Shirleys blog on her writing and stuff

That time already

2012-02-11T08:56:00.000-08:00

Seems it's a month since I last blogged OMG where does the time go?
Well most of it I have spent writing my new book. I have also written a few poems. I sent one to Writers' Forum monthly poetry competition.It's £5 to enter and win or loose you always get a critique,which is really helpful. This time I was pleased that I was a runner up and my poem will be published in next month's WF.

Do you ever find adverts creepy? There is one on at the moment for Avios and I find the music so spooky, really gets to me, like someone running their finger nails down a blackboard.
Blackboards what are they you may ask? Whiteboards have taken over, I hate them. My poor writing looks worse on them. My teacher in primary school, Mrs Matts, would not have liked them. She read us a story at the end of the day, before home time and she often illustrated them on the blackboard using coloured chalk. I remember her fantastic picture of The Borrowers. It is still vivid in my mind.
The photo above is Mrs Matts and my class. Guess which one is me?

My birthday

2012-01-18T06:56:00.001-08:00

( Me, hubby and grandchildren - Maria and Jake )

Well my birthday came and went, as they do.
We celebrated with a meal in the Tobery Carvery ( had a voucher from the paper 2 meals a tenner. Everyone else seemed to have one too!) then we went to the cinema to watch 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' which we really enjoyed.
I had my usual moan about the price of pop corn, at £4 a bag I think it is ludicrous.
We buy a packet from the health shop for about 70p and it lasts ages.
Still it was my birthday and my OH said as we didn't celebrate it last year as he was in Egypt we'd push the boat out. Ha!
The day after my birthday my daughter treated me to lunch in the Beefeater and then we had a birthday tea at my son's. My granddaughter Maria helped me blow the candles out. Yes there are a few now!
My presents were mostly books, one on poetry, one on Sherlock Holmes ( the dummies guide) and one about Lady Hamilton. I have become interested in this period of history now, having visited Portsmouth last week!
I am thinking of setting my next book in this period.

Day out in Portsmouth

2012-01-10T01:12:00.000-08:00

We went down to Portsmouth at the weekend. My birthday treat!
I had not been to Portsmouth since the children were little and was very impressed with all the new changes. There is a fantastic shopping centre by the harbour now, with many designer shops and there are lots of restaurants:Italian,Spanish and Indian for example. And now of course there is the Spinnaker Tower, which at 170metres high overlooks the Harbour, Gunwharf Quay,and city centre. I had heard so much about this on BBC South news and had been dying to go up it and it did not disappoint. We took the lift to the first level, where you can have a go at walking on the glass floor, which I did even though I hate heights!
Then we climbed the steps to the next level where there is a cafe. ( There is a lift to this level but it's not far)
Then we went up to the Crow's nest level.( No lift to this level but again it's not far up)
At each level there are amazing views, as far away as 23 miles.
In the east we saw Chichester cathedral, in the south the Isle of Wight,in the west The New Forest.
Below we could see all the boats and ships in the dock, including HMS Victory.
The weather was good so we had a great view.
The tickets lasted all day so we went back up at night and that was quite something, seeing all the lights twinkling around us.
We would definitely go up it again and I recommend going there, if you haven't been.
Check out offers on the internet if you do go as I saw that if you spend over ten pound in the nearby Waterside cafe first you get one free ticket up the tower. It all helps!
After the tower we went on The Victory and had a guided tour. The tour guude was very entertaining and I learnt a lot about life at sea, which I didn't know before, like where the expression Toe Rag comes from! Yuk!
Maybe you know already?
We also went on The Warrior and in the Mary Rose Museum.
We had a boat ride around the dock, included in the ticket price. Hot drinks on board and an informative talk from the captain.
We saw the new war ship 'The Daring' going out of port. That is off to the Middle East soon, I heard on the BBC South news this morning.
Wherever we went we found all staff very friendly and chatty.
All in all we spent a great day in Portsmouth. It reminds me of Barcelona in some ways with the shops by the dock and all the eating places.
In fact I think it is is better. We had great weather which helps.
Everything is well set out.
It made a lovely birthday outing and how nice that my birthday week is not accompained by snow and freezing temperatures, as it usually is!
See how blue the sky was when I took the above photo of the Spinnaker Tower!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-03T02:37:00.000-08:00

(Maria, my granddaughter in her Nativity play. She is the one in the crown)

Been a while since I posted, have been very busy sorting out my mum's care home and getting her settled and what with Christmas and New Year celebrations things have been hectic.
We spent Christmas day with my daughter and partner. They cooked a great dinner, we took Mum there too. The day as always went far too quickly.
The day after Boxing Day was spent with my son, his wife and two grandchildren.
Had a lot of fun watching them open their pressies. Maria now age four and Jake one.

Now I must get back on track with my writing and here are my writing resolutions for 2012.
Finish my children's book, The Snake Princess and send out to agents etc.
Send as many poems out to competitions as possible and perhaps if funds allow do another poetry course.
Try and finish my article writing course.
Read all the books I had for Xmas.
Think about my next book.

Think that is enough to be getting on with for now.

Happy New Year all, hope you have a healthy one full of love and publishing success!

Care homes

2011-11-29T02:41:00.000-08:00

The last few days OH and I have been on a hunt for a suitable care home for Mum.
So you ring up ask if it's council funded and if it is you go and look.
You can go for one that isn't council funded, but that would mean you have to pay all the fees or get a top up.
Either way the council take your parents hard earned money so Mum's flat is on the market. Some people say this is fair that your property is sold to fund your care in later life and I suppose it is. How else can care be paid for? With so many people now living to a good age more and more funding will be necessary and this is a real problem for any government. One idea was that people should pay something out of their wage each month towards care. But that would mean you receive even less take home pay after pension and national insurance and this idea was not well received.
The problem of care funding is not so great in Egypt, where my OH comes from, as parents live with their children and children expect to take care of them til they die unless of course they are very ill.
Anyway we found one home we liked and now have to wait to see if they say Mum can go there as each care home does its own assessment.

Vascular dementia

2011-11-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

Finally had Mum's assessment yesterday - she has vascular dementia. I was telling them that last week!
Anyway, I spoke to Tessa from social care yesterday re mum's case and for the first time I had some proper help about what to do next. Mum will have to go into a care home.
So now we are looking at the funding and boy oh boy this is complicated!
She explained how the council will fund some of her care but she will have to pay some each week, if she has more than the allowance and also we have to sell her flat.
It's not worth a lot really and we all kind of guessed this would happen.
All of this financial stuff has been left to me to sort out and I spent most of yesterday ringing various help lines, Age UK etc to try and get an idea of our options.
Mum's flat could take two years to sell and her savings will run out in no time as she doesn't have much. There is a lot to consider and then we have to visit some homes.
My brother rang yesterday evening to say how Mum was being discharged and was going to St George's - the original plan as they were trying to kick her out on Monday and we wanted to make sure Mum had somewhere to go. I said no she mustn't now as we have to find a council funded home. Seems Tessa had not told the ward staff that Mum wasn't going there now! So I quickly rang the ward to make sure it wasn't going to happen.
Once again complete lack of communication between staff at that hospital.
The nightmare is not over yet.

And on and on

2011-11-22T05:33:00.000-08:00

My head is all over the place at the moment.
We were told Mum was going home yesterday, so I rang Janet (not real name) at the hospital social care dept yesterday to find out what was happening. She said your mum isn't going home.
I said, you told me on Friday she would be and if not today then tomorrow. She said I was mistaken!
I said we were on the phone for half an hour on Friday talking about this and also my brother had been talking with the ward sister for an hour about all the things that would be set in place to help Mum at home. He was told that they needed the bed.
Janet said well as you were concerned further investigations will be carried out.
Your Mum has trouble getting out her chair and is confused. ARRGH! Hadn't we already said that a hundred times and this was why we knew Mum should not go home!
Weren't they themselves concerned?
Anyway, yesterday afternoon Mum finally had a head scan, but why wasn't this done last week? Surely this should be routine when an elderly person starts falling over? TIAs are very common in the elderly but they were sending her home without one!
Today ANOTHER woman from social care, Tessa, ( not real name) rang me, she is going to help assess Mum now. How many more people are there doing this? This is not helping Mum's confusion!
So once again I had to spend half an hour on the phone telling Tessa about Mum's recent problems etc.
In the meantime the whole family being p----d with the whole business and worried about Mum thought Mum could spend a few weeks in a nice care home, my brother knows, to recuperate to get stronger, in the hope she can return to her flat soon, although we think that unlikely as she is now so confused, we believe she is suffering from dementia.
However the ward sister said she can't be released until she has had her referral ( Psychiatric assessment etc) Ye gods! They were sending her home without this before and now they say she can't go until she has it! AARGH!
Who is going to ring next I wonder from the hospital? Does anyone know what is happening there? Do they actually commmunicate with one another?
There is an elderly frightened old woman in the midst of all this.
Does anyone there really care about her?

Mum going home already

2011-11-19T00:47:00.000-08:00

It seems they are now sending my mum home next week with carers, they say 3 times a day. An hour in the morning, 30 mins at lunch time and an hour at night.
We are not happy with this, as we don't feel she is ready to go home yet and needs constant supervision at the moment, but they want the bed.
I rang to find out what is going on and was told investigations were still going on and that she wasn't going home, but then my brother rang later to say she was told by the ward sister she is. It's ridiculous no one seems to know what they are doing.
We were hoping that there may be a respite centre she can go to for a few weeks to get strong and to see if her confusion lessens, before we decide what sort of care home she needs, but this has not been offered.
I wish she could stay with us, but we only have a one bed flat on the second floor with no lift.
Mum can't get up from her chair now very easily so I'm not sure how she will answer the door to the carers. The social care woman who is supervising all this said they will fit a Keysafe outside the main door. Mum is in a her own Peverall flat so not sure if they will allow that.
We're also worried that Mum will have no supervision at night and this is when she is most likely to fall. I said this to the social care woman who is in charge of all this and she said well she can have a pad on her at night. I said so you are saying that she can wet herself and she said yes some people prefer that then getting up!
You ring one person at the hospital for information, then get passed to another who knows nothing about the case.
One minute we are told Mum's mental assessment will be done in hospital the next it will be done at home.
She had the OT test, when she had to make a cup of tea in the hospital kitchen and failed yet she is still going home.
We just feel so frustrated by all this and feel we have no support with advice about how to do things, what help we can get financially etc.
There needs to be someone specifically for this, I think once this was the role of an Almoner?
It's great that we have children in need every year but I'm thinking that we need 'elderly in need'.

Now it begins

2011-11-18T08:03:00.000-08:00

So Mum is still in hospital. She is still very confused, more so than before. I think her dementia has been coming on over the last two years. Since her falls she is much worse. She thinks she is at home most of the time. She is also quite weak now and can't get out of her chair without help. She also has trouble eating.
Yesterday she had a test with Ocupational Therapy to see if she could cope when at home. She had to make a cup of tea. She didn't even manage to fill the kettle. She failed the test. We were told she would have a mental assessment while in hospital.
Imagine my surprise then when my sister in law rang this afternoon to say they were sending her home on Monday with carers, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
There is no way she should go home yet.
I had rung West Sussex social services this morning and a very helpful lady said Mum might be able to go into sheltered housing to recuperate while we see if her memory and health improves. This would be a much better idea. Mum is NOT ready to go home and be left on her own yet. She needs full time care so why are they sending her home? Because they need the bed apparently. That may be so but where is the aftercare that should be in place? There has been no one at the hospital who has given us any help. I have spent so much time ringing around trying to find out how to sort out care, care homes etc.
I rang someone from social care and said if she goes home she will be at harm and be it on your head if anything happens to her. She said she will ring the ward and see what is going on.
I rang the ward just myself to find out what is going on and was told there will be further investigations now. So there should. Watch this space

Mum in hospital

2011-11-16T03:06:00.000-08:00

The last two weeks have been quite traumatic for me and so there has not been much writing going on. My mum who is 89 is in hospital as she has been falling over a lot lately.
Luckily she had one of those Careline cords around her neck and the medics have been out to her on each occasion. However, on Saturday night she fell over three times and so they admitted her to A&E. The doctor thinks she fell due to low sodium in her blood and also due to the fact she had not been drinking enough water. Mum has been getting more and more confused lately and she thinks she has eaten and had a drink when she hasn't. Since the falls on Saturday she is even more confused. Anyway she will be assessed by the Ocupational Therapist in the next few days and it may that she can't go back to her flat but into a care home. Or she may be able to go home, but with daily carers. I am hoping for this scenario as Mum will be much happier in her own home.
This has been quite upsetting for me and although I now feel happier knowing that there is nothing seriously wrong with her I am hoping that her confusion doesn't last and that she will once again be the Mum I know.

