Cupcakes and Chums

I caught up with a few writing chums last night at the book launch of one of our mutual friend's new YA novel. Jenny Ireland's second novel 'The Boy Next Door' was published earlier in the week by Penguin.  We gathered last night at The Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast to celebrate Jenny's achievement.

Jenny spoke eloquently about her illness and the inspiration behind this novel before reading from it. Later we tucked into delicious cupcakes  - some with a mini book cover made of icing and others that reflected the gorgeous colours in the book cover design. They tasted even better than they looked!

Having got my copy of the novel from The Secret Bookshelf who were at the launch, I queued to get it signed with so many others at the packed event.

Events like this encourage and inspire other writers. They remind me why I enjoy writing and also that writers are among the best people about. Thanks to Marianne McShane for posting this fun photo on Children's Books Belfast instagram account - we really had the best time.

Bookish birthday celebrations

Over the last few weeks I've been at a couple of bookish birthday celebrations  - one for a book and one for a bookshop.

Earlier this month the launch of Kelly McCaughrain's Little Bang was so well attended the venue had to be changed to accommodate everyone. The Cube at the Crescent Arts Centre was packed as everyone gathered to celebrate the launch of Kelly's second YA novel. Kelly doesn't shy away from difficult topics that other writers might not be brave enough or capable of tackling so deftly. 

Astronomical sweetie-filled goody bags went down well on the night. As I made my way through Little Bang I found they also double up as a bookmark. 

Michael's rendition of Sid's song from the book also went down well, really bringing the book and Kelly's characters to life. I'd recommend you check the book out for yourself.

Last weekend I popped down to my local bookshop, The Secret Bookshelf, to join in their 4th birthday celebrations.

I've never been to a bookshop's birthday party before, nor had I written a birthday card to a bookshop, but there's a first time for anything.

The last four years have been difficult for everyone and especially for small businesses. Due to hard work and lots of local support and loyal customers Jo and Chris, the very helpful and knowledgeable bookshop owners have moved to bigger premises during this time. They are hugely supportive to local writers and have built up a thriving bookish community as was evidenced by the number of people who called in to wish them 'many happy returns'.

Here's to many more bookish celebrations. 

Back to routines

Back to Coney we went yesterday. After the Christmas break it was good to get back into a routine again. A crisp, frosty morning turned into a glorious day at Coney with even some warmth in the sun. 

There was lots to catch up on and we eased ourselves back into writing as we heard what everyone has been working on (or not - with many of us taking a much needed rest over the holidays). Over coffee and chocanana muffins we listened and talked.

And then we got down to some writing. After the Christmas break it was hard to get started back to writing. It's easy to come up with so many reasons to procrastinate but being back at Coney and doing some writing exercises has broken that cycle. 

I haven't made any 'new year' writing resolutions this year, but I have some projects I'm planning to work on. In the meantime here's a recent knitting project I finished over the holidays. Happy Moo Year!

A bit of R and R

I do love Christmas even if there's not quite the same magic I remember as a child as we waited for Santa to arrive. There's still lots of special moments to celebrate. After a very busy run up to Christmas this year prepping cards, presents and food it's been lovely to enjoy some time off and relax and recharge. 

Amidst the hectic festive preparations there were calming Christmas carols, coffees and catch-ups,  delicious dinners and theatre treats.

But these last few days there's been more time to catch up with friends and family, play board games, knit, crochet and have movie nights.

There's also been time for some festive reading. It’s been a treat to dip into this delight of a book when storms have been raging outside.

I've been very fortunate to receive some gorgeous Christmas gifts from family and friends this season. Together, I've a writers pack for 2024 - so there's no excuse now for not writing in 2024.

If Carlsberg did writing groups....

Yesterday was a dull dreich December day. Chilled to the bone, we drove through freezing fog to meet up in Coney for the final time this year. Our December meet up is always very special and signals the start of seasonal festivities.

