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...
Shadows of the Past – the prequel!
Grammar and the acquisition of vocabulary were very much to the fore at my school in those days, with speaking almost an optional extra. This goes some way to explain the difficulties experienced by my characters Daisy, Kate and Ronnie when they found themselves in a nightmare scenario rather than the innocuous ‘international work camp’ that they had signed up for. Not understanding what was going on around them for much of the time, they didn’t know that they should have run for their lives while they had the chance.
The prequel to ‘Shadows of the Past’ will be available as a free download. WATCH THIS SPACE!
10 February, 2019 - Make the first comment on this story
Swanwick 2019
Always pleased to support the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School in any way I can, I’m delighted to have the opportunity to repeat a workshop that has been very successful in the past.
Money isn’t everything, I know, but it certainly helps. ‘Easy Money for Writers & Wannabes’ has been described as the gift that keeps on giving. If you haven’t already got a copy, why not give it a try? You won’t lose by it.
10 February, 2019 - Make the first comment on this story
An unexpected accolade
No, that isn’t yours truly receiving a trophy from Carole Bromley. That distinction went to Ripon Writers’ Group’s Chair, Sheila Whitfield, for her poem about the traditional craft of dry stone walling. BUT, and it’s a big BUT, I was placed joint third.
Why should that be such a big deal, you might ask. Well, it’s because my entry, ‘Not a Hope’, listed all the reasons why I wouldn’t expect to get anywhere in a poetry competition. Prizes these days tend to go to writers of free verse, with traditional forms disdained as hopelessly old fashioned. I disagree, as you’ll realise if you read on. Much of what I hear today, whether at an adjudication or an open mic, I only know is a poem because that’s what I’m told it is. Beautifully crafted and full of clever imagery it may be but, devoid of both rhyme and metre, it’s indistinguishable to my ear from prose.
Carole said that she placed my poem, submitted anonymously, because its writer ‘succeeds in writing a tongue in cheek, brilliant poem which makes her point powerfully and wittily’. I hope you agree. Comments very welcome.
NOT A HOPE
To write an ode is her intent,
But inspiration, heaven sent
To those of a poetic bent,
Has quite forgotten where she lives;
An oversight that always gives
A chance to better poets than she
To craft their entries, while she sighs
And wonders why she even tries.
Her pen is chewed beyond repair
And nothing beckons but despair.
Her friends evoke both place and time
In part or para or half- rhyme.
She knows their poems can’t fail to chime
With any judge of modern verse.
That’s not her style, for she is cursed
With love for both full rhyme and metre
And something strongish by the litre
To drown her sorrows when they beat her.
9 January, 2019 - There are 2 comments on this story
Every little helps!
First ‘filler’ of the year to appear in print, cheque to follow. The advice in my ‘Easy Money for Writers & Wannabes’ continues to stand the test of time!
7 January, 2019 - Make the first comment on this story
A festive story published at last!
D.C.Thomson have maintained their policy of paying on acceptance rather than on publication, for which their regular writers are very grateful. However, it’s always a little disappointing when a story is ‘held over’, as mine was last Christmas. However, here it is at last in the issue dated 22.12.18.
My original title, ‘A Slice of Happiness’, gave more of a clue to its subject matter than that chosen by the fiction team. Inspired by the same event that I described in my novel ‘Shadows of the Past’, it tells of an unexpected act of kindness during the final days of the WW2 German occupation of France. One reader has already let me know that it moved her to tears.
20 December, 2018 - Make the first comment on this story
Another boost for ‘Workhouse Orphan’.
Thank you, Graham. Your unflagging support for the creative members of our community is always very much appreciated.
6 December, 2018 - Make the first comment on this story
Pantster or Plotter?
It’s always a pleasure to discuss technique with other writers and I almost forgot at times a) that we had an audience and b) were being filmed.
However, this was a PYA (Promoting Yorkshire Authors) event with Danny Crow chairing and Paul Smith behind the camera. Edwin Rydberg’s guiding hand was present behind the scenes.
Fellow members Samantha Priestley and Bryan Pentelow are fantasy writers, John Jackson (a last minute substitute for Victoria Howard) specialises in historical fiction with a strong dash of romance and I – well, you’ve only got to take a look at the books I’ve produced so far to see that I’ve never managed to settle down to any particular genre. Crime, humour, romance – and all often in the same story!
So am I a ‘pantser’ or a ‘plotter’? Well, I have to admit that it depends very much on the subject matter. ‘Shadows of the Past’ began as a memoir of my first summer in France. Then, like Topsy, it ‘just grow’d’ and it’s fair to say that I flew by the seat of my pants through WW2 and the 1980s. ‘Wheels on Fire’ and ‘Workhouse Orphan’, on the other hand, each had main characters with a definite mission. As I knew from the start what these were and how they were going to turn out, I was able to plot step by step what happened in between.
It was good to see some familiar faces in the audience as well as new ones. These library events are becoming a regular feature of PYA and I always enjoy them, whether taking an active part or supporting other authors.
22 October, 2018 - Make the first comment on this story
Ripon Poetry Festival 2018
The organisers of last year’s inaugural Ripon Poetry Festival hoped that this one would be able to build on its success and it certainly did. There was a full programme of events spread over four days and surely something for everyone.
My own contribution was a modest one, but I was very pleased to have a WW1 themed poem of mine included in the Festival Competition Anthology, which was launched on the Saturday evening in the undercroft of Holy Trinity Church. The following day, I read it again, together with a parody partly inspired by memories of a misspent youth. That was as part of Ripon Writers’ Group’s showcase at Thorpe Prebend House on High St Agnesgate.
You can read both these poems, Noblesse Oblige and The Hippy’s Lament in the Stories and Poems section of this website. I hope you enjoy them.
18 October, 2018 - Make the first comment on this story
News flash!
‘Workhouse Orphan’ is now available from Amazon in paperback or as a download. I have a small stock, so please let me know if you would like a signed copy. I’m also more than happy to give an author talk to any interested group. Although the book is aimed at the younger reader, a great deal of research has gone into it and the subject matter makes it appropriate for any age group.
23 July, 2018 - Make the first comment on this story
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