So many lives lost

2011-11-11T09:15:00.000-08:00

Today we remember the men who died in the wars.
My grandad George Cook, who died aged 108 in 1997, served in the First World War. When he was 96 and I was beginning to research my family tree, I recorded his memories of that time on a cassette.
I then wrote them up into the family tree book.
Here is an excerpt from that book.

On the 14th September 1916 Grandad joined the 13th Royal battalion of the Royal Sussex regiment, (no G 16013), at Mailly Maillet on the Somme. There were a number of jobs to do there. He had to help mend the duck boards, let the water out of the trenches and mend the dug outs. He remembers an occasion when he had to fetch a piece of wood to do this. It was hard to carry the fourteen foot piece of timber , due to the shape of the trenches and a part of it stuck up in the air. He recalled." All of a sudden there was a whoosh and a bang, a shell had hit part of the plank close to where I was, dust went in my face. I soon dropped the wood!"
On the 19th of September the battalion moved to the Redan Ridge where it remained until the 5th October. On the 21st of October the battalion took part in the attack on Stuff Trench in the Schwaben redoubt known as the Battle of the Ancre Heights. There was some terrible fighting here as Grandad said it was a' real hell hole'.Of this time Grandad recalled, " I remember one fight we had. It was a Saturday morning in October. There had been a frost it made the top all gammy. We started midday. Before you got to Jerry's tent they usually ran out what you call a sack head. They take a trench out into no man's land then a big wide hole and in there they put four or five bombers and a sniper. He's to stop the rush. Well they held us and it was about 4 or 5 pm before we got in the trench. Somebody did get the sniper as we saw his rifle fly out. Another morning I was in the trench getting my rations when someone shouts out" There's a German overhead!" I came out and looked up, the light dropped and I just got back in time as he dropped a shell and knocked twenty down. One little boy that was killed was a footman at Broadfield for Captain Silver. His name was Billy I think. Then we had to carry them to the Red Cross." It was during the fighting at this time that Grandad received a slight wound. He was sent down to the Clearing Station then once fit was back in the line.
On the 18th of November 1916 the battalion moved to Poperinghe in Belgium, the Ypres sector. On the 11th of December they moved into the trenches at Canal bank. At this time the sector was relatively quiet, but Grandad had his first experience of the Ypres mud. Conditions in the trenches were terrible. Rats were a big problem, some were as big as cats. Grandad recalled " I remember one night in the trench when we were relaxing. I was having a smoke and leaning back. I could hear the tins rattling because of the rats when all of a sudden I heard a noise at the top. I turned round and there was this dog it frightened me to death!As well as rats lice were also an inevitable part of service in the line. Lice or 'chats' as they were called got into clothes and once there were virtually immovable . Lighted matches used to help get rid of them. Grandad sometimes had to help delouse the men.

Review of Body Trapped

2011-11-09T02:03:00.000-08:00

I was looking at my reviews for my book Body Trapped yesterday and noticed I had one recently from someone in America and it is a five star review!
I am thrilled. This is what it says.

5.0 out of 5 stars This poor kid just can't cut a break!, 1 Nov 2011
By Jaymikal (Lk Havasu City, AZ)
I love browsing books in the Kindle store, and I absolutely LOVE that "Download a sample" bit. I've been known to download samples left and right, so at times I could have up to 20 samples on my iPad waiting to catch my attention or else get deleted. "Body Trapped" was a sample I downloaded a couple of weeks ago. Let's just say I read the sample last night and here I am writing up a review.

The writing was good, the descriptions were good, the overall feel of the story was good. It seems like a bad dream. You're involved in a horrible accident and wake up in another person's body. How do you convince others that you aren't who they think you are without getting yourself a one-way ticket straight to the funny-farm?

Lee and Gary are the two boys involved in the accident. Lee took the full brunt of the injuries and was placed in a coma. However, he awoke in Gary's body while Gary must be in Lee's own body. His own parents are forced to sit by the bedside of their son who they're told won't wake back up while Gary's body, with Lee in it, awakens and is eventually sent home with Gary's family. Lee and Gary's families couldn't be more different from one another. Noboy likes him, including his (Gary's) sister. His mother is an alcoholic. All of his (Gary's) friends do drugs, smoke, etc. He (Lee), on the other hand, is a good student, kept good grades, and got along well with his parents.

I really enjoyed this story. It was shorter than most I read, but that's probably a good thing or else I'd probably be still reading it. The author did an admirable job in describing how Lee was experiencing life in Gary's body, how lonely and desperate he was to return to his own. I read this whole book, sample included, in one sitting. Give it a try and I'm sure you'll do the same! Well worth the money!

Can Lee make it back to his own body so he can rejoin his own family? Will Gary's family ever realize that their son didn't come home with them after the accident? Gonna have to read it to find out!

Veteran car run

2011-11-07T08:31:00.000-08:00

Had a great day yesterday, watching the veteran cars on the London to Brighton RAC rally. We watched them in Crawley by the George Hotel where the drivers can stop for a pitstop and refreshments.
When I was younger my sister and I used to just walk down to the end of our drive and watch them trundle past on the A23. One year Valerie Singleton and Chris Trace ( Blue Peter presenters) were in one car which caused great excitement.
People in the cars are meant to wear Edwardian costume and many did yesterday.
When we watched it as children there was also penny farthing bike to watch. Ouch! Imagine cycling on that for 35 miles.
It's one of my dreams to do this ride one day, in a car like Genevieve perhaps.

The Royal Automobile Club's annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run takes place on the first Sunday of every November and commemorates the Emancipation Run of 14 November 1896 which celebrated the passing into law of the Locomotives on the Highway Act, which raised the speed limit for 'light locomotives' from 4 mph to 14 mph and abolished the requirement for these vehicles to be preceded by a man on foot.

115 years later the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is today the world's longest running and greatest motoring celebration event attracting entrants from all over the world. Over 600 entry applications are received for 550 places with over 25% represented by eligible vehicles shipped to the UK especially for the Run from across Europe, North and South America, Asia and the Australias making the annual Run a truly International event. Over 160 vehicle makes take part and individual values range from around £25,000 to several million!

Nurses at St Anns - My writing journey

2011-10-21T00:11:00.000-07:00

I started writing for 'real' about six years ago. I always enjoyed writing stories and poems at school and English was one of my favourite subjects. I was only 14, when I took and passed my English 0-level - it was thought at our school that the more able students should take it early.
I still have my old English exercise books and in two of them are what were called 'long stories.'
It was handy for teachers to have 'long stories' on the go so that when planned lesson work was finished the teacher could say, 'do your long story,' to keep you out of mischief!
One of my long stories was called 'Nurses at St Annes'.
Stories about nurses were popular when I was younger and so I decided to write my own.
Jean Andrews was a student nurse and it was about her time at St Ann's hospital. I was twelve years old when I wrote it.
This is the opening -
'Jean Andrews walked up the long drive which led to the nurse's home. She was tall and had auburn hair which she had neatly pinned up under a black cap.She was twenty years of age and she hoped that she could work her way through nursing to become a fully state registered nurse.'
The chapters were divided as follows:
Getting acqainted
Discussion with George
First day on the ward
Christmas Ball
Final Exams

Exciting stuff!

I also wrote another long story about a singing cat called 'The cat that became a singer.'

Here is the opening -

'It was a beautiful moonlit night. The only sound that could be heard was the rustle of the wind through the trees and the occasional car going by. Did I say only sounds? Well they weren't for sitting on the roof of an old shed was a shadow, a small shadow. It was a cat! Round it were other shadows, these too were cats. They were watching and listening to Mcgregor the singing cat.'

I loved writing poems too. But had no time for writing stories or poems, as I had my A-levels to do. Then I went to teacher's training college and all my time was spent writing essays on Education and Theology ( my main subject) I did my dissertation on Canaanite Religion! Then when I had my first teaching job at St John's comprehensive school in Essex, teaching RE, I was swamped with lesson plans and marking.
I got married at this time too. A while later my son was born, then my daughter and soon twenty five years had flown by, with just one poem written in all that time, a poem for my sister on her 40th birthday and no stories.
Then one day, six years ago, I saw a competition in a magazine to enter a children's story. I wrote one about a cheeky fairy and I came third! I thought, 'ooh I like this perhaps I can write a book.' and so it began.
A couple of years after that I did a poetry course with Writing Magazine and was thrilled to come first in a poetry competition that year.
I've now had lots of success with my poems and children's books in competitions, but the main reason I write is because I love it and I don't plan to stop any time soon.

Rusper car boot sale

2011-10-17T02:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday I decided that our small flat was being taken over by books. Time for a clear out I thought, so I was quite ruthless and sorted out a huge pile of books, mostly old poetry books and books on Egypt. But I hate parting with any books!
I sorted out cupboards too and had a nice pile of stuff to take to Rusper car boot sale.
We have been there to buy, but never done one there before. I liked the fact it didn't start til 11.30 am and buyers can set up at about 11am and get everything out before you are approached by all the usual dealers asking ' Any jewellery, mobile phones?' This is what happens at Pease Pottage car boot sale with everyone crowding around the boot of your car before you have time to get it out. If you are on your own this is quite daunting.

We had a great spot on the end of a row and the sun was already shining at 11am and as we set up, in leisurely fashion, the bells of Rusper church were ringing.
We had plenty of time to get everything out and when the horn sounded at 11.30am and everyone was allowed in we were ready for the onslaught.
After a while I left my OH to man the stall, while I had a quick look round myself.
It is so interesting seeing what others are selling.
I always haggle, that is part of the fun, and most people did that to us on our stall too. I didn't buy too much yesterday though, but loved browsing.

We did quite well on our stall and sold lots of books. The thing is to price things reasonably. It's no use charging more than 50p a book in my experience, if you want to shift them quickly. Also when selling books get them out of boxes and if possible lay them out on a sheet. People don't want to have to delve in boxes to sort them.

When it came to pack up we left in a relaxed orderly fashion with no traffic jam.
All in all it was a great day and we will certainly be doing one there again.
Everyone was very friendly and I enjoyed chatting to the stall holders around me.
I only have one complaint, a portion of chips was £2. ( They are £1.50 at PP and there are more chips!) This meant I only bought one portion to share with my OH as we didn't want to spend too much of our takings!
The Marshalls did a great job and thanks to Andy and his team.

Eon

2011-10-11T23:44:00.000-07:00

Back in the summer I rang Eon, our energy supplier, to pay our bill and during the course of the conversation the guy on the phone suggested changing our tariff from Economy 7 to a different one, to save money as we were not using our storage heaters in the summer. He said, 'make sure you ring to change back when it gets colder.'
In the meantime we decided to switch enery companies to save money, over £100 a year.
Being on a low income this is very important for us as we only have electric for everything and it is very expensive.
Anyway I rang Eon on Monday to change back to Econmoy 7 as cold weather is predicted next week, but the woman said, 'sorry I see you are leaving us in 2 weeks so can't do that, the system won't let me.' (Funny how it was changed in one minute before!) I said but we are still your customers for two weeks.
But she still said she couldn't do it.
I rang their complaints department and had the same reply. So I said, 'does that mean then that we don't have to pay the electric bill for the next two weeks?'
'It doesn't work like that.' I was told.
So I am just hoping that it does not get too cold for the next two weeks! Thanks Eon, so glad we decided to leave you if that is how you treat customers.

Fantastic night at the BritWriters' Awards

2011-10-08T01:37:00.000-07:00

Great night at the BritWriters' Awards last night.Didn't win, but thrilled to be a finalist this year out of so many and it's something else to add to my writing CV.
The event was so much better organised than last year. The whole evening ran very smoothly.
Great having drinks and canapes next to the wax works of celebs. Didn't think George Clooney looked anything like him or Gary Barlow, but Morgan Freeman looked so real.
And Tom Cruise, well he certainly looked real and was my favourite...
On the way in to the main area for the sit down meal and awards we passed many other wax works, all the royals and my hero John Wayne! As we were being ushered to the tables there was no time for a photo of me and John and thought we could do one on the way out, but we were ushered out a different way!
The event finished at 10.15, underground then train home from Victoria took over an hour so late night for me. I will soon be getting my entries ready for next year's event. Think I will enter the poetry this time.

One very very excited finalist

2011-10-04T00:04:00.000-07:00

Only four days to go to the BritWriters Awards. I am getting very excited!
I was told that there were some 5,000 entries to the children's book category so to make the final 5 is quite something.
The evening takes place at Madame Tussauds and there will be cameras and all finalists are being interviewed. Yikes!
Also finalists have to prepare a one minute acceptance speech, just in case!
Oh it would be fantastic to win, of course the prize money would be great, but it would mean so much more to me to have my book 'The Treasure of the Urn' published. Nigma, the talking camel in that story, would love that!

