About Me

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A fiction writer and mum to three great kids, also lucky enough to be married to the man of my dreams. In spite of that mushy comment I do not write flowery romance - I like a nice helping of real life grit in my work. I have a Diploma in Literature & Creative Writing from The Open University and remain a member of the wonderful Watford Writers, despite moving on several times. I am a big fan of Swanwick Writers Summer School which has taught me a great deal and where I have made many great friends. I have yet to reach the dizzy heights of becoming a published superstar but will continue to send my work out into the world.

Wednesday, 12 August 2015

Writing Groups

You know, Essex is a big place.  But can I find a writer's group even remotely local? No I cannot and its driving me mad. The group I did belong to have decided to remove me from their members list as my attendance is sporadic. Fair? No, I don't think so. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell them that its quite difficult to drive with one hand when you have a shoulder injury, but then what's the point? They've made their decision and I can't be bothered to argue about it and I'm certain;y not going to beg!  Anyway the point of this post is that in such a vibrant county as Essex the lack of writers groups is astonishing, if I widen the search any more I'll be in Kent!

Ho-hum these things are sent to try us.  Wish me luck with my search and believe me if I find a group I'll let you know.

Monday, 3 August 2015

A Change Is As Good As A Rest

Hi

I've just returned from Fishguard Writers Holiday and wanted to tell you what a fabulous time I had there.  As you may remember the last four years I have attended Swanwick Writers Summer School but this year I wanted a change.  Anyway, back to Fishguard (which by the way took me 6 hours to drive to from Essex). The tuition there was brilliant.  You choose 2 courses for the week, so for Tuesday/Wed you do your first course and only the first course.  Thursday/Friday you do the second course.  The good thing about this set up is that the tuition is continuous and not interrupted by anything else.  Of course there a mini workshops after tea but nothing that will distract from the days learning.  It makes such a difference, whatever you are learning goes in and stays in clever and constructive way to open ones mind.

The people were friendly, I had a lovely room (with a TV), the food was good and plentiful, so all in all I had a great time and have returned refreshed and ready to go.  Once my short story collection is uploaded onto kindle I will be concentrating all my efforts into novels.  It really is about time but I get so tempted by the short story comps - well not from now on!

Finally, I'd like to thank Ann and Gerry Hobbs for arranging such a great holiday particularly Ann who made me laugh everyday.  Brilliant hosts.