Looking back; looking forwards

So it's that time of the year when we review what we did in 2017 and plan what we will do in 2018.

All I can say is that 2017 wasn't my best year. However, compared with many of my friends, real or virtual, it could have been far worse. So I refuse to moan. 

As for 2018. Who knows? I am going to help out in local Park Runs. They're totally free. If you haven't heard of this wonderful initiative, then read THIS.  It am unable to run anywhere but I will volunteer in any way I can, even if it's only by turning up at 9am every Saturday morning and encouraging runners, walkers, wheelchair pushers, young and old, lonely, sad or unmotivated - in fact everyone.

When it comes to writing, I have been very snail-like in my endeavours in 2017. But I am still writing although none of you will have seen my name bandied around anywhere.  But I've tried. I have one completed full-length novel under my belt which I am still determined to submit successfully in 2018. I have already got a fistful of rejections  - some of them not at all encouraging. Oh well. I'll fight on.

I am currently editing another completed novel which I hope to be in a fit state to submit in a month or so. I have been writing it for over five years. 

And how's this for a flash of serendipity?  I have been thinking about another novel for the past year. But my mind has remained totally blank. You may know I love historical fiction. However I wasn't sure which of my favourite eras or events I wanted to hone in on. I did know I wanted to set it north of Yorkshire possibly Teesside or Durham. Those who know me well will understand why.

So...only yesterday, an email popped in my in-box out of the blue. I subscribe to various websites wthat only post every so often. And there it was. A historical, geographical and geological factoid with links to Lewis Carroll, churches and folklore,  and bottomless lakes with a quotable name that would make a good title for a novel! I am now thinking of creating one from a series of linked events set in different periods, starting, if I remember in 1179. 

It's all very vague and have not even lifted a pen or opened a new file. It will no doubt change out of all proportion. I'm already thinking of research! I'm excited and am more than ready to charge forth into 2018 and beyond.

I will now take a deep breath and wish us all a Happy and Healthy New Year. May it bring you everything you hope for and nothing you fear  Kindness will again be my word of the year.

Oh and please do plenty of this. But then I'm preaching to the converted, aren't I?

How Do You Take Your Christmas?

Is it traditional like this..?

Or this

Or maybe even these variations. Both as bad as each other!

Or do you prefer a traditional family Christmas?

However or wherever you find yourself in the next week or whether you are facing deep joy or profound sadness, may I take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Christmas!

Nest week, a review of  my 2017.   

October 2017

I have neglected this blog for quite a while. It is now October and summer has well and truly departed. The schools went back and my grandson began his more formal education although he had enjoying nursery. So off he went, an antonym to Shakespeare's boy, willingly.

I am also increasingly aware that blogs are not as popular as they once were, probably because most of us no longer have time to read long and prefer tweeting and texting or even, God forbid, preferring emojis.  In consequence I intend to use my blog just to talk about the books I have enjoyed immersing myself in recent months, about my small word jotting my thoughts about writing, publishing and my love-hate relationship with Amazon and anything else that comes my way.

The older I get, the more I remember those miscellaneous memories that pop up unbidden when thinking of something else entirely. My earliest memory is walking up and down what I thought was a vast long hall with a massive door at the end whilst my parents and invited friends were engrossed the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Quite how my parents could have afforded a television, I don't know. Maybe they rented it. I think not because they always abhorred hire purchase as it was known then. I remember very little of that flat. I was born in March 1951 in Leicester which is where my parents and most relations lived. My Dad worked for the Leicester Gas Corporation which soon after became part of East Midlands Gas (Emgas.) Promotion meant a move to Lincoln when I was a few months old. Anyway, the  coronation was in June 1953. I didn't know what this word meant that everyone was talking about. I kept being showed hanging baskets and flags in the streets and being told they were for the Coronation. I looked up and I saw flowers everywhere above me. (Remember I was in a pram or pushchair.) Dad must have grown carnations in the garden. or he bought two hanging baskets that Lincoln council were selling off cheaply to the public afterwards.

