Category Archives: Fife

July 5, 2022 · 12:03 pm

Reading and Travelling for Inspiration and Renewal

Renewal

This summer and autumn are all about having a refreshing pause for healing and renewal of mind, body and spirit. My two main interests in life are writing and gardening and I found myself with a strained wrist back in the spring ~ possibly RSI ( but who can see a doctor these days?)

What did I need? A break from the garden and sitting at my PC.

What better way to do it than to read and to travel now the world has opened up a bit and while it is safe to do so?

The Extraordinary Island of Iona

In my next blog posts I will share with you posts about my journeys and book reviews of those I’ve picked up and enjoyed along the way.

Book Reviews

I’ve read some gripping and sometimes unusual yarns this summer including:

  • Songbirds by Christy Lefteri
  • The Stationery Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
  • The Metal Heart by Caroline Lea
  • Interleaved Lives by Roderick Hart
  • Travels with Epicurus by Daniel Klein

I will share reviews of these books with you over the coming weeks. As I have often said, ‘in order to enrich the quality of your own writing it is vital to read a variety of books, helping you to hone your own skills. Meanwhile you will also enjoy being absorbed in the literary world in which you hope to share just a small part when you publish your own novels.‘

Islands of Inspiration

It may be a coincidence, but we have been visiting some new and some very familiar islands this summer:

  • Sifnos and Tinos ~ beautiful Greek islands.
  • Iona ~ a favourite of mine over the years for spiritual renewal and refreshment. An extra special place.
  • The Island of May ~ A fortunate recent trip to an island in the Forth estuary, renowned for its seabirds, especially puffins at this time of the year.
  • Alderney, Channel Islands UK ~ An island close to my heart and the original inspiration for my writing novels.
  • Guernsey and Jersey

There may be more.

My aim is to share the experiences with you and how they have inspired me in my life and more particularly in my writing.

Leave a comment

Filed under Alderney, Book reading, Book reviews, Channel Islands, Fife, Scotland, Writing

Tagged as , , ,

January 7, 2022 · 8:45 am

Looking Back before Moving Forward to 2022

Before turning a new page, I look back on 2021 and I am pleased to say I did make progress with my writing life in a positive way.

What did I achieve in 2021 to be thankful for?

A. I published a little book of encouragement Search for the Pearl Inside Yourself for young people struggling through this pandemic. I wrote the bones of it and gathered quotations and photos before I took voluntary redundancy from teaching at Barnfield Further Education College in Luton, Bedfordshire over seven years ago. I dusted it off, updated and improved it, had it edited and proof read and finally organised a print run in June 2021.

Hoping to make a difference:

I am still giving away copies to those who need it. If you know a young person struggling at this time then please get in touch: contact Diana Jackson

The e book is available on Kindle too.

B. My continued support for authors on their journey into writing and publishing seemed to flourish too. It was lovely to focus on others rather than myself.

C. I met a lovely group of new authors on Twitter (I’m @Riduna) who were happy for me to dip in and out of their boundless enthusiastic responses, when I felt able to do so. Thanks to Cheryl Burman and all her friends who worked so hard to set up a Christmas on line bookshop. I have always enjoyed the mutual support of other authors I’ve ‘met’ on Twitter, but this took it to a new level.

D. I also met a group of local Fife authors from East Neuk for some uplifting Zoom events and an early Christmas meal, where we met in person down in Anstruther; just before the warnings of get togethers was highlighted on the news. To be part of this select, welcoming group of authors is heart warming. I had forgotten the joys of being in a writing group and had been longing for this to happen since leaving Bedfordshire, where I was a founder member of Ampthill Writers (then known as the Albion Writers after the pub where we used to meet) I have even joined them on line on a couple of occasions too.

E. I have a couple more personal writing projects I have been working on; those I could pick up and stir that creativity from within in a very gentle way, but more about those in my next blog.

In all honesty

… it was a tough year, as it was for many, but I can be thankful and look forward with hope to 2022!

Leave a comment

Filed under Author Diana Jackson, Bedfordshire, Blogs, Events, Fife, Social Media Networking, Writing

Tagged as , , , , ,

May 24, 2021 · 8:59 am

May Book Blogger Hop

Hey, I’m a bit late for last week’s Book Blogger Hop but here’s my answer to:

What book character do you think you are most like and why?

Like Harriet (Hetty) Deveraux, from Sarah Maine’s House Between Tides, I have ancestry from a small island. In my case my great grandmother was Harriet Renier who was born on the island of Alderney.

Hetty is drawn to her ancestral home, as I have always been to Alderney. I now live in Fife where there are so many similarities between here and The Channel Islands, especially to Alderney. The pace of life, sense of community, the seascapes and landscape too. (although not so many forts, castles abound!)

Hetty is inspired and interested in history, as I am. If there is a mystery she wants to discover the truth. I love to research and ‘dig’ into the past, and so Libby from Sarah Maine’s Women of the Dunes also resonates with me.

Click for Amazon

What character in a novel you’ve read recently are you most like?

Leave a comment

Filed under Alderney, Blogs, Book reading, Fife

Tagged as , , ,