In good writing company

It's been a good writing week, with several good times spent in good writing company.

On Wednesday I was delighted to be asked to take part in the launch of 'USA-NI 250 Liberty' poetry jukebox curation at Belfast's Linenhall library.

I shared the stage with poets Paul Maddern and Kathleen McCracken, when we read the poems we'd each written in response to the 250th anniversary on the Declaration of Independence and talked with Maria McManus about our writing process. 

It was an honour to be asked to take part in this poetry project, alongside the eminent poets featuring  in this jukebox curation. My poem 'Letter to America - August 1776' is inspired by the publication of the Declaration in the Belfast Newsletter.

You can see the original newspaper on display in the library and you can listen to us reading our poems by visiting the jukebox in the library until the end of this year, or you can hear them here:

Poetry Jukebox Soundcloud

During the week I hosted our SCBWI Ireland online event with Sara Grant considering 'How to hook your reader in your opening pages.' The hour and a half workshop flew in while we picked up tips from Sara and received feedback on our work. I'm looking forward to delving into her book and applying more of her tips to my work.

Yesterday I arrived home to find my copy of 'Dust and Divinity' the new anthology from World History Encyclopedia had arrived. My story, 'Fidelity' (shortlisted in the 2025 Ink of Ages competition) is included alongide that of one of my writing pals, Mairi.

I'm looking forward to dipping in to these amazing stories.

Read a Book Day

Today on, 'National Read a Book Day', I've spent some time doing exactly that as well as exchanging some books I've finished reading with a good friend.

This followed on from an inspiring morning back at Coney yesterday where, among other things, we'd talked about novels we'd enjoyed and book exchanges.

It was lovely to welcome a writing friend on holiday to the group. Over coffee and chocanana muffins, we were busy chatting, catching up, laughing and eventually doing some writing. 

We were so busy that I forgot to take a photograph of the lovely beach, so here's one taken from a few weeks ago....

....although the sky was much a much brighter blue yesterday.

Inspired to Write

How could I not have been inspired to write at our writing group's recent writing retreat? 

Surrounded by like-minded supportive creatives, good company and craic, delicious fresh food and comfortable accommodation with stunning sea views, I wanted for nothing.

I immersed myself in some new projects, interspersed with coffee breaks with home baked muffins and walks on the nearby beach. 

We reminisced, made plans, read and shared our work, provided feedback and feasted like kings.

While I was there I was delighted to see three of my poems 'live' on The Dirigible Balloon's latest flight, some of which had been inspired by previous visits to my idyllic surroundings.

And now, back home, I'm inspired, encouraged, buzzing and excited to keep working on these new projects and continue on this creative journey.

Summer Reading and Writing

The recent gorgeous weather here has forced me outside to read and write. Somehow reading and writing outdoors feels more intense, a bit like the way food seems more flavoursome outdoors. 

I've enjoyed making my way through some cracking books as well as working on drafts of new material. I've also enjoyed reading my copy of 'The Haikuist', a new anthology which arrived in the post this week (I've haiku in this, inspired by summer days at the beach).

I often forgo indoor theatre over the summer months, prefering to be outdoors on bright summer evenings. Last night we emerged from a brilliant performance by Theatre3 of 'Anyone for Marriage?' in Bangor's Studio 1A theatre to experience a strange phenomen. The rain had returned after an absence of several weeks. 

The garden definitely needed it, but thankfully it won't dampen my resolve to continue reading outdoors. Despite my TBR pile growing closer to the ceiling, I can never resist looking at the books in our local charity shop when dropping in donations and rarely leave empty handed. You just never know what treasures you're going to pick up and yesterday was no exception. My haul even included a signed copy of a book by writing friend Angeline.

Plenty of great reading material to keep me occupied for a while!

Planning and Writing

It was good to get back to my writing group again yesterday, after what seems like a very long time away. While we were smaller in number, it didn't stop it being a productive session.

Over coffee and chocanana muffins we caught up on news, did some planning for activities over the next while and then got stuck into a couple of writing exercises. 

For some, the summer indicates a break from writing. I'm fortunate to already have had a couple of breaks, so am feeling energised to get back into my writing routine.  

Back home and buzzing,  I took the opportunity to enjoy some al fresco writing. With several deadlines and plans it was good to take time to write, building on the exercises we'd started working on earlier.