We congregated over coffee and home made shortbread and festive cranberry and orange muffins to catch up on news. 

And while other parts of the country were freezing, we enjoyed blue skies and sunshine as we did a festive writing exercise. As we got ready to eat we were treated to a poignant piano solo of 'A Fairytale of New York'.

This was followed by what was described by one of our group as 'the best Christmas Dinner of the season'. The table we usually gather round to write had been transformed and was soon groaning from the weight of delicious food everyone had brought to share.

I feel very blessed to be part of this special writing group. 

Not only are the writers talented, supportive and encouraging, they are all good fun to be with and we leave Coney the richer for having spent time together. Here's to another great year at Coney.

Leid Week

This last week has been Leid Week - Ulster Scots language Week. This year there have been a variety of events on offer both in person across the province and online. In fact there were so many events happening that sometimes I had to make a difficult decision as to which one to attend. This year I had planned to take part in a couple of events. The first, organised by Alan Millar, took place in Belfast's Linenhall library.

'Ayont the Hamely Tongue' brought together a group of Ulster Scots writers sharing their work. The rest of the group had taken part in a reading in Belfast during the summer. I hadn't been able to join them as it coincided with my writing group's writing retreat, so it was lovely to be invited to take part in this event.

Angeline King, Robert Campbell, Anne McMaster, Alan Millar and I each shared some of our work with a welcoming, supportive audience. Unfortunately, one of the group Ronnie McIhatton wasn't able to join us. Thanks to Patsy Horton and her team for making us all feel so welcome. You can watch the event here:  https://youtu.be/33S6rbIXFPw?si

The following evening I attended the launch of 'Yarns' in Ballymena. This third anthology produced by the Ulster Scots Community Network includes work from a range of writers.  It was lovely to meet some of them at the Mayor's parlour as we chatted over tea and traybakes.  It was also lovely to reconnect with some people I hadn't seen for a very long time, including one of my university lecturers.

I was delighted to have a poem 'Bak Then' included in the anthology and enjoyed hearing some of the writers sharing their work. I'm looking forward to reading the anthology. 

The next day I was back at the Linenhall for the Ulster Scots writing competition Awards ceremony. It was great to hear that this year even more entries had been received, leading to the judges highly commending a number of entries. Congratulations to Jen Herron runner up in the poetry category and William Dickey runner up in the prose category. When Alan Millar and I had taken part in readings on the Linenhall stage a couple of days previously we didn't know we'd both be back on the same stage so soon reading from our work. Congratulations to Alan who won the poetry category with 'Rabin'. I was delighted to hear I'd won the prose category with my story 'Sweet Eneuch Wioot Shuggar'.

I wrote this story during my writing group's writing retreat (when some of my fellow Ulster Scots writers were taking part in a poetry reading). This success certainly confirms for me the importance of having space and time to write. You can watch the awards event here: https://youtu.be/66vPJXpWVsE?si=dm_tml3CLSx77Ddb

From the number of events that took place during Leid Week and the interest they generated it is evident that Ulster Scots writing is experiencing a new golden age. It is very exciting to be part of this Ulster Scots writing renaissance.

Recharging at Coney

Our writing group were back down at Coney Island yesterday. It seems like ages since we've been there and a long time since we've had a good catch up. Despite all the heavy rainfall there's been in the area in the last few weeks, our journey there was very pleasant and it almost felt like a summer's day when we arrived to the sound of the tide lapping, the sun shining and brave souls taking a dip. By the time we were leaving the tide had gone out.

We spent a very pleasant morning catching up on news, drinking coffee and eating home made shortbread and apple and cinnamon muffins. Sitting on comfortable sofas in the morning sunshine with stunning sea views, we made some forward plans.

We did do some writing exercises, really stretching the grey matter. But yesterday it seemed more important to listen to what everyone else has been doing, the challenges we face and how we might manage them. Sometimes it's good to have time to talk and recharge our batteries. We're very lucky in our writing group to have people who are there to listen to us.