I am shortlisted in this month's Writing Magazine 'adult fairy story'
Not entered a short story before and so very pleased.

Winchester poetry critique

2011-09-24T02:29:00.001-07:00

( Above photos - River Nile and me at Edfu temple a few years ago.)

Just received my critique from Winchester University, for my winning poem 'Feeding a Pharaoh.'
I am so thrilled with it, it brought tears to my eyes.
Here is a part of it.

First Place. Feeding a Pharaoh by Shirley Elmokadem

'This is quite simply one of the most powerful pieces of writing I have seen in a long time, one that demanded to be placed first. In some ways it is a narrative poem – at least there is a clear story – but it is not a story poem in the same mode as those of Browning and other narrative writers. The word pictures are excellently drawn – “my ducts stream with delicious sweetness. I'm like the river Nile in the season of Akhet/ my he-milk as potent as its rich black silt.” In their own way images such as this are as well drawn as the walls of the temples in the Valley of the Kings – as they were intended to be, of course.
This is tight writing, not a word wasted and the final four lines are a superb finish to the poem, a truism that really does hit home – “And I a farmer's wife who has nourished a god will be a hieroglyph there for eternity” That is her memorial – anyone who goes to the temples along the Nile will see pictures of exactly this process, images that are thousands of years old. For the poem, however, the thought provides a a beautiful signing off, conversational, matter of fact, a more than appropriate ending to the piece.
There is not much more to be said. This is an excellent poem. If the competition continues to bring such as this then its future is assured.'

I am still waiting for my cheque prize though! That's nearly 3 months now. I think it should have been given out on the night really, like prizes for the other categories.

Wow!

2011-09-19T23:42:00.000-07:00

I heard that I am a finalist in the BritWriters Awards, children's story category!
Great excitement. The Awards evening is October 7th at the London Aquarium. It will be a black tie event and its being filmed on Sky TV channels.
Now I have to get a dress to wear and some new shoes, well I can hardly turn up dressed in just a black tie can I?

http://www.britwriters.com/adult-category-finalists-announced/

Which hat to wear.

2011-09-15T07:18:00.000-07:00

Some days I am not sure what hat to wear.
Do I wear my children's novelist hat, my poetry hat, cookery book writer's hat , or my writing articles course hat? It gets confusing. I did think I should have days allocated to each, but that doesn't work as I have to be inspired to write poetry and sometimes that comes at the oddest times. Take last week, for instance, I was waiting for the gas man to call and while I was waiting I had an idea for a poem and so the rest of that day was spent writing the draft poem. Thing is that day was meant to be the day I wrote some more of my children's book.
So I've decided I will not try to write in any genre on any set day, but just go with the flow.

Re my Ecookery book, 'A Taste of Egyptian Cookery'
It is number 1 in Middle Eastern and African food on Amazon! Yah!
Part two will be out in a few months.

'A Taste of Egyptian Cookery' now out!

2011-09-12T23:49:00.000-07:00

My new ebook is now out.
It has lots of tasty Egyptian recipes that are easy to make. They are used regularly is this house, cooked mostly by my husband!
The book is available on Kindle and Smashwords.

First day at school

2011-09-09T03:20:00.000-07:00

My granddaughter starts school today and I think back to when I started school.
Mum used to take me to school on her bike, seat on the back.
Such fun! ( yes I watch Miranda)
Anyway at going home time Mum was not there to collect me. ( She had got the time wrong we finished at 3pm, but she thought it was 3.30) So I thought I would walk home all by myself! The school was not close to our house as we lived in a cottage in the woods. There were several busy roads to cross, including the busy London to Brighton A23. I crossed them all on my own and I have the picture of doing so still fixed clearly in my mind.
Now I think about it I realise how lucky I was that I wasn't knocked down or abducted!
Mum was cross but more relieved that I was home safely.
I didn't mind going to school too much.
I remember how we had to wear thick navy knickers in the infants and they had to have a pocket sewn in them where we could keep a hanky!
Worse thing was school dinner. I hated beetroot and when I didn't eat it one day the headmistress took in my office and plonked the plate with the beetroot in front of me and said, 'Eat it up' I can't remember now if I did. But I hated her after that! Can you imagine that happening these days. No the dinner ladies would say
"Oh dear let me get you a bag of crisps instead or a burger in a bun!"
I hated the smell of school dinners. The dinner ladies would check our hands had been washed properly, before we went in to dinner.
Then we all stood behind our chairs and said 'Grace'.
'For what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful. Amen.'
I doubt my granddaughter will be saying that, some things should never change.

New ebook out soon!

2011-09-06T02:45:00.000-07:00

I am just adding the finishing touches to my new ebook called 'A taste of Egyptian cookery'
It is a book of about 30 recipes, that my husband makes. Family and friends have often asked for the recipes and so I thought it would be a good idea to put them into a book. The recipes are interspersed with photos of the Egyptian dishes and places that I have visited in Egypt. The book titled 'A Taste of Egyptian Cookery'
will go on sale at the end of the week.

I was pleased to see my poem 'Nature Walk' in this month's Writing Magazine. It won the Swanwick 2011 poetry competition. Sad to read though that next year Swanwick are not running a poetry competition.

Our boat trip on the River Wey

2011-08-31T11:05:00.001-07:00

Had a lovely trip on the River Wey today in a canal boat that was pulled by a horse called Buddy! The boat or barge named Iona, was made in 1935 by the same firm that made the Titanic!
Buddy was quite happy pulling the barge, stopping to nibble grass now and then on the way.
At walking speed a horse could move 50 times as much weight in a boat as it could in a cart on the road. Old fashioned horsepower kept the canal system going for years and horses were still pulling barges on the Regents canal in London in the 1960s.
It was such a peaceful trip today away from the hustle and bustle of nearby Godalming and Guildford.
I bought a souvenir pen with a little river scene in it and a barge that moves along the river when you tip the pen up or down. That will keep me amused for ages!

Bird watching

2011-08-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

Marsh harrier

Me in bird watching mode

It is Eid today! Happy Eid everyone!
My husband and I went over to the RSPB centre at Pulborough. There is a two mile nature walk and lots of hides on the way so that you can check out the birds!
I took my binoculars with me and spied a marsh harrier. It's the largest of the harriers and can be recognised by its long tail, light flight and wings held in a V shape. I also saw a few yellow wagtails eating insects next to the cattle.
Hundreds of swallows were swooping in the sky.
There were lots of fallow deer grazing in the field.

The moon was broken

2011-08-28T03:29:00.000-07:00

In a couple of days there will be a new moon. It will signify the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting, and the start of the Islamic festival of Eid.

Did you know that the moon was once broken in two?
It is recorded in the Koran.
‘The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder' (the people of Mecca requested Prophet Muhammad to show them a miracle, so he showed them the splitting of the moon)’.
The photo above from NASA, using Apollo 10 and Apollo 11 shows a clear indication (a line) that the Moon was split in its geological past.

Broadfield

2011-08-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

This picture in the Crawley Observer made me sad.
This was where I grew up, before all the houses of Broadfield neighbourhood, were built. This was all fields and at this time of year my mum and me would be blackberrying along the hedgerows. Look at the top of the photo and you can see a white house, which is Broadfield House and our cottage was next to that. They were the only two houses there. Look to the left of the white house and you can see a lake. Broadfield estate was so beautiful and now it's a sprawling mess.

Another recipe for Ramadan!

2011-08-12T03:22:00.000-07:00

Feta Cheese salad ( for 2 people)

Half a cucumber
1 carrot - grated
5 green or black olives - halved
2 tablespoons of olive oil.
1 spring onion - finely cut
1 large tomato - chopped
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
½ packet of feta cheese - cubed
Pinch of black pepper
I tablespoon of finely chopped coriander
A few chilli flakes

In a large bowl put the cheese, tomato, carrot and onion.
In another dish put the coriander, black pepper, chilli flakes and olive oil.
Stir then add to the feta cheese mixture. Decorate with slices of cucumber and halved olives.

Just off to eat it for my lunch!

It's Ramadan - a recipe for Ma'amoul

2011-08-07T02:54:00.000-07:00

Ramadan started last week and during this time Muslims make all sorts of special food to eat at the evening meal (iftar) that breaks the daily fast.
Yesterday we made some Ma'amoul. They are pastries filled with dates.
I got addicted to these when I was living in Cairo!
There are different ways of preparing them, depending on the recipe of the country, as they are popular all over the Middle East.
Here is the recipe we use.

2 cups of SR flour
half a cup of caster sugar
150gs marg
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of baking powder
pinch salt
2 beaten eggs
dates ( mashed with a little butter)

Mix the flour with the marg until like breadcrumbs. Then add everything else ( apart from the dates) and bind with the beaten eggs until a dough like mixture.
Then roll out and cut into shapes. Place the date mixture on the bottom of the pastry and place some of the pastry on top, seal with milk-its like making mincepies or you could make rectangular Ma'amoul as in the photo. Ma'amoul can be various shapes.
Place on greased baking tray.
Cook for approx 15 mins in oven temp 200c.
When cool sprinkle with icing sugar.

My Kindle is here!

2011-08-06T06:12:00.000-07:00

My Kindle arrived this morning at 7am!
I only ordered it yesterday from Amazon so that is what I call service! Anyway I am already loving it.
I have had a great time browsing through the ebooks on Amazon and downloading the samples and there are a lot of free ebooks too.
I have set the print size a little bit bigger than the standard size as my eyes are not what they used to be!
One of the books I have read today I would like as a 'real' book and I can see that could happen a lot, so perhaps Kindles may help book sales.
I certainly don't see ebooks as replacing paper books, as there is still something about holding and smelling a book, but perhaps is that because I have been brought up with them? Younger people who grow up with all the new technlogies may think otherwise and only want ebooks.
I wish I had had an ereader at school, full of the required text books. I used to stagger to school - my satchell loaded down with books.
I have a lovely pink cover with light for my Kindle and I am looking forward to snuggling down in bed tonight with my Kindle!

Pedalling on pedalos.

2011-07-31T23:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went down to Littlehampton in Sussex.I have never seen it so busy.
Everyone is making the most of this mini heat wave I guess.
We managed to find a parking space along the front and then walked alomg the prom.
The sea looked as though it had been scattered with diamonds. I breathed in the sea smells and had flash backs of seaside holidays with Mum and Dad. I remembered building sand castles with my metal spade and bucket, eating warm tomato sandwiches that Mum had stored in an OXO tin and collecting seashells to go in my garden at home.
We walked along the river to the boating lake and had a go on the pedalos.
It was so relaxing and I enjoyed taking charge of the rudder!
I steered towards my daughter and b/f in their pedalo shouting 'Ahoy there me hearties!'
They furiously pedalled away.
I was pleased when I brought the pedalo alongside the jetty! 'Hey I'm good at this.' I said to my OH. 'Perhaps I could sail a boat.'
'I think there is a bit more to sailing a boat then steering a pedalo,' he said.
Oh well just for a while I was a captain of a ship and it was fun!
Never lose the child in you folks!

I love my curly hair now

2011-07-30T05:56:00.000-07:00

I have naturally curly hair and it was really annoying when I was growing up.
I used to get teased at school, mostly by boys, who used to call me 'Curly Shirley.'
I so wanted long sraight hair. There were no hair straighteners in those days.
When I was 15 and learning Spanish I went to stay with a girl my age and her family in Spain.
Anyway she showed me a great way to straighten my hair, although I think it could cause damage to hair if done on a long term basis.
You wash your hair and put a section of your hair on a huge roller on top of your head. Next wind the rest of the hair round and round the roller and clip it down really hard and dry. The procedure was called an 'Ensaimada,' named after a Spanish spiral-shaped cake.
It really worked! So I carried on doing that for a while.
Nowadays I use hair straighteners to get rid of the odd kink in my hair-its lost some of the curl as I have grown older.
My fringe still has a mind of its own and will stick up if not tamed! I used sellotape on that when younger.
But I quite like a bit of curl now, it helps hide the grey, and I am glad I don't have straight hair. There's no pleasing some people!

Wet July

2011-07-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

What miserable weather lately. Boot sales were cancelled yesterday and I missed not being able to get my week's supply of fresh fruit and veg at Pease Pottage car boot sale. The mangoes I bought last week were delicious - two for a pound.
But we often get a wet July.
I remember when I was teaching I was doing a topic on water with my year 4 class. We made a rain gauge and the children took it in turns to record the amount of rain each day.
The day we had our school trip was the day we had the most rain!
We had been to a museum and then stopped in nearby woods for lunch.
We had to shelter beneath the trees as the rain poured down.
All the children could talk about was how much water there would be in the rain gauge!
I loved those days when children could learn for learning's sake and not have to follow a strict SAT's timetable, which I found killed their interest in learning.

