I ask this question because I seem to spend a fair bit of my life driving up and down the M1, visiting my father, who lives in Yorkshire. Today I drove home to Coventry through unremitting fog. Unremitting, that is, except for a brief respite as the M1 passed close to Matlock, Derbyshire - and the cloud and mist broke up for a minute or so to reveal brilliant sunshine.
I've noticed this on my journeys before now. The rest of the 110 miles may be full of rain, mist, fog, hail, sleet, snow - but I can't remember a single trip where the sun wasn't shining on the Matlock junction.
Can anyone shed light on this? Wonderful Matlock sunlight, perhaps, to relieve the November gloom?
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Thursday 17th November - performance and launch party!
Just a quick post, this one...
On Thursday 17th Nov, I'll be joining my fellow writers from the Coventry Writers' Group in an event at Coventry Central Library - open to all, from 6 - 7:30pm. We'll be launching Coventry Tales, reading and performing our various pieces. There'll be nibbles, wine, soft drinks, quizzes with prizes... and the opportunity to chat with the authors (15 of us), buy copies and have them signed.
I'm also told there'll be some surprise visitors - your guess is as good as mine!
Hope to see you there. If not, our book is available through Amazon, both in Kindle form (£3.82) and as a paperback (£4.99), here
Nov 18th: Just to add that it all went really well - many thanks to everyone who came along and supported us!
On Thursday 17th Nov, I'll be joining my fellow writers from the Coventry Writers' Group in an event at Coventry Central Library - open to all, from 6 - 7:30pm. We'll be launching Coventry Tales, reading and performing our various pieces. There'll be nibbles, wine, soft drinks, quizzes with prizes... and the opportunity to chat with the authors (15 of us), buy copies and have them signed.
I'm also told there'll be some surprise visitors - your guess is as good as mine!
Hope to see you there. If not, our book is available through Amazon, both in Kindle form (£3.82) and as a paperback (£4.99), here
Nov 18th: Just to add that it all went really well - many thanks to everyone who came along and supported us!
Friday, 11 November 2011
Wartime memories, ghost walks, hangings, paranormal detectives, past lives, poetry, quantum theory of the Coventry Ring Road - just for a start!
No, no, folks - I'm honestly not trying to score hits on Google. The above is an accurate description of just some of the contents of Coventry Tales - the anthology produced by the Coventry Writers' Group, which has now hit Kindle with a bang.
And this coming Saturday, 12th Nov, you have your chance to meet the authors, purchase a signed copy of the paperback edition, claim your free Coventry Tales pen and hear various authors speak about their writerly joys and angst.
Click here for Coventry Tales on Amazon - in paperback or Kindle form.
And click here for the Coventry Tales clip 'Inspired by You' on YouTube!
It's all in Waterstones, Smithford Way, Coventry City Centre, this coming Saturday (12th Nov) from 10:30am until about 12:30pm. And let me tell you, Waterstones are great hosts for events like these. When I did my signing there for Coping with Chloe back in May, they were wonderful - I was well supplied with coffee throughout and there was lots of traffic through the store.
On Saturday, with half a dozen authors present or even more, there should be a real buzz. And if anyone local is interested in joining the Coventry Writers' group, there'll be information on hand and lots of folk to make you feel welcome.
The book - well, whatever your interests, there should be something there for you. Every piece was inspired by our wonderful city in some way. There is fun, humour, thought-provoking stuff written by young and (relatively) old. The book has been professionally produced and copy-edited (I'll be personally answerable for any typos that have crept in) - and the heartfelt thanks of the Coventry Writers' group go to Mike Boxwell of Greenstream Publishing, who took the initiative, whipped us into line and made actual a project we'd been talking about for years.
So, many thanks Mike and everyone else who contributed - and hope to see Waterstones thronging on Saturday. (By the way - if you know any exiled Coventrians - this would be the perfect Christmas gift for them.)
Click here for Coventry Tales on Amazon - in paperback or Kindle form.
Monday, 17 October 2011
Mental health-y stuff
You know how it is...
Well, if you've ever had mental health problems, you probably do. When you're feeling well, it's the last thing you want to think about. When you're feeling ill, it's the last thing you want to write about. Result: it's quite rare for me to blog about my depressions.
But I'm in an in-between state at present, so here goes. It's been a week of alarms - sudden hospital admission for my OH, who, thankfully, now seems to be fine. I seem able to cope when I have to, but then go into meltdown afterwards, when things are OK again. I know I'm not alone in this.