Therefore, for a long time, I thought the 'Carnation' and 'Coronation' were the same.

Memory are one's perceptions at various states in one's life plus an overlay of later experiences that alter them. Maybe memories are main transient fictions. And why the older one gets. the more one thinks about past experiences more vividly than what one did yesterday?

In addition, it is well-known that everybody remembers and sees things totally differently. This brings me neatly onto Amazon. No shouting, please.

I am very mixed in my thoughts of this vast behemoth. I agree that they shouldn't avoid paying tax. I know that Amazon is a vast shark swallowing up or crushing good small dedicated bookshops and publishers. But...but...but...If I want the latest novel by my favourite author I can order it and it arrives the next day in pristine condition. I no longer drive and cannot walk far plus I live in the middle of nowhere and there are no bookshops within 25 miles. And to muddy the waters even further, although I adore books, loved working in various bookshops over the years, but I have nowhere to put all my books now and now my eyesight is poor in low light, I find I am more and more drawn to reading books on my Kindle. I know. I know. You are probably telling me I'm a philistine but it has been a life-saver. I still prefer actual, real books, both fresh and crisp and those foxed around the edges. I particularly love to read the hand-written dedications. I am also overjoyed if a dried flower or card of any kind falls out. These are personal and intriguing and brings me closer to another readers. Who are or were they?

My current meditation on books, reading and working in bookshops and engaging with readers brings me to mention two books that have delighted me recently. However, both decry the use of a Kindle for reading. I understand them completely. They both have slightly different reasons for their hatred but both books dwell on the impersonal sterile format plus the inability to retain words read on screen.

What neither writers mention are people like me who for various reasons have had to forgo the pleasure of browsing in bookshops, whether independents, chains or second-hand treasure-troves. First of all, as I said, I live in the middle of nowhere and I don't drive. Plus by significant other is not interested in books, reading or writing. Lastly and more importantly, I am finding it increasingly difficult to read in anything other than very bright light. I can alter the brightness of my Kindle. It is a life-saver for me so although I smile to see that the Wigtown bookshop displays a mounted shield on which a Kindle the owner shot and killed, I would die if Kindles (or what might replace them) became extinct.

Increased age, a long- term medical condition and bad mobility is a real bummer no-one likes to talk about. We are all supposed to be super-healthy and  enjoying ourselves and if not we only have ourselves to blame. It's a lie.  But I refuse to be down-heated and will continue to use this blog for the occasional moan. But thanks God for my Kindle. It's keeping me same.  

What I did on my holiday.

Last week, we spent a few welcome days here: 

Where I hear you ask? The most underrated county in England. Yes, I know I am an adopted Yorkshire lass and love it to bits. Even so, the tourist-filled beauty spots can be wearing if you are trying to find glorious stretches of  empty sandy beaches and deserted heather moorland. Did you know it is the most sparsely populated area in England with only 62 people per square kilometre?

Northumberland is my true idea of peace, tranquillity and heaven on earth. As you may or may not know we have a motor-home and enjoy the independence it brings us. We prefer to explore the UK these days (as all the questions asked regarding health insurance makes it difficult for us to travel abroad at short notice).We rarely stay away from home for weeks at an end, preferring to look at the weather-forecast and make on the spot plans. This year there have been few opportunities. We may go away again next month. Where? Possibly north of the border. Watch this space.

So what a joy it was to find ourselves in Old Hartley, north of Whitley Bay last week overlooking the  sea and seemingly only a stone's throw from St Mary's Island to where you can easily (well, it still takes mer a while) walk to at low tide. Other times, you'll need a snorkel and wetsuit.

Manwhile back in Northumberland and Old Hartley and the small caravan site with its spectacular views of the sea. Turn your head to the north you will see the industrial port Blyth and to the south is the sea-side holiday resort of Whitley Bay. Both will be familiar for fans of the TV series Vera based on Ann Cleeve's brilliant crime novels. Gaze out to the horizon and watch the steady progress of container ships, yachts and ferries to Amsterdam and beyond. No wonder the Geordie accent has more than slight echoes of Scandinavia.

