books and cake and book-cakes

It's a busy time of year in the run up to Christmas. Last night I was double booked with writing events. The previous day I'd received a lovely personal invitation, (along with writing group members) from Anthony Quinn https://www.anthonyjquinnwriter.com/ to the launch of his new book in Belfast's No Alibis bookshop. From accounts on social media it was a successful launch and I'm looking forward to reading a copy of 'The Listeners' soon.

My other writing engagement had been in my diary for several weeks. One of my writing friends https://twitter.com/IdreamofNarnia - tweeted this photo yesterday to give a flavour of what was in store.

Not only is she a talented writer- she's also a very accomplished baker. I can confirm that these fabulous book-themed cup cakes tasted even more delicious than they look - well 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' one did. The occasion was a pre-Christmas get-together with some writing friends last night, which was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Cake is a common theme that accompanies many of the writing meetings I go to - whether it's my home baked muffins or coffee shop cakes - but the prize for the best book-cakes this year has to go to Jenny!
Looking back over my writing year, one of the highlights has to be the many catch-ups I've had with fellow writers. Writing is a solitary business so meeting and chatting with other writers is important in supporting each other and learning from each other.
Another common feature in these groups is laughter - always a good barometer of team spirit. There are several times this year I have laughed so much I have cried in the company of fellow writers - usually over the antics we get up to, or the situations we have found ourselves in. And if we wrote some of these down, you wouldn't believe them! - but maybe we will at some point - exploding eggs, evictions etc....

Writers are generally nice people and I feel very blessed to be a part of two separate writing groups where I can now call these like-minded people who share their passion for writing, my friends. But, as another of my writing friends blogged earlier this week,   https://awfullybigblogadventure.blogspot.com/2018/12/on-finding-one-kelly-mccaughrain.html?spref=fb&fbclid=IwAR0ZdXLGQFuUPQDnkv8FvOFUtfzHn-TK_aP9Q5HxaLbsfXaiK6-mIAgyjbM it doesn't always work this way - which is why I feel so blessed to be part of not only one, but two such groups. Our groups are special and I look forward to seeing everyone each time we meet up.
It's also nice to have made new writing friends during the year as new members have joined the group and when my own writing has taken me to other events further afield I've also made new writing friends. So as this writing year draws to a close, thanks to everyone who is a part of these two groups - you know who you are and I look forward to many more writing adventures in 2019!

Can pantomime change the world? Oh yes it can!

It's that time of the year again - pantomime time - oh yes it is! Last night some of my favourite little people, big people and I were entertained at one of our local theatres to a fantastic performance of Peter Pan.

It was a close tie between Captain Hook and Tinkerbell as to who our favourite character was.

Mr Hullabaloo and his team never fail to impress with their songs, costumes and puppets http://www.mrhullabaloo.co.uk/mrhullabaloo_hom.html Going to the pantomime usually heralds the start of the Christmas festivities for us. One of my nieces recently told me it's her favourite part of Christmas and it is lovely to enjoy this magic with the little people in my life.

 

This pantomime is probably my favourite for a number of reasons - it's not the traditional fairytale with a prince and a princess and it's a more modern story than most. But to me it's much more than this - it's story behind the story and the legacy the writer JM Barrie left. 

Peter Pan first appeared as a character in 1902 and the book has never been out of print since. In 1929 he gifted the copyright from Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital - that's what I call a writing legacy. You can read more about this here https://www.gosh.org/about-us/peter-pan/history and how the House of Lords took an unprecedented decision a few years ago to ensure that the hospital receives the rights in perpetuity.  

There's still tickets available - so get along and see it!

Christmas at Coney

Cranberry and orange muffins can only mean one thing - it's Christmas time at Coney!

So while it may only be the first day in December we celebrated Christmas in Coney today in style. After catching up on news and completing a few writing exercises, a veritable feast was had by all. We writers certainly know how to enjoy our food! - smoked salmon to start, roasted goose with all the trimmings, followed by a selection of delicious home made desserts.

We also know how to have a good laugh together.  I just love my new slippers - Hungry Haggis lives on! Heelin coos rock!

