Hi. If you're visiting this blog for the first time, thanks for reading. If it's a return visit, welcome back. I wanted to report how my new novel, Meg's Journey, is going. I am constantly surprised how my imagination kicks in once I start writing. Some authors plan their work to the last detail but this doesn't work with me. I end up with a blank sheet of paper, but once I start writing all sorts of plot ideas rush into my mind. I've completed sixty pages (15,000 words) of my first draft and already I am excited about the blossoming story. Meg is visiting her family in Kendal. Her train was two hours late, so she spent sometime on the station platform filling her time, drinking coffee, reading a magazine and mostly thinking about everything under the sun. Of course, her daughter, Zoe, and family are not looking forward to her arrival for Christmas. She is sharp, negative and has the ability to make others feel miserable. Now she's on the train north and has already overheard a conversation that makes her think about her staff back at the charity shop she runs.
MOTHER AND ME
Someone I never really knew; she was always there for me;
Watching daily as I grew, and fulfilling her duty.
A comfort figure in the haze, doing what she had to do.
Her voice she somtimes had to raise, if I refused to don my shoe.
In truth I never knew my mother; but do we ever really know
The one who loves us like no other; the one who never lets us go?
A child like me could never see her tender love and care so true.
If she was here again with me, I'd look at her with eyes anew.
Two poetry books on my book page.
This week I motored down the M6 to Lancaster to join a group of true story tellers. In my book, TALL TALES, I have one true story so I was determined to read it. Afterwards, I motored north again to the MORTAL MAN HOTEL at Troutbeck Bridge, where I met the most enthusiastic audience ever. It really perked me up when a group of diners requested their own exclusive reading. This evening, the spoken word event at the Brewery was packed out. Every seat was taken and there was a wide selection of readings, including my own three poems, NOW AND THEN, KING HENRY THE EIGHTH, MY VIEW FROM THE LANE. None of these is published yet. I was hoping to find people from the audience who would read through my novel,THE MAN NEXT DOOR, and give me feedback. Unfortunately there were no takers. So if anyone would like to read it through (200 pages) and give me feedback, I can send a PDF. All for now