The Winchester Writers' Conference results are now on the web site.

http://www.writersconference.co.uk/competition.htm

Writing verse for greeting cards.

2011-07-13T11:38:00.000-07:00

No way! It's never been a week since I blogged! Blimey time does fugit so damn quick.
Been busy with different heads on:
my writing a serious poem head, my children's writing a book head and today my trying to write verse for greetings card head.
Have you tried the latter? I hadn't before today.It looked easy and how many times have I picked up a card in a shop and thought 'I can do better than that!'
Yeah, well I take that back it ain't that easy, well not to me.
Anyway, I have managed to produce about twenty short verses - serious and funny.
My husband laughed at two of them so that's good. Luckily they were the ones you are meant to laugh at.
So after checking them again tomorrow I'll be sending them off to see if they will be accepted.
Watch this space!

My children's book is growing slowly. I am finding it so much easier having already written the synopsis and I love my characters. Well I would say that wouldn't I?
Serious poem will soon be winging its way to the Swale poetry competition.
In fact think I'll send it now as the closing date looms!

Drinks in Cairo!

2011-07-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

sugar cane and sugar cane drink.

“Shay min fad lak.”

This is one of the first Arabic phrases I learnt. It means a cup of tea please.
But tea served in Egypt comes with lots of sugar and as I hate sugar in my tea the next phrase I had to learn was ‘buddun sukar’, ( without sugar).
My in-laws looked at me in amazement when I first asked for tea with no sugar. Drinking tea without sugar is practically unheard of in Egypt.
Most times I opted for mint tea, which is of course served with fresh mint.
Coffee is available and unless you ask for ‘Nescafe’ is similar to Turkish coffee served in tiny glasses with a thick residue of coffee grains in the bottom. Again this usually has sugar added.

The best drinks in Cairo have to be the fresh juices that you can buy very cheaply everywhere at the brightly tiled cubby hole bars. You can’t miss them, the counters are piled high with pyramids of oranges, strawberries, guavas- whatever fruit is in season.
They are freshly squeezed on the spot and are so refreshing in the hot weather.
Another drink that is particularly beneficial health wise is ‘Tamr Hindi’ (Tamarind). This comes from the fruit of a tropical tree native to East Africa.
Street vendors still go around dispensing tamarind from enormous glass containers.
‘Karkaday’ another tasty drink is made from the hibiscus flower. It can be drunk hot or cold. The leaves can be bought here in health shops. Soak them for a while in cold water and then boil up the liquid with the leaves. When it’s cool sieve the liquid and add water and sugar to taste. It is meant to be an excellent drink for lowering cholesterol.
I also like ‘Aser Asab’ which is sugar cane juice. The sugar cane is pressed through a machine and comes out as a green frothy liquid that tastes sweet and is very refreshing.

Winner of my film Haiku competition.

2011-07-04T01:24:00.000-07:00

Der der de dar! Drum roll.
The winner of my haiku competition is Baggy.
I just loved her haiku about the film The Black Swan. Reading it sends shivers down my spine. Well done Baggy! You will receive a free copy of my eBook Body Trapped.
Thank you everyone for your entries.

The Black Swan

Calm on the water
Sheer like the glass of her stab
The swan was her death

Winchester Writers' Conference

2011-07-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the yearly Winchester Writers' conference, which is held in the university.
I was up at 4.30am, it was meant to be 5.30am but my OH had not set the alarm clock properly and he thought it was 5.30 when it was only 4.30. Groan, groan, couldn't get back to sleep.
Anyway he dropped me off at my friend Suzy's house in Coulsdon and we set off at 7am. The sat nav was playing up, you could hardly hear the woman's voice, so I held it to my ear most of the way!
We arrived safely at 8.45am. We had to sign in and then had a coffee.
Next was the plenary session. This year it was Barry Cunningham.
He told us all about JK Rowling of course and how she was rejected so many times before getting published.
'Rejection is part of the process of getting published,' he said. I liked that.
I had my first one-to-one with Jude Evans who suggested a few changes to my children's book. Not sure about those.
Then I saw the poet Victoria Field. I had sent her three of my poems to critique. She was full of praise for my poems, but offered some slight improvements. One of which I really liked and will try. I found what she said very helpful and I went to her poetry workshop, even though I was booked on another talk.
After that I went to various other talks and workshops. The poetry one with Julian Stannard was interesting. I couldn't understand though why he gave out a photocopy of the front cover of a book. It seemed a waste of paper and ink when he could have just written the title on the board or read it out.
Anyway I got three possible poem ideas out of his workshop.
I then had a one-to-one with literary agent Becky Bagnall. I had been really looking forward to meeting her, as I had sent her sample chapters of my children's book 'The Treasure of the Urn' and wanted to get her feedback.
When I sat down she said, 'I am sorry but I only received your submission today and have not had a chance to read it.' She kindly offered to take it away and read it.
I was a bit annoyed as my other submissions reached the other one-to-one speakers all sent in the same envelope back in April!

Lunch was a fantastic buffet and there was a chance to meet friends from Talkback-Writing Magazine's chat forum.
In every place setting there were various copies of new books and a free copy of Writing Magazine. I chose the book called City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris. It looks good.
After lunch Suzy and I checked the notice boards to see if we had been shortlisted in any of the competitions. ( see photo above)
My pseudonym, Hatchepsut, was shortlisted in two categories I had entered-poetry and writing for 8-11 year olds. Suzy was shortlisted in her category too-first three pages of a novel.
We were excited wondering if we would win anything.
After afternoon talks and work shops etc there was the presentation evening with a glass of wine.
Couldn't believe it when Phil Carradice read my pseudonym out as first prize winner in the Echo Poetry Competition. He said my poem 'Feeding a Pharaoh' was the most powerful piece of writing he had read for ages!
I get a cheque for £125 and the trophy for a year.
Then I heard my name being read out in second place for the writing for children.
I got book vouchers for £15.
I was so thrilled with my wins, it felt like winning a Bafta or something, everyone clapping.
Suzy was over the moon as she had been commended in her section. It was the first competition she had entered too.
We headed home at 8pm. The sat nav had packed up, so we had to find our own way out of Winchester, thankfully we did.
It was an enjoyable day and I would thoroughly recommend going.
It gives you a real writing boost and it's so nice to chat to fellow writers and hear all about their writing journeys.

Ice-cream cornets.

2011-06-30T04:36:00.000-07:00

My earliest memory was when I was only eighteen months old.
Sometimes, when we remember past events, one image stands out clearly. This time it was ice-cream cornets.

Ice-cream Cornets

“You surely can’t remember seeing your Grandad that day,” Dad said, “you would only have been about eighteen months old.”
“Yes I do!” I insisted.
“OK what did I buy for us all to eat?”
“Ice-creams!” I replied.
Dad looked amazed. “You’re right I did.”
I smiled, that day is forever etched on my memory.
Mum and Dad took my sister and I to see Grandad- he was ill in hospital.
But children were not allowed on the ward. We walked around the back of the cottage hospital and looked at Grandad through the French windows. He was sitting up in bed and waved at us. I can still see his ashen face, his grey hair and the crinkly smile. I have often wondered what went through his mind at that moment. He had prostate cancer and must have known that he probably wouldn’t see us children again. He died a few weeks later. Sadly it’s the only time I remember seeing my Grandad.
It was a warm summer’s day and later we sat in the hospital grounds and ate ice-cream cornets!

The haiku competition is now over and the winner will be announced next Monday.

My trip on the Orient Express

2011-06-23T00:16:00.001-07:00

I had a fantastic time yesterday when I travelled on the Orient Express, here is what happened.
We left Victoria on the Express at 9.30.
Breakfast was served with Bellinis and consisted of fresh fruit salad, smoked salmon, caviar and scrambled eggs, toast and croissants then coffee. We travelled down to Headcorn in Kent,arriving at 12 we then got a coach to Penshurst. Some people on the train went to other places, like the West Kent Shooting School or Great Dixter gardens and house.
Penshurst gardens, 11 acres, are so beautiful -would have been nice if it hadn't been raining, but it did stop long enough for us to walk in the gardens.
The house was full of things related to the Sidney family, who lived there from 1552.
There was a very interesting toy museum too, I love old toy especially dolls- lots of those.
Had lunch in the restaurant then got coach back to Tonbridge and then boarded The Express there at 4.40pm and the journey continued to Canterbury, Broadstairs, Ramsgate, Margate, ( saw the sea!) Isle of Sheppey, Chatham and back to Victoria ( 3 hour journey)
Champagne was served as soon as we were back on the train.
Then a four course meal: asparagus soup, fricasee of organic chicken served with a mushroom duxelle, parsley potatoes and green beans then a cheese board with home-made chutney followed by white chocolate junket with a summer berry compote all washed down with a bottle of red wine!
( I am sounding like someone on Masterchef)

We had a table in the Perseus carriage, designed in the 1930s. I loved the mosaic tiles in the loo! Or should that be rest room.
There were 2 people to a table facing one another, with old lamps on the tables. There were 5 tables in the carriage and we all chatted to one another now and then. Some people had been on the Express several times. One had been to Venice and had been disappointed to be served white fish for every meal!
Anyway all in all it was a great day and I'd like to do it again one day, certainly to Venice. Also I hadn't been to Kent for a while and I had forgotten how beautiful it is. We passed through Biddenden and I remembered going there with my two children once and I was able to tell everyone yesterday the story of the Biddenden maids.
( Siamese twins who lived there in the 1100s)
I live in Sussex and it's very green at the moment, but Kent is greener, so pretty, no wonder it's called the Garden of England.
Arrived back at Victoria at 9pm then I had an hour's journey on a normal boring train back home!
The only disappointment of the day was that I hadn't seen Poiroit once!

A big, big thank you to my friend Suzy, (pictured above), for inviting me on this trip!

Christening Day!

2011-06-19T08:14:00.000-07:00

Our grandson Jake was baptised this morning.
These days christenings take place within the family service, so that the babies/ children are welcomed into the community.
Jake was very well behaved.
I gave him a framed poem I had written for him, called ABC of life, which can hang on his bedroom wall, until he replaces it with a Star Wars poster or whatever is the 'in thing' when he is older!

Here are the first four lines of the poem to give an idea of what it was like.

An ABC of Life

A is for anxious, as you set out on life’s path.
B is for believe in yourself, then it won’t be so hard.
C is for choose carefully those who’ll be your friends.
D is for diplomacy, don’t let your words offend.
E is for experiences, you can’t have enough of these.
F is for failure that you must face to succeed.

If you'd like me to write a poem for a special occasion email me!