Not only are we a great bunch of writers, we have a few very talented artists in the group and it was inspiring to view some of their work today as well as looking at 'real' picture book illustration proofs.

 

spine poem

Just a bit of fun earlier today! As part of Book Week Scotland I had a go at creating a spine poem:

 

 

 

 

 

Birds without wings beginning the unbearable lightness of scones,

Angels and demons sweet caress holy fools,

Joseph Andrews eats, shoots and leaves in a blue velvet dress,

Warning Jude the obscure half of a yellow sun

Disappeared north and south in cold blood.

 

 

It also reminded me I've piles of books in the house still to read! 

NaNoWriMo - my way

So, it's that time of the year again - less than six weeks to Christmas and half way through NaNoWriMo - or National Novel Writing Month in full. You can find out more about this here https://nanowrimo.org/

I've taken part in this a few times before, with varying results. Twice I've run out of steam half way through the month and once I completed a first draft of a novel. This year I decided to do it my way. It is a big commitment to write more than 1000 words a day for a month, and I've a few WIPs (works in progress) so I decided that instead of starting with a blank page on 1st November and ending up with a first draft on 30th November, I'd take a draft and work intensively on it this month.

I started on 1st November with my rough first draft of a children's middle grade novel and have been working my way through it diligently for a time every day. I'm now half way through November and half way through the third draft. There's still so much to do in editing the work I suspect I will still be editing and redrafting this after 1st December.

Remembering

As we approach the centenary of the Armistice, I'm delighted that one of my poems, 'Stop...Start..' is going to be included in the Pendle War poetry anthology.

https://pendlewarpoetrycompetition.blogspot.com/2018/11/2018-anthology-contents-for-uk-ireland.html?fbclid=IwAR1ML2k7LxNlbMzPp7h7c9z8fTiwaTuJgsDQ_bgO6SZz7mmhs_7jdTIf-MQ

Return to Coney

It was one of those wild, winter mornings when we arrived at Coney yesterday - the type of day when otters appear out of nowhere and the sea crashes over the bumpy road. The tail end of Hurricane Oscar made its presence felt as we descended on Coney. When I opened the car door, it was buffeted by the wind and we were met by rolling surf and salty air.

 

It was good to see everyone again. We spent the morning catching up on our writing news over coffee and chocanana muffins. We discussed the recent successes in the group, recapped on key elements in a story and read out some of our work. And as we spent so much time talking, we didn't have time to write, so now we've homework for the next time.....

A cat in Longford

Today was the day Fergus travelled from Carrickfergus to Longford  - quite a journey for anyone....

 A cat's journey

So we decided to take advantage and make a mini break out of it and explore the area while we were there.

We spotted these two and their Mum in the cemetery in Longford yesterday afternoon and knew from the way they are being cared for, that Fergus was going to receive a warm welcome.

Co Longford has literary links to Oliver Goldsmith (I loved seeing 'She Stoops to Conquer' at Belfast's Lyric theatre when studying 'A' level English) and Maria Edgeworth (I have to shamefully confess I still haven't read any of her work). The area has a thriving arts scene. The event I attended this morning in Longford Library was part of the Aisling Children's Arts festival.

Local children came along to hear the five shortlisted entries in the Longford Writers 'Write a Story for Children' competition. I was delighted to have my story 'Fearless Fergus, King of the Castle' included. The children listened intently as Rose read all five stories to them. Then they cast their votes in the special voting boxes.

I was delighted to her that my writing friend Rhonda's story 'Tooth Fairy Trouble' was voted second in the competition by the children. My story was a runner up.

 

Most importantly though, this morning gave me the opportunity to see and hear the children's reactions to all the stories. And I got to make new writing friends with some of the prizewinners and competition organisers. Thanks to all involved in Longford Writers for a fantastically run competition from start to finish. It was refreshing to have the children judge the competition and great to see such a vibrant, buzzing library. Thanks also for making us feel so welcome.

SCBWI meet up

This morning I caught up in Belfast with fellow writing friends for the Belfast SCBWI meet up over a coffee in the Crescent Arts centre café. It was good to see everyone and to catch up on each others news - writing and otherwise.