Just next to where we were pitched was this glorious orange Californian poppy. Nestling against a dry-stone wall, it grew proud and undaunted by the coastal breeze that buffeted it. Gloriously golden it even dimmed the shy pale yellow blooms that grow in my part of Yorkshire.

One day we visited Seaton Delavel Hall, a mile or two to the north. Devastated by a massive fire in 1822, it is a magnificent ruin but that makes it more exciting to visit. Its history is amazing. You wouldn't believe what went on within its walls in the 18th century. You can read all about it here. 

Photo opportunities abounded. And when Jon went off to climb the many spiral staircases, the rails of which remain twisted by that major fire...

...I spent some time alone  in conversation with a very old and battered large oak table. Oh the tales it told me: of a drowned sea-captain, his daughter and that formidable lady in the portrait! And so So I left Seaton Delaval Hall clutching the kernel of a short story which I hope will grow into something larger soon.

Recent Reading

It's time I reminded everyone (everyone?) that I'm still writing and reading even thought I have a lot going on at the moment. I'll be able to say more later. In the meantime I'll chat about some of the many books I've read and enjoyed over the past few months. By the way I do not blog about all the books I've read. Some I have decided not to blog about, Maybe it's because they may not have been my cup of tea, one or two I've not liked but most of the titles I don't mention here don't appear because...well...life's too short and I am a bit busy!

Which is why I'm not even going to write about them here. I know, I know. The problem is partly because Blogger is playing silly bananas at the moment and is not working properly for me. Just look at the way the cover images are displayed!) 

But I will make one exception. Matt Haig has been hovering under my radar for some time. I first was aware of him, when he published his personal account of his depression (Reasons to Keep living which I blogged about here.) You see, those who know a bit about me will be aware that depression and anxiety have  dogged me on and off since I was eighteen. Fortunately, I have never been in such a bad place as Matt discusses in that book. Anyway, I love his latest much-talked of novel pictured here. I reviewed it on Amazon so if you wish to read it, click here.

I'm not flagging Matt's novel over and above others I have enjoyed recently even though it does look like that!  

Anyway, here are the books I have read  or am reading t now. (Yes, I often have at least 2 on the go at the same time. Some thought-provoking, some sheer enjoyment, some rattling page-turners depending on how I am feeling at the time.)

I'm not asking you to read any. Just to say I've read them with pleasure and to confirm I'm still around. Note to self: write a better blog post soon!

Pulling my socks up

2017 has been a bit of a rubbish year for me so far what with one thing and another. And no here we are just after the summer solstice and I'm still waiting for my brain to fully wake up. And I think it's just about there. Our lovely chapel is now on the market and getting lots of interest but no firm offers yet. We don't want to go but needs must.

The Old Chapel

We are moving to...don't gasp...Middlesbrough. Don't listen to what people say. Like all cities, it has bad areas but there are a heck of the lot more good ones than you think. The min reason is we both need to be within a few miles of the brilliant James Cook University Hospital there. And despite the fact that we don't want to love from Yorkshire, where we're moving to is on;y one step across the country boundary. More of this at a later date.

Now we've bitten the bullet, I am more motivated to actually do something with my writing. So this week, I have submitted a novel to a publisher new to me. It will probably be rejected but as I well know that is par for the course if you've been writing fiction for as long as I have! At least I'm back in the saddle again. And it feels good.

Meanwhile, I'm still editing my medieval novel which has been sitting on the back burner for a long time. I hope to get that out in the world later this year. But of course, it all depends on all the other things going on in my life.