Tracing your family tree

2011-06-15T06:28:00.000-07:00

Tracing your family tree is a lot easier these days.
I first started researching my family tree thirty years ago. At that time there was very little help available for the amateur genealogist. There was no internet and just one family tree magazine. Today it is much easier to trace your roots, as most resources can now be checked on the internet at no great cost and there are lots of magazines now, offering help and advice. There are also TV programmes about people tracing their trees, which are both entertaining and informative, like the popular ‘Who do you think you are?’
Many people publish their family trees on various web sites and looking at these, when you begin your research, is certainly a good idea, as you could be lucky and find that someone has already traced your line, thus saving you time and money.
I have my family tree listed on the ‘Genes Reunited’ web site and have found some new cousins.
Before the advent of the internet I spent many an hour in St Catherine's House in London, lifting the heavy tomes down from the shelves that listed the births, marriages and deaths. There were so many people there, it was not easy to find a space on the desks to place the huge books. Mostly there were Americans on holiday, who were hoping to trace their roots in between visits to Buckingham Place and The Tower of London. I have never found it that easy!
I remember one time I was in St Catherines I had nearly found the marriage I was looking for and just needed to cross reference the names, when there was a bomb scare. Everyone had to leave immediately and St Catherines was closed for the day. So I had to wait until I could take another’s day holiday from work to find my ‘missing marriage’. There was of course the extra cost of the train tickets for another day’s research. These records are available online now, as are the census returns and the very useful IGI (The International Genealogical Index) and can be accessed at a click of the mouse.
When I began my research I bought a microfiche reader and copies of various county IGI records, as I was tracing so many lines. These are now gathering dust in my attic.
I do think, however, that a lot of the fun of ‘family treeing’ has been lost because of all this new technology. My children, who are now in their thirties, often recall how I made them traipse around church-yards in the rain as I hunted for the graves of my ancestors. A lot of burial records have been indexed and are online to view.
But the first port of call for information when you begin your family tree should always be your immediate family, especially the older members. Always try to make notes when talking to them, as you will be surprised how easy it is to forget odd details later. Even better video them, if they don’t mind. I didn’t have a video recorder when I ‘interviewed’ my Grandad and used a cassette player. I still have two tapes full of his memories, which include anecdotes about his childhood and time served in the Sussex regiment in the First World War.
Make sure you write everything up either in ring binders or, as a lot of people do now on the computer. I use Family Tree Maker to store my information, where I now have details of nearly two thousand people on my tree.
I started my own research by tracing my maiden name of Cook. My Grandad was ninety six when I asked him about his family history, he couldn’t remember dates very well, but he knew that his father William was a gamekeeper on the Hintlesham estate in Suffolk and that information enabled me to find the family on the 1881 census.
Since then I have traced nearly every branch on my tree, some lines back to 1500. In the course of which I have found out that I am related to Margaret Court, the famous tennis player, through my mother's line.
It is really fascinating what you can turn up and newspapers of the time are also valuable sources of information. These again can often be viewed online now. I travelled to the relevant County Record Offices to see them.
Some of what you find out can be quite harrowing. I discovered that a great uncle committed suicide when he was serving in the Navy in the First World War.
I also found that a Great Aunt drowned in Cromer, aged only eighteen, when she tried to save a little boy in her care as a governess. The boy survived. I read in the newspaper of that time, 1890, that his parents sent flowers to her funeral. There were many people at the funeral, including children from the school where she had previously worked as a teacher.
Relatives will also have photos that will help bring your tree to life. However, in my experience many old photos are not labelled, so the sooner you can ask older members of the family to identify them the better and do make sure you clearly label them yourself.
I have a lovely ‘Carte de Viste’ album my Aunt gave me (Carte de Visite were the early photographs, so called because they were the size of a visiting card)
As well as photographs don’t forget to check for Family Bibles, memorial cards, old letters or postcards. All of which can yield useful information. My Aunt kept a birthday book, which listed births, marriages and deaths of many relatives over several generations.
It is also useful to join the Family History Society of the county where your ancestors lived. They produce a monthly magazine and have useful advice and articles, related to the actual area where you are researching. Members also list the names they are interested in. At one time I was a member of West Sussex, East Surrey, West Surrey, Kent and Derbyshire history societies. It can get costly.
I think it is very important to write everything up in some format and not just leave it in note form. I have made a book about my ‘Cook’ family tree, which I have given to other family members.
You can also donate your books and files to the 'Society of Genealogists' in London, where they will be available to help others in their quest for their own family trees and also ensure that your family has a place in the annals of our country's history.

Spangles

2011-06-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a word for a poem and came across the word spangle. I was reminded of the sweets called Spangles, that used to be available when I was little. My favourite ones were the Olde English flavour that tasted of aniseed.
I miss those!
It got me thinking of other sweets I had in my childhood.
I remember gob stoppers, flying saucers, Black Jacks, sweet cigarettes and sherbet dabs.
I also liked jamboree bags. They contained a few sweets and a toy and cost 3d.
When I was growing up we weren't allowed too many sweets. Fridays - pay day - Dad bought us a packet of fruit gums and a milky way each.
I remember eating them while watching CrackerJack.
When I was older I liked going to Woolworths, in Crawley where I lived, and buying sweets at the sweet counter. In those days you were served by a shop assistant standing behind the counter!
I'd ask for a quarter of chocolate chewy nuts or sometimes a quarter of hot peanuts!
I had a Saturday job in Woolworths. I worked there for three years while doing exams at school. Sometimes I worked on the till, but mostly I was on the haberdashery counter.I was forever going up and down the stairs, fetching balls of wool for customers.
I loved working there at Christmas. There was a great atmosphere.
I earned £1.3s 6d working on Saturday. At Christmas we had a bonus of £1!
There is a now a pound shop where Woolworths was.

A Special Treat.

Friday night was sweet night.
After tea, when mum had cleared away,
Dad would get out the box of sweets.
Milky Way and fruit gums for us each.
Then we would sit and watch
Crackerjack. (Giant pen, stupid hat)
These days, it seems, children have sweets every day,
No wonder they are obese and have bad teeth.
Sweets should only be a treat!

Do you have any old school exercise books?

2011-06-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

I still have a few English exercise books from my secondary school days.
I was looking at one from my first year ( year 7) and I saw this poem-

A house standing in sunshine and snow

Deserted it stands alone in the snow,
The whispering wind blows a mighty blow.
The shutters crash and a window does smash,
But the house still stands alone.

Away from the shade and into the sun.
the icy water of a lake flows near,
one small boat bobs up and down.
No one will ride in it when winter's there though.

Looking back I am quite pleased with that! The teacher's comment was 'good work'.
The poem is written in lovely neat joined up italic writing.
What happened to that? No one can read my writing now.

I attended Thomas Bennett comprehensive school in Crawley. It was one of the first comprehensives in England and had over two thousand pupils at one point and was in the Guiness Book of Records for that!
There is now a new school on the site where it stood,called Thomas Bennett Community College. The photo above is of the original middle school building.

See the light!

2011-06-09T02:33:00.001-07:00

I suppose the exams are coming to an end for secondary school children now.
I don't think anyone can like exams, can they?
When I was teaching the children were nervous wrecks on the day of the SATS tests and the teachers even more so, as they knew that bad results would reflect badly on them!
I remember the last weeks before the year six SATs, extra lessons were laid on for the year sixes to make sure their heads were crammed with all the relevant information. Talk about teaching to the tests! Such stress for both staff and children.
How absurd. In my opinion primary school children should not have to take any test, apart from those the teacher does as a matter of course.
The worse exam I did was physics. I am not a scientific person at all. When I was at secondary school the sciences were studied separately:chemistry, biology and physics.
I was good at biology, OK at chemistry but lousy at physics, even though the teacher was hot! Perhaps that was the problem.
Anyway at the end of the third year ( year nine now) we had a physics' exam.
I remember looking at the paper and feeling sick. I could hardly do any of the questions, so I just stared out the window.
A week later the results came through. The teacher read all the results out one by one, ( nice bloke-I went off him after that), starting with first and ending up at thirty fourth!
And guess who was 34th? Yep little old me. Was I bothered? Not one bit.
At the end of that year I had to choose the subjects to study at O-level so I dropped physics and studied Spanish instead, which has been of much more use to me than knowing what light rays do when they are going through a prism.
All I know is that they make a lovely colour on the wall and that suits me fine.
I think believing in God is like that. People are always trying to analyse religion. How could Mary be a virgin and stuff like that.
Does it matter? Forget the physics see the light and have faith.

Tinnitus

2011-06-07T03:06:00.000-07:00

I have been suffering with tinnitus for three years now. It's mainly in my left ear.
People who suffer with this condition hear various noises. Mine is like the noise cicadas make on a hot day! It is constantly there, some days worse than others.
I have had all the usual tests, including an MRI scan, but there is nothing causing it. So I have been told that I just have to live with this condition the rest of my life, like many others do. It may get worse. There is no cure.
No one knows what causes it really. Some experts think that it's caused by loud noises. I'm not sure what has given me this condition though. I have a theory it could be damage from travelling on aeroplanes, as my left ear hurts a lot when travelling by plane - mainly on descent. I also go deaf in that ear at such times.
If anyone knows anything that may help ease this condition please let me know!
Here is a poem I wrote about my tinnitus!

Cicada Song

They moved in three years ago.
I don't know where they came from,
perhaps they fluttered in through the window
one balmy night while I slept.
At first I didn't mind the chirping,
I'd close my eyes and dream
of sipping sangrias beneath
a smouldering sun.
But you can have too much
of that and their Dog-Day drone
went on and on.
So I asked them politely to leave,
but they claimed squatter's rights
and said they were staying here,
in my left ear, for the duration.
It seems cicada song is now my life's refrain.
I long to hear the sound of silence once again.

Stuffed vine leaves- Waraq Einab

2011-06-06T03:19:00.000-07:00

Here is another great Egyptian recipe, stuffed leaves ( Waraq Einab)
There are many ways to make these, this is my husband's recipe.
They are delicious served with the traditional Egyptian dip 'baba ghanough', a dip made of tahini paste, garlic, lemon-sometimes natural yogurt is added. I prefer it with yogurt.

Time to cook thirty minutes, ( longer if you add mince)
Ingredients;
250g rice
Vine leaves. (We buy a packet from a local shop that sells foreign foods. They are also available in jars. If you can’t find any vine leaves then try large cabbage leaves).
1 bunch of coriander
2 medium onions
1 clove of garlic
2 dessert spoons of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
1 Oxo chicken cube
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
Ground black pepper
Pinch of salt

Leave the vine leaves soaking in a bowl of hot water while preparing the following;
Fry the onion and garlic in the vegetable oil. Add the washed chopped coriander.
Stir for five minutes until the onion is golden. Add the Oxo cube and the tin of tomatoes and pinch of ground black pepper and salt. Add the uncooked rice and stir and cook the mixture for five minutes. Then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Rinse the vine leaves and separate. Then take a teaspoon of the rice mixture and place on one side of a leaf. Tightly roll up the leaf, folding over the sides of the leaf to seal. Repeat with all leaves.
Place all stuffed leaves in a large saucepan. Pour hot water over them to cover and add the olive oil and lemon juice. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about thirty minutes.
(To vary this recipe you can add some lamb mince to the onion and garlic mixture and cook before cooling and stuffing the leaves).

2011-06-05T11:46:00.001-07:00

Annuals

2011-06-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

I saw an old Bunty annual for sale at the Pease Pottage boot sale today.

It brought back memories. Finding an annual in my pillow case on Christmas Day was one of the highlights of Christmas.

The first one I had, when I was seven, was a Robin annual. It was full of stories, poems and puzzles.

I learnt the poems off by heart. Perhaps that was the start of my poetry journey!

When I got older I had Bunty,Diana and Judy annuals.

These had exciting comic strip stories. One story I particularly loved was about a group of girls who were acrobatic water skiers. I don't recall the title of this story now.

There were also general knowledge snippets. I remember the story of Mary Queen of Scotts in my Diana annual.

When I was in my teens I had a Fab annual full of pictures of The Monkees and one year I had a Jackie annual. My mum always bought me a copy of Jackie comic every week.

I still have the annuals in good condition.

I wonder if they will do annuals on Kindle!

Runner up in Hollywood film Haiku

2011-05-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have seen my haiku entries on my blogs, for the Bestforfilm Haiku competition.
Well I just heard that I am a runner up with my haiku review of The Searchers!
Yee Harr! Yes, that is me trying to sound like a cowboy or should that be cow girl? Or maybe cow person in these PC days?
You also had to write a blog relevant to the haiku and I wrote one about the life of John Wayne and how he would have been 104 on May 26th.
He is one of the greatest actors of all time and my hero!
You can read all the winning entries at bestforfilm.com

http://bestforfilm.com/film-blog/hollywood-haikus-2011-competition-winners/

I have Jesus' autograph.

2011-05-31T01:02:00.000-07:00

When I was at primary school, in the 60's, it was the 'thing' to have an autograph book. When you left primary school you took it round the classes and got teachers to sign it.
I have quite a few of those in mine, and also autographs from friends. Most people wrote something as well, sometimes a short verse.
Here's one a friend wrote.
'Shirley had a little watch, she hung it on her garter. When the boys asked her the time she knew what they were after.'
Oh I say matron! That was quite naughty back then and at that time I had no idea what it meant! Don't think my friend knew either, we were so innocent in those days.
And we didn't wear garters, I'm not that old!
I also have a few famous signatures in my autograph book.
One being Tony Blackburn's! He was one of my 'heartthrobs'. He came to Crawley, to open the new Tesco store. He was really friendly. I could hardly get near him for all the crowds, but he did say good morning to me. Swoon,swoon.
I also got Val Doonican's autograph. He came to Crawley to play golf.
I loved Val Doonican and had all his records, like Paddy McGinty's goat and Delaney's donkey. I knew all the words too. I watched his Saturday night programme every week and I always wanted a jumper like his!
I had his picture on my wall, next to those of The Monkees, who were my favourite group at that time.
I had planned to say so much to Val Doonican, when I saw him, like, 'I love your records and I think you're nice,' but when it came to it all I could manage was a shy, 'thanks' as he signed my book. I can't remember what he said to me.
I also have Mr Blobby's autograph and those of three of the cast of ITV's London's Burning.
Plus I have Jesus' autograph! Jesus is a popular boy's name in Spain and when I went there on an exchange I had a boy friend called Jesus, pronounced hay-soos.
He wanted to be a vet. I wonder what happened to him.

What famous autographs do you have?

