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Pandora’s Box
“Research is a waste of time – get on with the writing” ? I spotted the headline on the cover of ‘Writer’s Forum’. If you are like me, you will have read that line and bristled at the idea that all that precious research you have clocked up, might be classed as a waste of time. I read the article and of course, Jenny Colgan was not saying that all research is useless, rather, her argument was that we are all in danger of getting bogged down in the research at the expense of the writing at times. Never has this been more true than this week. In a…
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Tea with Charles Dickens
This week marks the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens. Just about everyone knows the name, even if they may have never read his work. We were introduced to his books in school, and some of us retain a life long attachment to them. Who, when reading those books, has not shed a tear at the story of Little Dorrit or Oliver Twist or been at once saddened and enchanted by A Christmas Carol? Disney may have made A Christmas Carol, his own but the original story lives on. These gems, Pickwick Papers, Great Expectations – all are favourites of mine. There was of course, more to the man than just…
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With the best of intentions…
They say the way to Hell is paved with good intentions…so too is the way to a writer’s keyboard! This morning, I am determined to finish and publish the post I have earlier prepared. The morning begins in its now customary, crisp, cold, February way with temperatures way below freezing. The perfect weather for a bracing walk in the woods with the dogs, I think. This, I am sure, will set me up for the day’s writing I have promised myself all week. Things do indeed start well. We arrive early, before the main stream of dog walkers and after the really early birds. The temperatures allow one the luxury…
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The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award
It’s been a while since I received an award of any kind but what a lovely way to start the New Year! Thank you to Teresa Ashby who has passed this award to me though, I confess, I have never thought of myself as being irresistibly sweet. I have been told I have a sharp tongue at times (I call it wit) and perhaps that is why my blog describes itself as a wry look at life. It is an interesting thought, though, being irresistible. I suppose everyone is irresistible to someone or something, in some way. I was evidently irresistible to the young man with Down’s Syndrome who approached me…
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Hold the Front Page…or maybe not!
When I was a child, at primary school, we were always asked to write about our weekend on a Monday morning. Were you? The Blackboard had the day’s date and the word ‘News’ scrawled on it in thick, white chalk and both were heavily underlined lest we be left in any doubt. The book in which we wrote was, invariably, a yellow covered exercise book. The pen we wrote with, varied from year to year. Hence, first efforts were in the thick black charcoal pencils that our stubby fingers could grasp more easily, while later efforts were produced with fine nibbed fountain pens that tended to leak in one’s pencil…
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Christmas has gone and I remember…
I have to admit that I do love Christmas. I love the darker evenings leading up to it, when we are all snug indoors in front of a roaring log fire – a metaphorical fire at the moment – the extension that is now our living room, does not have a fireplace. The other two reception rooms do have fireplaces I might add. What a waste! How did we not remember this vital piece of Christmas equipment when drawing up the plans? I suspect it was due to the fact that the extension was originally to be a dining room – until my brother-in-law pointed out that it’d make a…
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Another Embarrassing Moment – repeat
First published on 7th July 2010, I thought you might enjoy re-reading this one. Those of you who know me, will also know that Beverly, the sister mentioned in this post, died on 25th November this year quite unexpectedly, from a massive stroke. This is not meant to be a tribute to her, it is merely a way of remembering the laughter we shared. After my post for World AIDS day, which I had pre-scheduled, I felt the need to lift the mood despite recent events. I thought I was Queen of the embarrassing moment. Let’s face it, I have had more than a few. There was the unforgettable time…
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The boy in the cowboy hat
June 1966: The boy in the photograph wears a cowboy hat and carries a toy gun. Feet planted firmly apart, he stands at the opening to a brand new, white tent. The latter is a birthday present. Today he is five-years-old. Life is an adventure! A Golden Labrador lies at his feet, gazing up at him in adoration, his faithful companion of the last three years. She dedicates her life to following him round the garden, allowing herself to be dragged outside even when she’d rather be lying by the fire, enjoying an afternoon snooze. The rewards are great, cuddles, curling up together on the floor, boy asleep with his…
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The things people say
Half heard conversations, whispered asides – all are ‘grist t’ the mill’ to a writer. I shudder to think what other folks have overheard from my own conversations. How many things have I said that could be misconstrued? Still, this thought does not stop me from storing up the snippets of chit-chat I hear as I walk down the road or stand in the queue at the supermarket checkout. It is a fair-game kind of eaves-dropping in my eyes, way superior to phone hacking I might add. The News of The World might have done better to stand in a queue at Sainsburys or hang around a bus stop or two. Their…
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Tomorrow…I mean it!
It is now 5.20pm and I have finally got round to writing something, anything! Well, isn’t that just the way of things? I was awake early. I had all kinds of plans, beginning with taking the dogs to the woods. My day’s diary ran like this: 8.30 am …and the dogs are in the car waiting for me to drive them to the woods (easier than walking round the fields here where Flossie has to stay on the lead). I have put some laundry in the machine, cleaned and tidied the kitchen and made the beds. The rest can wait! 8.45pm am The woods are a glorious mix of red…