And taking of Middlesbrough, there's an awful not of history there that I want to explore. Did you know that in the Industrial Revolution it holds the dubious accolade of having the greatest increase in its population.In 1801 it was a farm community with a population of 25. By 1851 Middlesbrough's population had grown to 7,600! There are many novels there and I will definitely write them. Whether they're ever finished, let alone published, who knows. But I'm damn well going to write them.

St Hilda's Church. JS Lowry

At a time like this, we can only reflect.

The World Is Too Much With Us

Related Poem Content Details

William Worsworth

The world is too much with us; late and soon, 

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;— 

Little we see in Nature that is ours; 

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! 

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; 

The winds that will be howling at all hours, 

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; 

For this, for everything, we are out of tune; 

It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be 

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; 

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, 

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; 

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; 

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

   There is much to say at the moment and too many of us are too busy shouting and speaking at cross purposes to make clear sense of the agony of it all. But, please, please be mindful of where we, as observers, who were not involved in any way in the recent appalling atrocities. Please let them grieve and mourn the way they choose and offer help to them as individuals if we are able. Most of us can only look on in fear and sorrow. Yes, of course, we have opinions and we have every right to voice them but instead of spitting vitriol on social media, remember that most of us in this country, whether we were born here or not, are alive in a country that, despite its many - of course there are many -  faults,  allows us to protest without violence. And please do so if you have something useful to say. But please do it with love, dignity and thankfulness.  Think of Jo Cox's simple message  - there is more that unites us than divides us.

Back to blogging - but slowly.

My recovery after breaking my femur way back in January is taking much longer than I had realised. The doctors said that I will not be back to 'normal'  - whatever that is - until July. I have been sleeping for England, depressed by the news of war, nuclear tests and yet another election - Why? Oh and at the same time I had massive internet problems caused, we eventually found out, by  faulty electrics on my ancient PC interfering with the internet signal. No, I don;t understand why either. Finally, I got a new PC with a massive screen and Windows 10 but no Microsoft Word (don't ask). No wonder things haven't been going so smoothly in my life since January.

So this is where I am at the moment but trying to pull myself back to where I want to be. Not writing, not going anywhere, not thinking clearly and sleeping a lot. Boring eh? Hence no blog posts.

I have had to leave my own writing on the back burner for the time being because I haven't got sufficient energy even now to keep me functioning intelligently for more than an hour or so during the day. I am now beginning to get back into reading but not tackling anything too arduous or literary, which is not bad at all - in case you think I'm being snobbish. Far from it. I am so pleased that finally I am once again reading voraciously really good crime thrillers - ones that are not too gruesome or too cosy.  Perfect for that are the Shetland novels of Ann Cleeves. I have read all her 'Vera' novels and loved them all. They are much better than the TV series by the way. Brenda Blethyn is a great actor but even in padding to make her fatter a mackintosh and hat plonked on her head, she is far too attractive for the Vera of the books.  Anyway, that's TV for you. I love the Northumberland setting; The county is very underrated. Having got immersed in that series, I have taken my time to turn to her Shetland series both on TV and in the novels. Bad mistake, now being rectified by a major catch-up exercise.

In the past, The Shetland Isles had felt too remote for me to get a feel for them. Funnily enough, having read Amy Liptrot's fabulous memoir: Outreach which is set in The Orkneys and having been blown away by their atmosphere, the wildlife, on land, see and sky as well as its people. I changed my mind. Before you shout that book is about the The Orkney Isles and not the Shetlands - big difference, you daft English woman, I felt sufficiently adventurous enough to tackle fiction set further north.

In the meantime, before my accident, I read two historical novels that, although written in English,  masterfully combines Scandinavian Noir and historical fiction in Wolf Winter and In The Month of the Midnight Sun, both by Cecilia Ekback. I thoroughly recommend them as historical crime novels The setting here is Arctic Sweden, lands of the Lapps as well as Swedes,
I realised, after having read them with great pleasure and an increased understanding of northern climes, that I could easily cope with The Shetland Isles. What took me so long? I am now hooked and have plunged into a Shetland feast.