PS My interview re my writing career features on Tracy's tall tales and short stories blog today!

http://talltalesandshortstories.blogspot.com/2011/05/self-publishing-ebook-1-body-trapped-by.html

Quink Ink

2011-05-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

On Sundays, when it's fine weather, I go to Pease Pottage boot sale.
I love looking for poetry books, although they are pretty scarce to find there!
Yesterday I picked up a memoir of Andrew Motion, the poet, for 40p.
It is quite a sad read, as it details his childhood and how his mother was in a riding accident when he was only 17. She was in a coma, on and off, for nine years.

Nearly every week I come across something for sale that evokes memories of my childhood.
Yesterday it was a box of Quink Ink, that was for sale on one stall. When I saw it I was suddenly back at school, sitting at my desk and holding my fountain pen ( a gift from an aunt for Christmas - a set with propelling pencil) I saw myself filling my pen up from the bottle of Quink ink and I could even smell it.
I hated writing with fountain pen and my handwriting wasn't that good. I found it hard writing in the italic style, as we were taught. It was too slow for me. I wanted to write quickly and so my handwriting was a scrawl most of the time. And I don't know if it was just me, but after I had filled my pen it nearly always made a huge blob on my exercise book. Then I had to get out my sheet of blotting paper.
I can remember how once a neat page of prose was ruined by an ink blob. I tried to rub it out with my ink rubber, but only suceeded in making a hole in the paper.
I was scared I would get a detention, but thankfully I didn't.
I was pleased when biros became popular and were allowed at school and I think my hand writing is much better using one.
It's funny how all those memories came tumbling back, from just looking at that bottle of Quink.
I think I feel a poem coming on...

The cygnets are here!

2011-05-29T03:37:00.000-07:00

Having spent the last five weeks or so watching the mother swan sitting on her eggs, we were pleased to see, on Friday, that the cygnets have hatched.
There are five of them. There was one egg left on the nest.

Haiku

Soft downy cygnets,
proud mother watches them feed,
little miracles.

Egyptian food-Koshari

2011-05-27T00:30:00.000-07:00

I have lived in Egypt for a couple of years and I absolutely love the food.
My husband, who is Egyptian, is always cooking tasty Egyptian meals.
One of my favourite is Koshari-the traditional Egyptian fast food, sold in restaurants and stalls.
Here is my recipe for Koshari.

Ingredients
1 cup black lentils
1 cup white rice
1 cup of chick peas, (these can be bought in a tin or soak some overnight)
1 cup uncooked macaroni
1 large onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups tomato sauce
Pinch of chilli powder or teaspoon of hot sauce. ( Add according to taste. I like my sauce hot!)

Simmer the lentils and chick peas, (if uncooked), on a low heat for about thirty minutes or until they are tender. While they are cooking cook the rice and macaroni. Then mix all four together in a large bowl. Fry the onions, ( save some for the topping), and garlic gently in the olive oil. Add the tomato sauce to this mixture and heat until boiling. Then remove from heat. Put the lentil mixture on a plate or in a dish and cover it with the sauce and onion.
Mumtaz!

Who says rabbits aren't cuddly?

2011-05-25T06:14:00.000-07:00

There is a new report out this week that says that up to three quarters of pet rabbits are badly treated, kept in cramped conditions and given the wrong food.
From what I have seen I think there is a lot of truth in this. Clearly people need to made aware of the proper way to keep a pet rabbit. But that applies to all pets.
Having any pet is a responsibility and something that must be considered carefully.
However, a woman on BBC breakfast news yesterday, from a Surrey rabbit rescue centre,said that rabbits are not pets for children, as they are scratchy and not cuddly.
That is so not true! I had pet rabbits when I was a child and I found them very cuddly and loving pets.
My first rabbit was called Fluffy and I used to take him for walks in my doll's pram and also for walks on a lead. I was always cuddling him and he used to lick my hand.
My dad made him a huge hutch with run and he was so tame that sometimes he hopped around the garden. I enjoyed collecting fresh dandelions and grass for him.
When he died I was distraught. But then Dad got me another rabbit, a black and white Dutch rabbit this time. ( see photo above) I called him Reggie. My sister had one too, a female called Mandy and together they had babies ( kittens is the correct word)
We learnt so much about life and death from our pet rabbits.
They were my friends and because of that I will never eat rabbit meat!

I think rabbits make an ideal pet for a child, providing they are looked after properly, They need to be picked up and cuddled regularly. They are social animals.
Many people now have house rabbits, I prefer to see them outside myself, digging burrows and nibbling grass.
Rabbit's claws need trimming regularly otherwise, yes, they will become scratchy.
We cut our rabbit's claws, but if anyone is squeamish about doing it then they can get it done at a vet.
Naturally one of my favourite books is Watership Down. Now why didn't I write that!?

Write a haiku and win a copy of my ebook Body Trapped

2011-05-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

If you have been looking at my blogs lately you will see that I have been writing haiku about John Wayne films. These have been for a competition, that is now closed.
Well, I'd like you to write a haiku review of any film of your choice.
The one I like best will be posted on my blog and the author will win a copy of my ebook Body Trapped. Now what could be better than that?
Get writing!
( Write them in the comments section below-closing date June 30th)

Haiku are the most widely used Japanese syllabic form. There are five syllables in the first line, seven in the second and five in the third.

This is my haiku review of The Searchers.

Tall in the saddle
his heart was heavy with hate.
'Let's go home, Debbie.'

I have won first prize in the Swanwick Poetry competition

2011-05-21T07:42:00.000-07:00

Just had an email to tell me this great news!
The theme this year was new beginnings and I sent a poem called Nature Walk.
It will be published in Writing Magazine in the summer.

I also won first prize in the poetry in 2008. The prize then was a free week at the Swanwick writing school, in Derbyshire. I had never been to a writing school before and I really enjoyed it. I made lots of friends there too and still keep in contact with several and share 'writerly' things!
One friend lives quite close to me and we are off to the writers' conference at Winchester university together in July.
I won another week at Swanwick in 2009, when I won the writing for children competition.
This year the prize for the poetry is a poetry course and two years free subscriptions to Writing Magazine and Writers' News.
There is a glass trophy too, but sadly you have to give it back after a year.
However, there is a framed certificate, which will soon be hanging on my wall next to the others!

The Quiet Man

2011-05-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

The Quiet Man

Haiku

A quiet boxer
returns to his Irish roots
and finds his true love.

This is an entry for the Best For Film Hollywood Haikus blogging competition. Enter now.

Ode to John Wayne

2011-05-18T06:01:00.001-07:00

John Wayne would have been 104 this month.

Ode to John Wayne

I'm not interested in Brad Pitt,
Connery, Depp, Gere or Cruise
you were a man with true grit,
they couldn't wear your shoes.

I fell in love with your gait,
it set you apart from the rest
and the way you sorted the bad guys,
with the fastest gun in the west.

Your rugged looks never faded,
in the saddle you rode so tall,
with ideals that never jaded,
you were always a box office draw.

Your films are still shown on TV
so death can't take away your fame,
you have your place in history,
John, your star will never wane.

Haiku- The Shootist

2011-05-18T00:14:00.000-07:00

The Shootist

It was his last fight
in the autumn of his life.
Hero to the end.

This is an entry for the Best For Film Hollywood Haikus blogging competition. Enter now.

Haiku-The Searchers starring John Wayne

2011-05-17T01:09:00.000-07:00

The Searchers

Tall in the saddle
his heart was heavy with hate.
'Let's go home, Debbie.'

This is an entry for the Best For Film Hollywood Haikus blogging competition. Enter now.

John Wayne's birthday this month.

2011-05-16T00:25:00.000-07:00

In memory of John Wayne who would have been 104 on May 26th.

There rode a legend

It was a sad day for all John Wayne fans when he passed away on June 11th 1979 age seventy two.
John Wayne or ‘The Duke', as he was known, is my favourite actor. You can keep your Leonardo DiCaprios and Brad Pitts here was a ‘real’ man. With his rugged good looks, distinctive walk and voice Wayne oozed sex appeal. But more importantly the characters he played respected women and knew how to treat them-you get the impression that this was how John Wayne was off screen. He walked tall,(he was six feet four inches),and proud. He embodied the ideals of decency and honesty. He was big and tough,but he could also be tender.
In his on screen roles he didn’t go looking for trouble, but when it came he met it like a man.
This is what his character ‘John Bernard Books’ says in what was Wayne’s last film ‘The Shootist,’( 1976).I think it neatly sums up all Wayne stood for;

‘I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted and I won’t be laid a hand on. I don’t do these things to other people. I require the same from them’

John Wayne attended the University of Southern California on a football scholarship. He worked in the film industry there, as a prop man to help pay his college fees.
He was spotted by the director Raoul Walsh who gave him one of his first starring roles in ‘The Big Trail’ in 1930. It was Walsh who also gave Wayne his stage name of ‘John Wayne'. His real name was Marion Robert Morrison, but from an early age he was given the nickname ‘Duke’; apparently because he had an Airedale dog with this name.
The Big Trail was not a box office success and Wayne went back to bit parts. The director John Ford ‘rediscovered’ him and cast him as the Ringo Kid in the Oscar winning film ‘Stagecoach’, ( 1939).
Wayne and Ford became life long friends and they made many spectacular westerns together. One of these was ‘The Searchers,’(1956) in which Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a bitter middle aged loner who spends years looking for his abducted niece. It is a role that is regarded as Wayne’s finest performance and many felt that he should have won an Oscar. He named his youngest son Ethan after his character.
But it was as a hard drinking one eyed fat old Federal Marshall, called ‘Rooster Cogburn’, that Wayne won his first and only Oscar in the film ‘True Grit’. (1969). This is my favourite film.
Although Wayne features mainly in westerns and World War Two films, he also appears in police films and romantic comedies like ‘The Quiet Man,’ (1952).
Starring alongside Maureen O’ Hara he plays an Irish American professional boxer Sean Thornton who moves to Ireland to reclaim his family’s farm. Wayne himself described it as the favourite of all his films. It received seven academy nominations, including best picture. John Ford won his fourth best director Oscar.
The Quiet Man was filmed in ‘Cong’ in ‘County Mayo’Ireland and the photography of the lush countryside is breathtaking.

Wayne was married three times. All of his wives were of Hispanic descent.
When asked why this was Wayne said he didn’t plan it that way ‘it was just by happenstance’.
Wayne had seven children and more than fifteen grand children. Several of whom are also actors and have appeared in his films.

In 1964 Wayne had a cancerous lung removed and then in 1978 he had heart valve replacement surgery. He died on June 11th 1979 after battling cancer again, this time of the stomach. Shortly before his death Wayne converted to Catholicism.

Jimmy Carter was President at the time of Wayne’s death. He said of him;
‘He was bigger than life and in an age of few heroes he was the genuine article.’
Wayne personified the American values and ideals of his era.

He made more than two hundred films and from 1949-1974 Wayne was one of the top ten box office attractions.
His films continue to figure highly in the ratings today and so does he. In the Harris poll of 2007, (Time magazine), he came third beating the likes of Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise and George Clooney. He is the only deceased star on the list and the only one to have appeared on it every year.

Without a doubt John Wayne is the greatest Hollywood actor of all time.

I suspect that had Wayne been asked if he ever thought that one day he would be considered a legend he would have replied in his usual laconic manner. “That’ll be the day!”

No other actor will ever be able to fill his big boots.

He may have ridden off this ‘mortal coil’ but he will never be forgotten!
The hell he will!

Film Haiku

2011-05-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

True Grit

A man will always
do just what he has to do,
with one eye or two.

This is an entry for the Best For Film Hollywood Haikus blogging competition. Enter now.

I'm related to the Prime Minister of Australia and Margaret Court the tennis player!

2011-05-14T05:11:00.000-07:00

I have been tracing my ancestors for over thirty years now and I have discovered some interesting people on my family tree.

My mother’s maiden name was Parsons and one of her great aunts, Ellen Parsons, married a Henry Court in Crawley in 1853.
They had five children one of whom was Walter, born in 1887.
Walter was a fairly short man, stocky and very strong. He found school hard and when he took his master plumber's certificate he was allowed to take the exams orally, as he found reading and writing difficult.
In 1912 Walter and his wife Rose, (nee Rice), who he'd married in 1910 decided to emigrate to Australia.
They had one son at that time, Charles Court born in 1911. Their second son Sydney was born in Australia in 1916.
Charles Court was to become Prime Minister of Western Australia. In his autobiography he writes;
"It is something of a mystery as to why my parents decided to migrate to Australia in 1912, when I was 6 months old. They knew little about Australia, had no guarantee of employment or accommodation and were not going to relatives or friends. I can only assume some unhappiness or unpleasantness in the family led them to try to make their fortunes elsewhere."
Walter and Rose travelled to Australia in steerage aboard the Cassel, a German ship, and they arrived in Freemantle, the seaport for Perth, on 1st May 1912.
They started off their new life in Leederville, a NorthWest suburb of Perth, but they moved several times within that area.
After World War One, as a returned serviceman, Walter bought a house through the war service department at Campsie St West, Subiaco in Perth. Walter was a plumber by trade, but very much a handyman.
As an Australian soldier Walter served in France and Belgium and was there for the rest of the war, there was no coming home on leave. Sydney was born at this time.
Charles Court married Rita Steffoni in 1936 in Perth and they had four children one of whom was Barrymore Court, born in 1941 he married the famous tennis player Margaret Court nee Smith in 1967.
Charles Court received a knighthood in 1972.
Margaret Court is the greatest women’s tennis player of all time, having won 64 grand slam titles.
I was interested to find all this out, especially as I have always been a keen tennis player myself, at College I became Captain of the tennis team.