Last week at our Belfast SCBWI in person meet up, I was also re-energised, when I caught up with other local writers, hearing their news and plans. It's great being with my tribe!

Going All In and All Out

In this 'National Year of Reading' I've been trying to make space to read more and 'Go All In'.

It's meant that there's less time for other activities, like housework, gardening and crafts, but at almost half way through the year I reflected on all the books I've managed to read so far this year, realising there's been quite a few.

So far this year  I've definitely read more books than in many previous years. These have included a range of authors and genres, physical and e-books, books bought, books lent by friends and books borrowed from the library. 

I was reminded of the wonderful library facilities available to us on a recent visit to Dunfermline, birthplace of Andrew Carnegie. We took time to visit the Carnegie library there (the first in the world) which now also incorporates the city's Gallery and Museum.

It reminded me of the wonderful vision and legacy this man left, that's still being enjoyed more than a century after his death. I wondered how many people globally have developed a lifelong love of reading because they visit a library, and because of him. The visit to Dunfermline brought home to me how fortunate we are with our libraries and has encouraged me to borrow more library books and magazines. Pleased with my reading record so far this year, I want to sustain this and was reminded of a comment my old headmaster made on my report card in my final year at school - "Now an all out effort until June".  I'm hoping I can go 'all out' now to 'Go All In' for the rest of this year.

Scarecrows and other stories

A lovely break away was made even more special when I discovered that not only was this year's Newburgh scarecrow festival theme 'books', but I'd also get the chance to see some of the fantastic competition entries while there.

Many of the entries were characters from children's books, brilliantly recreated by some of the local children, as well as older groups, businesses and residents.

We had fun finding the scarecrows and guessing the characters.  The creativity behind each character was amazing. Paddington was a special favourite, complete with his furry legs and marmalade sandwich.

Julia Donaldson's books are clearly loved in the town -  The Smeds and the Smoos, The Gruffalo, The Singing Mermaid and The Scarecrows' Wedding were all wonderfully represented.

My favourite was the gorgeous The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which very deservedly was one of the prize winners.

Altogether it was another brilliant way to bring books alive for all ages.

A week of anthology news

What a week! Amidst submitting work to anthologies, I received some really good news on previous submissions and my work being included in several forthcoming anthologies. 

I'm delighted to see that The Dirigible Balloon will be publishing a third anthology of poetry for children, and I'm deeply honoured to have a poem selected, particularly when I see the list of poets selected. Having had a poem selected for inclusion in the second anthology too, I'm very excited to watch this one progress. Thanks to Jonathan Humble for all the work he does on this fantastic poetry resource. 

You can read more about this here:

https://northernjim.wordpress.com/2026/06/11/this-is-your-captain-speaking/

I also heard that I've had two poems selected for a separate anthology - more news on that in due course.

The biggest and most exciting news I received was that my story 'Pineepple Delicht' won the Open Story category in the Federation of Writers (Scotland) annual writing competition and as a result will also be published in a special anthology celebrating their twentieth anniversary. I can't wait to read all the other winning entries.

Books, books and more books

It's been a lovely weekend enjoying events at this year's Belfast Book festival. With another great line up this year, I was lucky to secure tickets to some of the more popular events.

Yesterday it was inspiring to hear Ronan Hession and Louise Nealon talk about their writing processes and their most recent novels.

This afternoon at the YA showcase event, Jenny Ireland and Kelly McCaughrain launched their new novels. Chaired by Shirley McMillan, the panel also featured Sue Divin and Stephen Daly. All four local writers have new novels out this year, which is a huge inspiration for other local kidlit writers.

And of course, like any good book festival, I came away with a bundle of new books, leaflets and goody bags.

Along with this haul, what made this weekend special were all the bookish conversations that took place. Whether it was writing friends who I bumped into unexpectedly in the cafe, writing friends who were volunteering at the festival, chats with friendly bibliophile strangers, or the supportive encouragement from writing pals who I'd arranged to meet there, they all contributed to a lovely book-filled weekend.

A garden and a library

Cicero is attributed as having said, "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need". 

This afternoon our writing group was treated to a tour of Kilmacrew House and garden in Co. Down, where local writer Helen Waddell once lived. Lovingly restored by her family, we saw artefacts and curios from her life, heard about her literary connections and saw the comprensive curation of her works, along with those of her extended literary family.

