over the (raised) threshold. It’s a beautiful little house, built hundreds of years ago as “infill” by some mediaeval entrepreneur to unite two rows of traditional black and white cottages. Despite being on the river bank it has never flooded—although all the properties keep special flood gates at the ready!
Ever since I got my results in October 2020 I’ve been dithering about whether or not to do a PhD. There are lots of reasons why I should (personal satisfaction, increasing human knowledge, getting to wear am even fancier cap and gown on qualifying, etc)…and lots of reasons why I shouldn’t (cost, time, effort etc).
On Thursday, all that dithering had to stop. My husband announced that he’d told his work colleagues he was looking forward to taking a back seat at office parties when we’re introduced as “Dr and Mr Hollis”. He’s hoping that curiosity will divert attention away from him, for a change!
DD, Looking Great On My Big Day
Friday brought a welcome message from Lucy, my lovely editor at The People’s Friend magazine. She told me that I’d had another story accepted for publication. This one has the working title The Self-Help Switch. I don’t know when it will appear—probably some time in the New Year—and the title is almost certain to change. I’ll let you know when I have more details.
The Forest of Dean is supposed to catch the edge of Storm Arwen over the weekend, but this week has already given me enough excitement, thank you very much! I’m planning to spend my time curled up in front of the fire with the workbook my sister gave me as a graduation present. It’s The Writers’ Advent by Portland Jones, which gives a prompt for every day leading up to December 25th. The first one supplies the opening of a detective story, and challenges you to supply the next 200 words or so. The book’s subsequent prompts cover all kinds of genres, one for each day, with suggestions for blog posts, limericks, horror stories, and more. I’ve never used a prompt book before, and can’t wait to get started.
Have you used a book like The Writers’ Advent? Did it persuade you to try a new writing journey?
Covid, Brexit and the threat of rising inflation has made me wonder about food security during the coming winter.
Rumours of shortages in the supermarkets mean sourcing local and seasonal food will be more important than ever. We’re lucky to have plenty of vegetables in the garden, but rising fuel prices mean I’m re-thinking the way I cook.
We’ve got electricians working here at the moment. They often have to cut off the supply, so I’m having to plan our meals carefully. I was up at 5am baking sourdough loaves.
Later I’ll be making leek and potato soup for the first time since last spring. We’ve got a gas hob, so than can be cooked without electricity. I’m in the process of making the twenty-first-century equivalent of a haybox. That’s a way of cooking soups and stews without electricity.
A haybox uses the heat retained within a dish to cook it. Recipes are brought to a rolling boil on a gas ring or open fire, then the pot is plonked into a highly insulated container. This keeps the food cooking for a long time, while the temperature gradually drops away. It’s suitable for soups, stews, and rice pudding. Dishes typically take about six hours to cook.
I haven’t done any haybox cookery since I was in the Girl Guides. In those days, the insulation really was hay. This time around I’ll be stuffing a cotton casing with the kind of filling used for beanbags. That will be a more hygenic way to keep our leek and potato soup cooking!
Remember how exciting it was when Father Christmas left you a new book under the Christmas tree?
If you love to read and you’re a generous soul who likes to give to charity, visit the Children in Read website. Each year Paddy Heron organises an online auction where readers can support the BBC’s Children in Need charity. Bid for a book, and the money goes straight to charity.
Visit the Children in Read site — it’s a great place to pick up Christmas presents, while at the same time making a difference to children’s lives.
Hello again! Apart from a few snatched minutes here and there, I’ve been offline for what feels like weeks. Every time it rains—and we’ve had showers all the time this summer—we lose out internet link.
We’ve had engineers out loads of times, they’ve been up every telegraph pole for miles around, and wonder of wonders we’ve even had refunds from our provider. Despite that, they’ve never managed to track down the fault. We had heavy rain last night and so…no internet. Everyone has agreed that water is getting into the system somewhere. The question is, where?
We’re more than a mile from the nearest junction box, so that means there’s any number of places where the rain could get in and disrupt the signal. The line of telegraph poles marches through the wood for most of that distance. Branches rubbing against the wires can’t help.
The good news is I’ve got a Plan B to make absolutely sure I can get online on Friday, 9th July because I’m giving a talk to the Society of Authors Monmouth Group on that day about Research for Writers.
My first published book
I began my writing career by writing about my hobbies of growing plants and keeping animals. For a long time I wrote freelance articles for magazines such as The Lady, The Garden, and Nursery World. Then I moved onto writing historical romance, which wasn’t easy in the days before the internet. Readers are knowledgeable about their favourite eras, so there’s no such thing as a throwaway detail.
Researching the contemporary romances I wrote for Harlequin and The Wild Rose Press was all kinds of fun. It was the chance to relive all my best holiday experiences of staying in Italian castles or English historic houses.
When I was asked to write Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol, I discovered the wonders of the Bristol Archive. There were so many fascinating stories to be found by trawling through the boxes of private and public papers. If it hadn’t been for my publishing deadline, I’d still be enjoying myself combing through parish records, and back copies of The Western Daily Press
I’ll be covering all these areas of research in more detail in my talk on Friday. You can find out more about it here. Tickets are free, although the Society of Authors is always pleased to receive donations!
Working from home has both good and bad points. There’s no commute, so in theory I can start work from the minute I open my eyes in the morning and carry on until I fall asleep at night. That’s a recipe for burnout, so I try and schedule some time out in the fresh air every day. Dog-walking takes up at least a couple of hours each day, and I love escaping out into the garden.
The trouble is that the rush of spring brings its own pressure with weeds springing up all over the place. They keep growing, and the writing deadlines keep coming. While I’m sat at my keyboard I’m aching to get outside. When I’m outside, I’m fretting about that I should be writing. It’s all pressure, even if I love the tasks I must do.
This week, it got even harder to concentrate on my novel as I found myself caught up in the ancient story of the Town Mouse and Country Mouse. A little creature almost hitched a ride with me into town, and got me thinking about a new project.
For the past few weeks rain has been falling on Tottering Towers in amounts rarely seen outside of arty Japanese films. I’m in the early stages of writing a new novel. Work went well while the weather was bad because I wasn’t tempted outside. Then the sun came out for the first time in what felt like years.
Much as I love the characters I’m creating, it’s hard to concentrate on fictional family feuds while real life is speeding up outside. I wanted to get out and do some gardening. When DD asked for some help in her own little plot, it was the perfect excuse to leave writing behind for a few hours. I couldn’t get there fast enough.
DD’s cottage in Tewkesbury is the cutest little house you’re ever likely to see. Today it would be called Brownfield Infill. When it was built in fifteen-hundred-and-something, a canny landlord called it a way to make money out of a tiny wedge of land between two rows of cottages. He (or she—the women of my family have a long history of land-grabbing, and I bet they aren’t unique) didn’t even have to go to the trouble of building a whole house. All they did was build a brick wall five metres wide, tied into the properties on either side, and high enough to reach the neighbours’ eaves. Topped off with a roof, the gap became a three-storey house for the price of a few hundred bricks, two exterior doors, and six window frames. Grand Designs, eat your heart out!
The only drawback is that DD’s property is wedge-shaped: each of the three floors is the equivalent of only one room wide. Its tiny garden is no more than the gap between the walls of her neighbours’ properties and narrows to nothing six metres beyond her back door. There’s no rear access, so everything needed in the garden, from patio furniture to compost, must be carried through the house.
The garden is so small there’s no point in paying for a green waste bin which would only be filled once or twice a year. There aren’t any flowerbeds as the whole area is covered in decking. Previous residents had left behind a collection of ceramic containers which were overflowing with rainwater after the recent storms. Carrying them through the house risked spills and slips, but I’ve got several 30 litre containers which once held industrial quantities of fruit juice. They have water-tight lids, so it would be easy to fill them in the garden the transport the water through the house without making any mess.
There are always odd jobs to be done so as well as the containers I decided to fetch my packed shuttle tray of tools from the greenhouse. As I picked it up, a mouse jumped out and shot into the dense cover of parsley and lettuces edging the path. When my heart had started up again, I investigated the tray. The mouse had made a cosy nest in one corner by shredding an empty seed packet. It must have been busy all night as I’d only sown the seeds the afternoon before. If it hadn’t escaped, I might have accidentally taken it to Tewkesbury!
Imagine being a mouse carried away from the glade and steep ridges of Tottering Towers and arriving in the middle of a town. The Roman poet Horace wrote about the speed, noise, and danger that terrified country mouse Rusticus when he visited the home of his sophisticated friend, town mouse Urbanus.
Mice are a terrible pest in my own garden, but they’d have difficulty getting into the enclosed space behind DD’s house. She’ll never need to worry about tulip bulbs and seeds being eaten before they’ve had a chance to grow. I’d like to think her tiny garden is a mouse-free zone, but they are tricky little devils.
Window boxes can fit on a sill or stand on top of a wall, but make sure they are secure and can’t fall. @Christina Hollis 2021
Lockdown has inspired many people to take more interest in their surroundings, whether it’s making them more beautiful, or growing things to eat. DD hardly has the room to swing a Mus Urbanus, but she could still make use of the stepladder idea for displaying plants, as shown in the photo.
Window boxes are a good idea that work in the tiniest spaces, too. I grow all my lettuce and salad leaves in them, as slugs and snails make short work of any lush greens planted in the open garden. That’s the problem with gardening for wildlife—a lot of it prefers eating my fruit and vegetables to their usual diet of weed seeds and waste.
I used to write a regular column about gardening with children for Nursery World magazine. Thinking about growing things in small spaces made me wonder if Rusticus and Urbanus could become gardening mice. They could show children how to make the best of what they’ve got, whether in town or country.
As I drove home I was feeling quite friendly toward local yokel Rusticus mouse, who had made a nest in my tray. That feeling passed off when I checked the pots of seeds I’d planted the day before. While I was away, wretched Rusticus had dug up all the melon pips and eaten them!
Were you one of the 12.8 million people who watched the climax of the TV series Line of Duty the other day? Or do you prefer romance to crime? There’s a reason why these two genres are so popular, and it has a lot to do with the world situation.
A worldwide IPSO poll in March 2021 revealed that the top five worries were:
Corona virus (45%)
Unemployment (37%)
Poverty and Social inequality (31%)
Financial/political corruption (29%)
Crime and violence (24%)
Murder Most Foul…
The thread tying all these topics together is a feeling of being powerless. The roll-out of vaccination worldwide may reduce our chances of catching Corona, but it doesn’t help those families that have already been affected, and those who are still suffering. The virus has had knock-on effects on unemployment, poverty, and social inequality which can be expected to last for a long time.
If you can’t find a job, self-employment can provide a way out of poverty but being your own boss is hard, relentless work, with no guarantee of success. It also relies on the honesty of the financial and political systems, and your customers. There’s always someone who is keen to redistribute your wealth by way of theft or corruption. After struggling to earn your daily bread, it can be a fight keep hold of it.
Fiction Provides a Form of Escape…
These worries can make everyday life feel like a game of chance. Escaping with crime dramas or romance on TV, or within the pages of a book is the perfect antidote. Complicated motives are exposed, twists turned, crimes solved, partnerships forged, and unlike real life, we know all the loose ends will be neatly tied up— apart from the ones with hooks, left dangling to tempt us into watching the next series, or reading the next book!
The next time you can’t sleep for worrying about the ways of the world, try visiting a fictional version. Watching TV, or reading a good book won’t make the international news any less disturbing, but it will make your worries about it a little easier to bear.
How do you deal with the worries that keep you awake at night?
…and I’m finding it VERY hard to settle down to any writing work. April here in Gloucestershire was dry, bitterly cold, but mostly sunny. Although I’m working on a new book (you can find out more about that here and here), at this time the natural world has a powerful pull.
Wild cherries in the wood are hung with snow, as A.E.Housman put it, and here in the orchard the Morello cherry is an absolute picture. It’s about twenty feet high and almost as wide, and when I took this photograph it was humming with all kinds of bees and other insects.
It produces tonnes of fruit each year, but we’re lucky if we get to eat more than a few kilos. The tree is far too big to net properly, and the birds love those cherries as much as we do!
Morello cherries are too sour to eat raw, and we like them best cooked gently for a few minutes with sugar and a little water. This makes a delicious sauce to pour over warm chocolate brownies, or vanilla ice cream…or you can do as we do, and top a brownie with a scoop of ice cream, then drizzle warm cherry sauce over the whole lot. That’s a really indulgent treat!
Yesterday I went to check the greenhouse at 6am and disturbed a sounder of eighteen boar and their piglets, who were grubbing about in the wood which lies on the other side of our boundary fence. They scampered away through the trees, leaving behind ploughed earth where yesterday there had been a carpet of bluebells.
It’s such a shame the boar are so destructive as now there are few free-roaming sheep to eat the local wildflowers, orchids, ladies’ smock, primroses and cowslips were beginning to seed themselves around. They won’t survive for long with the concentration of boar we have here now. The medieval wild boar only had piglets once a year. The creatures running wild in the forest now are hybrids, which have been developed to breed all year round. With no natural predators, their number have exploded.
That’s why my garden is surrounded by a good fence, with barbed wire buried at the base to stop the pigs heaving up the wire and posts to get in. It means I can grow all sorts of things without worrying about finding the place trashed at regular intervals.
The heroine of my current work in progress loves growing plants and when her family hits hard times has to find a way to turn her hobby into a business. I’m off to the greenhouse now to do some detailed research. Well, that’s my excuse!
Last week I told you about how I was trying to create a fictional English village as the setting for my next book. Lots of readers contacted me, either here or on social media and gave me ideas for features to include in the perfect fictional English village. The things mentioned most often were:
Church (which surprised me, as rural congregations have dwindled over recent years)
Somewhere to sit and watch the world go by (preferably with ducks to feed!)
War memorial (another surprise, although the popularity of soldier silhouettes probably explains it)
Lots of people suggested things other than buildings that went to create a village atmosphere. As a writer, I found those ideas equally useful. The things that cropped up most often were:
Local characters – there’s at least one in every village, ready to give you the gossip, or a long-range weather forecast
Peace and quiet, interrupted only by…
Birdsong
Dark skies with no light pollution, perfect for romance under the stars
and two of my favourite benefits of country living,
A little local shop
Friendly locals (rather than the more unusual characters)
We have great examples of both right here in the middle of our village. Pip’s shop really is open all hours, and shuts only twice a year: on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday. It’s within walking distance so you don’t need to bother with the car, and it’s saved my bacon (and milk, and tea bags, and coffee!) any number of times when there’s been a last minute call for school cookery ingredients or bits for science project.
