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.