I’ve been remiss at updating this page and a lot has been going on over recent months. I’ve spent some delightful Saturday afternoons in Lympstone running memoir writing workshops as well as a couple of one off workshops focussing on place. Most of the events promoting Amie’s Rest have been joint events with my writing friends; Yaara Lahav Gregory – Night Swimming in the Jordan and Sophie Pierce – The Green Hill. Look out for our next event at the Tiverton Literature Festival on September 25th where we’ll be talking about the three different routes we took to publication and reading extracts from our very different books.
Then there’s been getting Memoring ready for publication. I wrote the first draft several years ago, but the editing and polishing has taken up far more time than I envisaged. It was launched at The Eastgate bookshop to a full house on June 24th. Look out for my next event; a talk at the delightful Ivybridge bookshop on September 5th at 5.30pm. www.ivybridgebookshop.com
I continue to walk – both by myself and with Totnes Ramblers. At the moment the flowers along the coastal path are a joy of profusion and variety. Here at home we’re harvesting courgettes, beetroot, carrots, tomatoes and French beans and when it rains, I pick slugs and snails off the sunflowers in the front garden, their leaves left lacy with bites and sticky with snail slime.
On holiday in France we had a room in Roscoff with a view across to Ile de Batz where we lazily watched the changing light, the way the tides changed the view and the comings and goings of the small ferry. I love the rhythm of small ports and the islands they serve. Perhaps one day a novel set on an island? A future project. But at the moment I’m working on Donna’s Story (working title), looking at the conflict between ambition and love, at a woman who has succeeded as a professional photographer and academic, but who is haunted by her father’s death. The great love affair of Donna’s life was with Amie, but for a variety of reasons she was unable to sustain the relationship. The novel will be structured around the photographs in her first solo exhibition which are discreetly autobiographical, a celebration of both solitude and love. After living with Amie’s voice for so long it is a challenge getting to know a very different voice.
Inspiring Reads – At the moment I’m loving books by Irish and Scottish authors; Donal Ryan’s Strange Flowers, Clear by Carys Davies amongst others.