I'm very thankful for my anti-depressant medication, which most of the time I'm taking on a low dose, or else I'm temporarily off it but have it on standby. Perhaps part of the effect is psychological, who knows? But of course it's psychological - it's a psychological problem. Sort of. Or maybe my brain just runs out of serotonin, for reasons known only to itself. Whatever the reason, my tablets always seem to sort me out. I know there are a lot of different views around on medication for depression - and I'm a great believer in counselling, too - but for me it really does seem to be a chemical thing that responds well to the pharmaceutical approach.
I'm comforted by the fact that lots of writers, past and present, seem to suffer from mental illness in one form or another. I suspect we are often people who 'think too much' - though why that should be is another question. I do get the feeling it's deeply endemic in me. I've always been a worrier, as long as I can remember. Throughout my life I've been told by the people who care about me to 'stop worrying; it may never happen', but I've never found the magic switch.
I'm currently trying, for the first time, to write directly about a character with depression, in my latest novel. Thrilling stuff (or possibly not). Though I hope to keep a good balance - there's a lot of other things going on, too - including some intelligent robots, who have problems of their own.
I'd love to hear from you if you're a fellow sufferer or if you have any thoughts on the subject of mental health - in fiction, in life, or anywhere else. And believe me, though the tone of this post is light, I appreciate that it is no laughing matter. Except that, just occasionally and when I'm feeling well, I can smile at myself and my slightly ridiculous brain...
Well, if you've ever had mental health problems, you probably do. When you're feeling well, it's the last thing you want to think about. When you're feeling ill, it's the last thing you want to write about. Result: it's quite rare for me to blog about my depressions.
But I'm in an in-between state at present, so here goes. It's been a week of alarms - sudden hospital admission for my OH, who, thankfully, now seems to be fine. I seem able to cope when I have to, but then go into meltdown afterwards, when things are OK again. I know I'm not alone in this.
I'm very thankful for my anti-depressant medication, which most of the time I'm taking on a low dose, or else I'm temporarily off it but have it on standby. Perhaps part of the effect is psychological, who knows? But of course it's psychological - it's a psychological problem. Sort of. Or maybe my brain just runs out of serotonin, for reasons known only to itself. Whatever the reason, my tablets always seem to sort me out. I know there are a lot of different views around on medication for depression - and I'm a great believer in counselling, too - but for me it really does seem to be a chemical thing that responds well to the pharmaceutical approach.
I'm comforted by the fact that lots of writers, past and present, seem to suffer from mental illness in one form or another. I suspect we are often people who 'think too much' - though why that should be is another question. I do get the feeling it's deeply endemic in me. I've always been a worrier, as long as I can remember. Throughout my life I've been told by the people who care about me to 'stop worrying; it may never happen', but I've never found the magic switch.
I'm currently trying, for the first time, to write directly about a character with depression, in my latest novel. Thrilling stuff (or possibly not). Though I hope to keep a good balance - there's a lot of other things going on, too - including some intelligent robots, who have problems of their own.
I'd love to hear from you if you're a fellow sufferer or if you have any thoughts on the subject of mental health - in fiction, in life, or anywhere else. And believe me, though the tone of this post is light, I appreciate that it is no laughing matter. Except that, just occasionally and when I'm feeling well, I can smile at myself and my slightly ridiculous brain...
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
I'm so proud to belong to the Coventry Writers' Group
They're a wonderful bunch of people - that's the first reason. Inspiring, quirky, independent-minded, crazy (well, some of them), creative, funny and very talented folk. All ages, nationalities, occupations, life-experiences. Well, not quite all, but you know what I mean. That's reason one...
Reason two is that they - we - have just produced our very own anthology - called Coventry Tales. I saw the review copies for the first time last night and they look absolutely wonderful. Many, many thanks to Mike Boxwell, who has been the driving force behind all this. And to all the group members who contributed competition entries back in June this year, those who read them aloud and those who did the 'judging'. Some big surprises there, when we discovered later who had written what.
Anyway, our book is now almost ready to go. It's already available for pre-order on Amazon, and it'll be stocked in a range of bookshops, supermarkets and other retail outlests in and around Coventry, and more widely across the West Midlands. Publication date is Nov 7th and launch events have been arranged in Waterstones and Coventry Central Library soon after that (further details soon).
We have a Facebook page, which it would be great if you could visit, please, and 'like'. Some of us will be on the radio in the weeks to come, and there'll be a video on youTube soon. TV and newspapers, we hope, will take us up. It's all great fun and very exciting, especially for those of our group who have never been published before.