Pre-Covid, our village shop was a meeting place as much a shop. It was somewhere you could find out all the local news even quicker than it featured on Facebook! All that changed with social distancing and face masks.
It’s very sad. I hope things can get back to something close to normal soon.
I wrote here about planning my next book, which is going to be set in my adopted home county of Gloucestershire. For the sake of the plot I’m not setting it in one identifiable place, but instead I’m picking buildings, shops, and settings from several of my favourite villages to create somewhere that plenty of things can happen to my fictional family.
Here is St. Endec’s church, where the grandfather of two of my main characters is a member of the band of bellringers.
It’s actually a photograph of St Giles, Maisemore, taken from the lime avenue which I think was planted as part of celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 (I’m sure somebody will put me right on that if I’ve mis-remembered!). This lane makes a sweet-smelling stroll during the summer. With Maisemore apiaries only half a mile away as the bee flies, the place is buzzing during June and July!
Here’s the local pub my characters use…
Those were the days, my fiend—sorry, friend!
Although this picture is of the Red Lion in Avebury, the pub in my book is called the Bear and Ragged Staff (or “The Bear “for short). When I was young and single, the Red Lion was about half-way between where I lived, and the home of the man I thought was my Mr Right. When I discovered how Wrong he was, I dropped him like a red-hot bar meal and have never been back. That’s a shame, because it used to be a great place for an assignation!
Here’s the village duck-pond, which is actually part of the mill in Lower Slaughter…
Pic by Adam Trevor Designs, via Pixabay
The Cotswolds was only an hour’s drive from where I was born in Somerset, but the countryside and cottages are completely different in character. As I child I thought the villages of Upper and Lower Slaughter must have been the site of terrible battles but the truth was much closer to my soggy Somerset home than I realised. The Slaughters are named after the old English words “slough” or “slothre”, which means muddy.
My heroine’s sister lives in one of these cottages in Arlington Row, Bibury…
Photo by Mark Hulland, via Pixabay
Like many beautiful Cotswold settings, these cottages have appeared on all sorts of chocolate boxes, calendars, and postcards. That complicated roof-line and all those hundreds of little roof tiles give this row another claim to fame. If you have a British passport, it’s one of the (hopefully) impossible-to-forge watermarks inside.
I’ve squirrelled away all these photographs in the images file of my in the Scrivener database I talked about here, but I’m still looking for things to include in my identikit Cotswold setting. Can you help me pack my fictional village with all the right things?
When you think about the countryside, what says “England” to you?
The sheep which originally gave this area its wealth are so big, they are known as Cotswold Lions! Pic via Pixabay.
…like I know yuzu, you’d know why its fruit is so expensive to buy!
I love reading, cooking, and gardening. To read about an exotic ingredient, and then manage to grow it makes me super happy.
My sister must be Nigel Slater’s greatest fan. A few years ago, Sis gave me his book The Christmas Chronicles. It’s an amazing combination of anecdotes and recipes both esoteric and more down to earth. I’ve been growing citrus fruit for quite a while and have cracked the best method for growing basil, so when I read the details of Slater’s Lemon, Orange and Basil Ice I was quick to try it out.
My yuzu, fruiting in November 2019
The recipe mixes basil-infused milk and cream with sugar syrup, and the juice of mixed citrus fruit to emulate Nigel Slater’s favourite citrus fruit, the yuzu.
I’d never heard of yuzu before reading The Christmas Chronicles. The Lemon, Orange and Basil Ice recipe was easy and good, although I couldn’t help wondering how much better it would have been if I’d used fresh yuzu juice.
As Nigel Slater says in his book, the fruit is hard to find. I tracked some down in a big, upmarket supermarket but, in common with a lot of imported fruit the yuzu they had on sale had been picked too early. They were hard, and the skin was completely free of that enticing spicy fragrance I’d been told to expect. Not only that, but it was many times more expensive than organic citrus fruit. I wasn’t going to make do with something second-rate, so I left the wrinkly relics where they were and decided to grow my own.
My favourite online nursery is The Citrus Centre. They had yuzu plants for sale, but at a price that made me think more than twice. I don’t smoke, rarely drink alcohol, and haven’t been away on holiday for years (because I don’t want to leave the animals in the care of anyone else) and lots of people spend small fortunes on all those things and end up with not much to show for it. If I had a yuzu tree, my reasoning went, I’d have the challenge of growing it, a greenhouse-full of orange blossom fragrance in spring, and the pleasure (I hoped) of using the resulting fruit in autumn and winter.
The same plant, this week. Look closely, and you can see the flower buds.
I took the plunge, but when the yuzu arrived I saw straight away why the fruit is so expensive. The bushes ought to come with a health warning! They are covered in very sharp spines, each one is five or six centimetres long. It’s like keeping an ever-expanding bundle of barbed wire in the greenhouse.
The workers who pick these fruit for the supermarkets deserve danger money!
The yuzu is a typical citrus, with green, glossy leaves and waxy white flowers which are rich with a sweet, heavy perfume. In 2019, my yuzu fruited for the first time. The juice is like a tangy cross between a mandarin and a lemon, and the grated zest is a great addition to cakes.
Over the winter of 2020/2021 it lost every one of its leaves all at once, during a cold, snowy spell. One day it looked fine, but the next morning it was a network of bare branches and wicked thorns, surrounded by a carpet of fallen leaves. It was such a sudden shedding I assumed the tree must be dead.
Nothing happened for three or four months, then at the beginning of this week I saw the first signs of life. A few tiny tufts of green at the tip of each branch. The next day saw a record-breaking high temperature for early April, with lots of sunshine. The yuzu took advantage of it. Within thirty six hours of seeing those first shoots, the plant looked like this—complete with flower buds!
Orange blossom was a traditional flower for brides’ bouquets. The new book I’m planning at the moment will feature both weddings, orange blossom, and greenhouses, so every morning when I walk into my big Dutch light glasshouse, I’m breathing in research!
The picture of a mandarin—one of the yuzu’s parents—in the heading is by Beverly Buckley via Pixabay, by the way.
What’s the most exotic thing you’ve grown, or used in cooking?
I’ve always wanted to write fiction, but until I sold my first book I earned money by writing non-fiction articles and producing photographs for magazines such as The Lady and The Garden. Among other things, I wrote monthly gardening tips, and pieces on how to keep poultry and pigs.
Once I began to get articles commissioned on a regular basis, I could afford to go back to writing fiction. At first I wrote short stories, as they fitted in well with my non-fiction writing schedule.
I love listening to the radio, so trying to produce some radio drama was an obvious move. During my first year as a full-time writer I was shortlisted for the BBC Young Writers’ Competition with an historical drama, but found writing stories and novels much easier than producing a script!
When you’re on top of Toghill, all the scenery looks pretty much like this, until you look west…Pic of Toghill Farm by William Avery, via Wikimedia Commons
How I came to be published in book form for the first time is a saga in itself. One morning on Woman’s Hour, a writer was interviewed about her new historical novel. It sounded like a great read, but in those days OH and I were poverty-stricken newly-weds. Unable to justify buying a hardback book, I ordered it from the local library.
I can still remember how indignant I felt when I read the opening sentence, which went something like this…
The beautiful heroine looked down from her vantage point on the top of Toghill at workmen busily building Bath’s Royal Crescent….
That was written by someone looking at a map, not a view. I was born only a few miles from Toghill. For anyone to see Bath, let alone pick out workmen on the Royal Crescent, they would need to be about twenty metres tall and blessed with the eyesight of a hawk! There is a great view from the top of Toghill, but it is in the direction of Bristol, not Bath. On a clear day, you can see the Severn estuary. The city of Bath is not far behind you, it’s true, but because of the lie of the land the city is invisible until you travel several kilometres south east from the top of Toghill.
…when you can see the Severn estuary, complete with bridge—but not Bath! Pic by Maurice Pullin via Wikimedia Commons
I decided then and there it would be a poor show if I couldn’t write something a bit better than that. Taking the script I’d written for the BBC, I reworked it into an historical novel. This was in the days before the internet, so all my research had to be done during trips to Gloucester library.
During my many visits, I used the library’s copy of the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook to find a possible publisher for my book. That was disappointing. Only one of the publishers would accept work direct from writers. All the others dealt only with agents.
The single publisher that would accept unagented manuscripts was Harlequin, under their Masquerade imprint. Just before Christmas one year I sent off the first three chapters and a synopsis, as requested in the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook. In January I got a lovely letter asking me for the rest of the story. I sent it off straight away, together with return postage (as Snail Mail was the only way in those days).
I didn’t sit back to wait. I kept busy, creating and submitting more articles and photographs on gardening, which is how I fill my time when I’m not writing. At the beginning of May I opened the letter every writer dreams of getting—Knight’s Pawn had been accepted for publication!
The first thing I did was to check out the most impressive-sounding literary agents in the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook. I wrote to them, saying I’d landed a contract to write historical novels for Harlequin Mills and Boon. I got a reply from one of the biggest agents in the country almost by return, inviting me up to a meeting at their headquarters in London.
I was shown into a plush office where I was given tea and cake by a lovely guy who said it was his first week in the job. He sweet-talked me into agreeing to become his client, and said he’d get a contract couriered to me as soon as it had been drawn up.
I was so excited, I spent the journey home from London working on the first draft of another book. A week passed, then ten days, but no contract arrived. I was climbing the walls with excitement until the awful day two weeks after my trip when a slim white envelope arrived.
It was an apology dictated by the head of the firm. It was their policy not to take on clients who wrote historical fiction for Mills and Boon, the letter said. The Harlequin contracts were pretty much “boilerplate”— that is, there was little if any room for an agent to negotiate different terms. The man who interviewed me hadn’t been fully aware of the circumstances, the letter said, and so with regret they didn’t feel able to offer me a contract after all.
It was tough, discovering I was that new agent’s first big mistake, but this cautionary tale just goes to show that if something seems too good to be true, it usually is.
That was years ago and I never did find an agent, but it doesn’t seem to have done my career much harm. I may have missed some opportunities and I’d love someone to take control of my writing calendar, but I’ve always had plenty of work, and I get to keep 100% of my pre-tax profits. If I had an agent, I’d lose 15% of it, in their commission!
What’s been the biggest excitement in your writing life?
This week, I’m using one of my own short stories as a real-life example of all the steps—from motivation to publication—that have appeared in this series.
Francis Close Hall, University of Gloucestershire
In 2018 I took my seventeen-year-old-son to a university open day and ended up signing on for a Masters course myself. There had to be a story in that experience. To answer the question Why Write? posed in Part One of Writing for Pleasure, Profit, and Posterity, I wanted to satisfy my creative instinct, capture my experience of going back into education as a mature student, and do it in a way that would entertain others.
Readers like to relate to characters, and giving the people in my story everyday worries would make them convincing. Part Ten of my series included the top concerns of people today, two of which are ageing, and work-related worries. That pair of posers certainly kept me awake while I was trying to decide whether or not to sign up for university. I worried that I was too old, and that my poor school record (I left at sixteen) might mean I couldn’t keep up with the other students.
Projecting my fears onto a fictional character and making sure she overcame them might persuade others to become mature students, too.
In case you didn’t know, Christina Hollis is only my pen name!
In real life, it turned out that I was worrying about nothing. There were people of allages on my course. One of them had children older than me! I survived all the coursework and assessments, and emerged at the end of two years with lots more life experience, and a distinction.
My short story project was always going to be an optimistic piece, so The People’s Friend was the obvious choice when it came to finding my audience, as discussed in Part Three of Writing for Pleasure, Profit, and Posterity. That magazine’s combination of upbeat fiction and articles, crafting, cooking, and beautiful illustrations has kept it popular for generations. The People’s Friend has exacting standards but provides lots of information to help potential writers— see here for details.
This isn’t me—as if you couldn’t guess! Pic via Pixabay.
Parts Four and Five of my series centred on inspiration, and using your own experiences as a starting point. I decided my short story would be built around a woman wondering whether she was up for a huge challenge. Every other day, I face a struggle of my own like that. I’m built for comfort rather than speed, but I force myself to use a treadmill for the good of my health. I may not be fast, but I keep going! In contrast, one of our friends is a workaholic. His doctor is always telling him to diet, stop smoking, and take up exercise. He’s never got around to doing any of that, although he did try walking rugby…once!
Those two contrasting real-life people gave me the basis of my central fictional characters. I then needed a theme for my story. Waving my last “baby” off to university was hard, but it led directly to me having a great time there myself. That idea of turning a bittersweet experience into an advantage was something I wanted to share. It proves that life doesn’t end when your children move on. Finding something which keeps your brain active, gets you out of the house, and involves meeting other people can help fill the gap in your life.
Part Six of my series dealt with turning thoughts into a manuscript. As I was only going to be writing a short story rather than a novel, I didn’t use Scrivener for this project. I used the prose template I have on my computer, which automatically creates manuscripts in 12-point Times New Roman, double spaced, with wide margins, and numbered pages.
I typed my notes straight onto my computer, saving my work regularly both as a document and onto a thumb drive. I named my file Restart_Short_Story, as that working title plays on the heroine’s aim of restarting her life. It also suggests a change in her relationship with her husband, and gives a nod toward running, which is central to the plot. The word Restart formed the header on every page of my manuscript, keeping me focussed on those core themes.
Some of Restart was written during sourdough-making sessions. My recipe requires the dough to be worked four times, with a ten minute break between each burst of kneading. The kitchen timer would go off just when I’d got into the swing of writing a scene. That meant I couldn’t wait to get back to it (once I’d scraped the dough off my fingers). Two more important writing tips: never get flour on your keyboard—and the best time to end a writing session is when it’s going really well. That way, you’ll be raring to go next time you start work.
Gradually my story Restart took shape. I kept Part Nine‘s Four C’s of Creative Writing (Character, Contrast, Charisma, and Conflict) in mind as I worked. Quiet housewife and mother Sue is a foil for her boisterous, workaholic husband Malcolm. He can be annoying, but his charisma is balanced with charm. Sue is keen to pick up the ambition she abandoned when they had a family. I made use of contrast in my writing as well as in my characters, so there’s internal monologue as well as dialogue, and the settings vary between a car interior, and out in the fresh air.