After enjoying coffee outside we had a guided tour of the garden. We were lucky to see the tail end of the many azalea and rhodedenron blooms as well as the spectacular candelbra primulas.

With a soundtrack of birdsong and buzzing bees, we left this truly idyllic place, our heads full of books, art and flowers, energised and inspired.

I can't imagine what else anyone could need in this beautiful place.

In the footsteps of writers

While I took a break from writing on holiday, I found myself inadvertently following in the footsteps of writers as we enjoyed a break from the routine. Glorious Lake Garda has many literary associations including Virgil, Byron and Tennyson. DH Lawrence was apparently inspired by beautiful Gargano and Limone writing his collection 'Twilight in Italy'.

Arriving in Sirmione by ferry, we were greeted by a statue commemorating the Roman poet Catallus who wrote much of his work in his villa in the town.

As we made our way round the town considered to be one of the prettiest on the lake's shores, we stumbled upon a garden commemorating Italian Noble laureate Grazia Deledda.

Now, back home with piles of ironing to attend to and deadlines looming I'm ready to get back to writing.

Drama Critiques

It's been a great run of theatre trips over the last few weeks in a range of theatres with both amateur and professional productions.

At the recent Ulster Drama Festival finals at Ballyearl Theatre we heard the adjudicator's constructive and generous comments which were very insightful into all aspects of what makes a successful production.

The two performances we saw were 'Steel Magnolias' and 'Bouncers'. While both were very different, it was easy to forget these were amateur productions, such was the high standard. It was great to hear that 'Bouncers' took the title of best play during the festival.

At Belfast's Grand Opera House we saw Agatha Christie's 'Death on the Nile', a production touring the UK and Ireland.

During the interval I overheard someone in the row behind us critising the acting and the use of the stage - a would-be drama festival adjudicator perhaps! They seemed to be unjustifiably negative and were also very critical of the captions for the hard of hearing! I felt sorry for how miserable they must be feeling to be so negative of such a spectacular production with superb acting, authentic set and fabulous costumes.

On a smaller stage at The Santuary Theatre we saw 'A Bomber's Moon' and 'The Hop on Hop off Bus'. Both plays are set in Belfast, though very different again. While the stage and cast may have been smaller in these productions, the acting was excellent. Thankfully no one was sitting behind us critising these productions and spoiling our enjoyment as they were a very welcome escape from other dramas going on in my life! 

Breaks from Routine

It was good to meet up with fellow writers yesterday and exercise my writing muscles again after a short break. Fuelled by coffee and apple and cinnamon muffins, we caught up on news and did some spring themed writing. It was amazing what we all developed from the same prompt.

After a few lovely days away in Scotland it was good to get back into a routine again. While there was little opportunity to write while I was away, I did manage a few museum visits - including seeing the last letter Mary Queen of Scots wrote (currently on display in Perth museum) as well as making time for a return visit to one of the palaces she lived in at Falkland. 

It was also great to have time for some reading - I enjoyed Tracy Chevalier's 'The Glass Maker' over the Easter break and I got the chance to dip into a lovely anthology which includes a short story I wrote. 'Spring at Bluebell Wood' is in 'Tiptoe Through the Tulips with Me'.

Now to get back to writing - with some new projects on the horizon, it's going to be an exciting few months ahead.

All Booked Up

I'm still buzzing from being at the recent Children's Literature Conference at the Seamus Heaney centre in Belfast. It was great to hear so many speakers and panels talking about a range of issues impacting being creative and also sharing their very varied experience. 

Events like these are great for making connections and re-connecting with other creatives and professionals in the children's literature world. It was great to be there to support and encourage local creators, catch up with writing pals and meet others I'd previously connected with online in person at last.

It was a packed programme, but I managed to squeeze in a very quick tour of Oliver Jeffers' exhibition at the Naughton Gallery at Queen's.

It's amazing to reflect how the local kidlit community is thriving, spurred on by the success of so many local creators producing work of such a high quality. Below are just some books from my collection of signed copies of books for children and young people created by local writers and illustrators. 

What's most encouraging is that this pile keeps growing as more and more local writers and illustrators for children are getting their books published. This can only be good for young readers and writers from here.