The venue for these meet-ups is so important for them to be a success. It seems the criteria is as follows- it has to be welcoming, serve good coffee (and cake), support creative learning, be near good public transport links and most importantly, it must be near a book shop.

 

There is of course a danger in this - that I end up in the bookshop, and purchase a book. Today I was delighted to get my (signed! :-)) copy of Orla McAlinden's new book, 'The Flight of the Wren'. And even more delighted to be travelling home on the train, so I could start reading it.

Seals, swimmers and sparkly sea

As the wind howls and the rain batters the window this evening, it's hard to believe yesterday was one of those 'Indian summer' autumn days. It started off cool yesterday morning when I baked some writing fuel

- aka chocanana muffins. But by the time we reached Coney Island the sun had come out and was shining! It was shining so much even a seal was tempted to swim by and distract us from writing (not very difficult with such stunning views!). He was soon followed by a lady swimming in the sparkling sea.

As we munched muffins and drank coffee we tried to get to grips with different points of view (I still need to practice 'third person limited' and 'fly on the wall') and used a few exercises to try this out. at one point the sun streaming through the window was so hot I had to move seats to cool down and concentrate! Days like these help keep winter at bay.

When Culture clashes

Last night was one of those nights when I wished I had the ability to clone myself about six times. It was Culture Night in Belfast and there were so many exciting events on that I wanted to go to.

After reviewing the brochure I agreed , reluctantly, to miss 'Popping Good Chemistry', the 'Circus Promenade' 'Lighting up a Generation' 'Musical Stairs' in Central Library and the talks in Debenhams about Estee Lauder and Christian Dior. There really was something for everyone.
Instead I opted for one event and to be honest there was no way I was going to miss this one! It was the opportunity to be involved in attempting to break the tap dancing world record.

Then came the dilemma. I'd already agreed to go to hear Lauren Child (Children's laureate) speak at Queen's University in Belfast with some of my writing friends and really wanted to hear her. And it looked as if it might be possible to go to both events if I hot-footed it up Great Victoria Street as soon as the tap dance event finished.
So after practising the routine in class for the last couple of weeks with our teacher Julie (who also led the world record attempt) we packed our tap shoes and set off to the Europa hotel.

The foyer was beginning to fill up with eager young tappers when I arrived. I bumped into a few friends I hadn't seen for some time who were all participating - tappers, booklovers, and writers. Once I'd got my instructions I headed into the ballroom.

 

The stage was set with shimmering gold lamé curtains (very Strictly!). While Julie was interviewed by various local radio stations a few of us tapped in the background - if you were listening to Radio Ulster yesterday evening you would have heard my feet, along with those of three other tappers practising the routine to provide sound effects! The atmosphere was magical, with everyone buzzing to be part of this - from the youngest to the oldest. It was especially good to see representatives from the Alzheimer's Society NI (a cause very close to my heart) taking part on World Alzheimer's Day.

 

It took a bit longer to get started than planned (it's not easy getting more than 274 excited people (the record to beat) into one room. But once we had started the 30 minute lesson flew in. Everyone seemed to enjoy participating judging by the smiles that shone as they danced. We had to ensure the strict Guinness World Records standards were adhered to - checking everyone was wearing tap shoes and everyone was participating and counting those in each zone several times. No phones were allowed and if you had to leave the room for a comfort break you would not be included in the count. We got warmer and warmer as everyone got the hang of the steps. Then it was time for everyone to take part in the routine! The sound of xxx pairs of feet tapping on the wooden dance floor to Puttin' on the Ritz was electric. Julie kept everyone right, up on stage making sure everyone was in step, shouting out the next steps - no mean feat! And in no time it was all over. Had we done it? Had we beaten the world record?

 

So while the numbers were checked and verified I nervously checked my watch. It wasn't going to be possible to get to the Lauren Child event now, but I couldn't leave now - I had to find out if we had beaten 274 dancers and set a new world record in Belfast. It just wouldn't be the same receiving the news by text. I wouldn't have missed this for the world. Bottles of water were handed out while Cool FM kept everyone entertained with spot prizes.

