Skip to main content

Posts

Another Book Recommendation…

Belonging, as I do, to the Association of Christian Writers, I have the delight of meeting some fantastic writers, across all sorts of genres, both in person and online. We all do our best to encourage one another and champion one another’s work to do the hard task of making our books known…and get to read some fabulous books in the process! Jenny Sanders is someone whose fantastic work for young audiences is something I’ve come across recently. It is definitely one you should be adding to your Christmas list if you are book-shopping for a child aged around 7-11. Here is my review of her lovely book: I had the privilege of reading a pre-publication copy of Charlie Peach’s pumpkins and other stories. The very title drew me in, with its overtones of fun and jollity and, from the opening story to the final one, it more than met my expectations.  As a teacher myself, I love Jenny’s dedication at the beginning of the book - an encouragement to teachers to never stop promoting the “satisfact
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

A Blog Resurrection and a Brilliant Book

Hello lovely blog-readers.   It’s been a while!   My poor blog has been sorely neglected for quite some time and a resurrection is long overdue. One of the reasons I haven’t written my own blog as much is because I blog monthly for the Association of Christian Writers, over on their More Than Writers Blog .   Through my involvement with the ACW, I have the privilege of reading the books of many outstanding writers, who I also know as friends.   There is something so special about receiving a book directly into your hand, signed and dedicated to you, written by someone you know and admire. One such wonderful author is Angela Hobday, who writes under her pen name, Annie Try.   When she asked me to be part of her blog tour for her latest book, The Dangerous Dance of Emma JJ , there seemed no better reason to crank the gears of my blog back into action.   So here I am.   I hope you enjoy reading about a book and author I very much enjoy. Annie Try signing copies of The Dangerous Dance
Post a Comment
Read more

The Birthday Cake

September contains, in quick succession, the anniversary of my sister's death, closely followed by my niece's birthday.  This year inspired me to write a poem, kind of commemorating both.  Making my niece a cake has been a painful privilege each year - I'm glad I could do it for her, whilst, at the same time, it underlines, afresh, the missing person who would make it for her, before.  This year I didn't actually make the cake, as her Daddy has become a cake-master, but, for poetic licence in the poem, I did!   Anyway...here is the poem.  Enjoy...I think! The Birthday Cake Mummy made me a cake, once, in the shape of a dinosaur.   Its long, fondant-icing neck, stretched to the edge of the board, bulbous and pink.   She had tears in her eyes, as she carried it in. The adults exchanged glances. One guffawed. Mummy giggled.   I wasn’t sure why, but I think they liked the cake very much and were proud of Mummy, as cakes weren’t rea
4 comments
Read more

A Week in the Life of Lockdown: The Highs and Lows

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't posted for so long!  This week, I took part in a writing exercise where the prompt for writing was "juxtaposition."  My mind immediately went to the highs and lows of lockdown, particularly in family life.  A few people were amused by what I wrote and said it resonated, so I thought I would share!  Do share it with others, if you enjoy it and let me know! A Week in the Life of Lockdown: The Highs and Lows Monday Feeling optimistic about the week ahead. Gave myself a pep-talk. Ancestors faced worse. No more over dramatising. Big girl pants on. Home-schooling planned and resourced. Confident children will comply. Diet starts again today. Let’s do this! Tuesday I hate my life! How can anyone simultaneously be a Maths tutor, French vocab specialist, sibling-squabble negotiator, IT consultant and meal provider, whilst retaining any shred of sanity? Working from home is near-impossible. Taking refuge in wine and Dairy Milk.
3 comments
Read more

Ten Years On

After our daughter Grace was stillborn, at 25 weeks of pregnancy, a midwife came to visit to check how we were doing.  I told her of our plans, for me to take the “maternity leave” that I was still entitled to, to spend time with our son, then 19 months.  Her reply took me aback – “I know it might not feel that way, but consider that time Grace’s gift to you,” she said.  Truthfully, I wanted to poke her in the eye at the time, finding it impossible to see any good in the loss we had just experienced. Over the years, though, as the jagged edges of grief have softened and healed, I understand more, now, what she meant.   Losing Grace was one of the hardest things I have been through – but, ten years on, I can see that she has left many gifts for us in her wake.   I had a year, enjoying time with Ben, before Samuel came along.   I have a wonderful, second son, our rainbow baby who followed Grace here.   Her loss has enabled me to connect so much more with others in their struggl
Post a Comment
Read more

When Words Fail...

I wanted to write something for Bec’s anniversary.   Something moving and thoughtful and profound to commemorate her in a fitting way.   Something epic to reflect the enormity of the gap she has left.   Something comic to represent the humour she always brought to a situation. But my heart won’t let me, this year.   My fingers can’t type all the thoughts in my head.   My heart can’t withstand the tsunami of emotion that breaks if I try to form words and sentences in poetry or prose. I want to write her a letter, a poem, a song, an article about surviving grief, a reflection on being the only one left now, with no sibling to recall our shared history.   But I can’t.   Not now.   Not this year. All I can do is look through photographs and smile and cry and remember what we had and regret what we don’t have now.   All I can do is try to join the dots and connect some of the jigsaw puzzle pieces that fall between the photographs.   The memories of blackberry picking and whispe
1 comment
Read more

How Content Are You?

My latest 'Thought for the Week' made it into the Lynn News this week - here it is, for anyone who is interested! Finding contentment is something I believe we all struggle with, at times – probably more often than we care to admit! We look at the size of our house, the state of our garden, the ‘perfect-looking’ families, smiling from their Facebook photographs and we feel the discontent stirring within.  What is the answer to this endless conundrum?  How can we find contentment and peace in a world that screams, all the time, that we need the next thing – the best, the biggest, and the brightest? Paul, the writer of the letter to the Philippians, in the Bible, tells us that he managed to “[learn] the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ” I am amazed by this, whenever I read this verse or ponder his story.  Paul was writing this from prison, of all places, and yet was able to declare thi
Post a Comment
Read more