Maggie Cobbett

My first time at Speaker’s Corner!

This monthly event is held at the Golden Ball in York and I couldn’t have chosen a worse evening to make my debut. The weather was unutterably foul and only half the usual number of people had turned out to take part.

However, despite the pouring rain and high winds, around 20 people were there to hear guest poet Henry Raby, Steve Nash, Andy Humphrey, Helen Sant, John Gilham and others perform.  I was asked to read too and, not having brought anything along, had to resort to conjuring up my website on a mobile phone. I don’t think The Hippy’s Lament was quite the sort of thing the group is used to, but I got a polite round of applause at the end anyway!

12 February, 2014 - Make the first comment on this story

The vegetarian and the Cumberland sausage

A recently screened episode of Emmerdale included an attempt by barmaid Bernice (Samantha Giles) to get rid of the huge number of sausages she’d ordered in a failed attempt to win over a handsome local supplier.

It was, therefore, no coincidence that I was served a large Cumberland sausage and a dollop of mash to enjoy with my drink in the Woolpack.  Freshly cooked and appetising, it posed no problem to my dining partner, and even inspired envy in the other extra who was directed to join us. (It’s a shame that you can’t see either of them in the screenshot.)

However, it’s been many a long day since I ate meat and I also loathe mashed potatoes. So, I reluctantly poked at the sausage and pushed the mash around the plate. Urged by my partner to make it more convincing, I actually raised a forkful of mash to my lips but, especially as it had been in contact with the dreaded sausage, allowed it no further. If only I’d been able to hand the whole plateful over to the chap who would have enjoyed it (!), but it’s not the place of an extra to improvise. We did several takes and my performance, such as it was, aroused no criticism from the powers that be, so I assumed that it had passed muster.

What goes around comes around, as they say. I’m not allowed to divulge forthcoming story lines, of course, but what I can tell you is that I took part in a scene this week that involved a plate of delicious cakes. Just about to choose one and sink my teeth into it, I was whisked away to sit elsewhere with nothing but a mug of lukewarm coffee in front of me. Nemesis, perhaps?

2 February, 2014 - There are 4 comments on this story

Anyone for Murder? The results of my recent promotion

Curious to see what would happen if I offered one of my eBooks as a freebie over the weekend, I was delighted with the uptake by readers in most parts of the Amazon network.

For those of you unsure of how many areas said network covers, here is a list in the order in which they appear on the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing website: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it, Amazon.co.jp, Amazon.in, Amazon.ca, Amazon .br, Amazon.mx and Amazon.au.

The only countries from which there was no response were Japan, Mexico and India, which is disappointing. Could it be that no one over there enjoys murder stories? Somehow, I rather doubt that and think it more likely that the free offer was never brought to the attention of the millions who speak and/or are studying English. I’d be very grateful for any advice about how to interest them in my current books and those in the pipeline.

29 January, 2014 - There are 2 comments on this story

Reasons to be Cheerful

This was the theme at Ripon Writers’ Group this week and I found that I had plenty to be glad about. Below is a random selection: 

After a couple of years of drama, disappointments and upheaval, our elder son is now happily settled in York. I shall miss my visits to Bath, but that is more than compensated for by having him much closer at hand – and not just to solve my technical problems!

Our twelve year old ex-feral cats have just been for their annual jabs and been given a clean bill of health. The vet weighed them and, once he’d navigated his way through all the fur, assured us that Tom – three times the size of his sister Tabitha –  really isn’t overweight. He’s just a BIG cat.

The Smartphone I was given for my birthday last month is gradually becoming less of a mystery. I still don’t understand all its functions by a long chalk, but at least I can send and receive coherent messages (since I was shown how to turn off predictive texting), get onto gmail and Facebook, take photographs and – oh yes – even make calls. (My trusty old phone was confiscated to stop me from giving up on the new one at the first hurdle and going back to it.)

I’m still several years younger than Mary Wesley was when she had her first novel published and became ‘an overnight success’, so I can continue to live in hope.

Sales of the eBooks I brought out last year have inevitably begun to dwindle, but The Little Ripon Bookshop is now stocking copies of the paperback.

It’s good to see RWG in the safe hands of a new committee, which has given me more time to pursue my own writing. I’m working on several new projects and hope to bring them to completion before the end of the year. Watch this space!

I’ve been given a whiteboard for my study and I’m finding it very useful. Gone are the days of jotting down notes on the backs of envelopes and promptly losing them.

My Scrabble rating on Facebook has gone up to 3rd amongst my dozen or so regular opponents. Playing regularly has certainly increased my vocabulary, although I still shake my head at some of the words that are allowed in the on line version.

The Spanish ‘self help’ group I joined when it first began continues to flourish and Thursday mornings have become a high spot of my week.

