Seasonal News

Let me make it quite clear from the outset, there’s nothing that enthuses me more than seasonal weather. Snow, frost, blizzards: the harsher the better as far as I’m concerned. Yet although the wintry scene I currently view from my study window ticks all the right boxes, there’s also a drawback. You see, said climatic conditions have precluded my family from travelling to work / school. And the result? A plethora of interruptions: what am I writing, how long will it take, where are the homemade scones and did I realise that our missing Feline has been hiding in the loft?

So, quickly, before I’m disturbed yet again, here’s my latest news. 

No matter your faith or gender, please rush out (taking care on those icy roads, mind) and get hold of a copy of Sorted. It’s a men’s Christian magazine that’s packed with gutsy features and articles and I’m delighted the current issue includes my lengthy interview with Duncan Dyason who is devoting his life to helping the street children of Guatemala and Honduras. 

Closer to home, next week’s Inspiration to Write workshop (Wednesday, 30 January, 10.30am) which takes place at St Francis Hospice, Berkhamsted, still has a few places so do get in touch if you are interested in creative writing. It could be just the motivation you need.

What next? Oh, yes, did you know the Chiltern Open Air Museum is planning an Arts Festival during the first weekend of June? It’s an exciting venture and one in which I’ve been asked to take part. I’ll let you have more details as soon as they are finalised.

Also, Rebeccah Giltrow recently interviewed yours truly. If you care to click the link on my website, you can read browse my responses.

Finally, I’ve submitted two commissioned articles to Buckinghamshire Life. And if you fancy a moment of amusement please check out my A Write Life! blog on Hertfordshire Life's website and my alter ego, Lady Margaret Gosworthy-Pringle who blogs for Hampshire Life.

Now, before either my husband, daughter or pets interrupt me, I’ll just crack on with some writing . . .

Competitions, Prizes and Afternoon Tea

Well, what an enviably busy time I’ve experienced since my last blog. Competitions, the country’s longest established weekly magazine and local editors have all featured in my diary these past few weeks.

At the launch of the Berkhamsted Short Story Competition (see my October blog) in Waterstones, Berkhamsted, I graced a panel of writers which included headline judges Freya North and Jonathan Stroud. Eager writers crammed into the shop to absorb our advice and tips before mingling, munching and sipping the generously donated wine and nibbles. And I’m pleased to report that a handful of entries have already arrived though there’s still plenty of time to enter. See www.stfrancis.org.uk/bwc for further details.

As part of this initiative, by the way, I will be running a two hour Inspiration to Write Workshop on Wednesday, 30 January so do let either me or the Hospice know if you’d like to book a place.

Just to show that I don’t limit myself to local events, however, I also spent a week working at the Covent Garden offices of The Lady magazine. No doubt you read my Daily News Round Ups along with the weekly resumé of national events? Yes, I thought so. As you would expect from such an iconic periodical, The Editor and his staff were charming and they have asked me to return which I have agreed to do in February.

Back in the Shires, I have just presented prizes to the winners of this year’s Chiltern Writers Poetry Competition, judged by the multi talented Honorary Member, Christopher North, and shared festive merriment with fellow CW members.

Oh, and just the other day I mingled over afternoon tea with the Editor and journalists of The Bucks Herald. 

In fact, looking back, I’m amazed how I find time to write. And on that note, you must excuse me, I have a feature to finish . . .

Thame Arts & Literature Festival

If you will excuse the indulgence, I’d to share with you some feedback received from one of my learners on a workshop I ran at the recent Thame Arts and Literature Festival. It was my third appearance at this event and I was looking forward to inspiring and motivating new writers.

And what an enthusiastic group they were!

They listened, eagerly contributed to discussions, took notes and generally allowed their imaginations to run riot. Ooh, we had such fun. And as if ‘Thank you’s’ at the end of our packed two hour session weren’t enough, one delightful learner emailed me a day or two later saying she'd been intending for years to start writing and had enjoyed the workshop so much she was now bursting with enthusiasm and creativity.

I tell you, such accolades truly inspire me.

You see, it just proves that however long you spend thinking about writing, it counts for nothing unless you actually crack on with it. So join a writers’ group, attend courses and set yourself goals. In fact, do whatever it takes to activate those creative juices.

