Storytime

Yep, that time of the year when folks everywhere are panicking and asking 'so what do you want?' As a gardener there a million things I dream over. Oh and ah over. Drool and imagine over. As a writer, it gets a bit more difficult. I have pens, in fact a LOT of pens. The really cute and quirky ones magically disappear and I'm left with those 'buy a packet of 20' ones that still work. When used. Notepads and notebooks are always nice to receive. I have a few writing friends who I envy because their novel ideas are neatly put into these A4 notepads. They have images and pictures, they have maps and terrains marked out. I dream of someday doing this. But what to get me as a writer?  How about a place to write...perhaps a cabin in the woods? Hmmm actually I live in a log cabin, in a forested area. A place by the beach so I can wander the shores while dreaming of my characters? This could be a contender folks! Watch this space... Actual...

How on earth is it Christmas already? I'm sure the last time I looked at a calendar it was April...well maybe August. Definitely not December. Yet here it is and tis the season to share the love. So what are some wonderful presents you can give a writer? I have a few ideas. There are the usual notebooks and pens. I don't know about you but you can never have too much stationery. Well, actually you can, but a nice notebook never goes astray. Pens, unfortunately do. Grand children do love a cute pen...and if it's yours they seem to love them even more. There is of course writing software. I have tried one of these, and alas, not for this little duck (too much of a distraction). But others rave over them...so for some, it works. And works well. A massage never goes amiss. Espeically when you have been hunched over a computer for hours straight, trying to solve a huge plot problem. Or working tirelessly to a deadline. Yes, a massage is a good idea! Som...

We all have them, expectations that is. There are expectations in your workplace (mostly along the lines of do what you are meant to do and you will get paid)...there are expectations in your home life. The groceries are bought on such and such day, the magic fairy does the washing and ironing and cleaning of the house, beds are made, meals are cooked. And so many events seem to thrust more expectations upon us. Every holiday, whether birthdays, Christmas or the Easter just past, and we are bombarded with images of happy families and big groups of friends celebrating. Every image shows people happy and laughing. So what happens if that doesn't happen? People move on, family moves away or have other plans. Friends lose touch...and with so many blended families, life becomes more and more complicated. But we know what will happen, what the media tells us should happen...we should be with loved ones having FUN! Easter, for us, is a family get-together. There is...

Twas four days before Christmas and all through the house... the cat was attacking the tinsel and knocking baubles off the tree. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St Nicholas soon will be there.. Not hung as such...more like placed on top of fireplace. We do have a fire, (enclosed) and a chimney...but alas no mantlepiece. So dilemma...where to hang them? And of course there is one for George. The decorations have come out of storage, and with Little Miss doing the majority of the work, we are decorated. Her decorating technique was to simply add and add and then add some more. To a seven year old, more is definitely more. I have not changed a thing. The tree is still bottom heavy (as are most of us).  The fact is that we were two shortish people, and the tree is big. Other half did get up a ladder and add some tinsel and decorations..which is good. As George is making a good job of denuding the bottom half...her decoratin...

It's that crazy pre-Christmas time when all of our groups call it an end for the year. My writing group, Lazy River Writers   meet at the end of the month so last weekend was our Christmas break up. Celebrating Christmas in November does seem strange, but trying to find another date, that doesn't clash with children / work / social activities is near impossible. You should see us try to plan a writing retreat! It is always a fun day. We lunch..we chat....we celebrate the fact that we are friends as well as writers. Serious business does get done. If I recall correctly, this happened about four and a half hours after we got together...but some things can't be rushed. Being the last meeting for the year, we had to plan the dates for the coming year, 2017. And as I work a lot of weekends, this lovely group of writers, always move things around to accommodate this. We tweak the set dates...find venues if our usual local library is unavailable (we do clash wi...

Yes tis the season (yet again, where has the year gone?) for the mad rush of shopping for just that right present. If you have a writer in your life, what do you give them? Stationery never goes amiss. Whether a new notebook  or pad, a pen or two...post it notes, paper clips...you name it. I have yet to meet a writer that doesn't ooh and ahh over stationery, and fondle a brand new notebook with the wonder of what words to fill it. Then that same blank notebook stares accusingly at the writer for most of the year. There is always books. Whether a favourite author or perhaps a new one...new genre, a biography...a book on writing perhaps such as Stephen King's On Writing ( happily sits on my shelf) ....  a dictionary or even subscription to a writing magazine such as Writer's Victoria...or the UK one. How about a new coffee cup (the consensus is that writers drink nothing but cups of coffee and red wine...lots of red wine)....so make that a HUGE coffee cup (doesn...

On the weekend my writing group, Lazy River Writers , had our Christmas break up. We tend to have a meal out to celebrate, there is usually festive decorations, a secret Kris Kringle, we also hold a meeting. This meeting is not for workshopping nor fine tuning a WIP...but we do the usual talk of what we have achieved the past month, our brags, as well as catching up with what has occurred personally. One  member puts together our Top Five Achievements for the year which is always a great way of looking back over what we sometimes feel has been a year of little success. We also discuss how our goals for the year have gone. This usually brings much chair scraping, much mumbling of 'didn't do anything' or the announcement of 'it was a crap year'. This year, amongst the tinsel and Santa's...and the most yummy food..... (I have told you that our group does food very very well haven't I?) It was suggested that since we celebrated our fifteenth...