First of all, apologies for not posting till today. You can blame the Chi-SCBWI lot* for that.

Last night at our meeting, the lovely and talented blogger Vivienne DaCosta of Serendipity Reviews**  fame, brought us all a fruitboxful  of books to delve into. It was an immediately appealing and diverse selection.

Clearly, we’re all bookaholics. I don’t quite see how I could be a writer without having this particular addiction.

1. I’ve learnt so much more about the way to write for different age-groups.
2. I’ve developed much more of a ‘nose’ for what works for a given genre.
3. I’ve encountered techniques and structures I might never have thought of by myself.
4. I’ve had my mind stretched like  an octopus trying to get out of a bottle by reading far outside my zone of prejudice.

But it wasn’t just that which made us all scurry to select and snaffle –  to stage a [fairly genteel] raid on  a sweetie shop. Stories are treasure we can amass like a jackdaw does jewels  – but they’re even more precious when they become part of us. It’s the ones that stay on in your mind, that feed your creativity that matter.

Our eagerness, I believe, stems from our search for the stories that will nourish us. In the way that our food literally becomes part of us, I believe the stories we truly engage with nurture our imaginations and build up our spirits.

So it’s well worth having a rummage to seek out stories that will feed us – and our writing. At times it might be something a bit romantic, luxurious and Nigella, other times we might need something more challenging and a bit Heston Blumenthal. Nothing wrong with a bit of traditional too.

And there’s always the happy thought we might just chance upon something new and wondrous. Or better still, pick a mixture.

pic sweets

* Chichester branch of  the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators – wonderful group of supportive people – who meet on certain Thursday nights

**fabulous book review site whose tolerant owner allows me to spout forth from time-to-time