Hello, and thank you for visiting my site. I hope that you'll return often and always find something of interest about my world and what inspires me to pick up a pen. (This is a figure of speech, unfortunately. My handwriting is terrible!) Here's what I've been up to recently...
From Austria with love!
Write-On! Ripon was in the middle of our usual Tuesday afternoon meeting this week when a surprise contribution arrived from a member currently enjoying a winter sports holiday in Austria. She’s having a great time and, of course, we had to send a photo straight back to her.
20 February, 2025 - Make the first comment on this story
Promoting Independent UK Authors
I always enjoy supporting fellow writers and this afternoon saw me at one of Harrogate Library’s monthly Books & Beverages sessions. Chaired by Sue Williams, the authors’ panel today consisted of Susanna Lewis, Nick Boreham and Sara Sartagne. All were there to talk about their latest books. Susanna has written Finding Joy in the Everyday, a very touching memoir of her late mother, Nick has just brought out Jurymen May Dine, a crime thriller about a miscarriage of justice and Sara’s The Year of Yes & No is a ‘duality’ novel about two women in different time periods.
As regulars of the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School, Susanna and I just had to have a photo taken together for its Facebook page and here we are!
7 February, 2025 - Make the first comment on this story
A good start to 2025
Happy New Year, everyone!
It is always a pleasure to speak to audiences large or small, whether about one of my books specifically or my writing/life in general.
My first booking in 2025 was with a Ripon u3a group. In the time allotted to me, I packed in as much information as I could about my experiences as a TV/film ‘extra’. There was, of course, a great deal more that I could have said, much of it contained in My ‘Extra’ Life. As with most of my other books, I carry a small stock for people who request a signed copy. (Otherwise, it is available from Amazon as either a paperback or a download.)
Networking is of huge importance to writers and I am pleased to say that a lady in the audience requested that I give the same talk later this year to another group with which she is connected.
There is no better place to make connections that the Writers’ Summer School in Swanwick and I’m looking forward enormously to my annual stay there in August.
It should coincide with the publication by SpellBound of my new book, which centres on the summer my friend Rosie and I ‘rode the Dog’ across the USA. More details to follow. Watch this space!
25 January, 2025 - Make the first comment on this story
Honouring an old tradition
It is Boxing Day 2024, the weather is glorious and I have just emerged from the annual carol service in the Cellarium of Fountains Abbey. Hundreds of people were in attendance, many of whom had taken part in the annual pilgrimage from Ripon Cathedral. On this one day of the year, the National Trust allows free entrance to the estate until 12 noon, which is much appreciated by non-members, including my son Richard who took the photo above. But what is it all about, you might ask yourself, and why is it graced by high ranking clergy and other august personnages from North Yorkshire and beyond? The photo below shows the Very Reverend John Dobson, Dean of Ripon, the lady in the background is the Right Reverend Anna Eltringham, Bishop of Ripon and the gentleman on the right is Ralf Meister, Bishop of Hanover. Also present, although not caught on camera, were the Lords Lieutenant of North and West Yorkshire. When the service was over, anxious for a group shot, some of them handed over their phones to Richard. I joked with him later that he should have asked for a credit if they were planning to publish the photos, but he hadn’t, of course.
On St Stephen’s Day in 1132, a group of 13 Benedictines from St Mary’s Abbey in York set off from Ripon to walk the last few miles to the land they had been granted on the River Skell. Their aim was to build a monastery in which they could lead a simpler and more devout existence. Once settled into their new life, they joined the austere Cistercian order. During the years that followed, and largely thanks to the efforts of the lay brothers, Fountains Abbey became wealthy through wool production, lead mining, cattle rearing, horse breeding and stone quarrying. All that came to a halt in 1539 when Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries, but the site holds the largest monastic ruins in the country.
I’m not sure whether the monks would have appreciated the music provided by the Stray Brass Band Ensemble, but we certainly did.
By the time we’d toiled back up the hill to the Visitors’ Centre, refreshments were a very welcome sight.