Coventry Tales contains short stories, poems, memories, historical tales, and even instructions (of a kind) for navigating our notorious ringroad system, using the principles of quantum physics, sort of. Its strapline is 'Inspired by You' - the 'you' being our beloved city - and we hope to have done justice, in our efforts, to the fascinating place where we live.
PS As a writing group we are open to all who love writing of all kinds - fiction, journalism, poetry, etc - and whether you're a beginner, an experienced writer, or somewhere in between. Contact me below if you are interested in joining us and I'll give you details of when and where we meet.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
The great YA gay characters debate
There's a lot of discussion around at the moment on the issue of gay characters in YA and children's books.
See, for example, James Dawson's brilliant post on Tracy Baines' website Tall Tales and Short Stories, Lucy Coats' excellent post on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure and the many Twitter posts at #YesGayYA.
I'm very much in favour of having gay protagonists in children's and YA books and it's good to see this issue being aired. But as an author who happens to be straight, I came across one or two comments when I brought out my Charity's Child, suggesting that perhaps straight authors should steer clear of writing gay characters or, at least, ones that occupy central roles in the story.
I can sort of understand the reasoning behind this. Maybe there's a 'you can't possibly understand what it's like to be gay' feeling. And I suppose they're right - up to a point. But writing is all about imagining yourself to be someone else. That's why we do it, some of us. That's the fun of it - casting yourself in unfamiliar roles and trying out new personalities. I have a theory that quite a few writers are failed actors - failed in the sense of never having got properly started, in my case!
And I do know what it's like to feel different and excluded - I spent most of my school years feeling that way, for reasons other than sexual orientation.
Anyway, I'd love to know what readers - gay, straight and bi - think of Charity's Child, which is coming out as an e-book very soon. It was originally aimed at the adult market but my publisher, Circaidy Gregory Press, felt it had YA/adult crossover potential, so we are aiming it this time at older teens (14+)/adults. Watch this space!
See, for example, James Dawson's brilliant post on Tracy Baines' website Tall Tales and Short Stories, Lucy Coats' excellent post on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure and the many Twitter posts at #YesGayYA.
I'm very much in favour of having gay protagonists in children's and YA books and it's good to see this issue being aired. But as an author who happens to be straight, I came across one or two comments when I brought out my Charity's Child, suggesting that perhaps straight authors should steer clear of writing gay characters or, at least, ones that occupy central roles in the story.
I can sort of understand the reasoning behind this. Maybe there's a 'you can't possibly understand what it's like to be gay' feeling. And I suppose they're right - up to a point. But writing is all about imagining yourself to be someone else. That's why we do it, some of us. That's the fun of it - casting yourself in unfamiliar roles and trying out new personalities. I have a theory that quite a few writers are failed actors - failed in the sense of never having got properly started, in my case!
And I do know what it's like to feel different and excluded - I spent most of my school years feeling that way, for reasons other than sexual orientation.
Anyway, I'd love to know what readers - gay, straight and bi - think of Charity's Child, which is coming out as an e-book very soon. It was originally aimed at the adult market but my publisher, Circaidy Gregory Press, felt it had YA/adult crossover potential, so we are aiming it this time at older teens (14+)/adults. Watch this space!
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
I've finished all my tasks - what now?
What do you do when you've finished all the stuff you had to do and finally have time to do the things you want to do?
Silly question. You do the things you want to do, of course. Like being creative, working on the drafts of the two books you're currently writing.
Except it's not that easy. Since getting back from holidays on Saturday, I've been working non-stop - catching up on washing, housework, ironing, answering mail, then doing a big proofread, then working on the edits for the e-edition of one of my books.
And, finally, I mowed the lawn and tidied the flower beds.
Now I can get down to my new writing. Except, of course, I can't, because my mind is buzzing with all these other things. I'm weary and I can't seem to settle to anything. All I want to do is nibble sweet things, and I can't do that because I'm dieting.
Maybe I'll try and write just a bit, and hope the muse will warm up ready for tomorrow!
Silly question. You do the things you want to do, of course. Like being creative, working on the drafts of the two books you're currently writing.
Except it's not that easy. Since getting back from holidays on Saturday, I've been working non-stop - catching up on washing, housework, ironing, answering mail, then doing a big proofread, then working on the edits for the e-edition of one of my books.
And, finally, I mowed the lawn and tidied the flower beds.
Now I can get down to my new writing. Except, of course, I can't, because my mind is buzzing with all these other things. I'm weary and I can't seem to settle to anything. All I want to do is nibble sweet things, and I can't do that because I'm dieting.
Maybe I'll try and write just a bit, and hope the muse will warm up ready for tomorrow!
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