As well as my central middle-aged couple, an elderly lady, and a teenager also appear giving contrasts in age, too. I wrote the story in the first person, from heroine Sue’s point of view as—while this story is complete fiction, and this couple definitely aren’t me and OH— her hopes and worries were based on my hopes and worries. I really did write this story from my heart!
The internal conflict which is vital to keep readers hooked is introduced right at the start of the story. Sue secretly wants to investigate the university course but she is afraid she is too old, and keeps quiet. She knows Malcolm will laugh at her dream, because he never takes anything seriously. Malcolm has an inner conflict of his own. He hides his worries about what will happen now they’re rattling around in their family home alone by covering it with humour.
Once I had those characters and their hidden concerns in place, I added some external conflict to add excitement. Sue and Malcolm witness a mugging. She chases the thief and catches him, which convinces her she’s fitter and more determined than she thought. Malcolm’s pride and confidence in Sue’s ability is obvious, and by the end of the story they have reaffirmed their love for each other. Sue decides to sign up for university, while Malcolm is going to look again at his attitude to work, and his health.
In Part Two of this series I wrote about finding people to support you in your writing ambitions. I usually use workshop sessions organised by the Marcher chapter of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, although the first outing for this short story was a university workshop. A well-run workshop is a brilliant way to improve a piece of work. You can learn a lot by helping other writers, too.
A good workshop is one where only constructive criticism is allowed. As novelist Joanna Maitland puts it, offer three stars and a wish. That is, aim to give three pieces of praise before you make a suggestion for improvement. It’s a classic example of do-as-you-would-be-done-by!
When I had finished the workshop revisions, I went back and checked the length required byThe People’s Friend. Restart would fit nicely into one of their 2,000-word slots, so during the editing process I made sure the word count didn’t go over that figure. When I was happy with the result I saved it onto a thumb drive again, then sent a copy by email to my beta reader. I copied myself in on the email, so I had an insurance copy safe in my inbox.
Once the story was returned to me and I had made the revisions suggested by my reader, I added a front page which set out the working title Restart, my name, the word count, and had my full contact details at the bottom. I copied those, and pasted them onto the last page of my manuscript. After adding the word END and the word count below the final paragraph of my story, I sent it off to The People’s Friend.
Every publisher receives thousands of submissions every year, so waiting for them to respond can be frustrating. Keep writing while you wait. It makes the time pass much more quickly, and means you’ll have more pieces to submit.
The Finished Article in The People’s Friend, September 12th, 2020
Although I called my story and computer file Restart, I never assumed that would be the title of the published work. They are almost always changed for publication, and Restart duly became Catch Me If You Can. There are a number of reasons why publishers change titles. They may have already used that one in the past, their house style may require titles that consist of more than one word, or it has to be a certain length to suit the layout of the typeset page, for example.
That’s the story of my story, from initial ideas about Restart, right through to its submission and eventual publication as Catch Me If You Can. Like everything worth waiting for, success in creative writing takes time but every second is a pleasure, and it’s an amazing feeling to see your name in print.
I’m taking a short break from blogging about writing to get my PhD schedule sorted out. If there’s anything you’d like me to cover in this blog in future, or if you’d like to read Catch Me If You Can, contact me and I’ll see what I can do.
The art of being a creative writer is to identify a need in your audience, and then fill it. If the weather’s terrible, then some readers will be crying out for escape in the form of a sun-drenched romance. If they are going through a bad patch in their lives, then a novel in which the protagonist triumphs over similar circumstances will help give them hope for the future.
Fancy some five-star holiday fun? Find out more here
Most of us read for pleasure, and to leave everyday life behind for a while. You can show your readers that an improvement in circumstances, character growth and change is possible by the way you design your story. As well as a satisfying read, you’ll also give them a subtle boost to their spirits.
While every writer should aim to satisfy reader expectation, don’t forget that writers have needs, too! Make sure you’re writing what you want to write, but tailor it to your readership. That way both sides will get what they want. You’ll enjoy the experience of writing, and your audience will experience a great read.
Identifying what your audience spends time thinking about is a good way to kick-start your imagination. In Part Nine of Writing for Pleasure, Profit, and Posterity, we saw that conflict is vital within a book . One of the common causes of inner conflict can be summed up in an exchange that everyone in England has several times each week—in fact, it’s often a daily occurence:
Most of us aren’t fine. Pic by Kleiton Santos, via Pixabay
“Hi, how are you?” “I’m fine. How are you?” “I’m fine, too!”
Many people have turned this ritual into a verbal tic. You ask the question, and respond in approved fashion because that is what is expected. Generations of English people have been brought up to say I’m fine, because it’s easier to repeat that old lie than it is to say I’m having a terrible time out loud.
Armed with the information that everyone is worried and needs help to see they are not the only ones, you then need to decide what is likely to be the most popular way to torture your central characters.
There are several ways to discover themes relevant to readers. The most obvious is to burgle your own life and experiences. The theme of many of my books and short stories get out of a rut by setting a goal and working toward it. I’m keen to promote this idea as it’s worked so well for me in real life. I came from very humble beginnings, left school at sixteen with hardly any qualifications, then had a series of dead-end jobs until I met my husband. He believed in me, encouraged me to follow my dream as a writer, and supported me until my career took off.
Dear Cathy and Claire, I don’t know what to do with myself now that work as Kate Bush’s stunt double has dried up… Pic by Luxstorm.
If you were born into the life of the idle rich and, unlike me, you’ve led a blameless life since childhood, there are still plenty of places to research popular concerns. The problem pages of magazines and agony aunts in newspapers used to be a rich seam of inspiration, but like the rest of us these have largely migrated online.
Mumsnet and Quora are both great places to look for inspiration, but never forget two golden rules of Creative Writing: DON’T plagiarise by copying the juicy details word for word, and DON’T use the names of real people. You must also bear in mind that not everything you read online is legal, decent, honest, or truthful, to use the Advertising Standards Authority’s motto. Not everyone tells the truth online. Whether you are research for a book, a good lesson for life is whenever you read anything bear in mind the famous ABC of criminal investigation: Accept nothing, Believe nobody, and Check everything!
You can also use a general search engine. I googled “what do people worry about?” and this site helpfully lists the top twenty concerns (pre-Covid).
The worries quoted there can be broken down into seven broad groups. Six of these (getting old, money worries, health, work, emotional problems, and family strife) involve individuals worrying about things that affect them directly. Only one of the Top Twenty worries was concerned with the wider world. That was nervousness about the level of crime in the respondents’ local area, and it was right at the bottom of the list.
Seeing how fictional characters cope can help readers with their own problems. Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com
This is why internal conflict is such a powerful force in Creative Writing. If you ever worry about whether you’re projecting the right image to other people, relax—the chances are they are far too busy worrying about what you’re thinking about them. Use your experience of this feeling of uncertainty, which is almost universal, to bring conflicts within your characters to life.
To engage your readers you need to write about characters they can relate to, and give those characters easily recognisable problems. Deciding what to inflict on your fictional cast is part of the fun of creative writing.
Next time, I’ll be using the ten parts of Writing for Pleasure, Profit, and Posterity to illustrate the path from motivation to submission, and eventual publication. Follow this blog to make sure you don’t miss it!
The four C’s of creative writing are Character, Charisma, Contrast, and Conflict—so here’s what you need to know about them…
Character
Every human being on this planet is the sum of all their past experiences. From princes to paupers and everyone in between, the way they were treated as a child, their birth position in their family, education, health, work (or lack of it) and every other life experience comes together to create a unique person. We’re all works in progress!
Your past is what makes you, you. It’s the same with fictional characters. To make the life they live between the pages of your book feel real, give each of them a past. The very best characters capture the imagination of readers so well, it feels as though they will have a life beyond the end of the story.
Kate Walker provides a great template for developing your characters in her 12-Point Guide to Writing Romance. I adapt her idea by adding some questions of my own about background and circumstances each time I start a new writing project. This creates a database for every new fictional character, tailored to the story I’m writing.
Some of the most interesting questions to ask yourself about your characters concern their childhood. The position of children within their family is a fascinating subject, and important. The upbringing of an only child will be very different from the life of a youngster who is the middle one of three (potentially bossed around by the eldest child, and invisible if their younger sibling needs attention). And what about twins? How much of their character depends on nature, and how much on nurture? Perhaps their mother saw one as “good” and the other as “attention seeking”. The treatment you get as a child has a lasting effect.
I’ve never been a believer in horoscopes but when the poet Paul Groves gave me a book on Zodiac Types, I had to admit that there were eerie similarities between my own character, and those of my birth sign. After that, I compared the personality types of all my family members and friends with the book. It scored more hits than misses, so I’ve used it ever since to help me create characters. Whether or not astrology actually affects our day-to-day life, the way this book lists linked traits of personality, body type, suggestions for ideal careers (or jobs to avoid!) and other details provides exactly the sort of information to kick-start anyone’s imagination.
Charisma
Whether they are heroes or villains, the best fictional characters have charisma. This is much more than simple charm. It’s almost indefinable, but it’s obvious when you see it, or read about a character who has it.
Eva Peron at Casa Rosada, Via Wikimedia Commons
Charisma is a combination of confidence and determination, together with an ability to communicate, and inspire. Charismatic people aren’t always “nice”. Some of the most charismatic people in real life aren’t liked by everyone. Eva Perón and Donald Trump are both examples of charisma in action, but that doesn’t mean you’d automatically vote for either of them.
In fiction, Pride and Prejudice’s Fitzwilliam Darcy is charismatic: George Wickham is charming. Darcy gets the job done: Wickham basks in admiring glances. The best type of fictional hero combines drive and determination with charm and intelligence. Create characters your readers can recognise, then tune their individual facets up or down to make them either more or less heroic, depending on the part they will play in your story.
Contrast
When shall we two meet again? Photo by Ibrahim Asad on Pexels.com
Keep contrast in mind whenever you are writing. If all your characters think, speak, dress and act in similar ways, it will be difficult for the reader to see them as individuals.
Use different types of setting—interiors, exteriors, town, and country, to add variety to your work and keep your audience interested. Use the weather as shorthand, but avoid slipping into cliché.
Shakespeare set the standard for using weather—imagine how different the opening scene of Macbeth would be if he met the witches on a sun-warmed beach at midsummer! Play with the idea of weather setting the scene by turning the idea around— contrast the furious revelations that end a marriage with the beautiful peace of a summer evening, to highlight how poignant relationships can be. Alternatively, have your lovers brought together by a thunderstorm rather than being torn apart. That idea worked beautifully for Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in the Isn’t is a lovely day? routine in the film Top Hat.
Within your story, vary the length of your scenes and chapters. Contrast is also useful in pacing your story. Follow some languid scene-setting with lines of punchy dialogue, or let a violent incident result in a tender love scene, for example when Jack slips away in Titanic.
Once you’ve created a great character, give them something to kick against. In the memorable image first used by an anonymous nineteenth-century theatre critic, you need to chase your protagonist(s) up a tree, then throw rocks at them. There’s a time and place for introspective fiction, but at times of stress or boredom most people don’t want to read about Jo Dull from Beigeville. They’ll grab an Ian Fleming, ready to follow James Bond across oceans to exotic locations.
If your hero chases villains around the world leaving a trail of destruction behind them, that’s what is known as external conflict. Plenty of successful books and films rely on little more than that, but including an element of internal conflict adds depth to both characters and storyline.
External conflict is the sort you see in news bulletins (or Bond films)—war, natural disasters, accidents, fights, financial panics, and so on. Internal conflict is the struggle within a character to reconcile their opposing emotions. They may feel inadequate while trying to live up to the expectations of others, or struggle with the contrast between their public image and private reality.
Internal conflict is the engine driving your character to act in the way they do—guilt, shame, fear, and secret love are some good starting points.
This isn’t the place to discuss the contrast between our contemporary liberal values and the moral strictures of Victorian England, but Holman Hunt’s painting The Awakening Conscienceis the perfect example of inner conflict. The painting is packed with the popular imagery of its time and repays careful study, but here’s a quick 101—this unmarried couple are living outside of society (like Lydia and Wickham in Pride and Prejudice). He has been playing the sentimental tune Oft in the Stilly Night. The lyrics of that popular Victorian song are chock-full of longing for the past, and memories of friends and family who have been lost.
She leaps to her feet in a torment of inner conflict: the life of a mistress at this time was shameful and short. It almost always ended with pregnancy, a sexually-transmitted disease, a descent into prostitution, or a combination of all three. Brought up at a time when everything not permitted was forbidden, this woman’s childhood would have been spent listening to Sunday sermons about wickedness, and veiled hints about the fate of adulterous relationships (don’t get me started on A.L. Egg’s Past and Present, Numbers 1, 2, and 3 or we’ll be here all day!) Her family will either have disowned her when she ran away, or she has been too ashamed to make contact.
Holman Hunt has caught her Will I ever see my family again? moment of inner conflict. Should she stay, or should she go? As with all the best internal conflicts, there’s no easy answer. Should this woman continue her life of present comfort with its almost guaranteed future pain, or abandon it in favour of possible humiliation and rejection if she tries to be reconciled with her family?
Mark my words, this isn’t going to end well… A.E.Egg’s ‘Past and Present, Number One’
To return to the work of Jane Austen: think how much shorter and less captivating Pride and Prejudice would be if the first time George Wickham’s name was mentioned Darcy announced, “He’s a rogue who should be horsewhipped!”. Wickham would be cut from polite society in an instant — end of story.
Instead, Darcy struggles with concealing what he knows about the man. Despite his charisma, Darcy has already been shown to be a judgemental stuffed shirt. If he exposes Wickham as a shallow rogue and compulsive gambler who tried to elope with Georgiana Darcy, he would seem bitter, vengeful, and as big a snob as Mr Collins. More importantly, it would wreck the good name of Darcy’s sister.
The four C’s of Creative Writing will help you put in place the scaffolding that a great story needs. Next time I’ll be writing about how writers can help readers find solutions to problems in their own lives by examining popular themes in their work.
In this series we’ve talked about imagination, capturing it, and then turning your ideas into words. Putting all that together to create a novel takes patience and concentration. I’m about to start a new writing project, so this week I’ll show you how the hints and tips I’ve shared come together in real life.
Last week, Jean Fullerton of the Romantic Novelists’ Association hosted a panel about writing sagas. I’ve written stand-alone historical novels (you can discover my other books here), and was curious to find out more about sagas. I’d never thought of writing one myself— until I listened to Jean and her panel of best-selling authors.