Coming back to England, when it comes to devouring crime fiction, the same series prejudice happened recently with the novels by Elly Griffiths. For some time I have become engrossed with her crime series featuring the archaeologist Ruth Galloway and her detective lover and her motley selection of people including druids, set on the atmospheric salt marshes of north Norfolk. Realising that I was reading the books more quickly than she could write them (of course) I looked around for more of her crime fiction and found her novels set in the 50s and 60s in Brighton and are set around the fading world of variety. Featuring DI Stevens and his great friend known as 'Mephisto' a stage magician, these are also enjoyable and highly ingenious with murder at their heart. In both series, Elly Griffiths creates a set of varied and fascinating well-rounded characters. Long may she continue writing both series.

The Stevens and Mephisto Series

One of the Ruth Galloway series.

Funnily enough, reading crime fiction has helped restore my sanity and peace of mind. Why murder and mayhem helps heal the mind and body I have no idea. But it is working for me.  Why knock it?

My reading this year so far...

There's one advantage (although there a trillion disadvantages) to being in hospital for over two weeks and that is, once the pain and trauma subsides, reading good books helps make it more bearable.

Although I love real proper paper, that is, books, my Kindle was perfect to read in bed in my hospital bed with its handy array of sockets (and of course my trusty charger.) I wasn't the only Kindle reader. The lady in the bed next to me was often reading hers, too. (We compared notes.) Very few other ladies in D bay, ward 36 read anything much apart from  the local newspaper or a magazine left by a visitor. They were all too busy on their mobiles - by the way, I have a bone to pick with hospitals about their current guidelines on phones. They used to ban them in case they interfered with medical equipment; then discouraged therm with a sniff  but now it's a free for all. Some ladies were yacking land laughing on theirs later than 11pm! But that's another subject all together.

Some of the books here I may have mentioned before; I hadn't yet got round to blogging about them before I was whisked away, lights flashing and sirens howling (only when we went through the occasional red light.) Most I read while I was 'inside' or whilst recovering at home.

I usually have several titles on the go- even when all is well - because my brain power waxes and wanes throughout the day. I can read more erudite books in the morning. By afternoon, I'm up for intelligent entertainment. In the evening or later at night, I choose something short and easily-digested. This is when short stories come into their own.

I am in the middle of Essie Fox's atmospheric The Last Days of Leda Grey. How she manages to convey the heat of the summer of 1976 and the sense that the reader is in the middle of a crumbling,  reel of old sepia celluloid film, is amazing. I have loved all her novels but this novel surpasses them all. It is if I am watching one of Jean Cocteau's films, particularly Orpheus, although they of a later date.

As you can see, I have not written detailed brilliant reviews in the style of the legendary Dove Grey Reader who also knits, makes exquisite patchwork, makes jam and pickles, tends her garden and probably, as we speak, is training to be an astronaut, but have done it the easy way and put up cover pictures of the books I have bought and read. I would have done so even if nobody else had  or will do.I am lazy. If you're interested, I am relying on you to find out in your own preferred way.

Chris Nickson's Leeds: the Biography is a series of short snatches of 'faction' which takes speculative snapshots of the expansion of Leeds from its very earliest days to the 20th century vibrant multi-cultural city it is today. It is an easy read and was perfect for me in hospital when my attention span at first was short. When I say 'faction' you might think it's dull. It is not. Several of the stories had me in floods of tears, like the one set in what is called 'The Harrowing of the North' by the Normans after a northern rebellion against the invasion. It was genocide, pure and simple. My belief is that the enduring North/South divide stems from this.

Finally, I am in the middle of writing an article/review about The Last Photograph by Emma Chapman for Historia, the on-line magazine of the Historical Writers' Association. This fine novel completely passed me by when it was published in 2016. Fortunately I came upon by sheer chance recently and have exchanged emails with the author. And I have a question for you. Do you remember the Vietnam war of the 1970s? Were you an anti-war protester? Did you wish you'd been to Woodstock? Were you a hippy or a wannabe hippie as I was? Weren't you glad that Harold Wilson refused to send British troops to fight like the Americans and Aussies?

