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...
Friends reunited!
One of the joys of Swanwick is making new friends and catching up with old ones.
Not many go as far back as Geoff and I, who last met in 1972. It was great to see him again.
Today was definitely one for basking in the sunshine and I really envied Julia’s hat. She gave us another stunning performance at Buskers’ Night, which included many other talented Swanwickers. As one who can neither play nor sing to any remotely acceptable level, I was content to sit back and enjoy it all.
11 August, 2015 - Make the first comment on this story
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt!
Yes, folks, I really have got the T-shirt! Today was the day to don it and do my short course entitled ‘Focus on Fillers’. I’d been dreading the technology going wrong but, with some help from a couple of obliging fellow Swanwickers, the Power Point presentation in the morning ran smoothly. The afternoon was given over to a workshop where people could come up with their own ideas and discuss where they might submit them. The room was full for both sessions and there was a lot of laughter, so I hope that everyone enjoyed the course as much as I did.
Afterwards, I was very happy to relax and become a consumer again. Prolific short story writer Della Galton was a sure fire winner as the evening speaker.
10 August, 2015 - Make the first comment on this story
Delighted with my first 5* review!
So delighted, in fact, that I’ve decided to reproduce it here for everyone to read.
***** Amazon review
Rural France has long been an inspiration for writers. Flaubert’s MADAME BOVARY originated in Normandy. Simenon set much of his Maigret series of detective novels in the seedy underbelly of Paris but his stories acquired a whole new perspective when they transferred to the countryside. More recently, Joanne Harris gave us a taste of what goes on beyond the confines of the capital in CHOCOLAT and its sequels, THE LOLLIPOP SHOES and PEACHES FOR MONSIEUR LE CURE. These novels are generally held to show there is a darker side to life in the French provinces but in her debut novel, Maggie Cobbett takes that one step further as SHADOWS OF THE PAST explores it to the full.
We know right from the start that there’s something nasty in the woodshed – the dramatic prologue tells us to expect it. So when Laura Fitzgerald sets out on what she hopes is a pleasant and informative tour of France in her new Triumph Spitfire we know she’s heading for trouble. We’re soon introduced to the families Binard and Gaudet and the questions begin to rack up – who’s hiding what from whom and why? And when young Daisy and her friends arrive on the scene, we fear for them and the story starts to crackle with an underlying tension. If you go down in the woods today…
After setting out the scene in the first half of the book, things quickly gather pace as the secrets begin to tumble out in the second. Someone is going to die – but who will it be? Daisy? Her friends? Or will it be Laura herself who fails to survive and escape the retentive clutches of Saint-André-la-Forêt? But as compelling as this mystery may at first appear, SHADOWS OF THE PAST is more than just a thriller – it’s also a social history of provincial France for the fifty year period beginning just before World War Two. Unlike the countryside in which it’s set, the book is densely populated with a myriad of interesting characters, each of whom has an agenda of their own – some of which are not entirely pleasant.
2 August, 2015 - Make the first comment on this story
Update on ‘Shadows of the Past’
My first novel is now available in print or electronic version from Amazon and the dates for the official launches – think ‘celebration’ rather than anything too formal – have been set. There will be music, there will be refreshments and there may even be readings! Needless to say, signed copies will also be available.
Please make a note of these dates: Saturday 22nd August at my home in Ripon; Saturday 29th August at my son’s place in York. Details of timings will follow and an email to me will ensure directions for anyone who needs them.
With my annual stay at The Writers’ Summer School (Swanwick) to enjoy beforehand, I couldn’t be more excited at the moment. (Stifles mad cries of ‘Yippee’ for fear of scaring the cats.)
28 July, 2015 - Make the first comment on this story
‘Shadows of the Past’ is finally here!
I unveiled the final proof copy at the summer social of the NSG (York Writers’ Novelists’ Support Group) last week and hope to publish details of my book launches very soon. In the meantime, here’s the cover to be going on with. I hope you all like it. It’s a shame that people buying the eBook will only see the front, because every item in the line up is of significance to the story. Thanks again to those of you generous enough to entrust me with some of your precious items.
26 July, 2015 - Make the first comment on this story
Novelists’ Support Group Summer Social
This evening of good food and good conversation was held at Grays Court in York. Thank you very much, Linda, for arranging it. I’m sure that Steve, Sarah, Sally, Joanna, Nick, Amy, Paul, John and Richard enjoyed it as much as I did.
The proof copy of my novel Shadows of the Past had arrived just in time to be passed round. A page inside is dedicated to fellow writers, including several of those present, who have been kind enough to read and comment on the final draft. In particular, I cannot thank my son enough for designing the cover, doing the lay out and putting the whole thing together.
23 July, 2015 - Make the first comment on this story
My article in ‘Down Your Way’ magazine
‘Down Your Way’ is a cheerful little magazine, much loved by Yorkshire people still living in our great county and cherished by exiles all over the world. It has included many of my articles over the years and the bottom right hand corner of the cover gives a clue to the subject of the latest one.
Being a Saturday girl in ‘Woolies’, Woolworth’s Briggate store in Leeds in my case, was my first taste of paid work and quite a culture shock. My immediate boss ruled her department with a rod of iron and was far less forgiving of mistakes than any of my teachers. I was also in terror for the first few weeks of my colleagues, who had all left school at fifteen and were far more sophisticated and worldly wise than I was. Being at the bottom of the pecking order was a new experience.
The first draft of the article was almost a stream of consciousness piece, but I had to tone it down to avoid giving offence or even being sued! Suffice it to say, that I could have said a great deal more about the goings on than made it into print.