I learned that sagas have changed in recent years and no longer have to be enormous tomes covering decades. The word count for individual sagas within a series can be as low as 80k—or as long as it takes you to tell that segment of the story. Sagas today don’t have to be all clogs, shawls and trouble at t’mill, either. Readers particularly enjoy novels set in Victorian times, but they also love Second World War stories.
The more I listened to the RNA panel, the more I felt like writing about a time of uniforms, silk stockings, and air-raids.
While I was researching Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol, I came across lots of fascinating real-life accounts of life in the city during the Second World War. I only had room for a fraction of them in the published book. For example, a bomb blasted this heavy iron tram rail high into the air and sent it flying toward the famous church of St Mary Redcliffe. It just missed the houses of Colston Parade, and buried itself to half its length (it would have been about six feet long) in the church grounds. Imagine the carnage if it had landed on the houses…
The rail was left where it fell, and a commemorative stone set beside it.
After looking again at the notes I have on file about life in Bristol during the twentieth century, I’ve decided to incorporate some of them into a saga.
One of the many things that going to university as a mature student taught me is that it’s not only important to make lots of notes—you need to be able to find the right bit of that research instantly, before inspiration vanishes.
This is where Scrivener comes in really handy. I talked about it in Part Six, and opening this new project is a way to show it in action. Here’s a screenshot of my first moves this week on Scrivener (to see a larger version, right click on the image):
As soon as I start work on documents within each folder, the appropriate card you can see in the main part of the screenshot will begin to fill with text. The beauty of using this system is that if, for example, I decide one book will cover the period from August 1939 to January 1941 all I need to do is point and drag all the relevant documents into the 1939 folder, and rename it Sept 1939-Jan 1941.
Below the list of dated folders on the left, you’ll see my list of characters. That’s where I’ll file all the details about them such as their age, position in the family, appearance, mannerisms, and anything else that comes to mind. None of this will appear in my finished manuscript—it’s simply a way of keeping all my ideas, research in one place rather than having my notes scattered aorund the house in any number of individual devices and notebooks.
This isn’t to suggest that the lives of my characters Wilf, Mary, their son Arthur, and daughter Sally are in any way based on Gandalf, Mother Teresa, Dean Martin, or Isadora Duncan! All I’m doing is collecting some visual cues for a patriarch, matriarch, party animal, and a free spirit. These will create an instant reminder for me…although I can’t help wondering who would come out on top if Gandalf and Isadora Duncan were involved in a “domestic”!
I’m not a planner, but would rather write “into the mist” as author Joanna Maitland puts it. However, because I’m setting a story in a defined period of history I’ll need to keep tabs on what is happening elsewhere. Writing about my characters munching steak at a time of rationing, or playing floodlit tennis during the blackout is not on.
I started my research for Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol by opening a spreadsheet with the columns representing the one hundred years covered by the book. I then used rows to represent International events, National events and Local events. I filled it in accordingly so that for any year I could see what was going on generally, and see which events might affect Bristol and its women. As you can see below, I’ve done a similar spreadsheet for SAGA_WW2_NURSERY.
This is an extract from my spreadsheet, covering the first months of World War Two.
At this early stage I’ve filled in only the basic details of major international and national events that might affect my characters, using nothing more than good old Google. If in the future I decide to refer to any of those incidents in my novel, I will do more extensive research but for now all I need is a flavour of Autumn 1939.
The Local Events row will involve much more detailed research from the moment I start writing, to help me keep my story true to time and place. I haven’t even begun to think about that yet! I have, though, included an extra row at the bottom of the spreadsheet for details obtained from the Met Office archive about the weather.
Including small details like that will help create a believable setting for my story. After all, what’s the first topic of conversation when any English people meet?
Next time, I’ll be looking in more detail at how to create characters. Sign up to follow this blog below, so you don’t miss Part Nine!
Whether you are going to self-publish your writing, or send it to an industry professional, at some stage your work needs to be set out in a way that makes it easy to read.
If you create a dedicated template on your computer at the beginning of your writing career, it’ll save a lot of time. Just open a new document from that template, and start typing. All the details you’ve stored such as margin and type size, page numbering and font will be applied automatically.
Very few firms request submissions to be made as a paper copy, but as I explained in Part Six, submitting your work in .doc or .docx form is almost universal so start by opening a document in Word. If you don’t use a Windows computer, you can find out more about Word documents here.
Any typed submissions need to be on A4 size paper in portrait orientation. Set up the document on your computer in the same way, and you can be sure it will print properly should you need to run off a paper copy.
Set a good margin all the way round the page— I use 2.5cms—by moving the tabs on the rulers set at the top and left hand side of the blank page. Editors often print out pages of text to read while away from their computers, and this allows them room to add comments.
You’ll need two near-identical templates, one for manuscripts, and one for synopses. This is because, while all the other details remain the same, manuscripts are traditionally double spaced (again, to allow room for written revisions) and synopses are single-spaced.
Once you’ve created a template, all you need to do is type…Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com
Set up the line spacing on each template to “2” and “1” respectively, but always check before submitting whether the firm you are contacting is happy with those settings. Some have different requirements. The information will be included in their guidelines for submission so check and be ready to change your spacings if necessary. CNTRL A will highlight a complete block of text, so you can alter the look of your whole document in seconds.
Next, set headers and footers. On my computer this is done by clicking on “Insert” then choosing “Headers and Footers”. I put my name, and the title of my piece in a header, and use a footer for the page number. This means every page of work can be easily traced back to its original document, and its position within the manuscript. That’s important in case an editor prints out only part of your work, as mentioned above
I always use Times New Roman font, 12-point size for both headers and text. You’re not obliged to use Times New Roman, but along with Arial it’s one of the industry’s preferred fonts as it’s easy to read and universally recognised. Steer clear of anything else. If your work uses an unusual font which isn’t installed on your recipients system, a document that looks perfect on your screen might be unreadable when opened on their computer.
Here’s the layout I use for front and end pages
Always use black type. It’s easier to read, and looks professional.
Before submission, your work will need a title page which includes your name, contact details, and the word count. Once I’ve set one up, I copy and paste it to act as an end page, too. Then the reader won’t have to scroll right back to the beginning of the document to find my email address. It’s all there on the last page, ready for them to dash off a congratulatory message (I hope!) the second they’ve finished reading.
Once you have created a blank document with wide margins, an acceptable font and print size, set the spacing, and included placeholders for the heading, hit File >Save As, and then select “Template” from the drop down menu and give it a descriptive name such as Prose or Synopsis. Then all you need to do is select whichever option you need, each time you open a new document.
When your work is finished and you’re ready to submit, go through the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook to find somewhere suitable to send it. Even if you rely on the latest edition, personnel in the publishing industry regularly take on different roles, or change firms. Approaching the right person in the right company and giving them their correct title shows you’ve done your research. Cross-check all details with the company’s website, which will give you the most up-to-date information, and precise details about the form in which your work should be submitted.
It all started with a manuscript!
Make sure you send exactly what is required, and if you are asked to send a printed copy, don’t forget to include return postage. Publishing professionals receive hundreds of submissions each week. They don’t have the time or money to waste on printing out address labels, and calculating individual postage rates. If your work doesn’t appeal to them, it will be shredded unless you include an envelope with your name and address on it, and enough stamps to cover return of your work.
Next time, I’ll be giving details of what agents and publishers are looking for in a submission. Sign up below to make sure you can read Part Eight of Writing for Pleasure, Profit, and Posterity as soon as it is published!
In Part Four, I talked about always keeping a notebook with you to capture your thoughts. That’s perfect when you’re writing a journal and don’t expect to show anyone else your work. If you have ambitions to see your name in print, then you’ll need to organise your thoughts into manuscript form. At the very least you’ll need to turn your notes into a computer file. Not many agents and publishers insist on typed scripts these days, but once you’ve created a document on your word processor you can turn it into any form requested.
Handwritten manuscripts aren’t acceptable to the publishing industry. Whether you intend to self-publish your work or approach agents with a view to conventional publication it’ll save you a lot of work if, right from the start, you get into the habit of creating a computer document from your notes, set out in such a way that it’s ready for submission.
I’ll be looking at how to set out your work in more detail in Part Seven, but the most important thing at this point is that you need a computer capable of creating Word documents, which is the format usually required by the publishing industry. If you have a Windows PC but don’t already have Word (usually as part of Microsoft Office) and you don’t want to pay the subscription for it, then there are free Windows packages such as LibreOffice that can save their files in Word format. I use a Mac (that’s because I rely on my brilliant husband, a systems analyst, for all things technical. If anything goes wrong, he can fix it!) and this comes with Apple Pages which in theory also can save in Word format but in practice not perfectly. I would recommend getting hold of Office for Apple if you can; if you’re a student you may be able to access Word for free via your educational establishment, or get a reduced rate when subscribing.
Once you’re up and running with a system that will produce your work in Word form, you’ll need to transfer your notes onto it. There are various speech recognition computer programs such as Dragon Dictate , which I mentioned in Part Four. These are a way of reading your work into words, rather than typing them and are available in both Mac and PC versions. I don’t use them myself, although lots of people find they work very well.
If you have a scanner then you could get hold of a package to convert scanned documents to text but none are 100% perfect, especially with handwriting, so you’d still have to check every word in the file it creates.
When I was working on Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol, I typed most of my ideas and notes straight into a Neo. This was essentially a computer that ran a built-in, basic word processing package and automatically saved as you typed. You typed, it saved your work, and that’s it. Sadly, the Neo isn’t made anymore. That’s probably because of the very feature that made it so valuable to me—its lack of internet connectivity—which meant I couldn’t waste writing time by surfing the net, looking at adverts, and buying online. All you could do with a Neo was type and then upload your file onto a conventional computer.
Much as I love writing, the temptation to surf the internet as a break from puzzling over a tricky scene is irresistible. I wouldn’t be without my Neo, so if you (or someone you know) has the technical skill to maintain one of these little treasures and you happen to see a second-hand one for sale, snap it up. It puts an end to online time-wasting!
While I always send my finished work off as a document created in Word, if I’m working on a long article in several sections or novel, I use a package called Scrivener to help me. It stores all the notes and images I’ve gathered in the same place as I create my text. Each new project has its own file, which Scrivener calls (handily enough) a Project. This is described as a digital ring-binder. There’s somewhere to store everything you need to create your book.
I took some of the photographs which illustrate Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol, and stored them within my Struggle Project. There was also a file for the intricate timeline I developed which consisted of three strands: international events, national events, and local events. There was no need to lose that brilliant idea I jotted down on the back of a receipt while out and about somewhere—I’d take a snap, then upload it into the relevant .scriv file on my computer.
I opened a new chapter for each topic I wanted to cover (education, work, daily life, etc) gave it a snappy title such as Fun and Games or Firebrands and Fixers, and set to work. I could view my work in all sorts of ways, a scene at a time, or the whole document as a rolling scroll, for example. Creating the project within Scrivener was half the fun! Click on the badge above to find out more.
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you’ll know that technology is definitely not my friend, but Scrivener is so user friendly I managed to install it myself, and the tutorial and video included with the package are straightforward. There are loads more videos on YouTube, both by Scrivener’s creators Literature and Latte and by keen users of the system, so whatever your question, somebody has it covered. If, like me, you learn more easily from books, I highly recommend Gwen Hernandez’s Scrivener for Dummies. There is a slightly more recent version available on Amazon, but I have this edition and haven’t bothered getting the newer one as I like Gwen’s style. Both her book, and her online tips are really helpful.
One of the great features about Scrivener is that if you want to self-publish your work, with a couple of clicks it will turn your manuscript into a format that can be uploaded straight into your chosen publishing platform. That means you can do almost all of the work of producing your book yourself, although to make your book the best it can possibly be you should still employ professionals to edit it. Creating your cover is another job that should also be left to a professional, unless you are completely confident with not only your artistic skills, but in your ability to design something that works well at thumbnail size. Those two talents don’t always go together!
No piece on using computers would be complete without a reminder to save your work, and save it often. You can set your computer to save automatically—mine does it every thirty minutes. Don’t just rely on that, though, in case your computer goes wrong and you can’t access any of your work. Save it in at least two other places. I use flash drives (dongles), and email. I don’t bother with cloud storage systems such as Dropbox, but that’s only because I have quite enough passwords to remember already!
This is what I use: the “F” at top right stands for Friday, of course!
I have one flash drive for each day of the week, and plug the appropriate one into my computer each morning. I can then save my work to it each time I take a tea break, or when I stop for lunch. In the event of some technological disaster, at most I’ll only have lost a couple of hours’ work. My other six flash drives hold the week’s previous drafts of my work, so I can always go back and rescue anything I may have changed, and then had second thoughts about.
At the end of each day I email the latest version of the document I’m working on to myself, as well as saving it to flash drive. That way, everything is covered.
Next time, I’ll be talking about how to layout your manuscript, so sign up below to follow my blog and you’ll be sure to see it the minute it’s published.
Now you’ve found your inspiration, you can set to work. Get ready to shine a light on all those subjects that have been waiting for your unique voice to bring them to life.
I’ve found that clearing my diary and desk before beginning a new project works like magic. Without the shadow of appointments or deadlines, or distractions such as my towering To Be Read pile and accounts waiting to be updated, I can sit down with a clear conscience and start writing.
Let the smell of the furniture polish and screen wipes you use when making that clean sweep act as stimulants, but don’t allow procrastination to lock you into an endless loop of housekeeping. There’s a limit to the number of times pencils can be sharpened before they disappear!
Only you can fully understand the motivation behind your need to write. Writing for pleasure, profit, or posterity are all equally valid reasons. I know many of you are using writing to help you through the anxiety of illness and lockdown. Hard though your accounts may be to write, they will fascinate future generations and offer insights into the ability of human beings to adapt to any situation.
Regardless of your reason for starting to write, it should always be a pleasure. If you write from the heart, your enthusiasm will shine through. It doesn’t matter if nobody else ever sees what you’ve written. Translating your thoughts into words, seeing them on a page or screen and then refining them is an achievement in itself. Millions of people think about doing it, but only a small number actually settle down and put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard).
While I’m lucky enough to earn most of my living from writing, I have always looked on any payment I receive as a bonus. I enjoy writing so much I’d do it for nothing—and that happens more often than you’d think! I’ve been involved in projects that started well but somehow never gelled, others where I’ve loved every minute and poured my heart and soul into the work, and yet it wasn’t picked up by a publisher. Most frustrating of all, I’ve had a novel accepted by an independent publisher which—so far— has never managed to get as far as publication.