I’ve given up swimming, which I’ve always loathed but convinced myself was good for me. After years of crawling reluctantly out of bed on dark mornings and waiting outside the Ripon Spa Baths for the doors to open at 7 a.m., I now snuggle happily under our duvet until I actually want to get up. Emmerdale days are the exception to that, but then working in the studios or out at the village is something that I still enjoy.

22 January, 2014 - There are 2 comments on this story

The Little Ripon Bookshop

Fellow members of Ripon Writers’ Group and I were amongst the first to know of plans to open a new independent bookshop on Westgate and wished Gill and Simon Edwards every success with it. A few years down the line, The Little Ripon Bookshop has carved out its own niche in the city and is going from strength to strength. Competing with mainstream and cut price retailers as well as all the charity shops is a tough call, but TLRB has built up an excellent reputation for user friendliness and prompt service. Please take a look at www.littleriponbookshop.co.uk for more information.

I’m proud to add that one of the latest additions to the shelves of The Little Ripon Bookshop is the omnibus edition of my own short story collections and my fingers are crossed for all our sakes that it does well.

9 January, 2014 - Make the first comment on this story

Featured in Writers’ News

Life can seem rather flat in the aftermath of the festive season, so I was very pleased to open the latest issue of Writing Magazine/Writers’ News and find the feature below.

As both subscriber and occasional contributor over many years, I’d recommend WM/WN to any aspiring (or established) writer. The articles are generally well researched and informative, the competitions are challenging and the news sections fill in the gaps between editions of The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook.

5 January, 2014 - Make the first comment on this story

Hanged by the neck until dead!

I’ve just had the unsettling experience of seeing a friend plummet through the trapdoor of a scaffold. Fortunately, it was during the third episode of Death Comes to Pemberley. For those of you who watched the episode, he was the middle one of the unfortunate trio of condemned men waiting to take the drop with Mr Wickham.

Even though I knew it was a fake execution, it gave me quite a turn to see John waiting to die and I wondered how I’d like to take part in such a scene. Knowing myself as I do, I suspect that it would give me the worst possible nightmares. So, although part of me is envious not to have had the opportunity to work on such a fine drama – another friend was in it too – maybe I’m better off sipping ‘wine’ in The Woolpack.

28 December, 2013 - There are 2 comments on this story

The Owl and the Pussy-cats

This Christmas Owl was given to us as a joke present and described as a ‘novelty door stop’, but we think he looks just fine where he is. The cats seem to agree.

I learned The Owl and the pussy-cat by heart as a child and fretted for a long time over the ‘runcible’ spoon, which no one was able to define for me. There were and are all kinds of theories, but I’m happy to settle for the idea that  it’s a word Edward Lear made up because he liked the sound of it.

Another of Lear’s poems, The Pobble Who Has No Toes, features a ‘runcible cat with crimson whiskers’. Quite what the connection was with my father’s old motorbike I’ve forgotten, but it was generally known by the family as the Pobble. Dad had so many accidents – fortunately only minor ones – that my usually gentle mother threatened to take an axe to the cursed machine and he traded it in for an old banger of a car. At least we as a family retained our full complement of digits!

28 December, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story

A very merry (if slightly baffling) Christmas!

With my birthday and Christmas being only two days apart – bad planning on the part of my late and much missed parents – I’m always overwhelmed with gifts and cards at this time of year. That doesn’t mean, of course, that I’m ungrateful, just sometimes spoilt for choice as to which to focus on.

This year I’ve been given a smartphone by my nearest and dearest. It’s a rite of passage and I’m finding it as much of a challenge as when my old typewriter was replaced by a computer. The number of apps available is making me quite giddy, but I’ll let them wait until I’ve mastered the basics. Fortunately, plenty of help is at hand within the family and I shall be taking full advantage of it over the next few days.

26 December, 2013 - There are 3 comments on this story

More Festivities!

My feet hardly touched the ground on Saturday, 14th December. As a long term volunteer at RAP (www.riponactivityproject.co.uk), I was delighted when a photographer from the Ripon Gazette turned up to record the scene.

After a short rest, I was out again to attend another Christmas party, this time in Wetherby and organised by Trisha and Deej of Strictly Salsa (www.strictlysalsa.co.uk). A good time was definitely had by all and we enjoyed a demo by our Intermediate dancers – now on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnCZDLSenK8 – crazy games and copious food as well as a great evening of dancing. Come and join us next year, if you dare!

On Wednesday, 18th December, Bruce and I joined a large group of our dancer friends for dinner at La Vecchia Scuola in York. It was a rather more sedate affair than the Strictly Salsa party, but the food and the company were good. Situated in Low Petergate, very close to the Minster, the Georgian building was once York College For Girls and one of our party is a former pupil. Karen was able to show us some of its features and actually found a couple of photographs of herself amongst the many on display inside the building.

20 December, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story