And on that note, I have one or two ideas I need to work on . . .

The Berkhamsted Writing Competition

           I really must apologise for the tardiness of posting this latest blog but I have recently been preoccupied helping to organise the forthcoming Berkhamsted Writing Competition. 

          One of my Regular Writers, who works for the Hospice of St Francis, persuaded me to get involved and an utter delight it is too. I confess when attending our initial on-site meeting, being a hospice virgin, I oozed apprehension. But let me assure you the calmness and serenity that greets you in this fabulous place was awe inspiring. The setting is stunning, the staff delightful, the ethos unparalleled. But it costs a serious amount of sterling to run. Hence the competition.

          There are primary, secondary and adult categories with Freya North judging the adult entries and Jonathan Stroud our headline judge for the secondary school entries. Both Hertfordshire writers will attend the launch party on Monday 12 November in Waterstones, Berkhamsted High Street. This is a ticket only ‘do’ so please contact www.stfrancis.org.uk/bwc or email writing@stfrancis.org.uk to reserve your place or request competition entry details. 

          Writers from any county may submit their short stories. 

          You have until the end of March 2013 to create your 500 word masterpieces and I look forward to reading them . . .

Vacation, Vacation, Vacation

I may have spent the summer months crisscrossing the Continent, strolling the isolated and pine clad hills of Sweden one week and melting in the unrelenting heat of mainland Greece the next, but never let it be said that I neglect my literary calling.

Sunshine and a beckoning Aegean Sea? Oh please, I’d prefer to remain in the shade of a parasol working on the latest musings of my alter ego, Lady Margaret Gosworthy-Pringle. Cruise the shores of the Baltic searching for herring when I have a brace of interviews to write up? Not likely.

Of course, I did partake in a minor amount of tourist based activities. I had, after all, my family to placate. But rest assured my tan suede notebook and a bundle of HB’s were never far from reach. Talking of which . . .

The Summer Season

     I have been indulging in a spot of copywriting lately. Actually some marketing too, if not full blown PR. A friend of mine has started her own holistic therapy business, you see, and of course who else would she turn to for some editorial assistance but yours truly? Needless to say, I am happy to oblige. Particularly as she insists I partake of a free treatment or two as payment in lieu. So I look forward to a massage just as soon as I can fit it into my schedule. That may be a while.

     My time, you see, is busier than ever. The Chiltern Writers Committee meets this evening, my Regular Writing Group, will descend upon my abode later in the week and I have a further meeting with a local charity about their short story competition. Oh, and there’s mummy duties, forthcoming family holidays and the Olympics.

     Honestly, I feel quite breathless!

     Still, that doesn’t prevent me from posting my latest Lady Margaret Gosworthy-Pringle and A Write Life! blogs for Hampshire Life and Hertfordshire Life respectively. Research, pitches and more features are also in the pipeline. So, much as I would love to converse further, you simply must excuse me . . .

Interviews and Opportunities

I am simply overflowing with interview opportunities at the moment and it is infinitely both satisfying and interesting chatting to such an eclectic mix of people about their lives, opinions and interests. Only last week I bantered with Waterstones’ longest serving manager, Martin Latham. What a charmingly intelligent man! He simply oozes literary enthusiasm. Writing Magazine will be running this feature and I will inform you when the relevant copy hits the magazine shelves.

In the meantime I am preparing lists of intriguing questions for a couple of more local interviewees which I hope to squeeze in during the next fortnight.

Now what else is currently listed in my hectic schedule?  Ah, yes. I am in the throes of preliminary talks with a local charity. One of their fund raising opportunities is to run a Short Story Competition and I am dearly hoping to assist them. More details next time.

And while on the subject of competitions, Chiltern Writers’ Short Story Competition closes this coming Friday. The fragrant Tessa Harris is judging this one for us and I will be forwarding a bundle of top notch entries to her next weekend.

Now whilst my working days are already heaving with creativity, following a recent meeting with the captivating children’s author, Nick Halliday, we have decided to embark upon an enviably ambitious joint venture. It's an award winning project just waiting to happen. Although we do, of course, need to get round to actually committing our ideas to digital technology. Right now we’re still at the guffawing stage. Still, it promises to be funny, if only we find time to crack on with it. . .