April feels like it was a long month. Looking at what I read at the beginning of the month, these seem a good while ago. So here’s what I got through in April. Joe Country – Mick Herron I started this month as I finished the last, with Mick Herron’s dodgy spies at Slough House.… Continue reading April reading round up
Tag: writing
Review: In the Blink of an Eye – Jo Callaghan
“It was great to see a female detective be respected by her peers and superiors, and be allowed to be good at her job.”
Who Am I*? Unearthing my influences
I have become obsessed by the ‘Literary Criticism’ section in Waterstones. The shelves there are no longer what I remember from lit crit at uni but instead have more of the world on them. When I worked at the Stones we had an essays section but that’s gone and this fascinating hotch potch is all… Continue reading Who Am I*? Unearthing my influences
Grist to the Writing Mill
I’ve been going to an online writing group for the last four months. It’s been run by Vanessa Gebbie, writer and teacher extraordinaire, and is called Grist to the Writing Mill. Essentially, for one evening each month we sat on Zoom and wrote all sorts of exercises for two and a half hours, using a… Continue reading Grist to the Writing Mill
Separation anxiety
This week, I went into town for a work meeting – not once, but twice. This was only the third time I’ve been into an office for a meeting in the last eighteen months, having otherwise been working from my dining room desk. It was strange, I’ll admit. We visited another office, cool and air… Continue reading Separation anxiety
Writing and working
I’ve been feeling quite positive about my writing recently. It’s not that I feel I’ve produced wonderful quality work – far from it – but just that I have been producing anything at all. This last year has been for me, as I’m sure it’s been for so many, a challenge – in terms of… Continue reading Writing and working
Writing for Wellbeing: free writing
At work recently I’ve been running workshops about Reading and Writing for Wellbeing, an hour-long slot where we explore the concept of bibliotherapy in a basic sense to help you through your daily life. It’s been a while since I’ve done any training or development courses for anyone so it’s been a bit of a… Continue reading Writing for Wellbeing: free writing
Where are you writing?
Writing in the time of Covid has, for many, been hard enough but for those of us who have changed to doing our day job at home a new, unforeseen problem has arisen. Spending 9-10 hours a day working at the desk where I used to write, I now find I cannot write at my… Continue reading Where are you writing?
Review:The Woman in the Photograph – Stephanie Butland
I thought the opening to this book was as engrossing as anything I’ve read in a while, with an intriguing set up, historical notes and a heroine off to do her own thing in the face of her father’s and fiance’s disapproval. Veronica Moon is a photographer, one who rose to fame in the heady… Continue reading Review:The Woman in the Photograph – Stephanie Butland
Twenty Four Stories
Five or six years ago I walked through Nottingham’s Old Market Square. It was near Christmas, dark overhead but the Christmas market was in full swing, including the annual ice rink. The scene gave me a ‘what if?’ moment and I turned it into a story. I wrote and edited and wrote and tinkered, made… Continue reading Twenty Four Stories
Susan E Barsby 