Then the official from Guinness World Records in his very dapper blazer and clipboard returned to the stage with the other main protagonists. He stretched it out explaining the detail involved and how accurate everything had to be to beat the record set in Australia last year. The tension was building in the room and the excitement so real that when he announced the total number we could only hear him say the first digit. The tappers roared so loudly when we heard "Four hundred and..." that we had to confirm later on that it was 445! An amazing result for Belfast and one that I'm proud to have been part of! Watch it here https://www.facebook.com/officialcoolfm/videos/2202460720022405/

Fergus has left the Castle

I heard earlier this week my children's story 'Fearless Fergus, King of the Castle' has been shortlisted in the Longford Writers WRITE A STORY FOR CHILDREN competition.

Fergus will be leaving Carrickfergus castle and travelling to Longford. I'm looking forward to hearing what the children in Longford library make of Fergus next month. 😸

Hot chocolate and crit

It's definitely getting colder these mornings. So when I met up with some writing friends to help critique each others work this morning a hot chocolate was called for. It was a very enjoyable morning - reviewing what some of us are working on, hearing our news and talking about books - hard to beat. And there was an obligatory visit to a bookshop, and a purchase. It was a pleasure to wander into No Alibis in Belfast and buy my old school friend, Wendy's book, just launched last week. That's my weekend reading sorted!

Back to school - again

Well - not exactly - but it is early September when all sorts of winter activities recommence. When we were back in Coney again yesterday we used the topical 'back to school theme' as a writing prompt.

After the obligatory coffee and chocanana muffins and catching up on our 'news' since the last time, we got stuck in. Jotters open, bulging pencil cases beside us, heads down, we selected a pen or pencil and began to write about school days past. It's amazing the details we remember from %* years ago - the teachers, our friends and how we felt at the time. Altogether a 'highly commendable' morning's writing.

Back to school

It's that time of year when everyone's heading back to school, picking up winter activities and hobbies, starting new evening classes and learning new skills.

This afternoon I took part in a fantastic writing workshop in Belfast organised by the Community Arts Partnership https://www.capartscentre.com/ and facilitated by Shelley. So it was 'back to school' in terms of spending a few hours writing. It was good to meet up with fellow writers and be creative with Shelley's writing prompts  https://twitter.com/YIMBoyle/status/1034886446845440000


Tonight 'Back to School' was the theme at this month's 'Ten X 9' storytelling in the Black Box http://www.tenx9.com/ I went along to hear one of my writer friends telling her true story, which she delivered with humour and style. The audience loved it! Well done to all the storytellers who moved and entertained us with their tales from the best days of our lives.

Au Revoir

I spent a few hours this morning in the company of other writers . We met up in the splendid Linen Hall Library in Belfast for coffee and a chat. It was good to see some familiar fellow writer friends and to meet some new ones there too and hear what everyone is working on.

 

It's worth popping in for a browse round the oldest library in Belfast. The shop has quirky literary gifts for sale and the treats in the coffee shop are tasty.

Coffee and books are always a good combination so it's such a shame the library has taken the decision to close (along with its coffee shop) on Saturdays from this autumn.

So while it's 'au revoir' to the Linen Hall Library coffee shop, thankfully with so many coffee shops opening up I'm sure we'll be able to find a welcoming coffee shop where we can meet up, chat and read.

Ten Significant Books - Day 10

This is the book I probably read the most in my teens. Long, long before the days of wiki books were used for referencing and I used this one many times to learn. At that time in my life I wanted to be a music journalist and this book was one I gained extensive knowledge from.

I chose it as part of my school prize that year. It had to be specially ordered by Mullans bookshop in Belfast (sadly no still longer around) and some of my teachers were a bit perplexed at my choice (I think they were probably secretly jealous).

I haven't had a look at the book for a very long time. But when I took it out of the bookshelf tonight,  like so many of my books I found a newspaper cutting hidden in the leaves. It's tucked into the page where my family members have an entry in the book.