Writing is always worth the trouble, although your work is unlikely to be snapped up for a six-figure advance. In these days of shrinking budgets and growing costs, getting paid any money at all before your book has been on sale for several months is rare. Payments may continue to trickle in for years afterwards, but to begin with you’ll become richer in writing experience than in hard cash.
That experience will help you to help yourself, and others. In good weather, our house is a lovely twenty-minute stroll through the woods from the nearest main road. A few years ago, we were completely marooned by snow for several weeks. Collecting our deliveries and groceries meant a tiring half-hour trudge through drifts almost up to the tops of our boots, before hauling our goods home on a sled. That was fun the first few times, but the novelty soon wore off.
During that season of snowstorms the electricity was cut off quite often. The weight of snow kept bringing down branches onto the power lines running through the wood. As many people in this rural area were in the same predicament, we often had to wait for a long time before we were reconnected to the power supply.
Although our isolation then was nothing compared to the current crisis, keeping a journal about our day-to-day life kept me busy by giving me something to focus on. Looking back on the entries I made then is fascinating. It reminds me to double check our supplies of candles and torch batteries. Not to mention Calor gas, staples like flour, yeast, and the one thing I can’t live without—tea!
One day, historians could be poring over your thoughts Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
You don’t need to live in interesting times to create something that will fascinate future generations. The Mass Observation Archive, which is held as part of the University of Sussex’s Special Collections, originally started in 1937 as a national life-writing project. Submissions from a cross-section of British people supplied accounts of lives that now exist only between the covers of history books. The difference is, contributions to the Mass Observation Archive have been written by people like you and me, rather than professors of politics and economics.
The most well-known example of a contributor to the MOA is probably Nella Last, whose journal entries have been published as Nella Last’s War, and were adapted by Victoria Wood to create the TV drama Housewife, 49. Nella’s life is a world away from how we live now. Things are bound to change in the future—why not leave a record of your own life for posterity? Imagine giving your grandchildren, and their grandchildren, a written example to follow (not to mention an endless source of material for school projects!). Start writing today. Your family, as well as future historians, will thank you for it.
Next time I’ll be talking about the ways your ideas can be turned into a manuscript that’s ready for submission. Make sure you sign up below, so you can read Part Six the minute it’s published.
Part Four: Inspiration—Find It, Catch It, File It!
Everything is Copy! Photo by Keira Burton on Pexels.com
Whenever I get to the end of a talk and ask if anybody has any questions, I can guarantee that where do you get your ideas from? will crop up. That’s easy to answer—anywhere, and everywhere. As journalist and author Nora (‘When Harry Met Sally’) Ephron’s mother told her, everything is copy.
When I worked as an office junior, my bus ride to and from central Bristol each day was a Pandora’s box of half-heard conversations, and scenes glimpsed in passing. The tricky part is turning all that raw information into something useful. To do that, you need to capture and store it in a way that can be easily traced. That last step can be the most difficult one of all.
A lot of us have to make do with daily walks instead of road and rail journeys at the moment, but everything we see and hear while we’re outside provides some great starting points. If you can’t get out, books, magazines, TV and radio can all provide inspiration. Imagine what the characters in your favourite novel were doing immediately before they appeared in the published story, or after they left it. George MacDonald Fraser did this memorably with the Flashman Series. These books gave the bully from Tom Brown’s School Days another lease of life as an anti-hero.
The Fifty Shades series began as fan fiction…Pic by Hanna Kovalchuk, via Pixabay
Don’t trap yourself within the cage of fan fiction—let your mind wander to new settings, and invent new names for your characters. All you are looking for is a launch pad for your thoughts—you don’t want to be accused of plagiarism.
Browse Quora to see what ordinary people are asking the hive mind. Give one of those popular questions to your characters, and see if they can solve it. If lots of people are interested in the question, they’ll be interested in your fictional solution to it, too.
Writing competitions often give prompts, which can get your creative thoughts moving. Writing magazines are a good source of these competitions. Once you’ve been inspired by the topic and completed your entry, check the rules to see if you can submit it to other competitions while you’re waiting for the result. If there are no restrictions, you’ll have a piece of work all ready for submission to competitions such as The Bridport Prize and The Bath Short Story Award, which don’t specify a theme.
I always keep a notebook and pencil to hand. They are stashed all around the house, and even in the glove compartment of the car! That way, if inspiration strikes when I’m in bed, watching TV, or stuck in a car park waiting for somebody, I can start writing on the spot.
I can’t walk into a stationery store without buying a new notebook. I have them in all shapes, sizes and colours but this red Moleskine is my current favourite as it was a Christmas present from my daughter. She knows I love to keep one of these in my bag to channel my inner Hemingway while I’m on the move, and all my other general Moleskine notebooks have been black. They aren’t too easy to find in my huge, black-lined mathom-hole of a bag, but this one is very easy to spot!
The open notebook in the photo is the one I use for non-fiction projects. It’s divided up in a similar way to the Cornell note-taking system, and turned out to be perfect for my university work. There’s space at the top for an overview of the subject, margins for headings and then space for notes. Unlike my manyPukka Pads, the pages of this particular Moleskine are numbered, so I can fill in the index at the front easily (if I remember!).
You can use your phone to make recordings of your ideas as they happen, or use a dictaphone. I’ve tried both, as well as Dragon Dictate for transposing my thoughts directly onto the computer, but I gave up on all those methods quite quickly. I much prefer the process of writing on paper, with a pencil.
Make sure you get permission before taking photos—this is by Hai Nguyen Tien, via Pixabay.
The advantage when you make notes on your phone is that you can snap a quick photo at the same time. That will act as a visual reminder of the geography of a setting, the texture of fabrics, or a particular colour scheme.
If you take photos of people, get their permission first. According to Avon and Somerset Police there’s no law in the UK against taking photos in a public place—even photos of other people’s children, strange though it may seem—but many people don’t like it. Respect their feelings.
Get the landowner’s permission before taking photos. Photographing people anywhere they might reasonably expect to be private, such as inside their house or garden, is very likely to breach privacy laws.
Make sure you give each of your pictures a unique, meaningful title when you upload them. That will make it easy to find them again. I have a main folder on my computer for Photos. This is subdivided according to general subject such as food, plants, animals, birds. Each subject is then further divided into cake, flowers, poultry, Alex, for example.
Each photo then gets a unique identifier, so the latest one I took for Instant Lift has been given the name Catkins_Home_12012021. This means I can search for it according to subject, location, or date. If I’m short on inspiration or I’ve been commissioned to write something on a particular subject, I can then go to the top level folders and browse all the content for ideas.
I use a similar system for each writing project I begin. Everything from initial ideas to character descriptions and timelines are stored in a single folder with an obvious title, such as Thriller. I then add the date I started it, so it becomes Thriller_Jan 2021. Within that main folder, the individual documents are called Characters_Thriller_Jan 2021, and so on. That way I can find things easily, and I know how long a project takes from beginning to end.
Next time I’ll be exploring some of the ways writing can help your family, your mind, and even your bank balance. Sign up below to follow my blog, so you can read it the minute it’s published!
Finding your audience and giving them what they want to read is a big part of becoming an author.
The most important member of your writing audience is you. Never forget that, because if you’ve enjoyed creating a piece and you’re happy with the result then you’ll have satisfied 100% of your audience. Your enthusiasm will shine through your work, too. As the old saying goes, if you find a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life—but if you want to get published, you’ll need to keep a wider target audience in mind.
Some authors create detailed profiles of their ideal reader, right down to their likely politics. Others write for themselves, then submit their work to publishers of the things they read for pleasure. That’s how I began my professional writing career. The first article I sold was to The Garden magazine, which is the monthly journal of the Royal Horticultural Society. I’d already been a member for long enough to absorb their house style, and had a detailed knowledge of the kind of article—its subject matter, length, and approach, for example—they would be likely to accept.
When I was making my living by writing articles for magazines, it helped that I could supply my own photographs. I could offer a complete package, the publication’s production team didn’t have to worry about sourcing illustrations and I was paid for each picture. That meant everyone was happy!
There aren’t as many opportunities to sell short stories to magazines as there used to be, but those which accept submissions offer detailed guidelines so make sure you follow them. You would be amazed how many people miss out this vital step. Do your research by reading plenty of back copies to get a taste of what the editor is looking for. Don’t send a story about a serial killer to The People’s Friend, for example.
Pic by K Concha, via Pixabay
Visit any publication’s webpage and you’ll find a link to their guidelines for submission. It’s usually right at the bottom of the page, close to “contact us”. Study them, and you’ll be able to make sure your work won’t be rejected because it’s unsuitable.
When it comes to non-fiction, there are more opportunities to see your name in print. Letters to the editor, or short, accurate articles written from personal experience make useful fillers for magazines and newspapers. This is where my memories of how things were done before the Internet Age will find a home. Again, study the publications which might accept your work for several weeks before submitting.
Editors love to see something similar to, but different from, the things they already publish. They’re looking for new angles and new voices on topics that are already popular with their readers, so give them what they want. Whatever you write, make sure it has a snappy title. Why did King George V Say ‘Bu**er Bognor’? is more likely to get a second glance than What I Did On My Holidayin West Sussex (I’ll leave you to argue what His Majesty did or didn’t say on his deathbed!).
If you want to write novellas, full-length novels, or non-fiction books, luck and fashion are almost as important as literary brilliance. You can improve your chance of acceptance by finding out exactly what type of book literary agents and publishers are looking for by studying a reference book such as the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook 2021.
If you haven’t found your writing tribe yet, you’ll find the Writers’ and Artists Yearbook invaluable. It’s packed full of information, with details of writing competitions, magazines, newspapers, literary agents, and publishers but make sure you use an up-to-date copy as contact details within the publishing industry change frequently.
Once you’ve made sure you aren’t sending your novel to a professional who doesn’t accept fiction, or your autobiography to a firm that only deals with poetry, whether your work is accepted doesn’t only depend on how well-written it is. An editor might enjoy your work without feeling the surge of endless enthusiasm needed to see your project through the months of editing and promotion needed to produce, and then sell, it.
Competition is so great for the limited number of publishing slots available, my advice is to write the book of your heart—a project that you would work on for free. Throw all your enthusiasm into it and that will show in the quality of your writing. If you are completely committed to your project, your conviction will see you through the submission process until you are successful, no matter how long it takes.
I’ll be covering book submissions in more detail in future parts of Writing for Pleasure, Profit and Posterity, so make sure you subscribe to my blog using the form below. That way, you won’t miss a thing!
Writing competitions give you an important incentive to get a piece written and polished before the closing date. Use an easily readable font and type-size—Times New Roman, 12-point is a good one if the competition doesn’t have a specific requirement.
Follow the rules! Photo by Markus Winkler on Pexels.com
Make sure you study the rules. You don’t want to be disqualified because your work is too long, or you’ve missed the closing date. When I became a mature student at the University of Gloucestershire, my daughter (an alumna of the University of Reading) gave me a handy tip regarding assignment deadlines which works well for writing competitions, too. Put a note on your phone or calendar for a week BEFORE the closing date. Finish your piece by then and you’ll still have a whole seven days to refine it, instead of cramming all your checks and edits into the last frantic hours before the deadline. During my recent university career I had reason to thank my daughter lots of times for that suggestion!
Comb through the small print before submitting anything to make sure that by entering, you aren’t signing away your rights to send the same piece to other competitions.
In Part Two of this series, I suggested that you should find a writing community to support you. Whether you belong to one of the big writing associations or a smaller local one, they will be able to give you lots of information about which publications are buying work, and news of competitions.
There are also lots of Facebook groups which can help. Just key “writing groups” into the search box. As with all online content it pays to be cautious, so make sure you’re a good fit with other members. There are always some people who like to take charge and they can be intimidating when you’re just starting out. Whether you join a virtual writing group or a real one, don’t be afraid to leave if you’re not finding the help and support you need.
Part Four will cover where to find inspiration for your writing, and how to capture it. To read the next episode of Writing for Pleasure, Profit, and Posterity as soon as it’s published, subscribe to my blog using the form below.
Writers are always being asked the questionwhere do you get your ideas? The simple answer to that is anywhere and everywhere, but that’s not much to go on when you’re starting out as a writer.
Later in Writing for Pleasure, Profit, and Posterity I’ll be looking at capturing inspiration and the best way to organise your notes, but today I want to focus on the importance of finding your writing community. That’s your support group of cheerleaders, mentors, and others you’ll need in your quest to become a writer. They’ll help you formulate your ideas, brainstorm your projects, and provide you with inspiration.
Don’t worry if you don’t know any writers yet. I didn’t know anybody when I started out, but once I made the commitment to become a full-time writer, I was soon getting advice from all quarters. The writing community is supportive of newbies, and is keen to pass on the tips and wrinkles they’ve learned over the years.
You need people who will support you, but won’t be shy about offering constructive criticism when needed. While it’s lovely to have the backing of your immediate family (my career as a successful writer relies on tons of support from my husband and our children, for which I’m very grateful) don’t be tempted to show them your first efforts. If your family is like my tribe, they won’t want to hurt your feelings. Should your relations be less than supportive of your dreams, you might not like what they have to say.
The obvious first place to start is with a writing professional, such as the tutor of a good local (or online) creative writing course. You should expect to pay for their advice by enrolling, which is how I found my first writing mentor, the award-winning poet Paul Groves. Paul was running classes in creative writing at a local college. We became friends after I joined the course, and he has been giving me advice and support ever since.
In a future edition of Writing for Pleasure, Profit, and Posterity I’ll be covering courses in detail and how to choose a good one, so make sure you subscribe by putting your email address in the box below. Don’t worry, I won’t ever pass on your details, or send out spam.
Courses and workshops are vital to help you improve your writing, and they are a great source of inspiration. Students can bounce ideas off each other, and a good tutor will provide details of opportunities for writers such as competitions. Most writing competitions specify a theme. Like mortal danger, the idea of finishing a piece before the closing date is a great cure for writers’ block!
If you are serious about becoming a professional author, the Society of Authors offers loads of benefits such as workshops, training, and a contract vetting service. They also have an extensive branch network with lots of social events in non-Covid times, and plenty of online meet-ups during lockdowns.
