What a hectic
summer! I am daily juggling deadlines, interviews and teaching while all the
time resisting the temptation to recline before the sun’s rays and bring a
smidgeon of warm tones to my English complexion. Yet writing responsibilities forever
take precedence, of course.
So, first, I
should report that my interviews with the astonishingly creative cake designer,
Tracey Mann, and Olympic athlete, Greg Rutherford, have been featured in
Buckinghamshire Life. But just to prove my eclectic affiliations, my book
review of Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood & Co was published in Hertfordshire
Life and two further book reviews have appeared in The Lady. Oh, and I ventured
over to the Ashmolean again in order to review the Stradivarius exhibition for the
latter magazine, too.
Meanwhile I
have recently met and tutored some charmingly enthusiastic writers and only the
other week my Regular Writing group overflowed with gusto after our session on
plotting.
This month’s
Chiltern Writers meeting gave me the opportunity to catch up with speaker,
Clare MacKintosh, whom I first encountered when running a workshop at the
inaugural Chipping Norton Literary Festival. Apparently this year the event
welcomed 3,000 visitors. Quite a success story and a stimulating evening from
the effusive Clare.
Plans are
already afoot for next year’s Berkhamsted Short Story Competition, by the way.
Frankly, I can’t wait to read those entries and raise more money for the wonderful
St Francis Hospice.
Now, please excuse me. I have
pitches to chase and ideas to brainstorm. There again, the sunshine is tempting
. . .
