Reading

Books I'm currently reading:
The Return by Victoria Hislop and
The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society by Chris Stewart

Picnic under the stars

Wonderful evening spent at 'Sense and Sensibility' outdoor theatre with the girls. Great cast delivering Jane Austen at her best.
A truly veritable feast was had by all - sandwiches, strawberries & cream, splendid cupcakes & coffee with great company. The weather remained kind to us. What a wonderful way to spend a July evening!

Writers at Coney Island

Sparkling sea on a clear blue day. Fresh sweet peas and roses, a wicker picnic basket full of home made goodies, chocolate and banana muffins, melon with raspberries- just a few of the highlights at yesterday's writing workshop at Maddie's. Moira, Keira, Maddie and I focused on early readers requirements and then (after coffee refills) embarked on a spot of free writing with pick n mix words. Amazing results - I think I've got the start of a new story there! Thanks girls! Further work was carried out today on it sitting in the sunshine in the back garden. Amazing the inspiration you can get from background sounds - a bicycle bell tinkling and the strains of an accordion band wafting up from the afternoon concert at the park.

Reading

Books I'm currently reading:

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay

G Shay - That sounds like a great idea for a book. Is it aimed at the children's or adult market? You've just given me a good idea for a children's book - thanks! The advice for all writers is to 'write what you know' so if this is your main interest it sounds like you're well on the way. Photographs would probably be easier to use (and cheaper) than getting good quality illustrations but if you are using other people's photographs you would need to seek their permission for copyright purposes. The Writer's and Artist's Yearbook is a good source of information and tips - published annually by A+C Black. Good luck with the book

Belfast Book festival

Great day out yesterday at Belfast Book Festival.  Lovely coffee in the cafe @ The Crescent Arts Centre and good to catch up with fellow writers. Very useful information from NIPR. Very interesting speakers at LitNetNI's Writing for Children event - Lynsey Fraser, Siobhan Parkinson and Sheena Wilkinson. Now I need to go and polish up some of my writing!