Category Archives: Writing

Background to writing

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?

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.

Virtual Tour around the main settings for my latest novel ~ real and imaginary

MISSING Past and Present is unlike my previous novels because two of the main settings are imaginary. Why go to all that trouble?

It challenges the imagination of the writer and the reader
It will not offend a reader ~ in my murder mystery, set on my doorstep at the time in a village down in Bedfordshire, some folks loved it that way but others were a bit disturbed by it ~ well, it was murder after all!

Strangely enough this did not deter my ability to see the scenes as vividly as ever in my mind’s eye, maybe more so. I suppose writing fantasy is like that.

Tour 1 in the imaginary Town of Drumford

Here’s my sketch of the main town of Drumford in my novel, or at least the centre, where a lot of the action took place. It was the birth place of Dot, my protagonist, and the focus of a life of memories.

The main scenes were set in The Ark, a centre for the homeless, but there were also scenes in the community police station in the old bank building, in the cafe, in both churches and in the Women’s Refuge.

Belmont Park featured both in the past and the present; as a park to enjoy in today’s world it was a place of reflection, even secret assignations. The ruins of the old manor house, still visible among the gardens, brought to life its past for Millie, my trainee nun, nearly two hundred years before.

Personal Writing Hopes, Dreams and Plans for 2022

I love being in the world of writing. It gives me a buzz, whether supporting other authors or working on my own projects and so I am looking forward to the challenges of 2022!

Aims for the year are to GO WIDE with some of my books, support other authors, raise more money for the foodbank and pick up and finish one of my on going projects. Which one, I have yet to decide.

Go wide!

We aim to begin to go wide with my books beginning with MURDER Now and Then, which will be available on KOBO, Barnes and Noble, Apple and Google Play for 1st February.

Then, gradually we’ll introduce other books ~ Riduna next.

Support other authors.

Eventispress is a writing Collective and we have gained two new authors in our family. It is such a privilege to work with them and support them through the maze of options. Their enthusiasm certainly rubs off and is like a positive energy snowball, increasing in momentum and brightness. More news about them both shortly, but Eventispress introduces Ian K Pulham here.

The Healing Paths of Fife

In order to continue to support Kirkcaldy Foodbank I need to update this little book. Cafes mentioned have closed down and others opened; some have changed hands making descriptions also untrue. I need to remove most of these, unless they are integral to the flow of the book, and write a forward saying that the walker will find it a delight to discover eateries for themselves.

I would like to write a short afterward to bring the walk up to the moment.

Finally I would like to encourage more cafes to sell the paperback in aid of the Foodbank. With over £700 raised for local charities I aim for £1000 by the end of 2022!

Three other personal projects ~ which to choose first?

Prequel to Riduna

My Mum and Dad’s prequel to Riduna written in tandem to my own still needs work to bring it to print but it would be a wonderful tribute to them both.

Sequel to MISSING Past and Present

The manuscript to this novel is over half way there and the plot still there ready for the moment when my brain says yes, It’s time!

Final book in my Riduna Series

I began this years ago. It is on my hard drive and a few people who enjoyed the first two books still ask me ‘when?’ I’m not sure if it is a project for 2022. We’ll see.

Watch this space. Which one would you choose?