What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her?Hamlet, Act II sc ii Shakespeare
Why does the death of someone I did not know reduce me to tears? Continue reading
Hecuba
13
Category Archives: Inspirations
Make the Tale Live, O Muse
The Muse gets a bad press:
How the SCBWI Conference Blew My Mind!
Five hows from the 8th Annual Conference of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Winchester, November 2015 Continue reading
Shimmies and Sidewinders
I would like to add my pennyworth to Kathryn Evan’s belly-dancing post here. Dance as a form of creativity has been a love of mine since at least infant school – and it’s the only way you’ll get me doing much in the way of indoor exercise! Continue reading
Just in case…
…you were wondering what the answers to my first line quiz were.
Whether – or not
Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot,
We’ll weather the weather,
Whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not.
It might be said to be the favourite British subject of conversation, but these days, how many of us fully experience the weather – and what can it bring to our work? Continue reading
Music in the Waves
My friends, writer Lu Hersey and her agent Ben Illis, alerted me to a new film from Tomm Moore and Cartoon Studio. They know how much I love the sea – and how passionate I am about selkies!
Offerings
This piece evolved from an exercise set by Emma Jane Unsworth writer and tutor at Lumb Bank, near Heptonstall. The Arvon workshop was called ‘The Art of Beating your Demons.’
I hope it might help other writers.
The art of beating demons
On Monday 13th July, I am off up to Yorkshire, my homeland. I’m feeling both nervous, and rather optimistic. I will stay at Lumb Bank with the Arvon Foundation, not for the first time so at least I know the ropes.
This time it’s the course itself that really stirs my trepidation. If it’s to do me any good, I have to engage with it – and those ‘demons’. Continue reading
Sussex-by-the-Sea
On Tuesday 16th June, I had the pleasure of attending a talk organised by the Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy as part of the 2015 Festival of Chichester.
It was given by their visiting professor of folklore, Jacqueline Simpson. If you have had anything to do with British folklore, or indeed the folklore of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, you probably know her name…