If you already know what you want to write, it’s worth joining a specialist association. I belong to the Romantic Novelists’ Association. The RNA and its members have helped me every step of the way. I was a published author before I discovered them, and wish I’d known about their New Writers’ Scheme when I was first starting out. It gives unpublished writers the chance to have their work critiqued by professionals (including me), and each year the RNA presents the Joan Hessayon Award to the best debut novel. In 2020, this was won by Melissa Oliver’s historical novel, The Rebel Heiress and the Knight.
As well as writing “Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol”, I took some of the photos which illustrate the book. This is the oldest pub in the city, which predates the more famous “Llandoger Trow” by nearly sixty years.
It was through my links with the Romantic Novelists’ Association that I came to write my first non-fiction book, Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol. You can find out more about Struggle and Suffrage in Bristolhere. Pen and Sword Books were planning a series about women’s lives during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in major towns and cities around the United Kingdom. They had authors for all of the intended books except for Plymouth, Bristol, and Bath. The news was posted on the RNA site, and as I was born only a few miles from Bristol, I submitted a proposal for the book and won the contract.
There’ll be more about research for writers, and how to write proposals in future editions of Writing for Pleasure, Profit, and Posterity, so subscribe to my blog by using the form below to make sure you don’t miss anything!
Writing for pleasure is cheap and satisfying. Anybody can do it once they’ve learned to form letters into words, and it can be turned to all sorts of uses from novel writing to memoir. That makes it the perfect hobby—but writing can do much more than that.
There have been times in my life when I’ve really had to struggle to get out of bed—when I was suffering from postnatal depression, physical health problems such as arthritis or migraine, or even when there was something as simple as a maths test on my horizon.
During every kind of crisis in my life, writing—along with the right kind of professional help—comes to my rescue. Capturing my thoughts gives me something outside of myself to focus on. Once I can see the problem in words, I can focus on it and find a solution.
Keeping a journal help you to put your thoughts in order
During lockdown, we’ve all been forced into our own company, possibly for the first time in our lives. It feels strange to be cut loose from the daily routine of commuting, the school run, office politics, and having a good old gossip with friends.
Working from home surrounded only by our closest family (if we’re lucky enough to have them) feels strange at first. It takes some getting used to but it’s actually closer to how people are supposed to live, rather than the nine-to-five grind which gives us so little time to see our partners or children.
Here are Adam and Eve being evicted from the Garden of Eden. They can’t say they weren’t warned…(Pic by Falco, via Pixabay)
Think back to creation stories. Adam and Eve, Lucy, the little group from Laetoli and Australia’s people of the Dreamtime didn’t have tick-boxes, timetables, or clocks. Life was hard for them and let’s face it, often horrible as they discovered which foods were good to eat, which would get them thrown out of Paradise, which animals to chase, and which animals were likely to chase them.
What all those early people did have was each other, open spaces, and stories. Lockdown has made us realise how much we rely on interacting with our friends and family. Lack of space indoors means this can’t always be on our own terms. That’s why it’s such a relief when we can get outside for a change of scene, and take some exercise.
Stories around the fire!
The human race needs the company of its own kind, and to feel fresh air and sunlight on its skin. If those needs can’t be satisfied, the next best thing is to read about someone else experiencing them. That’s why people will always want stories.
If you can satisfy their desire to escape from their own life for a little while by reading about someone else’s experiences, whether fictional or real, then your writing will also be profitable. You’ll have satisfied your creative instinct, and made your readers happy. You may even make some money.
Writing is a great way for everyone on the planet to make their voices heard. You can learn to formulate your arguments into a protest piece, or an email to your member of parliament or other political representative. Writing will also preserve your unique voice for posterity. Life has changed enormously over the past few years. It’s hard to remember how we survived before sat navs, iPhones, and Airbnb for example, so write down your memories. Future generations will love them!
Can you remember what this is? Answers on a postcard…if you know what a postcard is!
Memoirs by people such as Winifred Foley and Laurie Lee give us glimpses of a life before the Internet Age. Future generations will be fascinated to read about the early years of the twenty-first century, so why not make a start now, by capturing all the strange things we used to do such as smoking in public, or buying paper copies of maps?
Without a doubt, the best thing that’s happened to me over the past few years is going from school dropout to university student. I got the chance to meet all sorts of people, and do things I’d never dreamed of doing—such as becoming managing director of a project to create Heritage, an anthology of new writing.
Goodbye, 2020, you won’t be missed. The past twelve months have been so bad for everyone, I’ve decided to do what I can to stop the rot. Voltaire is supposed to have said that although life’s a shipwreck, we can at least sing in the lifeboats—so I want to get as many people on board my lifeboat as possible, to try and raise everyone’s spirits
Never give up hope. The winter days are short and gloomy here in the UK right now, but we’ve got nine minutes more daylight today than we had on 21st December because the sun is setting a little bit later each day (check here if you don’t believe me!). And while the pandemic is raging everywhere, the fight back against Covid is gathering speed.
In the Victorian language of flowers, snowdrops mean “Hope”. I’ve planted lots here at Tottering Towers!
Back in the 1990s, I was right at the bottom of a deep, dark hole. Our house was mortgaged, interest rates were above 10%, my husband’s job was in danger, and I was living in the deep shadow of postnatal depression. The day I realised we had less than £2 to spend on food for the week, it was the exact opposite of all my Christmases coming at once.
We survived, but it wasn’t easy—so this year my blog will be dedicated to sharing the tips and wrinkles that have helped me through disaster, debt and depression. The world turns right round in twenty-four hours, and sunrise always follows sunset. Good times are bound to be around the corner—a lucky break, a chance encounter, a medical breakthrough—so hang on, and have faith in yourself. You can do it, because you are stronger than you know.
My blog focuses on writing, gardening, and cooking, as these are the things that have helped me through bad times and given me ways to celebrate good times.
Next week I’m starting a new series here. It’s called Writing for Pleasure, Profit, and Posterity, so make sure you catch Part One by popping your email address in the “Subscribe” box below!
2020 has been quite a year. I’m really looking forward to January 1st, as I’m convinced 2021 is going to be a whole lot better than the twelve months that have just gone by.
To kick off the New Year, I’ll be starting a new series on writing. During my studies at the University of Gloucestershire, I discovered that getting my feelings down in words really helped my mental health. Like everyone else I hate lockdown, and writing helps me process negative feelings.
Expressing yourself in words is useful in another way, too. In the future when social distancing is a distant memory, records of how we coped during the pandemic will help future generations deal with whatever life throws at them. In the same way we look back with fascination on the stories of people who lived through the Second World War, post-Covid readers and researchers will be glad we took the time to write down the details of our daily life.
My new series will give you the confidence to write whatever you like— whether it’s for pleasure, posterity or profit—so if there’s anything about the art and craft of creative writing you’d like to see covered, post a comment below
Thank you to everyone who put in a bid for a signed copy of Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol during the Children in Read part of the charity fundraiser. Children in Read raised an amazing amount of money — over £21,000!
The winning bid for my book came from a village only a few miles across the fields from where I was born in Somerset, which made me quite homesick.
If you’d like to read an extract from Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol, just click on the image entitled My Current Release at the top right of this page. Pick up your own paperback or kindle version — and it would make the perfect present for anyone who loves the city of Bristol.
Imagine being towed along at high speed behind him!
The very generous winner will be receiving their signed copy of Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol as soon as I can harness Alex to a dog-sled and slither down our frosty valley to the local post office. Good job I’m only joking about the sled—the idea of being towed at high speed through the forest undergrowth in search of a meaty treat behind our confirmed scavenger is terrifying!
It’s minus 2 outside at the moment, and since I broke my ankle a few years ago I’m as nervous as a kitten on slippery ground. I only leave the house to walk Alex, feed the hens and wild birds, and check the greenhouses. The rest of the time I enjoy the glorious sight of the Gloucestershire countryside locked in frost through the window.
The grass has become needles of ice, and a white lacework of cobwebs is draped along the hedges and gates. Luckily I’ve got the fruit trees clustered around the greenhouse heater. The photo shows what happened a couple of years ago when the greenhouse was unheated.
Thank you again to everyone who took part in Children in Need
I’ve had this Pudsey wooden spoon since my children were small!
As part of the BBC’s annual Children in Need appeal, the Children in Read charity auction is offering signed books in all genres and on all topics.
You’ll have to be quick to stake your claim as bidding closes at 11pm on Friday, 13th November!
Lot 172 is a signed copy of my latest non-fiction book, “Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol” is on offer in the history section. You can find out more at https://t.co/uEi9zK1fEp?amp=1
Until the 1940s, home cooks used either fresh “bakers” yeast or home-made “sourdough” starters to make their bread rise. Then some genius discovered how to produce bakers yeast on an industrial scale, and packaged it in such a way that it could be stored in the kitchen for months on end.
Pic by Lebensmittelphotos, via Pixabay
After the Second World War, improved manufacturing, packaging and transport systems made it easy to buy fresh bread of a standardised quality from shops. The only people left baking bread at home were those worried by what additives this Chorleywood Process of bread-making might do to their health.
I bought my first bread-making machine as a treat for myself when our last baby was born. It got me really interested in all types of bread-making. Since then, bread, rolls, buns, naans, pizza bases —you name it, I make it. The only bread we buy now is for the family’s weekly Friday night treat of bacon-and-egg sandwiches. To get the full, wicked experience, those have to be made with ready-made white sliced bread. Healthy eating takes a back seat at the end of a busy week!
Then came the Coronavirus lockdown. Within a week or two, I couldn’t buy yeast locally. That didn’t mean it had disappeared entirely. I saw some offered online at a cost of £15 for a packet that, pre-virus, would have cost only about a pound! There was no way I was going to support a profiteer. Instead, I made my own raising agent.
You can read about how I did that here. I had to start the process before I ran out of packet yeast, as it takes a few days to build up enough for baking. Five days after making a simple paste with nothing but flour and water, the resulting yeast culture had expanded enough for me to make my first loaf of bread.
In the same way making your own starter takes time, baking with it needs patience. That’s why sourdough loaves and other artisan breads are so expensive! Andrew Whitley’s book Bread Mattersis a fascinating read, and it sparked my interest in speciality bread-making. Over the years I’ve adapted his recipes and timings until I settled on the following method. It turns out a good, light loaf every time.
Starter mix all ready to go!
A few hours before you start, fill a jug with half a litre of cold water and put it aside, covered. Letting the water stand allows the chlorine within it to dissipate. If you forget to do this ahead of time—as I sometimes do!—use cool, boiled water from the kettle.
Last thing at night, measure out a big ladleful of bread-making starter (see here for details) into a large mixing bowl with 50g of wholemeal bread-making flour and 150g of strong white bread-making flour. Add enough aired water from the jug to make a stiffish dough. Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight.
A mixture of flours
Next morning, mix together in a separate bowl 100g wholemeal flour, 300g strong white bread flour, a heaped teaspoon of salt, and 300ml water. Andrew Whitley says knead this mixture vigorously for between eight to ten minutes, but I cheat by measuring everything into my food mixer and leaving it to run at a medium speed until the dough is stretchy (about five minutes).
Mix until stretchy
I’ve found I get better results when bread-making if I go by the feel and stretchiness of the dough rather than by strict measurements and timings. Different flours absorb different amounts of water. Once you’ve followed a recipe a couple of times, you get a feel for what works well.
Add a couple of big ladles of your sourdough starter, and knead (or mix by machine) for a few more minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. At this point it should be quite sticky, but be careful not to make it too wet or it won’t rise well.
The first rise…
Moisten a clean kitchen work-surface with a little water, put the dough on it and invert a clean bowl over the top (I wash out the mixer bowl, and use that). Leave for about an hour, during which time the natural yeasts work their magic and the dough will rise. At this point Andrew Whitley holds a plastic dough scraper in each hand and gently stretches the mixture first one way, then the other, folding the dough in on itself to retain the air while exploiting its elastic properties to gently trap as much air as possible. If you don’t have a pair of dough-scrapers, you can use a plastic spatula or the tips of your fingers. That’s how I started. The thing is to be gentle rather than forceful—you want to stretch, not squash.
A small loaf set to rise
I rise my dough in linen-lined baskets, until the mark made by my finger in the surface takes only a few seconds to disappear, then turn the risen loaves out onto a flat tray for baking. The dough can just as easily be put into a greased baking tin, left to rise and then put straight into the oven to be baked. Either way, I give the lined basket or tin a really thick coating of flour to stop the dough drying out while rising, or sticking to the tin when cooked.
Rising takes between 3-5 hours. The dough is ready to cook when it takes a second or so to spring back after you poke it with a floury finger. If the dough has been put to rise in a basket, it will need to be tipped out onto a baking tray for cooking. This has to be done very carefully, or the air you’ve worked so hard to incorporate will escape and the dough will deflate like a Christmas balloon on January 6th.
The oven needs to be really hot to begin with— 220 degrees C or equivalent— to make the dough expand vigorously before the yeast is killed by the heat. After ten minutes at that temperature reduce the heat to around 200 degrees C, and bake for about another 30 minutes until the loaf is firm and golden.
How are you managing for bread and other staples at this time?
How are you weathering this awful crisis? I’m a loner by nature and thought I’d be able to cope well with being in isolation. After all, I’ve worked from home with no near neighbours for years, but it isn’t quite working out as I’d hoped.
There’s a big difference between not needing to leave the house, and not being allowed to leave it. Even if we weren’t restricted to one walk for necessary exercise each day, there’s nowhere to go.
Comfort eating is my big problem. I’ve wrenched my knee so running on my treadmill is off my agenda for a while. Instead of doing between 12-15k steps per day I’m down to about 7k. That means I dare not make any cake, so it’s healthy food only!
I love cooking, but while we’re in lock-down and with no more supermarket deliveries, I’ve got to make the best of what we’ve got in the house. Apparently Jamie Oliver was on TV telling people they didn’t need to panic about not being able to buy bread. He supplied a recipe which needed only three ingredient: yeast, flour and water.
That’s fine in theory, but most people are finding that two of his three ingredients are impossible to get. The supermarkets around here haven’t been able to supply either yeast or bread-making flour for weeks.
Find my recipe for home-made tomato and lentil soup here
I’ve made bread for years, both by hand and machine, so I always have a good supply of ingredients. Unfortunately, as I refused to panic-buy at the start of this crisis, my stocks are getting low. At a pinch, ordinary flour can be used to make bread but you’ll still need yeast. That’s why I’m creating a new batch of sourdough starter today, so that when I’ve used the last of our dried yeast I can still make bread.