And finally, in your opinion, can a novel set in the 70s a historical novel? Well I do and so does the author. This is what I will discuss in my article. Meanwhile, I would like you to read the novel. It's not just about Vietnam. It depicts British life in the sixties and seventies more accurately than I have read before. No mean feat.

I really will appraise up to 2,500 words of your fiction free until Feb 28th.

I am not joking. My plan is to set up a small fiction appraisal  business. I am dipping my toes in the water.

Perhaps I did not make clear that I have an email address, I have had to be discreet to avoid any spam. But please email me an attachment at sallyzigmonddotgmaildotcom. I will not read pornography or violence but otherwise am willing to read gay and lesbian fiction. I read romance and literary fiction and can appraise accordingly. I am fair but firm. I have been at the butt end of harsh and useless criticism myself. I will not do it to other writers.

I'm offering free appraisals for 2,500 words of fiction until March 1.

So, am I worth listening to? Firstly, scroll back and read yesterday's blog. 

Now read my whistle-stop CV and make your own mind up. 

  

Way back in the early 1970s, after graduating from London University with a BA in English Literature, a comprehensive old-fashioned feel for the subject but with little idea of what to do with it, I took a job in a large London bookshop which now 40 years of have passed and after many take-overs (Claude Gill, Dillon’s and now Waterstones.) 

I was then promoted to the position of hardbacks manager at one of their smaller store at the other end of Oxford Street, Because, I had just got married to Jon and a hefty mortgage, I needed a bigger salary. So I took civil service exams and because I had 'A' levels in French and Spanish I worked as a civilian for the Metropolitan Police at the recently vacated New Scotland Yard, mainly as a translator for Interpol. I also did some admin work there.

Two children later, we moved up to Harrogate and I became a full-time mother, chief cook and bottle washer. When the boys began school, I took a part-time work in Waterstones and renewed my love of book-selling.

More importantly, I also decided to go to a weekly adult class called ‘Writing for Pleasure and Profit.’ It opened my eyes. I learned so much, the first lesson being that writing articles for non-fiction magazines is reasonably easy if you pitch them well. My non-fiction started appearing in magazines as diverse as Practical Caravan, Essentials, The Automobile and The Yorkshire Journal. I soon grew bored with practicalities and switched to fiction. It took time for this to take off. After much trial and error, my commercial short stories appeared in Women’s Weekly, My Weekly, The Lady, The Peoples` Friend and Best but I soon found I found that I was leaning more towards writing ‘literary’ short fiction.

Fortunately it was boom time (before the internet) for small-press print fiction. I reaped the whirlwind and was lucky enough to win numerous short-story competitions. In 1999, I won the ‘story of the year’ prize awarded by World Wide Writers. In 2005, I was short-listed in the Asham Award and also won first prize in the International Biscuit Prize. (Journalist and novelist Jane Wenham-Jones then dubbed me ‘the veritable Queen of the Short Story.’)

In 2006, I won first prize in the annual Biscuit short-story competition which was cash (always welcome) and the offer to publish a novella. Biscuit Publishing then came to an end when its lovely owner, Brian Lister, retired. It was a wonderful Newcastle-based publisher of short stories, poetry and drama, drama. And so, Chasing Angels about the pioneering female mountaineer, Henriette D’Angeville, was published. The BookBag describes it as ‘a delight from start to finish.’ Its publication gave me the understanding that, although I still write contemporary fiction, historical fiction is where my heart is. This is probably because I need perspective to write fiction and the speed of contemporary life makes it impossible to see it.