27 June, 2015 - There are 2 comments on this story
The camera never lies?
Well, I hope that this chap’s hard work will pay off for me!
15 December, 2014 - Make the first comment on this story
Swanwick 2014 – starting to flag a little but…
By the middle of each Swanwick week, the late nights and early mornings start to catch up with me and this year has been no exception. However, Tuesday is traditionally a more relaxing day. There used to be an organised outing, but in recent years we’ve tended to ‘do our own thing’ and take the opportunity to explore some of the nearby National Trust properties. However, a full day out wasn’t possible this year if I was to attend the Derbyshire Police Forensics Team’s presentation.
This, once some technical hitches were sorted out, was well worth the sacrifice. Yet to serve on a jury (except as an extra on Emmerdale), I was relieved to learn from Jim Smith, ACSI Manager Forensic Investigation Unit of the Derbyshire Constabulary, that the police now have at their disposal a software package designed to spare jurors from gruelling photographic images while still giving them all the necessary facts. What was shown was horrific enough, though, and I take my hat off to people who can calmly investigate murder scenes, especially the very gory ones and those where the body has been lying around for a long time.
Time being limited, we spent a couple of hours at Denby Pottery in the afternoon and I’d very much like to go again with a few more hours at my disposal. As well as shopping opportunities, there are craft room and factory tours on offer, a cosy restaurant and ‘Pottery Beach’, where children can play in the sand and enjoy music and other entertainment. (There are even deckchairs for their weary parents!) However, an invitation to Joy and Shirley’s party beckoned and very convivial it was too. We were unaware then of a disaster brewing in a Lakeside bedroom close by. Suffice it to say that trying to cram in too many guests for a private drinks party can lead to trouble. The gentleman in whose room the incident occurred was later to immortalise the event in song: The Man Who Broke The Bed In Swanwick Lakeside and hopes that it might add to his manly reputation!
Our evening speaker, crime writer and TV reporter Simon Hall brought the house down with some of his anecdotes. I particularly enjoyed the one about an outside broadcast on road kill, where Simon found himself having to use the hand dryer of a Little Chef to defrost a frozen otter, much to the horror of the manager.
Buskers’ Night, once again organised by Mark Iveson, was a real showcase of Swanwick talent with both well seasoned and new performers giving it their all. One of the latter group was fellow Ripon Writers’ Group member Cathy Grimmer, whose unaccompanied rendition of ‘Somewhere that’s green’ from Little Shop of Horrors and her own parody ‘Glad to be Grey’ was very well received. I’m sure that the event could have gone on for at least another hour, had it not been for the need to consider people trying to sleep in the rooms above. Every conference has its owls and its larks, after all, although some Swanwickers do attempt to burn the candle at both ends, as witness their empty chairs or pallid faces at breakfast.
Wednesday saw the annual photo call; Swanwick competition prize winners lined up with representatives from Writers’ News. I was delighted to be included for my poem Commemorated In Stained Glass, (which can be read on this website).
Sometimes called upon to give talks about my writing or my television work, I thought that Michael O’Byrne and John Lamont’s two part course on public speaking would be ideal for me and so it was. Laced with self deprecating humour, as one would expect from those two, it was nevertheless packed with a great deal of solid information – the DONT’S being just as (or even more) useful than the DOS.
Guest speakers David and Hilary Crystal gave us new insights into places in Britain which have helped to shape the English language and then the dais was cleared for the eagerly anticipated Swanwick Page to Swanwick Stage performances.
Of the many striking images of the evening, I think that Simon Hall, stripped to the essentials for his role in Phil Collins’s play, will linger longest in the memory of most of the ladies present! Most of the plays, written in advance and workshopped during the week were humorous, but you could have heard a pin drop during Cathy Grimmer’s poignant Requiem. In between were some improvisations, including one performed by some young writers from the Top Write scheme, and all thoroughly deserved their applause.
It’s no wonder that I’m tired, because I couldn’t go to bed without joining in with the late night ceilidh. There weren’t many of us there, but what we lacked in numbers we certainly made up for in enthusiasm!
14 August, 2014 - There are 2 comments on this story
Swanwick 2014 – heading for the halfway point
My room in Lakeside is now looking as tidy as ever it will during my stay!
The good news is that every single copy of Easy Money For Writers And Wannabes that I brought along to sell has been snapped up. I don’t even have one for myself at the moment, because I’ve had to part with the proof copy! However, the omnibus edition of my short story collections is still available in the Book Room. (Both books are featured on Amazon and can be downloaded to Kindle etc. or ordered as print editions.)
I hope that my promotional T-shirt for the short story collections will work its magic* if it doesn’t really get me arrested! The lovely Michael O’Byrne, our Vice Chairman this year, is a retired chief constable after all!
My head is bursting with useful information at the moment, much of it gained from ‘official’ sources – Shirley Blair’s excellent two part course on writing for The People’s Friend and Karin Bachmann’s afternoon session on using Twitter to better effect – plus a large number of hints and anecdotes from fellow Swanwickers encountered at breakfast, morning tea break (with biscuits), lunch, afternoon tea (with cake), dinner and all those times in between. It would take a will of iron to lose weight at The Hayes!
Did I mention magic earlier on? Maybe my appearance at the Wizard of Oz themed disco will do the trick! Mark Iveson, DJ for the evening, certainly kept us all moving!
11 August, 2014 - Make the first comment on this story
Check Out My eBooks