Sourdough starter begins as a mixture of flour and water. Wild yeasts naturally present in the atmosphere colonise this, and turn it into a culture. Once this mixture has been fed and nurtured for a few days, a ladleful of it can be used in place of commercial dried yeast.
Loaves made using sourdough starter have the distinctive appearance and tangy taste of those expensive artisan breads on sale in bakeries, but they are really easy to make. All you need is patience, as it takes a few days for the wild yeasts to multiply enough to provide sufficient raising agent. You can buy sachets of sourdough starter, but to be honest what starts off as “San Francisco’s Finest” (or whatever) is soon colonised by your own local yeasts and becomes unique to your kitchen.
Here’s my recipe for a sourdough starter. You’ll need:
• A jug of boiled water, left to stand (covered) overnight at room temperature in order to get rid of the chlorine. • Strong (breadmaking) wholemeal flour, preferably organic)
Weigh 40g of flour into a food-grade plastic container (I use a 2.6litre, square-bottomed Lock and Lock box). Add 40 ml of water, and beat as hard as you can to incorporate plenty of air. I use the whisk on the right, which I got from Bakery Bits. Then cover with a lid, or a piece of beeswax wrap, and leave in a warm place for 24 hours. Mine sits on the kitchen counter.
When that time’s up, add a further 40g of flour and another 40ml of water to your original mixture. Beat again, then cover and store as before.
Day Three: Your starter may already be bubbling. Alternatively, it may have some greyish liquid on top. Don’t worry—either way, add a further 40g of wholemeal flour but this time only 20ml of the de-chlorinated, room-temperature water, so your mixture doesn’t get too sloppy. Whisk again, cover, and keep the mixture warm.
The next day, you have a choice. If you want to make genuine wholemeal starter, add a further 120g wholemeal flour. If you want a lighter starter (which I use for my bread), add 120g strong white (bread-making) flour instead of wholemeal. Either way, add 100ml water as before, and repeat the whisking.
Here’s some sourdough starter I made by adding white flour
After a further twenty-four hours in a warm place, your sourdough should be bubbly and smell pleasantly fruity. From now on, the aim is to maintain the starter by feeding it each morning.
Here’s one I made earlier…
Feed your sourdough by adding 100g of strong white bread flour (or 75g white and 25g wholemeal) and 100ml of room-temperature water that has been dechlorinated overnight. Obviously, your mixture will grow, so to avoid being overwhelmed you periodically “discard” a ladleful of your starter by either making bread with it, adding it to pancake or waffle mixture to make them fluffy, donating some starter to a friend, or freezing it in case you lose your original starter. It saves you having to start the process all over again.
Making a sourdough starter is quite a long-drawn out process, but it only takes a few minutes each day. It’s worth giving it a try, and once you’ve tasted good home-made sourdough bread, you’ll be hooked!
When the local branch of the Society of Authors met in Monmouth this week, somebody asked me which I liked more—writing, or gardening.I had to confess I couldn’t decide!
I’ve loved doing both since I was old enough to copy plant names onto seed labels with a grease pencil. When the weather is cold and miserable, as it is while Storm Chiara is rolling around the house, there’s no contest. All I want to do is curl up by the fire with paper and pencil, or sit in my nice warm office with tea, cake and a deadline to meet.
Apricots are the first fruit trees to flower in my greenhouse
The trouble starts when February rains ease and the sun slides out onto a blue sky only lightly smeared with clouds. Then I want to drop everything, get outside and start getting the garden (and myself) into shape for spring.
Before I started writing romance, I used to write gardening columns for magazines. That combined my two loves perfectly. I always had an excuse to get out and about. If I wasn’t looking for inspiration, I was taking photographs to illustrate my work.
This has been a really mild winter so far. Although it’s too early to tempt fate by looking forward to making more apricot jam, the flowers are already beginning to open on the fruit trees in my greenhouse.
That’s a real sign of spring! It won’t be long before we’re looking out for beach reads. Here’s one for your list—the three-book collection With Love From Florence. My contemporary romance The Italian’s Blushing Gardener is teamed with Scarlet Wilson’s His Lost-and-Found Bride and Heidi Rice’s Unfinished Business with the Duke to create a big, bold celebration of love.
I spent one of my best holidays ever in a little hideaway in the countryside not far from Florence. What’s your favourite holiday destination? Post a comment below to be in with a chance to win a copy of With Love From Florence. The winner will be chosen at random on 28th February, so let me know where you love to spend your holidays!
The short, dark days of January are enough to make anyone feel rough. It always seems such a long month, too. The bills for Christmas fun always arrive before January’s payday can bail out the bank account!
Here are five cheap ways to take your mind off the misery…
Exercise
Pic by Skeeze, via Pixabay
Anything that gets you out of your chair is a good thing—even housework, with all that bending and stretching. If you’ve got a dog, you’ve always got a good excuse to go out for a walk and when the weather’s bright and clear, there’s nothing like it. When my joints are working properly I run several kilometres before breakfast on alternate days, but to be honest that does require some investment. To prevent injury good running shoes are vital, and if you’ve got a bust, a properly-fitted sports bra. Neither comes cheap but both will last a long time if you look after them.
Meditation
I meditate for twenty minutes each morning, as recommended by Jack Canfield in his Success Principles. I learned how to meditate by using Headspace, which has a great selection of short courses, tutorials and animations. That started me off, but now I’ve established a routine it’s just a case of settling down somewhere I won’t be disturbed and taking a few deep breaths…
Feed the Birds
Pic by Arnica Bäckström, via Pixabay
Watching birds is as restful as an aquarium, and a lot cheaper. The special foods from firms such as Haiths or CJWildlife provide the ideal things to feed, but if you’re careful you can do it for free by putting out household scraps. No meat (which might contain diseases which, while not affecting humans, could infect the wildlife you’re trying to attract) or white bread, as it’s about as good for birds as it is for us! A sprinkling of wholemeal breadcrumbs, cooked brown rice, chopped apple or grated cheese is okay. When my children were small they used to “help” make fat cakes by mixing dried fruit and cooked potato into melted lard (obviously, I was in charge of the hot stuff!). Once set, the mixture can be turned out onto the bird-table, like a cake. Make sure you put out clean water, too, for the birds to drink and bathe in. They need to do that even in winter, to keep their feathers in peak condition.
Look Out for Signs of Spring
Winger Honeysuckle, Lonicera Fragrantissima
This is one of the best tonics of all. When the sun came out today after a long run of miserable, dark, wet days I discovered polyanthus, a sheet of snowdrops, some hellebores and catkins all on display. Just getting outside felt good, and finding flowers (okay, maybe catkins aren’t strictly flowers!) made the spring seem a little bit closer. I wish you could smell this winter honeysuckle, which grows not far from my kitchen window. No wonder its Latin name is Lonicera Fragrantissima! Pollinators love it, too. On sunny days you can hear the hum of bees from metres away.
Seeing Stars
Orion: Pic by MMVazc via Pixabay
When I was a child, my father taught me the names of the stars and constellations he had learned in the days when he lived right out in the sticks, with no electric light. Light pollution makes the number of things in the sky visible to the naked eye far fewer than it was in Dad’s day, but it’s still a wonderfully relaxing thing to go outside on a clear, cold night, look up and wonder what was happening here on earth all those thousands of years ago when light left those distant objects. Much closer to home, the flashing green and red lights of aircraft passing overhead makes me wonder where they’re heading, and whether anybody up there us looking down on me, looking up at them!
What’s your favourite way of beating the January blues?
It’s official—Heritage: New Writing VIII, the 2019 collection of new writing by students, alumni and friends of the University of Gloucestershire—is now available on Amazon. Packed full of short stories, poetry and illustrations, Heritage is the perfect Christmas present for bookworms, and anyone who loves the county of Gloucestershire. Click on the box below to make sure you get your copy—stocks are limited, so buy yours now!
We had so many submissions of quality that we couldn’t squeeze them all in, but with two hundred pages containing fifty-eight pieces of quality work, Heritage represents stunning value for money at only £8.99. As joint managing director (together with Chris Davies) of the anthology project I’m not allowed to have favourites—that’s a good thing, as it would be impossible to choose—although as a writer I felt every word Joyce Grant wrote in her piece The Urge!
I’m really proud to have been part of the Heritage production team. You can find out who we are, and how we all worked together to create the 2019 anthology, here.
Last night was the launch Heritage: New Writing VIII, the University of Gloucestershire’s latest anthology of poetry and prose. Held in the stunning surroundings of Francis Close Hall’s Chapel, a huge audience listened to extracts from the book.
Here’s the cover of Heritage:: the map of the world is made up entirely of fingerprints
The launch of Heritage was held in November to coincide with the university’s graduation ceremony, which was held the day before. This meant that graduates travelling from overseas could make the most of their trip—their presentation on Thursday before Friday’s evening of fiction and fun (and a weekend at leisure in Cheltenham, as they say).
This anthology was made possible by generous funding by the Creative Writing Department of the university, and kept on track by self-styled (for anthology-creating purposes only!) Capitalist Pig Dr. Mike Johnstone.
At the heart of the Heritage project was its content. We appealed to students, alumni and anyone who has worked at, or for, the university now or in the past. Around a hundred and fifty submissions arrived from all over the world. The standard was so high, choosing which to include was almost impossible. Luckily our team of editors, Carlie Chabot, Rich Kemp, Carole May, Hayley Saunders and Maria Stadnicka was up to the task and did a great job. Those contributors whose work couldn’t be included have the satisfaction of knowing they were in good company. The standard of writing was extremely high. That means there are plenty of writers linked to the University of Gloucestershire with something ready to submit when the 2020 anthology opens for business, in a few months’ time.
Francis Close Hall, University of Gloucestershire
The artwork and design of the whole Heritageproject was worked on by Sam de Weerd, Hayley Porri, Hayley Saunders, Shannon Storm (who also produced the promotional material), and Jacob Luke while Chris Davies, Sam, Carole, Hayley Porri, Shannon, and Ross Turner handled the marketing. The copy editing was down to Jacob Luke and Ross, while I did the proof reading and Rich acted as consultant to the whole project.
My co-managing director, Chris Davies, made a magnificent compère last night. He kept the evening running smoothly, and the audience loved him. As well as working with the Art and Design team and creating the cover of Heritage, Shannon created a stunning visual presentation to accompany the readings. She also gave a great vote of thanks at the end to the tutors who have made such an impression on us all.
It was a wonderful evening, and paperback copies of Heritage: New Writing VIIIsold well. The anthology will be available on Amazon soon—I’ll let you know when it goes live.
Heritage will make a great Christmas present, so get your orders in as soon as you can!
I love watching washing dance on a clothesline, like it’s doing in the photo above (by Jill Wellington, via Pixabay). There hasn’t been much chance of that this week. The weather forecast said showery. That turned out to mean torrential downpours lasting for hours, with burst of sunshine. The dry spells tempted me to peg everything out, but they never lasted. Then it was a mad dash to pull everything off the line and get it back into the house.
My latest university project involves the effects on women’s lives of automation during the twentieth century. I’m collecting memories of washing-day from the times before everyone had an automatic machine.
It was the late nineteen-nineties before I bought a washing machine. I’d been using the handy service wash system at my local launderette. I could drop the dirty clothes off in the morning, and pick it up all clean, dry and neatly folded on my way home from work.
That was lovely, although loading and unloading our own washing machine is hardly a chore. It’s not as though we have to scrub each item individually, before rinsing and wringing as in days of yore. I also get a lot of pleasure from watching a line full of washing dance in the sunshine. Getting a load of wet washing dry when it’s raining is a lot less enjoyable!
I haven’t been online much lately as I’ve been busy sorting out my modules for the next semester. This time last year I’d finished my first week at university as a mature student, and couldn’t wait to start the next one! All the worries I had about going back into education after so many years working alone evaporated during my first lecture. I’ve had so much fun over the past twelve months, I’d recommend university to everyone!
Francis Close Hall, Cheltenham
When I decided to study for Gloucestershire University’s MA in Creative and Critical Writing, I decided to put my writing career on hold. I’m only a part-time student, but that takes up an amazing amount of my time. Beyond blogging, the only writing I do these days is for assignments and assessments. I’m so glad I’m not trying to write for publication at the same time!
There’s a lot of background reading to be done for each module. I’m a slow reader. That doesn’t help—neither does the fact I need some time to call my own. There’s my family to enjoy, pets to look after, wild birds to feed and a garden to wrangle.
This week I’ve also been getting ready to speak at the Bristol and Avon Family History Society’s annual fair about my latest release, Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol. Their fair is being held at the British Aerospace Welfare Association in Filton. That’s not far from Rolls-Royce Aero, where I worked for a while. It’ll be great to go back after so long away, but I’ve heard that the buildings where I was based have been knocked down, and the site redeveloped.
That’s a shame, but maybe some of the people I used to work with at Development Accounts (Dev Accs) or the Technical Publications (Tech Pubs) library (or even Sun Life Assurance?) are still around? If so, why not drop in to BAWA this Saturday, 28th September. The Family History Society are really friendly and helpful. If you’ve ever thought about trying to trace your family tree, The Bristol and Avon Family History Fair would be a good place to start. It runs from 10am to 4pm, and I’m on at 10:30am.
I hope you’ve had a great summer. September is a lovely month here in the country. The days are still long enough to enjoy any good weather. The nesting season is over, so the garden and wood is full of youngsters finding their way about. Some of them are still at the fluff-ball stage. It’s cute to watch the new generation of blue tits and long tailed tits discovering how to use the bird-feeders.
Every year there’s one big baby who refuses to grow up. Buzzards nest in our wood, and from August onwards their latest brood are turfed out to make their own way in the world. There’s always one who hangs around its parents’ territory. It shrieks to be fed from first light until dusk. The cries ease off once it has learned to find food for itself. Some of them aren’t too quick on the uptake, so the racket can persist for weeks.
Getting down to work again…
It’ll be back to university for me soon. I’ve got two induction sessions next week. After that, I’ll be doing two modules before Christmas, my final two after Christmas and rounding off the 2019/2020 academic year by submitting my dissertation.
I can’t wait to get started. I’ve already bought a season ticket for the Dean Heritage Centre. It’s packed with artefacts and records that can help me in my work on the way small advances in technology had huge effects on the lives of ordinary people during the twentieth century.
