Ann Cleeves - 19th October 2016

This was an event organised by the Lincoln WI to celebrate the 7th book in the Shetland series (Cold Earth) and Anne's 30th book in 30 years.  She was very entertaining and spoke for nearly an hour about Shetland and its people and her life as a writer.

She feels she has been very lucky in her writing life.  From accepting a job in the Shetland Islands as an assistant cook, to the ultimate 'luck' when someone picked up a copy of a 'Vera' book in a charity shop to take on their holidays; which the lady enjoyed so much.....the rest is history.

What she did say about writing is that she started off writing her first novel in long hand.  She did have a lot of time as she was living on an island with only her husband for company.  Now she says, she gets up at 5am in the morning and finds she gets a lot of writing done between 5 and 9.30am when her husband gets up.....

I decided to buy a copy of one of her Vera novels, which she was kind enough to sign.  I reminded her (she had no recollection) that we had met before at a writing workshop, many years ago, that she had led in Lincoln Castle Prison.  This was before the Shetland and Vera books, and before she was famous!  I enjoyed that workshop and I enjoyed this evenings talk.

Sleep Well Ducky Bod.....

Yesterday we said Goodbye to my dad's sister - Auntie Marie.

I was asked to read a poem at the service and here it is:

Missed in the morning of every day
Missed in the evening as lights fade away
Missed in a thousand and one little ways
Around every corner a memory stays

We miss your smile, your joking ways
We miss the things you used to say
And when old times we do recall
Its then we miss you most of all

You gave us years of happiness
The sorrow came with tears
You left us lovely memories
We will treasure through the years.

(Author unknown)

Feel Good....

I knew the kind of books I loved myself, which perhaps aren't considered great literature, but are great stories, with strong characters and smart observations.  You might not stop and gasp over every sentence, but these books get put in lots of beach bags, and taken on lots of aeroplanes, and read in lots of hospitals: they keep people company and they make them feel good.

Jennifer Weiner  www.jenniferweiner.com/

Picking up Rhythm

When you feel the story is beginning to pick up rhythm - the characters are shaping up, you can see them, you can hear their voices, and they do things that you haven't planned, things you couldn't have imagined - then you know the book is somewhere, and you just have to find it, and bring it, word by word, into this world.  

Isabel Allende  www.isabelallende.com/

Take The First Step

For many people, taking that first step is the most difficult aspect of any creative task.  It's a declaration of intent and also an act of faith, since all too often we start a project without really knowing where to start or - worryingly - where, how or when it will end.

Sometimes too, getting started can feel like the end of a lovely period of free and endless thinking.  Giving shape and form to your ideas can feel like you're killing them a little, selling them short - or limiting them in some way that feels uncomfortable.

From: Start anywhere, start now, in Unleash Your Creativity: Secrets of Creative Genius, by Rob Bevan and Tim Wright published by The Infinite Ideas Company Limited www.infideas.com (2005)

Back to Work....

After what has been an age (88 working days apparently) I have gone back to work.  Initially doing half days and then hopefully back to my usual 25 hours after the Bank Holiday.  I am not sure that I am really ready.  I am not sure that I ever will be.  However, I know I need to get back for my sanity if nothing else.  Oh, and the money will come in handy!!

Advice from Anne Rice on Writing

On writing, my advice is the same to all.  If you want to be a writer, write.  Write and write and write.  If you stop, start again. Save everything that you write.  If you feel blocked, write through it until you feel your creative juices flowing again.  Write. Writing is what makes a writer, nothing more and nothing less.

http://annerice.com/