Communications

I had a very pleasant surprise today when a colleague sent me a photograph of some of my work. 

A poem I'd written earlier in the year as part of our local council's Centenary Scripts project is now on display on a local woodland trail. I'm looking forward to getting out to see it for myself soon.

This news came at a good time, after several rejections and being pipped at the post to be runner up in a couple of writing competitions. And while it was very thoughtful of my colleague to take the photograph and let me know about my work, I did wonder why the organisers hadn't thought of telling me about this themselves.

Communications in writing competitions was a hot  discussion topic at Coney Island last weekend when a few of my writing friends met up. 

On a windy wintry morning, we shared our experiences of competitions/ book events that have run like clockwork and have been a joy to be involved in, and those that 'could do better'. I think there's definitely a blog post or article on that topic itself!

And fuelled by coffee and apple and cinnamon muffins we also managed to put pen to paper and write!

Book Week

It's been Book Week in Northern Ireland this week- a joint initiative between BBC NI and Libraries NI celebrating the pleasures and benefits of reading.

As an avid reader I appreciate the many benefits from reading - aside from enjoying the actual book, relaxing and escaping to new worlds, there are definite benefits to our mental health and wellbeing.

This week I've been making my way through a variety of gorgeous books, dipping into short story and poetry anthologies as well as some research and novels.

While I wasn't able to pop in to my local library during the week, I have also been reading a couple of books borrowed via the Libby App - Lisa Jewell's 'One Hit Wonder' and appropriately for Book Week, Matt Haig's 'The Midnight Library'. 

I managed to catch up on a couple of events virtually including the wonderful Poetry Pharmacist in Belfast Central Library and also attended a virtual bookclub hosted by Translink in No Alibis bookshop in Belfast with local authors Shirley McMillan and Brian McGilloway.

All in all a great week of books and reading but in my world Book Week should really be every week!

Holiday reading

They say a change is as good as a rest, and while a rest would have been nice, a busy break away visiting family in Scotland was lovely. The change of scenery was beautiful and walks along by the River Tay certainly blow the cobwebs away.

We managed to call into the Robert Burns museum on the journey home for a quick visit, 

some sustenance and some inspiration. 

Good as it is to get away, it's always lovely to get back home again. And even lovelier when I found  my copy of 'Travel Write' was waiting for me.

I was delighted to see my story 'Return to Sorrento' in print in this beautiful book 

and I'm looking forward to dipping in and out of this anthology on my next travels, even if the trip is only from my armchair.

Take Me Away

Today's the day my story 'Return to Sorrento' is published in the Bradt anthology ' Travel Write'.  It includes the best entries over the last twenty years in the Bradt travel writing competition. I've been fortunate to have been longlisted twice in this international competition so I was delighted to have one of my stories included. It's also lovely that one of my writing friends, Mairi, has a story included.

I can't wait for my copy to arrive in the post, to delve in and be transported across the globe. I've missed foreign holidays and travelling in the last two years, so it will be exciting to travel to exotic places from my armchair. You can order a copy here  https://www.bradtguides.com/shop/

The Secret Bookshelf in Carrickfergus will also be stocking the book (it's a great Christmas present idea for that person who loves their holidays!)

In the meantime, enjoy some of the views from Villa Crawford, which features in my story. Ciao!

Childhood wishes

Do you remember making a wish when you were a child? And can you remember what you wished for? 

I can remember making the same wish for what seemed like an eternity, until eventually it came true. My wish was to own a set of 24 coloured felt pens. And by entering and winning a colouring competition I won a set of 30 coloured felt pens. Not only was I delighted that my wish had come true, but I learned a valuable lesson. Wishes don't come true by magic but by hard work and my hard work and determination brought a result that had surpassed my wish. 

I've always loved sets of coloured felt pens and at this time of year when pupils will soon be returning to school I can't resist the temptation of stationery.

So armed with my new pens and a new jotter I went back to school and made my way down to Coney Island last weekend for a couple of days of writing. 

Having been away from Coney (and from writing) for a long time, it was lovely to be back. It was good to see writing friends, enjoy time catching up on each others news, and to actually do some writing after a few exercises to flex our rusty writing muscles. It was lovely to walk on the beach, admire the views and be inspired by nature.

And after a beach walk, when it began to rain, it was lovely to return to a welcome coffee and home made carrot cake (it was delicious!)

One other childhood wish I had from around that time was to be a writer. And while I'm still chasing that elusive publishing deal, I'm delighted that through my hard work and determination this wish has also come true, having had stories and poetry published. However this wish is still a work in progress!

The highs and lows of getting back to the theatre

The last year and four months have been tough for all of us, coping with lockdowns and restrictions and missing many of our former interests. I've looked back fondly as memories pop up of theatre trips with friends and longed so much to get back to see a play performed live.

Outdoor theatre looked like it would be the best way forward. So when we saw 'The Great Gatsby' was being performed locally, we began to plan an outing. Normally with our unpredictable and often cool  damp, summers we wait until close to the date before booking (it's not the first time our picnic has taken place in my kitchen due to midsummer downpours). 

So we were disappointed that tickets to see the local play were sold out within days, a few weeks ago. We began to look at other venues, a bit further afield but still within reasonable travelling distance where the performance was also due to take place, but, always mindful of the weather, we held back booking tickets.

Then our weather surprised us. We're currently enjoying a heatwave with the hottest local temperatures ever recorded  - just perfect balmy evenings for outdoor theatre. So when it seemed we were in for a period of settled weather, we booked tickets to see 'The Great Gatsby' at a different venue a bit further away.

But then last week we noticed on social media that due to one of the cast testing positive for Covid, several performances would be cancelled. It seemed our outing might be cancelled too. 

But last we packed our picnic and made our way to the Riverside theatre in Coleraine. Under shady trees we sheltered from the still hot sun on a glorious Saturday evening and waited for the show to commence.

And we were not disappointed! This much longed for show was fabulous. The setting could not have been more perfect! Heartbreak Productions transported us back 100 years and taught us dance moves from the roaring twenties, immersing us in the jazz era of Daisy and Gatsby.

I've enjoyed reading some of Fitzgerald's work and seeing this iconic story brought to the stage was definitely worth the wait! Catch it if you can!

Back again....at last

The sun may not have shone as brightly as we might have wanted yesterday, but at least the rain held off. The smell of the seaweed on the fresh breeze welcomed me back to Coney Island and it was lovely to experience this view again after such a long time.

Thanks to Zoom our writing group has stayed connected and has gone from strength to strength over the last 18 months, continuing to provide support and encouragement to each other.

And while we now are living in different times where adering to the use of face masks, hand sanitiser and social distancing have become normal, it was good to be able to enjoy simple pleasures together again, including chocanana muffins over a coffee.