One of the treats in store!
There’s one last holiday treat before I start running round the education track between lectures, workshops, archive and library. The York Chapter of the Romantic Novelists’ Association are holding their annual afternoon tea this Saturday. This started as a local event but they now kindly extend invitations to lovers of York. This year I’m taking my husband Martyn as my guest, to show him the city. Fingers crossed for good weather—it bucketed down with rain last time I went!
I’ve written before about trying out Paul McKenna’s I Can Make You Thin. I’ve been listening to its self-hypnosis CD to help me lose weight. It has been working almost too well. The CD runs for about half an hour, and is so relaxing I usually drop off to sleep.
The subliminal message must be sinking in, as I feel more positive about reaching my goal. I want to weigh 9 stone 12lb (that’s 138lb, or around 63kg) by the time the new university term begins. That’s on 23rd September—only six weeks from now!
I’ve lost six pounds already, but I still have nearly twelve pounds to go. Losing 2lb per week will be tough. I love my food. If I can stick to eating smaller portions than usual that will be fine. I’m working on the basis that there’s no such thing as a forbidden food, only forbidden amounts. Doing plenty of exercise to make sure I expend more calories than I take on board should help shift the extra weight.
The problem with that is I already spend a couple of hours each day walking Alex. Add on the forty minutes of running I do on the treadmill every other day, and that’s quite a chunk of my working week accounted for already. I still have to fit in doing the washing, cooking—not to mention eating and sleeping—as well as earning my living.
Good food is one of my hobbies. Writing is supposed to be my job, although as I scribble in my spare time, it’s a hobby too. Writing as a career has one big downside— I’m constantly searching for opportunities. Research and promotion take big bites out of my working time, too.
I’m already racking up between 12,000 and 17,000 steps each day on my pedometer. Much more legwork, and I’ll have to be resoled (I already have a spare tyre, thanks!). I decided to use a combination of the CD and the mindfulness and meditation app Headspace to double my chances of achieving my weight-loss goal.
After trying it out for a while (you can read about that here) I took the plunge and subscribed. That costs around £72 per year. It is a lot of money, but that fact acted on me as an incentive. I want to lose pounds in weight, not waste pounds in money! I’ve meditated with Headspace at least once a day for several weeks. It’s helpful that the app has varying lengths of meditation. If I can’t manage a twenty-minute session, I can squeeze in five-or-ten minutes, instead. There are also short animations and films, which are fun to watch as well as informative.
York RNA Tea, here I come…
When I’m trying to plan projects for my next year at university it’s tempting to spend hours each day sitting in front of my computer. That will lead to me putting on more weight, rather than taking it off.
To give myself an added incentive. I’ve booked my hotel and train tickets ready for the York chapter of the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s afternoon tea in September. I’ll need to have reached my target weight before sitting down to a wonderful spread like the one we had last year (the picture shows only one of several cake-stands delivered to our table!).
The McKenna CD at night gives me a good night’s sleep. Headspace’s Mindful Eating sessions in the morning is a lovely way to ease myself into each day. You’re talked through a ten-to twenty-minute session (you choose the length) of relaxation. It has encouraged me to think about my relationship with food. That may sound snowflakey, but as it seems to be working I’m not too bothered about that.
Any spare time I have now involves either losing myself in a fantasy inspired by Paul McKenna’s improving talks where losing my excess weight sees me beat my personal best time for running a mile. If I’m not doing that, I’m planning meals so I never become desperate enough to snack on something sugary.
It’s made me think hard about whether I actually want to eat something, or whether I’m simply bored (answer: get working instead!), feel in need of a treat (get out into the garden, away from the cake tins!) or thirsty. That last reason, suggested by Headspace, surprised me. To test it, the next time I had the urge to eat I drank a cup of tea instead. It worked. From now on, there’ll be more tea, and less food. More tea can also mean more exercise. While the kettle boils, I’ve got time to fit in a few lunges and squats!
Blackberries—perfect for summer puddings.
Looking back on my long and loving relationship with food reminded me of those endless, school holidays in summer. When it was too hot to work in the garden I’d take a book and hide in the shade of our big old Bramley apple tree. Its branches swung so close to the ground I could climb out of sight without much effort. I would lose myself in something like The Once and Future King or The Goshawk (both by T.H.White). Mealtimes were feasts of home-grown new potatoes, carrots, peas, beans or cabbage, with lamb chops, sausages, or bacon and egg on top. At this time of year, there were big bowls of stewed blackberry and apple with custard for pudding. It was all delicious, and we had to sit to the table until it was all finished. That was never a problem for me—but in those days I was still growing upwards, rather than outwards!
What’s your best memory of those long summer holidays?
I had two bits of good news today which I just had to share. First, The Bristol and Avon Family History Society gave my current non-fiction release, Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol, a great review. Here’s a taste of it, courtesy of my publisher, Pen and Sword Books…
‘This book is meticulously researched & contains extensive reference notes, bibliography & a detailed index… An excellent contribution to the history of Bristol’s women.’ (Bristol & Avon Family History Society)
My second piece of good news is that Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol is now available as an ebook. You can download it by clicking here, or on the advert at the top left of this page. If you’d prefer the paperback edition (at the special offer price of only £10.55) you can buy that here.
Sitting around, eating too much cake and not taking any exercise wasn’t doing me any good at all. I started using music to nibble (!) away at the problem, as you can find out here.
The second reason I couldn’t lose weight was outrageous. Over the centuries and around the world, people have killed over a “problem” like mine. Eating when I wasn’t hungry was a luxury that not many people can afford. My weight wasn’t anybody else’s problem. I had nobody but myself to blame. If I wanted to shift those extra pounds, I’d have to take responsibility for doing it.
I began by eating smaller portions. This was tricky. The truth is, I hate being hungry. When I was a child, there wasn’t much money to spare. Our household operated on the army principle that you got just enough food. The idea was that you always got up from the table thinking you could eat more. Blow that for a lark, I thought when I left home. Food—both cooking it and eating it—has been one of my hobbies ever since.
Using a smaller plate restricted my intake. There simply isn’t enough room for a big meal. That didn’t help with the food I was eating after my last meal of the day, though. Sitting in front of the idiot lantern was a time for eating straight out of the bag, tube or box.
It took me a lot of nerve to enrol here as a mature student…
It took a personal development course offered by the University of Gloucestershire (you can find out more about that here) to persuade me to change my habits. One of the group exercises involved brainstorming our personal problems. My team gave me some great ideas for low-calorie TV snacks. For instance, an apple sliced very thinly takes a long time to eat. It has fewer than 100 calories. Contrast that with the 300 calories or so in the amount of Pringles I could shift in half that time!
It was a start. Then I remembered how shy, retiring me found the confidence to apply for a place at university in the first place. I used Instant Confidence by Paul McKenna—and it worked. You can read my review of that here. There was clearly a link between the success of that self-hypnosis system and my lack of willpower over food. That should make McKenna’s I Can Make You Thin the perfect weapon in my weight-loss campaign. Its subtitle; Love Food, Lose Weight appealed to me, too.
I sent off for it and set aside half an hour each evening to listen. My heart sank with the opening words. It was a warning not to listen to this “eyes-closed process” while driving or operating machinery. I had no complaints about that—only the ridiculous way it was delivered. It was read out by an American man who must earn his living announcing programmes such as Are aliens living among us? or Was this teenager eaten by Bigfoot? on cable TV. He bellowed it with such excitement, it made me want to switch off.
Luckily, I didn’t. Paul McKenna’s I Can Make You Thin follows the same pattern as his Confidence CD. McKenna lulls you into a state of relaxation which makes you sensitive to his suggestions for regulating your appetite, and improving your lifestyle. I’d like to tell you what those suggestions are, but McKenna has such a restful voice I can’t remember what he said. As I soon began to lose a little weight without consciously dieting, his system may well be working. It’s going to take time, though—and my weight loss could be due to replacing those starchy evening snacks with fruit.
The big advantage of I Can Make You Thin are that it takes absolutely no effort at all. You just lie there, and let Paul McKenna’s voice wash over you. It’s lovely—which is my only problem with it. Every time I’ve tried it, I’ve fallen asleep. That’s fine, but then I wake up a few hours later in the middle of the night and have trouble getting back to sleep. If that happens, how can my brain take in the information? The only way to tell is to see if I keep on losing weight.
That’s right, this week it’s everyone else’s fault but mine!
This isn’t me, needless to say! Pic via Pixabay.
I wrote here about one way I tried to lose weight. Running is brilliant at keeping my weight under control, but that’s all. Exercise alone couldn’t shift my excess poundage. To put it bluntly, I was living an eleven-stone life in a 5’4” body. That was never going to work. I needed to find some way to whittle away at the—ahem—curves I’d spent years building while I sat in in front of a computer, writing.
I had to face the fact that my increasing chubbiness was a problem manufactured (in all senses of the word) by first-world living. I’m lucky enough to be able to choose my own food from a whole range of possibilities. As I said last time, I prefer to eat homegrown, organic food which I cook from fresh—but even virtue signalling has a drawback. It’s portion control. When it comes to food, restraint isn’t my strong point.
It’s an age thing. Anyone under the age of about forty will think what I’m about to write is fiction, but I can assure you every word is true.
Home made and healthy doesn’t mean calorie-free. Unfortunately…
Until I was eleven, I lived with my maternal grandparents. Everyone of that generation lived through the Hungry Thirties, and wartime rationing. We had neither fridge, nor freezer. The food was good, but economical—roast on Sunday, the cold remains on Monday with potatoes and veg, soups from the bones on Wednesday, bacon and egg on Thursday, and fish on Friday. Portions were small. You never got pudding until you’d finished your first course, and you never left the table until you’d eaten all your pudding. Chips were a real rarity, as my grandmother had been a professional cook. She never cut corners. They were blanched in hot fat in small batches, then cooked a second time before serving. The beef dripping had to be brought back up to temperature in between each batch. It took forever!
Nobody grazed. There were set mealtimes, no snacking, and no such thing as McDonalds in the UK back then. If the local shops didn’t sell it, then we didn’t eat it. We sat to the table together, and nobody got up until everyone had finished their meal. The same rules applied at my schools, with the addition of Grace before meals. This was normal. My friends all lived similarly regulated lives.
Hard to believe that a sight like this was once unimaginable luxury!
And then, like millions of other people in the late 1970s, I went abroad for the first time—and discovered Carrefour. It was like walking into heaven. I’d never been in a supermarket before. There was only a greengrocer, butcher, baker, newsagent, grocers, and fishmonger in our village. That soon changed.
By the time I married and left home, I could load my trolley with convenience food and ingredients from all over the world, at any time of year, and at most times of the day or night. George Bernard Shaw saw marriage as the maximum of temptation combined with maximum of opportunity. That quote now applies to eating. For me, as a writer working from home, this freedom of choice has been disastrous. As we live some way from town, my kitchen cupboards are always well-stocked. I can’t afford to run out of something while I’m cooking. This means every minute of every day I’m face with maximum opportunity to over-eat.
I have tried to resist. I’ve vowed to eat only home-made cake. The thought of having to get out the tins, prepare them, make the mixture, cook it then wait for the resulting cake to cool down usually kills my craving in seconds.
Then at Christmas, someone fancied a custard slice. That’s one (among many) of my favourite cakes. My recipe, however, makes 16.
I am guilty of making these custard slices. And yes, they DID taste a whole lot better than they looked!
I thought I could eat one, and let my family eat the rest of my share.
I was wrong.
And then there is pizza. We all love the stuff. I make it once a week, for the whole family. Then it dawned on me that the amount of pizza dough each of us was eating in one sitting was the equivalent of a quarter of a loaf of bread! And that was before I’d added an ocean of home-made tomato sauce, half a ton of sliced vegetables and topped it all off with grated cheese. Oh, yes. Plenty of grated cheese…
One day on a whim I bought ready-made pizzas from the supermarket. They are about the same size as the ones I make, but only have a fraction of the topping. Yet according to the boxes, they contained almost 800 calories each!
Until that day, I couldn’t understand why I was doing so much exercise but not losing weight. Now I knew. A daily diet of organic oatmeal and fresh fruit, with a wholemeal sandwich or jacket potato for lunch, and pizza for tea might be healthy —but not in the quantities I was eating them.
There’s worse to come. Once the TV goes on at teatime, it’s the perfect excuse to sit down for the rest of the evening. Once I tried to cut down on what I was eating, I realised that food is in shot on TV almost all the time. If it isn’t being advertised directly, then people in adverts and programmes are meeting over coffee, making meals, or sitting in pubs.
“Did somebody say J*** E**?” Yes, but it’s usually far more subtle than that. It’s subliminal advertising to the weak-willed, like me. For instance, I’m a career tea-drinker. Show me someone with a cup, and I want one too. And as McVitie’s used to say about their digestive biscuits, “A drink’s too wet without one.”
I used to make biscuits, but they were too much of a temptation. I switched to muesli. It’s far healthier…but dried fruit and nuts are loaded with calories.
An apple and a book, in the fresh air. Much better than TV and crisps!
Luckily, the weather over the past few weeks has been too good to waste in front of the TV. This has meant I’ve been doing lots of gardening. I’ve slipped in an extra dog-walking session each day, too. My step-count target has gone up from 10k per day to 12k, and I usually beat it by a long way. Portion control has been even more useful. I’ve cut down on the amount of pizza topping I apply, and keep in mind that huge evening calorie-load when I’m deciding what to eat earlier in the day. Thanks to my team on the Sprint sessions, when I do get the urge to snack I cut an apple into the thinnest slices I can. This gives a satisfying crunch, while taking ages to eat. Add a teaspoonful of peanut butter, and it keeps me busy until bedtime.
The good news is, reducing the amount of time I spend in front of the TV (and snacking), together with portion control has shaved two pounds off my weight in the past week.
Unfortunately, I know my body. It will soon get used to those tactics. My weight loss will stop, and may even go into reverse. There’s only so much time in the day I can devote to exercise, after all. If I try to cut down my portion sizes too much, then a sneaky inner voice will say ; “You didn’t have much for lunch. You can afford to put a bit more on your dinner plate…”
I have a tactic to beat backsliding. It is hypnotism. Paul McKenna’s Instant Confidence worked a treat for me, as I wrote here. Could his I Can Make You Thin live up to its title? I’ll let you know how I get on!