26 December, 2024 - Make the first comment on this story
All writers need friends!
All writers do indeed need friends and belonging to more than one local group, as some of us do, can only be a good thing. There were so many of us at Write-On! Ripon’s Christmas do at the Claro Lounge that we had to have a photograph taken from both ends of the table.
Loungers have access to a very well stocked bar and so it was quite appropriate that the suggested theme for the final meeting of the year was ‘The Morning After the Night Before’!
18 December, 2024 - Make the first comment on this story
Red kites fly again!
Only a very occasional poet, I was very pleased to find this in the BBC Wildlife magazine.
Eccup reservoir is very close to North Yorkshire’s Harewood House, where there is a feeding station for these magnificent birds. The Emmerdale village is also in the grounds, so I had many opportunities to observe them during my years as a television ‘extra’. They disrupted filming on more than one occasion, notably on the day when some helium balloons were launched to celebrate a character’s birthday and the birds attacked them.
Please go to the Stories and Poems section of this website if you’d like to read ‘Red Kites’.
13 December, 2024 - Make the first comment on this story
Celebrating a friend’s success!
Tina Shingler and I first met many years ago as members of Ripon Writers’ Group and her work has always impressed me. Struggling with the hair that is so much a part of Tina’s identity is a thread that runs through the new book. but there is far more to it than that. Growing up as almost the only non-white child in a small rural community was a tough start in life, but Tina’s intelligence and determination led her into a career that has included teaching in Florence and working at the Italian Embassy in Washington D.C.
Needless to say, I was delighted to attend the launch at the Little Ripon Bookshop and lay my hands on a copy of Hair Apparent. It’s a great title and a cracking read!
13 December, 2024 - Make the first comment on this story
Sessay Tuesday Club
It had been a while since I gave a talk, so I was very pleased to be invited to Sessay Tuesday Club. Accompanied by my ‘tech team’ of husband and younger son, I arrived at the village hall in plenty of time to set up and was given a big welcome. Actually, I could have managed on my own as the hall is very well equipped with technology, but that’s not always a given, so we had taken our own laptop, projector and extension cable ‘just in case’. It was a happy coincidence to find a former member of Ripon Writers’ Group in charge, so we were able to catch up a little too.
The talk the Club had chosen was about my time as a television/film ‘extra’ and I enjoyed sharing some memories of those years with the members. There is plenty about it that I miss, although certainly not the early morning starts and driving back and forth to filming venues in all weathers.
9 October, 2024 - Make the first comment on this story
Ripon Poetry Festival
Ripon Writers’ Group and Write-On! Ripon were both well represented at the open mic, which we co-hosted this year at the Arts Hub on Allhallowgate. It was good to see some new faces as well as many of the regular participants and hear a wide variety of poetic styles and subject matter.
Having attended the launch of this year’s children’s anthology – I was very pleased to have been one of the judges for the 12-18 category – I met fellow Swanwickers Penny Blackburn and Susanna Lewis in the bar. In the photo, kindly taken for us by Tony Lewis, we’re all brandishing copies of the main Festival anthology in which we each have a poem. Actually Penny has two and Susanna has the added kudos of coming second in the annual competition. Well done, ladies!
We took to the stage in turn to read our poems to an appreciative audience composed of other contributors to the anthology and their guests. As ever, there was a great variety of poetic styles and themes and it was a very enjoyable evening.
22 September, 2024 - Make the first comment on this story
Caught on camera
Having gone along to watch the filming of Bargain Hunt at our local auction house, purely for the experience, I was amused to discover that I’d been caught on camera. Umpteen people have been in touch to say that they spotted me and wondered what I’d bought.
The answer to that is nothing, but the staff at Elstob & Elstob were very friendly and even gave me a cup of tea. It was interesting to watch three of the BH regulars in action. Caroline Hawley was the presenter on this occasion with Philip Serrell and Jonathan Pratt as the experts guiding the red and blue teams.
22 September, 2024 - Make the first comment on this story
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