Beating A Retreat

Military Beating Retreat concerts have a long tradition dating back to the 1690s. Originally the beating of the drum was used to order troops to break off fighting and withdraw to the safety of camp as darkness fell, later it signalled the closing of the camp gates at the end of the day and called troops back to base for the night. Today a Beating Retreat is an evening military concert with a marching display and usually marks the lowering of the Regimental flag at sunset.

It wasn't this sort of retreat - but it would be very difficult to beat the last few days away.

Plenty of good food, great craic, good company and intensive writing - is indeed hard to beat.

We may not have had 'wall to wall' sunshine this time on the retreat, but it was still warm and dry enough at times to enjoy the beach at Coney.

Ten Significant Books - Day 9

This is another school text book - the first one on our 'O' level syllabus. It sticks in my mind as being the first book I felt I 'had' to read and the first book I didn't enjoy reading. Up until this point, all school text books, had been enjoyable, even though they might not have been books I would have selected to read.

When I look back on it now, the writer and the book were not at fault. 'Treasure Island' is a brilliant book with fantastic characters. Without Long John Silver we probably wouldn't have Captain Jack Sparrow.

I didn't enjoy this due to the way it was taught. Our English teacher was sarcastic and had a habit of belittling pupils in the class who weren't her 'favourites'. I can remember her reading out misquotes from the book to everyone in class that some of our class mates had invented in their exam papers and she never seemed to like any of the boys. I'm pleased to say I wasn't one of her 'favourites' and that her behaviour didn't put me off enjoying the other text books, going on to study 'A' level English and having an appreciation of pirates.

Ten Significant Books - Day 8

This book haunts me. But not only because of the wonderful story written so brilliantly.

And not just this novel - but this particular version of it.

It was one of my 'A' level English texts which I had recurring anxiety dreams about many years after I'd passed my exams and completed my English degree. Unfortunately our teacher took ill during our 'A' level course and we were very much left to our own devices to get through the syllabus. While it stood us in good ground for working on our own at university some of us might have got better grades if we'd been allocated a temporary teacher to support us rather than being shoved in with another class. Parents today wouldn't put up with it.

As I looked through the novel I still have I came across a couple of interesting bookmarks!



I didn't realise at the time the impact this had on me and for years afterwards if I was feeling anxious about something I would dream that I needed to re-read 'Wuthering Heights' again for my exam the following day.

I passed the exam with a very respectable grade and went on to university. Had I got a better grade I would have gone on to study law rather than English literature, and I'm more than happy that I spent three years reading novels, poetry and plays.

Significant Books - Day 7

Between the pages of a book many an adventure can be had, new discoveries made, secrets hidden and memories awakened.  In looking through this book again I came across a clematis flower from my childhood garden which I had pressed in between the pages. The book was chosen for this purpose as it is large and could withstand the weight of other books on top of it.

The book was one I chose as a birthday present as a child, my Dad taking me to the bookshop when we were on holiday in England. We had this book in school and I loved it! - I loved the beautiful illustrations which bring the poems to life. The book is a special one because it has become something I treasure and I still love reading it with my nieces who are now discovering the magic of books.

Ten Significant Books - day 6

"Again, again, again". The familiar sound of a child wanting to hear a favourite story. My Mum had this one cracked. She always thought of different ways for me to hear stories before I could read them for myself. As well as reading them to me herself, we listened together to the story on Radio 2's 'Listen with Mother' almost every day, waiting for the familiar "Are you sitting comfortably? then I'll begin." (Clearly this is why I still enjoy listening to Radio 2)

 

 

That usually happened after we'd watched an episode of one of my favourites (after Pebble Mill and the 1 o'clock news) on 'Watch with Mother' on BBC1, long, long before CBeebies had been dreamt of.

Before my brothers got home from school, the record player would be switched on and we'd listen to more stories on vinyl LPs (once again fashionable) - the forerunner of talking books. This one was my favourite and it was played again, again and again. Wendy Craig introduced me to the stories about Tom Thumb and Hunka Munka, Jeremy Fisher, Squirrel Nutkin, Jemima Puddleduck and Pigling Bland and I have loved them since (and still have the LP).