During these halcyon days, I helped Jo Derrick who was finding publishing the wonderful QWF magazine single-handedly a little overwhelming. I temporarily was the initial reader of hundreds of submissions, the most promising of which I passed to Jo for her final decision. QWF was the only magazine at the time that offered a page long reason for rejection for free. I know exactly why most magazines do not. I wished I’d kept the rude letter I received! It’s not for the faint-hearted. Having said that, most recipients were appreciative. I have since got to know many writers who remember receiving one of my ‘encouraging’ rejections!

My Victorian novel Hope Against Hope was published in 2011. It was long-listed for the Romantic Novel of the Year the following year. Since then I have struggled to gain publication for a novel set in 1920s Leeds. I am proud of that novel and hope to publish it digitally after exhausting many avenues.

I have almost completed my WIP, a medieval novel set in a very small Yorkshire nuns' priory – provisional title: The Thorndale Miracle. It contains mystery, murder, a bloody battle and a touch of magic realism. I’m writing it for myself really. I am enjoying it but only the ensuing flood of rejections will give me any indication of its worth.  

Having been the overall UK Editor for the reviews magazine of the Historical Novel Society for many years, I now only write the occasional review, I am also a member of the RNA and the HWA. I read both commercial and literary fiction. Both have their merits and I never discriminate. Both have different requirements. 

 I don't bite. So what are you waiting for?

It's amazing how 2 weeks in hospital have taught me so much (1)

I hope most of my loyal readers already know about my accident. If not if not, here's a very brief summary. I fell down the stairs and broke my left femur - to match a similar injury 8 years ago to my right thigh! There were complications so I was flat on my back and attached to everything for a week before I was able to stand up. So, that gave me loads of time to think especially during the long dark nights.

I've made the following resolutions.

To finally finish my WIP and go all out to get it published. I know I've said this before but I am really, really determined now. I even have got new ideas for it and because I was without paper or a laptop and tablet, everything was fizzing in my head. As a witty friend remarked. Must have been the result of all that morphine!

This is where it gets cheesy and I am in danger of turning into Pollyanna.

You see, the woman in the next bed to me has brittle bones due to life-long steroid use because of arthritis. She only snapped her tibia even when lying in her hospital bed after breaking her shoulder.  Although she could speak to her husband on her mobile, he refused to come in and see her because he has a 'thing' about hospitals. And yet I never saw her tearful or down-hearted. By the window lay a woman who was run over by a speeding taxi. At least he stopped and called an ambulance. He'd run over her pelvis and she'd been lying in bed for a month and was only just ready for physiotherapy And so and and so on...

Yes I am lucky. I'm home and reasonably mobile with one crutch. Which is why I am determined to take every opportunity that is offered to me, particularly with regard to the writing world. My days of attending writing conferences are over. I am not upset. The internet is here to rescue me. I am fired up to take on on-line novel-writing courses and work, work work. I have many good internet writing friends who support and encourage me when I'm in danger of feeling sorry for myself.

Some of you may know that I used to help my very good friend, Jo Derrick, when she became temporarily overwhelmed with submissions to her amazing QWF magazine. (And it was amazing.!) As a writer herself Jo became disillusioned with all those rejection slips that gave no reason for rejection at all. Yes, I know why most editors don't and that Jo she was making a rod for her own back! You should have read the abuse from rejected writers although most women were appreciative.

Having done so, I've realised how much love editing and appraising fiction. It is an amazing way to understand my own writing.  So I have opened the rest of February.to offer short appraisals of short stories of less than 2,500 words of any genre (except pornography or science fiction) or the first 2500 words of a novel for FREE! After March 1st 2017, I will ask for cheque payment. (I am not set up for any other way of being paid.) I will work out a fair fee and see where it goes from there.

Next post, I will write a short CV of my writing experience over the past 25 years. If you are prepared to give me a go, please email me at my name and surname with no dots then gmail dot.com. Please don't fill up my inbox with junk or nasty stuff or I will block you. Don't send me any over-long attachments or fail to respect my wishes and my time commitment. Enquire first and I look forward to receiving your emails. At first,  women writers only, please while I find my feet- literally as well!

Ready, Steady, Go!