So get busy tracing your family trees you never know who might turn up on your tree!

Oh and don't forget to purchase my ebook Body Trapped out now on Kindle and Smashwords. Had another good review yesterday.

Swans in the park

2011-05-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

There are a pair of swans on our local park lake. The female ( pen) is sitting on a huge nest built in the tall reeds on the bank.
She's been sitting there for about four weeks now so it can't be long til the cygnets are hatched. I hope they will be safe as there is a huge sign up on the gate warning of rats.

I'm parched!

2011-05-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

Some very welcome rain today. The grass has been looking parched!
Parched, now that's a funny word, always reminds me of an incident when I was growing up.
My sister and I loved playing shops. We lived in a cottage that was all on its own in the middle of the woods. Now it's a new estate called Broadfield, a neighbourhood of Crawley new town. Crawley is now a sprawling mess. But I digress!
We had set up our shop in the back garden, using groceries from the larder.
Then Mum called out the bedroom window.
'Put things away there's a gypsy woman coming!'
In those days gypsies were proper Romany gypsies. They liked to camp in the woods.
I didn't think the gypsy would do anything, but obviously Mum did.
So we quickly took everything back inside.
The gypsy called out to Mum. 'I'm parched have you got a drink of water?' To which my mum replied 'No, get off with you!'
I though that was a bit mean really. If I'd been older I would have given her a drink of water!
I think she put a curse on our house, as bad things happened after that.
I'm not saying what they are!
I later found out, when doing my family tree that I am in fact related to gypsies on my Lee side!
Anyway, that incident always comes to mind when I hear the word parched.
It's not a word you hear much these days.

Changing the subject, I sold my first copy of Body Trapped on Smashwords today!

My book on Smashwords

2011-05-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

I have now also put my book Body Trapped on Smashwords. They currently distribute to Apple, with over 9,000 books in the iPad's UK bookstore, Sony, Barnes and Noble,Kobo and Diesel eBook store.
Smashwords also offers a higher royalty rate than Amazon.
They also allow browsers to read some of your book before buying.
I just had three google alerts to show the new Smashwords links to my book. One includes the free sample. I only uploaded the book yesterday and to think it's already published and in google alerts is amazing.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/57802

I am in the Crawley Observer

2011-05-04T06:30:00.001-07:00

The article that was in the West Sussex Times about the release of my book 'Body Trapped' on Kindle last week is in the Crawley Observer today and there is a photo of me! One problem there is a big white line running across the page so some words are obliterated. Great.

Can't believe it was four years ago yesterday that little Maddie disappeared.
I feel so sorry for her parents. I just can't imagine how it must feel not knowing what has happened to her.
I hope and pray that one day she will be found.
Keep looking everyone.

The Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T06:46:00.000-07:00

I have been glued to the TV most of the day watching the big event.
When William and Harry left Buckingham Palace and we saw them in their uniforms I had to choke back tears as I felt sad that Diana was not here to see her son marry.
She would have been so proud. She gave both her children a good start in life. William seems such a kind caring man and I hope that he and Catherine will be happy together.
I don't think it will be long til we hear a baby is on the way either!
It was such a happy occasion and everyone looked so relaxed.
The organisation of the event was first class. I love the way the police slowly brought the people up the Mall to the palace and then we were treated to two kisses!
I loved Catherine's dress and those of the bridesmaids. Her brother James did a perfect reading, every word was carefully spoken.
I think that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown should have been invited though. I'm not a great fan, but it seems only right that previous prime ministers should attend. They are part of our history.
Perhaps they could have had Beckham and Posh's seats! Does that woman ever smile?
Catherine and William were all smiles. Congratulations to them and much happiness!

Article in the West Sussex Times

2011-04-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

There's an article in my local paper today about my book Body Trapped being published on Kindle. Let's hope that generates some sales.

Sent off a poetry entry to Winchester Writers' conference today. I've not entered the poetry section before. I've had a few books highly commended there in the past, including Body Trapped!

I must get on and edit the sequel to Body Trapped. I hate reading it as I always cry at the end...

There could be a part three!

updated web site

2011-04-27T01:52:00.000-07:00

I have updated my web site now with details of my new book, Body Trapped, that is out now on Kindle. It's only £1.72!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Body-Trapped/dp/B004WT7CWO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1303148830&sr=8-3

There are three reviews so far and I am very pleased with them.
www.shirley-elmokadem.co.uk

Here comes the bride and my royal connections!

2011-04-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

I am really looking forward to the Royal Wedding. I love anything to do with royalty and I like William and Kate. They make a great couple and I wish them much happiness.
I enjoyed watching the film made about their relationship at uni etc on channel 5 this afternoon.

My royal connections?
Well, my dad had lunch with the Queen when she visited the Crawley new town in 1953 I think it was. (I was born in Crawley)
I met the Queen and Prince Philip when they visited the Glaxo factory in Stevenage in the 1990's. I was teaching at Roebuck Primary School, which was close by. A few teachers and children from the school were chosen to meet her and I was one of the lucky teachers!
My Grandad met the Queen Mother when she visited his care home in Henfield in 1996.
At 107 he was the eldest resident there.
He lived to be 108. He received eight telegrams from the Queen!

Yep, I will be glued to the TV on Friday.

Lee just wrote his blog update!

http://www.thoughts.com/iwantmybodyback/i-didnt-get-any-easter-eggs

I love the hot weather

2011-04-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

Had a lovely picnic in the park today with my mum and my husband.
It was so relaxing. Nothing beats having a picnic lunch in the sunshine.
There was a miniature railway nearby and there were so many families enjoying the day and having fun.

Had another review on Amazon re my book Body Trapped on Kindle.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Body-Trapped/dp/B004WT7CWO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1303148830&sr=8-3

Lee has just written his blog!
http://www.thoughts.com/iwantmybodyback/i-measured-my-thing-last-night

Lee's blog

2011-04-21T02:14:00.000-07:00

Lee kept going on at me. 'Pleeeeeeease can I have my own blog?' he asked, 'so that I can tell people how I'm coping in this new body of mine-Gary's body. And also to tell them about my book out now on Kindle, which tells the story of how I ended up in Gary's body and what happened next.'

So before Lee starts going on at me again here is the link to his blog.
http://www.thoughts.com/iwantmybodyback

And his Ebook Body Trapped, is available here.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Body-Trapped/dp/B004WT7CWO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1303148830&sr=8-3

First Review!

2011-04-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

Wow! I have had my first sale and got my first review and no it's not a family member!

This review is from: Body Trapped (Kindle Edition)
After a car accident, 12-year-old Lee wakes up in 15-year-old, Gary's body and has to lead Gary's life which is completely alien to his previous life as Lee. Then there's the small matter of trying to convince other people that he is not really Gary, but is Lee, trapped in Gary's body. A really touching and emotional read as you experience Lee's struggles and adjustments to a life he knows nothing about.
This is a fantastic book for teens and upwards and has a great twist at the end. Well done to the author. Really enjoyed it.

Body Trapped now on Kindle

2011-04-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally decided to put my book for teens on Kindle.
It's on Amazon now and has just had its first review
My daughter-in-law, who is a graphic designer, made the cover and it fitted the story perfectly. Many thanks to her.
I came first in the Swanwick Children's book competition in 2009 with this book.
Now for the marketing! I've joined the Kindle forum for a start, as there is a section for marketing your own books.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Body-Trapped/dp/B004WT7CWO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1303135384&sr=8-3

First in the Artillery of Words poetry competition!

2011-04-10T05:57:00.000-07:00

Woke up to brilliant sunshine pouring through the window and the great news that I have come first in the Artillery of Words poetry competition.
My poem called 'Summer in the park' will be published in an anthology.

http://theartilleryofwords.weebly.com/

Shortlisted

2011-04-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

I am shortlisted in the Christmas poetry competition, in this month's Writing Magazine. The winner and runner up poems only are in there, but it felt weird reading them in the month of April. I wonder why the competition is not set to fit in with the December issue. Would make more sense.
It's funny because my poem is about writing out of season!

Happy mothers' day to all mums

2011-04-03T01:18:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite poems is 'Ten places where I see my mother' by Jennifer Copley.
It could have been written about my mum.
The first line says,
'Monday's in the kitchen, her arms all suds'

My mum's place was mainly in the kitchen cooking and washing. We were a family of six.
I remember Mondays she would boil up the water in the copper boiler then put the clothes in. There were lots and it took some time to wash them all. Once she had washed the clothes she had to rinse them in cold water then put them through a wringer.
When I was older I helped do this. I loved the squelching sound made as the clothes were put through and the way it came out looking so flat, like a board.
If the weather was good Mum hung the washing on the line in the back garden. This was held up in the middle with a prop that Dad had made from an old branch-we lived in a cottage next to a wood.
If it was raining the clothes were hung on a wooden clothes horse and stood in front the open fire.
Dad's shirts had to be starched and I remember Mum mixing the Robin's starch up in a grey metal bowl and soaking Dad's shirts in there.
Washing took all day Monday, but Mum still managed to dish up a cooked lunch, as she did every day. Mondays it was mince made from left over beef, put through the mincer, and served with mash and carrots from the garden. Dad was a gardener.
Dessert on Mondays was tinned peaches and custard, which I hated.
Mum got rid of the copper and it was replaced with an open top washing machine with wringer attached. Later on when finances improved we had an automatic washing machine.
Yes, I remember Mum mostly hard at work in the kitchen when I was growing up.
She says now,(she is 89), why didn't I play with you all more? Why did I spend so much time working?
I can't answer that really as I wish she had played with us more too.

No I am not a 'doggy' person

2011-04-02T08:13:00.000-07:00

'You're not a 'doggy' person are you?' My mum asks for about the umpteenth time when we are discussing my daughter's recent acquisition of a new puppy. She says it like it's a flaw in my character. My mother always had dogs, as did her mother before.
And my brother and sisters have dogs.
'Well, I like dogs,' I say. 'But I've never really wanted one.'
I love rabbits. They make sweet cute pets and don't anyone dare say they like eating rabbit meat! They are my friends, you can't eat friends.
I get rather bemused when we go to the park and see people walking their dogs, stopping to compare notes and talking to them like they are little children.
'How old is he? Ah isn't he lovely.'
I get even more bemused when I see them clearing up dog poo in a Sainsbury's carrier bag then carrying it around until they find a dog poo bin. Yuk that is gross!
At least rabbits eat their droppings!
It's an offence around here not to pick up dog poo after your dog, but I still find myself dodging piles of the stuff and the other day I stepped in some. It took ages to get it off my shoe.
No, I am not a 'doggy person' and it will stay that way.

me and another of my classes

2011-04-01T10:57:00.001-07:00

Oh they are all coming out now-the old photos!
Here's one of me with my class back in 1985 I think it was. This was taken in Fairlands JMI Stevenage in Herts.
I am on the left of the photo.
My husband says I haven't changed much. Ah bless or hang on maybe that's his April Fool!
Well if it is it's after 12 now so up the ladder and down the wall he's the biggest fool of all! Yay!

Not quite a month and happy April Fools day!

2011-04-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

It's not quite a month and look I am writing my blog!
I had some good news the other day, I have had two poems commended in the Sussex Slipstream poetry competition. No prizes unfortunately.
One of the poems was one I had written for a Writing News competition and it had been shortlisted. Now I have sent it to another competition.
I also sent three poems to the Marriott wedding poetry competition. That was free to enter. They are the competitions I like best!

I played an April Fool on my husband this morning I said my mobile phone had broken and he believed me. Yeah I know it wasn't very funny really.
The best April Fool I played was on one of my classes at school. They were a year four class. I told them I had lost all their maths exercise books and they had to redo nearly the whole term. I gave them out new books and told them to start writing!
They all believed me and I let them carry on for 15 mins until I told them it was an April Fool then there were cries of 'Oh,Miss!'
They all thought it was funny.
They were a lovely bunch, all 28 of them. There were some hard nuts in that class, but super teacher here soon sorted them out! One of the mums gave me a lovely handwritten note at the end of the year, saying I was the first teacher her son had ever got on with and how well he had done with me. I still have the note somewhere.
I wonder what he's doing now, he'd be about thirty I suppose.
Now I feel old!
(The photo above is of some of my class during an Egyptian day that I had organised as we had been studying Ancient Egypt. We made masks and dressed up.)

