Archive for July, 2010

4 comments

Sweet Peas From My Garden


2010
07.20

Posted in Gardens, My Writing | 4 Comments »

Sweet peas from my garden

Sweet peas come very near the top of my favourite flower list, perhaps my favourite although I would hate to have to choose and can think of many others that hold a special place in my personal catalogue: cornflowers, old fashioned roses, lilac, cherry blossom, primroses, peonies….

What I love about sweet peas is their glorious, jewel- like colour and their sensational scent and I’m so pleased I planted a whole row in my garden this year. They have just begun to flower and this means I can pick them for the house and enjoy them all day – sweet peas love to be picked, in fact they insist on it. The more you pick, the more flowers appear – a cornucopia of delicate blossoms

My second novel, The Orchid House, reflected my love of flowers and gardens and was inspired by a visit to the Lost Gardens of Heligan. An editor at Bloomsbury said some good things about it and I often think of going back to it and using what I’ve learned – so much now-  to re-write it. I think one day I will…and the sweet peas will be there for sure.

The Flower Garden was set in rows of intense colour, spread out like a carpet made from rags of cotton and chintz. Protected behind walls of warm brick its sheltered beds threw up sweet, old-fashioned drifts of larkspur, cornflower and scabious, godetia and marigold.

Madeline stood against a row of cornflowers, a basket at her feet already half full with sweet peas and cosmos


1 Comment

Making Books – A Day With Chloe


2010
07.18

Posted in Inspiration, Notebooks, Visual Arts, Workshops | 1 Comment »

The books I made at the workshop

The Hearth at Horsley (west of Newcastle) is a beautiful grade 2 listed building that houses eight working studios used by artists and musicians and a very friendly coffee shop selling heavenly scones (as well as other goodies).

On Saturday I spent the day there at a bookmaking course run by Chloe.  Chloe was a great tutor, very laid back but incredibly well prepared, so that we each came away having made three books and all clamouring for a follow up course. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

The company was a real treat too – lovely people – as was the chocolate and almond cake Chloe made for our morning break. The course was fantastic value for money and utterly inspiring. I think I might be hooked on making books. As a writer I especially enjoyed the opportunity to do something practical rather than cerebral and know I definitely need more of this.

I found the course via New Writing North’s newsletter  – you can check out coming courses on The Hearth’s website (linked above).

2 comments

Clear Thinking


2010
07.12

Posted in My Writing | 2 Comments »

It’s been quite a week or more – ten days to be precise: back and forth to London twice – and in the heat, the Royal Albert Hall, the rolling hills of Surrey, countless motorway road works, champagne – twice, a party and a final show. All of this played out against the backdrop of a crazy man with a gun on the loose in Rothbury, the hitherto sleepy town, just up the road in Northumberland, where the sky was awash with helicopters and the countryside and streets flooded with armed police, armed vehicles and journalists from across the UK. On balance, last week, leafy Surry seemed a safe bet.

And the way it all finally ended – who says truth isn’t stranger than fiction?

On the subject of fiction – it’s a long game waiting to know the fate of your novel – about six months now — but I’m not complaining – it’s a game I’d much rather been in than not.

Thanks to the hard work of my agent my Danny Beck novel is still out there under consideration with both mainstream and independent publishers, and what has been really encouraging for me is that one editor already likes it very much. Unfortunately a deal is currently not possible for various reasons, however it bodes well for the future and I am so pleased that it has found such favour with an editor and her co-publishers. Someone in the publishing world believes in my novel and often (perhaps not in this case, although maybe – time will tell) one person is enough.

So back to waiting and writing of course – and back also to remembering the Seven Habits of Highly Unhappy People! one of my Clear Thinking weekly insights (if you want to find out more or subscribe then click the link) – the habits listed are Judging, Criticising, Complaining, Blaming, Arguing, Competing and Controlling (i.e. trying to control others)

OK so it’s impossible not to employ some of these habits some of the time, I know, but resisting them leads to a much more positive outlook and comes in very handy when you have to deal with rejection, disappointment or difficulty. Try it and see.