Not another month gone by

2011-03-08T06:59:00.000-08:00

I admire people who keep regular blogs, but alas it seems to have been a month since I last blogged.
The thing is I'd rather be writing my book or a poem and there are only so many hours in a day.
Recently I heard that my poem 'The Snowball' has been shortlisted in the Chapel Gallery competition. There is is a monetary prize, which would be good, but there is also a chance to win a people's prize, which is judged on the number of votes you have from the public so to anyone reading this blog please vote for my poem.

http://www.chapelgallery.org.uk/Once-Upon-a-Time.html

A second win in Writers' Forum!

2011-01-18T11:53:00.000-08:00

I had an email today from Sarah Willans of Writers' Forum to say that I am runner up in the monthly poetry competition. This is fantastic! I was runner up a couple of months ago too.
My poem is called 'Soundtrack' and is about Elvis.
The great thing is that WF are running another competition, alongside the monthly competition. If you are a winner or runner up, any month until October, you get a chance to submit six poems to Happenstance press and maybe win a place on their mentoring course. That would be so cool so fingers crossed!

It's my birthday!

2011-01-13T11:04:00.000-08:00

It's my birthday, not saying hold old I am. I stopped counting at 40!
I've had some good news.
My children's book, The Treasure of the Urn, was shortlisted in the EarlyWorks competition.I win a signed copy of one of the judge's books.
It had some good feedback so I am pleased about that. I'll have to see what the feedback says, revise, then send it out to agencies.
Onwards and upwards!

Results can be seen here.
http://www.earlyworkspress.co.uk/childrens_competition_readers_reports.htm

Have we had Christmas yet?

2011-01-05T01:07:00.000-08:00

I can't remember if we have had Christmas. It went by in a blur. And no I wasn't in a drunken stupour! It always seems to go by so quickly. The build up to it is tremendous and then it's over before you know it. Now the decorations have all been put away and the last of the Celebration chocolates , the caramel galaxy ones, are lying uneaten in the dish on the coffee table. (No one likes those ones here) So the festivities are over for another year.
Never mind it's my birthday next week, the 13th. What am I saying? That means I am another year older.
Speaking of birthdays my Aunt Ena, Mum's sister, was one hundred last Sunday!
She is in a care home in Cornwall, near her son, my cousin. They put on a little party for her and she had her telegram from the Queen, but she didn't know what was going on really as she has dementia. She's happy in her own little world they say.
Would I like to live to be a hundred? Not unless I had all my faculties. My Grandad lived to be 108. He died in 1997. He didn't suffer from dementia, but was deaf and blind in the last ten years of his life. So it looks like you're lucky if you make it that far without anything packing up.

Found out yesterday I was shortlisted in the Writers News poetry competition. So that's a good way to start the new year!

A very Happy New Year to you all!

Christmas Trees

2010-12-10T09:52:00.000-08:00

I have just decorated our Christmas tree and the lights are working. Actually these days they usually do. But when I was a child, and Dad put the fairy lights on the tree, they never worked and always needed some sort of repair.
We always had a real tree, which Dad got from the estate woods. My 'big' sister usually decorated it. It was the same decorations every year and I liked seeing the familiar candles and baubles coming out again. The fairy's golden hair got thinner and thinner.
We had little presents off the Christmas tree on Boxing Day, which made Christmas last longer.
I remember there was always a little plastic diary and some rose soap that Dad used to buy us.
I'd give Mum bath cubes and Dad a pen.
To finish off there were the chocolate decorations.
The worst part of Christmas was seeing the bare tree standing out in the garden when Christmas had finished. There was sometimes a little piece of tinsel clinging to a branch.
I'd look at it and wish the magic of Christmas lasted all year.

Snow

2010-12-02T09:46:00.001-08:00

We have had a lot of snow here in Sussex.
I love walking in fresh snow it's magical.

Artillery of words

2010-11-24T06:21:00.000-08:00

Last week I heard that my poem, 'The Race,' came second in the Artillery of Words poetry competition. It will be printed in an anthology of stories and poems called Mulled Words- A Winter Anthology. It will be available shortly on Amazon.

I am busy writing my 7th book now, which is a story set in Ancient Egypt.
I have also sent off a few more poems to various competitions including one to the Divine chocolate poetry competition. This year the theme is 'bean to bar.'
I was runner up in their competition last year and won a hamper of their chocolate. It really is delicious. If you want to try it they stock it in Oxfam shops. The plain chocolate brazil nuts are simply divine.

My new grandson Jake is growing fast and last week he smiled at me for the first time!
It's such a joy to be a Granny.

Writers' Forum

2010-10-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

My poem is in this month's Writers' Forum (December) I win a new dictionary.

I haven't read my poem 'The Tramp' out on Speaker's Steps yet. I had an email to say the date for this had to be changed, as the House of Commons was in recess on October 7th. The reading will now be in December, but no fixed date yet.

H is in Egypt and I may be going out there myself soon. Will be nice to get away from this horrible weather.

On a sad note my dear sister-in-law passed away last week. She was an ex sister-in-law, but we always stayed in touch and why should people who are family for nearly thirty years suddenly become X to?
She had a long battle with cancer and she is now at peace.

My grandchildren

2010-10-17T23:48:00.000-07:00

Me with my new grandson Jake and Maria age three, in her Halloween costume.

Mark Stacey and me

2010-10-17T23:33:00.000-07:00

Today we went to an antique fair in Lower Beeding in Sussex. Not been to one in years. I used to go to them a lot when I collected antique purses ( sadly I had to sell those to pay bills after my divorce) The best fair I went to back then was in Alexandra Palace. There were hundreds of stalls there. Yesterday it was in the Cisswood Hotel. There were about thirty stalls. It's a lovely place wouldn't mind staying there one day when I am a published writer ha ha.

Anyway Mark Stacey from Bargain Hunt was doing a stall. I said 'oo I watch you on Bargain Hunt' He is a lovely friendly guy and I had my photo taken with him.

Runner up in the Writer's Forum poetry comp

2010-10-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

I had an email from Sarah Willans, the poetry editor at Writers' Forum magazine today in which she told me I am a runner up in the monthly poetry competition! My poem is called 'Turning the map over.' It will appear in the December issue of Writer's Forum.
I think I win a dictionary, which is cool as I need a new one.
I am thrilled!

It's a boy!

2010-10-03T07:24:00.000-07:00

I now have a beautiful grandson. Jake was born on September 30th and he's gorgeous, as you can see!

Baskalier poetry competition

2010-09-16T23:57:00.000-07:00

I came third in the Baskalier Poetry competition. The theme was extinction and I wrote a poem about a tiger skin rug.

It will appear in an anthology, which will be titled Extinction.

I finished my children's book on Monday. Yay! It's a diary of a boy set in Ancient Egypt and is fifteen thousand words long. There are a lot of well researched historical facts in it and it would be a good book for children to read when they study Ancient Egypt in primary school. It's also written in a humorous way and therefore makes learning about life back then fun!

I am sending it off to a couple of publishers so fingers crossed.

I've written six children's books now! Crikey is it really that many? Their titles are Scarab Eyes, Serena and The Moor's last sigh, Body Trapped, The Treasure of the Urn, Krystal Bull Psy-Chick and this last one, The Diary of Teti-Tuti.

On to the next!

John Clare Trust Poetry Competition

2010-08-23T04:42:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled to receive a letter on Saturday telling me that I am a finalist in the John Clare Trust Poetry Competition. My poem is called' The Tramp' and finalists are invited to read their poem on Speaker's Steps in Westminster Hall on National Poetry Day, October 7th when the winner will be selected.
There is also a tour of the House of Commons!
I'm also invited to read my poem at the Helpston Literary Festival on October 2nd. John Clare was born in Helpston in 1793 and lived there for forty years.
I had better start practising. I've never read one of my poems out in public before, so it will be a bit daunting.
However, I have read poems to my classes at school and in assemblies so I hope that stands me in good stead!
I have a new grand child due early October so it's going to be an exciting time!

The Frederik Van Eeden poetry competition

2010-07-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled to receive an email informing me that I have made the final nine in this poetry competition.
There were over two hundred entries from all over the world.
Here is the link
http://www.hollandparkpress.co.uk/news_detail.php?news_id=36
The winner will be announced on September 24th.

Brit Writers' Awards

2010-07-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

As my book was shortlisted in the Brit Writers' Awards I had a free ticket to go to the awards ceremony last Thursday at the O2.
Well it was a let down folks.

Got there at 6.30pm. Waited outside the door to the theatre, with many others all dressed up in their posh frocks and black ties (you know what I mean). I saw a couple of famous faces in the queue that actor what's his name who was in what was it? etc. Then the doors opened and we started to go in, a young woman who looked in charge, sort of, said oh only VIPS in first standards wait here. ( we were standard tickets)After they had gone in we 'standards' were taken up to the balcony area and then were, well, just left. We didn't have any particular seats so we sat at the front.
Down below were all the tables where the VIPs the £60 ticket holders were having their dinner and also there was the stage. Being in the front seats we had a good view.So we just sat waiting for the proceedings to get going.
There were no book signings or chance to mingle with anyone like promised on the ticket it said'opportunity to mingle with authors, agents,publishers.' So that was a big let down. there was nothing so we sat waiting for the show to start and watching Lembit Opit eat his dinner below along with Shirley Eaton and Terry Pratchett.
It finally started at 8pm with a very poor presentation on a screen with people making paper aeroplanes and throwing them in the air it was like an advert not sure what it was meant to be saying. Then there was a poem rap from someone not sure who it was about words on pages and pens and words and pens and lines and words etc and another by someone else.Then Tre Azam and Charlie Jordan, the hosts, started the presentations which took forever. Sometimes they were interrupted by very poor acts like a play by some people set in a publishers office which we didn't get. Seen better done by children at school. The odd presentation on the screen.Someone played a cello that was OK. Time was geting on still Roger Moore hadn't appeared! Fergal Shearkey presented a prize. There were always two people presenting each category like a publisher from Panmacillan and they all did their own speeches which were sometimes boring and went on ond on.One highlight was an eleven year old girl read out a poem( She wasn't a winner) but it was brilliant and I wished we had had more of this.Anyway by 10.30 it still hadn't finished and we had to go to get our train so don't know who won overall the big prize and I still didn't get to see Roger Moore! Was he there?Would I go again? No not unless there is big improvement. What do the £25 ticket holders get? We hadn't paid of course but if we had we would have been miffed. We were not offered any drink not even a soft one, one free would have been nice or any nibbles.Drinks at the bar were expensive at £4 for a cranberry juice. I liked watching the winners go up for their prizes. They all made little speeches too thanking partners for putting up with their writing etc. One young girl who won the young poetry section thanked her parents gran and teachers which was sweet.We both came away feeling very disappointed. Another highlight met sPam. She's lovely and we had a nice chat. She was also disappointed with the evening as it had promised so much. She'd come much further than me.I wished I'd stayed at home and watched Waterloo road now and saved my train fair!

Winchester Writer's Conference

2010-06-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

Had a brilliant time yesterday.
I had lots of positive feedback from agents and one has asked to see more of my work, which is a good sign!
The poetry work shop with Julian Stannard was interesting- we had to rewrite one of Masefield's poems in a contemporary style.
In the afternoon I heard Carol Duffy read some of her poems. Later she signed a copy of one of her books for me and I had my photo taken with her.
I was very pleased to hear that my book Sophie and the Scarab's curse was commended in the 8-12 age group at the awards ceremony in the evening.
It was a very fruitful day and would recommend going to Winchester. I wish I'd gone before and will be there again next year.

Off to Winchester Writer's Conference

2010-06-25T10:52:00.000-07:00

I'm finally going to the Winchester Writer's Conference tomorrow. Have wanted to go there for a few years. I've had some of my books commended in their competitions in past years.

Tomorrow I have a few sessions with agents and authors and hope to learn more about my writing.
They have samples pages of my writing and will give me feedback.
I'm also going to a few lectures, one of which is being given by Carol Duffy. I'm really looking forward to that.
And Terry Pratchett is doing the address before the start of the proceedings.

Had some good news this week. I had an email from BritWriters Awards to say that one of my books made the top 30 in their recent competition! This is brilliant news as there were thousands of entries. The thing is I entered a couple of my books and they didn't tell me which one it is! I've emailed to ask them but not heard yet.

Onwards and upwards!

I am busy working on my next book now , reached 10,000 words today. It's another book for children and is part factual.